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'T'HE plan of The English Explorers was originally drawn up by the late lamented David Laing Purves, as a companion volume to his * English Circumnavigators ;* the voyages of Drake, Dampier, Anson, and Cook, but he did not survive to witness its completion. As now presented in keeping with the original plan, if its perusal should awaken an intelligent desire for an in- creased acquaintance with the works of our greatest travellers and explorers, and form besides a contribution to the healthy literature of the times, the book may be said, in some respects, to have fulfilled its mission. At a time when public attention is being interested in 1 another Polar Expedition, the section on 'Arctic Explora- [tions,' while giving brief details of what has already been iccomplished in this direction, may also form a brief [ntroductior o the voluminous literature on the subject. Mandevillt ^ travels, with their strange mixture of fable Lnd superstitious legend, are given in an abridged and lodernised form. What is given in the present volume lay be looked upon as an interesting selection of ex- tracts, giving in a sequent narrative the spirit of the old traveller. While much indebted to Halliwell's reprint of the Cottonian Library edition of Mandeville, acknow- ledgment must also be made here to Messrs. George Bell ind Sons for permission to make some extracts from their Early Travels in Palestine.' In Bruce's Travels, that great adventurer is left to tell Jiis own story as nearly as possible in his own words, and IV PRE FA CE. in the first person, free from the wearisome details and digressions which, aside from the bulk of the second edition of the original work (7 vols. 8vo), form in them- selves a barrier to popular perusal. It is hoped, how- ever, that in the present abridgment, all the salient and more generally interesting portions have been retained. The Life and Travels of Mungo Park naturally follow those by James Bruce, and these again are supplemented by a brief sketch of recent African discovery till the death of Dr. Livingstone, compiled from various sources. As the bulk of the volume consists of details relating to African discovery, a Map has been added showing the routes of the principal explorers. The Engravings which form the frontispiece are taken from authentic portraits, while the vignette represents an episode which occurred when Bruce reached the goal of his journey, at the head l)f the Bahr-el-Azrek or Blue Nile. 'Home-keeping youths have ever homely wits,' and travelling, as well as the perusal of the works of our travellers in the right spirit, * draws the grossness from the understanding,* and forms in itself a subject exhaustless in compass and interest. The exploration of the interior of Africa has been a problem, towards the solution of which the greatest travellers have spent the best years of their lives. The life and explora- tions of David Livingstone have given an increasing stimu- lus to all that concerns Africa and African travel, and missionary and geographical enterprise. While interested and attracted by all that the modern traveller brings to light, let not the work of earlier and humbler men, who worked up to the measure of their light and possibilities, be forgotten. The association of the names of Bruce and Park in this volume may be a help towards this result. The labours of the early travellers should have an undy- ing interest to every fresh generation. They have toiled and discovered, and we have entered into the fruit of their labours. INTRODUCTION. nPHE leading facts in the lives of the principal * Ex- plorers ' mentioned in the volume, as far as available for our present purpose, may well be given here by way of Introduction. Sir John Mandeville was born at St. Albans about the beginning of the fourteenth century. He left his native country in 1327, spent about thirty-four years in visiting the Holy Land, India, and China, and on his return published an account of his travels. These travels are professedly a guide-book for pilgrims to Jeru- salem, and contain many fabulous absurdities, with descrip- tions of countries which he visited, and of others which he certainly did not visit, derived mostly from books. The original manuscripts of these travels are said to have been written in French, in preference to Latin, and as the language then most generally understood. It long con- j tinned to be one of the most popular works of the four- teenth and fifteenth centuries. Although little is known with any degree of positive certainty regarding his Hfe, yet !a sketch of him by John Bale, an old writer, might here be quoted. * Amongst other things,' says Bale, 'he was ravished with a mightie desire to see the greater parts of the world, as Asia and Africa. Having therefore pro- vided all things necessary for his journey, he departed from his country, in the yeere of Christ 1322 ; and, as another Ulysses, returned home, after the space of 34 yeeres, and was then known to a very fewe. ... He died at Leege, in the year 1371, the 17 day of November, being then buried in the Abbie of the Order of Gulielmites.' vi INTRODUCTION. Another writer says, — * He had extraordinary qualifica- tions and opportunities, and was the chief traveller of his time, having been 33° 16' southern latitude, and 62° 10' northern. He mentions one that travelled round the globe, which he had heard of when he was young ; this probably inspired him with an early passion for travel. He was of a family that came into England with the Conqueror. He was a man of learning and substance, had studied Physic and Natural Philosophy. He was a con- scientious good man, as appears from several instances in the book.' As physician, soldier, and philosopher, he seems to have been one of the first men of his day. One of the most remarkable features of his book is his attempt to prove, at that time, that the earth was a sphere, and the possibility of the Antipodes on the other side of the world. * For they who are towards the Antarctic are directly feet opposite of them who dwell under the Polar Star, as well as we and they that dwell under us are feet opposite feet. For all parts of the sea and land have their opposites, habitable or passable.* James Bruce, of whose travels an epitome is given in this volume, was born at Kinnaird House, the family mansion, in the county of Stirling, December 14, 1730. He was the younger of the two children of David Bruce, Esq., by his first wife, Marion, daughter of James Graham, Esq. of Airth, Dean of the Faculty of Advocates, and Judge of the High Court of Admiralty in Scotland. She died in 1733, before her son had an opportunity of fully knowing the tenderness of a mother. His father married very shortly afterwards, and had a numerous issue by his second wife. In his eighth year young Bruce was sent to London, and intrusted to the care of Councillor Hamilton, brother-in-law to his father, and who was to see after his education. He stayed with him a year, and was afterwards placed in the school of a Mr. Graham, whence in 1742 he JNTR0DUC7I0N. vl! was removed to the public seminary at Harrow. While there he acquired a knowledge of the ancient languages, and made the acquaintance of several persons of distinc- tion, whose friendship he retained through life. At first he intended qualifying himself for entering the Church, but finally deciding to qualify himself as an Advocate for the Scottish Bar, he entered as a student at Edinburgh Univer- sity in 1747. In 1748 his studies were interrupted by deli- cate health, and being obliged to remove into the country, this, with other circumstances, determined him to renounce the profession of law. In July 1753 he removed to Lon- don, with a view of settling in India as a free trader, under the patronage of the East India Company. While in London he was introduced to the family of a Mrs. Allan, the widow of an eminent wine merchant. He married Mrs. Allan's daughter in February 1754, and with her hand also secured a share of the business of the family into which he was admitted. But, unfortunately for him, his wife died a very few months after marriage. This changed the tenor of his life and prospects ; he applied himself to drawing and languages, and in 1757 he visited Spain and Portugal, to view the state of society, art, and science in those countries. He continued his travels through France, on to Frankfort, Bonn, Cologne, Brussels, and Rotterdam. While at Rotterdam, the intelligence reached him of the death of his father at Edinburgh, in May 1758, which caused him to hurry homewards. By the death of his father he succeeded to the paternal estate. In 1761 he withdrew from the partnership in the wine business, with which he had been identified for seven years along with his brother-in-law, Mr. Allan. The events of the subsequent years of his life, his acceptance of the British Consulship at Algiers, and his travels in Asia and towards the source of the Bahr-el-Azrek, or Blue Nile, are detailed in the present epitome of his travels. On his landing at Marseilles after his travels in the m ! I yiii INTRODUCTION. East, he spent a short time in France, where his fame had preceded him, and afterwards repaired to Italy in July 1773, to recruit his health after the fatigues of travel. He returned to England in 1774, after an absence of twelve years, was introduced at Court, and graciously received and honoured by the King for his numerous discoveries. Settling on his estate, he married Mary, daughter of Thomas Dundas, Esq. of Fingask, who died in 1785, and by whom he had three children. The preparation of his travels for publication occupied his mind after this sad event, and were eventually published in five quarto volumes in 1790. Although many of the statements in these travels were at first doubted and ridiculed, and regarded as mere traveller's tales, the experience of subsequent explorers has verified their truthfulness and accuracy in almost every particular. Though he felt these attacks keenly, he made no public reply to those who challenged his truthfulness. He survived his publication only four years. He slipped one evening in his own staircase, while handing a lady to her carriage, and he died in consequence of the injury then received on the 27th of April 1794. A second edition of his travels was published in 1805, under the editorial care of Dr. Alexander Murray, in seven volumes ; and a third in 1813. MuNGO Park was born at Fowlshiels, near Selkirk, on the loth of September 177 1. He studied medicine at Edinburgh, and performed a voyage to Bencoolen, in the East Indies, as an assistant surgeon. The African Asso- ciation, founded in 1778 for the promotion of discovery in Central Africa, secured his services, after he had satisfied their Committee with respect to his skill in astronomy, geography, and natural history. He sailed from Ports- mouth on May 22, 1795, and reached Jillifrey, on the northern bank of the Gambia, on the 21st of June. Pur- suing his journey towards the kingdom of Bambarra, he INTRODUCTION. IX saw the great object of his mission, the river Niger flowing towards the east. The incidents of travel, his sufferings and captivity among the Moors, with his descriptions of the manners and customs of the natives, form a narrative of the deepest interest. He returned to England at the end of 1797, and published his travels in 1799. In this publication he settled the question as to the direction of the Niger in the interior of Africa, having discovered it flowing to the east. He remained at home, practising as a surgeon in the town of Peebles till 1805, when he again accepted another offer from the African Association. This journey, as is well known, terminated fatally for him, when striving manfully to discover the termination of the Niger. Several interesting anecdotes regarding Mungo Park are told in Lockhart's Life of Sir Walter Scotiy which illustrate his character better than any mere verbal description. * On one occasion the traveller communicated to him (Scott) some verj' remarkable adventures which had befallen him in Africa, but which he had not recorded in his book. On Scott asking the cause of this silence, Mungo answered, " That in all cases where he had information to communi- cate, which he thought of importance to the public, he had stated the facts boldly, leaving it to his readers to give such credit to his statements as they might appear justly to deserve ; but that he would not shock their faith, or render his travels more marvellous, by introducing circum- stances which, however true, were of little or no moment, as they related solely to his own personal adventures and escapes." * Further, we read, — ' Calling one day at Fowl- shiels, not finding Park at home, Scott walked in search of him along the banks of the Yarrow, which, in that neighbourhood, passes over various ledges of rock, forming deep pools and eddies between them. Presently he dis- covered his friend standing alone on the bank, plunging one stone after another into the water, and watching anxiously the bubbles as they rose to the surface. " This," ifT X INTRODUCTION, said Scott, " appears but an idle amusement for one who has seen so much stirring adventure ?" " Not so idle, perhaps, as you suppose," answered Mungo ; " this was the manner in which I used to ascertain the depth of a river in Africa before I ventured to cross it, judging whether the attempt would be safe, by the time the bubbles of air took to ascend." * We are told further : * When about to quit his country for the last time, Park paid Scott a farewell visit, and slept at Ashestiel. Next morning his host accompanied him home- wards over the wild chain of hills between the Tweed and the Yarrow. Park talked much of his new scheme, and mentioned his determination to tell his family that he had some business for a day or two in Edinburgh, and send them his blessing from thence, without returning to take leave. He had married, not long before, a pretty and amiable woman, and when they reached the Williamhope ridge^ "the autumnal mist floating heavily and slowly down the valley of the Yarrow," presented to Scott's imagination " a striking emblem of the troubled and uncertain prospect which his undertaking afforded." He remained, however, unshaken, and at length they reached the spot at which they had agreed to separate. A small ditch divided the moor from the road, and, in going over it. Park's horse stumbled, and nearly fell. *I am afraid, Mungo,' said the Sheriff, * that is a bad omen.' To which he answered, smiling, * Freits (omens) follow those who look to them.' With this expression, Mungo struck the spurs into his horse, and Scott never saw him again.* The name of David Livingstone, the greatest of all explorers, has now become a household word throughout the length and breadth of the land. In a familiarity and popularity of this kind, there is an aptness to overlook the homely, sincere, and earnest elements which go to make up such a character. Something more wonderful is half INTRODUCTION. XI expected than this simple manly greatness. An out- line of his more important discoveries has been given at the end of the volume. * His position among explorers/ says a contemporary journalist, * is that of Shakespeare among dramatists ; Bruce, Mungo Park, Cailli6, Denham, Clapperton, and the Landers ; Barth, Rohlfs, and Nachti- gal ; Burton, Speke, Baker, and Schweinfurth ; all these illustrious men made campaigns in Central Africa, but Livingstone spent nearly thirty years of his life in that country, and nearly twenty in active exploration. Other travellers have died in Africa ; he did more, he lived in it. Like the Romans, he inhabited the countries which he conquered. . . . Livingstone has rendered it impos- sible that there should be such another as himself. His actual discoveries have laid bare a continent to view ; but it is impossible to estimate the precise value of that impulse which he has given to the cause of exploration in Europe and America.' The facts in his early life, though familiar enough, have an undying interest to the student of biography. David Livingstone was born at Blantyre, in Lanarkshire, on the 19th of March 181 3. His father, Neil Livingstone, who was of Highland extraction, had been upwards of thirty years settled at Blantyre, working in the linen factories, ( when he married Agnes Hunter, a young woman in his own position of life. Three sons and two daughters blessed this union. We are granted a glimpse in his Missionary Travels of part of the mental food at least which perhaps in lieu of the much condemned modern novel, widened the area of their young imaginings. He remarks, regarding the traditionary legends told by his grandfather, — * His memory was stored with a never-ending stock of stories, many of which were wonderfully like those I have since heard while sitting by the African evening fires. Our grandmother too used to sing Gaelic songs, some of which, as she believed, had been composed by captive Highlanders xu INTRODUCTION, languishing among the Turks/ His father's narrow cir- cumstances necessitated his being sent, in 1823, when but ten years of age, to the mill as * piecer,' where he was employed, with the exception of the intervals for breakfast and dinner, from six o'clock in the morning until eight at night. Despite these adverse circumstances, he managed to pick up a good knowledge of Latin ; his general reading embraced books of travel and scientific works, classical reli- gious works, and, more than all, the Bible. He had a habit of fixing upon the spinning-jenny the book he was read- ing, so that his eye could catch the sentences as he passed in his work. Though his work hours were from six in the morning till eight o'clock in the evening, yet he managed in his limited leisure, amongst other studies, to make himself thoroughly acquainted with the scenery, botany, and geology of his native district. Eighteen hours out of the twenty-four were thus very often given up to toil and self-improvement. At nineteen he was promoted to the more laborious toil of a cotton-spinner. The wages he now received enabled him to attend the medical and other classes in Glasgow University, walking to and from his father's house, a distance of about nine miles. When about sixteen years of age, under awakened religious feeling, he had been inspired with a .strong desire to be- come a missionary in China. When he was at last admitted a member of the Faculty of Physicians, he wrote afterwards, — * It was with unfeigned delight I became a member of a profession which is pre-eminently devoted to practical benevolence, and which with unwearied energy pursues from age to age its endeavours to lessen human woe.' In 1840, after a preliminary examination and training, he was ordained as a Medical Missionary by the London Missionary Society. He sailed for the Cape, where, after a brief stay, he landed at Port Natal, and soon afterwards made personal acquaintance at Kuruman with the Rev. INTROD UCTION, ••• xm Robert Moflfat, whose daughter he afterwards married. His subsequent triumphs are briefly chronicled at the conclusion of this volume. How great had been these triumphs nearly twenty years ago, is shown in the words of Sir Roderick Murchison, spoken shortly after his return in 1856. *He had travelled over no less than 11,000 miles of African territory. ... By his astronomical observations he had determined the sites of numerous places, hills, rivers, and lakes, nearly all of which had been hitherto unknown, while he had seized upon every opportunity of describing the physical features, clima- tology, and geological structure of the countries which he had explored, and had pointed out many new sources of commerce as yet unknown to the scope and the enter- prise of the British merchant.' Livingstone wished to make complete work of the exploration of the sources of the Nile, and death found him busy at his task. The details of his death are familiar to most readers, and so we give them in their briefest form. He was making for a mound to the west of Lake Bangweolo, from which rose four rivers, two of which, flowing north, formed the Lualaba. Soon after leaving Unanyemb^ he began to suffer from a complaint which occasioned loss of blood, and weakened him much. Throughout the wearisome journey, up till the end of April, his strength rapidly de- clined, when he expired at Ilala, in a hut built by his faithful servants Susi and Chuma, on May i, 1873. His body was brought with difficulty by his faithful followers to the coast, whence it was shipped to this country, where it arrived, at Southampton, on the i6th of April 1874. It was conveyed through the streets of Southampton in solemn procession, and taken by special train to London. On the 1 8th his remains were interred in the central nave of Westminster Abbey with all the distinction and honour which such an unselflsh aad heroic life demanded ixovci his countrymen. XIV INTRODUCTION. A memorial tablet, with the following inscription, now marks the spot in Westminster Abbey where the remains of Dr. Livingstone are deposited : — * Brought by faithful hands over land and sea, here rests David Livingstone, missionary, traveller, philanthropist. Born March 19, 181 3 ; died May i, 1873, at Chitambo's village, Ulala. For thirty years his life was spent in an unwearied effort to evangelise the native races, to explore the undis- covered secrets, to abolish the desolating slave-trade of Central Africa, and where, with his last words, he wrote : — " AH I can add in my solitude is, may Heaven's rich blessing come down on every one — American, English, or Turk — ^who will help to heal this open sore of the world." * On each side of the tablet are also the following inscrip- tions : — * Tantus amor veri, nihil est quod noscere malim, quam fluvii causas per saecula tanta latentes ; ' and ' Other sheep I have which are not of this fold ; them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice.* M 1 CONTENTS. VAGS PREFACE, iii INTRODUCTION . v ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS, «7 MANDEVILLE'S TRAVELS, The Prologue, 4> CHAPTER I. The way out of England to Constantinople — Cross and Crown of our Lord Jesus Christ— The daughter of Ypocras transformed from a woman to a dragon, . . 43 CHAPTER II. Of the many names of Sultans, and of the tower of Babylon, ..... 46 CHAPTER III. Of the desert between the Church of St. Catherine and Jerusalem— How roses first came into the world— Of the temple of our Lord — Mount Sion, ... - S* CHAPTER IV. ^Of the Dead Sea, and of the River Jordan— Of the province of Galilee— Of the age of our Lady— Of the City of Damascus— The way to Jerusalem by land, . . S9 CHAPTER V. fHow the Sultan discoursed to me the author of this book— Of Mohammed— Of Albania and of Libya— Of Noah's ship— Of the land of Job, and of his age— Of the array of men of Chaldea— Of the knowledge and virtues of the true diamond, ., 6s CHAPTER VI. Of the customs of Isles about India— Of the Judgments made by St Thomas— Of the evil customs in the isle of Lamary— How the earth and the sea are of round form— Of the trees that bear meal, honey, wine, and venom, .... j% CHAPTER VII. < How men know by an idol if the sick shall die or not— Of the great Chan of Cathay —Wherefore he is called the great Chan— Of the realm of Thairse and the lands «nd kingdoms towards the north parts, in coming down fiwm the land of Cathay, 79 •I I'l.i 1 ! ! XVI CONTENTS. CHAPTER VIII. PAGE Of the Emperor of Persia, and of the land of darkness, and of other kingdoms that belong to the great Chan of Cathay— Of the coiutries and islands beyond the land of Cathay— Of the devil's head in the perilous valley— Of the hills of gold that ants keep— Of the four streams that come from terrestrial Paradise, . , 84 CHAPTER IX. Of the Customs of Kings and others that dwell in the isles bordering on Prester John's Land, ..«. »•. !••••• 93 BRUCE' S TRAVELS, Chap. I. Introdactoty, ^ II. From Sidon to Kenn^, ,•••. log III. From Kenn< to Cocseir, ..•••,,.,., 133 IV. From Cosseir to Masuah, • • . 243 V. Reddeace and transactions at Masuah, ..•.,.... 159 VI. Journey from Arkeeko to Adowa, .>••..... 169 VII. From Adowa to Gondar, , 181 VIII. Residence at Gondar, * . . 198 IX. Division of Abysania— Manners and Customs of the Inhabitants, . . . 315 X. Made Governor of Ras el Feel— Skirmish between the army of Fasil and Ras Michael, 3^ XI. Arrival at the Fountains of the Nile, 266 I XII. The return from Geesh to Gondar, . 390 XIII. From Gondar to Sennaar, . . . . ... . • . 318 XIV. Four months in Sennaar, 338 XV. From Sennaar to Chendi, , . 3^9 XVI. From Chendi to Syene, .357 XVII. Return homewards through Egypt, and arrival at Marseilles, . . . 3^4 LIFE AND TRAVELS OF MUNGO PARK, CHAPTERS I. TO XXVI., ....... ^ . . 386-574 NARRATIVE OF SECOND TRAVELS IN AFRICA*. . . . . . 575 RECENT AFRICAN DISCOVERY SUBSEQUENT TO PARK, AND DOWN TO DR. LIVINGSTONE'S DEATH, , . ... 583 PACB ingdonu that ■ beyond the i hilla of gold idise, . . 84 i on Prester 02 Fasil and 97 log »33 »43 »59 169 181 198 244 366 ago 318 338 349 357 374 K 386-574 575 X-, AND 583 < •*• II..- THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS. ' Th* only thing in th$ world that is left yet undone, whereby a natal .-< miitd Might be made/uMous and /ortunate.'—FKOBisHEK. The earliest Arctic Explorers on record are said to have been the hardy Norsemen, who visited the coasts of Greenland, New- foundland, and several parts of the American coasts, in the ninth and tenth centuries. A colony is said to have settled in Iceland, and in the district between Boston and New York, about the latter period. Some relics of their existence, in the shape of standing stones carved with Runic inscriptions, were discovered in the vicinity of Baffin's Bay in 1824. Their intercourse with Europe is sup- posed to have closed about 1406, owing to extraordinary accumu- lations of ice on their coasts. Towards the end of the four- teenth century the Zeni, two Venetian navigators, voyaged to the north and brought home a record of their discoveries. Sailing through the Straits of Gibraltar, Nicolo Zeni arrived at the Faroe Isles in 1380, and was made commander of the fleet by Zichmi, their earl. He visited Greenland and Iceland, describing the volcano and boiling spring in the latter. His brother succeeded him at his death, and on hm voyage of discovery to the westward he discovered Newfoundland and the coast of America, and found the remains of the Norman colonies. England was then beginning to be distinguished in the school of brave and intrepid mariners, when John Cabot, a Venetian, arrived and settled in Bristol in the reign of Henry VII. A patent was granted him on March 5th, 1496, by this king, to go in search of unknown lands, and to conquer and settle them. Of Sebastian, one of Cabot's three sons, we alone know anything with certainty. He is said to have landed at Labrador eighteen months be- fore Columbus saw the main- land of tropical America. He B i8 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. thought of a voyage to the Pole, and sailed up to 67 J° of north latitude. Under the presence and influence of Sebastian Ca- bot, an expedition was under- taken in 1553, for the discovery of a north-east passage to Ca- thay. Sir Hugh Willoughby was appointed captain-general of the three ships set apart for this ex- pedition. The result of this voyage was most disastrous, as the brave captain and his crew miserably perished from the effects of cold and hunger on a barren and uninhabited part of the eastern coast of Lapland. The ships and dead bodies of those who perished were dis- covered in the following year by some fishermen. Chancelor, in the Edward Bonaventura, with Stephen Burrough, the cele- brated navigator, had better fortune, reaching Wardhuys in Norway, and afterwards jour- neying to the Russian Court at Moscow, where the then Czar of Russia sanctioned the trade between thj two countries. We have not space here to give the details of Russian exploration, but to them is assigned the dis- covery of the shores of the Polar Ocean, from Behring's Straits to Novaya Zemlya. Stephen Bur- rough, with a view of sailing round the coast of Asia, went out in the Speedthrift in 1556, and discovered the south coast of Nova Zembla across the inter- vening channel, when ice and easterly winds prevented further progress. Pet and Jackman made a like attempt in 1580, Jackman and his crew perished, Pet returned home in safety. The endeavour to find a north- west passage to the eastern world, next began to engage the mind of Martin Frobisher, a mariner of great experience and ability. He said, *It was the only thing of the world that was left yet undone whereby a notable mind might be made famous and fortunate.' In 1576, by the patronage of Dud- ley, Earl of Warwick, he was enabled to fit out two small vessels for the voyage. On the nth of July he sighted the southern coast of Greenland, but was compelled by the float- ing ice to make for Labrador. Having discovered the entrance to Hudson's Strait, and explored that still known as Frobisher's, and one of the entrances to Hudson's Bay, he returned to England, having failed to get farther westward. He brought with him an Esquimaux; terming the whole race, whom the> had at first mistaken for porpoises or strange fish, * strange infi deles, whose like was never seen, read, nor heard of before.' * He arrived on the 2d of Oc- tober, "highly commended of all men for his great and notable attempt, but specially famous for the great hope he brought of the passage to Cathaia." One of his seamen chanced to bring home with him a stone, as a memorial of his voyage to those distant countries, report- ing that it contained a con- siderable quantity of gold. AR CTIC EX PL OR A TJONS. 19 Thus the hope of finding gold became the incentive to distant voyages and geographical re- searches. The Queen now openly favoured the enterprise ; and Frobisher again departed, in May 1577, with three ships, one of which was equipped by her Majesty. He sagaciously observed, that the ice which encumbers the northern seas must be formed in the sounds, or inland near the pole, and that the main sea never freezes. He steered for the strait where his preceding voyage had ter- minated, and sought the spot where the supposed gold ore had been picked up, but could not find on the whole island " a piece so big as a walnut." On the neighbouring islands, how- ever, the ore was found in large quantities. In their examina- tion of Frobisher's Strait, they were unable to establish a paci- fic intercourse with the natives. Two women were seized; of whom one, being old and ugly, was thought to be a devil or a witch, and was consequently dismissed. As gold, and not discovery, was the avowed ob- ject of this voyage, our adven- turers occupied themselves in providing a cargo, and actually got on board almost 200 tons of the glittering mineral which they believed to be ore. When the lading was completed, they set sail homewards ; and though the ships were dispersed by violent storms, they all arrived safely in different ports of England.' * Success seems to have de- serted Frobisher after his first voyage, which alone indeed had discovery for its object. When the sanguine expectations to which he had given birth were disappointed, his voyages were looked upon as a total failure ; and he appears himself for a time to have fallen into neglect. But in 1585 he served with Sir Francis Drake in the West Indies; three years later he commanded one of the largest ships of the fleet which defeated the Spanish armada ; and his gallant conduct on that trying occasion procured him the honour of knighthood.* ' Frobisher's zeal in the pur- suit of north-western discoveries is supposed to have been fostered by the writings of Sir Humphrey Gilbert, a gentleman of brilliant talents and romantic temper. When we contemplate the early discoveries of the Spaniards and Portuguese, we see needy adventurers, and men of desperate character and fortune pursuing gain or licen- tiousness with violence and bloodshed. But the English navigators who, in the reign of Elizabeth, sought to extend our knowledge of the globe, were men of a different stamp, and driven forward by motives of a more honourable nature. They undertook the most difficult navigations through seas per- petually agitated by storms and encumbered with ice, in vessels of the most frail construction and of small burthen ; they en- to THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. Humphrey's famous trea- and he fre- "^ countered all the difficulties and distresses of a rigorous climate, and, in most cases, with a very distant or with no prospect of ultimate pecuniary advantage. Sir Humphrey Gil- bert was one of those gallant spirits, who engaged in the career of discovery chiefly from the love of fame and thirst of achievement. *In demonstration of the ^existence of a north-west pas- sage, he published a treatise in 1576, entitled "A Discourse of a Discoverie for a new pas- sage to Cataia." 'Much of Sir reasoning in this tise is unsound, quently displays that childlike credulity which was so marked a feature of the character of the Elizabethan heroes ; but, on the whole, his views are those of a statesman ; and in singu- larly perspicuous language he expresses philosophical ideas of the loftiest order, which, in our own day, have been espoused and illustrated by our greatest minds. The concluding words are of a very noble spirit. As we read them, we feel they could only have been penned by a man of chivalrous nature and high aspirations ; and when we remember his sorrow- ful end, we can hardly divest ourselves of the feeling that they were in some measure prophetic : — '"Hereafter," he says, "I desire the reader never to mis- like with me for the taking in hand of any laudable and honest enterprise ; for if through pleasure or idleness we purchase slaves, the pleasure vanisheth, but the shame remaineth for ever. And therefore, give me leave, without offence, always to live and die in this mind, that he is not worthy to live at all, that, for fear, or danger of death, shunneth his country's service and his own honour; seeing death is inevitable^ and the fame of virtue immortal. Wherefore, in this behalf, mutare vel timero sperno (I scorn either to change or fear)." * In 1 5 7 8 he obtained a patent authorizing him to undertake western discoveries, and to pos- sess lands unsettled by Christian princes or their subjects. The grant in the patent was made perpetual, but was at the same time declared void unless acted upon within six years. In com- pliance with this condition Sir Humphrey prepared, in 1583, to take possession of the northern parts of America and Newfoundland. In the same year Queen Elizabeth conferred on his younger brother, Adrian Gilbert, the privilege of making discoveries of a passage to China and the Moluccas, by the north-westward, north-east- ward, or northward ; directing the company, of which he was the head, to be incorporated by the name of "The colleagues of the fellowship for the discov- ery of the north-west passage." ^ The fleet of Sir Humphrey consisted of five ships, of dif- ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS. 21 ferent burthens, from lo to 200 tons, in which were embarked about 260 men, including ship- wrights, masons, smiths, and carpenters, besides " mineral men and refiners ; " and for the amusement of the crew, " and allurement of the savages, they were provided of music in good variety, not omitting the least toyes, as morrice dancers, hobby horses, and Maylike conceits, to delight the savage people, whom they intended to- win by all fair means possible." This litde fleet reached Newfound- land on the 30th of July. It is noticed, that at this early period, "the Portugals and French chiefly have a notable trade of fishing on the Newfoundland bank, where there are some- times more than a hundred sail of ships." * On entering St. John's, pos- session was taken in the Queen's name of the harbour and 200 leagues every way; parcels of land were granted out ; but the attention of the general was chiefly directed to the discovery of the precious metalsv 'The colony being thus ap- parently establi^ed. Sir Hum- phrey Gilbert embarked in his small frigate, the Squirrel, which was, in fact, a. miserable bark of ten tons ; and, taking with him two other ships, pro- ceeded on a voyage of discovery to the southward. One of these vessels, the Delight, was soon after wrecked among the shoals near Sable Island ; and of above 100 men on board, only twelve escaped. Among those who perished were the historian and the mineralogist of the expedition, a circum- stance which preyed upon the mind of Sir Humphrey, whose ardent temper fondly cherished the hope of fame and of inestimable riches. He now determined to return to Eng- land, but as his little frigate, as she \% called, appeared wholly unfit to proceed on such a voyage, he was entreated not to venture in her, but to take his passage in the Golden Hinde. To these solicitations the gallant knight replied, " I will not forsake my little com- pany going homeward, with whom I have passed so many storms and perils." When the two vessels had passed the Azores, Sir Humphrey's frigate was observed to be nearly over- whelmed by a. great sea : she recovered, however, the stroke of the w-aves.; and immediately afterwards the general was ob- served^, by those in the Hinde, sitting abaft with a. book in his hand, and calling out, "Courage, my lads ! we are as near heaven by sea as by land." The same night this little bark, and all within her, were swallowed up in the sea, and never more heard of. Such was the unfor- tunate end of the brave Sir Humphrey Gilbert, who may be regarded as the father of the western colonization, and who was one of the chief ornaments of the most chivalrous age of English history.' da THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. If Hi ;, Longfellow has told the story of Sir Humphrey Gilbert very beautifully and simply in verse : ' Eastward from Campobello Sir Humphrey Gilbert sailed ; Three days or more seaward he bore, Then, alas I the land-wind failed. Alas I the land-wind failed, Artd ice-cold grew the night ; And never more, on sea or shore. Should Sir Humphrey see the light. He sat upon the deck. The Book was in his hand ; " Do not fear ! Heaven is as near," He said, "by water as by land 1 " ' * The zeal and ability exerted by Frobisher in the cause of north-western discovery was foiled, as we have seen, by the vain pursuit of the precious metals. The ill success of the recent voyages restored specu- lation to its legitimate pursuit ; and it was now resolved to de- spatch an expedition of which discovery should be the sole object. * The merchants of London, being satisfied " of the likelihood of the discovery of the north- west passage," fitted out two small barks, the one of fifty, the other of thirty-five tons, which they intrusted to the command of John Davis, an expert and courageous seaman. He sailed on his first voyage from Dartmouth on the 7th of June 1585, and by this and two other voyages which he made, he discovered the strait which still bears his name, he opened the way to Baffin's Bay and the Polar Sea, and also surveyed a considerable extent of the Greenland coast.' ^ 1 Maritime and Inland Discovery, vol. ii. Towards the close of the sixteenth century, the spirit for commercial adventure made rapid progress in Holland, and various companies were formed to promote the interest of traffic. With the individuals composing them, some members of the Dutch Government were asso- ciated, who, by their power and influence, could accomplish what was denied to the exertions of simple merchants. But the desire of new discoveries being conjoined with mercantile enter- prise, led to the foundation of colonies in remote regions of the world, which vied for cen- turies with the flourishing estab- lishments originating from the island of Britain. Sensible of the great advantages that would result from shortening the voy- age from Europe to the distant climates of the east, the Dutch were at an early period occupied in searching for a passage by the north, which, according to the geographical opinions pre- vailing in that age, would con- duct their fleets to China, Japan, and other places in half the usual time. Though their at- tempts in this respect ultimately proved abortive, they were not void of utility, and led to the voyages by William Barentz, 1594-96. The third expedition set sail at an earlier period than the two preceding had done, and by the ist of June had reached so high a latitude that they had no night. On the 9th he arrived at Bear (afterwards called Cherry) Island^ where AR CTIC EXPL OR A TIONS. n the Dutch killed a bear whose skin measured twelve feet in length. Ten days afterwards they discovered land to the eait- ward, and found by observation they were in latitude 80° 11'. This is unquestionably the first discovery of Spitzbergen. The Dutch were surprised to find that this northern land was covered with good herbage, and supplied with herds of deer, while Nova Zembla, four de- grees to the south, was a bleak and barren desert. Here also they found a multitude of red geese, such as visit some parts of Holland in the winter, but of which, as our author says, *it was never known till this time where they hatched their eggs ; so that some men have taken upon them to write that they sit upon trees in Scotland that hang over the water, and such eggs as fall from them down into the water become young geese, and swim there out of the water; but those that fall upon the land burst in sunder and are lost.* Thus the fable of the barnacles was supposed to be for the first time experimentally refuted. 'From Spitzbergen the two ships steered south-west till they arrived at Bear Island : and here they agreed to part company; Jan Cornelis wishing to exa- mine the east coast of Spitz- bergen, while Barentz hoped to find the passage to the eastward in a lower parallel. He steered accordingly for Nova Zembla, where by the first week in Au- gust he had reached the lati- tude of 77°. But strong winds from the east opposing his pro- gress, he was obliged to make fast the ship to an immense ice- berg, which soon after burst into innumerable fragments with a sudden explosion. Being forced to return, they reached with difficulty Icehaven, in lat. 73" 50', on the 26th, and here the ice which had beset them in the voyage immediately closed them up. The unhappy crew, now reduced to seventeen persons, found themselves under the ne- cessity of passing the winter in this dreary and inhospitable spot. Luckily for them, the drift-wood on the shore was sufficiently abundant to supply them with fuel and with the materials for a house. They calmly pre- pared to meet the difficulties of their situation ; and the jour- nal of their sufferings is rendered doubly interesting by their pa- tience and resignation. It is difficult to conceive, and impos- sible to describe in adequate language, the feeUngs of men thus doomed to an abode of darkness, desolation, and intense cold, where bears and foxes are the only inhabitants of the for- lorn scene. On the 4th of November the last rays of the sun forsook them, and the cold increased until it became al- most too intense for endurance. Their wine and beer were frozen and deprived of their strength. By means of great fires, of apply- ing heated stones to their feet, and wrapping themselves in double fox-skin coats, they were «4 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. i just able to keep themselves from being frozen. But in searching for drift-wood they were obliged to endure acute pain and to brave imminent dan- ger. They were also frequently attacked by bears, which fear- lessly assaulted their wooden hut. But they found means to kill some of those animals, the fat of which they used for their lamps. It is remarkable, that when the sun disappeared the bears also took their departure, and then the white foxes came in great numbers. These ani- mals, which served at once for food and clothing, were easily taken by traps set on the roof of the house. 'When the 19th of Decem- ber arrived, these unhappy men derived comfort from the con- sideration that the season of darkness had half expired, and that with the return of the sun they would find new resources and means of preservation. Their spirits were not so far sunk as to prevent them from celebrating Twelfth-eve with an extra allowance of wine and with games. The gunner was made king of Nova Zembla, "which is at least 200 miles long, and lyeth between two seas." At length the joyful moment arrived. On the 27 th of January the entire disc of the sun was visible abv. ve the hori- zon, to the surprise of Barentz, who did not exptc-- its appear- ance for fourteen days to come. But the calculation of Barentz \as undoubtedly erroneous ; while, on the other hand, the narrative cannot be easily ex- plained; for, under ordinary circumstances of refraction, the appearance of the sun would seem to have been premature by seven or eight days. The appearance of the northern limb of the sun above the horizon on the 24th of January, in lat. 76° N., supposes a refraction of nearly three degrees. With the light of the sun the bears also returned. The weather grew more boisterous and inclement, so that it was June before they could set about repairing their two boats : for the ship was too much injured by the ice to be again refitted by their feeble exertions. On the 13th of that month they prepared to quit their wretched abode; but Barentz first drew up in writing, and left in the wooden hut, a list of their names, with an account of their misfortunes, and a description of what had befallen them while residing there. They then left Icy Haven in two small boats. But Barentz, enfeebled by sick- ness and anxiety, was unable to profit from the gleam of hope which now broke in upon them. He died on the 26th, to the great affliction of the crew, who placed unbounded confidence in his skill and experience. There are many instances on record of long voyages per- formed through the ocean in open boats ; but perhaps there is not one of so extraordinary a character as the present, in which two small boats ventured ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS. «S to cross the frozen ocean, more than 1 1 CO miles, continually threatened by masses of float- ing ice, liable to the attack of bears, and exposed for upwards of forty days to the extremities of cold, famine, sickness,, and fatigue. At length the ex- hausted crews arrived at Cola, where they found three Dutch ships, in which they embarked, and reached the Maes in safety in October 1597/^ The failure in the attempt to find a navigable path to the Indies by a north-east or north- west passage, led to a resolution on the part of the London merchants to explore a new route, and to seek a passage directly across the North. Pole. For this daring enterprise they chose Henry Hudson, a cour- ageous and intrepid seaman. He sailed from Gravesend on the I St of May 1607, in a small bark, with a crew of only ten men and a boy. Reaching Spitzbergen, he was so much incommoded by ice, that he bore up in his little bask home- wards, arriving in the Thames on the 15th September. He made a second voyage in another year, agdn attempt- ing to find a north-eastern passage to China, but met with no better success than any of the previous expeditions. Somewhere between Nova Zambia and what was called Cherry Island, two of the mariners declared they saw a mermaid. *She was close 1 Maritime and Inland Discovtryi vol. ii. to the ship's side, looking earnestly on the men.' * From the navill upwards her backe and breasts were like a woman's, her body as big as one of us ; her skin very white, and long haire hanging downe behind, of colour blacke.' Hudson made his third and last voyage in 1610, this time being sent to the north-west. On the first week of June, Hud- son arrived at Fiobisher's Straits, and persisting in a westerly course arrived at the north-west point of Labrador, which he named Cape Wolsten- holm, and descrying a cluster of islands to the north-west, he named the nearest headland Cape Digges. The land open- ing to the south disclosed a great sea to view, which has since gone by the name of Hud- son's Bay. Here discontents began unhappily to appear among the crew, which took the form of a regular conspiracy on the 2 1 St of June, headed by one Green* The oath, Ms^ich was. admin- istered to each of the conspira- tors, was as follows : — * You shall swear truth to God, your prince and country ; you shall do nothing but to the glory of God, and the good of the action in hand, and harm to no man.' And here, immediately afterwards, Hudson and his son, with seven others, were seized and bound> and with a very scanty supply of provisions, cast adrift in an open boat among the floating ice. They 26 r^^ ENGLISH EXPLORERS. \ I were never afterwards heard of. Green was shortly afterwards made captain, but perished with four others in a quarrel with the Esquimaux near Cape Digges. Those of the crew who survived were reduced to the most desperate extremities in the homeward voyage. Be- fore they made the coast of Ireland, they were compelled to eat their candles, and fry the skins and crushed bones of the fowls with vinegar. One of the mutineers died from absolute want. Arriving in the Bay of Galloway, they were carried in a fishing smack to Plymouth, when, strangely enough, none of them were brought to trial, but some of them were afterwards engaged in further explorations. Hudson's Bay was visited in the year following by Captain (afterwards Sir) Thomas Button, who finding it open to the westward, sailed in that direc- tion, but, checked by the long range of desolate coast running north and south, forming the western boundary of the Bay, he termed it Hopes Checked. He passed the winter of 1 6 1 2- 16 13 near the mouth of the present Nelson River, now one of the principal settlements of the Hudson's Bay Company. The explorations which they were enabled to make in the ensuing summer, couv^inced them it was useless to look for a western passage. In 16 15 another. attempt was made to- wards the discovery of this desired outlet. The Dis- covery was fitted out for the expedition, and Robert Bylot, who was accustomed to the navigation of these seas, was appointed master, and William Baffin, who wrote the account of the voyage, his mate. They sailed into and explored the vast bay now known as Baffin's Bay, which they thought to be land-locked, which was 800 miles long, and 300 wide. In latitude 76° a fair headland was seen, and then a goodly sound, called Cape Digges and Wol- stenholm Sound. Another sound, still more expansive, running to the north of 78°, was named after Sir Thomas Smith. Following the general direction of the coast, now west-south- west, and then south, they passed by an inlet, merging in a broader opening called Sir James Lancaster's Sound ; this was the channel leading into the Polar Ocean, with which Parry's name has been long identified. Between 1769-72 three over- land journeys had been under- taken by Mr. Hearne across the territories of the Hudson's Bay Company. In his last journey he had proved the existence of the Coppermine river. In September of the same year that Captain Parry was em- ployed in exploring a passage from Baffin's Bay to the Paci- fic, another expedition was de- spatched over land to ascertain the true position of the Copper- mine river, and the windings of the shore to the eastward of .it. .Lieutenant Franklin was ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS. 27 selected to command this ex- pedition, accompanied by Dr. Richardson, a gentleman well skilled in natural history ; with Mr. Hood, and Mr. Back, two midshipmen; and two English seamen. Franklin and his compan- ions embarked in the end of May 1 819, and arrived in safety at York Factory, on the shores of Hudson's Bay, on the 30th of August. The whole party were as- sembled at Fort Chippewayan; and on the i8th of July 1820 they set forward on their journey with hopes that, before the good season should expire, they might be able to establish themselves comfortably for the winter at the mouth of the Coppermine river, and, to em- ploy the whole of the following spring in the examination of the coast to the eastward. When they had got about 550 miles from Chippewayan, the Canadian hunters declared it would be impossible for them to proceed further, when on the bank of a river named Winter river, they constructed a house, and called it Fort Enterprise. Here they wintered while Mr. (since Sir George) Back re- turned to Chippewayan, to see after the baggage and neces- sary articles which had not yet arrived from the southward. This extraordinary journey was performed wholly on foot, in snow storms, over a distance of 1 104 miles, and in the depth of winter. It was June. 1.8 21 be- fore the ice was sufficiently broken in the Coppermine river to allow of its being navigated by canoes, and the 18th of July before they reached the sea at the mouth of the river. On the 21st of July, twenty people, of whom fifteen had never seen salt water, launched on the Polar Sea, in two frail bark canoes, with pro- visions for only fifteen days, and a voyage before them of indefinite extent. They fol- lowed the coast for two weeks, often pinched for want of food, till they came to what is now called Coronation Gulf, a dis- tance of 555 geographical miles. Here their distresses began to increase daily, and Captain Franklin found it absolutely necessary to return, making a land journey. On the fifth day of their journey, they were sur- prised by a heavy fall of snow, the harbinger of winter. Dur- ing a journey of three weeks, all the fresh meat that could be procured, amounted to only five days' consumption. The strength and spirits of the Canadians sank rapidly through want of food, and through reck- lessness induced by their de- spairing condition their two canoes were dashed to pieces, although they had yet to cross the Coppermine river. They reached the banks of the river on the 26th September, and after a delay of eight days managed to cross with extreme difficulty. The next stage of their jouraey was about to prove 38 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, \ ' I even more disastrous. They were within forty miles of Fort Enterprise, without food, and miserably reduced by toil, an- xiety, and privation. Mr. Back and three Canadians hastened forward in the hope of finding a band of hunters in the neigh- bourhood of Fort Enterprise. A few days afterwards Captain Franklin and seven of the party proceeded onward, leaving Dr. Richardson and Mr. Hood to take care of those who were unable to continue <:he march. They were within twenty-four miles of Fort Enterprise when this separation took place. Four of those who set out with Captain Franklin left him in the course of the journey, being unable to pro- ceed. Michel, an. Indian, alone returned to Dr. Richardson's party, the other three were heard of no more. When Captain Franklin reached the Fort on the 1 1 thy >?aving tasted no food for five days, he found it utterly deserted, with no provisions, and without trace of any living animal. He remained eighteen days thus, in a miserable and help- less condition, when on the 25tth October, Dr. Richardson and John Hepburn made their appearance, but without the remainder of the party. They brought the melancholy in- telligence that Mr. Hood and the Iroquois were both dead. Michel,, they had good reason to believe,, had shot Hood in a sullen or spiteful fit, and they in self-defence had put the Indian to death by a pistol- shot. On the 7 th November relief came to them at last, sent from Mr. Back by three Indians. The Indians cleaned the house, and attended the famished tra- vellers with a kindness, it is said, that would have done hon- our to most civilized people. In about a week afterwards they were able to set out for Fort Chippewayan, where they remained until June in the year following. Proceeding to the nearest of the company's posts, they met with their companion Mr. Back, to whom they were so much indebted for their pre- servation and the ultimate suc- cess of their expedition. And so terminated a journey which had occupied over three years, and which extended to 5500 miles. The coast, running northward, had been followed to Cape Tumagain in lat. 68J°, making, it evident, if a north- west passage did exist, it must be found beyond that limit. A better equipped expedition was undertaken by Franklin and Richardson to the same region in 1825. Descending the Mac- kenzie river to the Polar Ocean, a large extent of coast westward from its mouth was explored, and the whole space examined east- ward to the Coppermine, while Captain Beechy, sailing in the Blossom frigate through Beh- ring's Strait, had very nearly connected himself with the over- land expedition. Both these expeditions were fruitful in. scientific results. A A CTIC EXPLORATIONS. »9 series of magnetV- bser- ations were commenced \m soi . observations record jd on t e Aurora Borealis. L, Richar '- son delivered a course of lectures, too, on practical geology, with regard to the new country. Mr. Drummond, one of the party, who passed a whole winter alone at the foot of the Rocky Moun- tains, in a hut erected by himself, had collected 1500 specimens of plants, and 200 birds and quadrupeds, besides insects. The cold experienced by Frank- lin's party at Fort Enterprise is said to have been more severe than that felt by Parry in Mel- ville Island, much nearer the Pole. The trees in the neigh- bourhood were frozen to their very centre, any attempts to fell them only resulted in the break- ing of the axe. Fogs were of very frequent occurrence, en- veloping both earth and ocean in deepest gloom. Parhelion mock-suns sometimes shone at different quarters of the firma- ment, and in winter when the sun disappeared, the Aurora Borealis with its vivid light lighted up the northern sky. A reward of ;£ 2 0,000 had been offered by Parliament in 1743 to any one who should sail to the north-west by way of Hud- son's Strait. Captain Cook sailed in 1776 on this well- known but fatal expedition. His instructions were to attempt the passage of the icy sea from Behring's Strait to Baffin's Bay. A further reward of ;^5ooo had been added to the former grant. which was now inr^'de 'any northern passa ' >r ships, provided they sh. ' ;et within onr degree of the -le. The far poir his em. .entnavi- ga could each was 70 45' bey. id Ic Cape, where he found the ice stretching in a compact mass to the opposite continent, to which he also sailed, going as far as Cape North on the coast of Asia. Some notions of the success of his expedition seem to have been entertained at the time, as a vessel in charge of Lieutenant Pickersgill had been sent to wait for him at Baffin's Bay. In 1 8 18, at the close of the long Continental war, two ex- peditions were again fitted out, for the purpose of passing from the Atlantic to the Pacific by the north of America. The fact that whales breaking loose after being struck in the Green- land waters, had been -captured in Behring'-s Strait with the harpoons adhering to them, and also that at that particular time the northern waters were re- ported as remarkably free from ice, had great weight with the Admiralty, and the Council of the Royal Society. Accord- singly the Isabella, under Cap- tain Ross, and the Alexander, commanded by Lieutenant Parry, were fitted out to follow up, if possible, this line of com- munication, and form another attempt at a solution of a north- west passage. The ships put to sea on the iSth of April 1 8 18. They found the ice t ^o THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. *<(' ^i 1' abundant on their arrival at the western coast of Greenland, and Ihey were told by the governor of one of the Danish settle- ments there, that he found the winters were growing uniformly more severe. The commander made the round of Baffin's Bay, and confirmed the general ac- curacy of the old navigator's delineation of it, but owing to the evident carelessness or want of hope on the part of Captain Ross, several inlets, such as Wolstenholm Sound, Sir Thomas Smith's Sound, and Lancaster Sound, were either very imper- fectly or superficially surveyed. Ross, when sailing up Lancas- ter Sound, while the sea was comparatively free from ice, extremely deep, and its tem- perature increased, and with every prospect of a good voyage westward, suddenly made a signal to tack about. He ex- plained as the reason of this sudden resolution, that he had seen land stretching across the inlet at a distance of eight leagues. To some ignorant and degraded natives on the northern shores of Greenland, Ross gave the name of Arctic Highlanders. They received from them some fragments of meteoric iron. But one of the strangest spectacles they wit- nessed on the voyage was a range of cliffs 600 feet high, and eight miles in length, covered with snow of a deep red colour, which, when thawed, looked like muddy port wine. A portion was brought home for analysis, when it was found that the rednes: was occa- sioned by the presence of a multitude of minute crypto- gamic plants, which vegetate in the severest veather, and penetrate to a ^leat depth in the snow. The Admiralfv in iSiSalso despatched C; tain Buchan and Lieutenant ; ranklin in the Dorothea and the Trent, who reached 80° 34', when they were stopped by ice. A narrative of the voyage, which added little to previous information, was written by Captain Beechy. Lieutenant Parry, who had sailed with Captain Ross, but dissented from him with regard to the impracticability of the north-west passage, was placed in command of the Hecla and Griper for another expedition, which left the Nore on the nth May 181 9, and made the en- trance of Lancaster Sound on the 30th July. * The hope of finding a north- west passage rested chiefly on their success in this part of their mission. They crowded all sail, while a fresh easterly breeze carried them rapidly to the westward. " It is more easy to imagine than describe," says Captain Parry, " the almost breathless anxiety which was now visible in every counten- ance, while, as the breeze in- creased to a fresh gale, we ran quickly up the sound. The mast- heads were crowded by the offi- cers and men during the whole afternoon ; and an unconcerned AR CTIC EX PL OR A TIONS. 31 observer, if any could have been unconcerned on such an occa- sion, would have been amused by tiie eagerness with which the various reports from the crow's nest were received : all, however, hitherto favourable to our most sanguine hopes." Before night they had passed the limits explored in the last voyage, and yet could discern no land in the direction of their progress. They had R ached the longitude of 83 12' ; and the two shores of the passage, as far as could be dis- cerned, were observed to con- tinue full fifty miles asunder. Thus the expedition proceeded rapidly to the westward. The sea was deep, had the colour of the ocean, with a long swell rolling from the south and east, and was perfectly free from ice. Our navigators began to flatter themselves that they had actu- ally reached the Polar Sea ; but their joy received some check from discovering land ahead. This proved to be only a small island; but the ice stretching between it and the northern shore disturbed their hopes of proceeding to the west' 'On advancing a little far- ther their difficulties increased. The passage was studded with small islands, the water was shoal, the ice more trouble- some, and fogs frequent. They still, however, continued to pro- ceed to the westward along the shore of a large island named Bathurst Island.^ ' As our navigators pro- ceeded towards the west, to the farthest extreme of another large island which they named Melville Island^ the difficulties which they had to encounter from ice and foggy weather continually increased ; out on the 4th of September they suc- ceeded in passing the meridian of 1 10° west longitude, by which they became entitled to the first sum in the scale of rewards granted by Parliament, namely ;^5ooo. A projecting point of land in this place was named from the circumstance Bounty Cape. A good roadstead, dis- covered at no great distance, was named the Bay of the Hecla and Griper: here the ensigns and pendants were hoisted ; "and it created in us," says Captain Parry, "no ordinary feelings of pleasure to see the British flag waving for the first time in these regions, which had been hitherto considered beyond the limits of the habi- table world." ' *0n their first arrival in Winter Harbour, parties were sent out to hunt, and found abundance of grouse and rein- deer ; but these animals had all migrated from Melville Islantl before the end of October, foxes and wolves alone remain- ing through the winter. During the severest season no bears were seen, and one solitary seal was all that appeared. These sports, however, were not with- out their danger : some of the men who neglected the neces- sary precautions were severely 32 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. ih ■■l^ frost-bitten ; and the torpor and suspension of the mental facul- ties produced by extreme cold, and resembling the effects of intoxication, were often percep- tible in the hunting parties. * To amuse the men Captain Parry and his officers got up a play, the first performance tak- ing place oh the 6th of Novem- ber, the day on which the sun sank below the horizon, not to rise again for three tedious months. The sailors were de- lighted with the performance, and characteristically testified their applause by three hearty cheers. The active minds of the oflScers needing more strenuous employment, they engaged in the composition of a Christmas piece, in which reference was made to the situation of the ships, and the service on which they were en- gaged. They also contributed to a weekly newspaper, entitled The North Georgia Gazette and Winter Chronicle^ of which Captain Sabine undertook the editorship. This gazette, con- sisting of one-and-twenty num- bers, and deriving interest from the circumstances under which it was written, was printed on the return of the expedition. The dramatic performances being observed to be particularly suc- cessful in exhilarating the men, and also affording them em- ployment in fitting up the theatre, and afterwards taking it to pieces, were repeated once every fortnight during the dark season.' 'Notwithstanding the inten- sity of the cold and the dark- ness, the officers generally rambled a little on shore every day ; and they experienced no inconvenience, although the thermometer was from 30° to 500 below zero, provided there was no wind; but the least breath of air stirring made the cold intolerable, even when the thermometer was above zero. But these walks afforded no amusement; the dreary same- ness of the scene, the torpid stillness and deathlike silence, were calculated to inspire no feelings but those of melan- choly. ' On the 7th of February, the full orb of the sun was visible above the horizon : this was the signal for making a show of preparations to leave this gloomy abode, though the officers were well aware that many tedious months must pass over before they could be free from their icy prison. 'On the 24th, the observa- tory constructed on shore was discovered to be on fire. All hands instantly went to work to extinguish the flames, by heap- ing snow upon them ; the ther- mometer, at this time, was 44° below zero, or 76° below the freezing point. The men's faces at the fire presented a singular spectacle : almost every nose and cheek was frost-bitten, and became quite white in five min- utes after being exposed to the weather; so that the medical men, with some others appointed ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS, 33 to assist them, were obliged to go constantly round while the men were working at the fire, and to rub with snow the parts affected in order to restore ani- mation. Captain Sabine's ser- vant, in his anxiety to save the dippingneedle from the observa- tory, ran out without his gloves ; his fingers, in consequence, were so completely frozen that, his hands being plunged into a basin of cold water, the surface was immediately covered with a cake of ice from the in- tensity of the cold thus com- municated to it ; but animation could not be restored in this instance, and it was found ne- cessary to resort to amputation. ' As the cold relaxed, the ice which had for some time lined the ship's side began to melt. The middle of April arrived without any perceptible thaw; but on the 30th, the tempera- ture of the atmosphere under- went a remarkable change, the thermometer rising to the freez- ing point, or, as in this climate it might be termed more pro- perly, the thawing point. Ani- mation began now to spread through the surrounding scene. The first ptarmigan made its appearance on the 12 th of May, and the day after were seen the tracks of rein-deer and musk oxen bending their course to the north. Thus their migration takes place in the first fine weather after the return of con- stant daylight. These symp- toms and intimations of their approaching liberation were viewed with delight by our navigators ; but a shower of rain, which fell on the 24th of May, created in them even feelings of surprise ; " we being so unaccustomed," says Cap- tain Parry, " to :^ ee water natur- ally in a fluid state at all, and much less to see it fall from the heavens, that such an occur- rence became a matter of con- siderable curiosity, and I be- lieve every person on board hastened upon deck to witness so interesting as well as novel a phenomenon." On the istof June, Captain Parry with some of the officers commenced an excursion into the interior of Melville Island. They reached its northern extremity without perceiving any land farther to the northward or the westward. On their return from this jour- ney, which employed fifteen days, they found the vegetation round Winter Harbour shooting forth with wonderful vigour, and the ice was covered with innu- merable pools of water; the purple flower of a species of saxifrage imparted beauty and gayness to a scene hitherto dreary in the extreme. By the middle of July, the thermo- meter stood as high as from 56° to 60°; and at length, on the first day of August, the ships were able to effect their escape from Winter Harbour ; but the immense quantity of floating ice with which the strait was beset rendered '^heir progress ex- tremely difficult. They had to face dangers which ships less C i i f\ m THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, strong, or men less resolute, vigilant, and skilful, could not have escaped from. They still stmggled to proceed towards the west, but all their efforts were of no avail to get beyond the south-west extremity of Melville Island ; and on the i6th of Au- gust the attempt was given up as impracticable. The farthest point which the expedition reached in the Polar Sea was in latitude 74' 26' 25", and longi- tude 113*' 46' 43". * On leaving Sir James Lan- caster's Sound, the ships stood southward along the western shore of Baffin's Bay, with the view of surveying a coast but little known, and imperfectly seen in the former expedition. It was found to be indented with numerous deep bays or in- lets : in one of these, about the lat. of 70° 22', a tribe of Esqui- maux was met with, of whom Captain Parry says, " Upon the whole, these people may be considered as in possession of every necessary of life, as well as most of the comforts and con- veniences which can be enjoyed in so rude a state of society." On the 26th of September the ice was seen for the last time, and about the middle of November the ships arrived in the Thames. The crews returned with unim- paired health, after an absence of nearly eighteen months from their native country.' * In May 182 1 Captain Parry was sent out in the Hecla and Fury a second time, it being 1 Maritime and Inland Discovery, vol. iii. thought that the north-west pas- sage might be effected in a lower latitude than Melville Island, where the sea was freer from ice, and thus proceed westward. During the two winters in which they were out, the lands on the north-eastern side of Hudson's Bay were explored, and their desolate character and their de- tachment from the American continent was demonstrated. They failed, however, in the ultimate object of their mission. A third voyage, undertaken in 1824-5, ^^^ '^ot succeed any better. This time they pro- ceeded by way of Lancaster Sound, and wintered at Port Bowen in Prince Regent's Inlet, which they intended to explore. The accumulations of ice, how- ever, rendered it impossible for them to advance, and the Fury was driven ashore and rendered useless, most of the stores being saved and piled up on the beach. The barrels of beef, beer, bis- cuit, sugar, and other prov''"ions, escaped the notice of the Esqui- maux, and thirty years after- wards proved of service to the searchers for Franklin. The Hecla returned to Eng- land with a double crew on board, and although one of the least successful of all Parry's voyages, yet they gained an acquaintance with the fact that the consequent loss of power in the compasses, in the Polar re- gions, might be neutralized. This was effected by a contrivance due to Mr. Peter Barlow, Green- wich, by simply placing a small ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS. 35 circularplate of iron in the lineof the direction of the ship, which kept it in working condition. The plan proposed by Frank- lin and Scoresby, of reaching the North Pole by sailing to the ice-fields, and proceeding thence over the frozen surface of the ocean in sledges drawn by rein- deer or dogs, which had failed in the hands of Captain Buchan in 1818, was taken up by Sir Edward Parry in 1827, on re- turning from his third voyage. This was the last enterprise undertaken by this distinguished navigator. He sailed for Spitz- bergen in the Hecla, calling on the way at Hammerfest, to take on board a number of reindeer which were to be employed in drawing the two boats built ex- pressly for the service, and fitted \vith sledge runners. With ex- traordinary difficulty they made the latitude of 82° 40', the highest ever attained, and about 500 miles from the Pole. Here the southerly drifts of the ice- fields hindered their progress northwards, and they were com- pelled, though reluctantly, to return, and repair to the ship, having, on their reckoning, tra- versed 292 miles, but which, owing to the difficult march over the ice-fields, and the southerly drift of the ire, they found amounted to at least: 580 geo- graphical miles. The next expedition with the north-west passage in view, was equipped by the munificence of Sir Felix Booth, and conduct- ed by Captain Ross, and his nephew,Commander (afterwards Sir James) Ross. They sailed in May 1829 in the Victory, and after enduring miserable hardships during the four win- ters which they passed in these northern regions, they were picked up in August 1833 by a whaler and conveyed to Eng- land. The northern sea-board of the American continent to- wards the eastern extremity was traced for the first time during this voyage. A peninsula, the most northerly portion of the land, was named Boothia Felix, after the patron of the expedi- tion, and was more completely explored afterwards by Captain Back, Messrs. Dease and Simp- son, officers in the service of the Hudson's Bay Company. One interesting discovery was made in the course of this voy- age, — namely, that of the north magnetic pole on the land of Boothia. This was accom- plished by Commander James Ross, in one of his exploring excursions on ist June 1831. The amount of the dip of the magnetic needle was here 89° 59', only one minute less than 90°, the vertical position, which would have indicated the Polar station exactly. A caim of stones was raised on the spot to mark such an important position, but which was found to be entirely razed to the ground when visited by M'Clin- tock in February 1859. Another important attempt at the solution of the north-west passage was undertaken by Go> Is I S>l |i|| ^f 36 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. P rl W |r !- ■ vemment, though contrary to the wishes and judgment of many at the time. Sir John Franklin was placed in com- mand of the ships Erebus and Terror, with directions to push directly westward from Melville Island to Behring's Strait, with- out any deviation to north or south, unless for sutlicient rea- son, and if he should reach the Pacific, he might refit at the Sandwich Islands and return by way of Cape Horn. They sailed in May 1845, with Cap- tain Crozier in command of the Terror, with an aggregate crew of 138 individuals. They were all picked men, ready to brave hardship and danger. Fitz- james, the captain of the Erebus, had served in India and China, and was specially commissioned to take charge of the magnetic observations. The first lieutenant Gore had been with the Terror in 1836, under Sir George Back, to the north of Hudson's Bay. Fair- holme, the third lieutenant, had been in the expedition to the Niger, and Osmer, the purser, had accompanied Captain Beechy to Behring's Strait. They left Sheerness on the 26th of May 1845, and on the 4th June, while off the Orkney Islands, parted company with their two attendant steamers Rattler and Blazer, and on the nth and nth the ships were off the south of Iceland. They soon after entered Davis Straits, where the temperature very sen- sibly decreased. In a letter written from Disco Bay, Green- land, to Colonel Sabine, Frank- lin stated that the ships were supplied with three years' pro- visions. The letter concluded thus : — * I hope my dear wife and daughter will not be over- anxious if we should not return by the day they have fixed upon; and I must beg of you to give them the benefit of your ad- vice and experience when that arrives ; for you know well, that even after a second winter, with- out success in our object, we should wish to try some other channel, if the state of our pro- visions and the health of our crews justify it.' The ships were spoken with on the 2 2d by Captain Martin of Peter- head, in the Enterprise, a whaler, in latitude 75° 10', longitude 66°, weather calm. A few days later they were seen by Cap- tain Dannett of the Prince of Wales whaler, moored to an iceberg, and waiting an open- ing in the middle ice of Baffin's Bay, to cross through it to Lan- caster Sound. For fourteen years after this, the fate of the 'missing expedition' was a source of interest and specula- tion to the whole civilized world. Between 1848 and 1853 more than thirty vessels had been despatched on the search after Franklin, at a cost to the country of about one million sterling. The enterprise was also liberally supported by pri- vate individuals, both in this country and in America. On the 4th of May 1850, an ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS. 37 expedition, under the command of Captain Austin, C.B., sailed in search of Sir John Franklin. The expedition, consisting of four ships, was locked in the ice between the islands of Corn- wallis and Griffiths from 24th September till nth August 185 1, arrived off Woolwich on the 7 th of October, after an absence from England of about eighteen months. During their confinement in the ice, a little manuscript newspaper, contain- ing contributions from the com- manders, officers, and men of the expedition, was published on the 15 th of every month, under the title of The Aurora Borealis. These interesting contributions were afterwards published in one volume, under the title of Arctic Miscellanies. In 1850 the existence of the passage between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans was con- clusively established by Cap- tain M'Clure. Having win- tered at Prince Albert's Land, he started with a party from the ship on the 2Tst of October, and on the 26th reached the shores of Barrow's Strait. In 1854 Dr. Rae returned with some relics of the missing expe- dition, and the information that forty of them had died of star- vation in 1 850. This quickened public interest, but nothing con- clusive was done till 1857. In the summer of that year, Cap- tain M'Clintock sailed on the search expedition, in the Fox, a yacht purchased and equipped by private liberality. The Fox sailed from Aberdeen, on the I St of July 1857 ; but being be- set by the pack ice in Baffin's Bay, they were imprisoned eight months in it, and drifted nearly 1200 geographical miles. The second winter was spent in a harbour at the eastern entrance of Bellot Strait. In February 1859, in the course of a sledging tour, he came upon traces of the unfortunates, and his further ex- plorations gave conclusive proof about Franklin's fate. In the middle of April they found out from the account given them by the natives, that two ships had been seen, one of which sunk in deep water, and the other was forced on shore by the ice and broken up by the natives. The body of a man of large size was found inside one of the vessels. It was said to be in the fall of the year, August or Septerr- ber, that the ships were de- stroyed, the crews having pre- viously gone away to the large river, where their bones were found on the following winter. Captain M'Clintock pro- ceeded towards the Great Fish River, while Lieutenant Hobson directed his course to the west coast of King William's Island, each with a sledge, dogs, and men. Buttons, medals, and silver-plate were purchased from the Esquimaux, the latter bearing the crests or initials of those who had been connected with the Franklin expedition. An old woman said that many of the white people * fell down m 38 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. .. ^ h: m\V iWi! 1 !| i as they walked.' On the 24th May, as M'Clintock returned from Montreal Island, at the mouth of Fish River, they came upon a bleached human skele- ton lying on its face, with fragments of European cloth- ing around it. On the 30th May a boat was discovered containing two skeletons, and a considerable quantity of mis- cellaneous clothing. Two double-barrelled guns stood up- right against the side, exactly as they were placed eleven years before. A quantity of plate marked with the crests or initials of the different offi- cers was also found. A large cairn on Point Vic- tory was discovered by Lieu- tenant Hobson, which gave the most interesting and decisive information. Among the loose stones which had fallen from the top, a small tin case was found containing a document of much value. Round the cairn were scattered many mis- cellaneous articles of clothing, compasses, ship stores, etc. The paper found was one of those used for placing here and there on their journey to mark progress, and containing a print- ed request for the finder to send it to the nearest British Consul, or to the Admiralty in London. It was as follows : — ^MayiZ^ 1847. — H.M. ships Erebus and Terror wintered in the ice in lat. 70° 5' n., long. 98° 23' w. * Having wintered in 1846-7 (a mistake for 1845-6) at Beechy Island, in lat. 74° 43' 28" n., long. 91° 39' 15" w., after hav- ing ascended Wellington Chan- nel to lat 77°, and returned by the west side of Cornwallis Island. * • 'Sir John Franklin com- manding the expedition. * All well. * Party consisting of 2 offi- cers and six men left the ships on Monday, 24 May 1847. • G. M. Gore, Lieut. Chas. F. Des. Voeux, Mate.' On the margin of this paper the following was written : — 'April 2^, 1848.— H.M. Ter- ror and Erebus were deserted on the 2 2d April, 5 leagues N.N.w. of this, having been beset since 12 September 1846. The officers and crews, consisting of 105 souls, under the command of Capt. F. R. M. Crozier, landed here in lat. 69" 37' 42" N., long. 98° 41' w. Sir John Frankhn died on the nth June 1847 ; and the total loss by deaths in the expedition has been to this date 9 officers and 15 men. (Signed) F. R. M. Crozier, Cap. and Sen. Officer. „ Jas. Fitzjames, Do. H.M. Ship Erebus. * And start on to-morrow, 26th, for Back's Fish River.* The rest may be briefly told. After having been surrounded by the ice for over nineteen months, the ships were aban- doned by their hopeless crews ; one was crushed and sank, ac- cording to native reports, and the other proved a source of ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS. 3^ plunder for the Esquimaux. The Fox having thus accomplished lier mission, returned to Eng- land, and reached the Thames on the 23d September 1859. In support of the idea of open water to the northward, Dr. Kane's steward, Morton, saw at the farthest point reached by him at Smith's Sound, an open Polar sea, refulgent with north- em sunshine. Dr. Hayes, in the schooner United States, accomplished the most northerly land everreached, in lat. 8i° 35'. Parry on the ice had advanced to 82° 45'. One of the results of his journey was to confirm the theory that the Polar Sea is open during a part of the season. In 1868 a Prus- sian expedition made the lati- tude of 81° 5', and long. 16° e., when they were stopped by ice and forced to return. A Swedish expedition in the same summer reached lat. 81° 42' andlong. 1 7° 30' E. A German Polar expedi- tion of 1869-70 yielded many in- teresting results, the crew of the steamer Germania enduring heroically many hardships and perils. Some of the results were a survey of East Spitzber- gen in 1870; a sledge- journey along the east coast of Green- land northwards, and the ex- plorations of Franz Joseph Fjord, in lat. 73° 8', and of East Greenland in 1870. Next we have the unfortunate Polaris expedition under Captain Hall, which sailed from New York on the 29th June 187 1, and, making for Smith's Sound, reached lat. 82° x6'; next to Parry, the most northerly point which has been gained. Here the ice prevented further pro- gress ; they drifted southward, and Captain Hall died on the 8th November. Under Mr. Buddington, the sailing- master, two boat expeditions were undertaken, reaching lat. 82° 5', when they returned and started on their homeward voy- age. But the Polaris, beset with ice, was forced out of the water on her beam-ends, and, while engaged in landing stores, she broke adrift, leaving ten men, two Esquimaux, their two wives, and five children, on the ice. These nineteen persons floated on the ice for nearly seven months, till they were picked up by the Tigress and carried to New York. Those who had been on board the Polaris brought her on shore on the 1 6th October, and, building a hut, passed the winter; when endeavouring to escape in two boats which they had built out of the materials of the vessel, they were picked up by a pass- ing whaler, and finally landed in Dundee on the 19th Septem- ber 1873. In connexion with the pos- sible biological results of the Arctic expedition accomplished by the Polaris, the northern limit actually reached was 82° 16'. Yet at this extreme lati- tude fifteen species of plants were collected, five of which were grasses. Twenty-six musk oxen were shot in lat. 81° 38'. 40 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. Dr. Bessels also made a fair collection of insects, principally flies and beetles, two or three butterflies and mosquitos ; and birds of seventeen different kinds were shot in lat. 82°, in- cluding two Sabine gulls and an Iceland snipe. An Austro-Hungarian expe- dition, under Lieutenants Payer and Weyprecht, sailed from Tromso in 1872. They have reported the discovery of exten- sive territory, which is thought to be a prolongation of the Spitzbergen archipelago, and is at least as large as Spitzbergen itself. FranzJosephLandis the name given to this discovery. The sledge parties reached a point from which they saw land stretching to 83° n. This land is similar to North -Eastern Greenland in formation, but in- ferior in vegetation, and its most northerly point has been called Cape Vienna. The Polar Ocean is thought to be always naviga- ble in summer, and the follow- ing picture is given of the pic- turesque side of these regions: — * Before us was the dark sea, with its icebergs resting upon it like pearls. Heavy clouds hung down from above, through which the sun's rays shone straight on the glittering water. Just above the sun was a second, fainter sun, and the ice-covered moun- tains of Prince Rudolph Land stood out with a rosy glow from the undulating mists.* It has been stated on good authority, that from the earliest Polar researches of the Cabots, at the close of the fifteenth cen- tury, to the vo)'age of M'Clin- tock, there have been nearly one hundred and thirty northern expeditions, about which over two hundred and fifty volumes and printed documents have been issued. The money ex- pended in these expeditions must have amounted to several millions sterling. England has again come to the front, and a Government Polar expedition under Captain Nares of H.M. ship Challenger, with A. H. Markham, R.N., in second command, may be ex- pected to sail in the summer of 1875, when the ice has been broken at the entrance to Smith's Sound. The region to which the expedition is bound is well described as ' the home of the walrus, seal, and bear, unin- habited by man, a stranger al- most to flower and tree, whose forest giant is the dwarf birch, a tree thirteen inches in height, the resting-place of iceberg and floe, the seat of land which is wrapped in a mantle of frozen water, and of seas whose soli- dity equals that of the rocks — a spot on which, for four months, the sun never shines, where the cold freezes the mercury, and the thermometer in March re- gisters 70° below zero — such is the place to which two exploring ships, manned by gallant and daring crews, are bound for the honour of their country and the enlightenment of the world.' Regarding the perils and pleasures attending Arctic ex- ARCTIC EXPLORATIONS. \ 41 ploration, Mr. C. R. Markham, in speaking of the passage through Melville Bay, in his Threshold of the Unknown Re- gionSy says, — * Exploring vessels have passed through the ice of Melville Bay thirty-eight times, and not one has been lost. A good nip merely causes a little " pleasurable excitement." The weird beauty of the scenery, the wonderful effects of refraction round the horizon, the bright:- ness of ice, and sea, and sky, the cutting of docks, and blast- ing and charging of floes, all combine to render the Melville Bay detention a most enjoyable and exhilarating time. There may be seen those stupendous icebergs, which are among the most sublime of nature's works, with their brilliant emerald and sapphire tints ; there the ma- jestic movements of irresistible floes may be watched, and that still grander sight when a nip causes the formation of a long ridge of ice-hummocks, and huge blocks are raised one upon the other amidst a loud grinding moan.' In November 1874 the an- nouncement was made that Her Majesty's Government ' had de- termined to lose no time in organising a suitable expedition to explore the region of the North Pole.' Accordingly, the 'Alert,' a steam sloop of 751 tons burden and 100 horse- power, and the * Discovery,' 556 tons burden and 96 horse- power, were fitted out with the most modern appliances, under the command of Captain Nares, and, with their complete equip- ment, sailed from Portsmouth Harbour on the 29th May 1875. After a long and bois- terous passage, the region of ice was reached on the 27th of June. After innumerable diffi- culties Captain Nares had the satisfaction of reporting, on Sep- tember I St, 1876, that the * Alert' had been carried into 82° 24' N., a higher latitude than any ship had ever before attained. The results of the various sledging expeditions were such as to convince him * that, owing to the absence of land trending to the northward, and the Polar pack not being navigable, no ship could be carried north on either side of Smith Sound beyond the posi- tion we had already attained ; and also, that from any attain- able position in Smith Sound, it was impossible to advance nearer the Pole by sledges.' In October the vessels returned to British waters, having appar- ently demonstrated that the Polar Ocean is not * open sea ; ' his sledges had reached a point within 400 miles of the Pole, and this expedition has other- wise added largely to our know- ledge of the Arctic regions. Ml »; m I! THE BOOK OF SIR JOHN MANDEVILLE. THE PROLOGUE.' I' i1 I !li i| Forasmuch as the land be- yond the sea, that is to say, the Holy Land, which men call the land of promise or of behest, passing all other lands, is the most worthy land, most excel- lent, and lady and sovereign of all other lands, and is blessed and hallowed of the precious body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ ; in the which land it pleased him to take flesh and blood of the Virgin Mary, to environ that Holy Land with his blessed feet ; and there he would of his blessedness shadow him in the said blessed and glorious Virgin Mary, and become man, and work many miracles, and preach and teach the faith, and the law of Chris- tian men unto his children ; and then it pleased him to suffer many reprovings and scorns for us ; and he that was King of heaven, of air, of earth, of sea, and of all things that be contained in them, would only be called King of that land when he said, / am King of 1 The space at our disposal here, and the fabulous nature of much of the narrative, has led to a re-arrangement and some considerable abridgments, while it is believed all the more generally interesting, scientific, or historical parts have been retained. 4ii the Jews; and that land he chose before all other lands, as the best and most worthy land, and the most virtuous land of all the world : for it is the heart and middle of all the world ; witnessing the philosopher that saith thus : the virtue of things is in the middle ; and in that land he would lead his life and suffer passion and death of Jews for us ; for to buy and deliver us from pains of hell, and from death without end; the which was ordained for us, for the sin of our former father Adam, and for our own sins also : for as for himself he had deserved no evil. For he thought never evil, nor did evil : and he that was King of glory and of joy might best in that place suffer death, because he chose in that land, rather than in any other, there to suffer his passion and his death : for he that will publish anything to make it openly known, he will make it to be cried and pro- claimed in the middle place of a MANDEVILLE. 43 town, so that the thing that is pro- claimed and pronounced may equally reach to all parts, — rightly so, lie that was former of all the world, would suffer for us at Jerusalem, that is the middle of the world, to that end and in- tent that his passion and his death that was published there might be known even to all the parts of the world. . . . Wherefore every good Chris- tian man, that is of power, and hath whereof, should labour with all his strength to conquer our right heritage, and drive out all the unbelieving men. For we are called Christian men after Christ our Father. And if we be right children of Christ, we ought to claim the heritage that our Father /left us, and take it out of heathen men's hands. But now, pride, covet- ousness, and envy have so in- flamed the hearts of worldly lords, that they are busier to disinherit their neighbours, than to claim or conquer their right heritage aforesaid. And the common people that would put their bodies and their goods to conquer our heritage, may do it without the lords. For an assembly of people without a chieftain, or a chief lord, is as a flock of sheep without a shepherd, the which departeth and disperseth, and know never whither to go. But would God that the temporal lords and all worldly lords were at good accord, and with the common people would take this holy voyage over the sea I Then I believe confidently that, within a little time, our right heritage aforesaid should be recovered and put in the hands of the right heirs of Jesus Christ. And forasmuch as it is long time past that there was no general passage or voyage over the sea, and many men desiring to hear speak of the Holy Land, and have thereof great solace and comfort, I, John Mande- ville, knight, albeit I be not worthy, who was born in Eng- land, in the town of Saint Albans, passed the sea in the year of our Lord Jesus Christ 1322, on the day of St. Michael ; and hitherto have been a long time over the sea, and have seen and gone through many divers lands, and many pro- vinces and kingdoms, and isles, and have passed through Tar- tary, Persia, Armenia, the little and the great ; through Libya, Chaldea, and a great part of Ethiopia, through Amazonia, India the Less, and the Greater, a great part, ?nd throughout many other isles that are about India, where dwell many divers folks, and of divers manners and laws, and of divers shapes of men. - . CHAPTER I. The way out of England to Constantinople- Cross and Crown of our Lord Jesus Christ — The daughter of Ypocras trans- formed from a woman to a dragon. In the name of God, glorious and Almighty. He that will pass »' '¥-'■ 44 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. L I I ■III over the sea to go to the city of Jerusalem, may go many ways, both by sea and land. [If a man comes from the ' west side of the world, he may go through Germany, Hungary, to the land of Pannonia, and so to Silesia. At Constantinople, formerly called Byzanthium, there is the fairest and noblest church in the world, that of St. Sophia. Before the church is the image of the Emperor Jus- tinian, who sits crowned upon a horse. Formerly he held an apple of gold in his hand; it has now fallen off, says our tra- veller, a token that he hath lost a great part of his lands and lord- ships. This apple betokened the lordship he had over the world, which is round, and the other hand he lifts up towards the east, in token to menace the misdoers.* Many wonder- ful relics are said to lie at Constantinople, such as the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, his coat without seams, and the sponge and the reed with which the Jews gave our Lord vinegar and gall on the cross ; and one of the nails with which Christ was nailed to the cross. This cross is described as made of four kinds of wood; the upright beam was of cypress, the cross piece palm, the stock that stood within the earth of cedar, and the table: on which was written the inscription was made of olive. The crown which was placed on the brow of our Lord is said to be white thorn, * therefor- hath white thorn many virtues, for he that beareth a branch thereof no thunder or tempest may hurt him, and no evil spirit may enter in the house in which it is.' We are also told that the bodies of St. Anne, our Lady's mother, St. Chrysostom, and St. Luke, all lie at Constan- tinople. The palace of the emperor is described as very handsome and well built, with a fair place for joustings, or for other plays and sports, made with stages, beneath which were the emperor's stables, well vaulted, all the pillars being of marble. The Christians of the Greek Church say that the Holy Ghost may not come of the Son, but only of the Father. They do not acknowledge the authority of the Pope, and when Pope John XXII. sent letters to them, asking their obedience, they re- plied thus : * We believe well that thy power is great upon thy subjects. We may not suffer thy great pride. We are not in purpose to fulfil thy great covetousness. The Lord be with thee, for our Lord is with us. Farewell.'] [Those who would go to Jeru- salem through Turkey, go to- wards the city of Nice and pass through the gate of Chienetout. And if by water, by way of the islands of Sylo, Patmos ; thence to Ephesus, from Ephesus to the city of Patera on an island, by the isles of Colos and of Lango (Cos), Rhodes, and Cy- prus, and from Cyprus to the haven of Tyre.] MANDE VILLE. 45 Some men say that in the isle of Lango* is still the daugh- ter of Ypocras, in form and likeness of a great dragon, which is a hundred fathoms in length, as they say, for I have not seen her. And they of the isles call her lady of the land. And she lies in an old castle, in a cave, and appears twice or thrice in the year ; and she doth no harm to any man unless he do her harm. She was thus changed and transformed from a fair damsel into the likeness of a dragon by a goddess named Diana; and they say that she shall remain in that form until the time that a knight come, who shall be so bold that he dare come to her and kiss her on the mouth; and then she shall turn again to her own nature, and be a woman again, but after that she shall not live long. And it is. not long since a knight of Rhodes, who was bold and doughty in arms, said that he would kiss her; when he was upon his courser and went to the castle, and entered into the cave, the dragon lifted up her head towards him, and when the knight saw her in that form, so hideous and horrible, he fled away. But the dragon carried the knight upon a rock, and from thence she cast him into the sea, and so was lost both horse and man. A young man that knew not of the dra- gon, went out of a ship, and proceeded through the isle un- til he came to the castle and - Cos, where Hippocrates was bom. entered the cave, and went so far that he found a chamber: and there he saw a damsel who was combing her head and looking in a mirror, and she had much treasure about her, and he believed that she had been a common woman, who dwelled there to receive men to folly ; and he abode till the damsel saw the shadow of him in the mirror, and she turned her towards him and asked him what he would? And he said, he would be her paramour. And she asked him if he were a knight 1 And he said, nay. And then she said, that he might not be her leman ; but she bid him go again unto his fellows and get him knighted, and come again upon the mor- row, and she would come out of the cave before him ; and then he should come and kiss her on the mouth, and have no fear, *for I shall do thee no harm, although thou see mc in likeness of a dragon ; for though thou see me hideous and hor- rible to look upon, know that it is made by enchantment. For without doubt I am no other than thou seest now, a woman, and therefore fear not ; and if thou kiss me, thou shalt have all this treasure, and be my lord, and lord also of all the isle.' And he departed from her and went to his fel- lows, in the ship, and was made a knight, and returned on the morrow to kiss this damsel. But when he saw her come out of the cave, in form of a dragon, so m 46 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, i) . .lU hideous and so horrible, he had so great fear that he fled again to the ship, and she followed him. And when she saw that he turned not again, she began to cry as a thing that had much sorrow, and then she returned to her cave ; and anon the knight died. And from that time to this might no knight see her, but he died anon. But when there shall come a knight who is bold enough to kiss her, he shall not die ; but he shall turn the damsel into her right form and natural shape, and he shall be lord of all the countries and isles abovesaid, [At Cyprus we are told there are many vines, which first pro- duce red wine, * and after one year they become white, and those wines that are most white are the clearest and best of smell.' In Cyprus, on the hill of the Holy Cross, an abbey of black monks pretended to have the cross of the good thief Dis- mas. Before Tyre we are told stood formerly the stone on which our Lord sat and preached, and over which was built the Church of St. Saviour. About the town of Jaffa, we have the following astonishing story : — ' And you shall understand that it is one of the oldest towns of the world, for it was founded before Noah's flood.. And there may still be seen in the rock there the place where the iron chains were fastened, wherewith Andromeda, a gre?t giant, was bound and put in prison, before Noah's flood; a rib of whose side, which is forty feet long, is still shown.* Those who go to the port of Tyre or Sur, might proceed by land to Jerusalem. It was one day's journey from Tyre to Acre, and from Akoun or Acre, four days' journey to Gaza, * a gay and rich city ; and it is very fair, and full of people, and is at a little distance from the sea.' From thence we go to the city of Cesarea, and so to the castle of Pilgrims, and so to Ascalon, and then to Jaffa, and so to Jerusalem.] CHAPTER II. Of the many names of Sultans, and of the Tower of Babylon. He who will go by land through the land of Babylonia, where the Sultan dwells commonly, he must get leave and grace of him to go more safely through the lands and countries. And after that they come out of Syria and enter a wilderness where the way is sandy; and that wilderness and desert lasts eight days. But men always find good inns and all they need of victuals. At Babylon there is a fair church of our Lady, where she dwelt seven years, when she fled out of the land of Judea for dread of King Herod. And there lieth the body of St. Bar- bara, the virgin and martyr. And there dwelt Joseph after he was sold by his brethren. The Sultan dwells in his Cala- MANDE VILLE. 47 helyke (for there is commonly his residence), in a fair castle, strong and great, and well set upon a rock. In that castle dwell always, to keep it and to serve the Sultan, more than 6000 persons, who receive here all necessaries from the Sultan's court. I ought to know it well, for I dwelt a great while with him as soldier in his wars against the Bedouins; and he would have married me full highly to a great prince's daughter if I would have forsaken my law and my belief. But I thank God I had no will to do it for anything that he promised me. And you shall understand that the Sultan is lord of five king- doms, that he hath conquered and taken possession of by strength; and these are their names : the kingdom of Cano- pac, that is Egypt ; and the kingdom of Jerusalem, where David and Solomon were kings ; and the kingdom of Syria, of which the city of Damascus was chief; and the kingdom of Aleppo, in the land of Mathe ; and the kingdom of Arabia, that belonged to one of the three kings who made offering to our I^ord when he was bom. And he holds many other lands in his hand. And therewithal he holds khalifs, which is a full great thing in their language, being as much as to say, kings. And there were wont to be five sultans, but now there is no more but he of Egypt. Now you must know that the Sultan can lead out of Egypt more than 20,000 men of arms ; and out of Syria, and Turkey, and other countries that he holds, he may raise more than 50,000. And all these are at his wages ; and they are always ready, besides the people of his country, who are without num ber. The Sultan has four wives, one Christian and three Sara- cens ; of whom one dwells at Jerusalem, another at Damas- cus, and another at Ascalon., And when they please they re- move to other cities ; and when the Sultan will he may go and visit them. And he has as many paramours as he pleases. You must understand that the Babylon of which I have spoken, where the Sultan dwells, is not that great Babylon where the diversity of languages was first made by the miracle of God, when the great Tower of Babel was begun, of which the walls were sixty-four furlongs high ," for that is in the great deserts^ of Arabia, on the way as men go toward the kingdom of Chal- dea. But it is full long since any man dare approach to the tower ; for it is all desert, and full of dragons and great ser- pents, and infested by divers venomous beasts. And from Babylon, where the Sultan dwells. to go right between the east and the north, towards the great Babylon, it is forty days across the desert. But the great Baby- lon is not in the land and power of the said Sultan, but in the power and lordship of the king of Persia, who holds it of the % 48 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. [iv I- great Chan, who is the greatest emperor and the most sovereign lord of all the parts beyond ; and he is lord of the isles of Cathay, and of many other isles, and of a great part of India. His land borders unto Prester John's land ; and he possesses so much land, that he knoweth not the end of it. The city of Mechou (Mecca), where Mohammed is buried, is also in the great desert of Arabia. His body lies there very hon- ourably in their temple, which the Saracens call Mosque. The realm of Arabia is a ytiy great country; but therein is over much desert, and no man may dwell there in that desert, for want of water, because the land is all gravelly and full of sand. Babylon is situated on the river Gyson, sometimes called the Nile, which comes out of terrestrial paradise. The river Nile, every year, when the sun enters the sign of Cancer, be- gins to increase, and continues increasing as long as the sun is in Cancer and in Leo. And when the sun is in the sign of Virgo, then begins the river to wane and decrease gradually, so that when the sun is entered into the sign of Libra, then they enter between these rivers. This river comes from our terres- trial paradise, between the de- serts of India ; and after it descends on the earth, and runs through many extensive countries under earth ; and after It comes out under a high hill, which they call Alothe, be- tween India and Ethiopia, at a distance of five months' jour- ney from the entrance of Ethio- pia, and after it environs all Ethiopia and Mauritania, and goes all along from the land of Egypt, to the city of Alexandria, to the end of Egypt, where it falls into the sea. About this river are many birds and fowls, as storks, which they call ibes. Egypt is a long country, but it is narrow, because they may not enlarge it towards the desert for want of water. And the country is situated along the river Nile; so that that river may serve, by floods or other- wise, that when it flows it may spread abroad through the country. The city of Cairo is very great, more extensive than that of Babylon the Less, and it is situated above towards the de- sert of Syria, a little above the river aforesaid. In Egypt there are two parts: Upper Egypt, which is towards Ethiopia, and Lower Egypt, which is towards Arabia. In Egypt is the land of Rameses and the land of Goshen. In Egypt is the city of Helio- polis, that is to say, the City of the Sun, in which there is a temple, made round, after the shape of the Temple of Jeru- salem. The priests of that temple have all their writings dated by the bird called Phoe- nix, of which there is but one in the world. It comes to bum itself on the altar of the temple at the end of five hundred years, ah" I next MANDEVILLE, 49 for so long it lives; and then the priests array their altar, and put thereon spices, and sulphur, and other things that will burn quickly, and the Phoenix comes an'' bums itself to ashes. The next day they find in the ashes a worm; and the second day after they find a bird, alive and perfect ; and the third day it flies away.* At Cairo they sell commonly in the market, as we do beasts, both men and women of a dif- ferent religion. And there is a common house in that city, which is all full of small fur- naces, to which the townswomen bring their eggs of hens, geese, and ducks to be put into the furnaces ; and they that keep that house cover them with horse-dung^ without hen, goose, or duck, or any other fowl, and at the end of three weeks . or a month they come again and take their chickens, and nourish them and bring them forth,, so that all th€ country is full .of them. And this they do there both winter and summer. They find there also the apple- tree of Adam, the fruit of which has a bite on one side. And there are also fig-trees which bear no leaves, but figs grow upon the small . branches ; and men call them figs of Pharaoh. Also near Cairo is the field where balm grows ; itv comes out on small trees that are no higher than the girdle of a man's breeches, and resemble the wood of the wild vine. And 1 Yx'ivci'iViXif^ Natural History. in that field are seven weU», which our Lord Jesus Christ made with one of his feet when he went to play . with other; children. Now I will speak- of another thing that is beyond Babylon, above the Nile, towards the de- sert, between Africa and Egypt ;. that is, . of the granaries of Joseph ^ that he caused/ to be made, to keep the grains against the dear years. They are made of stone, well made- by masons' craft ; two of them are marvel- lously great and high, the others are not so great. And each granary has a gate to enter within, a little above the earth ; for the land is wasted and fallen since the granaries were made. Within they are all full of ser- pents, and above the granaries without are many writings- in divers languages. And some men say that they are sepulchres of great lords, that were for- merly; but that is not true, for all the common rumour and speech of the people there, both far and near, is, that they are the granaries of Joseph ; and so find they in their writings and chronicles. Whoever will go to Babylon by another way, and shorter from the countries of the west^ he may go by France, Bur- gundy, £Uid Lombardy. It is not; necessary to tell you the names of the cities and towns in that way, fon the way is common and known to every body* ... Also in thatisle (Sicily) is Mount Etna>, ' The Pyramids. W:\ 50 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. Ml: J' 'U which men call Mount Gybell, and volcanoes, that are ever burning. And there are seven places which bum and cast out flames of divers colours ; and by the changing of those flames, men of that country know when it will be dearth or good time, or cold or hot, or moist or dry, or in all other manners how the time will vary. From Italy to the volcanoes is but twenty-five miles; and they say that the volcanoes are ways to hell. Also, for those who go by Pisa, there is an arm of the sea where men go to other havens in those parts, and then they pass by the Isle of Greaf, that is at Genoa ; and so they arrive in Greece at the port of the city of M)rrok, or at the port of Va- lone, or at the city of Duras (where there is a duke), or at other ports in those parts ; and so men go to Constantinople. And afterwards they go by water to the Isle of Crete, and to the Isle of Rhodes, and so to Cyprus, and so to Athens, and from thence to Constantinople. To hold the more direct way by sea, it is full one thousand eight hundred and eighty Lom- bard miles. And after, from Cyprus they go by sea, and leave Jerusalem and that coun- try on the left, and proceed to Egypt, and arrive at the city of Damiette, at the entrance of Egypt, whence they go to Alex- andria, which is also upon the sea. From Alexandria we go to Babylon, where the Sultan dwells, which is situated also on the river Nile; and this is the shortest way to go direct to Babylon. From Babylon to Mount Sinai, where St. Cathe- rine lieth, you must pass by the desert of Arabia, by which Moses led the people of Israel ; and then you pass the well which Moses made with his hand in the desert, when the people murmured because they found nothing to drink. And then you pass the well of Marah, of which the water was first bitter, but the children of Israel put therein a tree, and anon the water was sweet and good to drink. And then you go by the desert to the vale of Elim, in which vale are twelve wells; and there are seventy-two palm- trees that bear the dates which Moses found with the children of Israel. And from that valley is but a good day's journey to Mount Sinai. 'And those who will go by another way from Babylon go by the Red Sea, which is an arm of the ocean. There Moses passed with the children of Israel across the sea all dry, when Pharaoh, king of Egypt, pursued him. That sea is about six miles broad. That sea is not redder than other seas ; but in some places the gravel is red, and therefore they call it the Red Sea. That sea runs to the bordeis of Arabia and Palestine, its extent being more than four days. Then we go by desert to the vale of Elim, and thence to Mount Sinai. And you must know MANDE VILLE. 51 that by this desert no man may go on horseback, because there is neither meat for horses nor water to drink ; wherefore they pass that desert with camels. For the camel finds always food in trees and on bushes, and he can abstain from drink two or three days, which no horse can do. Mount Sinai is called the Desert of Sin, that is to say, the burning bush ; because there Moses saw our Lord God many times in form of fire burning upon that hill, and also in a burning bush, and spake to him. And that was at the foot of the hill. There is an abbey of monks well built, and well closed with gates of iron for fear of wild beasts. The monks are Arabians or Greeks ; and there is a great convent, and they are all as hermits, and drink no wine except on principal feasts ; they are very devout men, and live in poverty and simplicity on gourds and dates, and perform great abstinence and penance. Here is the church of St. Cathe- rine, in which are many lamps buming, for they have enough oil of olives both to bum in their lamps and to eat also, which plenty they have by God's miracle : for the ravens, crows, and choughs, and other fowls of that country, assemble there once every year, and fly thither as in pilgrimage ; and each brings a branch of bays or olive in its beak instead of offering, and leaves it there ; of which the monks make great plenty of oil ; and this is a great mar- vel. Beside the high altar raised on three steps, is the chest of alabaster containing the bones of St. Catherine, and the pre- late of the monks shows the relics to the pilgrims, and rubs the bones with an instrument of silver, whereupon there issues a little oil, as though it were a kind of sweating, which is neither like oil nor balm, but is very sweet of smell; and of that they give a little to the pilgrims, for there issues but a small quantity of the liquor. They next show the head of St. Catherine, and the cloth that she was wrapped in, which is still all bloody. And in that same cloth, so wrapped, the angels bore her body to Mount Sinai, and there they buried her with it. They also show the bush which burnt and was not consumed, in which our Lord spake to Moses ; and they have many other relics. From that abbey you go up the mountain of Moses by many steps ; and there is, first, a church of our Lady, where she met the monks ; and higher up the mountain is the chapel of Elijah the prophet, which place they call Horeb, whereof Holy Writ speaks, * And he went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights, unto Horeb, the mount of God.* And close by is the vine that St. John the Evangelist planted ; and a little above is the chapel of Moses, and the rock where it' -i: ( II .„ijl w i; ' Ir"' 1:1! 52 Z»'-£ ENGLISH EXPLORERS. Moses fled for dread when he saw our Lord face to face. And in that rock is imprinted the form of his body ; for he threw himself so strongly and so hard on that rock that all his body was buried into it, through the miracle of God. And near it is the place where our Lord gave to Moses the ten command- ments of the law. And under the rock is the cave where Moses dwelt when he fasted forty days and forty nif^hts. CHAPTER HI. Of the desert between the Church of St Catherine and Jerusalem — How k,>ses first came into the world — Of the temple of our Lord— Mount Sion. After people have visited these holy places, they pro- ceed towards Jerusalem, having taken leave of the monks and recommended themselves to their prayers. And then the monks give the pilgrims victuals to pass the desert towards Syria, which desert extends full thirteen days' journey. In that desert dwell many of the Arabians, who- are called Bedouins and Ascopardes, who are people full of all evil con- ditions, havirg no houses, but tents which they make of the skins of camels and other beasts that they eat They carry but one shield and one spear> with- out other arms; they wrap their heads and necks with a great quantity of white linen cloth ; and they are right felo- nious and foul, and of a cursed nature. When you pass this desertj on the way to Jerusalem, you come to Beersheba, which was formerly a very fair and plea- sant town of the Christians, some of whose churches still remain. From thence we go to the city of Hebron, a dis- tance of two good miles ; it was formerly called the Vale of Mamre, and sometimes the Vale of Tears, because Adam wept there a hundred years for the death of Abel, his son, whom Cain slew. Hebron was the principal city of the Philistines, and was inhabited sometime by giants. And it was a sacer- dotal city, that is, a sanctuary, of the tribe of JudsA ; and was so free, that all manner of fugi- tives from other places, for their evil deeds, were received there. In Hebron, Joshua, Calephe, and their company, came first to espy how they might win the Land of Promise. Here king David first reigned, seven years and a half; and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years and a half. In Hebron are all the sepulchres of the patriarchs, Adam, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and their wives, Eve, Sarah^ Rebekah, and Leah ; which sepulchres the Saracens keep very carefully, for they hold the place in great reverence, on account of the holy fathers, the patriarchs, that He there. Two miles from Hebron is the gr^.ve of Lot, Abraham's MANDEVILLE. S3 brother. And a little from Hebron is the mount of Mamre, from which the valley takes its name. From Hebron we proceed to Bethlehem, in half a day, for it is but five miles ; and it is a very fair way, by pkasant plains and woods. Bethlehem is a little city, long and narrow, and well walled, and on each side enclosed with good ditches. It was formerly called Ephrata, as Holy Writ says, * Lo, we heard it at Ephrata.' 1 And towards the east end of the city is a very fair and handsome church, with many towers, pinnacles, and corners strongly and curiously made ; and within are forty- four great and fair pillars of marble. And between the city and the church is the Field Floridusy that is to say, the field flourished ; for a fair maiden was blamed with wrong, and slandered, that she had committed fornication, for which cause she was condemned to be burnt in that place ; and as the fire began to burn about her, she made her prayers to our Lord, that as truly as she was not guilty, he would by his merciful grace help her, and make it known to all men. And when she had thus said, she entered into the fire, and immediately the fire was ex- tinguished, and the fagots that were burning became red rose- bushes, and those that were not kindled became white rose- bushes, full of roses. And ' Psalm cxxxii. 6. these were the first rose-trees and roses, both white and red, that ever any man saw. And thus was this maiden saved by the grace of God. And there- fore is that field called the field that God flourished, for it was full of roses. Also near the choir of the church, at the right side, as men go down sixteen steps, is the place where our Lord was born ; which is full well made of marble, and full richly painted with gold, silver, azure, and other colours. And three paces from it is the crib of the ox and the ass. And beside that is the place where the star fell, which led the three kings, Jaspar, Melchior, and Balthazar : but the Greeks call them Galgalathe, Malgalathe, and Saraphie j and the Jews call them in Hebrew Appellius, Amerius, and Damasus. These three kings offered to our Lord gold, incense, and myrrh ; and they met together by a miracle of God, for they met together in a city in India called Cassak, which is fifty-three days from Bethlehem, and yet they arrived at Bethlehem on the thirteenth day, which was the fourth day after they had seen the star, when they met in that city ; and thus they were nine days from that city to Bethlehem : and that was a great miracle.* From Bethlehem to Jenisa- lem it is but two miles. And in the way to Jerusalem, half 1 The mediaeval legendary history of the three kings will be found printed at die end of the first volume of the Chtster Mysteries.— 'Ihouks Wright. [i ' t 54 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. ■ I, iii a mile from Bethlehem, is a church, where the angel an- nounced to the shepherds the birth of Christ. And in that way is the tomb of Rachel, the mother of Joseph the patriarch, who died immediately after she was delivered of her son Ben- jamin J and there she was buried by Jacob, her husband, and he caused twelve great stones to be placed over her, in token that she had borne twelve chil- dren. In the same way, half a mile from Jerusalem, the star appeared to the three kings. In that way also are .many churches of Christians, by which men go towards the city of Jerusalem. Jerusalem, the holy city, stands full fair between hills ; and there are no rivers or wells, but water comes by conduit from Hebron. And you must know that Jerusalem of old, until the time of Melchisedek, was called Jebus ; and after- wards it was called Salem, until the time of king David, who put these two names together, and called it Jebusalem; and after that king Solomon called it Jerosoluma ; and after that it was called Jerusalem, and so it is called still. Around Jeru- salem is the kingdom of Syria, and there beside is the land of Palestine; and beside it is Ascalon; and beside that is the land of Maritaine. But Jerusalem is in the land of Judea ; and it is called Judea, because Judas Maccabeus was king of that country. When men come to Jerusa- lem, their first pilgrimage is to the church of the holy sepulchre, where our Lord was buried, which is without the city on the north side ; but it is now enclosed by the town wall. And there is a very fair church, round, and open above, and covered in its circuit with lead; and on the west side is a fair and high tower for bells, strongly made ; and in the middle of the church is a taber- nacle, as it were a little house, made with a little low door; and that tabernacle is made in manner of half a compass, right curiously and richly made of gold and azure and other rich colours. And in the right side of that tabernacle is the se- pulchre of our Lord ; and the tabernacle is eight feet long, and five wide, and eleven in height ; and it is not long since the sepulchre was all open, that men might kiss it and touch it. But because pilgrims that came thither la- boured to break the stone in pieces or in powder, therefore the Sultan has caused a wall to be made round the sepulchre, that no man may touch it. In the left side of the wall of the tabernacle, about the height of a man, is a great stone, the magnitude of a man's head, that was of the holy sepulchre; and that stone the pilgrims that come thither kiss. In that tabernacle are no windows ; but it is all made light with lamps which hang before the sepulchre. MANDE VJLLE, 55 And there is one lamp which hangs before the sepulchre which burns bright; and on Good ]?riday it goes out of itself, and lights again by itself at the hour that our Lord rose from the dead. And you shall understand that when our Lord was placed on the cross he was thirty-three years and three months old. In the church of St. Sepulchre there were formerly canons of the order of St. Augustin, who had a prior, but the patriarch was their head. And towards the east side, without the walls of the city, is the vale of Je- hoshaphat, which adjoins to the walls as though it were a large ditch. And over against that vale of Jehoshaphat, out of the city, is the church of St. Stephen, where he was stoned to death. And thore beside is the golden gate, which may not be opened, by which gate our Lord entered on Pain. Sunday, upon an ass ; and the gate opened to him when he would go unto the temple ; and the marks of the ass's feet are still seen in three places on the steps, which are of very hard stone. Before the church of St. Sepulchre, two hundred paces to the south, is the great hospital of St. John, of which the Hospitallers had their foundation. And within the palace of the sick men of that hospital are one hundred and twenty-four pillars of stone ; and in the walls of the house, besides the number aforesaid, there are fifty-four pillars that support the house. From that hospital, going towards the east, is a very fair church, which is called Our Lady the Great ; and after it there is another church, very near, called Our Lady the Latin ; and there stood Mary Cleophas and Mary Magdalene, and tore their hair, when our Lord was executed on the cross. One hundred and sixty paces from the church of the Sepul- chre, towards the east, is the temple of our Lord. It is a very fair house, circular and lofty, and covered with lead, and well paved with white mar- ble. You must know that this is not the temple that Solomon made, which lasted only one thousand one hundred and two years. For Titus, the son of Vespasian, emperor of Rome, had laid siege about Jerusalem to overcome the Jews, because they put our Lord to death without the emperor's leave. And when he had won the city, he burnt the temple and beat it down and all the city, and took the Jews, and put to death one million one hundred thou- sand of them ; and the others he put in prison, and sold them to slavery thirty for a penny, because they said they bought Jesus for thirty pennies; and he sold them cheaper, giving thirty for one penny. After that, Julian the Apostate, when emperor, gave the Jews permis- sion to make the temple of Jerusalem, for he hated the Christians although he had been I 5« 77/i^ ENGLISH EXPLORERS. !' I; ■« J I J. i ! christened ; but he forsook his law, and became a renegade. And when the Jews hjid made the temple, an earthquake came and cast it down (as Gotl would), and destroyed all that they had made. And after that, Hadrian, who was emperor of Rome, and of the lineage of Troy, rebuilt Jerusalem and the temple, in the same manner as Solomon made it. And he would not suffer Jews to dwell there, but only Christians. For although he was not christened, yet he loved Christians more than any other nation, except his own. And on the other side of the temple there is a rock which men call Moriah, but after it was called Bethel, where the ark of God with relics of Jews, was wont to be put. And Jacob was sleeping upon that rock when he saw the angels go up and down by a ladder, and he said, * Surely the Lord is in' this place; and I knew it not.* * And there an angel held Jacob still, and changed his name, and called him Israel. And in that same place David saw the angel that smote the people with a sword, and put it up bloody in the sheath. And St. Simeon was on that same rock when he received our Lord into the temple. And in this rock he placed himself when the Jews would have stoned him ; and a star came down and gave him light. On that rock our Lord preached frequently to the people; and ^ Gen. xxviii. x6. out of that same temple our Lord drove the buyers and sellers. Upon that rock also our Lord set him when the Jews would have stoned him ; and the rock clave in two, and in that cleft was our Lord hid; and there came down a star and gave him light ; and upon that rock our Lady sat and learned her psalter ; and there our Lord forgave the woman her sins that was found in adultery; and there our Lord was circumcised ; and there the angel gave tidings to Zacharias of the birth of St. John the Baptist his son ; and there first Melchisedek offered bread and wine to our Lord, in token of the sacrament that was to come ; and there David fell down praying to our Lord, and to the angel that smote the people, that he would have mercy on him and on the people ; and our Lord heard his prayer, and therefore would he make the temple in that place ; but our Lord forbade him, by an angel, because he had done treason, when he caused Uriah, the worthy knight, to be slain, to have Bathsheba his wife; and therefore all the materials he had collected for the build- ing of the temple he gave to Solomon his son, and he built it. And in that church is a well, in manner of a cistern, which is called ProbcUica Piscinay which hath five entrances. Angels used to come from heaven into that well and bathe them in it, and the man who first bathed after the moving of the watei MANDE VIU.E. 57 was maile whole of whatever sickness he had ; ami there our Lord healed a man of the palsy, with which he had lain thirty- eight years ; and our Lord said to him, • 'I'ake up thy Ijed and go.'* And near it was Pilate's house. And fast by is king Herod's house, who caused the Innocents to be slain. Mount Sion is within the city, and is a little higher than the other side of the city ; and the city is strongest on that side. For at the foot of Mount Sion is a fair and strong castle made by the Sultan. In Mount Sion were buried king David and king Solomon, and many other Jewish kings of Jerusalem. Atid there is the place where the Jews would have cast up the body of our Lady, when the apostles carried the body to be buried in the Valley of Jehosha- phat. And there is the place where St. Peter wept bitterly after he had forsaken our Lord. And a stone's cast from that chapel is another chapel, where our Lord was judged ; for at that time the house of Caiaphas stood there. One hundred and forty paces from that chapel, to the east, is a deep cave under the rock, which is called the Galilee of our Lord, where St. Peter hid himself when he had forsaken our Lord. Between Mount Sion and the Temple of Solomon is the place where our Lord raised the maiden in her father's house. Under Mount Sion, towards the Valley of 1 Matt. ix. 6. Jehosh.'iphat, is a well called Natatorium Siloaj (t1ie pool of Siloah), where our Lord was washed after his baptism; and there our Lord made the blind man to see. There was buried Isaiah the prophet. Alsoslraight from Natatorium Si lore is an image of stone, and of ancient work, which Absalom caused to be made, on account of which they call it the hand of Absalom. And fast by is still the elder-tree on which Judas hanged himself for despair, when he sold and betrayed our Lord. To the west of Jerusalem is a fair church, where the tree of the cross grew. And two miles from thence is a handsome church, where our Lady met with Elizabeth when they were both with child ; and St. John stirred in his mother's womb, and made reverence to his Creator, whom he saw not. Under the altar of that church is the place where St. Jol^n was born. A mile from that church is the Castle of Emmaus, where our liord showed himself to two of His disciples after His resur- rection. Also on the other side, two hundred paces from Jeru- salem, is a church where was formerly the cave of the lion ; and under that church, at thirty steps deep, were interred twelve thousand martyrs, in the time of King Cosrhoes, that the lion met in a night, by the will of God. Two miles from Jerusa- lem is Mount Joy, a very fair and delicious place. There Samuel the prophet lies in a 58 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, fair tomb ; and it is called Mount Joy, because it gives joy to pilgrims' hearts, for from that place men first see Jeru- salem. Between Jerusalem and Mount Olivet is the Valley of Jehoshaphat, under the walls of the city, as I have said before ; and in the middle of the valley is a little river, which is called the brook Cedron ; and across it lies a tree (of which the cross was made) on which men passed over ; and fast by it is a little pit in the earth, where the foot of the pillar still remains at which our Lord was first scourged ; for he was scourged and shamefully treated in many places. Also in the middle of the Valley of Jehoshaphat is the Church of our Ladj', which is forty-three steps below the sepulchre of our Lady, who was seventy- two years of age when she died. Beside the sepulchre of our Lady is an altar, where our Lord forgave St. Peter all his sins. From thence, toward the west, under an altar, is a well which comes out of the river of Paradise. You must know that that church is very low in the earth, and a part is quite within the earth. But I imagine that it was not founded so; but since Jerusalem has often been destroyed, and the walls beaten down and tumbled into the valley, and that they have been so filled again and the ground raised, for that rea- son the church is so low within the earth. Nevertheless, men say there commonly, that the earth hath so been cloven since the time that our Lady was buried there ; and men also say there, that it grows and increases every day, without doubt. In that church were formerly black monks, who had their abbot. Beside that church is a chapel, beside the rock called Gethse- mane, where our Lord was kissed by Judas, and where he was taken by the Jews; and there our Lord left his disciples when he went to pray before his pas- sion, when he prayed and said, * O my Father, if it be possi- ble, let this cup pass from me.' ^ And when he came again to his disciples he found them sleep- ing. And in the rock withm the chapel we still see the mark of the fingers of our Lord's hand, when he put them on the rock when the Jews would have taken him. And a stone's cast from thence, to the south, is another chapel, where our Lord sweat drops of blood. And close to it is the tomb of king Jehoshaphat, from whom the valley takes its name. This Jehoshaphat was king of that country, and was converted by a hermit, who was a worthy man, and did much good. A bow -shot from thence, to the south, is the church where St. James and Zechariah the pro- phet were buried. Above the vale is Mount Olivet, so called for the abundance of olives that grow there. That mount is higher than the city of Jeru- salem ; and therefore from that 1 Matt xxvi. 39. MANDEVILLE, 59 mount we may see many of the streets of the city. Between that mount and the city is only the valley of J ehoshaphat, which is not wide. From that mount our Lord Jesus Christ ascended to heaven on Ascension Day, and yet there appears the im- print of his left foot in the stone. And there is a church where was formerly an abbot and canons regular. About twenty- eight paces thence is a chapel, in which is the stone on the which our Lord sat when he preached the eight blessings. And there he taught his dis- ciples the Paternoster, and wrote with his finger on a stone. And near it is a church of St. Mary, the Egyptian, where she lies in a tomb. Three bow-shots thence, to the east, is Beth- phage, whither our Lord sent St. Peter and St. James, on Palm Sunday, to seek the ass on which he rode into Jerusalem. In de- scending from Mount Olivet, to the east, is a castle called Bethany, where dwelt Simon the leper ; and there he entertained our Lord; and afterwards he was baptized by the apostles, and was called Julian, and was made bishop; and this is the same Julian to whom men pray for good entertainment, because our Lord was entertained by him in his house. In that house our Lord forgave Mary Magda- lene her sins, and there she washed his feet with her tears, and wiped them with her hair. And there St. Martha waited upon our Lord. There our Lord raised Lazarus, who was dead four days, and stank. There also dwelt Mary Cleo- phas. That castle is a mile from Jerusalem. Also in coming down from Mount Olivet is the place where our Lord wept upon Jerusalem. And there beside is the place where our Lady ap- peared to St. Thomas the apostle after her assumption, and gave him her girdle. And very near it is the stone on which our Lord often sat when he preach- ed; and upon that same shall he sit at the day of doom, right as he said himself. After Mount Olivet is the Mount of Galilee, where the apostles assembled when Mary Magdalene came and told them of Christ's ascension. And there, between Mount Olivet and the Mount of Galilee is a church, where the angel fore- told our Lady of her death. We next go from Bethany to Jericho, which was once a little city, but it is now destroyed, and is but a little village. CHAPTER IV. Of the Dead Sea, and of the River Jordan —Of the province of Galilee^Of the age of our Lady — Of the city of Damas- cus — The way to Jerusalem by land. From Jericho it is three miles to the Dead Sea. About that sea groweth much alum and alkatran.* The water of that sea is very bitter and salt, and if the earth were moistened 1 Supp"? .u ic mean bitumen. 6o THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, I with that water it would never bear fruit. And the earth and land changeth often its colour. The water casteth out a thing that is called asphalt, in pieces as large as a horse, every day, and on all sides. And there beside grow trees that bear apples very fair of colour to be- hold ; but when we break or cut them in two we find within ashes and cinders, which is a token that by the wrath of God the cities and the land were burnt and sunk into hell. Some call that sea the Lake Dasfetidee ; some, the River of Devils ; and some the river that is ever stinking. Into that sea, by the wrath of God, sunk the five cities, Sodom, Gomor- rah, Aldama, Seboym, and Segor, for the abominable sin that reigned in them. And you shall understand that the river Jordan runs into the Dead Sea, and there it dies, for it runs no farther ; and its entrance is a mile from the church of St. John the Baptist, toward the west, a little beneath the place where Christians bathe commonly. A mile from the river Jordan is the river of Jabbok, which Jacob passed over when he came from Meso- potamia. This river Jordan is no great river, but it has plenty of good fish ; and it cometh out of the hill of Libanus by two wells that are called Jor and Dan; and of those two wells it hath its name. In going eastward from the Dead Sea, out of the borders of the Holy Land, is a strong and fair castle, on a hill which is called Carak, in Sarmoyz ; that is to say, Royal. That castle was made by king Baldwin, when he had conquered that land, who put it into the hands of Christians, to keep that part of the country ; and for that cause it was called the Mount Royal;* and under it there is a town called Sobache; and there all about dwell Christians under tribute. From thence men go to Nazareth, of which our Lord beareth the surname. And thence it is three days to Jei-usalem : and 'men go by the province of Galilee, by Ramoth, by Sodom, and by the high hill of Ephraim, where Elkanah and Hannah, the mother of Samuel the prophet, dwelt. There this prophet was born; and, after his death, he was buried at Mount Joy, as I have said be- fore. And then men go to Shiloh, where the ark of God with the relics were long kept under Eli the prophet. There the people of Hebron sacrificed to our Lord ; and there they yielded up their vows; and there God first spake to Samuel, and showed him the change of the order of priesthood, and the mystery of the sacrament. And •right nigh, on the left side, is Gibeon, and Ramah, and Ben- jamin, of which Holy Writ speaketh. And after men go to Shechem, formerly called Sichar, which is in the province 1 Mount Royal is supposed to have stood in the neighbourhood of the ancient Petra. MANDE VJLLE. 6t of the Samaritans ; and there is a very fair and fruitful vale, and there is a fair and good city called Neapolis, whence it is a day's journey to Jerusalem. And there is the well where our Lord spake to the woman of Samaria; and there was wont to be a church, but it is beaten down. And there beside is the hill of Gerizim, where the Samaritans make their sacrifice : on that hill would Abraham have sacrificed his son Isaac. And there beside is the valley of Dothan ; and there is the cistern wherein Joseph was cast by his brethren, when they sold him, and that is two miles from Sichar. From thence we go to Samaria, which is now called Sebaste ; it is the chief city of that country, and is situated be- tween the hill of Aygnes in a similar manner to Jerusalem. In that city was the sittings of the twelve tribes of Israel ; but the city is not now so great as it was formerly. From this city of Sebaste unto Jerusalem it is twelve miles. The Samaritans believe well in one God ; and they say that there is only one God, who created all things, and judges all things; and they hold the Bible according to the letter, and use the Psalter as the Jews do ; and they say that they are the right sons of God. From this country of the Samaritans- men go to the plains of Galilee, and leave the hills on the. one side. Galilee is one of the provinces of the Holy Land; and in that pro- vince are the cities of Nain, and Capernaum, and Chorazin and Bethsaida. In this Bethsaida St. Peter and St. Andrew were born. And four miles thence is Chorazin; and five miles from Chorazin is the city of Kedar, whereof the Psalter speaketh : * I dwell in the tents of Kedar.' ^ In Chorazin shall Antichrist be born, as some meni say ; and others say he shall be bom in Babylon ; for the prophet saith, * Out of Babylon shall come a serpent that shall devour all the world.' This Antichrist shall be nour- ished in Bethsaida, and he shall reign in Capernaum ; and therefore saith Holy Writ, *Woe unto thee, Chorazin 1 woe unto thee, Bethsaida! and thou, Capernaum.'* And all these towns are in. the land of Gali- lee ; and also Cana of Galilee is four miles from Nazareth, of which city was Simon the Canaanite and his wife Cance, of whom the holy Evangelist speaks : there our Lord per- formed the first miracle at the wedding, when he turned water into wine. And at the ex- tfemity of Galilee, on the hills, was the ark of God taken ; and on the other side is Mount Hendor, or Hermon. And thereabout goeth the brook of Kishon ; and near there Baruch, who was son of Abimelech, with Deborah the prophetess, overcame the host of Idumea, when Sisera the king: was. slain 'i„ i'i' iM 1 Pt. CXX. Sr *Luke X. 13, 15. ?. 62 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, w I?'! '(I by Jael, the wife of Heber, and Gideon drove beyond the river Jordan, by strength of the sword, Zeba and Zalmunna, and there he slew them. Also five miles from Nain is the city of Jezreel, which was formerly called Zarim, of which city Jezebel the wicked queen was lady and queen, who took away the vineyard of Naboth by force. Fast by that city is the field Mageddo, in which king Joras was slain by the king of Samaria, and after was carried and buried in Mount Sion. A mile from Jezreel are the hills of Gilboa, where Saul and Jona- than, that were so fair, died; wherefore David cursed them, as Holy Writ saith : * Ye moun- tains of Gilboa, let there be no dew, neither let there be rain, upon you.' i A mile from the hills of Gilboa, to the east, is the city of Cyropolis, which was before called Bethsain ; and upon the walls of that city was the head of Saul hanged. After men go by the hills, beside the plain of Galilee, unto Nazareth, which was for- merly a great and fair city, but now there is but a small village, and houses scattered here and there. It is not walled, but it is situated in a little valley, with hills all about. Here our Lady was born; but she was begotten at Jerusalem ; and because our Lady was born at Nazareth, therefore our Lord bare his surname of that town. There Joseph took our Lady 1 a Sam. i. ai. to wife when she was fourteen years of age ; and there Gabriel greet our Lady,, saying, * Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee.' ' And half a mile from Nazareth is the leap of our Lord ; for the Jews led him upon a high rock, to make him leap down, and have slain him; but Jesus passed amongst them, and leaped upon another rock ; and the steps of his feet are still to be seen in the rock where he alighted. And therefore men say, when in travelling they are in fear of thieves or enemies, ''Jesus atitem transiensper medium illor- um^ ibat; ' that is to say, * But Jesus passing through the midst of them, went : * in token and re- membrance that as our Lord passed through the Jews' cruelty, and escaped safely from them, so surely may men escape the peril of thieves ; and then men say two verses of the Psalter three times: ^ Irruat super eos formido et pavor^ in magtiitu- dine brachii tui^ Domine^ fiant inmobiles quasi lapis,, donee per- transeat populus tuus^ Domine; donee pertranseat populus tuus iste^ quern possedisti* [*May fear and dread fall upon them ; by the greatness of thine arm, O Lord, let them be as still as a stone ; till thy people pass over, O Lord, till the people pass over, which thou hast purchased,'] And then men may pass without peril. And you shall understand, that our Lady had child when she was 1 Luke i. a8. MANDE VILLE. 63 fifteen years old ; and she was conversant with her son thirty- three years and three months. And after the passion of our Lord she lived twenty-four years. From Nazareth we go four miles to Mount Tabor, which is a very fair and lofty hill, where was f.'ri nerly a town and many churchcy, but they are all de- stroyed ; but yet there is a place, which they call the School of God, where he was wont to teach his disciples, and told them the secrets of Heaven. At the foot of that hill Mel- chisedek, who was king of Salem, met Abraham in the turning of the hill on his return from the battle, when he had slain Abimelech ; and this Mel- chisedek was both king and priest of Salem, which is now called Jerusalem. On that hill of Tabor our Lord transfigured himself before St. Peter, St. John, and St. James ; and there they saw, in spirit, Moses and Elias the prophets, and there- fore St. Peter said, * Lord, it is good for us to be here ; let us make here three tabernacles.' A mile from Mount Tabor is Mount Hermon, and there was the city of Nain. Before the gate of that city our Lord raised the widow's son. Three miles from Nazareth is the castle of SafFra. From Saffra we go to the sea of Galilee, and to the city of Ti- berias, which is situated upon that sea, and although they call it a sea, it is neither sea, nor arm of the sea ; for it is but a stank of fresh water, which is in length one hundred furlongs, and in breadth forty furlongs. From the land of Galilee men come back to Damascus, which is a very fair and noble city, and full of all merchandise, and three days from the sea, and five days from Jerusalem. Men carry merchandise thither upon camels, mules, horses, drome- daries, and other beasts ; and thither come merchants by sea from India, Persia, Chaldea, Armenia, and many other king- doms. This city was founded by Helizeus Damascus, who was yeoman and steward to Abra- ham before Isaac was bom; for he expected to have been Abraham's heir, and he named the town after his surname, Da- mascus. And in that place, where Damascus was founded, Cain slew Abel his brother. And beside Damascus is Mount Seir. In that city of Damascus there is great plenty of wells ; and within the city and without are many fair gardens, with di- versity of fruits. No other city can be compared with it for fair gardens for recreation. The city is great and full of people, and well walled with double walls, and it contains many physicians ; and St. Paul him- self was there a physician, to keep men's bodies in health, before he was converted; and after that he was physician of souls. And St. Luke the Evan- gelist was a disciple of St. Paul to learn physic, and many others ; for St. Paul held then a school of phvsic. And near ■■;) 64 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, M \. Damascus he was converted ; and after his conversion he dwelt in that city three days, without sight, and without meat or drink. And in those three days he was raised to heaven, and there he saw many secrets of our Lord. And close beside Damascus is the castle of Arkes, which is. both fair and strong. Now I have told you some of the ways by land and water, how men may go to Jerusalem ; but there are many other ways according to the countries from which they come. There is one way, all by land, to Jerusalem, without passing any sea, which is from France or Flanders ; but that way is very long and perilous, and therefore few go that way. It lies through. Ger- many and Prussia, and so on tr* Tartary. This Tartary is held of the great Chan, of whom I shall speak more afterwards ; and the lords of Tartary pay the great Chan tribute. This is a very bad land, and sandy, and bears v^ry little fruit ; for there grows little com, or wine, or beans, or peas; but there are plenty of cattle, and men eati nothing but flesh, without bread; and they drink the brothj and also they drink milk. And they eat all manner of animals, such as dogs, cats, and rats. And they have little or no wood, and therefore they warm and boil their meat with horse-dung, and cowrdung, and that of other beasts, dried by the sun ; and princes and others eat but once a day, and that but little ; and they are very foul people, and of evil nature. And in summer, in all these countries, fall many tempests, and dreadful storms of thunder and lightning, which kill many people, and beasts also. And the temperature passes suddenly from extreme heat to extreme cold. It is the foulest country, and the most cursed, and the poorest, that men know. And their prince, whom they call Batho, dwells at the city of Orda. And truly no good man would dwell in that country, fop it is not worthy for dogs to CiA^eH in. It were a good country to sow thistles, and briars, and broom, and thorns; and it is good for no other thing. There is some good, land, but very little, as men say. I have not been in that country, but I have been in other lands which border on those countries, and in the land of Russia, and in Nyflan, and in the realm of Cracow, and Letto (Lithuania), and in Da- restan, and in many other places which, border on those parts, but I never went by that way tO' Jerusalem, wherefore I can- not describe it from personal knowledge ; for no man may pass by that way well, except in time of winter, for the peril- ous waters and diflicult marshes, which ne man may pass except it be strong frost, and snow upon it ; for if the snow were not- there, men might not go on the ice. From this it is full three days from Prussia to the inhabited land of the Saracens. MANDBVILLE. «S V'\\ CHAPTER V. How the Sultan discoursed to me, the author of this book— Of Mohammed— Of Al- bania and of Libya— Of Noah's ship — Of the land of Job, and of his age— Of the array of men of Chaldea— Of the knowledge and virtues of the true dia- mond. The Saracens say that the Jews are cursed, because they have defiled the law that God sent them by Moses. And the Christians are cursed also, as they say, for they keep not the commandments and the pre- cepts of the Gospel, which Jesus Christ gave them. And, there- fore, I shall tell you what the Sultan said to me one day, in his chamber. He sent out of his chamber all men, lords and others, because he would speak with me in counsel. And there he asked me how the Christian men governed themselves in our country? And I answered, ' Right well ; thanked be God.' And he said to me, * Truly, nay; for you Christians care not how untruly you serve God. You should set an example to the common people to do well, and you set them an example of doing evil. Eor the com- mons, upon festival days, when they should go to church to serve God, go to taverns, and are there in gluttony all day and night,, and eat and drink as beasts that have no reason, and know not when they have enough And also, . the Chris- tians encourage one another, in all ways that they may, .to fight, and to deceive one another. And they are so proud that they know not how to be clothed; now long, now short, now straight, now large, now with sword, now with dagger^ and in all manner of guises. They should be simple, meek, and true, and full of alms-deeds, as Jesus was, in whom they be- lieve ; but they are all the con- trary, and ever inclined to evil, and to do evil. And they are so covetous, that for a little silver they sell their daughters, their sisters, and their- own wives, where they come, to' shame. They are great law- breakers, and none of them holdeth faith to another ; . but they break their law, that Jesus Christ gave them to keep for their salvation. And.thuSjfor their sins, have they lost all this land which we hold. Becainse, for their sins here, God hath given them into our hands ; not only by our power, but> for their sins. For we know well in very truth, that when you serve God, God will help you ; and when he is with you, no man may be against you. And that know we well by our pro- phecies, that the Christians shall win again this land out of our hands when they serve God more devoutly. But as long as they are of foul and unclean liv- ing (as they are now)^ wo have no dread of them,, for theic God will not help them.' And then I asked him how he knew the state of the Christians? And beanswered me, * That he knew I II) 66 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. all the state of the commons also, by his messengers, whom he sent to all lands, in guise of merchants of precious stones, cloths of gold, and other things, to know the manners of every country amongst Christians.' And then he called in all the lords that he had sent out of his chamber, and he showed me four who were great lords, who told me of my country, and of many other Christian coun- tries, as well as if they had been of the same country ; and they ^ spoke French perfectly well, and the Sultan also, whereof I had great marvel. Alas ! it is great slander to our faith and to our law, when people that are without law shall reprove us of our sins. And they that should be converted to Christ and to the law of Jesus by our good examples and by our ac ceptable life to God, and so converted to the law of Jesus Christ, are through our wicked- ness and evil living, far from us, and strangers from the holy and true belief shall thus accuse us and hold us for wicked livers and accursed. And indeed they say truth. For the Sara- cens are good and faithful, and keep entirely the command- ment of the holy book Alko- ran, which God sent them by his messenger Mohammed ; to whom, as they say, St. Gabriel the angel often told the will of God. And you shall understand that Mohammed was born in Arabia, and was first a poor boy that kept camels which went with merchants for merchan- dise ; and so it happened that he went with the merchants into Egypt. And in the deserts of Arabia he went into a chapel where a hermit dwelt ; and when he entered into the chapel, which was but little and low, and had a small low door, then the en- trance became so great, and so large, and so high, as though it had been of a great minster, or the gate of a palace. And this was the first miracle, the Sara- cens say, that Mohammed did in his youth. Then he began to wax wise and rich ; and he was a great astronomer; and afterwards he was governor and prince of the land of Cozro- dane, which he governed full wisely; in such manner that, when the prince was dead, he took his lady, named Gadrige, to wife. And Mohammed fell often in the great sickness called the falling evil, wherefore the lady was sorry that ever she took him to husband. But Mohammed made her believe that when he fell so Gabriel the angel came to speak with him, and for the great brightness of the angel he might not help falling. And therefore the Sara- cens say that Gabriel came often to speak with him. This Mo- hammed reigned in Arabia in the year of our Lord Jesus Christ 6io; and was of the generation of Ishmael, who was Abraham's son, by Agar, his chambermaid. And, therefore, there are Saracens that are MANDEVILLE. 61 called Ishmaelites ; and some are called Agarenes, of Agar; and others are called Saracens, of Sarah ; and some are called Moabites, and some Ammo- nites, from the two sons of Lot, Moab and Ammon, whom he begat on his daughters, and who were afterwards great earthly princes. And also Mohammed loved well a good hermit, who dwelt in the desert a mile from Mount Sinai, in the way from Arabia towards Chaldea and towards India, one day's jour- ney from the sea, where the merchants of Venice come often for merchandise. And so often went Mohammed to this hermit that all his men were angry; for he would gladly hear this hermit preach, and make his men wait all night, and there- fore his men thought to put the hermit to death : and so it be- fell upon a night that Mohammed was drunk with good wine, and he fell asleep; and his men took Mohammed's sword out of his sheath, while he slept, and therewith they slew the hermit, and put his sword, all bloody, in his sheath again. And on the morrow, when he found the hermit dead, he was very wroth, and would have put his men to death; but they all with one accord said that he himself had slaui him when he was drunk, and showed him his sword all bloody; and he believed that they said truth. And then he cursed the wine and all those that drink it. And therefore Saracens that be devout never drink wine ; but some drink it privately; for if they drank it openly they would be reproved. But they drink good beverage, and sweet and nourishing, which is made of galamelle ; and that is what men make sugar of, which is of right good savour, and it is good for the breast. Also it happens sometimes that Christians become Saracens, either from poverty or from ignorance, or else from their own wickedness. And there- fore the archiflamen, or the flamen, as our archbishop or bishop, when he receives them, says, Za ellec siia, Machomete rores alia ; that is to say. There is no God but one^ and Mo- hammed his messenger. Now, since I have told you before of the Holy Land, and of that cou'^try about, and of many ways to go to that land, and to Mount Sinai, and of Babylon the Greater and the Less, and other places, now is the time, if it please you, to tell you of the borders and isles, and divers beasts, and of various peoples beyond these borders. For in the countries beyond are many divers countries, and many great kingdoms, that are separated by the four streams that come from terrestrial Para- dise. For Mesopotamia, and the kingdom of Chaldea, and Arabia, are between the two rivers of Tigris and Euphrates. And Media and Persia are be- tween the rivers of Nile and Tigris. And Syria, Palestine, and Phoenicia are between the i!; i 68 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. li Euphrates and the Mediterra- nean Sea, which sea extends in length from Marok, on the sea of Spain, to the Great Sea, so that it lasts beyond Constan- tinople three thousand and forty Lombard miles. Towards the Ocean Sea, in India, is the king* dom of Scythia, which is en- closed with mountains ; and after, below Scythia, from the Cabplan Sea to the river Thainy, is Amazonia, or the land of Feminy, where there is no man, but only women. And after is Albania, a full great realm ; so called because the people are whiter there than in other coun- tries thereabout. And in that country are so great and strong dogs, that they assail lions and slay them. And then after is Hircania, Bactria, Iberia, and many other kingdoms. And between the Red Sea and the Ocean Sea, towards the south, is the kingdom of Ethiopia, and Libya the Higher. Which land of Libya (that is to- say. Lower Libya) commences at the sea. of Spain, from thence where the Pillars of Hercules are, and extends to Egypt and. towards Ethiopia. In that country of Libya the sea is higher than the land, and it seems that it would cover the earth, and yet it passeth not its bounds. And men see in that coAintry a moun- itain to which no man cometh. In this land of Libya, whosatur- neth towards the east, the shadow of himself is on the right side ; and here, in our country, the fihadow is on the left side. In that sea of Libya is no fish, for they may not live for the great heat of the sun, because the water is ever boiling for the great heat And many other lands there are that it were too long to tell or to number ; but of some parts I shall speak more plainly hereafter. And, therefore, whoever will go the direct way (to India) must proceed from Trebizond towards Ermony the Great, to a city called Artyroun (Erzeroum), which was foraaerly a good and populous city, but the Turks have greatly wasted it. There- about grows little or no wine or fruit. In this land the earth is higher than in any other, and that makes it very cold. And there are many good waters and good wells that come under earth from, the river of Paradise, which is called Euphrates, which is a day's journey from this city. And that river comes towards India, under earth, and reap- pears in the land of Altazar. And so men pass by this Er- mony, and enter the sea of Persia. From that city of Arty- roun men go to a mountain called Sabissocolle; and there beside is another mountain called Ararat, but the Jews call it Taneez, where Noah's ship rested, and still is upon that mountain; and men may see it afar in clear weather. That mountain is futt seven miles high,, and some men say that they have seen and touched the ship, and put their fingers in the papts where the devil went out MANDE VJLLE. 6(j J when Noah said * Benedicite.' But they that say so speak with- out knowledge, for no one can go up the mountain for the great abundance of snow which is always on that mountain both summer and winter, so that no man ever went up since the time of Noah except a monk, who, by God's grace, brought one of the planks down, which is yet in the monastery at the foot of the mountain. And beside is the city of Dayne, which was founded by Noah, near which is the city of Any, in which were one thousand churches. This monk had great desire to go up that mountain, and so upon a day he went up, and when he had ascended the third part of the mountain he was so weary that he fell asleep, and when he awoke he found himself lying at the foot of the mountain. Then he prayed de- voutly to God that he would suffer him to go up, and an angel came to him and said that he should go up ; and so he did. And since that time no one ever went up; where- fore men should not believe such words. From that mountain we go to the city of Thauriso (Tabreez), which was formerly called Taxis, a very fair and great city, and one of the best in the world for merchandise ; and it is ki the land of the Emperor of Persia. And they say that the emperor receives more in that city for custom of merchandise than the richest Christian king alive from all his realm ; for the toll and custom of his merchants is be- yond calculation. Beside that city is a hill of salt, of which every man taketh what he will. There dwell many Christians under tribute of Saracens. And from that city men pass by many towns and castles on the way towards India to the city of Sadony, which is ten days from Thauriso ; and it is a very noble and great city. And there the Emperor of Persia dwells in summer, because the climate is temperate. And there are good rivers capable of bearing ships. Then men go the way towards India for many days, and by many countries, to the city called Cassak, a full noble city, abounding in com, wines, and all other goods. This is the city where the three kings met together when they went to seek our Lord in Bethlehem to worship him, and to present him with gold, essence, and myrrh. And it is from that city to Bethlehem fifty-three days. From that city men go to another city called Bethe (Beth-Germa? or Old Bagdad), a day from the sea which they call the Sandy Sea. This is the best city which the Emperor of Persia has in all his land, and it is called there Charda- bago ; and others call it Vapa. And the Pagans say that no Christian may remain long alive in that city ; but they die within short time, and no man knows the cause. Afterwards men go by many cities and towns and 70 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. ill great countries to the city of Cornaa (Komah?), which was formerly so great that the walls are twenty-five miles about. The walls are still standing, but it is not all inhabited. From Cornaa men go by many lands, and many cities and towns, unto the land of Job ; and there ends the land of the Emperor of Persia. After leaving Cornaa, we en- ter the land of Job, a very fair country, and abounding in all goods ; and men call it the land of Sweze (Susiana). In that land is the city of Theman. Job was a pagan, and he was son of Are of Gosre, and held the land as prince of the coun- try ; and he was so rich that he knew not the hundredth part of his goods. And, although he was a pagan, still he served God well, after his law; and our Lord took his service in satisfaction. And when he fell in poverty he was seventy-eight years of age. And afterwards, when God had tried his pati- ence, which was so great, he brought him again to riches, and to higher estate than before. And after that he M'as king of Idumea, after king Esau. And when he was king he was called Jobab. And in that kingdom he lived afterwards one hundred and seventy years ;* and so he was of age, when he died, two hundred and forty-eight years. In that land of Job there is no want of anything needful to 1 One hundred and forty years. Job xlii. man's body. There are hills, where they get manna in greater abundance than in any other country. This manna is called bread of angels; and it is a white thing, very sweet and de- licious, and sweeter than honey or sugar ; it comes of the dew of heaven, that falls upon the herbs in that country; and it congeals, and becomes white and sweet ; and they put it in medicines for rich men, for it cleanseththe blood, and putteth out melancholy. This land of Job borders on the kingdom of Chaldea. This land of Chaldea is very extensive ; and th3 lan- guage of that country is greater in sounding than it is in other parts beyond the sea. We pass it to go to the Tower of Baby- lon the Great, of which I have spoken, where all the languages were first changed ; and that is four days from Chaldea. In that realm are fair men, and they go full nobly arrayed in cloths of gold, orfrayed, and apparelled with great pearls and precious stones full nobly ; but the women are very ugly, and vilely arrayed; and they go barefoot, and clothed in evil garments, large and wide, but short to the knees, and long sleeves down to the feet, like a monk's frock, and their sleeves are hanging about their shoulders; and they are black women, foul and hideous ; and truly they are as bad as they are foul. In that kingdom of Chaldea, in a city called Ur, dwelt Terah, Abraham's father ; MANDE VILLE, 71 jater kher illed lis a de- )ney I dew the id it ^hite and there was Abraham born, which was in the time that Ninus was king of Babylon, of Arabia, and of Egypt. This Ninus made the city of Nineveh, which Noah had begun ; and because Ninus completed it, he called it Nine- veh, after his own name. There lies Tobit the prophet, of whom Holy Writ speaketh. And from that city of Ur Abraham de- parted, by the commandment of God, after the death of his father, and led with him Sarah, his wife, and Lot, his brother's son, because he had no child. And they went to dwell in the land of Canaan, in a place called Shechem. And this Lot was he who was saved, when Sodom and Gomorrah and the other cities, where the Dead Sea now is, were burnt and sunk down to hell, as I have told you before. And from that other side of Chaldea, toward the south, is Ethiopia, a great country, which extends to the extremity of Egypt. Ethiopia is divided into two principal parts, the east and the south, the latter part being called Mauritania. And the people of that country are blacker than in the other part, and are called Moors. In that country is a well, which in the day is so cold that no man may drink thereof, and in the night it is so hot that no man may suffer his hand therein. To- wards the south, to pass by the Ocean Sea, is a great country, but men may not dwell there, for the fervent burning of the sun. In Ethiopia all the riven and waters are troubled, and somewhat salt, for the great heat that is there. And the people of that country are easily intoxicated, and have but little appetite for meat. And they are afflicted with dysenteries, and live not long. In Ethiopia, the children, when young, are all yellow ; and when they grow older that yellowness turns to black. In Ethiopia is the city of Saba and the land where one of the three kings reigned who came to our Lord in Bethlehem. From Ethiopia they go to India through many different countries; and men call the higher India Emlak. India is divided into three principal parts : the Greater, which is a very hot country; and India the Less, which is a temperate country, extending to the land of Media; and the third part, toward the north, is so cold, that for continual frost the water becomes crystal ; and upon those rocks of crystal grow the good diamonds, that are of troubled colour. Yellow crystal draws colour like oil. And they are so hard that no man may polish them ; and men call them diamonds in that country, and hamese in another country. Other diamonds are found in Arabia, but they are not so good ; they are browner and more tender. And other diamonds also are found in the island of Cyprus, which are still more tender, and may easily be polished ; and they find dia- *■'! ii^al; 72 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. :•! i I monds also in Macedonia ; but the best and most precious are in India. And they often find hard diamonds in a mass which comes out of gold, when they break the mass in small pieces, to purify it and refine it, out of the mine. And it sometimes happens that they find some as great as a pea, and some less ; and they are as hard as those of India. And although men find good diamonds in India, yet nevertheless men find them more commonly upon the rocks in the sea, and upon hills where the mine of gold is. They grow many together, one little, an- other great ; and there are some of the greatness of a bean, and some as great as a hazel nut. They are square and pointed of their own kind, both above and beneath, without work of man's hand ; and they grow together, male and female, and are nour- ished by the dew of heaven ; and they engender commonly and bring forth small children, that multiply and grow all the year. I have oftentimes tried the experiment, that if a man keep them with a little of the rock, and wet them with May- dew often, they shall grow every year, and the small will grow great;* for right as the fine pearl congeals and grows great by the dew of heaven, right so doth the true diamond ; and right as the pearl of its own nature takes roundness, so the diamond, by virtue of God, takes squareness. And a man * Partly Ukcn from Pliny, lib. xxxvii. c. 4. should carry the diamond on his left side, for it is of greater virtue than on the right side; for the strength of their growing is toward the north, that is the left side of the world ; and the left part of man is, when he turns his face towards the east. CHAPTER VI. Of the customs of Islet about India— Of the Judgments made by St Thomas — Of the evil customs in the isle of Lamary — How the earth and the sea are of round form — Of the trees that bear meal, honey, wine, and venom. In India are very many differ- ent countries ; and it is called India, from a river which runs through the country called In- dus. In that river they find eels thirty feet long and more. And the people that dwell near that water are of evil colour, green and yellow. In India, and about India, are more than five thousand inhabited islands, good and great, besides those that are uninhabitable, and other small islands. Every island has great plenty of cities, and towns, and people without number. For men of India have this con- ditipn of nature, that they never go out of their own country, and therefore there is great multitude of people ; but they are not stirring or moveable, because they are in the first climate, that is, of Saturn. And Saturn is slow, and little mov- ing ; for he tarrieth thirty years to make his course through the MANDEVILLE, 73 rle; ing the the he ist. twelve signs ; and the moon passes through the twelve signs in a month. And because Sa- turn is so slow of motion, the people of that country, that are under his climate, have no in- clination or will to move or stir to seek strange places. Our country is all the contrary ; for we are in the seventh climate, which is of the moon, and the moon moves rapidly, and is a planet of progression ; and for that reason it gives us a natural will to move lightly, and to go different ways, and to seek strange things and other diver- sities of the world ; for the moon goes round the earth more rapidly than any other planet. Also men go through India by many different countries, to the great Sea of Ocean. And afterwards men find there an island that is called Hermes ; and there come merchants of Venice and Genoa, and of other parts, to buy merchandise ; but there is great heat in that dis- trict. In that country, and in Ethiopia, and in many other countries, the inhabitants lie all naked in rivers and waters, men and women together, from un- durn* of the day till it be past noon. And they lie all in the water, except the face, for the great heat that there is. And the women have no shame of the men, but lie all together, side by side, till the heat is past. There may men see many foul figures assembled, and chiefly near the good towns. In that 1 Uuduru was nine o'clock in the morning* island are ships without nails of' iron or bonds, on account of the rocks of adamants (load- stones) ; for they are all abun- dant thereabout in that sea, that it is marvellous to speak of; and if a ship passed there that had either iron bonds or iron nails, it would perish ; for the adamant, by its nature, draws iron to it; and so it would draw to it the ship, be- cause of the iron, that it should never depart from it. From that island men go by sea to another island called Ghana, where is abundance of corn and wine ; and it was wont to be a great island, and a great and good haven, but the sea has greatly wasted it and overcome it. The king of that country was formerly so strong and so mighty that he held war against king Alexander; The people of that country differ in their religious belief ; for some wor- ship the sun, some the moon, some the fire, some trees, some serpents, or the first thing that they meet in a morning; and some worship simulacres, and some idols. Between simulacres and idols there is a great differ- ence ; for simulacres are images made after the likeness of men or of women, or of the sun or of the moon, or of any beast, or of any natural thing ; and an idol is an image made by the lewd will of man, which is not to be found among natural things, as an image that has four heads, one of a man, an- other of a horse, or ot an ox. M 74 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. or of some other beast, that no man has seen in nature. And they that worship simulacres worship them for some worthy man who once existed, as Her- cules and many others, that did many wonders in their time. From thence men go by sea towards India the Greater, to a good and fair city called Sarche, where dwell many Christians of good faith : and there are many monks, especially mendicants. Thence men go by sea to the land of Lomb, in which grows the pepper, in the forest called Combar, and it grows nowhere else in all the world ; that forest extends full eighteen days in length. In the forest are two good cities, one called Fladrine, and the other Zinglantz, in each of which dwell many Christians and Jews ; for it is a good and rich country, but the heat is exceeding. Toward the head of that forest is the city of Polombe, above which is a great mountain, also called Polombe, from which the city has its name. And at the foot of that mountain is a fair and great well, which has the odour and savour of all spices ; and at every hour of the day it changes its odour and savour diversely; and whoever drinks three times fasting of the water of that well is whole of all kind of sickness that he has; and they that dwell there, and drink often of that well, never have sickness, but appear always young. I have drunk thereof three or four Jmes, and me- thinks I still fare the better. Some men call it the Well of Youth ; for they that often drink thereof appear always young, and live without sickness. And men say that that well comes out of Paradise, and therefore it is so virtuous. All that country grows good ginger ; and therefore merchants go thither for spicery. In that land men worship the ox for his simpleness and his meekness, and for the profit that comes of him. From that country we pass many districts, towards a coun- try ten days* journey thence, called Mabaron, which is a great kingdom, containing many fair cities and towns. In that king- dom lies the body of St. Thomas the Apostle, in flesh and bone, in a fair tomb, in the city of Calamy ; for there he was mar- tyred and buried. But men of Assyria carried his body into Mesopotamia, into the city of Edessa; and, afterwards, he was brought thither again. And the arm and the hand that he put in our Lord's side, when he appeared to him after his resur- rection, is yet lying in a vessel without the tomb. By that hand they there make all their judgments. For when there is any dissension between two parties, and each of them main- tains his cause, both pardes write their causes in two bills, and put them in the hand of St. Thomas; and anon he casts away the bill of the wrong cause, and holds still the bill with the MANDEVILLE. 75 ink ing, right cause. And, therefore, men come from far countries to have judgment of doubtful causes. The church where St. Thomas Hes is both great and fair, and full of great simulacres, which are great images that they call their gods, of which the least is as great as two men. And, amongst the others, there is a great image larger than any of the others, all covered with fine gold and precious stones and rich pearls ; and that idol is the god of false Christians, who have renounced their faith. It sits ''n a chair of gold, very nobly arrayed, and has about the neck large girdles made of gold and precious stones and pearls. The church is full richly wrought, and gilt all over within. And to that idol men go on pilgrim- age, as commonly and with as great devotion as Christian men go to St. James, or other holy pilgrimages. And many people that come from far lands to seek that idol for the great devotion that they have, never look up- wards, but evermore down to the earth, for dread to see any- thing about them that should hinder them of their devotion, and others there are who carry their children to be slain as a sacrifice to that idol. And so people come to worship this image, some a hundred miles, and some many more. From that country men go by the Sea of Ocean, and by many divers isles and countries which it would be too long to describe. Fifty-two days from the land I have spoken of there is another extensive land which they call Lamary, in which the heat is very great ; and it is the custom there for men and women to go all naked. And they scorn when they see fo- reigners going clothed, because they say that God made Adam and Eve all naked, and that no man should be ashamed of what is according to nature. And they say that they that are clothed are people of another world, or people who believe not in God. And they marry there no wives ; and they say for God commanded Adam and Eve, and all that come of him, that they should increase and multiply and fill the land, there- fore may no man in that country say, * This is my wife,' and no woman may say, 'This is my husband.* And all land and property is common, nothing being shut up or kept under lock, one man being as rich as another. But in that country there is a cursed custom, for they eat more gladly man's flesh than any other flesh, al though their country abounds in flesh, fish, com, gold, and silver, and all other goods. Thither merchants go, who bring with them children to sell to them of the country, and they buy them ; and if they are fat they eat them anon ; and if they are lean they feed them till they are fat, and then eat them ; and they say that it is the best and sweetest flesh in the world. ■1» m i^i 76 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. Neither in that land, nor in many others beyond it, may any man see the Polar star, which is called the Star of the Sea, which is immovable, and is towards the north, and which we call the Load-star. But they see another star opposite to it, towards the south, which is called Antarctic. And right as shipmen here govern themselves by the load-star, so shipmen beyond these parts are guided by the star of the south, which appears not to us. This star, which is towards the north, that we call the load-star, appears not to them. For which cause, we may clearly perceive that the land and sea are of round shape and form, because the part of the firmament appears in one country which is not seen in another country. And men may prove by experience and their understanding, that if a man found passages by ships, he might go by ship all round the world, above and beneath ; which I prove thus, after what I have seen. For I have been towards the parts of Brabant, and found by the astrolabe * that the Polar star is fifty-three degrees high; and further, in Germany and Bohemia it has fifty-eight degrees ; and still fur- ther towards the north it is sixty- two degrees and some minutes ; for I myself have measured it by the astrolabe. Now you shall know, that opposite the Polar star is the other star called Ant- 1 An astronomical instrument used in the m^dille ages for taking altitudes, ttc. arctic, as I have said before. These two stars are fixed ; and about them all the firmament turns as a wheel that turns on its axle-tree ; so that those stars bear the firmament in two equal parts; so that it has as much above as it has beneath. After this I have gone towards the south, and have found, that in Libya we first see the antarctic star; and I have gone so far in those countries that I have found that star higher, so that, towards Upper Libya, it is eighteen degrees and certain minutes. And know well that, after what I may perceive and under- stand, the lands of Prester John, emperor of India, are under us ; for in going from Scotland or from England towards Jerusa- lem, men go always upwards ; for our land is in the low part of the earth, towards the west ; and the land of Pisester John is in the low part of the earth, to- wards the east ; and they have there the day when we have night; and, on the contrary, they have the night when we have the day, for the earth and the sea are of a round form, as I have said before ; and as men go upward to one part, they go downward to another. Also you have heard me say that Jeru- salem is in the middle of the world ; and that may be proved and shown there by a spear which is fixed in the earth at the hour of mid-day, when it is equinoxial, which gives no shadow on any side. They, MANDEVILLE, 11 therefore, that start from the west to go towards Jerusalem, as many days as they go up- ward to go thither, in so many days may they go from Jeru- salem to other confines of the superficialities of the earth be- yond. And when men go be- yond that distance, towards India and to the foreign isles, they are proceeding on the roundness of the earth and the sea, under our country. And therefore hath it befallen many times of a thing that I have heard told when I was young, how a worthy man departed once from our country to go and discover the world ; and so he passed India, and the isles beyond India, where are more than five thousand isles ; and so long he went by sea and land, and so environed the world by many seasons, that he found an isle where he heard people speak his own language, calling on oxen in the plough such words as men speak to beasts in his own country, whereof he had great wonder, for he knew not how it might be. But I say that he had gone so long, by land and sea, that he had gone all round the earth, that he was come again to his own borders, if he would have passed forth till he had found his native country. But he turned again from thence, from whence he was come-; and so he lost much painful labour^ as himself said, a. great while after, when he was coming home ; for it befell after,, that he went inta Norway, and the tempest of the sea carried him to an isle ; and when he was in that isle, he knew well that it was the isle where he had heard his own language spoken before, and the calling of the oxen at the plough. But it seems to simple and unlearned men that men may not go under the earth, but that they would fall from under towards the heaven. But that may not be any more than we fall towards heaven from the earth where we are ; for from what part of the earth that men dwell, either above or beneath, it seems always to them that they go more right than any other people. And right as it seems to us that they be under us, so it seems to them that we are under them ; for if a man might fall from the earth unto the firmament, by greater rea- son the earth and the sea, that are so great and so heavy, should fall to the firmament; but that may not be, and there- fore saith our Lord God, * He hangeth the earth upon no- thing.'* And although it be possible so to go all round the world, yet of a thousand persons not one might hap- pen to return to his country : for, from the greatness of the earth and sea, men may go by a thousand different ways that no one could be sure of returning exactly to the parts he came from. Beside the isle I have spoken- of, there is another great isle 1 Job xxvi. 7.- il!:;'Si l'il.,1 ^1 lil, ■(' "'I r ■:^yKi t 'M 78 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. called Sumobor, the king of which is very mighty. The people of that isle make marks 4n their faces with a hot iron, both men and women, as a mark of great nobility to be known from other people ; for they hold themselves most noble and most worthy of all the world. They have war always with the people that go all naked. Fast beside is an- other rich isle called Beteinga. And there are many other isles thereabout. Fast beside that isle, to pass by sea, is a great isle and ex- tensive country, called Java, which is near two thousand miles in circuit. And the king of that country is a very great lord, rich and mighty, having under him seven other kings of seven other surrounding isles. This isle is well inhabited, and in it grow all kinds of spices more plentifully than in any other country, as ginger, cloves, canel, sedewalle, nutmegs, and maces. After that isle is another large isle, called Pathan, which is a great kingdom, full of fair cities and towns. In that land grow trees that bear meal, of which men make good bread, white, and of good savour; and it seemeth as it were of wheat, but it is not quite of such sav- our. And there are other trees that bear good and sweet honey ; and others that bear poison,* against which there is no medi- cine but one; and that is to 1 Probably an allusion to the upas tree. take their own leaves, and stamp them and mix them with water, and then drink it, for no medi- cine will avail. Beyond this isle men go by sea to another rich isle, called Calonak, the king of which has as many wives as he will ; for he makes search through the country for the fairest maidens that may be found, who are brought before him. He hath also as many as fourteen thou- sand elephants, or more, which are brought up amongst his serfs in all his towns. And in case he has war with any of the kings around him, he causes certain men of arms to go up into wooden castles, which are set upon the elephants' backs, to fight against their enemies ; and so do other kings thereabouts ; and they call the elephants wai'kes. From that country they go by the Sea of Ocean, by an isle called Caffolos ; the natives of which, when their friends are sick, hang them on trees, and say that it is better that birds, which are angels of God, eat them, than the foul worms of the earth. Then we come to another isle, the inhabitants of' which are of full cursed kind, for they breed great dogs, and teach them to strangle their friends when they are sick, for they will not let them die of natural death ; for they say that they should suflfer great pain if* they abide to die by themselves, as nature would; and, when they are thus strangled, they eat MANDEVILLE. 79 their flesh as though it were venison. Afterwards men go by many isles by sea to an isle called Milk, where are very cursed people ; for they delight in no- thing more than to fight and slay men ; and they drink most gladly man's blood, which they call Dieu. And the more men that a man may slay, the more worship he hath amongst them. And thence they go by sea, from isle to isle, to an isle called Tracoda, the inhabitants of which are as beasts, and un- reasonable, and dwell in caves which they make in the earth, for they have not sense to make houses. And hen they see any man passing through their countries they hide them in their caves. Hence men go to another isle called Silha, which is full eight hundred miles in circuit. In that land is much waste, for it is so full of serpents, dragons, and cockodrills, that no man dare dwell there. These cocko- drills are serpents, yellow and rayed above, having four feet, and short thighs, and great nails like claws; and some are five fathoms in length, and some of six, eight, or even ten ; and when they go by places that are gravelly, it appears as if men had drawn a great tree through the gravelly place. And there are also many wild beasts, espe- cially elephants. In that isle is a great mountain, in the midst of which is a large lake in a full fair plain, and there is great plenty of water. And they of the country say that Adam and Eve wept on that mount a hun- dred years,^ when they were driven out of Paradise. And that water they say is of their tears ; for so much water they wept, that made the aforesaid lake. CHAPTER VII. How men know by an idol if the sick shall die or not — Of the great Chan of Cathay — Wherefore he is called the great Chan — Of the realm of Thairse and the lands and kingdoms towards the north parts. in coming down from the land of Cathay. From that isle, in going by sea towards the south, is another great isle, called Dondun, in which are people of wicked kinds, so that the father eats the son, the son the father, the husband the wife, and the wife the husband. And if it so be- fall that the father or mother or any of their friends are sick, the son goes to the priest of their law, and prays him to ask the idol if his father or mother or friend shall die; and then the priest and the son go before the idol, and kneel full devoutly, and ask of the idol ; and if the devil that is within answer that he shall live, they keep him well; and if he say that he shall die, then the priest and the son go with the wife of him that is sick, and they put their hands upon his mouth and stop his breath, and so kill him. 1 Probably Adam's Peak, in the island af Ceyloc Ilii *. '<* IrM !' 'Wk «i!l 8o THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, m\ And after that, they chop all the body in small pieces, and pray all his friends to come and eat ; and they send for all the minstrels of the country and make a solemn feast. And when they have eaten the flesh, they take the bones and bury them, and sing and make great melody. In another isle are people who have the face all flat, with- out nose and without mouth. In another isle are people that have the lip above the mouth so great, that when they sleep in the sun they cover all the face with that lip. And in an- other isle there are dwarfs, which have no mouth, but instead of their mouth they have a little round hole ; and when they shall eat or drink, they take it through a pipe, or a pen, or such a thing, and suck it in. And in another isle are people that have ears so long that they hang down to their knees. And in another isle are people that have horses' feet. In another isle are people that go upon their hands and feet like beasts, and are all skinned and feathered, and would leap as lightly into trees, and from tree to tree, as squirrels or apes. And in an- other isle are people that go always upon their knees, and at every step they go it seems that they would fall ; and they have eight toes on- every foot. Many other divers people of divers natures there are in other isles about, of the which, it were too long to tell. From these isles, in passing by the Sea of Ocean towards the east, by many days, men find a great kingdom called Mancy, which is in India the Greater ; and it is the best land, and one of the fairest in all the world ; and the roost delightful and plentiful of all goods. From that city men go by land six days to another city called Chilenfo, of which the walls are twenty miles in cir- cumference. In that city are sixty bridges of stone, so fair that no man may see fairer. In that city was the first seat of the king of Mancy, for it is a fair city and plentiful in all goods. Hence we pass across a great river called Dalay, which is the greatest river of fresh water in the world ; for where it is narrowest it is more than four miles broad. And then men enter again the land of the great Chan. That river goes through the land of pigmies, where- the people are small, out three spans long ; and they are right fair and gentle, both the men and the women. They marry when they are half a year of age, and have children ; and they live but six or seven years at most; and he that liveth eight years is considered very aged. These men are the best workers of gold, silver, cotton, silk, and of all such things, that are in the world. And they have oftentimes war with the birds of the country, which they take and eat. This little people neither labour in lands MANDEViLLE. 8i J ncr in vineyards ; but they have great men amongst them, of our stature, who till the land and labour amongst the vines for them. And of the men of our stature they have as great scorn and wonder as we should have among us of giants. There is a great and fair city amongst others, with a large population of the little people ; and there are great men dwelling amongst them ; but when they get chil- dren they are as little as the pigmies ; and therefore they are for the most part all pig- mies, for the nature of the land is such. Cathay is a great country, fair, noble, rich, and full of merchants. Thither merchants go to seek spices and all manner of mer- chandises, more commonly than in any other part. And you shall understand that merchants who come from Genoa, or from Venice, or from Romania, or other parts of Lombardy, go by sea and by land eleven or twelve months, or more some- tiines, before they reach the isle of Cathay, which is the principal region of all parts beyond ; and it belongs to the great Chan. From Cathay men go towards the east, by many days' journey, to a good city, between these o'hers, called Sugarmago, one of the best stored with silk and other merchandises in the world. Then men come to another old city, towards the east, in the province of Cathay, near which the men of Tartary have niade another city, called Caydon, which has twelve gates. And between the two gates there is always a great mile ; so that the two great cities, that is to say the old and the new, have in circuit more than twenty miles. In this city is the seat of the great Chan, in a very great palace, the fairest in the world, the walls of which are in circuit more than two miles ; and within the walls it is all full of other palaces. At great feasts, men bring, before the emperor's table, great tables of gold, and thereon are peacocks of gold, and many other kinds of different fowls, all of gold, and richly wrought and enamelled ; and they make them dance and sing, clapping their wings together, and making great noise ; and whether it be by craft or by necromancy I know not, but it is a goodly sight to behold. But I have the less marvel, because they are the most skilful men in the world in all sciences and in all crafts ; for in subtility, malice, and forethought they surpass all men under heaven ; and therefore they say themselves that they see with two eyes, and the Christians see but with one, because they are more sub- tle than they. And you shall understand that my fellows and I, with our yeo- men, served this emperor, and were his soldiers, fifteen months, against the king of Mancy, who was at war with him, because we had great desire to see his nobleness, and the estate ^'^ his ii .1 %:*?' 1 4 % v4 'i ' ( *! 83 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. i \\ court, and all his government, to know if it were such as we heard say. And truly we found it more noble, and more excel- lent and rich, and more marvel- lous, than ever we heard, inso- much that we would never have believed it had we not seen it. For it is not there as it is here. For the lords here have a cer- tain number of people as they may suffice ; but the great Chan hath every day people at his cost and expense without num- ber. But the ordinance, nor the expenses in meat and drink, nor the honesty, nor the clean- liness, is not so arranged there as it is here ; for all the com- mon- there eat without cloth upon their knees ; and they eat all manner of flesh, and little of bread. And after meat they wipe their hands upon their skirts, and they eat but once a day. But the estate of lords is full great, and rich, and noble. First I shall tell you why he was called the great Chan. You shall understand that all the world was destroyed by Noah's flood, except only Noah, and his wife, and his children. Noah had three sons, Shem, Cham (i.e. Ham), and Japheth. This Cham was he who saw his father naked when he slept, and showed him to his brethren in scorn, and therefore he was cursed of God. And Japheth turned his face away, and covered him. These three bre- thren shared all the land ; and this Cham, for his cruelty, took the greater and the best part, towards the east, which is called Asia; and Shem took Africa; and Japheth took Europe ; and therefore is all the earth parted in these three parts, by these three brethren. Cham was the greatest and most mighty ; and of him came more generations than of the others. And of his son Cush was engendered Nim- rod the giant, who was the first king that ever was in the world, and he began the foundation of the Tower of Babylon. And that time the fiends of hell came many times, and had many children on the earth, and engendered divers people, as monsters, and people dis- figured, some without heads, some with great ears, some with one eye, some giants, some with horses' feet, and many other diff-erent shapes contrary to na- ture. And of that generation of Cham are come the Pagans, and different people that are in islands of the sea about India. And forasmuch as he was the most mighty, and no man might withstand him, he called himself the son of God, and sovereign of all the world. And on ac- count of this Cham, this emperor called himself Chan and sove- reign of all the world. And of the generation of Shem are come the Saracens. And of the generation of Japheth came the people of Israel. And though we dwell in Europe, this is the opinion that the Syrians and the Samaritans have amongst them, and that they told me before I went towards India; but I found MANDEVILLE. 83 ' it otherwise. Nevertheless the truth is this — that Tartars, and they that dwell in Greater Asia, came of Cham. The kingdom of Cathay is the greatest realm in the world ; and the greatChan is the most power- ful emperor and greatest lord under the firmament; and so he calls himself in his letters right thus : * Chan, son of the high God, emperor of all who inhabit the earth, and lord of all lords.' And the letter of his great seal has the inscrip- tion, *God in heaven, Chan upon, the earth,, his fortitude ; the seal of the emperor of all men.' And the superscription about his little seal is this: *The fortitude of God; the seal of the emperor of all men.' And although they are not christened, yet the emperor and all the Tartars believe in im- mortal God; and when they will threaten any man, they say, * God knoweth well that I shall do thee such a thing,' and tell their menace. This land of Cathay is in Central Asia ; and after, on this side, is Asia the Greater. The kingdom of Cathay borders towards the west on the king- dom of Tharse, of which was one of the kings that came with presents to our Lord in Bethle- hem , and some of those who are of the lineage of that king are Christians. In Tharse they eat no flesh, and drink no wine. And on this side, towards the west, is the kingdom of Turkes- tan, which extends towards the west to the kingdom of Persia ; and towards the north to the kingdom of Chorasm. In the centre of Turkestan are but few good cities ; but the best city of that land is called Octorar. There are great pastures, but little com ; and therefore, for the most part, they are all lierdsmen ; and they lie in tents, and drink a kind of ale made of honey. And after it, on this side, is the kingdom of Chorasm (Kho- rasan), which is a good land and a plentiful,, but without wine. It has a desert toward the east, which extends more than a hundred days' journey ; and the best city of that country is called Chorasm, from which the country takes its name. The people of that country are hardy warriors. And on this side is the kingdom of Comania, whence were driven the Co- rn anians that dwelt in Greece. This is one of the greatest kingdoms of the world, but it is not all inhabited; for in one part there is so great cold, that no man may dwell there, and in another part there is so great heat, that no man can endure it ; and also there are so many flies that no man may know on what side he may turn him. In that country is but little wood or trees bearing fruit, or others. They lie in tents ; and they burn the dung of beasts for want of wood. This kingdom descends on this side towards us, and to- wards Prussia and Russia. And !!i| m 3.,, . ,v4id I>^-* «4 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. I 'A, through that country runs the river Ethille, which is one of the greatest rivers in the world ; and it freezes so strongly all year, that many times men have fought upon the ice with great armies, both parties on foot, having quitted their horses for the time ; and what on horse and on foot, more than 200,000 persons on every side. And between that river and the great Sea of Ocean, which they call the Maure Sea,^ lie all these kingdoms. And towards the head beneath in that realm is the mountain of Chotaz, which is the highest mountain in the world ; and it is between the Maure Sea and the Caspian Sea. There is a very narrow and dangerous passage to go towards India ; and therefore king Alexander made there a strong city, which they call Alexandria,to guard the country, that.no man should pass with- out his leave ; and now men call that city the Gate of Hell. And the principal city of Co- mania is called Sarak, which is one of the three ways to go into India ; but by this way no great multitude of people can pass unless it be in winter; and that passage men call the Derbent. The ether way is from the city of Turkestan, by Persia; and by that way are many days' journey by desert ; and the third way is from Co- mania, by the great sea, and by the kingdom of Abchaz. ^ Northern Ocean. ^CHAPTER VIII. Of the emperor of Persia, and of the land of darkness, and of other kingdoms that belong to the great Chan of Cathay— Of 'the countries and islands beyond the land of Cathay— Of the devil's head in the perilous valley— Of the hills of gold that ants keep— Of the four stream* that come from terrestrial Paradise. Now, since I have spoken of the lands and the kingdoms to- wards the north part, in coming down from the land of Cathay unto the lands of theChristians, towards Prussia and Russia, I will speak of other lands and kingdoms conning down towards the right side, unto the Sea of Greece, towards the land of the Christians. And since, after India and Cathay, the emperor of Persia is the greatest lord, I will tell you of the kingdom of Persia. He hath two kingdoms.; the first begins towards the east, towards the kingdom of Turkestan, and extends towards the west to the river Pison, which is one of the four rivers that come out of Paradise. And on another side it extends toward the north to the Caspian Sea, and toward the south to the desert of India. And this country is good, and pleasant, and full of people, and contains many good cities. But the two principal cities are Boycurra and Seomergant, that some men call Sormagant.^ The other kingdom of Persia ex- tends towards the river Pison, and the parts of the west, to the 1 Bokhara and Samarcand. MANDE VILLE. «5 kingdom of Media, and from the Great Armenia toward the north to the Caspian Sea, and towards the south to- the land of India. That is also a good and rich land, and it hath three great principal cities, Messabw, Caphon, and Sarmassane. And then after is Armenia, in which were formerly four kingdoms ; it is a noble coimtry, and full of goods. And it be- gins at Persia, and extends to- wards the west in length unto Turkey, and in breadth it ex- tends to the city of Alexandria,* that now is called the Gate of Hell, that I spoke of before, under the kingdom of Media. In this Armenia are many good cities, but Taurizo* is most of name. After this is the kingdom of Media, which is very long, but not broad, beginning, towards the east, with the land of Persia, and India the Less ; and it ex- tends towards the west to the kingdom of Chaldea, and towards the north towards Little Ar- menia. In that kingdom of Media are many great hills and little of level ground. Sara- cens dwell therei and another kind of people called Cordines." The two best cities of that kingdom are Sarras and Kare- men. After that is the kingdom of Georgia, which commences to- wards the east, at the great mountain called Abzor, and contains many people of differ- * Iskanderoon T ' Tabreez, * The Kurds, the Gordyme of the ancients. ent nations. And men call the country Alamo. This king- dom extends towards Turkey, and towards the Great Sea ; and towards the south it borders on the Greater Armenia. And there are two kingdoms in that country, the kingdom of Georgia and the kingdom of Abchaz ; and always in that country are two kings, both Christians : but the king of Georgia is in sub- jection to the great Chan. And the king of Abchaz has the stronger country, and he always vigorously defends his country against all who assail him, so that no man may reduce him to subjection. In that kingdom of Abchaz is a great marvel ; for a province of the country, that has well in circuit three days, which they call Hanyson, is all covered with darkness, without any brightness or light, so that no man can see there, nor no man dare enter into it. And, nevertheless, they of the country say that sometimes men hear voices of people, and horses neighing, and cocks- crowing ; and men know well that men dwell there, but they know not what men. And they say that the darkness befell by miracle of God'; for a cursed emperor of Persia, named Saures, pur- sued all the Christians to de- stroy them, and to compel them to make sacrifice to his idols, and rode with a great host, in all that ever he might, to con- found the Christians. And then, in that country, dwelt many good Christians, who left their I « im -.1 -5. m. ■If ■■;. ) V.J ^, IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 ^^t^ ^^= Ui. Ui 12.2 I.I l."^!- ^^^■■^ HUN.. ^ llSi U 11.6 1.25 Photographic Sciences Corporation ^ ^ ^ is \ ;\ as WIST MAIN STRUT WnSTIR.N.Y. I4SI0 (716) 173-4 JOS 4ic 86 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, goods, and would have fled into Greece ; and when they were in a plain called Me- gon, anon this cursed emperor met with them, with his host, to have slain them and cut them to pieces. And the Chris- tians kneeled to the ground, and made their prayers to God to succour them ; and anon a great thick cloud came, and covered the emperor and all his host; and so they remain in that manner, that they may go out on no -side ; and so shall they evermore abide in dark- ness till doomsday, by the miracles of God. And then the Christians went where they liked at their own pleasure, with- out hindrance of any creature. And you shall understand that outof that land of darknessissues a great river, that shows well there are people dwelling there, by many ready tokens ; but no man dare enter into it. And kjiow well that in the kingdoms of Georgia, Abchaz, and the Little Armenia, are good and devout Christians ; for they shrive and housel * themselves always once or twice in the week ; and many housel themselves every day. Also after, on this side, is Turkey, which borders on the Great Armenia. And there are many provinces, as Cappadocia, Saure, Brique, Quesiton, Pytan, and Gemethe ; and in each of these are many good cities. This Turkey extends to the city of Sathala, that sitteth upon the 1 Take the sacrament. sea of Greece, and so it borders on Syria. Syria is a great and a good country, as I have told you before. And also it has, towards Upper India, the king- dom of Chaldea, extending from the mountains of Chaldea to- wards the east to the city of Nineveh, on the river Tigris; in breadth it begins towards the north, at the city of Maraga, and extends towards the south to the Sea of Ocean. Chaldea is a level country, with few hills and few rivers. After is the kingdom of Mesopotamia, which begins to- wards the east, at the river Tigris, at a city called Moselle,* and extends towards the west to the river Euphrates, to a city called Roianz ; and in length it extends from the mountain of Armenia to the desert of India the Less. This is a good and level cowntry; but it has few rivers. There are but two mountains in that country, of which one is called Symar, the other Lyson. This land bor- ders on the kingdom of Chal- dea. There are also, towards the south parts, many countries and regions, as the land of Ethiopia, which borders towards the east on the great deserts, towards the west on the kingdom of Nubia, towards the south on the kingdom of Mauritania, and towards the north on the Red Sea. After is Mauritania, which extends from the moun- tains of Ethiopia to Upper 1 Mosul. MANDE VILLE. 87 Libya. And that country lies along from the Ocean Sea to- wards the south, and towards the north it borders on Nubia and Upper Libya. The men of Nubia are Christians. And it extends from the lands above mentioned to the deserts of Egypt, of which I have spoken before. And after is Upper and Lower Libya, which de- scends low down, towards the great sea of Spain, in which country are many kingdoms and different people. In passing by the land of Cathay towards Upper India, and towards Bucharia, men pass by a kingdom called Caldilhe, which is a very fair country. From that land men go towards the land of Bucharia, where are very evil and cruel people. In that land are trees that bear wool,^ as though it were of sheep, whereof men make clothes, and all things that may be made of wool. In that country are many ipotaynes, that dwell sometimes in the w^ater and sometimes on the land ; and they are half man and half horse, as I have said before ; and they eat men when they may take them. And there are rivers of water that are very bitter, three times more than is the water of the sea. In that country are many griffins, more abundant than in any other country. Some men say that they have the body upward of an eagle, and beneath of a lion, and that is true. But one ^Cottoa griffin has a greater body and is stronger than eight lions, and greater and stronger than a hundred eagles. For one grif- fin there will carry, flying to his nest, a great horse, or two oxen yoked together as they go at the plough. For he has his talons so long, and so large and great, as though they were horns of great oxen, or of bulls, or of kine, so that men make cups of them to drink out of; and of their ribs, and of the feathers of their wings, men make bows full strong, to shoot with arrows and darts. From thence men go, by many days, through the land of Prester John, the great emperor of India. And they call his kingdom the isle of Pentexoire. Near that isle of Mistorak, upon the left side, nigh to the river of Pison, is a marvellous thing. There is a vale between the mountains which extends nearly four miles ; and some call it the Enchanted Vale, some call it the Vale of Devils, and some the Perilous Vale. In that vale men henr oftentimes great tempests and thunders, and great murmurs and noises, day and night ; and great noise as it were, of tabors, and nakeres, and trumpets, as though it were of a great feast. This vale is all full of devils, and has been always ; and men say there that it is one of the entrances of hell. In that vale is great plenty of gold and silver; wherefore many misbe- lieving men, and many Chris- >M'- V?. If *> ' •4' ■ «.4I r « ^*^\ 88 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. A ; tians also, oftentimes go in, to have of the treasure ; but few return, especially of the misbe- lieving men, for they are anon strangled by the devils. And in the centre of that vale, under a rock, is a head and the visage of a devil bodily, full horrible and dreadful to see, and it shows but the head to the shoulders. But there is no man in the world so bold. Christian or other, but he would be in dread to behold it, and he would feel almost dead with fear, so hideous is it to behold. For he looks at every man so sharply with dreadful eyes, that are ever moving and spark- ling like fire, and changes and stirs so often in divers manners, with so horrible a countenance, that no man dare approach towards him. And from him issues smoke, and stink, and fire, and so much abomination that scarce any man may en- dure there. But the good Christians, that are stable in their faith, enter without peril ; for they will first shrive them, and mark them with the sign of the holy cross, so that the fiends have no power over them. But although they are without peril, yet they are not without dread when they see the devils visibly and bodily all about them, that make full many divers assaults and menaces, in air and on earth, and terrify them with strokes of thunder blasts and of tempests. And the greatest fear is that God will take vengeance then of that which men have misdone against his will. And you shall understand that when my fellows and I were in this vale, we were in great thought whether we durst put our bodies in aventure, to go in or not, in the protection of God \ and some of our fel- lows agreed to enter, and some not. So there were with us two worthy men, friars minors of Lombardy, who said that if any man would enter they would go in with us ; and when they had said so, upon the gracious trust of God and of them, we heard mass, and every man was shriven and houseled ; and then we entered, fourteen persons, but at our going out we were but nine. And so we never knew whether our fellows were lost, or had turned back for fear ; but we never saw them after. They were two men of Greece, and three of Spain. And our other fellows, that would not go in with us, went by another road to be before us ; and so they were. And thus we passed that Perilous Vale, and found therein gold and silver, and precious stones, and rich jewels, in great plenty, both here and there, as it seemed ; but whether it was as it seemed I know not, for I touched none ; because the devils are so subtle to make a thing to seem other- wise than it is, to deceive man- kind ; and therefore I touched none ; and also because that I would not be put out of my devotion, for I was more devout MANDE VILLE. $9 then than ever I was before or after, and all for the dread of fiends that I saw in divers figures ; and also for the great multitude of dead bodies that I saw there lying by the way, in all the vale, as though there had been a battle between two kings, and the mightiest of the country, and •' at the greater party had been discomfited and slain. And I believe that hardly should any country have so many people in it as lay slain in that vale, as^it seemed to us, which was a hideous sight to see. And I marvelled much that there were so many, and the bodies all whole, with- out rotting ; but I believe that fiends made them seem to be so fresh, without rotting. And many of them were in habits of Christian men ; but I believe they were such as went in for covetousness of the trea- sure that) was there, and had overmuch feebleness in faith ; so that their hearts might not endure in the belief for dread. And therefore we were the more devout a great deal ; and yet we were cast down and beaten down many times to the hard earth by winds, and thunders, and tempests; but evermore God of his grace helped us. And so we passed that perilous vale without peril and without encumbrance, thanked be Al- mighty God ! After this, beyond the vale, is a great isle, the inhabitants of which are great giants of twenty-eight or thirty feet long, with no clothing but skins of beasts, that they hang upon them ; and they eat nothing but raw fic-h; and drink milk of beasts. They have no houses to lie in. And they eat more gladly man's flesh than any other flesh. Into that isle dare no man enter ; and if they see a ship, and men therein, anon they enter' into the sea to take them. And men told us that in an isle beyond that were giants of greater stature, some of forty-five or fifty feet long, and even, as some men say, of fifty cubits long; but I saw none of those, for I had no lust to go to those parts, be cause that no man comes either into that isle or into the other but he will be devoured anon. And among those giants are sheep as great as oxen here, which bear great rough wool. Of the sheep I have sees many times. And men have said many times those giants take men, in the sea, out of theii ships, and bring them to land, two in one hand and two in the other, eating them going, all raw and alive. In. another isle, towards the north j. in the Sea of Ocean, are very evil women, who have precious stones in their eyes ; and if they behold any man with wrath, they slay him with the look. Towards the east of Prester John's land is a good and great isle called Taprobane, and it is very fruitful ; and. the king thereof is- rich,, and is under the obeisance of Prester John. feW^' \^< 1 ? ( < ■r^t : rf < '«- .„ ■>>■ ■'J ■•I ■ * I tK . m $e THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. 'fr II And there they allways make their king by election. In that isle are two summers and two winters, and men harvest the corn twice a yea? \ and in all seasons of the year the gardens are in flower. There dwell good people, and reasonable, and many Christian men among them, who are so rich that they know not what to do with their goods. Of old time, when men passed from the land of Prester John unto that isle, men made ordinance to pass by ship in twenty-three days or more ; but now men pass by ship in seven days. And men may see the bottom of the sea in many places, for it is not very deep. Beside that isle, towards the east, are two other isles, one called Grille, the other Argyte, of which all the land is mines of gold and silver. And those isles are just where the Red Sea separates from the Ocean Sea. And in those isles men see no stars so clearlyas in other places, for there appears only one clear star called Canopus. And there the moon tie not seen in all the lunation, except in the second quarter. In the Isle, ate©, of this Taprobane, are great hills of gold that ants keep full -dfli- gently. And beyond the land, and isles, and deserts of Prester John's lordship, in goingstraight towards the east, men find no- thing but mountains and great rocks ; and there is the da/rk region, where no man may see neither by day nor night, as they of the country say. And that desert, and that place of darkness, lasts from this coast unto Terrestrial Paradise, where Adam, our first father, and Eve were put, who dwelt there but a little while; and that is to- wards the east, at the beginning of the earth. But this is not that east that we call our east, on this half, where the sun rises to us ; for when the sun is east in those parts towards Terres- trial Paradise, it is then mid- night in our parts on this half, on account of the roundness of the earth, of which I have told you before ; for our Lord God made the earth all round, in the middle of the firmament. And there have mountains and hills been, and valleys, which arose only from Noah's flood, that wasted the soft and tender ground, and fell down into val- leys; and the hard earth and the rock remain mountains, when the soft and tender earth was worn away by the water, and fell, and became valleys. Of Paradise I cannot speak properly, for I was not there. It is far beyond ; and I repent not going there, but I was not worthy. But as I have heard say of wise men beyond, I shall tdl you with good will. Ter- restrial Paradise, as wise men say, is the highest place of the earth ; and it is so high that it nearly touches the circle of the moon there, as the moon makes her turn. For it is so high that the flood of Noah might not come to it, that would have ! t- MANDE VILLE, ^» I covered all the earth of the world all about, and above and beneath, except Paradise. And this Paradise is enclosed all about with a wall, and men know not whereof it is ; for the wall is covered all over with moss, as it seems, and it seems not that the wall is natural stone. And that wall stretches from the south to the north, and it has but one entry, which is -closed with burning fire, so that no man that is mortal dare enter. And in the highest place of Paradise, exactly in the middle, is a well that casts out the four streams, which run by divers lands, of which the first is called Pison, or Ganges, that runs throughout India, or Em- lak, in which river are many precious stones, and much lig- num aloes, and much sand of gold. And the other river is called Nile, or Gyson, which goes through Ethiopia, and after through Egypt. And the other is called Tigris, which runs by Assyria, and by Armenia the Great. And the other is called Euphrates, which runs through Media, Armenia, and Persia. And men there beyond say that all the sweet waters of thie world, above and beneath, take their beginning from the well of Para- dise ; and out of that well all waters come and go. The first river is called Pison, that is, in our language, Assembly ; for many other rivers meet there and go into that river. And some call it Ganges, from an Indian king called Gangeres, because it ran through his land. And its water is in some places clear, and in some places troubled ; in some places hot, and in some places cold. The second river is called Nile, or Gyson, for it is always troubled ; and Gyson, in the language of Ethiopia, is to say Trouble, and in the language of Egypt also. The third river, called Tigris, is as much as to say. Fast Run- ning ; for it runs faster than any of the others. The fourth river is called Euphrates, that is to say, Well Bearing; for there grow upon that river com, fruit, and other goods, in great plenty. And you shall understand that no man that is mortal may approach to that Paradise ; for by land no man may go for wild beasts that are in the de- serts, and for the high moun- tains, and great huge rocks, that no man may pass by for the dark places that are there ; and by the rivers may no man go, for the water runs so roughly and so sharply, because it comes down so outrageously from the high places above, that it runs in so great waves that no ship may row or sail against it ; and the water roars so, and makes so huge a noise and so great a tempest, that no man may hear another in the ship, though he cried with all the might he could. Many great lords have assayed with great will, many times, to pass by those rivers towards Paradise, with full great com- panies; but they might not speed in their voyage ; and ^i 1 vt tf' "^^Stflp ;«■ *' -^M " ' ? M ^^'iff'a 1 '" >•? Jifjfl 0'! '*'iil!! ; 'i : MANDEVILLE. 95 that we Christian, men have images, as of our Lady, and of other saints, that we worship ; not the images of wood or of stone, but the saints in whose names they are made ; for right as the books of the Scripture teach the clerks how and ini what manner they shall believe, right so the images and the paintings teach the ignorant people to worship the saints, and to have them in their minds, in whose name the images are made. They say also^ that the angels of God speak to them in those idols, and that they do many great miracles. And they say truth, that there is an angel within them ; for there ase two manner of angels,^ a good and an evil ; as the Greeks say, Cacho and Calo* This Cacho is the wicked angel, and Calo is the good angel ; but the other is not the good angel, but the wicked angel, which is within, the idols to deceive them and maintain them in their error. There are many other divers countries, and many other mar- vels beyond, that I have not seen ; wherefore I cannot speak of them properly. And, also, in the countries where I have been are many diversities of many wonderful things, more than I make mention of; for it were too long a thing to devise you the manner of them- all. And therefore now that I have de- vised you of certain countries, which I have spoKcn of before, I loeseech your worthy and ex- cellent nobleness that it suffice to you at this time ; for if I told you all that is beyond the sea, another man, perhaps, who would labour to go into those parts to seek those countries, might be blamed by my words in rehearsing many strange things ; for he might not say anything new, in the which the hearers might have either so- lace or pleasure. And you shall understand that, at my coming home, I came to Rome, and showed my life to our holy father the pope, and was absolved of all that lay in my conscience of many divers grievous points, as men must need that are in com- pany, dwelling amongst so many divers people, of divers sects and beliefs, as I have been. And, amongst all, I showed him this treatise, that I had made after information of men that knew of things that I had not seen myself, and also of marvels and customs that I had seen myself, as far as God would give me grace ; and besought his holy fatherhood that my book might be examined and corrected by advice of his wise and discreet council. And our holy father, of his special grace, gave my book to be exa- mined and proved by the advice of his said council, by the which my book was proved for true, insomuch that they showed me a book, which my book was examined by, that compre- hended full much more, by an hundredth part, by the which the Mappa Mundi was mad«i jL.fJ!t*J F '^ J- .'lit I. (i ' 1*1' ''-'I'M ^k ^'M BfS(^-^^7+^ ^f*- -t^- iwSl Av.i' 4' h' 'I • '"Su^?- •♦i > .. «l'- , .1 •■ 'f if y tv 't . :*. ^'96 TllF. ENGLISH EXPLORERS. And 80 my hook (albeit that many men hst not to give crc- dcn<'c to anything hut to what they see with their eye, he the author or the i)er8on over so true) is aflinned and proved by our holy father in manner and form as I have said. And 1, John Mandevillc, knight, abovesaid (although I be unworthy), that went from our countries, and passed the sea, in the year of grace 1322, have passed many lands, and many isles and countries, and searclied many full strange places, and have been in many a full good and honourable com- pany, and at many a fair deed of arms (albeit that I did none myself, for my insufficiency), now I nm come home (in spite of myself) to rest ; for rheuma- tic gouts, that distress me, fix the end of my labour, against my will (God knoweth). And thus, taking comfort in my wretched rcst| recording the time passed, I have fulfilled these tilings, and written them in this book, as it would come into my minil, the year of grace 1356, in the thirty-fourth year that I departed from our coun- try. Wherefore 1 pray to all the readers and hearers of this book, if it please them, that they would pray to God for me, and I shall pray for them. And all those that say for me a Pater Noster^ with an Ave Maria^ that God forgive me my sins, I make him partner and grant him part of all the good pilgrimages, and of all the good deeds that I have done, if any be for his good, and not only of those, but of all thai ever I shall do unto .my life's end.' 1 The text of the Introductory portion of • M.v»dcville' h.is been niodcrnixed from Halliwell's reprint of the Cottonian Library edition, while part of iho remainder has been collated with, and partly given from, the version of the travels in Early TravtU in Pahsiine, in Dohn's Library, by perniis- sion of Messrs. George Bell and Sou. BRUCE'S TRAVELS IN ABYSSINIA. CTIAI'TI'.R I. Iiitroiltictory. It is with a view to give every possible information to my reader, that I lay before him the motives upon which these travels were undertaken, the order and manner in which they were executed, and some account of the work itself, as well of the matter as the dis- tribution of it. Every one will remember that period, so glorious to Bri- tain, the latter end of the mini- stry of the late Earl of Chatham. I was then returned from a tour through the greatest part ofi Eu- rope, particularly through the whole of Spain and Portugal, be- tween whom there was then an appearance of approaching war. I was about to retire to a small patrimony I had received from, my ancestors, in order to em- brace a life of study and reflec* tion, nothing more active ap- pearing then within my power, when chance threw me unexr pectedly into a very short and desultory conversation with Lord Chatham. A few days after this, Mr. Wood, then undersecretary of state, my very zealous and sin- cere friend, informed me that Lord Chatham intended to em- ploy me on a i)articular service ; that I might, however, go down for a few weeks to my own country to settle my affairs, but by all means to be ready upon a call. Nothing could be more fluttering to nie than such an offer; to be thought worthy, when so young, of any employ- ment by Lorcl Chatham was doubly a preferment. No time was lost on my side; but, just after my having received orders to return to London, his lord- ship had gone to Bath, and re- signed his office. This disappointment, which was the more sensibly felt by me, as it was the first I: had met with in public life, was promised to be made up to me by Lord Egremont and Mr. George Grenville. The former had been long my friend; but unhappily he wasthen fargonein a lethargic indisposition, which threatened, and very soon after put a period to his existence. G I*1>'^\^ '» rl ^^ J i .a'Y i^iM - 41 {,■ A mf i 98 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, Seven or eight months were passed in an expensive and fruit- less attendance in London, when Lord Halifax was pleased, not only to propose, but to plan for me a journey of consider- able importance, and which was to take up several years. His lordship said, that nothing could be more ignoble, than that, at such a time of life, at the height of my reading, health, and activity, I should, as it were, turn peasant, and volun- tarily bury myself in obscurity and idleness; that though the war was now drawing fast to an end, a competition full as hon- ourable remained among men of spirit, who should acquit themselves best in the danger- ous line of useful adventure and discovery. * He observed, that the coast of Barbary, which might be said to be just at our door, was as yet but partially explored. The discovery of the source of the Nile was also a subject of these conversations ; but it was always mentioned to me with a kind of diffidence, as if to be expected only from a more experienced traveller. Fortune seemed to enter into this scheme. At the very in- stant, Mr. Aspinwall, very cruelly and ignominiously treated by the Dey of Algiers, had resigned his consulship, and Mr. Ford, a merchant, formerly the Dey's acquaint- ance, was named in his place. Mr. Ford was appointed, and dying a few days after, the con- sulship became vacant. Lord Halifax pressed me to accept this, as containing all sorts ot conveniencies for making the proposed expedition. This favourable event finally deter- mined me. I had all my life applied unweariedly, perhaps with more love than talent, to drawing, the practice of mathe- matics, 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 comjiletest of their kind, for the observation. In the choice of these I had been as- sisted by my friend Admiral Campbell, and Mr. Russel, secretary to the Turkish Com- pany : every other necessary had been provided in propor- tion. Thus prepared, I set out for Italy, through France ; and though it was in time of war, and some strong objections had been made to particular pass- ports solicited by our govern- ment from the French secre- tary of state, Monsieur de Choiseul most obligingly waved all such exceptions with regard to me, and most politely assured me, in a letter accompanying my passport, that those difficul- ties did not in any shape regard me, but that I was perfectly at liberty to pass through, or re- main in France, with those that accompanied me, without limit- BRUGES TRAVELS. ^ ing their number, as short or as long a time as should be agree- able to me. On my arrival at Rome I received orders to pro- ceed to Naples, there to await his Majesty's further commands. Nothing remained but to take possession of my consulship. I returned without loss of time to Rome, and thence to Leg- horn, where, having embarked on board the Montreal man-of- war, I proceeded to Algiers. After a year spent at Algiers, constant conversation with the natives whilst abroad, and with my manuscripts within doors, had qualified me to appear in any part of the continent with- out the help of an interpreter. My immediate prospect of set- ting out on my journey to the inland parts of Africa had made me double my diligence ; night and day there was no relaxation from these studies, although the acquiring any single language had never been with me either an object of time or difficulty. There was a Greek priest, a native of Cyprus, a very vener- able man, past seventy years of age, who had attached himself to me from my first arrival in Algiers. This man was of a very social and cheerful temper, and had, besides, a more than ordinary knowledge of his own language. I had taken him to my house as my chaplain, read Greek with him daily, and spoke it at times when I could receive his correction and instruction. It was not that I, at this time of day, needed to learn Greek, I had long understood that lan- guage perfectly ; what I wanted was the pronunciation, and read- ing by accent, of which the generality of English scholars are perfectly ignorant, and to which it is owing that they apprehend the Greek spoken and written in the Archipelago is materially different from that language which we read in books, and which a few weeks' conversation in the islands will teach them it is not. I had in this, at that time, no other view than mere convenience during my passage through the Archi- pelago, which I intended to visit, without any design of con- tinuing or studying there : but the reader will afterwards see of what very material service this acquaintance was to me ; so very essential, indeed, that it contributed more to the success of my views in Abyssinia than any other help that I obtained throughout the whole journey. This man's name was Padre Christophoro, or Father Christo- pher. At my leaving Algiers, finding himself less conveni- ently situated, he went to Egypt, to Cairo, where he was pro- moted to be second in rank under Mark, patriarch of Alex- andria, where I afterwards found him. I sailed from Algiers, having taken leave of the Dey, who furnished me with every letter that I asked, with strong and peremptory orders to all the officers of his own dominions, pressing recommendatory ones \ •< .1: \\\\ •''1 SI"! •:■.!! I / ' lis -r- '' 5 - TOO THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. lUi ilp 1 1 iP^i ' IH to the Beys of Tunis and Tripoli, states independent, indeed, of the Dey of Algiers, but over which the circumstances of the times had given him a consider- able influence. I sailed in a small vessel from Port Mahon, and, having a fair wind, in a short time made the coast of Africa, at a cape, or headland, called Ras el Hamra, and landed at Bona, a considerable town, the ancient Aphrodisium, built from the ruins of Hippo Regius, from which it is only two miles distant. It stands on. a large plain, part of which seems to have been once over- flowed by the sea. Its trade consists now in the exportation- of wheat, when, in plentiful years, that trade is permitted by the government of Algiers. I had a delightful voyage close down the coast, and passed the island Tabarca, lately a small fortification of the Genoese, now in the hands of the regency of Tunis, who took it by surprise, and made all the inhabitants slaves. The island is famous for a coral fishery, and along the coast are immense forests of large beautiful oaks, more than sufficient to supply the necessities of all the maritime powers in the Levant, if the quality of the wood be but equal to the size and beauty of the tree. From Tabauca I sailed and> anchored at Biserta, and thence- went to pay a visit to Uticaj out of respect to the memory of Cato, without having sanguine expectations of meeting any- thing remarkable there; and accordingly I found nothing memorable but the name. It may be said, nothing remains of Utica but a heap of rubbish and of small stones; without the city the trenches and ap- proaches of the ancient be- siegers are still very perfect. After doubling Cape Carthage I anchored before the fortress of the Goletta, a place now of no strength, notwithstanding the figure it made at the time of the expedition of Charles v. Row- ing along the bay, between the Cape and this anchorage, I saw several buildings and columns still standing under water, by which it appeared that old Car- thagehadowed part of its destruc- tion to the sea, and hence like- wise may be inferred the absur- dity of any attempt to represent the site of ancient Carthage upon paper. It has^ been, besides, at least ten times. destroyed, so that the stations, where its first citi- zens fell fighting for their liberty, are covered deep in rubbish far from being trodden upon by those unworthy slaves who are now its masters. Tunis is twelve miles distant from this : it is a large and flourishing city. The people are more civilized than in Algiers, and the government milder, but the climate is very far from, being so good. Tunis is> low, hot, and damp, and de- stitute of good: water, with which Algiers is supplied from a thou- sand springs. I delivered my letters from the Bey, and ob- BRUGES TRAVELS. lOI tained permission to visit the country in whatever direction I should please. I took with me a French renegado, of the name of Osman, recommended to me by Monsieur Barthelemy de Saisieu, consul of France to that state ; a gentleman whose con- versation and friendship furnish me still with some of the most agreeable reflections that result from my travels. With Osman I took ten spahi, or horse-sol- diers, well armed with firelocks and pistols, excellent horsemen, and, as far as I could ever dis- cem upon the few occasions that presented, as eminent for cowardictf, at least, as they were for horsemanship. This was not the case with Osman, who was very brave; but he needed a sharp look-out, that he did not often embroil us where there was access to women or to wine. The coast along which I had sailed was part of Numidia and Africa Proper, and there I met with no ruins. I resolved now to distribute my inland journey through the kingdom of Algiers and Tunis. In order to com- prehend the whole, I first set out along the river Majerda, through a country perfectly cul- tivated, and inhabited by people under the control of govern- ment. This river was the an- cient Bagrada. After passing a triumphal arch of bad taste at Basil-bab, I came the next day.; to Thugga, perhaps more pro- perly called Tucca, and, by the inhabitants, Dugga. I found at Dugga a large scene of ruins, among which one building was easily distin- guishable. It was a large pillar of the Corinthian order, all of Parian marble, the columns fluted, the cornice highly orna- mented in the very best style of sculpture. In the tympanum is an eagle flying to heaven with a human figure upon his back, which, by the many in- scriptions that are still remain- ing, seems to be intended for, that of Trajan, and the apo- theosis of that emperor to be the subject, the temple having been erected by Adrian to that prince, his benefactor and pre- decessor. From Dugga I con- tinued the upper road to Keff, through the pleasant plains in- habited by the Welled Yagoube. I then proceeded to Hydra, a frontier place between the two kingdoms of Algiers and Tunis, as Keff is also. It is inhabited by a tribe of Arabs, whose chief is a marabout, or saint. They are called Welled Sidi Boogan- nim, the * sons of the father of flocks.' These Arabs are im- mensely rich, paying no tribute either to Tunis or Algiers. There is at Thunodrunum a triumphal arch, which Dr. Shaw thinks is more remarkable for its size than for its taste or execution; but the size is not extraordinary ; on the other hand, both taste and execution are admirable. It is, with all its parts, in the King's collec- tion, and, taking the whole to- gether, is one of the most 1- vK I < r tf^iS 102 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, beautiful landscapes in black and white now existing. The distance, as well as the fore- ground, are both from nature, and exceedingly well calculated for such representation. Before Dr. Shaw's travels first acquired the celebrity they have maintained ever since, there was a circumstance that very nearly ruined their credit. He had ventured to say in conversation that these Welled Sidi Boogan- nim were eaters of lions ; and this was considered at Oxford, the University where he had studied, as a traveller's license on the part of the doctor. They thought it a subversion of the natural 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 man. With all submission to that 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 Welled Sidi Boogannim, who have turned the chase upon the enemy. It is an historical fact, and I will not suffer the public to be mis- led 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 Welled Sidi Boogannim. I con- fess I have no desire of being again served with such a morsel; but the Arabs, a brutish and ignorant folk, will, I fear, not- withstanding the disbelief of the University of Oxford, continue to eat lions as long as they exist. From Hydra I passed to the ancient Tipasa, another Roman colony, where there is a large temple, and a four-faced tri- umphal arch of the Corinthian order, in the very best taste, both of which are now in the collection of the King. I here crossed the river Myskianah, which falls into the Bagrada, and continuing through one of the most beautiful and best-cul- tivated countries in the world, I entered the eastern province of Algiers, now called Constan- tina. Advancing still to the S.E. through broken ground and some very barren valleys, which produced nothing but game, I came to Jibbel Aurez, the Aurasius Mons of the middle age. Here I met a tribe, who, if I cannot say they were fair, like English, were of a shade lighter than that of the inha- bitants of any country to the southward of Britain. Their hair was red, and their eyes blue, and they are a savage and independent people, re- quiring address to approach them with safety. Each of the tribe, in the middle between their eyes, has a Greek cross marked with antimony. From Jibbel Aurez I came to Cassareen, where I suffered something from hunger and from fear. The country was more rugged and broken than any we had yet seen, and withal BRUCE' S TRAVELS. 103 less fiLiitful and inhabited. Journeying east, I came to Spaitla, and again got into the kingdom of Tunis. From Spaitla I went to Gilma, or Oppidum Chilmanense. There is here a large extent of rub- bish and stones, but no distinct trace of any building whatever. From Gilma I passed to Much- tar, corruptly now so called, where there are two triumphal arches, the largest of which I suppose equal in taste, execu- tion, and mass, to anything now existing in the world. The lesser is more simple, but very elegant. They are both, with all the particulars of their parts, not yet engraved, but still in my collection. From Muchtar we came to Kisser, which stands on the declivity of a hill, above a large fertile plain, still called the Plain of Surse, which is pro- bably a corruption of its ancient name Assuras. From Kisser I came to Musti, where there is a triumphal arch of very good taste, but perfectly in ruins. From Musti I proceeded north- eastward to Tubersoke, thence again to Dugga, and down the Bagrada to Tunis. My third journey through Tunis was by Zowan, a high mountain, where is a large aqueduct which for- merly carried its water to Car- thage. Thence I came to Jel- loula, a village lying below high mountains on the west. I fell here again into the ancient road at Gilma, and, not satisfied with .what I had seen of the beauties of Spaitla, I passed there five days more, correcting and re- vising what I had already com- mitted to paper. When I again reached Tripoli I miet the Hon. Mr. Frazer of Lovat, his Majesty's consul in that station, from whom I received every sort of kindness, comfort, and assistance, which I very much needed after so rude a journey, made with such diligence that two of my horses died some days after. From Tripoli I sent an English ser- vant to Smyrna with my books, drawings, and supemumeiary instruments, retaining only ex- tracts from such authors as might be necessary for me in the Pentapolis, or other parts of the Cyrenaicum. I then crossed the Gulf of Sidra, and arrived at BengazL The bro- ther of the Bey of. Tripoli "Com- manded here, a young man>. as weak in understanding- as he was in health. The inhabi- tants of Bengazi had for a year before been labouring under a severe famine, and by this acci- dent about four thousand per- sons, of all ages and sexes, were forced in upon them, when per- fectly, destitute of every neces- sary. Ten or twelve people were found dead every night in the streets^ and life was said in many to be supported by food that human nature shudders at the thought of. Finding no- thing at Arsinoe nor Barca, I continued my journey to Ras Sem, the petrified city, which is five long days* journey south « T' , V- t v' n: 104 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, from Bengazi. It has no water, except a spring very disagree- able to the taste, that appears to be impregnated with alum, and this has given it the name it bears of Ras Sem, or the Fountain of Poison, from its bitterness. The whole remains here consist in the ruins of a tower or fortifi- cation, that seems to be a work full as late as the time of the Vandals. Approaching now the sea- coast, I came to Ptolometa, the ancient Ptolemais, the work of Ptolemy Philadelphus, the walls and gates of which city are still • entire. There is a prodigious number of Greek inscriptions, but there remain only a few columns of the portico of an Ionic temple, in the first man- ner of executing that order; and therefore, slight as the re- mains are, they are treasures in "t the history of architecture which are "worthy to be preserved. These are in the King's collec- tion, with all the parts that could be recovered. Here I met a small Greek junk belonging to Lampedpsa, a little island near Crete, which had been unload- ing corn, and was now ready to sail. I embarked on board the Greek vessel, very ill accoutred, as we afterwards found, and though it had plenty of sail, it had not an ounce of ballast. The wind became contrary, and blew a violent storm, seeming to menace both thunder and rain. The vessel being in her irim with large lateen sails, fell violently to leeward, when all at once it struck upon a sunken rock, and seemed to I e set down upon it. The wind at that in- stant seemed providentially to calm ; but I no sooner observed the ship had struck than I be- gan to think of my own situa- tion. We were not far from shore, but there was an exceed- ing great swell at sea. Two boats were still towed astern of them, and had not been hoisted in. Roger M'Cormack, my Irish servant, had been a sailor on board the Monarch before he deserted to the Spanish service. He, and the other, who had likewise been a sailor, presently unlashed the largest boat, and all three got down into her fol- lowed by a multitude of the passengers whom we could not hinder. We were not twice the length of the boat from the vessel before a wave very nearly filled it. I saw the fate of all was to be decided by the very next wave that was rolling in ; and apprehensive that some woman, child, or helpless man would lay hold of me, and entangle my arms, or legs, and weigh me down, I cried to my servants, both in Arabic and English, * We are all lost ; if you can swim, follow me;' I then let myself down in the face of the wave. Whether that, or the next, filled the boat, I know not, as I went to the leeward to make my distance as great as possible. I received a blow upon my breast from the eddy wave and reflux, which seemed as given me by a large branch BRUGES TRAVELS. i"5 of a tree, thick cord, or some elastic weapon. I avoided the next wave, by dipping my head, and letting it pass over, but found myself breathless, ex- ceedingly weary and exhausted. The land, however, was before me, and close at hand. I strove manfully, taking advan- tage of floating only with the influx of the wave, and preserv- ing my strength for the struggle against the ebb, which, by sink- ing and touching the ground, I now made more easy. At last, finding my hands and knees upon the sand, I fixed my nails into it, and obstinately resisted being carried back at all, crawl- ing a few feet when the sea had retired. I had perfectly lost my recollection and understanding, and after creeping so far as to be out of the reach of the sea, I was totally insensible of any- thing that passed around me. In this critical situation, the Arabs, who live two short miles from the shore, first wakened me from this semblance of death by a blow with the butt- end of a lance, shod with iron, upon the juncture of the neck with the back-bone. This pro- duced a violent sensation of pain ; and having received this discipline, I walked or crawled up among some "wfeite, sandy hillocks, where I sat down and concealed myself as much as possible. The weather was then warm, but the even- ing promised to be cooler, and it was fast drawing on ; there was great danger to be appre- hended if I approached the tents where the women were while I was naked, for, in this case, it was very probable I would receive another bastinado sometiiing worse than the first. An old man, and a number of young Arabs, came up to me where I waS sitting. I gave them the salute * Salam Alicum !' which was only returned by one young man, in a tone as if he wondered at my impudence. On finding I was not a Turk, a ragged dirty baracan was thrown over me, and I was ordered up to a tent, in the end of which stood a long spear thrust through it, a mark of sovereignty. The Shekh of the tribe, after many questions, ordered me a plenti- ful supper, of which all my ser- vants partook, none of them having perished. After staying two days among them, the Shekh mounting us upon camels, and giving us a conductor, forwarded us to Bengazi. Thence I sent a present to the Shekh, but I could not induce them to make an attempt to fish up my cases, in which I lost many valuable instrunvents and manuscripts. I found at Bengazi a small French sloop, which had come there laden with com, and was going up the Archipelago, or towards the Morea, for more. We sailed with a fair wind, and, in four or five days, landed at Canea, at the west end of the island of Crete. Here I was taken dangerously ill, occa- sioned by my hardships at Ptolemeta. 1 T^Pft "- A 'J 5. *n sa Si* •is ' i e . 4» it F I'M f io6 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. i From Canea I sailed for Rhodes, and there found my books; I then proceeded to Castelrosso, on the coast of Caramania, which is a part of Asia Minor yet unexplored, and my illness increasing, it was impossible for me to exe- cute. Mr. Peyssonel, French con- sul at Smyrna, furnished me with letters for that part of Asia Minor, and there is no doubt but they would have been very efficacious. From Castelrosso I continued, till I came to Cy- prus ; I stayed there but half a day, and arrived at Sidon, where I was most kindly received by Mr. Clerambaut, brother-in-law to Mr. Peyssonel, and French consul at this place. While at Canea I wrote by way of France, and again while at Rhodes by way of Smyrna, to particular friends, both in London and France, informing them of my disastrous situation, and desiring them to furnish me with another set of instru- ments similar to those which I had lost. The answer received from Paris and London much about the same time was, that every- body was employed in making instruments for Danish, Swedish, and other foreign astronomers ; that all those which were com- pleted had been bought up. And without waiting a con- siderable, indefinite time, no- thing could be had that could be depended upon. At the same time I was told, that report said that I was gone with a Russian caravan through the Curdistan, where I was to observe the transit of Venus in a place where it was not visible, and that I was to proceed to China, and return by the way of the East Indies : — a story which was industriously circu- lated at the time, and which some have affected to believe to this day. Finding myself so treated I had almost returned home, had it not been for my desire of fulfilling my promise to my Sovereign, and of adding the ruins of Palmyra to those of Africa, already secured and out of danger. In my anger I renounced all thoughts of the attempt to dis- cover the source of the Nile, and I repeated my orders no more for either quadrant, tele- scope, or timekeeper. I had pencils and paper ; and luckily my large camera obscura, which had escaped the catastrophe of Ptolemeta, was arrived from Smyrna, and then standing be- fore me. I therefore began to cast about for the means of obtaining feasible and safe methods of repeating the famous journey to Palmyra. I found it was necessary to advance nearer the scene of action. Accordingly I accepted an in- vitation from the British consul for Tripoli in Syria to take up my residence there. The two tribes, almost equally powerful, who inhabit the de- serts round Palmyra, were upon what is called ill-terms BRUGES TRAVELS. to7 with each other, which is the most dangerous time for stran- gers to have any dealings with either. I learned this as a certainty from a friend at Has- sia, where a Shekh lives, to whom I was recommended by a letter, as a friend of the Pasha of Damascus. Returning from Hassia, I visited the ancient Byblus, and bathed with plea- sure in the river Adonis. All here is classic ground. I saw several considerable ruins of Grecian architecture, very much defaced. I returned to Tripoli, and at the time appointed set out for Hamath, found my conductor, and proceeded to Hassia. Coming from Aleppo, I had not passed the lower way again by Antioch. The river Orontes was so swollen with rain which had fallen in the mountains, that the ford was no longer visible. Stopping at two miser- able huts inhabited by a base set called Turcomans, I asked the master of one of them to show me the ford, which he very readily undertook to do, and I went, for the length of some yards, on rough, but very hard and solid ground. The current before me was, how- ever, so violent, that I had more than once a desire to turn back, but, not suspecting anything, I continued, when on a sudden man and horse fell out of their depth into the river. I and my horse swam separately ashore. At a small distance from thence was a caphar, or turnpike, to which, when I came to dry myself, the man told me, that the place where I had crossed was the remains of a stone bridge now entirely carried away ; where I had first entered was one of the wings of the bridge, from which I had fallen into the space the first arch occupied, one of the deepest parts of the river ; that the people who had misguided me were an infamous set of banditti. From Hassia we proceeded with our conductor to Cariateen ; we passed the desert between Cariateen and Palmyra in a day and two nights, going constantly without sleeping. Just before we came in sight of the ruins, we ascended a hill, and, when arrived at the top, there opened before us the most astonishing, stupendous sight that perhaps ever appeared to mortal eyes. The whole plain below, which was very extensive, was covered so thick with magnificent buildings, as that one seemed to touch the other, all of fine proportions, all of agreeable forms, all com- posed of white stones, which at that distance appeared like marble. At the end of it stood the palace of the sun, a building worthy to close so magnificent a scene. I divided Palmyra into six angular views, and before our departure from Palmyra, I ob- served its latitude with a Had- ley's quadrant from reflection. From Palmyra I proceeded to Baalbec, distant about 130 miles. y\ - > 3,^ n '\T* >^j^i V?.-^ t >' 'J » ^ iij — t m io8 THE EiVGLISff EXPLORERS. I'.i fif It is pleasantly situated in a plain on the west of Anti-Libanus, is finely watered, and abounds in gardens. It is about fifty miles from Hassia, and about thirty from the nearest sea-coast, which is the situation of the ancient Byblus. The interior of the great temple of Baalbec, supposed to be that of the sun, surpasses anything at Palmyra, indeed any sculpture I ever re- member to have seen in stone. Passing by Tyre, from curiosity only, I came to be a mournful witness of the truth of that prophecy, — that Tyre, the queen of nations, should be a rock for fishers to dry their nets on.* Two wretched fishermen, with miserable nets, having just given over their occupation with very little success, I engaged them, at the expense of their nets, to drag in those places where they said shell- fish might be caught, in hopes to have brought out one of the famous purple-fish. I did not succeed ; but in ^is I was, I believe, as lucky as the old fishers had ever been. The purple-fish at Tyre seems to have been only a conceal- ment of their knowledge 'of cochineal, as, had they de- pended upon the fish for their dye, if the whole city of Tyre applied to nothing else but fishing, they would not have coloured twenty yards of cloth in a year. Much fatigued, but satisfied beyond measure with what I had seen, I arrived in perfect health, and in the gayest - 1 Ezek. xxvL $. humour possible, at the hos- pitable mansion of M. Cleram- baut at Sidon. The letters from Europe which I found lying there, while so far satisfactory, still left me in absolute despair about ob- taining a quadrant, and conse- quently gave me very little satisfaction, but in some mea- sure confirmed me in my resolu- tion already taken, to go from Sidon to Egypt : as I had then seen the greatest part of the good architecture in the world, in all its degrees of perfection down to its decline, I wished now only to see it in its origin, and for this it was necessary to go to Egypt. I had been long of the opinion, in which I am still further confirmed, that taste for ancient architecture, founded upon the examples that Italy alone can furnish, was not giving ancient architects fair play. What was to be learned from the fycsi proportions of their plans and elevations seemed to have remained un- touched in Egypt ; after having considered these, I proposed to live in retirement on my native patrimony, with a fair stock of unexceptionable materials upon this subject, to serve for a pleasant and useful amusement in my old age. I now received, however, a letter very unexpectedly byway of Alexandria, which, if it did not overturn, at least shook these resolutions. The Comte de Buflfon, Mons. Guys of Mar- seilles, and several others well BRUGES TRAVELS, 109 known in the literary world, had ventured to state to the minis- ter, and through him to the king of France, Louis xv., how very much it was to be lamented, that after a man had been found who was likely to succeed in removing that opprobrium of travellers and geographers, by discovering the sources of the Nile, one most unlucky accident, at a most unlucky time, should frustrate the most promising endeavours. That prince, distinguished for every good quality of the heart, for benevolence, beneficence, and a desire of promoting and protecting learning, ordered a moveable quadrant of his own military academy at Marseilles, as the nearest and most con- venient port of embarkation, to be taken down and sent to me at Alexandria. With this I received a letter from Mr. Russel, which informed me that astronomers had begun to cool in the sanguine expectations of discovering the precise quantity of the sun's parallax by observa- tion of the transit of Venus, from some apprehension that the errors of the observers would probably be more than the quantity of the equation sought, and that they now ardently wished for a journey into Abyssinia, rather than an attempt to settle a nicety for which the learned had begun to think the accuracy of our in- struments was not sufficient. A letter from my correspon- dent at Alexandria also ac- quainted me, that the quadrant* and all the other instruments, were in that city. What followed is the voyage itself, the subject of the present publication. CHAPTER II. From Sidon lo Kenn€. On Saturday the 15th of June 1768, I sailed in a French vessel from Sidon, once the richest and most powerful city in. the world, though now there remains not a shadow of its ancient grandeur. We wer*» bound for the island of Cyprus ; the weather clear and exceed- ingly hot, the wind favourable. On the 1 6th, at dawn of day, I saw a high hill, which, from its particular form, described by Strabo, I took for Mount Olympus. Soon after the rest of the island, which seemed low, appeared in view. We scarce saw Lemica till we anchored before it. It is built of white clay, of the same colour as the ground, precisely as the case with Damascus, so that you cannot, till close to it, distin- guish the houses from the earth they stand upon.. . ? We left Lernica the 17th of June, and on the rSth, a little before twelve o'clock, a very fresh and favourable breeze came from the n,w. and we pointed our prow directly, as we thought^ upon Alex- ( * -ti' 1^' 11= r n \ "i no THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, aiulria. Tlie coast of K^yp^ is exceedingly low, and if tlie weather is not clear, you often are close in with the land be- fore you discover it. On the aoth of June, early in the morning, we iuul a dis- tant prospect of Alexandria rising from the sea. Were not the state of that city perfectly known, a traveller in search of antiquities in architecture would think here was a field for long study and employment. It is in this point of view the town appears most to advantage. The mixture of old monuments, such as the column of Pompey, with the high Moorish towers and steeples, raise our expecta- tions of the consequence of the ruins we arc to find. But the moment we are in the port the illusion ends, and we distinguish the immense Herculean works of ancient times, now few in number, from the ill-imagined, ill-constructed, and imperfect buildings of the several barbar- ous masters of Alexandria in later ages. Pompey's pillar, the obelisks, and subterraneous cisterns, are all the antiquities we find now in Alexandria ; these have been described frequently, ably, and minutely. The foliage and capital of the pillar are what seem generally to displease ; the fust is thought to have merited more attention than has been bestowed upon the capital. The whole of the pillar is granite, but the capital is of another stone ; and I should suspect those rudiments of leaves were only intended to support firmly, leaves of metal of better workmanship ; for the capital itself is near nine feet high, and the work, in propor- tionable leaves of stone, would be not only very large, but after being finished, liable to injuries. This magnificent monument appears, in taste, to be the work of that period be- tween Hadrian and Severus ; but, though the former erected several large buildings in the Kast, it is observed of him, he never put inscriptions upon them. 'I'his has had a Greek inscri])tion, and I think may very probably be attributed to the time of the latter, as a monument of the gratitude of the city of Alexandria for the benefits he conferred on them. I apprehend it to have been brought in a block from the Thebais in Upper Egypt, by the Nile ; though some have imagined it was an old obelisk, hewn to that round form. Alexandria has been often taken since the time of Csesar. It was at last destroyed by the Venetians and Cypriots upon, or rather after, the release of St. Lewis, and we may say of it as of Carthage, PerUre ruina, its very ruins appear no longer. The building of the present gates and walls, which some have thought to be antique, does not seem earlier than the last restoration in the 13th century. Some parts of the gate and walls may be of older date (and BRUCFS TRAVELS, III prol)al)ly were ihosc of the last Caliphs before Saladin), but, except these, and the pieces of rolumns which lie horizontally in different parts of the wall, everything else is appnrcntly of very late times, and the work has been huddled together in great haste. It is in vain then to expect a plan of the city, or try to trace here the Macedonian manlf*' ofDinochares ; the very vestiges of ancient ruins arc covered, many yards deep, by rubbish, the remnant of the devastations of later times. Cleopatra, were she to return to life again, would scarcely know where her palace was situated, in this her own capital. There is nothing beautiful or pleasant in the present Alexan- dria, but a handsome street of modern houses, where a very active and intelligent number of merchants live upon the miser- able remnants of that trade, which made its glory in the first times. It is thinly inhabited, and there is a tradition among the na- tives that, more than once, it has been in agitation to abandon it altogether, and retire to Rosetta, or Cairo, but that they have been withheld by the opinion of divers saints from Arabia, who have assured them, that Mecca being destroyed (as it must be as they think by the Russians), Alexandria is then to become the holy place, and that Mahomet's body is to be transported thither; when that city is destroyed, the sanctified relics are to be tran8i)orled to Cairouan, in the kingdom of Tunis : lastly, from Cairouan they are to come to Rosetta, ancl there to remain till the consummation of all things, which is not then to be at a gr It distance. VVi left Alexandria in the fifternoon for Aboukir. Some inconsiderable ruins are to be found there, anrl seem to denote that it was the former situatioif of an ancient city. There u here also an inlet of the sea. At Medea, which we suppose, by its distance of near seven leagues, to be the ancient Heraclium, is the passage or ferry which terminates the fear of danger from the Arabs of Libya ; and it is here supposed the Delta, or Egypt, begins. We saw no vegetable from Alexandria to Medea, excepting some scattered roots of absin- thium ; and two or three gazelles, or antelopes, walking one by one. From Medea, or the Passage, our road lay through very dry sand ; to avoid which, and seek firmer footing, we were obliged to ride up to the bellies of our horses in the sea. All Egypt is like to this part of it, full of deep dust and sand, from the be- ginning of March till the first of the inundation. It is this fine powder and sand, raised and loosened by the heat of the sun, and want of dew or rain, and not being tied fast, as it were, by any root or vegetation, which the Nile carries off with lA ,*. V' \ « 3i i ,5 ■' ,.,.. ; t . -'Vr, 112 THR ENGLISH EXPLORERS. Kte it, and buries in the sea, and which many ignorantly suppose comes from Abyssinia, where every river runs in a bed of rock. Rosetta is upon that branch of the Nile which was called the Bolbuttic Blanch, and is about four miles from the sea. It is a large, clean, neat town, or village, upon the eastern side of the Nile. It is about three miles long, much frequented by studious and religious Maho- metans ; among these, too, are a considerable number of mer- chants ; it being the entrepdt between Cairo and Alexandria, and vice versa; here, too, the merchants have their factors, who superintend and watch over the merchandise which passes the Bogaz to and from Cairo. There are many gar- dens, and much verdure, about Rosetta ; the ground is low, and retains long the moisture it imbibes from the overflowing of the Nile. It is a favottrite halting-place of the Christian travellers entering Egypt, and merchants established there. There they draw their breaths, in an imaginary increase of freedom, between the two great sinks^ of tyranny, oppression, and injustice, Alexandria and Cairo. Rosetta has this good reputation, that the people are milder, more tractable, and . less avaricious, than those of the two last-mentioned capitals. We embarked for Cairo on June the 30th, and in the be- ginning of July we arrived there. The part of Cairo where the French are settled is exceed- ingly commodious, and fit for retirement. It consists of one long street, where all the mer- chants of that nation live to- gether. It is shut at one end, by large gates, where there is a guard, and these are kept constantly closed in time of the plague. At the other end is a large garden tolerably kept, in which there are several pleasant walks, and seats; all the en- joyment that Christians can hope for, among this vile people, reduces itself to peace and quiet ; nobody seeks for more. There are, however, wicked emissaries who are con- stantly employed, by threats, lies, and extravagant demands, to torment them, and keep them from enjoying that re- pose,, which' would content them .instead of freedom, and more solid happiness, in their own country. But a more brutal^ unjust, tyrannical, op- pressive, avaricious set of in- fernal miscreants there is not on earth, than are the members of the government of Cairo. The government of Cairo is much praised by some. It is said to consist of twenty-four Beys ;. yet its admirers could never fix upon one year in which there was that number. There were but seven when I was at Cairo, and one who commanded the whole. The Beys are understood to be vested with the sovereign power of the country ; yet sometimes BRUGES TRAVELS, 113 a Kaya commands absolutely, and though of an inferior rank, he makes his servants Beys, or sovereigns. At a time of peace, when tlie Beys are contented to be on an equality, and no ambitious one attempts to govern the whole, there is a number of inferior officers de- pending upon each of the Beys, such as Kayas, Schourbatchies, and the like, who are but sub- jects in respect to the Beys, yet exercise unlimited jurisdic- tion over the people in the city, and appoint the same over villages in the country. For- tunately in my time this many- headed monster was no more ; there was but one Ali Bey, and there was neither inferior nor superior jurisdiction exercised, but by his officers only. This happy state did not last long. In order to be a Bey, the per- son must have been a slave, and bought for money, at a market. Every Bey has a great number of servants slaves to him, as he was to others before ; these are his guards, and these he promotes to places in his household, according as they are qualified. The Bey is old, the wife is young, so is the hasnadar, upon whom she depends for every- thing, and whom she must, look upon as the presumptive hus- band \ and those people who conceal, or confine their women, and are jealous, upon the most remote occasion, never feel any jealousy for the probable con- sequences of this passion, from the existence of 3"ch a connec- tion. It is very extraordinary to find a race of men in power, all agree to leave their succes- sion to strangers, in preference to their own children, for a number of ages ; and that no one should ever have attempted to make his son succeed him, either in dignity or estate, in preference to a slave, whom he has bought for money like a beast. The Bey, with all his good sense and understanding, was still a Mamaluke, and had the princii)les of a slave. Three men of different religions pos- sessed his confidence, and governed his councils, all at a time. The secretary, whose name was Risk, professed astrology, and the Bey, like all other Turks, believed in it im- plicitly, and to this folly he sacrificed his own good under- standing ; and Risk, probably in pay to Constantinople, led him from one wild scheme to another, till he undid him — by the stars. The apparatus of instruments that were opened at the custom-house of Alex- andria, prepossessed Risk in favour of my superior know- ledge in astrology. It was not long before Risk's curiosity gave him a fair op- portunity of testing me. He in- quired of Bertran as to my know- ledge of the stars; and my friend, who then saw perfectly the drift ofallhisconduct, so prepossessed him in favour of my superior science, that he communicated i^ Hfyl^MMI 'W^,^ 'I'l^^^^H IHjI^^I t^i&«^ "■. " V'' ' >%"' ^''^bBWhI 't' .jIh^hH t' ''\*'^^'^^M K 4>3 'y v^ilwBBI v^ ^^HjiflD s'^\ "PW^^M f "^ J^M '^^U^SSm j*^^ ^^^^^^^^H i f ^ffl '' !^f^ \'4>jf^M '' '^ mH |r'.|9B 'I'l^j ^n ^ ^%wSH t.»%^^^i 1 q^MMW^aCTJW ^ ^*^' W •■■•''»• '■ >i m f '^ " 1 i^'- ftMM ^ w^ W if -•> i^\ itf V i. B "-.' fei- l .;* IWfe ., »-"- f i,^*:'-" * 1* l^M ■■'1 iS^ ' '\ % ^^ \ »»^ ^hb J ^ H^if"- JP-)p5« w' ■ |j: 1 « j; bS'.;'' |3;'' i. '\ I 8 ' " ' ■ . 114 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, \3 W. \\ to him in the instant the great expectations he had formed, to be enabled by me, to foresee the destiny of the Bey; the success of the war ; and, in particular, whether or not he should make himself master of Mecca ; to conquer which place he was about to despatch his slave and son-in-law, Mahomet Bey Abou Dahab, at the head of an army, conducting the pilgrims. Bertran communi- cated this to me with great tokens of joy. For my own part I did not greatly like the profes- sion of fortune-telling, where bastinado or impaling might be the reward of having mistaken. In a few days I received a let- ter from Risk, desiring me to go out to the Convent of St. George, about three miles from Cairo, where the Greek patri- arch had ordered an apartment for me ; that I should pretend to the French merchants that it was for the sake of health, and that there I should receive the Bey's orders. The next day after my arrival I v/as surprised by the visit of my old friend Father Chris- topher, who took upon him, with the greatest readiness, to manage the letters, and we digested the plan of them ; three copies were made to send se- parate ways, and an admoni- tory letter to the whole of the Greeks then in Abyssinia,in form of a bull. By this the patriarch enjoined them as a penance, upon which a kind of jubilee was to follow, that, laying aside their pride and vanity, great sins with which he knew them much infected, and instead of pretending to put themselves on a footing with me when I should arrive at the court of Abyssinia, they should' concur, heart and hand, in serving me ; and that before it could be supposed they had received in- structions from mci they should make a declaration before the king, that they were not in con- dition equal to me, that I was a free citizen of a powerful nation, and servant of a great king; that they were born slaves of the Turk, and, at best, ranked but as would my servants ; and that, in fact, one of their countrymen [Michael] was in that station then with me. In the meanwhile, Risk sent to me one night about nine o'clock to come to the Bey. I saw him then for the first time. He was a much younger man than I conceived him to be: he was sitting upon a large sofa, covered with crimson cloth of gold ; his turban, his girdle, and the head of his dagger, all thick covered with fine brilliants; one in his turban that served to support a sprig of brilliants also was among the largest I had ever seen. He entered abruptly into discourse upon the war between Russia and the Turk, and asked me if I had calculated what would be the consequence of that war. I said the Turks would be beaten by sea and land wherever they presented themselves. Again, BRUGES TRAVELS. "5 Whether Constantinople would be burned or taken? I said, Neither; but peace would be made, after much bloodshed, with little advantage to either party. He clapped his hands to- gether, and swore an oath in Turkish, then turned to Risk, who stood before him, and said. That will be sad indeed 1 but truth is truth, and God is mer- ciful. He offered me coffee and sweetmeats, promised me his protection, bade me fear nothing, but, if anybody wronged me, to- acquaint him by Risk. -* Two or three nights- after- wards the Bey sent for me again. It was near eleven o'clock before I got admittance to him. I met the janissary aga going out from^ him, and a number of soldiers at the door. As I did not know hinv, I passed him without ceremony, which is not usual for any person to do. Whenever he mounts on horseback, as he was then just going to do, he has absolute power of life and death, with- out appeal, all over Cairo and its neighbourhood. He stopped me just at the threshold, and asked one ef the Bey's people who I was, and was answered, ' It is Hakim Englese,* the En- glish philosopher or physician. He asked me in Turkish, in a very polite manner, if I would eome and see him, for he was not well. I answered him in Arabic, * Yes, whenever he pleased, but could not then stay, as I had received a message that the Bey was waiting.' He replied in Arabic, * No, no, go, for God's sake go ; any time will do for me.* The Bey was sit- ting leaning forward, with a wax taper in one hand, and reading a small slip of paper, which he held close to his face. He seemed to have little light, or weak eyes ; nobody was near him : his people had been all dismissed, or were following the janissary aga out. H e did not seem to observe me till I was close upon him, andstarted when 1 said, 'Salam.' I told him I came upon his message. He said, * I thank you, did I send for you?' and without giving me leave to reply, went on, * O, true, I did so,' and fell to reading his paper agam. After this was over, he com- plained that he had been ill, that he vomited immediately after dinner, though he ate modierately. I felt his pulse, which was low and weak ; but very little feverish. 1 desired he would order his people to look if his meat was dressed in copper properly tinned'; I as- sured him he was in no danger, and insinuated that I thought he had been guilty of some ex- cess before dinner ; at which he smiled, and said to Risk, who now was standing by, * Afrite ! Afrite ! ' he is a devil 1 he is a devil ! I said, ' If your stomach is really uneasy from w-hat you may have ate, warm some water, and, if you please, put a little greea tea into it, and drink it \, ,l> '41 ii6 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. \yA h Ir-! ! .; ft: Si. ! I till it makes you vomit gently, and that will give you ease ; after which you may take a dish of strong coffee, and go to bed, or a glass of spirits if you have any that are good. He looked surprised at this proposal, and said very calmly, * Spirits ! do you know I am a Mussulman?' * But I, sir,* said I, ' am none. I tell you what is good for your body, and have nothing to do with your religion or your soul.' He seemed vastly diverted, and pleased with my frankness, and only said, *He speaks like a man.' There was no word of the war nor of the Russians that night. I went home des- perately tired, and peevish at being dragged out on so foolish an errand. Next morning, his secretary Risk came to me to the con- vent. The Bey was not yet well ; and the idea still remained that he had been poisoned. Risk told me the Bey had great confidence in me. I asked him how the water had operated. He said he had not yet taken any of it : that he did not know /iow to make it, therefore he was come at the desire of the Bey, to see how it was made. I immediately showed him this by infusing some green tea in some warm water. But this was not all ; he modestly in- sinuated that I was to drink it, and so vomit myself, in order to show him how to do with the Bey. I excused myself from being patient and physi- cian at the same time, and told him, I would vomit him, which would answer the same pur- pose of instruction ; neither was this proposal accepted. As my favour with the Bey was now established by my midnight interviews, I thought of leaving my solitary mansion at the convent. I desired Mr. Risk to procure me peremptory letters of recommendation to Shekh Haman, to the governor of Syene, Ibrim, and Deir in Upper Egypt. I procured also the same from the janissaries, to these three last places, as their garrisons are from that body at Cairo, which they call their port. I had also letters from Ali Bey to the Bey of Suez, to the Sheriffe of Mecca, to the Naybe (so they call the sovereign) of Massuah, and to the king of Sennaar, and his minister for the time being. On the other side of the Nile from Cairo is Geezeh, which signifies the Passage. About eleven miles beyond this are the Pyramids, called the pyramids of Geezeh, the descrip- tion of which is in everybody's hands. The vessel on which we em- barked on the voyage up the Nile was about loo feet from stem to stem, with two masts, main and foremast, and two monstrous lateen sails ; the main-sail yard being about 120 feet in length. The wind was contrary, so we were obliged to advance against the stream by having the boat drawn with a rope. BRUCE' S TRAVELS, 117 We were surprised to see the alacrity with which two young Moors bestirred themselves in the boat ; they supplied the place of masters, companions, pilots, and seamen. We ad- vanced a few miles to two con- vents of Copts, called Deire- teen. Here we stopped to pass the night, having had a fine view of the Pyramids of-Geezeh and Saccara, and being then in sight of a prodigious number of others built of white clay, and stretching far into the desert to the south-west. Two of these seemed full as large as those that are called the Pyramids of Geezeh. On the 13th, in the morning, about eight o'clock, we let out our vast sails, and passed a very considerable village called' Turra, on the east side of the river, and Shekh Attnan, a small village, consisting of about thirty houses, on the west. The Nile here is about> a quarter of a mile broad; and there cannot be the smallest doubt, in' any person disposed ta be con- vinced, that this is by very far the narrowest part of Egypt yet seen. As this, and many other circumstances to be repeated in the sequel, must naturally awaken the attention of the traveller to look for the ancient city of Memphis here, I left our boat at Shekh Atman, accom- panied by the Arabs, pointing nearly south. We entered a large and thick wood of palm- trees, whose greatest extension seemed to be south by east. We continued in this course till we came to one, and then to several large villages, all built among the plantation of date- trees, so as scarce to be seen, from the shore. These villages are called Me- trahenny, a word from the ety- mology of which I can derive no information ; and leaving the river, we continued due west to the plantation that is called Mohannan, which, as far as I know, has no signification either. All to the south, in this desert, are vast numbers of pyramids ; as far as I could discern, all of clay, some so distant as to ap- pear just in the horizon. Hav- ing gained the western edge of the palm-trees at Mohannan, we have a fair view of the Pyra- mids at Geezeh, which lie in a direction nearly N.w. As far as I can compute the distance, I think about nine miles, and, as near as it was possible to judge by sight, Metrahenny, Geezeh, 'and the centre of the three pyramids,, made an isosceles triangle, or nearly so. All to the west and south of Mohannan, we saw great mounds and heaps of rubbish, and calishes that were not ot any length, but were lined with stone, covered and choked up in many places with earth. We saw three large granite pillars s.vir. of Mohannan, and a piece of a broken chest or cistern of granite ; but no obelisks, or stones with hieroglyphics and we thought the greatest part of the ruins seemed to point that '.m m i iiS THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. Jii way/or more southerly. These, our conductor said, were the ruins of Mimf, the ancient seat of the Pharaohs, kings of Egypt. The learned Dr. Pococke, as far as I know, is the first Euro- pean traveller that ventured to go out of the beaten. path, and look for Memphis at Metra- henny and Mohannan, but I cannot consider any 'Of the rea- sons for placing Memphis at Geezeh as convincing, and very few of them that do not prove just the contrary in favour of Metrahenny. Our wind was fair and fresh, rather a. little on our beam, wlaen, in great spirits, we hoisted our main and fore sails, leaving the point of Metrahenny. After sailing about two miles, we :saw three men fishing in a very extraordinary manner and situation. They were on a raft of palm branches, supported on a float of clay jars, made fast together. The form was like an isosceles triangle, or face of a pyramid ; -two men, each pro- vided with a casting-net, stood at the two corners, and threw their net into the stream toge- ther ; the third stood at the apex of the triangle and threw his net the moment the other two drew theirs out of the water. And this they repeated in perfect time, and with sur- prising regularity. Our Rais thought we wanted to buy fish, and, letting go his main-sail, ordered them on board. They were in a moment alongside of us, and one of them came on board, lashing his miserable raft to a rope at our stem. In re- compence for their trouble we gave them some large pieces of tobacco, and this transported them so much that .they brought us a basket of several different kinds of fish. They said their fishing was merely accidental, and in course of their trade, which was selling rthese potter earthen jars, which they got near Ashmounein ; and after having carried the raft with them to Cairo, they untie, sell them at the market, and carry the produce home in money, or in necessaries upon their back. A very poor economical trade, but sufficient, as theysaid, from the carriage of crude materials, the moulding, making, and send- ing them to market to Cairo, and to different places in the Delta, to afford occupation to two thousand men. This is nearly four times the number of people employed in the largest iron-foundery in Eng- land. The pyramids, which had been on our right hand at different distances since we passed the Saocara, terminated here in one* of a very singular construction. About two miles from the Nile, between Suf and Woodan, there is a pyramid, which at first sight appears all of a piece ; it is of unbaked bricks, and perfer*.'}- entire; the inhabitants cal). ii, the False Pyramid.^ The lower part is a hill, exactly shaped like a pyra- 1 Dagjour. BRUCE S TRAVELS. H9 mid for a considerable height. Upon this is continued the superstructure, in proportion, till it terminates like a pyramid above ; and, at a distance, it would require a good eye to discern the difference, for the face of the stone has a great resemblance to clay, of which the pyramids of the Saccara are composed. The 1 8th, we prepared to get on our way. At the village of Nizelet El Arab, consisting of miserable huts, begin large plantations of sugar-canes, the first we had yet seen. They were then loading boats with them to carry them to Cairo. I procured for them as many as I desired. We next passed Boush, a village on the west side of the Nile, which is about two miles and a quarter from the river. Beni Ali is a large village, and its neighbour, Zey- toun, still larger, both on the western shore. I suppose this last was part of the Heracelotic norae where Strabo' says the olive-tree grew, and nowhere else in Egypt, but we saw no appearance of the great works once said to have been in that nome. From Maniareish to Beni Suef is two miles and a half, and opposite to this the mountains appear again of con- siderable height, about twelve miles distant. The country all around is well cultivated, and seems to be of the utmost fertility ; the inhabitants are better clothed, 1 Strabo, lib. xvii. p. 936. and seemingly less miserable and oppressed, than those we had left behind in the places nearer Cairo. The Nile is very shallow at Beni Suef, and the current strong. We touched several times in the middle of the stream, and came to an anchor at Baha, about a quar- ter of a mile above Beni Suef, where we passed the night. We were told to keep good watch here all night, that there were troops of robbers on the east side of the water who had lately plundered some boats, and that the Casheff either dared not, or would not, give them any assistance. We did indeed keep strict watch, but saw no robbers, and were no other way molested. The 1 8th we had fine weather and a fair wind. Still I thought the villages were beggarly, and the constant groves of palm- trees so perfectly verdant, did not compensate for the penury of sown land, the narrowness of the valley, and barrenness of the mountains. We next came to a village called Rhoda, whence we saw the magnificent ruins of the ancient city of Antinous, built by Adrian. Unluckily I knew nothing of these ruins when I left Cairo, and had taken no pains to provide myself with letters of recommendation. I asked the Rais what sort of people they were. He said that the town was composed of very bad Turks, very bad Moors, and very bad Christians ; that t > .-Mi \ ^ '.■5 .I'iL I I20 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. several devils had been seen among them lately, who had been discovered by being better and quieter than any of the rest. I told the Rais that I must, of necessity, go ashore, and asked him if the people of this place had no regard for saints ; that I imagined, if he would put on his red turban as he did at Comadreedy for my honour, it would then appear that he was a saint, as he be- fore said he was known to be all the world over. He did not seem to be fond of the ex- pedition ; but hauling in his main-sail, and with his fore-sail full, stood S.S.E. directly under the ruins. Abou Cuffi's son Mahomet, and the Arab, went on shore, under pretence of buying some provision, and to see how the land lay, but after the character we had of the inhabitants, all our fire-arms were brought to the door of the cabin. In the meantime, partly with my naked eye, and partly with my glass, I observed the ruins so attentively as to be perfectly in love with them. Three columns of the angle of the portico were standing front- ing to the north, part of the tympanum, cornice, frieze, and architrave, all entire, and very much ornamented; thick trees hid what was behind. The columns were of the largest size, and fluted ; the capitals Corinthian, and in all appear- ance entire. They were of white Parian marble probably, but had lost the extreme white- ness or polish of the Antinous at Rome, and were changed to the colour of the Fighting Gladiator, or rather to a brighter yellow. I saw indistinctly, also, a triumphal arch, or gate of the town, in the very same style. No person had yet stirred, when all of a sudden we heard the noise of Mahomet and the Moor in strong dispute. A number of people were assem- bled, and three shots were fired at us, very quickly, the one after the other. I cried out in Arabic, 'Infidels, thieves, and robbers 1 come on, or we shall presently attack you :' upon which I immediately fired a ship-blunderbuss with pistol small bullets, but with little elevation, among the bushes, so as not to touch them. The three or four men that were nearest fell flat upon their faces, and slid away among the bushes on their bellies, like eels, and we saw no more of them. We now put our vessel into the stream, filled our foresail, and stood off, Mahomet crying, * Be upon your guard, if you are men ; we are the San jack's soldiers, and will come for the turban to-night.' More we neither heard nor saw. We were no sooner out of their reach, than our Rais, filling his pipe, and looking very ^^rave, told me to thank God that I was in the vessel with such a man as he was, as it was owing to that only I escaped from being murdered ashore. 'Certainly,' BRUGES TRAVELS. 12T said I, * Hassan, under God, the way of escaping from being murdered on land, is never to go out of the boat ; but don't you think that my blunderbuss was as effectual a means as your holiness?' On the 21st, in the morning, we came to Gawa, where is the second scene of ruins of Egyptian architecture, after leaving Cairo. I immediately went on shore, and found a small temple of three columns in front, with the capitals entire, and the columns in several separate pieces. They seemed by that, and their slight proportions, to be of the most modem of that species of building; but the whole were covered with hieroglyphics, the old story over again, the hawk and the serpent, the man sitting with the dog's head^ \vith the perch or measuring-rod ; in one hand, the hemisphere and globes with wings, and leaves of the banana-tree, as is sup- posed, in the other. The temple is filled with rubbish and dung of cattle, which the Arabs bring in here to shelter^ them from the heat. On the 2 2d, at night, we arrived at Achmim, a very con- siderable place. The inhabi- tants are of a very yellow, un- healthy appearance, probably owing to the bad air, occasioned by a very dirty calish that passes through the town. There is here what is called a Hospice, or convent of religious Francis- cans, for the entertainment of the converts, or persecuted Christians in Nubia, when they can find them. I think I never knew a num- ber of priests met together, who differed so little in capacity and knowledge, having barely a routine of scholastic disputa- tion ; on every other subject inconceivably ignorant. These priests lived in great ease and safety, were much protected and favoured by this Arab prince Hamam ; and their acting as physicians reconciled them to the people. On the 24th of December we left Achmim, and came to the village Shekh Ali on the west, and at! three o'clock we arrived at Girgd, the largest town we had seen since we left Cairo. The Nile makes a kind of loop here; is very broad, and the current strong. The villages have all a very picturesque appearance among the trees, from the many pigeon- houses that are on the tops of them. At night we anchored between two villages, Beliani and Mobanniny. Next morning, the 25th, we arrived at Dendera. Although we had heard that the people of this place were the very worst in Egypt, we were not very apprehensive. We had two letters from the Bey to the two principal men there, com- manding them, as they should answer- with their lives- and fortunes^ to have a special care that no mischief befell us ; and likewise a very pressing letter to Shekh Hamam at •4 % 1 ^ .ji H 122 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. Furshout, in whose territory we were. Dendera is a considerable town at this day, all covered with thick groves of palm- trees, the same that Juvenal describes it to have been in his time. This place is governed by a casheff appointed by Shekh Hamam. A mile south of the town are 'the ruins of two temples, one of which is so much buried under ground, that little of it is to be seen ; but the other, which is by far the most magnificent, is-etrtire, and accessible on every side. It is also covered with hiero- glyphics, both within and with- out, all in relief; and of every figure, simple and compound, that ever has been published, or called an hieroglyphic. The form of the building is an. ob- long square, the ends of which are occupied by two large apart- ments, or vestibules, supported by monstrous columns, all covered with hieroglyphics like- wise. Some are in the form of men and beasts; some seem to be the figures of instruments of sacrifice ; while others, in a smaller size, and less distinct shape, seem to be inscriptions in the current hand of hiero- glyphics, of which I shall speak at large afterwards. They are all finished with great care. The capitals are of one piece, and consist of four huge human heads, placed back to back against one another, with bat's ears, and an ill-imagined, and worse executed, fold of drapery between them. Above these is a large oblong square block, still larger than the capitals, with four flat fronts, disposed like panels, that is, with a kind of square border round the edges, while the faces and fronts are filled with hierogly- phics ; as are the walls and ceil- ings of every part of the temple. Between these two apartments in the extremities, there are three other apartments resem- bling the first, in every respect, only they are smaller. The whole building is of common white stone, from the neighbour- ing mountains The top of the temple is flat, the spouts to carry off the water are monstrous heads of sphinxes ; the glol^es with wings, and the two serpents, with a kind of shield or breastplate be- tween them, are here frequently repeated, such as we see them on the Carthaginian medals. The hieroglyphics have been painted ovoi, and great part of the colouring yet remains upon the stones ; red,'in all its shades, especially that dark dusky col- our called Tyrian Purple ; yel- low, very fresh ; sky-blue (that is, near the blue of an eastern sky) several shades lighter than ours ; green of different shades ; — these are all the colours pre- served. It strikes and imposes on you, at first sight, but the impressions are like those made by the size ofmountains, which the mind does not retain for any considerable time after seeing them. I think, a very ready hand might spend six months. SPRUCES TRAVELS. 12' from morning to night, before he could copy the hieroglyphics in the inside of the temple. Dendera stands on the edge of a «mall but fruitful plain ; the wheat was thirteen inches high, now at Christmas; their harvest is in the end of March. The valley is not above five miles wide, from mountain to mountain. A little before we came to Dendera, we saw the first cro- codile, and afterwards hundreds, lying upon every island, like large flocks of cattle; yet the inhabitants of Dendera drive their beasts of every kind into the river, and they stand there for hours. Having made some little acknowledgment to those who had conducted me through the ruins 'in great safety, I re- turned to my tent. I saw at some distance a well-dressed man with a white turban, and yellow shawl covering it, and a number of ill-looking people about him. As soon as our Rais saw me ^enter my tent, he came with ^expressions of very great indignation. * What signifies it,' said he, * that you are a friend of the Bey, have letters to everybody, and are at the door of Furshout, if yet a man is here that will take your boat away from you?' 'Sofdy, softly,' I answered, ' Hassan ; he may be in the right. If Ali Bey, Shekh Ha- mam, or anybody want a boat for public service, I must yield mine. Let us hear.' ' Shekh Hamam and Ali Bey !' says he ; * w'oy t: is a fool, an idiot, and an a a v,llov ^hat goes begging ii nt, ant says he is a saint ; bu he is a h tural fool, full as much knave as fool, however ; he is a thief, I know him to be a thief.' * If he is a saint,' said I, ' Hagi Hassan, as you arc an- other, known to be so all the world over, I don't see why I should interfere; saint against saint is a fair battle.' — *It is the cadi,' replies he, 'and no one else.' ' Come away with me,' said I, ' Hassan, and let us see this cadi ; if it is the cadi, it is not the fool, it may be the knave.' He was sitting upon the ground on a carpet, moving his head backwards and forwards, and saying prayers with beads in his hand. I had no good opinion of him from his first appearance, but said, Salam alicum^ boldly ; this seemed to offend him, as he >looked at me with great contempt, and gave me no answer, though he ap- peared a little disconcerted by my confidence. * Are you the C^r,' said he, * to whom that boat belongs?' * No, sir,' said I, * it belongs to Hagi Hassan.' * Do you think,' says he, * I call Hagi Hassan, who is a Sherriffe, CafrV *That depends upon the measure of your prudence,' said I, * of which, as yet, I have no proof that can enable me to judge or decide.' * Are you the Christian that ^ ♦?. ' t' '< !l 124 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. \ ' was at the ruins in the morn- ing?* says he. * I was at the ruins in the morning,' repHed I, * and / am a Christian. Ali Bey calls that denomination of people Nazar- afu\ that is the Arabic of Cairo and Constantinople, and I un- derstand no other.' * I am,' said ho, * going to Girg^, and this holy saint is with me, and there is no boat but yours bound that way, for which reason I have promised to take him with me.* By this time the saint had got into the boat, and sat for- ward-; he was an ill-favoured, low, sick-like man, and seemed to be almost blind* *You should not make rash promises,' said I^ * to the cadi, for this one you made you never can perform; I am not going to Girgd. Ali Bey, whose slave you are, gave me this boat, but told me, I was not to ship either saints or cadis. There is my boat, go aboard if you dare; and you, Hagi Hassan, let me see you lift an oar, or loose a sail, either for the cadi or the saint, if I am not with them.' I went to my tent, and the Rais followed me. * Hagi Has- san,' said I, * there is a proverb in my country, It is better to* flatter fools than to fight them : cannot you go to the fool, and give him half-a-crown ? Will he take it, do; you think, and aban- don hisjourney to Girgd ? After- wards leave me- to settle with the cadi for his voyage thither.' ' He will take it with alb his heart ; he will kiss your hand for half-a-crown,' says Hassan. The saint had taken his half- crown, and had gone away sing- ing, it being now near dark. — The cadi went away, and the mob dispersed, and we directed a Moor to cry. That all people should, in the night-time, keep away from the tent or they would be fired at. While we were striking our tent, a ^reat mob came down, but without the cadi. The fool, or saint, got into the boat with a yellow flag in his hand. I pointed a blunderbuss from one of the windows, and cried out, * Have a care ! the next stone that is thrown, I fire my cannon among you, which will sweep away three hundred of you instantly from the face of the earth;' though, I believe, there were not above two hundred then present. I ordered Hagi Has- san to cast off his cord immedi- ately. The wind was fair, though not very fresh, on which we set both our sails, and made great way. The saint now began to show some apprehensions for his own safety. He asked Hagi Hassan, if this was the way to Girg^? and had for answer, * Yes, it* is the fool's way to Girgd.' We carried him^:about a mile, or more, up the river; then, a convenient landing-place offer- ing, I asked him whether he had got my money or not, last night. He said, he had for yesterday, but. he had got none for; to-day. * Now, the next BRUGES TRAVELS, 125 thing I have to ask you,' said I, 'is, Will you go ashore of your own a- cord, or will you be thrown into the Nile?' He answered, with great confidence, ' Do you kn w that, at my word, I can fix yudr boat to the bot- tom of the Nile, and make it grow a tr<^e there for ever?' ' Ay,' says Hagi Hassan, * and make oraiiges and lemons grow on it, likewise, can't you ? You are a cheat.' * Come, sirs,' said I, * lose no time, and put iiim out.' I thought he had been blind and weak ; and the boat was not within three feet of the shore, when, placing one foot upon the gunnel, he leaped clean upon land. We slacked our vessel down the stream a few yards, filling our sails, and stretching away. Up- on seeing this, our saint fell into a desperate passion, curs- ing, blaspheming, and stamp- ing with his feet, at every word, crying, 'Shar UUah !' i.e. may God send, and do justice. Our people began to taunt and gibe him, asking him, if he would have a pipe of tobacco to warm him, as the morning was very cold ; but I bade them be con- tent. It was curious to see him, as far as we could discern, sometimes sitting down, some- times jumping and skipping about, and waving his flag, then running about a hundred yards, as if it were after us ; but always returning, though at a slower pace. We arrived happily at Fur- shout that same forenoon, and went to the convent of Italian Friars, of the reformed Fran- ciscans. Furshout is in a large and cultivated plain. It is nine miles over to the foot of the mountains, all sown with wheat. There are likewise plantations of sugar-canes along the banks of the river. We waited upon the Shekh Hamam, a big, tall, handsome man, I apprehend not far from sixty. He was dressed in a large fox-skin pelisse over the rest of his clothes, and had a yellow India shawl wrapt about his head like a turban. He received me with great politeness and condescen- sion, made me sit down by him, and asked me more questions about Cairo than about Europe. The Rais had told him our ad- venture with the saint, at which he laughed very heartily, saying I was a wise man, and a man of conduct. To me he only said, ' They are bad people at Dendera ;' to which I answered, ' There were very few places in the world in which there were not some bad.' He replied, * Your observation is true ; but there they are all bad; rest yourselves, however, here ; it is a quiet place, though there are still some even here not quite so good as they ought to be.' We left Furshout the 7 th of January 1769, early in the morn- ing. We had not hired our boat farther than Furshout ; but the good terms which subsisted be- tween me and the saint, my Rais, made an accommodation • ',•■ ^'1 126 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. M r lit: Wk to carry us farther very easy. He now agreed for £,^ to carry us to Syene and down again; but, if he behaved well, he ex- pected a trifling premium. * And if you. behave ill, Hassan,' said I, • what do you think you de- serve?' * To be hanged,' said he ; * I deserve, and desire no better.' We passed a large town called How,, on the west side of the Nile. About four in the after- noon we arrived at El Gourni, a small village, with a temple of old Egyptian) architecture. Nothing remains of the an- cient Thebes but four prodi- gious templesj all of them in appearance more ancient, but neither so entire, nor so magni- ficent, as those of Dendera. The temples at Medinet Tabu are the most elegant of these. The hieroglyphics are cut to the depth of half-a-foot in some places, but we have still the same figures, or rather a less variety, than at Dendera. The hieroglyphics are of four sorts : first, such as have only the contour marked, and, as it were, scratched in the stone ; the se- cond are hollowed ; and in the middle of that space, excavated, rises the figure in relief, so that the prominent part of the figure is level with the flat unwrought surface of the stone, which seems like a frame round it, designed to defend the hieroglyphic from mutilation ; the third sort is in relief, or b-^sso-relievo, as it is called, where the figure is left bare and exposed, without being sunk in or defended by any compartment cut round it in the stone ; the fourth are those mentioned in the beginning of this description, the outlines of the figure being cut very deep in the stone, and all the iriterior hollowed. All the hieroglyphics but the last mentioned are paint- ed red,, blue, and green, as at Dendera, and with no other colours. Thebes, according to Homer, had a hundred gates. We cannot, however, discovei yet the foundation of any wall that it had surrounding it ; and, as for the horsemen and cha- riots it is said to have sent out, all the Thebaid sown with. wheat would not have maintained ofie- halfofxhtva. About half a mile north of El Gourni are the magnificent, stu- pendous sepulchres of Thebes. The mountains of the Thebaid come close behind the town. They are not mn in upoa one another like ridges, but stand insulated upon their bases, so that you can get round each of them. A hundred of these, it is said, are excavated into se- pulchral, and a variety of other apartments. I went through seven of them with a great deal of fatigue. It is a solitary place; and my guides, either from a natural impatience and distaste that these people have at such employments, or that their fears of the banditti that live in the caverns of the mountains were real, importuned me to return to the boat, even before I had begun my search, or got into BRUGES TRAVELS. 127 the mountains where are the many large apartments of which I was in quest. Within one of these sepul- chres, on a panel, were several musical instruments strewed upon the ground, chiefly of the hautboy kind, with a mouth- piece of reed. There were also some simple pipes, or flutes. With them were several jars apparently of potter's - ware, which, having their mouths co- vered with parchment, or skin, and being braced on their sides like a drum, were probably the instrument called the tabor ^ or tahret^ beat upon by the hands, coupled in earliest ages with the harp, and preserved still in Abyssinia, though its compa- nion, the last-mentioned instru- ment, is no longer known there. In three following panels were painted, in fresco, three harps, which merited the utmost atten- tion, whether we consider the elegance of these instruments in their form, and the detail of their parts, as they are here clearly expressed, or confine ourselves to the reflection that necessarily follows, to how great perfection music must have ar- rived before an artist could have produced so complete an instru- ment as either of these. As the first harp seemed to be the most perfect, and least spoiled, I im- mediately attached myself to this, and desired my cler>k to take upon him the charge of the second. In this way, by sketching exactly, and loosely, 1 Gt-n. xvxi 27 ; Isa. v-vc. 32. I hoped to have made myself master of all the paintings in that cave, perhaps, to have ex- tended my researches to others, though, in the sequel, I found myself miserably deceived. Upon seeing the preparations I was making to proceed farther in my researches, my conduc- tors lost all" sort of subordi- nation* Withi great clamour and marks of discontent, they dashed : their torches against the largest harp, and made the best of their way out of the cave, leaving me and my people in the- dark ; and all the way as they went, they made dreadful denunciations of tragical events that were immediately to follow upon their departure from the cave. There was no possibility of doing more. Very much vexed, I mounted my horse to return to the boat. The road lay through a very narrow val- ley, and a number of large stones were rolled down upon me. Finding, by the impatience of the horse, that several of these stones- had come near him, I levelledi my gun as near as pos- sible, by the ear, and fined one barrel among them. A mo- ment's silence ensued, and then a loud howl, which seemed to have come from thirty or forty persons. I took my servant's blunderbuss and discharged it where I heard the howl, and a violent confusion of tongues followed, but no more stones. Fearing further hostilities, we cast off our rope that fastened us, and let ourselves over to the ,1 1^^ 128 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. other side. About twelve at night a gentle breeze began to blow, which wafted us up to Luxor, where there was a go- vernor, for whom I had letters. We were well received by the governor, who, having 'made him a small present, furnished us with provisions, and, among several other articles, some brown sugar \ and as we had seen limes and lemons in great perfection at Thebes, we were resolved to refresh ourselves with some punch, in remem- brance of Old England. Luxor and Carnac, which is a mile and a quarter below it, are by far the largest and most magnificent scenes of ruins in Egypt, much more extensive and stupendous than those of Thebes and Dendera put toge- ther. There are two obelisks here of great beauty, and in good preservation ; they are less than those at Rome, but not at all mutilated. The pavement, which is made to receive the shadow, is to this day so hori- zontal, that it might still be used in observation. At Carnac we saw the remains of two vast rows of sphinxes. They were composed of basalts, with a dog or lion's head, of Egyptian sculpture ; they stood in lines likewise, as if to conduct or serve as an avenue to some principal building. The 17 th we took leave of our friendly Shekh of Luxor, and sailed with a very fair wind, and in great spirits. In the evening we came to an anchor on the eastern shore, nearly opposite to Esnd. The 1 8th we left Esnd, and passed the town of Edfu, where there are likewise considerable remains of Egyptian architec- ture. We next came to Shekh Am- mer, the ^encampment gf the Arabs Ababdd who reach from near Cosseir far into the desert. Shekh Ammer is not one, but a collection of villages, com- posed of miserable huts, con- taining, at this time, about a thousand effective men : they possess few horse, and are mostly mounted on camels. Ibrahim, the son, who had seen me at Furshout and Badjoura, knew me as soon as I arrived, and, after acquainting his fa- ther, came with about a dozen of naked attendants, with lances in their hands, to escort me. We were introduced to their Shekh, who was sick, in a cor- ner of a hut, where he lay upon a carpet, with a cushion under his head. This chief of the Ababdd, called Nimmer, i.e. The Tiger (though his furious quali- ties were at this time in a great measure allayed by sickness; asked me much about the state of Lower Egypt. I satisfied him as far as possible, but re- commended to him to confine his thoughts nearer home. A very friendly conversation en- sued, in which was repeated often, how little they expected I would have visited them ! As this implied two things; the first, that I paid no regard to my promise when given ; the BRUGES TRAVELS. 129 other, that I did not esteem them of consequence enough to give myself the trouble, I thought it right to clear myself from these suspicions. ' Shekh Nimmer,' said I, * this frequent repetition, that you thought I would not keep my word, is grievous to me. I am a Christian, and have lived iiOv/ many years among you Arabs. Why did you imagine that I would not keep my word, since it is a principle among all the Arabs I have lived with, in- violably to keep theirs 1 When your son Ibraham came to me at Badjoura, and told me the pain that you was in, night and day, fear of God, and desire to do good, even to them I had never seen, made me send you those medicines that have given you ease. After this proof of my humanity what was there extraordinary in my coming to see you in the wayl I knew you not before \ but my religion teaches me to do good to all men, even to enemies, without reward, or without considering whether I ever should see them again. Now, after the drugs I sent you by Ibraham, tell me, and tell me truly, upon \ht faith of an Arah^ would your people, if they met me in the desert^ do me any wrong more than now^ as I have ate and drank with you to-day % ' The old man Nimmer, on this rose from his carpet, and sat upright; a more ghastly and more horrid figure I never saw. 'No,' said he, 'Shekh, cursed be those men of my people or others^ that ever shall lift up their hand against you, either in the Desert or the Tell, ^ As long as you are in this country, or between this and Cosseir, my son shall serve you with heart and hand ; one night of pain that your medicines freed me from, would not be repaid, if I was to follow you on foot to Messir (that is, Cairo).' I then thought it a proper time to enter into conversation about penetrating into- Abyssinia that way, and they discussed it among themselves in a> very friendly, and, at the same time, in a very sagacious and sensible manner. * We would carry you to El Haimer (which I under- stood, to be a well in the desert, and which I afterwards was much better acquainted with to my sorrow). *We could con- duct you so far,* says old' Nim- merj * under God^ without fear of harm ; all that country was Christian once, and we Chris- tians like yourself.2 Th^g Sara- cens having nothing in their power there, we could carry you safely to Suakem ; but the Bishary are men not ta be trusted, and we could go no farther than to land you among them, and they would put you to death, and laugh at you all the time they were tormenting you. Now, if you want to visit Abyssinia, go by Cosseir and Jidda; there you Christians command the country.' ^ The part of Egypt which is cultivated. *They were Shepherds Indigenx, not Arabs. \ 14' '■■'•.tJ 1^ tit' ■ A f Im ' v.ki ' n > IS Am •II- -If *i s- H W V 'i Br ! : 1^ II 1; \m f 130 TIfE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. M- l! i 1! -i I! I told him, I apprehended the Kennouss, about the second cataract above Ibrim, were bad people. He said the Kennouss were, he believed, bad enough in their hearts; but they were wretched slaves, and servants, had no power in their hands, would not wrong anybody that was with his people ; if they did, he would extirpate them in a day. I told him I was satisfied of the truth of what was said, and asked him the best way to Cos- seir. He said, the best way for me to go was from Kennd or Cuft, and that he was carrying a quantity of wheat from Upper Egypt, while Shekh Hamam was sending another cargo firom his country, both of which would be delivered at Cosseir, and loaded there for Jidda. * All that is right, Shekh,' said I; *but suppose your people meet us in the desert, in going to Cosseir, or otherwise, hew should we fare in that case? Should we fight T *I have told you, Shekh, already,' says he. * Cursed be the man who lifts his hand against you ! or even does not defend and be- friend you, to his own loss, were it Ibrahim my own son.' I then told him I was bound to Cosseir, and that if I found myself in any difliculty, I hoped, upon applying to his people, they would protect me, and that he would give them the word, that I was Yagoube^ a physician, seeking no harm, but doing good ; bound by a vow, for a certain time, to wander through deserts, from fear of God, and that they should not have it in their power to do me harm. The old man muttered some- thing to his sons in a dialect I did not understand ; it was that of the Shepherds of Suakem. As that was the first word he spoke which I did not compre- hend, I took no notice, but mixed some lime-water in a large Venetian bottle that was given me when at Cairo, full ot liqueur^ and which would hold about four quarts ; and a little after I had done this, the whole hut was filled with people. These were priests and monks of their religion, and the heads of families, so that the house could not contain half of them. The great people among them came, and after joining hands, repeated a kind of prayer,^ of about two minutes long, by which they declared themselves and their children accursed, if ever they lifted their hands against me in the Tell, or field, in the desert, or on the river; or, in case that I or mine should fly to them for refuge, if they did not protect us at the risk of their lives, their families, and their fortunes, or, as they em- phatically expressed it, to the death of the last male child among them. Medicines and advice were then given on my part, faith and protection pledged on theirs, and we parted per- ^ This kind of oath was in use among the Arabs or Shepherds, as early as the time of Abraham. Gen. xxL 32, 33, xxyi. 28. BRUGES TRAVELS. i3» fectly content with one an- other. We sailed on the 20th, with the wind favouring us, till about an hour before sunrise, and about nine o'clock came to an anchor on the south end of the palm groves, and north end of the town of Syene, where I had letters of credit I was not well arrived before a janissary came in long Turkish clothes, without arms, and a white wand in his hand, to tell me that Syene was a garrison town, and that the Aga was at the castle ready to give me audience. I returned him for answer, that I hoped he would indulge me till the arrival of my land- lord ; in which interim I should take a little rest, change my clothes, and be more in the situation in which I would wish to pay my respects to him. The fort is built of clay, with some small guns mounted on it ; it is of strength sufficient to keep people of the country in awe. I found the Aga sitting in a small kiosk or closet, upon a stone bench covered with car- pets. As I was in no fear of him, I was resolved to walk according to my privileges ; and as the meanest Turk would do before the greatest man in Eng- land, I sat down upon a cushion below him, after laying my hand on my breast, and saying, in an audible voice, with great marks of respect however, * Salam ali- cumT to which he answered, without any of the usual diffi- culty, '■ Alicutn SalumI* Peace he between us is the salutation ; There is peace between us is the return. After sitting down about two minutes, I again got up, and stood in the middle of the room before him, saying, * I am bearer of a hatdsheriffe, or royal mandate, to you, Ma- homet Aga ! ' and took the fir- man out of my bosom, and pre- sented it to him. Upon this he stood upright, and all the rest of the people, before sitting with him likewise ; he bowed his head upon the carpet, then put the firman to his forehead, opened it, and pretended to read it ; but he knew well the con- tents, and I believe, besides, he could neither read nor write any language. I then gave him the other letters from Cairo, which he ordered his secretary to read in his ear. All this ceremony being finished, he called for a pipe and coffee. I refused the first, as never using it ; but I drank a dish of coflee, and told him that I was bearer of a confidmticU message from Ali Bey of Cairo, and wished to deliver it to him without wit- nesses, whenever he pleased. The room was accordingly cleared without delay, except- ing his secretary, who was also going away, when I pulled him back by the clothes, saying, *Stay, if you please, we shall need you to write the answer.* We were no sooner left alone, than I told the Aga, that, being a stranger, and not knowing the disposition of his people, or what footing they were on to- 1^ 'i Ti ' t -pi '"a ^J !>'•* 1^2 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, ? t f gether, and being desired to ad- dress myself only to him by the Bey, and our mutual friends at Cairo, I wished to put it in his power (as he pleased or not) to have witnesses of delivering the small present I had brought him from Cairo. The Aga seemed very sensible of tiiis delicacy ; and particularly de- sired me to take no notice to my landlord, the Schourbatchie, of anything I had brought him. All this being over, and a confidence established with gov- ernmenty I sent his present by his own servant tliat night, under pretence of desiring horses to go to the cataract next day. The message was returned, that the horses were to be ready by six o'clock next morning. On the 21st the Aga sent me his own horse, with mules and asses for my servants, to go to the cataract. The river, not half a mile broad, is divided into a number of small channels, where the current, confined for a long course between the rocky moun- tains of Nubia, tries to expand itself with great violence. Finding, in every part before it, opposition from the rocks of granite, and forced back by these, it meets the opposite currents. The chafing of the water against these huge ob- stacles, the meeting of the con- trary currents, one with another, creates such a violent ebullition, and makes such a noise and disturbed appearance, that it fills the mind with confusion rather than with terror. We saw the miserable Ken- nouss (who inhabit the banks of the river up into Nubia, to above the second cataract) to procure their daily food, lying behind rocks, with lines in their hands, and catching fish ; they did not seem to be cither dexterous, or successful in the sport. They are not black, but of the darkest brown ; are not woolly-headed, but have hair. They are small, light, agile people, and seem to be more than half-starved. I made a sign that I wanted to speak with one of them, but, seeing me surrounded with with a number of horse and fire-arms, they did not choose to trust themselves. I left my people behind with my fire-lock, and went alone to see if I could engage them in a conversation. At first, they walked off ; find- ing I persisted in following them, they ran at full speed, and hid themselves among the rocks. Having finislied everything we had to do at Syene, we pre- pared to descend the Nile. On the 26th we embarked at the north end of the town, in the very spot where I again took boat above three years afterwards. On the 31st of January we arrived at Negad^, the fourth settlement of the Franciscan friars in Upper Egypt, for the pretended mission of Ethiopia. It was the 2d of February I returned to Badjoura, and took BRUGES TRAVELS. m up fny quarters in the house formerly assig?ic(l me, greatly to the joy of Shekh Ismael, who, though he was in the main reconciled to his friend, friar Christopher, had not yet forgot the wounding of the five men by his miscalculating Ramadan; and was not without fears that the same inadvertence might, some day or other, be fatal to him, in his pleurisy and asthma, or, what is still more likely, by the operation of the tabange. As I was now about to enter on that part of my expedition, in which ] was to have no further intercourse with Europe, I set myself to work to examine all my observations, and put my journal in such forwardness by explanations, where needful, that the labours and pains I had hitherto been at, might not be totally lost to the public, if I should perish in the journey I had undertaken, which, from all information I could procure, every day appeared to be more and more desperate. Having finished these, at least so far as to make them intelligible to others, I conveyed them to my friends Messrs Julian and Rosa, at Cairo, to remain in their custody till I should return, or news come that I was otherwise disposed of^ CHAPTER HI. From Kenn^ to Cosseir. On Thursday the i6th of Feb- ruary 1 769, we heard the cara- van was ready to set out from Kenn(5, the Came Emporium of antiquity. At half-past two we came to a well, called Bir Am- bar, the well of spices, and a dirty village of the same name, belonging to the Azaizy, a poor inconsiderable tribe of Arabs. They live by letting out their cattle for hire to the caravans that go to Cosseir, and attend- ing themselves, when neceswary. The houses of the Azaizy are of a very particular construction, if they can be called houses. They are all made of potter-clay, in one piece, in shape of a bee- hive ; the largest is not above ten feet high, and the greatest diameter six. On the 17th, at eight o'clock in the morning, having mounted my servants, all on horseback, and taken the charge of cur own camels (for there was a confu- sion in our caravan not to be described, and our guards we knew were but a set of thieves), we advanced slowly into the desert. Our road was all the way in an open plain, bounded by hillocks of sand, and fine gravel, perfectly hard, and Jiot perceptibly above the level of the plain country of Egypt. About twelve miles distant there is a ridge of mountains of no considerable height, perhaps the most barren in the world. Between these our road lay through plains, never three miles broad, but without trees, shrubs, or herbs. There are not even the traces of any living creature, neither serpent nor ''« "^ »34 TirE ENGLisir nxrroRERs. i|i M ^1 Kl H|| Wm< \ w ttn/ i M Igl! m ■:< i llzfird, nntclopo nor oHtric h, the UKUttI inhnbitiintn of the mont dreary deserts. There i« no Rort of water on the Rurfnee, brackish or sweet. lOven the birds seem to avoid the place as pestilential, not havinjjt seen one of any kind so much as flying over. The sun was burn- ing hot, and, upon rubbing two sticks together, in half a minute they botli took fire and flamed, a mark how near the country was reducetl to a general con- flagration. While at the wells of T.egeta, my Arab, Abd el (lin, came to me with his money, which had increased now to nineteen seqiiins and a half. * What I * said I, * Mahomet, arc you never safe among your country- men, neither by sea nor land 1 * * Oh, no,' replied Mahomet ; * the difVercnce, when we were on board the boat, was, we had three thieves only ; but, when assembled here, we shall have above three thousand. But I have an advice to give you.* * And my ears,' said I, ' Ma- homet, are always open to ad- vice, especially in strange countries.' * These people,' continued Mahomet, *are all afraid of the Atouni Arabs ; and, when attacked, they will r»m away, and leave you in the hand of these Atouni, who will carry off your baggage. There- fore, as you have nothing to do with their corn, do not kill any of the Atouni if they come, for that will be a bad attivir, but go aside, and let me manage. I will answer with my life, thotigh all the caravan should be stripped stark naked, and you loaded with gold, not one article he- longing to you shall he touched.' I questioned him very particularly about this in- timation, as it was an affair of much consequence, and I was so well satisfied, that [ resolved to conform strictly to it. In the evening came twenty Turks from Caramania, ail of them neatly and cleanly drensed, all on camels, armed with swords, a pair of pistols at their girdle, and a short neat gun. They told me that they were a number of neighbours and com- panions, who had set out to- trether to go to Me< ca, to the Hadjc ; and had been but in- differently used since they landed at Alexandria, that one of the thieves had been on board in the night, and had carried olT a small jiortmanteau with about 200 sequins in gold ; that, though a complaint had been made to the Bey of Girg.<. 'tf.i'^ ^i'/^' S f #■ t r • ; - ^r.^ 'l4 IIP Hi I40 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. \ . ! 1 ■ I'f him and his bjother, and seven or eight Ababdd. He did not recollect me, but I dismounted close to the tent-door, and had scarce taken hold of the pillar of the tent, and said * Fiarduc,'^ when Ibrahim and his brother both knew me. * What 1' said they, * are you Yagoube, our physician, and our friend V * Let rne ask you,' replied I, * if you are the Ababdd of Shekh Am- mer, that cursed yourselves and your children if you ever lifted a hand against me or mine in the desert, or in the ploughed field 1 If you have repented of that oath, or sworn falsely on purpose to deceive me, here I am come to you in the desert.' • What is the matter?' says Ibrahim. * We are the Ababdd of Shekh Ammer ; there are no other; and we still say. Cursed be he, whether our father or child, that lifts his hand against you in the desert, or in the ploughed field.' * Then,' said I, ' you are all accursed in the desert and in the field, for a number of your people are going to murder my servant. They took him, indeed, firom my house in the town; perhaps that is not included in your curse, as it is neither in the desert nor the ploughed field.' I was very angry. * Whew 1' says Ibrahim, with a kind of whistle, * that is downright non- sense. Who are those of my people that have authority to murder and take prisoners while I am here ? Here, one of you, 1 That is, I am under your protection. get upon Yagoube's horse, and bring that man to me.' Then turning to me, he desired I would go Into the tent and sit down : * For God renounce me and mine,' says he, * if it is as you say, and one of them hath touched the hair of his head, if ever he drinks of the Nile again.' The Arab, Abd-el-gin, was the person that seized the ser- vant of Hassan, the captain of the caravan, when he was attempting to steal the Turk's portmanteau out of my tent ; that my people had beat him till he lay upon the ground like dead, and that Hussein Bey, at the complaint of the Cara- maniots, had, for this offence, ordered him to be hanged. Now, in order to revenge this, Hassan had told the Ababd^ that Abd-el-gin was an Atouni spy, that he had detected him in the caravan. He did not say one word that he was my ser- vant, nor that I was at Cosseir; so the people thought they had a very meritorious sacrifice to make, in the person of poor Abd-el-gin. All passed now in kindness, and desire of repara- tion ; fresh medicines were asked for the Nimmer; great thankfulness, and professions, for what they had received; and a prodigious quantity of meat on wooden platters very excellently dressed, and most agreeably diluted with fresh water, from the coldest rocks of Terfowey, was set before me. , I cannot help here accusing BRUGES TRAVELS. 141 myself of what doubtless may be well reputed a very great sin, the more so that I cannot say I have yet heartily repented of it. I was so enraged at the traitorous part which Hassan had acted, that at parting I could not help saying to Ibra- him, 'Now, Shekh, I have done everything you have de- sired, without ever expecting fee or reward; the only thing I now ask you, and it is pro- bably the last, is, that you re- venge me upon this Hassan, who is every day in your power/ Upon this, he gave me his hand, saying, *He should not die in his bed, or I shall never see old age.' I proposed to the Bey, that he and I should contribute something to make it worth this captain's pains to take our friends, the Turks, and carry them to Yambo. The Bey promised to stay till they sailed, and I engaged to take the vessel after it returned ; and the captain, in quality of a saint, assured us that any rock that stood in our way in the voyage would either jump aside or become soft like a sponge. All was settled to our mtitual satisfaction, when, unluckily, the Turks going down to their boat, met Sidi Hassan, whom, with reason, they thought the author of all their misfortunes. The whole party drew their swords, and, without seeking sabres from Persia, as he had done, they would have cut Sidi Hassan in pieces, but, fortu- nately for him, the Turks had great cloth trousers, like Dutch- men, and could not run, whilst he ran very nimbly in his. Several pistols, however, were fired, one of which shot him in the back part of the ear; on which he fled for refuge to the Bey, and we never saw him more. I now took up my quarters in the castle, and as the Ababd^ had told strange stories about the Mountain of Emeralds, I determined, till my captain should return, to make a voyage thither. On Tuesday the 14th of March, we sailed from the har- bour of Cosseir. Our vessel had one sail, like a straw mat- tress, made of the leaves of a kind of palm-tree, which they call Doom. On the 15th, about nine o'clock, I saw a large high rock, like a pillar, rising out of the sea. TTie i6th, we landed on a point perfectly desert, where the soil was fixed, producing some few plants of rue or ab- sinthium. We advanced above three miles farther in a perfectly desert country, with only a few acacia-trees scattered here and there, and came to the foot of the mountains. I asked my guide the name of that place ; he said it was Saiel. At the foot of the mountain, or about seven yards up from the base of it, are five pits or shafts, none of them four feet in ' f 'i A'A 142 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. ^|:.: ii!" i i r diameter, called the Zumrud Wells, from which the ancients are said to have drawn the emeralds. We were not pro- vided with materials, and little endowed with inclination, to descend into any one of them, where the air was probably bad. I picked up the nozzles, and some fragments of that brittle green crystal, which is perhaps the zumrud, the smaragdus de- scribed by Pliny, but by no means the emerald whose first character absolutely defeats its pretensions, the true Peruvian emerald being equal in hardness to the ruby. Besides a number of very fine shells, we picked up several branches of coral, and many other articles of natural history. Next day, the 17th, about eleven o'clock, we found our- selves about two leagues astern of a small island, known to the pilot by the name of Jibbel Macowar. This island, Jibbel Macowar, has breakers running off from it at all points ; but though we hauled close to these, we had no soundings. On the 1 8th, at daybreak, I was alarmed at seeing no land, as I had no sort of confidence in the skill of my pilot, however sure I was of my latitude. About an hour after sunset, I observed a high rugged rock, which the pilot told me, upon inquiry, was Jibbel (viz. a Rock), and this was all the satis- faction I could get. We bore down upon it with a wind, scanty enough ; and, about four, we came to an anchor. As we had no name for that island, and I did not know that any traveller had been there before me, I used the privilege of giving it my own, in memory of having been there. The 19th, at daybreak, we saw the land stretching all the way northward, and soon after distinctly discerned Jibbel Si- berget upon our lee bow. We had seen it indeed before, bat had taken it for the mainland. After passing such an agreeable night, we could not be quiet, and laughed at our pilot a'bout his perfect knowledge of the weather. The fellow shook his head, and, in a very little time, the vane on the mast-head be- gan to turn, first north, then east, then south, and back again to all the points in the compass. The sky was quite dark with thick rain to the southward of us ; then followed a most violent clap of thunder, but no light- ning ; and back again came the wind fair at south-east. The first thing I asked was, if the pilot could not lower his main- sail But that we found im- possible, the yard being fixed to the mast-head. The next step was to reef it, by hauling it, in part, up like a curtain. This our pilot desired us not to at- tempt, for it would endanger our foundering. I began now to throw off my upper coat and trousers, that I might endeavour to make shore, if the vessel should founder, whilst the ser- BItUCES TRAVELS. M3 vants seemed to have given themselves up, and made no preparation. Our pilot began, apparently, to lose his under- standing through fright. I begged him to be steady, per- suading him to take a glass o" spirits, and desired him not to dispute or doubt anything that I should do or order, for that I had seen much more terrible nights in the ocean, I assured him, that all harm done to his vessel should be repaired when we should get to Cosseir. He answered me nothing, but that Mahomet was the prophet of God. *Let him prophesy,' said I, *as long he pleases; but what I order you is, to keep steady to the helm ; mind the vane on the top of the mast, and steer straight before the wind, for I am resolved to cut that main-sail to pieces, and prevent the mast from going away, and your vessel from sinking to the bottom.' I got no answer to this which I could hear, the wind was so high, ex- cept something about the mercy and the merit of Sidi All el Genowi. I now became vio- lently angry. *You beast,' said I, * cannot you give me a rational answer? Stand to your helm, look at the vane ; keep the vessel straight before the wind, or I will shoot you dead.' He answered only, Maloom, i.e. Very well. All this was sooner done than said; I got the main-sail in my arms, and with a large knife cut it all to shreds, which eased the vessel greatly, though we were still going at a prodigious rate. About two o'clock the wind seemed to fail, but, half an hour after, was more violent than ever. At three it fell calm. We now saw distinctly the white cliffs of the two moun- tains above Old Cosseir ; and, on the 19th, a little before sun- set, we arrived safely at the New. CHAPTER IV. From Cosseir to Masuah. On the 5 th day of April, after having made my last observa- tion of longitude at Cosseir, I embarked and sailed from that port. For the first two days we had hazy weather, with little wind. We saw a high land to the south-west of us, very rugged and broken, which seemed parallel to the coast, and higher in the middle than at either end. This, we con- ceived, was the mountain that divides the coast of the Red Sea from the eastern part of the Valley of Egypt. In the morning of the 6 th we made the Jaffateen Islands. They are four in number, crooked or bent, like half a bow, and are dangerous for ships sailing in the night. Next morning, the 7th, we left our very quiet berth in the bay, and stood close, nearly south-east, alongside of the two southermost Jaffateen Islands, our head upon the centre of ■^1 hi 144 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. i; in Sheduan, till we had cleared the eastermost of these islands about three miles. It is a rocky shore, full of sunken rocks, which, though not visi- ble, are near enough the surface to take up a large ship, whose destruction thereupon becomes inevitable. Therefore, though in the tract of my voyage to Tor, I am seen running from the west side of Jibbel Zeit, a w.N.w. course (for I had no place for a compass) into the harbour t f Tor, I will venture, without fear of contradiction, to say, that my course from Cosseir, or even from Jibbel Siberget, to Tor, is impossible to a great ship. My voyage, painful, full of care, and dan- gerous as it was, is not to be accounted a surety for the lives of thousands. On the 9th we arrived at Tor, a small straggling village, with a convent of Greek monks belonging to Mount Sinai. Our Rais, having despatched his business, was eager to de- part; and accordingly, on the nth of April, at daybreak, we stood out of the harbour of Tor. At night, by an observation of two stars in the meridian, I concluded the latitude of Cape Mahomet to be 27° 54' n. It must be understood of the mountain or high land, which forms the Cape, not the low point. The ridge of rocks that run along behind Tor bound that low sandy country,, called the Desert of Sin, to the eastward and end in this cape, which is the high land observed at sea ; but the lower part, or southermost extreme of the cape, runs about three leagues off from the high land, und is so low, that it can- not be seen from deck above three leagues. The 12th, we sailed from Cape Mahomet, just as the sun appeared. We passed the island of Tyrone, in the mouth of the Elanitic Gulf, which divides it near equally into two ; or, rather the north-west side is narrowest. On the 13th, the Rais having in the night remedied what was faulty in the vessel, set sail about seven o'clock in the morning. We passed a coni- cal hill on the land, called Abou Jubb^, where is the sepulchre of a saint of that name. The mountains here are at a con- siderable distance ; and nothing can be more desolate and bare than the coast. On the T5th, we came to an anchor at El Har, where we saw high, craggy, and broken moun- tains, called the mountains ci Ruddua. These abound with springs of water ;^ all sort of Arabian and African fruits grow here in perfection, and every kind of vegetable tliat they will take the pains to cultivate. It is the paradise of the people of Yambo \ those of any substance have country houses there ; but, strange to tell, they stay there but for a short time, and prefer the bare, dry, and burning sands about Yambo, to one of the finest climates, and most BRUCE' S TRAVELS. MS* verdant pleasant countries that exists in the world. On the 1 6th, about ten o'clock, we passed a mosque, or Shekh's tomb on the main land, on our left hand, called Kubbet Yambo, and before eleven we anchored in the mouth of the port in deep water. Yambo, corruptly called Imbo, is an ancient city, now dwindled into a paltry village. Yambo, in the language of the country, signifies a fountain or spring, a copious one of excel- lent water being found there among the date-trees, and it is one of the stations of the Emir Hadje in going to and coming from Mecca. In the evening, the captain of the port came on board, and brought two janissaries with him, whom, with some diffi- culty, I suffered to enter the vessel. Their first demand was gunpowder, which I positively refused. They asked me a thousand questions, whether I was a Mamaluke, whether I was Turk, or whether I was an Arab, and why I did not give them spirits and tobacco 1 To all which I answered, only, that they should know to-mor- row who I was : then I ordered the captain of the port to carry them ashore at his peril, or I would confine them on board all night. Soon after they went, we heard a great firing, and saw lights all over the town. At night the firing had abated, the lights diminished, and the captain of the port again came on board. They asked me where I came from. I said, * From Constantinople, last from Cairo ; but begged they would put no more ques- tions to me, as I was not at liberty to answer them.' They said 'they had orders from their masters to bid me wel- come, if 1 was the person that had been recommended to them by the Sheriffe, and was Ali Bey's physician at Cairo.' We found that, upon some discussion, the garrison and townsmen had been fighting for several days ; in which dis- orders the greatest part of the ammunition in the town had been expended ; but it had since been agreed on by the old men of both parties that nobody had been to blame on either side, but that the whole wrong was the work of a camel, which was seized and brought without the town, and there a number of old men upbraided the camel with everything that had been either said or done, and finally thrust him through with their lances. Next morning I went to the palace. The two Agas were sitting on a high bench upon Persian carpets, and about forty well-dressed and well-looking men (many of them old), sitting on carpets upon the floor, in a semicircle round them. They behaved with great politeness and attention, and asked no questions but general ones, as, How the sea agreed with me 1 ; h 3 iliiil :'!: 146 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. :*f. . 1. If there was plenty at Cairo ? till I was going away, when the youngest of the Agas inquired, with a seeming degree of dif- fidence, Whether Mahomet Bey Abou Dahab was ready to march ? As I knew well what this question meant, I answered, * I knoW not if he is ready, he has made great preparations.' The other Aga said, *I hope you will be a messenger of peace 1 ' I answered, ' I entreat you to ask me no questions ; I hope, by the grace of God, all will go well.' Every person present applauded the speech ; agreed to respect my secret, as they supposed I had one, and they were all inclined to be- lieve that I was a man in the confidence of AH Bey, and that his hostile designs against Mecca were laid aside. This was just what I wished them to suppose, tor it secured me against ill-usage all the time I chose to stay there ; and of this I had a proof in the in- stant, for a very good house was provided for me by the Aga, and a man of his sent to show me to it. Yambo is re- puted very unwholesome, but there were no epidemical dis- eases when I was there. I was not a little uneasy at thinking among what banditti I lived, whose daily wish was to rob and murder me, from which they were restrained by fear only; and this, a fit of drunkenness, or a piece of bad news, such as a report of Ali Bey's death, might remove in a moment. Indeed, we were allowed to want nothing. A sheep, some bad beer, and some very good wheat bread were delivered to us every day from the Aga, which, with dates and honey, and a variety of presents from those that I at- tended as a physician, made us pass our time comfortably enough ; we went frequently in the boats to fish at sea, and caught several kinds of fish. On the 28th of April, in the morning, I sailed with a cargo of wheat that did not belong to me, and three passengers, in- stead of one, for whom only I had undertaken. On the 3d May, at four o'clock we an- chored in the port of Jidda, which is very extensive, consist- ing of numberless shoals, small islands, and sunk rocks, with channels between them, and deep water. You are very safe in Jidda harbour, whatever wind blows, as there are numberless shoals which prevent the water from ever being put into any gener?l motion ; and you may moor head and stern, with twenty anchors out if you please. But the danger of being lost, I conceive, lies in the going in and coming out of the harbour. Indeed, the ob- servation is here verified, — the more dangerous the port, the abler the pilots, and no acci- dents ever happen. From Yambo to Jidda I had slept little, making my memo- randa as full upon the spot as BRUGES TRAVELS, 147 possible. I had, besides, an agueish disorder, which very much troubled me, and in dress and cleanliness was so like a Galiongy (or Turkish seaman) that the Emir Bahar* was astonished at hearing my ser- vants say I was an Englishman j at the time they carried a,way all my baggage and instruments to the custom-house. He sent his servant, however, with me to the Bengal house, who pro- mised me, in broken English, all the way, a very magnificent reception from my countrymen. Upon his naming all the cap- tains for my choice, I desired to be carried to a Scotchman, a relation of my own, who was then accidentally leaning over the rail of the staircase leading up to his apartment. I saluted him by his name ; he fell into a violent rage, calling me vil- lain, thief, cheat, and renegado rascal, and declared, if I ofifpred to proceed a step further, he would throw me over the stairs. I went away without reply ; his curses and abuses followed me long afterwards. The servant, my conductor, screwed his mouth, and shrugged up his shoulders. * Never fear,' says he, * I will carry you to the best of them all.' We went up an opposite staircase, whilst I thought within myself, if those are their India manners, I shall keep my name and situation to myself while I am at Jidda. I stood in no need of them, as I had credit for 1000 sequins and 1 Captain of the port. more, if I should want it, upon Yousef Cabil, Vizier or Gover- nor of Jidda. I was conducted into a large room, where Captain Thornhill was sitting, in a white calico waistcoat a very high-pointed white cotton night-cap, with a" large tumbler of water before him, seemingly very deep in thought. The Emir Bahar's servant brought me forward by the hand, a little within the door ; but I was not desirous of advancing much farther, for fear of the salutation of being thrown down-stairs again. He looked very steadily, but not sternly, at me, and desired the servant to go and shut the door. *Sir,' says he, *are you an Englishman ? ' I bowed. * You surely are sick, you should be in your bed ; have you been long sick % * I said, * Long, sir,' and bowed. * Are you wanting a passage to India % ' I again bowed. 'Well,' says he, *>ou look to be a man in distress; if you have a secret, I shall respect it till you please to tell it me ; but if you want a pas- sage to India, apply to no one but Thornhill of the Bengal Merchant. Perhaps you are afraid of somebody ; if so, ask for Mr. Greig, my lieutenant, he will carry you on board my ship directly, where you will be safe.' 'Sir,' said I, 'I hope you will find me an honest man ; I have no enemy that I know, either in Jidda or elsewhere, nor do I owe any man anything.' ' I am sure,' says he, ' I am !l ■K« ■,'i'X-. t ■'i^E ' ^■'■jf^' m 148 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. r V ^1 \ - doing wrong in keeping a poor man standing, who ought to be in' his bed. Here! Philip! Philip ! ' Philip appeared. * Boy,' says he, in Portuguese, which, as I imagine, he sup- posed I did not understand, * here is a poor Englishman, that should be either in his bed or in his grave ; carry him to the cook, tell him to give him as much broth and mutton as he can eat ; the fellow seems to have been starved, but I would rather have the feeding of ten to India, than the bury- ing of one at Jidda.' Philip de la Cruz was the son of a Portuguese lady, whom Captain Thornhill had married ; a boy of great talents, and ex- cellent disposition, who carried me with great willingness to the cook. I made as awkward a bow as I could to Captain Thornhill, and said, * God will return this to your Jionour some day.' Philip carried me into a courtyard, where they used to expose their samples of their India goods in large bales. It had a portico along the left- hand side of it, which seemed designed ior a stable. To this place I was introduced, and thither the cook brought me my dinner. Several of the English from the vessels, Las- cars, and others, came in to look at me ; and I heard it, in general, agreed among them, .that I was a very thief-like fellow, and certainly a Turk, and them if they should like to fall into my hands. I fell fast asleep upon the mat, while Pliilip was ordering me another apartment. In the meantime, some of my people had followed the baggage to the custom-house, and some of them stayed on board the boat to prevent the pilfering of what was left. The keys had remained with me, and the Vizier had gone to sleep, as is usual, about mid-day. As soon as he awaked, being greedy of his prey, he fell immediately to my baggage, wondering that such a quantity of it, and that boxes in such a curious form, should belong to a mean man like me ; he was therefore full of hopes that a fine oppor- tunity for pillage was now at hand. He asked for the keys of the trunks ; my servant said they were with me, but he would go instantly and bring them. That, however, was too long to stay; no delay could possibly be granted. Accus- tomed to pilfer, they did not force the locks, but, very artist- like, took off the hinges at the back, and in that manner opened the lids, without opening the locks. The first thing that presented itself to the Vizier's sight was the firman of the Grand Signier^ magnificently written and titled, and the in- scription powdered with gold dust, and wrapped in green taffeta. After this was a white satin bag, addressed to the Khan of Taitary, with which Mr. Peyssonel, French consul at Smyrna, had favoured me, BRUGES TRAVELS. 149 and which I had not delivered, as the Khan was then' prisoner at Rhodes* The next was a green and gold silk bag, with letters directed to the Sherriffe of Mecca ; and then came a plain crimson satin bag, wirfi letters addressed ta Metical Aga sword-bearer (or Selictar, as it is called) of the Sherriffe, or his chief minister and favour- ite. He then found a letter from Ali Bey to himself, writ- ten with all the superiority of a prince to a slave. In this let- ter, the Bey told him plainly that he had heard the govern- ments of Jidda, Mecca, and other States of the Sherriffe were disorderly, and that mer- chants coming about their law- ful business were plundered, terrified r and detained; He therefore intimated to him, that if any such thing happened to me, he should not write or complaini, but he would send and punish the affront at the very gates of Mecca. This was very unpleasant language to the Vizier, because it was now publicly known^ that Ma- homet Bey Abou Dahab was preparing next year to march against Mecca, for some offence the Bey had taken against the Sherriffe. There was also an- other letter from him to Ibrahim Sikakeen, chiefof the merchants at Cairo, ordering him to fur- nish me with a thousand sequins for my present use, and, if more were needed, to take my bill. These contents of the trunk were so unexpected, that Yousef, the Vizier, thought he had gone too far, and called my servant in a violent hurry, upbraiding him for not telling who I was. The servant defended himself by saying that neither he, nor his people about him, would so much as regard a word that he had spoken ; and that the cadi of Medina's principal servant, who had come with the wheat, told the Vizier plainly to his face that he had given him warning enough, if his pride would have suffered him to hear it. All was now wrong ; my servant was ordered to nail up the hinges, but he declared it should be the last action of his life ; that nobody opened baggage that way, but with an intention of stealing, when the keys could be got; and, as there were many rich things in the trunk, intended as pre- sents to the Sherriffe and Metical Aga, which might have been taken out, by the hinges being forced off before he came, he washed his hands of the whole procedure, but knew his master would complain, and loudly too, and would be heard both at Cairo and Jidda. The Vizier took his resolution in a moment like a, man. He nailed up the baggage, ordered his horse to be brought, and, at- tended by a number of naked blackguards (whom they call soldiers) he came down to the Bengal house, at which the whole factory took alarm. I was sitting drinking coffee. ■•:?« ' ■ *''SS 150 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. on the mat when the Vizier's horse came, and tlie whole court was filled. One of the clerks of the custom-house asked me, ' Where my master wasi' I said, 'In Heaven.' '['lie Kmir Bahar's servant now ])rought forward the Vizier to me, who had not dismounted liimself Me repeated the same (juestion, * Where my master wasl' I told him I did not know the purport of his ques- tion ; that I was the person to whom the baggage belonged, which he liad taken to the cus- tom-house, and that it was in my favour the Grand Signior and Bey had written. He seemed very much surprised, and asked me * How I could appear in such a dress % ' ' You cannot ask that seriously,' said I ; * I believe no prudent man would dress better, con- sidering the voyage I have made. But besides, you did not leave it in my power, as every article, but what I have on me, has been these four hours at the custom house, waiting your pleasure.' We then went all up to our kind landlord, Captain Thorn- hill, to whom I made my ex- cuse, on account of the ill- usage I had first met with from my own relation. He laughed very heartily at the narrative, and from that time we lived in the greatest friendship and con- fidence. All was made up, even with Yousef Cabil ; and all heads were employed to get the strongest letters possible to the Naybe of Masuah, the kinp; of Abyssinia, Michael SuhCil, the minister, and the king of Sennaar. Metical Aga, the great friend and protector of the English at Jidda, and in effect, we may say, sold to them, for the great presents and profits he received, was himself originally an Abys- sinian slave, was the man of confidence, and directed tiie sale of the king's and Michael's gold, ivory, civet, and such precious conmiodities, that are paid to them in kind ; he fur- nished Michael, likewise, with returns in fire-arms ; and these had enabled Michael to subdue Abyssinia, murder the king his master, and seat another on his throne. We, therefore, set about pro- curing effective letters, letters of business and engagement, be- tween man and man ; and we all endeavoured to make Me- tical Aga, a very good man, but no great head-piece, compre- hend this perfectly. My letters from Ali Bey opened the afiiiir to him, and first commanded his attention. A very hand- some present of pistols inclined him in my favour. All tiie letters were written in a style such as I could have desired ; and an Abyssinian, called Ma- homet Gibberti, was appointed to go with particular letters. Jidda is very unwholesome, as is, indeed, all the east coast of the Red Sea. Immediately without the gate of that town, to the eastward, is a desert itl BRUGES TRAVELS. «i« plain filled with the huts of the llcdouins/ or country Arabs, built of long bundles of spar- tum, or bent grass, put together like fascines. These liedouins supply Jidda with milk and but- ter. Its barren and desert situa- tion would, probably, have occasioned its being abandoned altogether, were it not for its vicinity to Mecca, and the sud- den influx of wealth from the India trade, which, once a year, arrives in this part, pass- ing on to Mecca. Very little advantage, however, accrues to Jidda. The customs are all immediately sent to a needy sovereign, and his hungry set of relations, dependants, and ministers at Mecca. The pro- fit of the traflic is in the hands of strangers ; most of whom, after the market is over, retire to Yemen, and other neigh- bouring countries, which abound in every sort of provision. Owing to this, although Ma- hometans, nowhere are there so many unmarried women. It was on the 8th of July 1769 I sailed from the harbour of Jidda, and as we passed through the English fleet at their anchors, they all honoured me with their regret at parting, every one hoisting his colours, and salut- ing it with his guns. At a quarter past eight on the nth we were towed to our anchor- age in the harbour of Kon- fodah. I Red means a desert plAin country : Re- doui, in the plur.il, ''erlow'ii, its inhabttnnts. Konfodah is a small village consisting of about two hun- dred miserable houses, built with green wood and covered with mats, made of palm-tree ; a bay, or rather a shallow bason, in a desert waste or plain. The l'>mir Ferhan, the gover- nor, invited me on shore, and we dined together on very excellent provision, dressed ac- cording to their custom. He said the country near the shore was desert ; but a little within land, or where the roots and gravel had fixed the sand, the soil produced everything, espe- cially if they had any showers of rain. It was so long since I had heard mention of a shower of rain, that I could not help laughing. He begged so politely to know what I laughed at, that I was obliged to confess. ' The reason,' said I, * is that I had travelled about two thousand miles, and had neither seen nor heard of a shower of rain till now ; yet I declare to you, the moment you spoke it, had you asked, what was the Arabic for a shower of rain, I could not have told you. ' You are going,' says he, * to countries where you will have rain and wind suffi- ciently cold, and where the water in the mountains is harder than the dry land, and people stand upon it.^ We have only the remnant of their showers, and it is to that we owe our greatest happiness.' I Yemen, or the hiKh land of Arabia Fel'x, wh«r»! w.iterfrecres. ■ I 'mA M i 1 1 I' M-'s .> :'^> ■j-^mm 152 THE ENGIJSff EXPLORERS. li J 1 I was very much pleased with his conversation. He seemed to have a more rational know- ledge of things, and spoke more elegantly than any man I h.id conversed with in Arabia. He said he had lost the only seven sons he had, in one month, by the small-pox. I took my leave of the Emir to return to my tent, to hold a consultation what was to be done. On the 14th, our Rais, more afraid of dying by a fever than by the hands of the pirates, consented willingly to put to sea ; and on the i8th we first discovered the mountains, under which lies the town of Loheia. Loheia is built upon the south- west side of a peninsula, sur- rounded everywhere, but on the east, by the sea. At Loheia we had a very uneasy sensation ; a kind of prickling came into our legs, occasioned by the salt effluvia, or steams, from the earth, which is strongly impregnated with that mineral. All sorts of pro- vision are plentiful and reason- able at Loheia, but the water is bad. The government is much more gentle than any Moorish government in Arar>ia or Africa ; the people, too, ai e of gentler manners, the men, from early ages, being accustomed to trade. The women at Loheia are as solicitous to please as those of the most polished nations in Europe, and, though very re- tired, whether married or un- married, they are not less careful of their dress and persons. At home they wear nothing but a long shift of fine cotton cloth, suitable to their quality. They dye their feet and hands with henna, not only for ornament, but as an astringent, to keep them dry from sweat ; they wear their own hair, which is plaited, and falls in long tails behind. At Loheia we received a letter from Mahomet Gibberti, telling us that it would yet be ten days before he could join us, and desiring us to be ready by that time. This hurried us extremely, for we were much afraid we should not have time to see the remaining part of the Arabian Gulf, to where it joins wiMi the Indian Ocean. On the 27th, in the evening, we parted from Loheia, but were obliged to tow the boat out. On the 29th, we passed six islands, called Jibbel el Ourbe ; and having but indifferent wind, we anchored about nine off the point of the shoal, which lies immediately east of the north fort of Mocha. The town of Mocha makes an agreeable ap- pearance from the sea. Behind it there is a grove of palm-trees, that do not seem to have the beauty of those in Egypt, pro- bably owing to their being ex- posed to the violent south- westers that blow here, and make it very uneasy riding for vessels ; there is, however, very seldom any damage done. The port is formed by two points of land, which make a semicircle. The ground for anchorage is of BR UCSS TRA VELS, '53 the very best kind, sand with- out coral, which last chafes the cables all over the Red Sea. The coast of Arabia, all along from Mocha to the Straits of Ibbelmandeb, is a bold coast, close to which you may run with- out danger night or day. We continued our course within a mile of the shore, where in some places there appeared to be small woods, in other; a flat bare country, bounded with moun- tains at a considerable distance. On the 31st, at nine in the morning, we came to an anchor above Jibbel Kaban, or Pilot's Island, just under the cape, which, on the Arabian side, forms the north entrance of the Straits. The Rais said he had a design to have anchored there last night, but as it was trouble- some to get out in the morning by the westerly wind, he in- tended to run over to Perim island to pass the night, and give us an opportunity to make what observations we pleased, in quiet. We caught here a prodigious quantity of the* finest fish that I had ever before seen ; but the silly Rais greatly troubled our enjoyment, by telling us that many of the fish in that part were poisonous. Several of our people took the alarm, and abs- tained. The rule I made use of in choosing mine, was, to take all those that were likest the fish of our own northern seas ; nor had I ever any rea- son to complain. We had rice and butter, honey and flour. The sea afforded us plenty of fiish, and I had no doubt but that hunger would get the better of our fears of being poisoned. On the Tst of August we ate drammock, made with cold water and mw flour, mixed with butter and hrney, but we soon found this would not do, though I never wa3 hungry in my life with so much good provision about me; for, besides the articles already spoken of, we had two skins of wine from Loheia, and a small jar of brandy, which I had kept ex- pressly for a feast, to drink the King's health on arriving in his dominions, the Indian Ocean. I therefore proposed, that leaving the Rais on board, myself and two men should cross over to the south side, to try if we could get any wood in the kingdom of Adel. Here again the Rais's heart failed him. He said the inhabitants on that coast had fire-arms as well as we, and they could bring a million of men together, if they wanted ihem, in a moment ; therefore we, should forsake Perim island for the time, and, without hoisting in the boat, till we saw further, run with the vessel close to the Arabian shore. Upon attempting to get our vessel out, we found the wind strong against us, so that we were obliged, with great diffi- culty and danger, to tow her round the west point, at the expense of many hard knocks, which she got by the way. We were but twenty leagues to Si* t.t .J *ii vFi »54 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. i Mocha, and not above twenty- six from Azab, and wo thought it better to get on our return to Loheia than to stay and live upon drammock, or fight with the pirates for firewood. On the 2d, at sunrise, we saw land ahead, which we took to be the Main, but, upon nearer approach, and the day becoming clearer, we found two low islands to the leeward, one of which we fetched with great difficulty. We found there the stock of an old acacia -tree, and two or three bundles of wreck, or rotten sticks ; and all of us agreed we would eat breakfast, dinner, and supper hot, instead of the cold repast we had made upon the drammock in the Straits. We now made several large fires. One took the charge of the coffee, another boiled the rice ; we killed four turtles, made ready a dolphin, got beer, wine, and brandy, and drank the King's health in earnest, which our regimen would not allow us to do in the Straits of liabel- niandeb. The wind continuing mode- rate, we arrived at Loheia on the 6th, in the morning, being the third day from the time we (quitted Azab. We found every- thing well on our arrival at Loheia, but no word of Ma- homet Gibberti, and I began now to be uneasy. He arrived, however, on the I St of September, bringing with him the firman for the Naybe of Masuah, and letters from Metical Aga to Ras Michael. He also brought a letter to me, and another to Achmet, the Naybe's nephew, and apparent successor, from Sidi Ali Zim- ziniia, that is, * the keej)er of Jshmael's well at Mecca, called Zimzim.' In this letter, Sidi Ali desires me to put little trust in the Naybe, but to keep no secret from Achmet his nephew, who would certainly be my friend. All being jjrepared for our departure, we sailed from Loheia on the 3d of September 17C9, but the wind failing, we were obliged to warp the vessel out upon her anchor. Our Rais found himself under great difficulties to provide water enough for the voyage, for we had but a scanty provision left Having supplied our great and material want of water, we all repaired on board in the even- ing of the 7th. We then found ourselves unprovided with fire, and my people began to remem- ber how cold our stomachs were from the drammock at Babel- mandeb. Firewood is a very scarce article in the Red Sea. It is, nevertheless, to be found in small quantities, and in such only it is used. Zimmer, an island to the northward, was known to afford some, but, from the time I had hnded at Foosht, on the 6th, a trouble of a very particular kind had fallen upon our vessel, of which I had no account till I had re- turned on board. An Abyssinian, who had died on board, and who had been BRUCE S TRAVELS. 155 buried upon our coming out from Loheia bay, had boon seen upon the boltsprit for two nights, and had terrified the sailors very much ; even the Rais had been not a little alarm- ed ; and, though he could not directly say that he had seen him, yet, after I was in bed on the 7th, he complained seriously to me of the bad consequences it would produce, if a gale of wind was to rise and the ghost was to keep his place there, and desired me to come forward and speak to him. ' My good Rais,* said I, ' I am exceedingly tired, and my head aches much with the sun, which has been violent to-day. You know the Abyssi- nian paid for his passage, and, if he does not overload the ship (and I apprehend he should be lighter than when we took him on board), I do not think that, in justice or equity, either you or I can hinder the ghost from continuing his voyage to Abys- sinia, as we cannot judge what serious business he may have there.' The Rais began to bless himself that he did not know anything of his affairs. * Then,' said I, • if you did not find him make the vessel too heavy be- fore, do not molest him, be- cause, certainly, if he were to come into any other part of the ship, or if he should insist to sit in th** middle of you (in the dis- position in which you all are), ne would be a greater incon- venience to you than in his present post.' The Rais again began to bless himself, repeat- ing a verse of the Koran — * bis- milla sheitan rejem,' in the name of God keep the devil far from me. ' Now, Rais,* said I, ♦ if he does us no harm, you may let him ride upon the bolt- sprit till he be tired, or till he come to Masuah ; for I swear to you, unless he hurt or trouble us, I do not think I have any obligation to get out of my bed to molest him ; only see that he carry nothing off with him.' The Rais now seemed to be exceedingly offended, and said, for his part he did not care for his life more than any other man on board ; if it were not for fear of a gale of wind, he might ride on the boltsprit ; but that he had always heard learned people could speak to ghosts, * Will you be so good, Rais,' said I, ' to step forward and tell him that I am going to drink coffee, and should be glad if he would walk into the cabin and deliver anything he has to communicate to me, if he be a Christian, and, if not, to Maho- met Gibberti.' A Moor, r \lled Yasine, well known to m after- wards, now came forwan , and told me that Mahomet Gibberti had been very ill since we sailed, of sea-sickness, and begged that I would not laugh at the spirit, or speak so familiarly of him, because it might very possibly be the devil, who often appeared in these parts. This bad news of my friend Mahomet banished all merriment ; I gave, there- fore, the necessary orders to my servant to wait upon him, ''•':.( % • i' 156 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. I-.:, \ ' » \ J: li 3!> and at the same time recom- mended to Yasine to go for- ward with the Koran in his hand and read all night, or till we should get to Zimmer, and then report what he had seen. On the loth I first saw Jibbel Teir, and ordered the pilot to bear down directly upon it. All this forenoon our vessel had been surrounded with a pro- digious number of sharks. They were of the hammer-headed kind, and two large ones seemed to- vie with each other which should come nearest our vessel. I harpooned one, which proved to be eleven feet seven inches from his snout to his tail, and nearly four feet round in the thickest part of him i He had in him a dolphin very lately swallowed, and about half a yard of blu'; cloth. We left Jibbel Teir on the nth, when I saw, a little before sunset, a white fringed wave of the well-known figure of a breaker. I cried to the Rais to shorten sail, for I saw a breaker ahead, straight in our way. He said there was no such thing ; that I had mistaken it, for it was a sea-gull. About seven in the evening we struck upon a reef of coral rocks. The boat was immediately launched, and one of my servants, the Rais, and two sailors were put on board. Yasine stripped himself naked, went forward on the vessel, and then threw him»- self into the sea; The Rais and Yasine now cried for poles and handspikes, which were given them ; two more men let themselves down by the side. and stood upon the bank. A little after, a gentle wind just made itself felt from the east, and the cry from the Rais was, * Hoist the fore-sail, and put it aback.' This being im- mediately done, and a gentle breeze filling the fore-sail at the time, they all pushed, and the vessel slid gently off, free from the shoal. The people were all exceedingly tired, and no- body thought they could enough praise the courage and readi- ness of Yasine. From that day he grew into consideration with me, which increased ever after, till my departure from Abys- sinia. The ghost was supposed to be again seen on the bowsprit, as if pushing the vessel ashore ; and; as this was breaking cove- nant with me, as a* passenger, I thought it was time some notice should be taken of him. I inquired who the persons were that had seen him. Two Moors of Hamazen were the first that perceived him. 1 called them forward to examine them before the Rais,. and Mahomet Gibberti, and they declared that, during the night, they had seen him go and come several times ; once, he was pushing against the boltsprit, another time he was pulling upon the rope, as if he had an anchor ashore ; after this he had a very long pole or stick in his hand, but it seemed heavy and stiff, as if it had been BRUGES TRAVELS. 157 ;i made of iron ; and, when the vessel began to move, he turned into a small blue flame, ran along the gunnel on the lar- board side of the ship, and, upon the vessel going off, he disappeared. * Now,' said I, 'it is plain by this change of shape, that he has left us for ever; let us, therefcMFe, see whether he has done us any harm or not. Has any of you any baggage stowed forwards ? ' The strangers answered, * Yes, it is all there.' Then -said I, 'Go forward, and see if every man has got his own.' They all did this without loss of time, when a great noise and confu- sion ensued : every one was plundered of something. All the passengers were now in the utmost despair, and be- gan to charge the sailors. ' I appeal to you, Yasine and Mahomet Gibberti,' said I, ' whether these two Moors who saw him oftenest, and were most intimate with him, have not a chance of knowing where the things are hid; for in my country, where ghosts are very frequent, they are always as- sisted in the thefts they are guilty of, by those that see and converse with them. I sup- pose, therefore, it is the same with M ahometan ghosts. ' 'The very same,' said Mahomet Gib- berti and Yasine, *as far as ever we heard.' 'Then, go, Yasine, with the Rais, and ex- amine that part of the ship where the Moors «lept, while I keep them here ; and take two sailors with you, that know the secret places.' Before the search began, however, one of them told Yasine where every- thing was, and accordingly all was found and restored. I would not have the reader imagine that I here mean to value myself, either upon my Supernatural knowledge or ex- 1 re -Tie sagacity, in supposing that it was a piece of roguery from the beginning, of which I never doubted. But, while Yasine and the sailors were busy pushing off the vessel, and I astern at an observation, Mahomet Gibberti's servant, sitting by his master, saw one of the Moors go to the reposi- tory of the baggage, and, after staying a little, come out with a box and package in his hand. This he told his master, who in- formed ^me, and the ghost, find- ing his associates discovered, never was seen any more. On the 12th we saw land, which our pilot told us was the south end of Dahalac. After having again violently struck on the coral rocks in the entry, at sunset we anchored in the harbour of Dobelew. The village is three miles south-west of the harbour, and consists of about eighty houses, built of stone drawn from the sea. Ir^v^e is a village still smaller than Dobelew, about four miles distant. Dahalac is by far the largest island in the Red Sea, as none that we had hitherto seen exceeded five miles in length, it being thirty- % ' 'w« • MA t58 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, : *f. seven miles in length, and its greatest breadth eighteen. It is low and even, the soil fixed gravel and white sand, mixed with shells and other marine l)roductions. It is destitute of :dl sorts of herbage, at least in summer, though in many places covered with large plantations of acacia-trees. Though in the neighbourhooil of Abyssinia, 1 )ahalac does not partake of its seasons : no rain falls here from the end of March to the begin- ning of October; but, in the intermediate months, especially December, January, and Feb- ruary, there are violent showers for twelve hours at a time, which deluge the island, and fill the cisterns so as to serve all next summer. These cis- terns alone preserve the water, and of them there yet remain 370, all hewn out of the solid rock. They say these wer^ *^he works of the Persians ; it i^ more probable they were those of the first Ptolemies. But whoever were the constructors of these magnificent reservoirs, tliey were a very different peojile from those that now nossess them, who have not inv^ustry enough to keep one of tiie 370 clear for the use of man. The Inhabitants of Dahalac seemed to be a simple, fearful, and inoffensive people, the com- mon sort being employed in fishing. Of all the islands we had jiassed on this side the channel, Dahalac alone is inhabited. In the same extent, between Dahalac and Suakem, was another very valuable fishery, that of tortoises, ftom which the finest shells of that kind were produced. That the pearl- fishing might, moreover, no longer be an allurement for the Turkish power to maintain itself here, and oppress them, they discouraged the practice of diving, till it grew into de- suetude ; this brought insensibly all the people of the islands to the continent, where they were employed in coasting vessels, which continues to be their only occupation to this day. The immense treasures in the bottom of the Red Sea have thus been abandoned for near two hundred years, though, in all probability, they were never richer than at present. No nation can now turn them to any profit, but the English East India Company, more in- tent on multiplying the number o:' their enemies, and weakenini? themselves by spreading theii inconsiderable force over new conquests, than creating addi- tional profit by engaging in new articles of commerce. A settle- ment upon the river Frat, which never yet has belonged to any but wandering Arabs, would open them a market both for coarse and fine goods, from the southern frontiers of Morocco, to Congo and Angola, and set the commerce of pearls and tortoise-shell on foot again. All this section of the Gulf from Suez, as I am told, is in their charter ; and twenty ships BRUGES TRAVELS. tii miglit be employed on the Red Sea, without any violation of ter- ritorial claims. The myrrh, the frankincense, some cinnamon, and a great variety of drugs, arc all in the possession of the weak king of Adel, an usurper, tyrant, and Pagan, without pro- tection, and willing to trade with any superior power, that only would secure him a miserable livelihood. If this does not take place, I am persuaded the time is not far off when these coun- tries shall, in some shape or other, be subject to a new master. Were another Peter, another Elizabeth, or, better than either, another Catherine, to succeed the present, in an empire already extended to China ; were such a sovereign, unfettered by European politics, to prosecute that easy task of pushing those mountebanks of sovereigns and statesmen, these stage-players of government, the Turks, into Asia, the in- habitants of the whole country, who in their hearts look upon her already as their sovereign, because she is the head of their religion, would, I am persuaded, submit without a blow, that instant the Turks were removed to the other side of the Helle- spont. On the 1 8th we sailed, and at eleven o'clock passed the island of Dergaiham, bearing N. by east, three miles distant, and at five in the afternoon we came to an anchor in the har- bour of Masuah, having been seventeen days on our passage. CHAPTER V. Reii(lenc« and Transacttoni at Mattiah. Masuah, which means the port or harbour of the Shepherds, is a small island immediately on the Abyssinian shore, having an excellent harbour, and water deep enough for ships of any size. It is scarcely three quar- ters of a mile in length, and about half that in breadth, one- third occupied by houses, one by cisterns to receive the rain- water, and the last is reserved for burying the dead. Masuah was once a place of great commerce, possessing a share of the Indian trade, ex- porting gold and ivory, ele- phants' and buffaloes' hides, and slaves. Pearls, consider- able for size, water, or colour, were found all along its coast. It fell into obscurity under the oppression of the Turks, who ruined the India trade. The first government of Masuah under the Turks was by a basha sent from Constantinople, but losing its value as a garrison, and, at the same time, as a place of trade, it was thought no longer worth while to keep up so expensive an establish- ment as that of a bashalik. When the Turks conquered the place, they gave the chief of a tribe of Mahometans the civil government of Masuah and its territory, under the title of Naybe of Masuah. The Naybe finding the great distance he was at from his protectors, t.'rtl y^m mmm I no rnn ^,\vrjs/r ^xrroKrA's. \\\c T\nk« In AirtMrt. (\0vvA with W\n ounuioR {\\i\{ «m\c- h\\\{ ol |Ik» litslom-^ rIwmiIvI bo IM\\ l»y l\in\ iho kin^ ol AhysRinirt. wlu) wrt« to h\\\}\}\ \\\\\\ to enjoy \\\n tfovovnnu'nt unn^olostoil ; for ISI^HUrth is rthsohUoly ^lowtilulc ol \\(\Wv ; noilluM lininu AmW in Atrthirt, tho N^ivhc nouitn [o \\\{\\K\\i\w \\msA( hy JogivoH lh>m isiv liibute ; ana in t«\>ublesv>tMe tin\e»» or when rt wx^rtk gx)\^rnn\enl hAppcnoil in l\g«x^ he witlultt^w himseU" evutrtlly ri\>n\ pAyitig; at\y con- sivlcr;\iion cither to the bash.t itv n;\tMc ol" tribute, or to the king of Aby^iniA us a share ol the cwstoms. This was \^\v^ eiseiv his situation whei\ I ar- \\\-ck\ in Abysvsinia. He was thtx?atencil, that in the next cat\\|>Aigi\ against him, Arkeeko and Ntasuah would be laid waste. Many of the lucirhants rtevi, but the Naybe did not show any pubhc mark of fear, nor sent one ncnny cither to the kin^ of Auy^itiia or the l>ashA o! Ttdda. Abdelcadcr, w^ho was cox'er- nor of the island of Dahalac. ftnd who f rtnloil the n^ennrtun nnd rnn»an, h.ul sttilod nt llu- srtme tlnu' wilh me, nnd \\m\ Wvw upcttMlov of tiiO luthlMII whioh WUR prtid to nu' ship whoti Rho loll tho hrtrbo\u oi ji«*5 WA 'ij i6a THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. ' ! 'fi il* up just as I arrived within arm's- length of him, when we touched each other's hands, carried our fingers to our lips, then laid our hands across our breasts. I pronounced the salutation of the inferior, Salam Alicum f to which he answered immediately, Alicum Salam ! He pointed to the chair, which I declined, but he obliged me to sit down. He made a sie;n to bring coITrr e di- rectly, as the immediate offering of meat or drink is an assurance your life is not in danger. He began with an air that seemed rather serious : * We have ex- pected you here some time ago, but thought you had changed your mind, and was gone to India.' * Since sailing from Jidda I have been in Arabia Felix, the Gulf of Mocha, and crossed last from Loheia.' ' Are you not afraid,* said he, * so thinly attended, to venture upon these long and dangerous voyages?' ' The countries where I have been are either subject to the emperor of Constantinople, whose firman I have now the honour to present you, or to the regency of Cairo, and port of Janissaries — here are their letters — or to the Sherriffe of Mecca. To you, sir, I present the Sherriffe's letters ; and, be- sides these, one from Metical Aga, your friend, who, depend- ing on your character, assured me this alone would be sufiicient to preserve me from ill-usage so long as [ did no wrong. As for the dangers of the road from banditti and lawless persons, my servants are indeed few, but they are veteran soldiers, tried ancl exercised from their infancy in arms, and I value not the superior numbers of cowardly and disorderly persons.' He then returned me the let- ters, saying, ' You will give these to the Naybe to-morrow ; I will keep Metical's letter, as it is to me, and will read it at home.' He put it accordingly in his bosom ; and our coffee being done, I rose to take my leave, and was presently wet to the skin by deluges of orange flower- water showered upon me from the right and left by two of his attendants from silver bottles. A very decent house had been provided ; and I had no sooner entered than a large dinner was sent us by Achmet, with a pro- fusion of lemons, and good fresh water, now become one of the greatest delicacies in life ; and, instantly after, our baggage was all sent unopened, with which I was very well pleased, being afraid they might break some- thing in my clock, telescopes, or quadrant, by the violent man- ner in which they satisfy their curiosity. Late at night I received a visit from Achmet ; he was then in an undress, his body quite naked, abarracan thrown loosely about him; he had a pair of calico drawers, a white cowl, or cotton cap, upon his head, and had no sort of arms whatever. I rose up to meet him, and BR ICE'S TRAVELS. ift3 If^ou, Sidi prince, the of the king thank him for his civility in sending my baggage. • Tell me, therefore,' said he, ' are you a prince, son, brother, or nephew of a king 1 Are you banished from your own coun- try 1 And what is it you seek in ours, exposing yourself to so many difficulties and dangers?' • I said I was neither son nor l)rothcr of a king. I am a pri vatc Knglishman. Achniet, saw my eldest, or any son of England, you would then be able to form a justcr idea of them, and that would for ever binder you from confounding them with common men like me. If they should choose to ai)pear in this part of the world, this little sea would be too nar- row for their ships ; your sun, now so hot, would be darkened by their sails ; and when they fired their terrible wide-mouthed cannon, not an Arab would think himself safe on the dis- tant mountains, while the houses on the shore would totter and fall to the ground, as if shaken to pieces by an earthquake. I am a servant to that king, and an inferior one in rank. My ancestors were the kings of the country in which I was born, and to be ranked among the greatest and most glorious that ever bore the crown and title of king. I may now ask, without offence. To what does all this information tend V ' To your safety,' said he, ' and to your honour, as long as 1 command in Masuah : to your certain death and destruc- tion if you go among the Abys- sinians ; a people without faith, covetous, barbarous, and in continual war.' 'I would now speak one word in secret to you (upon which everybody was ordered out of the room) : I now thank you for the humane part you took against these bloody in- tentions others had of killing and plundering me on my arrival, because of the honour that the English ships paid me, and that I was loaded with gold.' * Ullah Acbart (in great surprise), why, you was in the middle of the sea when that passed.' ' Scarcely advanced so far, I believe ; but your ad- vice was wise, for a large Eng- lish ship will wait for me all this winter in Jidda, till I know what reception I meet here, or in Abyssinia.' I then presented him with a pair of English pis- tols, of excellent workman- ship. • Let the pistols remain with you, and show them to nobody till I send you a man, to whom you may say anything, and he shall go between you and me , for there is in this place a num- ber of devils, not men ; but Ullah Kerim^ God is great. The person that brings you dry dates in an Indian handker- chief, and an earthen bottle to drink your water out of, give him the pistols. You may send by him to me anything you choose. In the meantime, sleep sound, and fear no evil ; 1^4 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. but never be persuaded to trust j'ourself to the Cafrs of Hab- besh at Masuah.' On the 20th of September, a female slave came, and brought with her the proper credentials, an Indian handkerchief full of dry dates, and a pot, or bottle, of unvar- nished potter's earth, and took away the pistols destined for Achmet. On the aist, in the morning, the Naybe came from Arkeeko. He was dressed in an old shabby Turkish habit, much too short for him, he wore also upon his head a Turkish high cap, which scarcely admitted any part of his head. In this dress, which on him had a truly ridiculous appearance, he received the caftan, or investi- ture, of the island of Masuah ; and, being thereby representa- tive of the grand signior, con- sented that day to be called Omar Aga, in honour of the commission. Two standards of white silk, striped with red, were carried before him to the mosque, from whence he went to his own house to receive the compliments of his friends. In the afternoon of that day I went to pay my respects to him, and found him sitting on a large wooden elbow-chair, at the head of two files of naked savages, who made an avenue from his chair to the door. He had nothing upon him but a coarse cotton shirt, so dirty, that it seemed all pains to clean it again would be thrown away ; and so short that it scarcely reached his knees. He was very tall and lean ; his colour black ; had a large mouth and nose ; and altogether of a most stupid brutal appearance. His character perfectly corresponded with his figure, for he was a man of mean abilities, cruel to excess, avaricious, and a great drunkard. I presented my finnan. The greatest basha in the Turkish empire would have risen upon seeing it, kissed it, and carried it to his forehead. But he did not even receive it into his hand, and pushed it back to me again, saying, * Do you read it all to me, word for word.' I told him it was Turkish ; that I had never learned to read a word of that language. * Nor I either,' says he ; * and I be- lieve I never shall' I then gave him my other letters. He took them all together in both his hands, and laid them un- opened beside him, saying, *You should have brought a moullah ^ along with you. Do you think I shall read all these letters? Why, it would take me a month.' And he glared upon me, with his mouth, open so like an idiot, that it was with the utmost difficulty I kept my gravity, only answering, * Just as you please ; you know best.' I shortly afterwards gave him his present, and took my leave of the Naybe, very little pleased with my reception, but heartily satisfied with having sent my 1 Interpreter. BRUGES TRAVELS. '65 despatches to Janni, now far out of his power. On the 15 th of October the Naybe came to Masuah^ and despatched the vessel that brought me over; and, as if he had only waited till this evidence was out of the way, he, that very night, sent me word that I was to prepare him a handsome present. He gave in a long list of particulars to a great amount, which he desired might be divided into three parcels, and presented three several days. One was to be given him as Naybe of Arkeeko ; one as Omar Aga, representa- tive of the grand signior ; and one for having passed our baggage gratis and unvisited, especially the large quadrant. As Achmet's assurance of protection had given me courage, I answered him, That, having a firman of the grand signior, and letters from Metical Aga, it was mere generosity in me to give him any present ; I was not a merchant that bought and sold, nor had merchandise on board, therefore had no customs to pay. Upon this he sent for me to his house, where I found him in a violent fury ; and many useless words passed on both sides. At last he peremptorily told me, that unless I had 300 ounces of gold ready to pay him on Monday, upon his land- ing from Arkeeko, he would confine me in a dungeon, with- out light, air, or meat, till the bones came through my skin. I answered firmly, * Since you have broken your faith with the grand signior, the government of Cairo, the basha at Jidda, and Metical Aga, 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 by daybreak.' * I should be glad,' said the Naybe, '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, and then his skin, and hang him before your door to teach you more wisdom.' ' But my wisdom has 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 itj you will see what will arrive. In the meantime, I here announce it to you, that I have letters from Metical Aga and the Sherriffe of Mecca, to Michael, governor of Tigre,. and the king of Abyssinia. The Naybe said, in a low voice to himself, * What, Michael too ! Then go your journey, and think of the ill that is before you.' I turned my back, with- out any answer or salutation. On the 29th of October, the Naybe came again from Arkeeko to Masuah, and, I was told, in very ill-humour with me. I soon received a message to attend him, and found him in a large waste room like a barn, with about sixty people with him. This was his divan, or grand '. " - *«i .^ y^^i j66 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. council, with all his janiss.iries and officers of slate, all naked. Assembled in parliament. There was a comet that had appeared a few days after our arrival at Masuah, which had been many days visible in Arabia Felix. The first question the Naybe asked me was, What that comet meant, and why it appeared ? And before I could answer him, he again said, ' The first time it was visible it brought the small- pox, which has killed above 1000 people in Masuah and Arkeeko. It is known you conversed with it every night at Loheia ; it has now followed you again, to finish the few that remain, and then you are to cany it into Abyssinia. What have you to do with the comet 1 ' Without giving me leave to speak, his brother Emir Achmet said I was going to Michael, governor of Tigr^, to teach the Abyssinians to make cannon and gunpowder ; that the first attack was to be against Masuah. Five or six others spoke much in the same strain ; and the Naybe concluded by saying, that he would send me in chains to Constantinople, unless I went to Hamazen, with his brother Emir Achmet. I continued, * Now I must tell you my resolution is never to go to Hamazen, or elsewhere, with Emir Achmet. Both he and the Naybe have showed themselves my enemies ; and I believe that to send me to Hamazen is to rob and murder me out of sight.' *Dog of a Christian 1 ' says Emir Achmet, putting his hand to his knife, • if the Naybe was to murder you, could he not do it here now this minute?' *No,' snys the man, who had called him- self Sardar, * he could not ; I would not suffer any such thing. Achmet is the stranger's friend, and recommended me to-day to see no injury done him ; he is ill, or would have been here himself.' * Achmet,' said I, • is my friend, and fears God ; and were I not hindered by the Naybe from seeing him, his sickness before this would have been removed. I will go to Achmet at Arkeeko, but not to Hamazen, nor ever again to the Naybe here in Masuah. What- ever happens to me must befall me in my own house. Con- sider what a figure a few naked men will make, the day that my countrymen ask the reason of this either here or in Arabia.' I then turned my back, and went out without ceremony. 1 had scarcely dined, when a servant came with a letter from Achmet at Arkeeko, telling me howill he had been, and howsorry he was that I refused to come to see him, as Mahomet Gibberti had told him I could help him. He desired me also to keep the bearer with me in my house, and give him charge of the gate till he could come to Masuah himself. That night I was dis- turbed by several natives en- deavouring to force the door, but they were eventually re- pulsed. It was the 4th of BRUCE S TRAVELS, 167 November when the servant of Achmet returned in a boat from Arkccko, and with him four janissaries. He was not yet well, and was very desirous to see me. I gave him proper remedies to ease his pams and his stomach. I stayed here till the 6th in the morning, at which time he was free from the fever. Upon the 6th, in the morn- ing, while at breakfast, I was told that three servants had arrived from Tigr^; one from Janni, a young man and slave, who spoke and wrote Greek perfectly ; the other two ser- vants were Ras Michael's, or ratlier the king's, both wearing the red short cloak lined and turned up with mazarine-blue, which is the badge of the king's servant, and is called shalaka. Ras Michael's letters to the Naybe were very short. He said the king Hatze Hannes's health was bad, and wondered at hearing that the physician, sent to him by Metical Aga from Arabia, was not forwarded to him instantly at Gondar, as he had heard of his being ar- rived at Masuah some time be- fore. He ordered the Naybe moreover to furnish me with necessaries, and despatch me without loss of time. Janni sent a message to us, bidding us a hearty welcome, and ac- knowledging the receipt of the patriarch's letter. In the afternoon I embarked for Masuah. We arrived in the island at eight o'clock, to the great joy of our servants, who were afraid of some stratagem of the Naybe. We left on the loth of Novem- ber, with the soldiers and boats belonging to Achmet. We had likewise three servants from Abyssinia, and no longer ap- prehended the Naybe, who seemed, on his part, to think no more of us. We found Achmet, though much better, far from being well. His fever had left him, but he had some symptoms of its being followed by a dysen- tery. I endeavoured to remove these complaints, and had suc- ceeded in part : for which he testified the utmost gratitude, as he was wonderfully afraid to die. On the 14th I waited upon the Naybe, having first struck my tent and got all my baggage in readiness. He received me as before, then told me with a grave air, that he was willing to further my journey into Hab- besh to the utmost of his power, provided I showed him that consideration which was due to him from all passengers. Less than 1000 patakas offered by me would be putting a great affront upon him ; however, in consideration of the governor of Tigr^, to whom I was going, he would consent to receive 300, upon my swearing not to divulge this, for fear of the shame that would fall upon him abroad. To this I answered in the same grave tone, that I thought him very wrong to take i^^.'f. :.';& ■ 'iM' 'iji t-fetaa Hi flM!!"' iii'r ! ; 1 tl i68 TIf£ ENGLISH EXPLORERS. i HI 300 patakas with shame, when receiving a thousand would be more honourable as well as more profitable; therefore he had nothing to do but put that into his account-book with the governor of Tigr^, and settle his honour and his interest to- gether. As for myself, I was sent for by Metical Aga, on account of the king, and was proceeding accordingly, and if he opposed my going forward to Metical Aga, I should re- turn ; but then, again, I should expect 10,000 patakas from Metical Aga, for the trouble and loss of time I had been at, which he and the Ras would no doubt settle with him. The Naybe said nothing in reply, but only muttered, closing his teeth, sheitan afrit! that devil, or tormenting spirit ! * Look you (says one of the king's servants, whom I had not heard speak before), I was ordered to bring this man to my master; I heard no talk of patakas ; the army is ready to march against Waragna Fasil ; I must not lose my time here.' There was no more talk of patakas after this. He ordered the king's servant not to gc that day, but come to him to-morrow to re- ceive his letters, and he would expedite us for Habbesh. On the 15th, early in the morning, I struck my tent again and had my baggage prepared, to show we were determined to stay no longer. At eight o'clock I went to the Naybe, when he received me in a manner that, for him, might have passed for civil. He began with a con- siderable degree of eloquence, or fluency of speech, a long enumeration of the difficulties of our journey, the rivers, pre- cipices, mountains, and woods we were to pass; the number of wild beasts everywhere to be found ; as also the wild savage people that inhabited those places, the most of which, he said, were luckily under his command, and he would re- commend to them to do us all manner of good offices. He commanded two of his secre- taries to write the proper letters, and, in the meantime, ordered us coffee. At this time a servant came in, covered with dust, and seemingly fatigued, as having arrived in haste from afar. The Naybe, with a considerable deal of uneasiness and confusion, opened the letters, which were said to bring intelligence that the three nations who possessed that part of Samhar through which our road led to Dobarwa, had revolted, driven away his servants, and declared them- selves independent. He then (as if all was over) lifting up his eyes, began, with great seeming devotion, to thank God we were not already on our journey, for, innocent as he was, our death might have been imputed to him. Angry as I was at so bare- faced a farce, I could not help bursting out into a violent fit of loud laughter, when he put on BRUGES TRAVELS, 169 the severest countenance, and desired to know the reason of my laughing at such a time. * Can you wonder that I do not give into so gross an imposition T answered I. * This same morn- ing, before I struck my tent, in presence of your nephew Achmet, I spoke with two Shiho just arrived from Samhar, who brought letters to Achmet, which said all was in peace. Have you earlier intelligence than that of this morning V He then said, ' If you are weary of living you are welcome to go, but I will do my duty in warning those that are along with you of their and your danger, 'ihat when the mischief happens it may not be imputed to me.' • No number of naked Shiho,' said I, * unless instructed by you, can ever be found on our road that will venture to attack us. The Shiho have no fire- anns ; but if you have sent on purpose some of your soldiers that have fire-arms, these will discover by what authority they come. We cannot fly ; we neither know the countiy, the language, nor the watering- places ; and we shall not at- tempt it. We have plenty of different sorts of fire-arms, and your servants at Masuah know we are not ignorant in the use of them. We may lose our lives, but we shall not fail to leave enough on the spot to give sufficient indication to the king and Ras Michael who it was that were our assassins ; Janni of Adowa will explain the rest/ In his turn he burst out into a loud fit of laughter, which sur- prised me full as much as mine some time before had done him. Every feature of his treacherous countenance was altered and softened into complacency. * What I mentioned about the Shiho,' he then said, ' was but to try you ; all is peace. I only wanted to keep you here, if possible, to cure my nephew Achmet, and his uncle Emir Mahomet; but since you are resolved to go, be not afraid ; the roads are safe enough. I will give you a person to con- duct you, only go and prepare such remedies as may be proper for the Emir, and leave them with my nephew Achmet, while I finish my letters.' This I willingly consented to do, and at my return I found everything ready. Before our setting out Achmet furnished me with a man to show me where I should pitch my tent, and told me he should now take my final de- liverance upon himself, for we were yet far, according to the Naybe's intentions, from begin- ning our journey to Gondar. CHAPTER VI. , Journey from Arkeeko to Adowa. We left Arkeeko, which con- sists of about 400 houses, on the T5th, taking our road south- ward along the plain. After an hour's journey I pitched my in «':^M ^^H'-^'TtWII Hb '^ ' 1 ^H^' () '.'■'41 VI H<^''4 ^v i' ' iy 'h-' HI '" ^' ^^K B- -'' '^ ■ r " ^J Hl':''^'''> ,1 1 HEi'*; ■"f^ ^Hlf' '- tt mr'n I mmf^ ;| yj^''- 'f ■ ' .,\ I.' ■'4ii '^ li m <'i:;Jd 170 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, tent at Laberhey, near a pit of rain-water. The mountains of Abyssinia have a singular aspect from this, as they appear in three ridges. The first is of no considerable height, but full of gullies and broken ground, thinly covered with shrubs ; the second, higher and steeper, still more rugged and bare ; the third is a row of sharp, uneven-edged mountains, which would be counted high m any country in Europe. Far above the top of all, towers that stupendous mass, the mountain of Taranta, I sup- pose one of the highest in Jhe world, the point of which is buried in the clouds, and very rarely seen but in the clearest weather; at other times aban- doned to perpetual mist and darkness, the seat of lightning, thunder, and of storm. Taranta is the highest of a long steep ridge of mountains, the boun- dary between the opposite sea- sons. On its east side, or towards the Red Sea, the rainy season is fn ■ October to April ; and, on the western, or Abys- sinian side, cloudy, rainy, and cold weather prevails from May to October. In the evening a messenger from the Naybe found us in our tent at Laberhey, and carried away our guide Saloome. It was not till the next day that he appeared again, and with him Achmet, the Naybe's nephew. Achmet made us deliver to him the thirteen pieces of Suratcloth, wliich was promised Saloome for his hire, and this apparently with that person's good-will. He then changed four of the men whom the Naybe had furnished us for hire to carry our baggage, and put four others in their place. Achmet now came into the tent, called for coffee, and, while drinking it, said, * You are sufficiently persuaded that I am your friend; if you are not, it is too late now to con- vince you. It is necessary, how- ever, to explain the reasons of what you see. You are not to go to Dobarwa, though it is the best road, the safest being pre- ferable to the easiest. Saloome knows the road by Dixan as well as the other. You will be apt to curse me when you are toiling and sweating ascending Taranta, the highest mountain in Abyssinia, and on this ac- count worthy your notice. You are then to consider if the fatigue of body you shall suffer in that passage is not overpaid by the absolute safety you will find yourselves in. Dobarwa be- longs to the Naybe, and I can- not answer for the orders he may have given to his own ser- vants, but Dixan is mine, al- though the people are much worse than those of Dobarwa. I have written to my officers there ; they will behave the better to you for this ; and as you are strong and robust, the best I can do for you is to send you by a rugged road, and a safe one.' Achmet again gave his orders to Saloome ; and we, all rising, said the fedtab, or prayer of BRUGES TRAVELS, 171 peace, which being over, his servant gave him a narrow web of muslin, which, with his own hands, he wrapped round my head in the manner the better sort of Mahometans wear it at Dixan. He then parted, say- ing, ' He that is your enemy is mine also ; you shall hear of me by Mahomet Gibberti.' Thus finished a series of trouble and vexation, not to say danger, superior to any- thing I ever before had expe- rienced, and of which the bare recital (though perhaps too minute a one) will give but an imperfect idea. These wretches possess talents for tormenting and alarming, far beyond the power of belief, and, by laying a true sketch of them before a traveller, an author does him the most real service. In this country, the more truly we draw the portrait of man, the more we seem to fall into caricature. Our course on the i6th and 17th lay along a plain, the ground becoming dry, firm, and gravelly, and covered thick with acacia-trees in blossom, with a round yellow flower. We turned westerly through an opening in the mountains, which here stand so close together as to leave no valley or plain space between them. The bed of the torrent being our only road, and, as it was all sand, we could not wish for a better. The moisture it had strongly imbibed protected it from the sudden effect of the sun, and prooMced all along its , course a great degree of vegeta- tion and verdure. Its banks were full of rack-trees,capers,and tamarinds ; the two last bearing larger fruit than I had ever be- fore seen, though not arrived to their greatest size or maturity. We continued this winding, ac- cording to the course of the river, among mountains of no great height, but bare, stony, afid full of terrible precipices. We met with large numbers of Shiho, having their wives and families along with them, de- scending from the tops of the high mountains of Habbesh, with their flocks to pasture on the plains below near the sea. The Shiho are the blackest of the tribes bordering upon the Red Sea. They were all clothed ; their women in coarse cotton shifts reaching down to their ankles, girt about the middle with a leather belt, and having very large sleeves ; the men in short cotton breeches reaching to the middle of their thighs, and a goat's skin across their shoulders, a lance in their hands, and a knife at their girdles. They have neither tents nor cottages, but either live in caves in the mountains ander trees, or in small conical huts built with a thick grass like reeds. We pitched our tent that night at a place called Ham- hammou, on the «ide of a small green hill some hundred yards from the bed of the torrent. The weather had been perfectly good since we left Masuah: ^~->k^^ I 172 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. - I! \m ■■>\k this afternoon, however, it seemed to threaten rain; the high mountains were quite hid, and great part of the lower ones covered with thick clouds ; the lightning was very frequent, broad, and deep-tinged with blue ; and long peals of thunder were heard, but at a distance. This was the first sample we had of Abyssinian bad weather. The river scarcely ran at our passing it, when, on a sudden, we heard a noise on the mountains above, louder than the loudest thunder. Our guides, upon this, flew to the baggage, and re- moved it to the top of the green hill, which was no sooner done than we saw the river coming down in a stream about the height of a man, and the breadth of the whole bed it used to occupy. The water was thick tinged with red earth, and ran in the form of a deep river, and swelled a little above its banks, but did not reach our station on the hill. Hamhammou is a mountain of black stones, almost calcined by the violent heat of the sun. This is the boundary of the district ; Samhar, inhabited by the Shiho from Hamhammou toTaranta,is called Hadassa; it belongs to the Hazorta. This nation, the Ha- zorta, belonging to the district, though not so numerous as the Shiho, are of a colour much resembling new copper; but are inferior in size, though very agiie. They live entirely upon milk, and live either in caves, or in cabannes, like cages, just large enough to hold two per. sons, and covered with an ox's hide. Some of the better sort of women have copper brace- lets upon their arms, beads in their hair, and a tanned hide wrapt about their shoulders. On the 1 8th we left our station on the side of the green hill at Hamhammou ; for some time our road lay through a plain, so thick set with acacia- trees that our hands and faces were all torn and bloody with the strokes of their thorny branches. We then resumed our ancient road in the bed ot the torrent, now nearly dry, over stones which the rain of the preceding night had made very slippery. At half-past seven we came to the mouth of a narrow valley, through which a stream of water ran very swiftly over a bed of pebbles. It was the first clear water we had seen since we left Syria, and gave us then unspeakable pleasure. The caper-tree here grows as high as the tallest English elm ; its flower is white, and its fruit, though not ripe, was fully as large as an apricot. I went at some distance to a small pool of water in order to bathe, and took my firelock with me ; but none of the savages stirred from their huts, nor seemed to regard me more than if I had lived among them all their lives, though surely I was the most extra- ordinary sight they had ever seen ; whence I concluded BRUGES TRAVELS. 173 that they are a people of small talents or genius, having no curiosity. On the 19th we left, our road still winding between mountains in the bed or torrent of a river, bordered on each side with rack i:nd sycamore trees of a good si^e. We en- camped at a place called Tubbo, where the mountains are very steep and broken very abruptly into cliflfs and precipices. Tub- bo was by much the most agree- able station we had seen ; the trees were thick, full of leaves, and gave us abundance of very dark shade. There was a num- ber of many different kinds, so closely planted that they seemed to be intended for natural arbours. Every tree was full of birds, variegated with an infinity of colours, but destitute of song; others of a more homely and more European appearance, diverted us with a variety of wild notes, in a style of music still distinct and peculiar to Africa ; as different in the composition from our linnet and goldfinch, as our English language is to that of Abyssinia. Yet, from very attentive and frequent observa- tion, I found that the skylark at Masuah sang the same notes as in England. It was observ- able that the greatest part of the beautiful painted birds were of the jay or magpie kind. On the 20th, about seven in the morning, we began to ascend the hills or eminences which serve as the roots or skirts of the great mountain Taranta. We found every- where immense flocks of ante- lopes ; as also partridges of a small kind, that willingly took refuge upon trees ; neither of these seemed to consider us as enemies. In the afternoon we began to ascend the mountain, through a most rocky, uneven road, if it can deserve the name, not only from its incredible steepness, but from the large holes and gullies made by the torrents, and the huge mon- strous fragments of rocks which, loosened by the water, had been turnbled down into our way. -J. was with great diffi- culty we could creep up. Our tent suffered nothing by its falh ; but our telescopes, timekeeper, and quadrant were to be treated in a more deliberate and tender manner. Our quadrant had hitherto been carried by eight men, four to relieve each other ; but these were ready to give up the undertaking upon trial of the first few hundred yards. At last, with the help of a Moor, we carried the head of it for about 400 yards over the most difficult and steepest part of the mountain. We continued to carry it steadily up the steep, eased the case gently over the big stones on which, from time to time, we rested it ; and, to the wonder of them all, placed it in safety far above the stony parts of the mountain. The next most difficult task was to carry up the iron foot of the quadrant in a i 'I ■^! 174 TIfE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, '■.. . 'J;^ V \ single deal-case ; we succeeded however in placing the second case about ten yards above the first in perfect condition. We returned, bearing very visibly the characters of such an ex- ertion ; our hands and knees were all cut, mangled, and bleeding with clambering over the rocks ; our clothes torn to pieces, yet we professed our ability, without any reproaches on our comrades, to carry the two telescopes and timekeeper also. Shame and the proof of superior constancy so much humbled the rest of our com- panions, that one and all put their hands so briskly to work, that with infinite toil, and as much pleasure, we advanced so far as to place all our instru- ments and baggage, about two o'clock in the afternoon, near half way up this terrible moun- tain of Taranta. There were five asses, and these were fully as difficult to bring up the mountain as any of our burdens. Most of their loading we carried up the length of my instruments ; and it was proposed to make the unladen light asses follow. They no sooner, however, found themselves at liberty, than they began to bray, to kick, and to bite each other ; and, as it were with one consent, not only ran down the part of the hill we had ascended, but with the same jovial cries as before. All our little caravan saw from above in despair all our eager- ness to pass Taranta defeated by the secession of the mo&t obstinate of the brute creation. At length four Moors were sent down after the asses, and found them before sunset feeding on some bushes. On the way up one of them was seized by one of the hyaenas which had followed them up the mountain. On the 2 1 St, at half-past six in the morning, having encou- raged my company with good words, increase of wages, and hopes of reward, we began to encounter the other half of the mountain. My baggage moved much more briskly than the preceding day. The upper part of the 'mountain was indeed steeper, more craggy, rugged, and slippery than the lower, and impeded much more with trees, but not embarrassed so much with large stones and holes. Our knees and hands, however, were cut to pieces by frequent falls, and our faces torn by the multitude of thorny bushes. I twenty times now thought of what Achmet had told me at parting, that I should curse him for the bad road shown to me over Taranta. At last we gained the top of the mountain, upon which is situated a small village, chiefly inhabited by poor servants and shepherds, keeping the flocks of men of substance living in the town of Dixan. The people here are of a dark complexion bordering very much upon yellow. They have their head bare, their feet co- vered with sandals, a goat's skin BRUCBS TRAVELS. 175 upon their shoulders, a cotton cloth about their middle, their hair short and curled, like that of a negro's in the west part of Africa. The men carry in their hands two lances, a large shield of bull's hide, and a crooked knife. All sorts of cattle are here in great plenty ; cows and IxiUs of exquisite beauty, especially the former ; they are, for the most part, completely white, with large dewlaps hanging down to their knees ; their heads, horns, and hoofs perfectly well-turned ; the horns wide, and their hair like silk. Their sheep are large, and all black. Their heads are large, their ears remarkably short and small ; instead of the wool they have hair ; but this is remarkable for its lustre and softness. The goats here, too, are of the largest size ; but they are not very rough, nor is their hair long. The plain on the top of the mountain Taranta was, in many places, sown with wheit, which was then ready to be cut down. The grain was clean, and of a good coloui ^ but inferior in size to that of Egypt. It did not, however, grow thick, nor was the stalk above fourteen inches high. The water here is very bad, being only what remains of the rain in the hollows, and in pits prepared for it. On the 2 2d we began to de- scend on the side of Tigr^, through a broken and uneven road. In the evening we came to Dixan. It is built on the top of a hill, perfectly in the form of a sugar-loaf; a deep valley surrounds it everywhere like a trench, and the road winds spirally up the hill till it ends among the houses. It is true of Dixan, as I be- lieve of most frontier towns, that the bad people of both con- tiguous countries resort thither. The town consists of Moors and Christians, and is very well peopled, yet the only trade of either of these sects is a very extraordinary one, that of selling children. The priests of Tigre are openly concerned in this infamous practice. A transaction which happened while I was in Ethiopia, and which reached Gondar by way of complaint from Masuah, and was told me by Michael him- self, will show how this trade is carried on : — Two priests of Tigrd had been long inti- mate friends, and dwelt near the rock Damo. The youngest was married, and had two children, both sons; the other was old, and had none. The old one reproved his friend one day for keeping his children at home idle, and not putting them to some profession by which they might gain their bread. The married priest pleaded his poverty, and his want of rela- tions that could assist him; on which the old priest offered to place his eldest son with a rich friend of his own who had no children, and where he should want for nothing. The pro- posal was accepted, and the 5nh.«Vii| m ■ ■', ^ -; m 11 !i J I- 176 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. \ f. ^..)ii young lad, about ten years of age, was delivered by his father to the old priest to carry him to this friend, who took the boy to Dixan, and sold him there. Upon the old priest's return, after giving the father a splendid account of his son's reception, treatment, and prospects, he gave him a piece of cotton cloth as a present from his son's pa- tron. The younger child, about eight years old, hearing the good fortune of his elder brother, became so importunate to be allowed to go and visit him, that the parents were obliged to humour him, and consent. But the old priest had a £:'^ruple, saying he would not take the charge of so young a boy unless his mother went with him. This being settled, the old priest con- veyed them to the market at Dixan, where he sold both the mother and the remaining child. Returning to the father, the old priest told him that his wife would only stay so long, and expected he would then fetch her upon a certain day. The day being come, the two priests went together, and, upon their entering Dixan, it was found that the old priest had sold the young one, but not to the same Moor to whom he had sold his family. Soon after, these two Moors, who had bought the Christians, becoming partners in the venture, the old priest was to receive forty cotton- cloths, that is, £10 sterling, for the husband, wife, and children. It occurred to the Moorish mer- chants that there was some profit, and not more risk, if they carried off the old priest likewise. They prevailed on him to accompany them out- side the town, when the whole party fell upon the old priest, threw him down, and bound him. The woman insisted that she might be allowed to tear off the little beard he had, in order, as she said, to make him look younger ; and this demand was granted. The whole five were then carried to Masuah ; the woman and her two children were sold to Arabia ; the two priests had not so ready a mar- ket, and they were both in the Naybe's house when I was at Masuah, though I did not then know it. The Naybe, willing to ingratiate himself with Ras Michael at a small expense, wrote to him an account of the transaction, and offered, as they were priests, to restore them to him. But the Ras returned for answer, that the Naybe should keep them to be his chaplains j and that there still remained at Damo enough of their kind to carry on the trade with Dixan and Masuah. The priests of Axum, and those of the monastery of Abba Garima, are equally infamous with those of Damo for this practice, which is winked at by Ras Michael as contributing to his greatness, by furnishing fire- arms to his province of Tigr^, which gives him a superiority over all Abyssinia. As a return for this article, about five bun- BRUGES TRAVELS. 177 dred of these unfortunate people are exported annually from Ma- suah to Arabia, of which three hundred are Pagans, and come from the market at Gondar ; the other two hundred are Christian children, kidnapped by some such manner as this we have spoken of, and in times of scarcity four times that number. The Naybe receives six patakas of duty for each one exported. On November 25th we left Dixan. At eleven o'clock we encamped under a daroo-tree, one of the finest I have seen in Abyssinia, being 7 J feet dia- meter, with a head spreading in proportion. The king's servants, now upon their own ground, began to take upon them a proper consequence. One of them went to meet Saloome at the bank of the river, and making a mark on the ground with his knife declared that if now Saloome, or any other man be- longing to the Naybe, offered to pass that mark he would bind him hand and foot, and leave him a prey to the lion and hysena. They all returned, and there our persecution from the Naybe ended. We remained under the daroo-tree that night, and it will be to me a station ever memorable, as the first where I recovered a portion of that tranquillity of mind to which I had been a stranger ever since my arrival at Masuah. We had been joined by about twenty loaded asses driven by Moors, and Itwo loaded bulls for Ber. In the morning we left our most pleasant quarters under the daroo-tree, and set' forward with great alacrity. We en- camped near a village called Hadawi, the seat of the Bahar- nagash. The governor paid me a visit in my tent, and was the first Abyssinian I had seen on horse- back ; he had seven attendant horsemen with him, and about a dozen of others on foot, all of a beggarly appearance, and very ill armed and equipped. Hf was a little man, of an olive complexion, or rather darker ; his head was shaved close, with a cowl or covering upon it; he had a pair of short trousers j his feet and legs were bare ; the usual coarse girdle was wrapt several times about him, in which he stuck his knife ; and the ordinary web of cotton cloth, neither new nor clean, was thrown about him. After we left him, the king's servant got hold of him and told him he roust furnish us with a goat, a kid, and forty loaves. He then went away and sent us a goat and fifty cakes of teff bread. But my views upon him did not end here. His seven horses were all in very bad order, though there was a black one among them that had particularly struck my fancy. In the evening I sent the king's servants, and Janni's for a check to try if he would sell that black horse. The bargain was immediately made, ' ... i ^1 rt'.fl m fej-i - C '1 f 178 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. I \ !i and I was exceedingly pleased with this acquisition. The horse was then lean, as he stood about sixteen and a half hands high, of the breed of Dongola. Yasine, a good horse- man, recommended to me one of his servants or companions to take care of him. He was an Arab from the neighbour- hood of Medina, a superior horseman himself, and well versed in everything that con- cerned the animal. We called the horse Mirza, a name of good fortune. Indeed, I might say I acquired that day a com- panion that contributed always to my pleasure, and more than once to my safety ; and was no slender means of acquiring me the first attention of the king. I had brought my Arab stirrups, saddle, an■'' "■'»■ .'.*t: i, « .;■■& IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) <^^^ ^ 1.0 I.I 1.25 lii Uii 12.2 llil^b U 11.6 I ^ 7] Photographic Sciences Corporation 33 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. MSSO (716)873-4503 » \\ >'*' 4" i8o THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. to send a letter to Janni at Adowa, by bribing one of the natives. At the same time came an officer from Janni, with a violent mandate, in the name of Ras Michael, declaring to the person that was the cause of our detention, that were it not for ancient friendship, the present messenger should have carried him to Ras Michael in irons ; discharging me from all awides ; ordering him as Shum of the place, to furnish me with provisions; and, in regard to the time he had caused us to lose, fixing the awides of the whole caravan at eight piasters, not the twentieth part of what he would have exacted. The Moors, with their asses, grateful for this benefit received, began to bless ' the moment they joined us \ hoping, on my con- sideration, upon our arrival at the custom-house of Adowa, they might meet with further favour. Yasine, in the four days we had stayed at Kella, had told me his whole history. It appeared he had been settled in a pro- vince of Abyssinia, near to Sennaar, called Ras el Feel; had married Abd-el-Jilleel, the Shekh's daughter ; but, growing more popular than his father-in- law, he had been persecuted by him, and obliged to leave the country. He began now to form hopes that, if I was well received, as he saw, in all ap- pearance, I was to be, he might by my interest be appointed to his father-in-law's place, espe- cially if there was war, as every- thing seemed to indicate. Abd- el-Jileel was a coward. Yasine was a tried man, an excellent horseman, strong, active, and of known courage, having been twice with the late king Yasous in his invasions of Sennaar, and both times much wounded there. It was impossible to dispute his title to preferment; but I had not formed that idea of my own success that I should be able to be of any use or assist- ance to him in it. It was on the afternoon of the 4th that we set out from Kella ; our road was between two hills covered with thick wood. On our right was a cliff or high rock of granite, on the top of which were a few houses that seemed to hang over the cliff rather than stand upon it. We passed two hamlets, and at half-past four o'clock we came to a considerable river, called Angueah, which we crossed, and pitched our tent on the farther side of it. It was about fifty feet broad, and three in depth ; it was perfectly clear, and ran rapidly over a bed of white pebbles, and was full of small fish. This river has its name from a beautiful tree, which covers both its banks. This tree, by the colour of its bark and richness of its flower, is a great ornament to the banks of the river. A variety of other flowers fill the whole level plain between the moun- tain and the river, and even some way up the mountain ; in BRUGES TRAVELS. iSi particular, great variety of jessa- mine, white, yellow, and parti- coloured. The country seemed now to put on a more favour- able aspect ; the air was much fresher, and more pleasant, every step we advanced the country was well watered with clear running streams. We now first began to see the high mountains of Adowa, nothing resembling in shape those of Europe, nor, indeed, any other country. Their sides were all perpendicular rocks, high, like steeples, or obelisks, and broken into a thousand different forms. On the evening of the 5 th we pitched our tent at the foot of the hill, close by a small, but rapid and clear stream, called Ribieraini, and on Wednesday, the 6th of December, we set out from Ribieraini \ and, in about three hour's travelling on a very pleasant road, over easy hills and through hedge-rows of jes- samine, honey-suckle, and many kinds of flowering shrubs, we arrived at Adowa, where once resided Michael Suhul, gover- nor of Tigr^. CHAPTER VII. From Adowa to Gondar. Adowa is situated on the de- clivity of a hill, on the west side of a small plain surrounded everywhere by mountains, and watered by three rivulets, which are never dry in the midst of summer. Its situation accounts for its name, which signifies pass, or passage, the pass through which everybody must go in their way from Gondar to the Red Sea. Adowa consists of about 300 houses, and occupies a much larger space than would be thought necessary for these to stand on, by reason that each house has an enclosure round it of hedges and trees. The mansion of Ras Michael is not distinguished from any of the others in the town unless by its size; it is situated upon the top of the hill. The person, who is Michael's deputy, in his absence lives in it. It resem- bles a prison rather than a pal- ace ; for there are, in and about it, above three hundred persons in irons, some of whom have been there for twenty years, mostly with a view to extort money from them. Most of them are kept in cages like wild beasts, and treated every way in the same manner. Our kind and hospitable landlord, Janni, had sent servants to con- duct us from the passage of the river, and met us himself at the outer door of his house. I do not remember to have seen a more respectable figure. He had his own short white hair, covered with a thin muslin tur- ban, a thick well-shaped beard, as white as snow, down to his waist He was clothed in the Abyssinian dress, all of white cot- ton, only he had a red silk sash, embroidered with gold, about •t Tr )• Un$ 182 TUB ENGLISH EXPLORERS, his waist, and sandals on his feet ; his upper garment reached down to his ankles. He had a number of servants and slaves about him of both sexes ; and, when I approached him, seemed disposed to receive me with marks of humility and inferi- ority, which mortified me much, considering the obligations I was under to him, the trouble I had given, and was unavoid- ably still to give him» I em- braced him with great acknow- ledgments of kindness and gra- titude, calling him father ; a title I always used in speaking either to him or of him after- wards, when I was in higher fortune, which he constantly remembered with great plea- sure. He conducted us through a court-yard planted with jessa- mine, to a very neat, and, at the same time, large roomj furnished with a silk sofa ; the floor was covered with Persian carpets and cushions. All round, flowers and green leaves were strewed upon the outer yard ; and the windows and sides of the room stuck full of ever- greens, in commemoration of the Christmas festival that was at hand. I stopt at the entrance of this room ; my feet were both dirty and bloody. He was so shocked at my saying that I had performed this terrible journey on foot, that he burst into tears, utter- ing a thousand reproaches against the Naybe for his hard- heartedness- and ingratitude,, as he had twice, as he said, hin- dered Michael from going in person, and sweeping the Nay- be from the face of the earth. Water was immediately pro- cured to wash our feet. Janni insisted upon doing this him- self; which made me run out into the yard, and declare I would not suffer it. This was no sooner finished, than a great dinner was brought, exceedingly well dressed. But no considera- tion or entreaty could prevail upon my kind landlord to sit down and partake with me. He would stand, all the time, with a clean towel in his hand, though he had plenty of ser- vants. It was long before I cured my kind landlord of these respectful observances, nor could he ever wholly get rid of them, his own kindness and good heart, as well as particular orders of the Greek patriarch, Mark, constantly suggesting the same attention. In the afternoon, I had a visit from the governor, a very graceful man, of about sixty years of age, tall and well- favoured. He had just then returned from an expedition to the Tacaaze, against some vil- lages of Ayto Tesfos which he had destroyed, slain 120 men, and driven off a number of cattle. He said he doubted much if we should be allowed to pass through Wogara, unless some favourable news came from Michael; for Tesfos of Samen, who kept his govern- ment after Joas's death, and re- BRUCE'S TRAVELS. ih fused to acknowledge Michael, or to submit to the king, acted now the part of robbers, plun- dering all sorts of people, that carried either provisions, or any- thing else, to Gondar, to dis- tress the king and Michael's Tigrd soldiers, who were then there. The church of Mariam is on a hill s.s.w. of the town, and east of Adowa ; on the other side of the river is the church, called Kedus Michael. Adowa is the seat of a very valuable manufacture of coarse cotton cloth, which circulates all over Abyssinia instead of silver money. The houses of Adowa are all of rough stone, cemented with mud instead of mortar. That of lime is not used but at Gondar, where it is very bad. The roofs are in the form of cones, and thatched with a reedy sort of grass, some- thing thicker than wheat straw. The Jews enjoy this profession of thatching exclusively. Throughout the neighbour- hood, they have three harvests annually. Their first seed-time is in July and August ; it is the principal one for wheat, which they then sow in the middle of the rains. In the same season they sow tocusso, teff, and bar- ley. From the 20th of Novem- ber they reap first their barley, then their wheat, and last of all, their teff. In room of these, they sow immediately upon the same ground, without any man- ure, barley, which they reap in February; and then often sow teff, but more frequently a kind of vetch, or pea, called Shimbra ; these are cut down before the first rains, which are in April. With all these advantages of triple harvests, which cost no fallowing, weeding, manure, or other expensive processes, the farmer in Abyssinia is always poor and miserable. The province of Tigrd is all mountainous ; but it is not the extreme height of the moun- tains in Abyssinia that occa- sion surprise, but the number of them, and the extraordinary forms they present to the eye. Some of them are flat, thin, and square, in shape of a hearth- stone, or slab, that scarce would seem to have base sufficient to resist the winds. Some are like pyramids, others like obelisks or prisms, and some, the most extraordinary of all the rest, pyramids pitched upon their points, with their base upper- most. It was on the loth of January 1770 r visited the remains of the Jesuits' convent of Fre- mona. It is built upon the even ridge of a very high hill, in the middle of a large plain, on the opposite side of which stands Adowa. It rises from the east to the west, and ends in a precipice on the east ; it is also very steep to the north, and slopes gently down to the plain on the south. The con- vent is about a mile in circum- ference, built substantially with stones, which are cemented with lime-mortar. It has towers in the flanks and angles, and, not 'i' IS4 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, witlistanding the ill-usage it has sufVered, tlic walls remain still entire to the height of twenty- five feet. All the walls have holes for muskets, ami even now it is by far the most de- fensible place in Abyssinia. It resembles an ancient castle much more than a convent. A kind of calm had at this lime spread itself universally over the country, and this calm I resolved to take advantage of, and to set out immediately for (londar; and, accordingly, on the 1 7th, we set out from Adowa, resuming our journey to Gon- dar. On the 18th, in the morn- ing, we ascended one of these hills through a very rough stony road, and again came into the plain wherein stood Axum, once t)\e capital of Abyssinia, at least as it is supposed. For my part, I believe it to have been the magnificent metropolis of the trading people, or Troglodyte Ethiopians, called properly Cushites. The ruins of Axum ^ are very extensive, but, like the cities of ancient times, consist altogether of public buildings. In one square, which I apprehend to have been the centre of the town, there are forty obelisks, none of which have any hiero- glyphics upon them. There is 1 Axum, the ancient capital of Habbesh, appears to ha\*e been miKii ailomed, if not fninded. by the Ptolemies. The ruins are in the Egyptian style, but the want of hiero- glyphics seems to indicate, that the city was built by EgA'ptian artists rather than peopled by an Egy^nian colony. It is one of the obscurest parts of Abyssinian history which relates to the building and desertion of this city. one larger than the rest siill standing, but there are two still larger than this fallen. They are all of one piece of granite, and, on the top of that which is standing, there is a patera exceedingly well carved in the Greek taste. After passing the convent of Abba Pantaleon, called in Abyssinia, Mantillcs, ami the small obelisk situated on a rock above, we proceed south by a road cut in a moun- tain of red marble, having on the left a parapet-wall above five feet high, solid, and of the same materials. At equal distances there are hewn in this wall soHd pedestals, upon the tops of which we see the marks where stood the colossal statues of Syrius. the Latrator Anubis, or Dog Star. One hundred and thirty- three of these pedestals, with the marks of the statues I just mentioned, are still in their places ; but only two figures of the dog remained when I was there, much mutilated, but of a taste easily distinguished to bo Egyptian. These are composed of granite, but some of them appear to have been of metal. There are likewise pedestals whereon the figures of the Sphinx have been placed. Two magni- ficent flights of steps, several hundred feet long, all of granite, exceedingly well-fashioned, and still in their places, are the only remains of a magnificent temple. The church is a mean, small building, very ill kept, and full of pigeons' dung. In it are sup- posed to be preserved the ark imUCFS TRAVELS. 'Rs of the covenant, and copy of the law, which Menilck, son of Solomon, is said, in their fabul- ous legends, to have stolen from Iiis father Solomon in his return to Kthiopia ; and these were reckoned, as it were, the palladia of this country. Some ancient (opv of the Old Testament, I do liclicve, was deposited here, probably that from which the first version was made. I3ut whatever this might be, it was destroyed, with the church itself, by Mahomet Gragne, though jirctcnded fiilsely to subsist there still. This I had from the king himself. There was miotlier relic of great import- ance that iiappened to escape from being burnt, — a ]MCture of Christ's head crowned with tliorns, said to be painted by St. Luke, which, upon occa- sions of the utmost importance, is brought out and carried with the army, especially in a war with Mahometans and Pagans. Within the outer gate of the church, below the steps, are three small square enclosures, all of granite, with small octa- gon pillars in the angles, appa- rently Egyptian ; on the top of which formerly were small images of the dog-star, proba- bly of metal. Upon a stone, in the middle of one of these, the king sits, and is crowned, and always has been since the days of Paganism ; and below it, where he naturally places his feet, is a large oblong slab like a hearth, which is not of granite, but of freestone. The inscrip- tion, though much defaced, may .safely be restored : HTOAEMAIOY KYEPFETOY BAi:iAKJ22.^ On the 2oth of January we left Axum. Our road was at first through small valleys and mea- dows perfumed with a variety of flowering shrubs, impregnat- ing the whole air with the most delicious odour. The country all round had the most beauti- ful appearance, and this was heightened by the finest of weather. Not long after our losing sight of the ruins of this ancient capital of Abyssinia, we over- took three travellers driving a cow before them ; they had black goat -skins upon their shoulders, and lances and shields in their hands, in other respects were but thinly clothed ; they appeared to be soldiers. The cow did not seem to be fat- ted for killing, and it occurred to us all that it had been stolen. We saw that our attendants at- tached themselves in a particu- lar manner to the three soldiers that were driving the cow, and held p. short conversation with them. The drivers soon after suddenly tript up the cow, giving the animal a rude fall upon the ground, which was but the be- ginning of her sufferings. One of them sat across her neck, holding down her head by the horns, the other twisted the halter about her forefeet, while the third, who had a knife in 1 Of King Ptolemy the Benefirent fit pi ■"-;'■ ■ is ^ ih mm m 'm I ■ w Ih Wm-::L iS6 rilF. ENGUSH EXPLORERS, his hnnl. to my very ^rcat sur- prise, in place of taking her by the throat, got astride upon her belly Inlbre her hiudlegs, and gave her a very deep wound in the upper part of her buttock. I'roin the time I had seen them throw the beast upon the ground, 1 had rejoiced, thinking that, when three people were killing a cow, they nuist have agreed to si^ll i)art of her to us. Upon my proposing they should bargain tor part of the cow, my men answered what they had already learned in conversation, that they were not then to kill her ; that she was not wholly theirs ; and that they could not sell her. This awakened my curiosity. 1 let my people go forward, and stayed myself, till I saw, with the utmost astonish- ment, two pieces, thicker and longer tiiai) our ortlinary beef- steaks, cut out of the higher part of the buttock of the beast. How it was done I cannot posi- tively say, because judging the cow was to be killed from the moment I saw the knife drawn, I was not anxious to view that catastrophe, which was by no means an object of curiosity. Whatever way it was done, it surely was adroitly, and the two pieces were spread upon the outside of one of their shields. One of them still continued holding the head, while the other two were busied in curing t h e wou n d . ' Ph i s, too, was don e not in an ordinary manner ; the skin which had covered the flesh that was taken away was left entire, and (lappi'd over the wound, and was fastene to ilu- corresponding part by two or more small skewers, or pins. Whether they had put anythin>r under the skin, between that and the woimded flesh, I know- not, but at the river side, wIhmv they were, they had prepared a cataplasm of clay, with which they covered the wound. Tiicy then forceil the animal to rise, and drove it on before them, to furnish them with a fuller meal when they should meet their companions in the evening.* When first I mentioned this in England, as one of the sin- gularities whicli prevailed in this barbarous country, I was told by my friends it was not believed. I asked the reason of this dis belief, and was answered, that people who had never been out of their own country, and others well actpiainted with the manners of the world, for they had travelled as far as France, had agreed the thing was impossible, and therefore 1 Thts stt>ry, which has leil a fact of which he was an eye-witucss. This was the vivi- section of u cow driven by natives, who cut a steak out of her hinil-i|uarters. I had .1 bull with a very large lunup. This m\\\\\\\\ was very handsome, and was kept for stock. I observed that the skin of the hump showed a long jagged .score from end to end, and my people assured me that this bidl had fre- (luently been operated upon. It had been tne property of one of the slave-hunter's parties, and they had been in the habit of removing the hump (.is a siirpeon would a tumor). This is the most delicate part of the meat, and I was assured th.U the hump would always be replaced by a similai growth after e.ich operation.' r^RVCF:S TRAVFJS. 187 it was so. My friiMuls ronn- si'llcd inc flirt hrr, that as these men were inranil)le, an»'s of flowering shrubs, among •' ch the honeysuckle now ma». •; a principal figure, which is of one species only, the same known in England ; but the flower is larger and perfectly white, not coloured on the out- side as our honeysuckle is. Fine trees of all sizes were everywhere interspersed ; and the vine, with small black grapes of very good flavour, hung in many places in festoons, joining tree to tree, 4, «»: 1 * J *'l*,B i hi THf i88 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. as if they had been artificially twined ami intended forarbours. After having passed this ])lain, we again entered a close country through defiles between mountains, thick covered with wood and bushes. When we pitched our tent by the water- side, an alarm was raised that robbers were in the neighbour- hood, and on my riding up to the tents, I was saluted from among the bushes with stones. I advanced towards them, cry- ing out we were friends, and Ras Michael's friends ; and de- sired only to speak to them, and would give them what they wanted. Two men came for- ward, making great complaints, and we found the matter was this. One of the Moors had taken a heap of straw which he was carrying to his ass, but tlie proprietor, at seeing this, li ad alarmed the village. Every- body had taken lances and shields ; but not daring to ap- proach for fear of the fire-arms, they had contented themselves with showering stones at us from their hiding-places at a distance from among the bushes. We immediately told them, how- ever, that though as the king's guest I had a title to be fur- nished with what was necessary, yet, if they were averse to it, I was very well content to pay for everything they furnished, both for my men and beasts ; but that they must throw no stones, other\vise we would defend our- selves. A treaty soon followed, when they consented to sell us what we wanted, but at extra- vagant prices. We found that the Moor's taking the straw was not really the reason of the uproar, for they made no use of it, except to burn ; but that a report had been spread abroad, that an action had hai)pene(l between Fasil and Ras Mich.^el, in which the latter had been defeated, and, the country no longer in fear of the Ras, they had intended to rob us. We left Selech-lecha on the 22d, and arrived at Sir^, at ten o'clock that night. The town of Sird is larger than that of Axum ; it is in the form of a half-moon fronting the plain; all the houses are of clay, and thatched : the roofs are in form of cones. Sird is famous for a manufacture of coarse cotton cloths, which pass for current money through all the province of Tigrt^. Although Sird is situated in one of the finest countries in the world, like other places it has its incon- veniences. Putrid fevers of the very worst kind are almost con- stant here ; and there did then actually rage a species of these, that swept away a number of people daily. I did not think the behaviour of the inhabitants of this province to me was such as required my exposing myself to the infection for the sake of relieving them j I therefore left the fever and them to settle accounts together, without any- wise interfering. At Sird we heard the good news, that Ras Michael, on the loth of this BRUGES TRAVELS. i%C) month, had come up with Fasil at Fagitta, and entirely dispersed his army, after killing 10,000 men. This account, though not confirmed by any authority, struck all the mutinous part of this province with awe ; and every man returned to his duty for fear of incurring the dis- pleasure of this severe governor, which they well knew would instantly be followed by more than an adequate portion of vengeance, especially against those that had not accompanied him to the field. On the 24th, at seven o'clock in the morning, we struck our tent at Sird, and passed through a vast plain. All this day we could discern no mountains, as far as the eye could reach, but only some few detached hills standing separate on the plain, covered with high grass, which they were then burning, to produce new with the first rains. On the 26th we reached the Tacazz^, one of the pleasantest rivers in the world, shaded with fme lofty trees ; its banks covered with bushes, inferior in fragrance to no garden in the universe ; its stream is most limpid, its water excellent, and full of good fish of great variety, as its coverts are of all sorts of game. The banks are all covered at the water's edge with tamarisks, behind which grow high and straight trees. Beautiful and pleasant, however, as this river is, like everything created, it has its disadvantages. From the falling of the first rains in March till November, it is death to sleep in the country adjoining to it, both wit' in and without its banks ; the whole inhabitants retire and live in villages on the top of the neighbouring mountains ; and these are all robbers and assassins, who descend from their habitations on the heights to lie in wait for and plunder the travellers that pass. Not- withstanding great pains have been taken by Michael, his son, and grandson, governors of Tigrd and Sird, this passage had never been so far cleared, but, every month, people are cut off. The plenty of fish in this river occasions more than an ordinary number of crocodiles to resort thither. These are so daring and fearless, that when the river swells, so as to be passable only by people upon rafts, or skins blown up with wind, they are frequently car- ried off by these voracious and vigilant animals. There are also many hippopotami, which, in this country, are called Gomari. I never saw any of these in the Tacazzd j but at night we heard them snort, or groan, in many parts of the river near us. There are also vast multitudes of lions and hyaenas in all these thickets. The river Tacazzd is the boundary of the province of Sir^. On the 27th of January we continued and came to Inger- ohha, a small rivulet rising in the plain above, which after a short course through a deep rr^nii hm ri ' 19 f!l ttJi 190 rilE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. i valley, joins the Tacazzd All the way wc passed among ruined villa^'es, the monuments of Michael's cruelty or justice ; for it is hard to say whether th«* cruelty, robberies, and violence of the former inhabitants, did not deserve the severest chas- tisement. On the 30th we encamped at Addergey, near a small rivulet called Mai-Lunsi, the river of limes or lemons, in a plain scarce a mile square, surrounded on each side with very thick wood in form of an amphitheatre. The hysenas this night devoured one of the best of our mules. They are here in great plenty, and so are lions; the roaring and grumbling of the latter, in the part of the wood nearest our tent, greatly disturbed our beasts, and prevented them from eating their provender. I lengthened the strings of my tent, and placed the beasts be- tween them. The white ropes, and the tremulous motion made by the impression of the wind, frightened the lions from coming near us. I had procured from Janni two small brass bells, such as the mules carry. I had tied these to the storm-strings of the tent, where their noise no doubt greatly contributed to our beasts' safety from these raven- ous yet cautious animals, so that we never saw them ; but the noise they made, and per- haps their smell, so terrified the mules, that in the morning they were drenched in sweat as if they had been a long journey. The brutish hyaena was not so to be deterred. I shot one of them dead on the night of the 31st of January, and on the id of February I fired at another so near, that I was confident of killing him. Whether the balls had fallen out, or that I had really missed him with the first barrel, I know not, but he gave a snarl and a kind of bark upon the first shot, advancing directly upon me as if unhurt. The second shot, however, took l)lace, and laid him without mo- tion on the ground. Yasine and his men killed another with a pike ; and such was their de- termined coolness, that they stalked round about us with the familiarity of a dog, or any other domestic animal brought up with man. But we were still more in- commoded by a lesser animal, a large black ant, little less than an inch long, which, com- ing out from under the ground, demolished our carpets, which they cut all into shreds, and part of the lining of our tent likewise, and every bag or sack they could find. We had first seen them in great numbers at Angari, but here they were in- tolerable. Their bite causes a considerable inflammation, and the pain is greater than that which arises from the bite ol a scorpion \ they are called gundan. On the I St of February the Shum sent his people to value, BRUGES TRAVELS, 10! 4S he said, our mcrcliandisc, that wc miglit pay custom. Many of the Moors, in our caravan, had left us to go a near way to llauza. We had at most five or six asses, in- cluding those belonging to Vasine. 1 humoured them so far as to open the cases where were the telescopes and quad- rant, or, indeed, rather showed them open, as they were not shut from the observation I had been making. They could only wonder at things they had never before seen. On the 2d of February the Shuni came himself, and a vio- lent altercation ensued. He insisted upon Michael's defeat. I told h".m the contrary news were true, and begged him to beware lest it should be told to the Ras upon his return that he had propagated such a false- hood. I told him also we had advice that the Ras's servants were now waiting for us at Lamalmon, and insisted upon his suffering us to depart. On the other hand, he threatened to send us to Ayto Tesfos. I answered, 'Ayto Tesfos was a friend to Ayto Aylo, under whose protection I was, and a servant to the Iteghe, and was likelier to punish him for using me ill, than to approve of it, but that I would not suffer him to send me either to Ayto Tesfos, or an inch out of the road in which I was going.' He said, ' That I was mad ; ' and held a consultation with his people for about half an hour,- after which he came in again, seemingly {[uite another man, and said he would despatch us on the mor- row, which was the 3d, and would send us that evening some provisions. And, indeed, we now began to be in need, having only flour barely sufli- cient to make bread for one meal next day. The miserable village on the clifT had nothiu'^ to barter with us ; and ncjne from the five villages about the Shum had come near us, })ro- bably by his order. As he had softened his tone, so did I mine. I gave him a small present, and he went away repeating his promises. But all that evening passed without provision, and all next day without his coming, so we got everything ready for our departure. Our supper did not prevent our sleeping, as all our provision was gone, and we had tasted nothing all that day since our breakfast. On the 4th of February we left Addergey. Hunger pressing upon us, we were prepared to do it earlier, but our loss of a mule obliged us, when we packed up our tent, to arrange our baggage differently. While employed in making ready for our departure, a hyoena fastened upon one of Yasine's asses, and had almost pulled his tail away. A boy, who was servant to Yasine, saw the hyaena first, and flew to my musket. Yasine was disjoining the poles of the tent, and, having one of the half of the largest in his hand, he ran to the assistance of his ass, and 1 ' ! M : mm mC'^y '.■ 192 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, i\ I in that moment the musket went off, which gave Yasine a flesh wound between the thumb and forefinger of his left hand. The boy instantly threw down the musket, which had terri- fied the hyaena, and made him let go the ass ; but he stood ready to fight Yasine, who, not amusing himself with the choice of weapons, gave him so rude a blow with the tent-pole upon his head, that it felled him to the ground \ others with pikes put an end to his life. We were then obliged to turn our cares towards the wounded. But the poor ass was not so easily comforted. The stump remained, the tail hanging by a piece of it, which we were obliged to cut off. The next operation was actual cautery ; but, as we had made no bread for breakfast, our fire had been early out. We, therefore, were obliged to tie the stump round with whip- cord, till we could get fire enough to heat an iron. On account of these delays we did not leave Addergey till near ten o'clock in the forenoon. When we had just reached the side of the river Angwah we saw the Shum coming from the right hand across us. There were nine horsemen in all, and fourteen or fifteen beggarly foot- men. He had a well-dressed young man going before him carrying his gun, and bad only a whip in his own hand. Upon the first appearance, we had stopped on this side of the river; Janni's seivant told us to cross the river, and make what speed we could, as the Shum's government ended on thi^ side. As soon as they ob- served us drive our beasts into the river, one of their horsemen came galloping up, while the others continued at a smart walk. When the horseman was within twenty yards' distance of me, I called upon him to stop, and, as he valued his life, not approach nearer. On this he made no difficulty to obey, but seemed rather inclined to turn back. As I saw the baggage all laid on the ground at the foot of a small round hill, upon the gentle ascent of which my servants all stood armed, I turned about my horse, and with Yasine, who was by my side, began to cross the river. The horseman upon this again advanced ; again I cried to him to stop. He then pointed be- hind him, and said, 'The Shum!' I desired him peremptorily to stop, or I would fire; upon which he turned round, and the others joining him, they held a minute's counsel to- gether, and came all forward to the river, where they paused a moment as if counting our number, and then began to en- ter the stream. Yasine now cried to them in Amharic, as I had done before in Tigr^, de- siring them, as they valued their lives, to come no nearer. They stopt, a sign of no great resolution ; and, after some al- tercation, i<- was agreed that the BRUGES TRAVELS, 193 Shum, and his son with the gun, should pass the river. The Shurn complained vio- lently that we had left Adder- crey without his leave, and now were attacking him in his own government upon the high road. *A pretty situation,* said I, 'was ours at Addergey, where the Shum left the king's stranger p.o other alternative but dying with hunger, or being eaten by the hyaena.* * Friends,' said I, ' you understand one another's grievances better than I do. My only business here is to get to Lamalmon as soon as pos- sible. Now, pray, Shum, tell me what is your business with me ; and why have you followed me beyond your government, which is bounded by that river?' He said, *That I had stolen away privately, without paying custom.' * I am no merchant,' replied I ; * I am the king's guest, and pay no custom ; but as far as a piece of red Surat cloth will content you, I will give it you, and we shall part friends.' He then answered, 'That two ounces of gold were what my dues had been rated at, and he would either have that, or would follow me to Debra Toon.' * Bind him, and carry hir> to Debra Toon,' says the Sir^ servant, * or I shall go and bring the Shum of Debra Toon to do it By the head of Michael, Shum, it shall not be long before I take you out of your bed for this.' I now gave orders to my people to load the mules. At hearing this, the Shum made a signal for his company to cross; but Yasine, who was opposite to them, again ordered them to stop. ' Shum,' said I, * you in- tend to follow us, apparently with a design to do us some harm. There is a piece of ord- nance,' continued I, showing him a large blunderbuss, 'a cannon, that will sweep fifty such fellows as you to eternity in a moment. This shall take the care of them, and we shall take the care of you ; but join you shall not till we are at De- bra Toon.* The conversation lasted about five minutes \ and our baggage was now on the way, when the Shum said, he would make a proposal : — Since I had no merchandise, and was going to Ras Michael, he would ac- cept of the red cloth, its value being about a crown, provided we sw jre to make no complaint of hfm at Gondar, nor speak of what had happened at Debra Toon ; while he likewise would swear, after having joined his servants, that he would not again pass that river. Peace was con- cluded upon these terms. I gave him a piece of red Surat cotton cloth, and added some cohol, incense, and beads for his wives. I gave to the young man, that carried the gun, two strings of bugles to adorn his legs, for which he seemed most wonderfully grateful. The Shum returned, not with a very placid countenance ; his horse- men joined him in the middle of the stream, and away they N vm y < St 194 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. \ f I'i fttfii'i ii ' went soberly together, and in silence. At one o'clock we alighted at the foot of one of the highest, called Debra Toon, about half way between the mountain and village of that name, which was on tl-s side of the hill about a mile north-west. The mountains of Waldubba, resembling those of Adebarea, lay north of us about four or five miles. Waldubba, which signifies the valley of the hyaena, is a territory entirely inhabited by the monks, who, for morti- fication's sake, have retired to this unwholesome, hot, and dangerous country, voluntarily to spend their lives in penitence, meditation, and prayer. This, too, is the only retreat of great men in disgrace or in disgust. These first shave their hair, and put on a cowl like the monks, renouncing the world for soli- tude, and taking vows which they resolve to keep no longer than exigencies require; after which they return to the world again, leaving their cowl and sanctity in Waldubba. These monks are held in great veneraticto; are believed by many to have the gift of pro- phecy, and some of them to work miracles, and are very active instruments to stir up the people in time of trouble. Those that I have seen out of Waldubba in Gondar, and about Koscam, never showed any great marks of abstinence ; they ate and drank everything with- out scruple, and in large quan- tities too. They say they live otherwise in Waldubba, and perhaps it may be so, for any- thing I have heard of them Violent fevers perpetually reign there. The inhabitants are all of the colour of a corpse; and their neighbours, the Shan- galla, by constant inroads, de- stroy many of them, though lately they have been stopped, as they say by the prayers of the monks. The natural cause why the Shangalla molest them no more, is the small-pox, which has greatly reduced their strength and number, and ex- tinguished, to a man, whole tribes of them. On the 5th we left Debra Toon, and at eleven o'clock we encamped at the foot of the mountain Adama, in a small piece of level ground, after pass- ing a pleasant wood of no con- siderable extent. As we passed the Anzo, im- mediately on our right is that part of Waldubba, full of deep valleys and woods in which the monks used to hide them- selves from the incursions of the Shangalla, before they found out the more convenient de- fence by the prayers and superior sanctity of the present saints. * ' - On the 5 th we encamped at Tchober, and on the 7th we reached the plain of Dippebaha. This plain was full of grass, and interspersed with flowering shrubs, jessamine, and roses, several kinds of which were beautiful, but only one fragrant. We met several monks and BRUGES TRAVELS. 195 nuns of Waldubba, who said they had been at market. Both men and women, but especially the latter, had large burdens of provisions on their shoulders, bought that day, as they said, at Dobarke, which showed me they did not wholly depend upon the herbs of Waldubba for their support. The women were stout and young, and did not seem, by their complexion, to have batn long in the mor- tifications of Waldubba. The men seemed very miserable, and ill-clothed, but had a great air of ferocity and pride in their faces. They are distinguished only from the laity by a yellow cowl or cap on their head. On the 8th we left Dippebaha and reached Lamalmon, which is the pass through which the road of all caravans to Gondar lies. It is here they take an account of all baggage and mer- chandise, which they transmit to the Negade Ras, or chief officer of the customs at Gon- dar, by a man whom they send to accompany the caravan. We had obtained leave to depart early in the morning of the 9th, but it was with great regret we were obliged to abandon our Mahometan friends into hands that seemed disposed to show them no favour. The persons whose right it was to levy these contributions were two, a father and son ; the old man professed a violent hatred to all Mahome- tans, on account of their religion, a sentiment which seemed to promise nothing favourable to our friend Yasine and his companions : but in the evening, the son, who seemed to be the active man, came to our tent and brought us a quantity of bread and bouza, which his father had ordered before. He seemed to be much taken with our fire-arms, and was very inqt, isitive about them. I gave him every sort of satis- faction, and, little by little, saw I might win his heart entirely, which I very much wished to do, that I might free our com- panions from bondage. The young man having been in several actions under Ras Michael as a fusileer, had brought his gun, and insisted on shooting at marks. I hu- moured him in this; but as I used a rifle, he found himself overmatched, especially by the greatness of the range, for he shot straight enough. I then showed him the manner we shot flying, there being quails in abundance, and wild pigeons, of which I killed several on wing, which left him in the utmost astonishment. Having got on horseback, I next went through the exercise of the Arabs, with a long spear and a short javelin. This was more within his comprehension, as he had seen something like it; but he was wonderfully taken with the fierce and fiery appear- ance of my horse, and, at the same time, with his docility, the form of his saddle, bridle, and accoutrements. He threw at last the sandals off his feet. 196 THE ENGLTSir EXPLORERS. : illl twisted his upper garment into his girdle, and set off at so furious a rate, that I could not help doubting whether he was in his sober understanding. It was not long till he came back, and with him a man-ser- vant, carrying a sheep and a goat, and a woman carrying a jar of honey-wine. I had not yet quitted the horse, and when I saw what his intention was, I put Mirza to a gallop, and with one of the barrels of the gun, shot a pigeon, and immediately fired the other into the ground. There was nothing after this that could have surprised him, and it was repeated several times at his desire, after which he went into the tent, where he invited himself to my house at Gondar. There I was to teach him everything he had seen. We now swore perpetual friendship, and a horn or two of hydromel being emptied, I introduced the case of our fellow-travellers, and obtained a promise that we should have leave to set out together. He would, moreover, take no awide, and said he would be favour- able in his report to Gondar. Matters were so far advanced, when a servant of Michael's arrived, sent by Petros (Janni's brother), who had obtained him from Ozoro Esther. This put an end to all our difficul- ties. Our young soldier also kept his word, and a mere trifle of awide was given, rather by the Moor's own desire than from demand, and the report of our baggage, and dues there- on, were as low as could be wished. Our friend likewise sent his own servant to Gon- dar with the billet to accom- pany the caravan. But the news brought by his servant was still better than all this. Ras Michael had actually beaten Fasil, and forced him to retire to the other side of the Nile, and was then in Maitsha, where it was thought he would re- main with the army all the rainy season. This was just what I could have wished, as it brought me at once to the neighbourhood of the sources of the Nile, without the small- est shadow of fear or danger. On the 9th of February we took leave of the friends whom we had so newly acquired at Lamalmon. We began to as- cend what still remained of the mountain, and found when we arrived at the top of Lamalmon, that it consisted of a large plain, part in pasture, but more bear- ing grain. They plough, sow, and reap here at all seasons; and the husbandman must blame his own indolence, and not the soil, if he has not three harvests. We saw in one place people busy cutting down wheat ; immediately next to it others at the plough; and the adjoining field had green com in the ear ; a little further it was not an inch above the ground. After having suffered, with infinite patience and persever- ance, the hardships and danger BRUCE' S TRAVELS. 197 of this long and paini.il journey, at forty minutes past ten we were gratified at last with the sight of Gondar, according to niy computation about ten miles distant. The king's palace (at least the tower of it) is distinctly seen, but none of the other houses, which are covered by the multitude of wanzey-trees growing in the town, so that it appears one thick, black wood. Behind it is Azazo, likewise covered with trees. On a hill is the large church of Tecla Haimanout, and the river below it makes it distinguishable ; still further on is the great lake Tzana, which terminates our horizon. The Tchagassa has very steep, rocky banks; it is so deep, though narrow, that, without this bridge, it scarce would be passable. We en- camped at a small distance from it, but nearer Gondar. Here again we met with trees (small ones indeed), but the first we had seen since leaving Lamal- mon, excepting the usual groves of cedars. It is the Virginia cedar, or oxy-cedros, in this country called Are, with which their churches are constantly surrounded. On the 15th, at ten minutes past seven, we began to ascend the mountain, and, at twenty minutes after seven, passed a village on our left. At seven and three quarters we passed Tiba and Mariam, two churches, the one on our right, the other on our left, about half a mile distant, and near them several small villages inhabited by Fa- lasha, masons and thatchers of houses, employed at Gondar. At half-past eight we came to the village Tocutcho, and, in a quarter of an hour passed the river of that name, and in a few minutes rested on the river Angrab, about half a mile from Gondar. Tchagassa is the last of the many little districts, which, together, compose Woggora, generally understood to be de- pendent on Samen, though often, from the turbulent spirit of its chiefs, struggling for in- dependency, as at the present time, but sure to pay for it im- mediately after. In fact though large, it is too near Gondar to be suffered to continue in rebel- lion, and, being rich and well cultivated, it derives its support from the capital as being the mart of its produce. It is cer- tainly one of the most fniitful provinces in Abyssinia, but the inhabitants are miserably poor, notwithstanding their threefold harvest ; whereas in Egypt, be- holden to this country alone for its fertility, one moderate har- vest gives plenty everywhere. Woggora is full of large ants, and prodigious swarms of rats and mice, which consume im- mense quantities of grain. To these plagues may be added one still greater than them all, bad government, which speedily destroys all the advantages they reap from nature, climate, and situation. ' - '>i '1 IP .s' ¥Kfc ipS THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, \m \ z ■4 i|j CHAPTER VIII. Residence at Gondar. We were much surprised at arriving on the Angrab that no person had come to us from Petros, Janni's brother. We found afterwards, indeed, that he had taken fright upon some menacing words from the priests at hearing a Frank was on his way to Gondar, and that he had soon after set out for Ibaba, where the Ras was, to receive his directions concerning us. This was the most disagreeable accident could have happened to me. I had not a single per- son to whom I could address myself for anything. My let- ters were for the king and Ras Michael, and could be of no use, as both were absent ; and though I had others for Petros and the Greeks, they, too, were out of town. I had Janni's let- ters to Negade Ras Mahomet, the chief of the Moors at Gon- dar, and principal merchant in Abyssinia, who was absent like- wise with the army. But one of his brethren, a sagacious, open- hearted man, desired me not to be discouraged ; that, as I had not put off my Moorish dress, I should continue it ; that a house was provided for Mahomet Gib- berti, and those that were with him, and that he would put me immediately into possession of it, where I might stay, free from any intercourse with the priests, till Petros or the Ras should return to Gondar. This advice I embraced with great readiness, as there was nothing I was so much afraid of as an encounter with fanatical priests before I had obtained some protection from government, or the great people in the country. After having concerted these mea- sures, I resigned myself to the direction of my Moorish friend, Hagi Saleh. We moved along the Angrab, having Gondar on our right, situated upon a hill, and the river on our left, proceeding down till its junction with a smaller stream called the Kahha, that joins it at the Moorish town. This situation, near running water, is always chosen by the Mahometans on account of their frequent ablutions. The Moor- ish town at Gondar may consist of about 3000 houses, some of them spacious and good. I was put in possession of a very neat one destined for Mahomet Gibberti. Flour, honey, and suchlike food, Mahometans and Christians eat promiscuously, and so far I was well situated. As for flesh, although there was abundance of it, I could not touch a bit of it, being killed by Mahometans, as that com- munion would have been looked upon as equal to a renunciation of Christianity. By Janni's servant, who had accompanied us from Adowa, his kind and friendly master had written to Ayto Aylo, who was the constant patron of the Greeks, and willingly took the BRUGES TRAVELS, 199 charge of white people of all communions who had hitherto been unhappy enough to stray into Abyssinia. About seven o'clock at night, on the 15th, Hagi Saleh was much alarmed by a number of armed men at his door, and his surprise was still greater upon seeing Ayto Aylo, who, as far as I know, was never in the Moorish town before, de- scend from his mule, and un- cover his head and shoulders, as if he had been approaching a person of the first distinction. A contention of civilities imme- diately followed. This being got over, the first curiosity was. What my books were ? And he was very much astonished at seeing one of them was Abys- sinian, and the European helps that I had towards understand- ing it. He understood Tigrd tnd Amharic perfectly, and had a little knowledge of Arabic. The beginning of our dis- course was in Arabic, and em- barrassed enough, but we had plenty of interpreters in all languages. The first bashful- ness being removed on both sides, our conversation began in Tigr^, which is lately, since Michael had become Ras, the language most used in Gondar. Aylo was exceedingly astonished at hearing me speak the lan- guage as I did, and said after, ' The Greeks are poor crea- tures ; Peter does not speak Tigrd so well as this man.* Then, very frequently, to Saleh and the bystanders, * Come, come, he'll do if he can speak ; there is no fear of him, he'll make his way.' He told us that Welled Ha- waryat had come from the camp ill of a fever, and that they were afraid it was the small-pox ; that Janni had informed them I had saved many young people's lives at Adowa by a new manner of treating them ; and that the Iteghe desired I would come the next morning, and that he should carry me to Koscam and introduce me to her. The next morning, taking Hagi Saleh and Yasine with me, and dressed in my Moorish dress, 1 went to Ayto Aylo, and found him with several great plates of bread, melted butter, and honey before him, of one of which he and I ate ; the rest were given to the Moors, and other people present. There was with him a priest of Koscam, and we all set out for that palace as soon as we had eaten breakfast. We alighted and were shown into a low room in the palace. Ayto Aylo went immediately to the queen to inquire about Welled Ha- waryat, and his audience lasted two long hcrars. He returned to us with these news, that Welled Hawaryat was much better, by a medicine a saint from Waldubba had given him, which consisted in some char- acters written with common ink upon a tin plate, which characters were washed off by a medicinal liquor, and then given him to drink. It was ■■J 1 ■• ■t:S 900 THE ENGLISH EXPIOKEKS, agreed, however, tliat the com- plaint was the smalt-pox, and the good the medicine had done him was, he had eaten heartily of brind or raw heef after it, though he had not eaten before since his arrival, but called perpetually for drink. Aylo said he was to remain at Koscam till towards evening, and desired me to meet him at his own house when it turned dark, and to bring Petros with me, if he was returned. IVtros was returned when I arrived, and waited for me at Hagi Saleh's house. Although he showed all the signs of my being welcome, yet it was easy to read in his countenance he had not succeeded. He had seen, on going to the Ras's tent, the stulTed skin of the unfor- tunate Woosheka swinging upon a tree, and drying in the wind. He was struck with such horror at the sight, that he had gone and returned without goingnear the Ras. Aylo on hearing the story was equally afraid, and as both Peter and he were too excited to sleep, I ordered some gniel to be made, and put a dose of laudanum into it, which. they were to take before going to bed. I took my leave, and returned with Saleh ; but, before I went to the door, Aylo told me he had forgot Welled Hawaryat >vasvery bad, and the Iteghe, Ozoro Altash, his wife, and Ozoro Esther desired I would come and see him to-morrow. One of his daughters by Ozoro mi Altash, had been ill some time before his arrival, and she too was thought in great danger. * Look,* saitl I, * Ayto Aylo, the small-pox is a disease that will have its course ; nnd dur- ing the long time the patient is under it, if people feed them and treat them according to their own ignorant prejudices, my seeing him, or advising him, is in vain. This morning you said a man had cured him l)y writing upon a tin plate ; and to try if he was well they crammed him with raw beel. I do not think the letters that he swallowed will do him any harm, neither will they do him any good ; but I shall not be suri)rised if the raw beef kills him, and his daughter Welleta Selasse, too, before I see him to-morrow.' On the morrow Petros was really taken ill and feverish, from a cold and fotigue an(l fright. Aylo and I went to Koscam, and, for a fresh amuse- ment to him, I showed him several feats of horsemanship. We were just entering into tiie palace-door, when we saw a large procession of monks, with the priests of Koscam at their Iiead, a large cross and a pic- ture carried with them, the last in a very dirty gilt frame. Aylo turned aside when he saw these ; and going into the chamber- lain's apartment, called Ayto Heikel, afterwards a great friend and companion of mine. He informed us that three great saints from Waldubba, one of BRUCE S TRAVELS. 201 whom hud neither cntcn nor drunk for twenty years of his life, had promised him to come and cure Welled 1 lawaryat, by laying a picture of the Virgin Mary and the cross upon him, and, therefore they would not wisii me to be seen, or meddle in the alTair. ' 1 assure you, Ayto Aylo,' said I, * I shall strictly obey you. There is no sort of reason for my meddling in this alTair with such asso- ciates. If they can cure him by a miracle, I am sure it is the easiest kind of cure of any, and will not do his constitution the least harm afterwards, which is more than I will i)romise for medicines in general ; but, re- member what I say to you, it will indeed be a miracle, if both the father and the daughter are not •OS nrn engush explorers. li • I know tlicy arc/ Bnid I, 'and «(> jirc those of the Cr- iholirs: but I never ran be- hove that A saint ronvertcil the ilcvil, who hved, lorty years after, a holy li'o as a monk ; nor the story of another saint, wlio, being sick and hunury, eansctl a brace of partridges, ready roasted, to tly npon his phite lliat he might eat them.' • lie has been reailing the Synaxar,' says Ayto Aylo. • I behove so,' says she, smil- ing ; 'lint is there any harn\ in believing too much, and is not tliere great danger in be- hoving too httlc V • Certainly,' continued I, * but what 1 meant to say to Ayto Aylo was, that I did not l)clievc laying a picture upon Welled Ibiwaryat would re- cover him when delirous in a fever.' She aiiswcred, * There was no- thing impossible with God.* I made a bow of assent, wishing heartily the conversa- tion might end there. 1 retm-nod to the Moors town, leaving Aylo with the queen. In the afternoon I heard Welletta Selassd was dead ; and, at night, died her father, Welled Hawaryat The contagion from Masuah and Adowa had spread itself all over Ciondar. Ozoro Ayabdar, daughter of Ozoro Altash, was now sick, and a violent fever had fallen ui)on Koscam. The next morning Aylo came to me and told me the faith in the saint, who did not eat or drink for twenty years, was porfcrtly abandoned since Welled Ha- waryat's tieath ; that it was the desire of the queen and ()/.»)ro Kslher, that I shouM transport n»ysolf to Kost)ctor Kussel, had given me at Aleppo. Ayabdar, ()/,oro Altash's re- maining daughter, and the son of Mariam Marea, were both tf-.kcn ill at the same time, and happily recovered. Ayto Confu, son of Kasmati Netrho by Ozoro P^sther, had arrived from Tcherkin, n lad of pro- mise, tho\igh not then fourteen, had came to see his mother witiiout my knowledge or hers, and was infected likewise ; and last of all, the infant child of Michael, the child of his old age, took the disease, and though the weakest of all the children, recovered best. I tell these actions for brevity's sake altogether, not directly in the onler they happened, to satisfy the reader about the reason of the remarkable at- tention and favour showed to me afterwards upon so short an acquaintance. The fear and anxiety of Ozoro Esther, upon smaller occasions, was excessive ; many promises of Michael's favour, of riches, greatness, and pro- tection, ff)llowed every instance of my care and attention to- wards him. The attention I showed to this yoiM)g man, which was more than overpaid by the return he himself made on many occ asions afterwards, was greatly owing to n fire- possession in his favour, which I took upon his fust appear- ance. Policy, as may be ima- gined, as well as ( harity, alike influenced nu* in the care of my other patients ; but an at- tachment, whi( h Providence seemed to havc afr.iid when you come to me,^ * I trust,' said I, l)ow- ing, ' I shall do no ill, in that case shall have no reason to fear.' Upon this I withdrew from among the crowd, and went away, as an express then arrived from Ras Michael. It was on the 8th or 9th of March I met Kas Michael at Azazo. He was dressed in a coarse dirty cloth, wra|)t about him like a blanket, and another like a table-cloth folded about his head. He was lean, old, and apparently much fatigued; sat stooping upon an excellent mule, that carried him speedily without shaking him : he had also sore eyes. We alighted at the same time he did, and after- wards we dei)uted the Greek priest to tell him who I was, and that I was come to meet him. The soldiers made way, and I came up, took him by the hand, and kissed it. He looked me broad in the face for a second, repeated the ordinary salutation in Tigr^, ' How do you do ? I hope you are well ; * and pointed to a place where I was to sit down. All the town was in a hurry and confusion ; 30,000 men wereencamped upon theKahha; and the first horrid scene Michael exhibited there was causing the eyes of twelve of the chiefs of the Galla, whom he had taken prisoners, to be pulled out, and the unfortu- nate sufferers turned out to the fields, to be devoured at night by the hyjcna. Two of these I took under my rare, who both recovered, and from them I learnt many particulars of their country and manners. The next day, which was the loth, the army marched into the town in triumph, and the Kas at the head of the troops of Tigrd. He was h.ireheaded ; over his shoulderM, md down to his back, hung a palliunt, or cloak, of bliuk velvet, with a silver fringe. A bov, by his right stirrup, held a silver wand of about five feet and a half long, much like the staves of our great officers at court, be- hind him all the soldiers, who had slain an enemy and taken the spoils from them, had their lances and firelocks ornamented with small shreds of scarletcloth, one piece for every man he had slain. Remarkable among all this multitude was Hagos, door- keeper of the Ras. This man, always well armed and well mounted, had followed the wars of the Ras from his in- fancy, and had been so fortu- nate in this kind of single com- bat, that his whole lance and javelin, horse and person, were covered over with the shreds of scarlet cloth. At this last battle of Fagitta, Hagos is said to have slain eleven men with his own hand, no doubt, many of them wretched, weary, naked fugi- tives. Behind came Gusho of Amhara, and Powussen, lately made governor of Begerader for his behaviour at the battle of »- '-' A' \^ •w M ■■'% ! i-i , '<%\ J via .11 %M ao6 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. : iJ' Fagitta. One thing remarkable in this cavalcade, which I ob- served, was the head-dress of the governors of provinces. A large broad fillet was bound upon their forehead, and tied behind their head. In the middle of this was a horn, or a conical piece of silver, gilt, about four inches long, much in the shape of our common candle-extinguishers. This is called /:irn, or horn, and is only worn in reviews or parades after victory. This, I appre- hend, like all other of their usages, is taken from the He- brews, and the several allusions made in Scripture to it arise from this practice : — * I said unto fools. Deal not foolishly ; and to the wicked, Lift not up the horn' — * Lift not up your horn on high ; speak not with a stift" neck ' * — ' For promotion Cometh,' etc. — * But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn' — 'And the horn of the righteous shall be exalted with honour.' ' And sc in many other places throughout the Psalms. Next to these came the king with a fillet of white muslin, about three inches broad, binding his forehead, tied with a large double knot behind, and hanging down about two feet on his back. About him were the great officers of state, such of the young nobility as were without * The crooked manner in which they hold their neck when this ornament is ^a their forehead, for fear it should fall forward. * See Psalms Ixxxix. 17-24; xcii. 10; Micah iv. 13, etc. .,,<,, „„ command, and, after these, the household troops. Then followed the Kanitz Kitzera, or executioner of the camp, and his attendants ; and last of all, amidst the king's and the Ras's baggage, came a man bearing the stuffed skin of the unfortunate Woosheka upon a pole, which he hung upon a branch of a tree before the king's palace appropriated for public executions. It was now the 13th of March, and I had heard no word from Ozoio Esther, or the Ras, though removed to a house in Gondar near to Petros. Negade Ras Mahomet called and said Mahomet Gibberti was arrived, had been twice on private business with the Ras, but had not yet delivered him his presents ; and that, at Ayto Aylo's proposal, it was agreed that I should be appointed Palambaras, which is master of the king's horse. I told Ma- homet, that, far from being any kindness to me, this would make me the most unhappy of all creatures ; that my extreme desire was to see the country, and its different natural produc- tions ; to converse with the people as a stranger, but to be nobody's master nor servant; to see their books ; and, above all, to visit the sources of the Nile; to live as privately in my own house, and have as much time to myself, as possi- ble ; and what I was most anxi- ous about at present, was to know when it would be conveni- BRUCE' S TRAVELS. 207 ent for them to admit me to see the E.as, and deliver my letters as a stranger. Mahomet went away, and re- turned, bringing Mahomet Gib- berti, who told me, that, be- sides the letter I carried to Ras Michael from Metical Aga, his master, he had been charged with a pardcular one, out of the ordinary form, dictated by the English at Jidda, who, all of them, and particularly my friends Captain Thornhill, and Captain Thomas Price of the Lyon, had agreed to make a point with Metical Aga, de>«oted to them for his own profit, that his utmost exertion of friend- ship and interest, should be so employed in my recom- mendation as to engage the attention of Ras Michael, and to provide in earnest for my safety. This letter I had myself read at Jidda ; it informed Michael of the power and riches of our nation, and that they were -ab- solute masters of the trade on the Red Sea, and strictly con- nected with the Sherriffe, and in a very particular manner with him, Metical Aga ; that any accident happening to me would *^* an infamy and disgrace to mm, and worse than death it- self, because, that knowing Michael's power, and elying on his friendship, he had be- come security for my safety, after I arrived in his hands ; that I was a man of considera- tion in my own country, servant to the king of it, who, though himself a Christian, governed his subjects, Mussulmans and Pagans, with the same impar- tiality and justice as he did Christians ; that all my desire was to examine springs and rivers, trees and flowers, and the stars in the heavens, from which 1 drew knowledge very useful to preserve man's health and life; that I was no mer- chant, and had no dealings whatever in any sort of mer- cantile matters ; and that I had no need of any man's money, as he had told Mahomet Gib- berti to provide for any call I might have in that country, and for which he would answer, let the sum be what it would. Upon reading this letter, Michael exclaimed, * Metical Aga does not know the situa- tion of this country. Safety I where is that to be found ? I am obliged to fight for my own life every day. Will Metical call this safety? Who knows, at this moment, if the king is in safety, or how long I shall be so? All I can do is to keep him with me. If I lose my own life, and the king's, Meti- cal Aga can never think it was in my power to preserve that of his stranger.' ; *No, no/ says Ayto Aylo, who was then present, 'ycu don't know the man; he is a devil on horseback ; he rides better, and shoots better, than any man that ever came into Abyssinia ; lose no time, put him about the king, and there is no fear of him. He is very ■i '^M ,]i ■\|S 'ii 'A .Pa ' I'^i^ '■■ !''»t %m -:> , ■! m -^y-^mm - 'i • 'V: iilK ■ i\ ,; ffi ^ ■«. p •}£ 'KW ■- : m 1 - ' ^E IKSfl I ' ^i JhH ■ri^ ■U ,5 ''^- ^M IJ '% m& * ' if ''^ itjra \ 1 '1 ym 4 if .'if lifSm ■ 2o3 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. ■ ■ K a I •» 5i5. Ill ^ i.ni sober and religious ; he will do the king good.' * Shoot 1' says Michael, *he won't shoot at me as the Ar- menian did; will he? will he?' *0h,* continued Aylo, 'you know these days are over. What is the Armenian ? a boy, a slave to the Turk. When you see this man, you'll not think of the Armenian.' It was finally agreed, that the letters the Greeks had received should be read to the king ; and that I should be introduced to the King and the Ras immedi>- ately after they were ready. I think it was about the 14th that these letters were to be all read. I expected at the ordi- nary hour, about five in the afternoon, to be sent for, and had rode out to Koscam. I came a little before the time, and met Ayto Aylo at the door. He squeezed me by the hand, and said, * Refuse nothing; it can be all altered afterwards; but it is very necessary, on ac- count of the priests and the populace, you have a place of some authority, otherwise you will be robbed and murdered the first time you go half a mile from home. Fifty people have told me you have chests filled with gold, and that you can make gold, or bring what quan- tity you please from the Indies ; and the reason of all this is, because you refused the queen and Ozoro Esther's ofifer of gold at Koscam, which you must never do again.' We went in and saw the old man sitting upon a sofa; his white hair was dressed in many short curls. He appeared to be thoughtful, but not displeased ; his face was lean, his eyes quick and vivid. He seemed to be about six feet high, and his air was perfectly free from con- straint, what the French call dSgagi. In face and person he was liker my learned and worthy friend, the Count de Buffon, than any two men I ever saw in the world. I offered, as usual, to kiss the ground before him, and of this he seemed to take little notice, stretching out his hand and shaking mine upon my rising. He began gravely, * Yagoube, I think that is your name, hear what I say to you, and mark what I recommend to you. You are a man, I am told, who make it your business to wander in the fields in search after trees and grass in solitary places, and to sit up all night alone looking at the stars of the heavens. Other countries are not like this, though this was never so bad as it is now. These wretches here are enemies to strangers; if they saw you alone in your own parlour, their first thought would be how to murder you ; though they knew they were to get nothing by it, they would murder you for mere mischief.' * The devil is strong in them,' says a voice from a corner of the room, which ap- peared to be that of a priest. * Therefore,' says the Ras, * after a long conversation with your fiiend Aylo, whose advice I BRUGES TRAVELS. 269 hear you happily take, as in- deed we all do, I have thought that situation best which leaves you at liberty to follow your own designs, at the same time that it puts your person in safety; that you will not be troubled with monks about their religious matters, or in danger from these rascals that may seek to murder you for money.' ' What are the monks V says the same voice from the corner ; < the monks will never meddle with such a man as this.' ' Therefore the king,' continued the Ras, without taking any notice of the interruption, * has appointed you BaalomaaV and to command the Koccob horse, which I thought to have given to Francis, an old soldier of mine ; but he is poor, and we will provide for him better, for these appointments have hon- our, but little profit.' ' Sir,' says Francis, who was in his presence, but behind, * it is in much more honourable hands than either mine or the Arme- nian's, or any other white man's, since the days of Hatze Menas, and so I told the king to-day.' ' Very well, Francis,' says the Ras ; * it becomes a soldier to speak the truth, whether it makes for or against himself. Go then to the king, and kiss the ground upon your appoint- ment. Aylo and Heikel are very proper persons to go with you; and there, too, is Tecla Mariam, the king's secretary, 1 Literally, keeper of the goods, or effects. who came with your appoint- ment from the palace to-day.' The man in the corner that I took for a priest, was this Tecla Mariam, a scribe. I then gave him a present, which he scarce looked at, as a number of people were pressing in at the door from curiosity or business. I then paid a short visit to Ozoro Esther, who over- flowed with gratitude at all my previous attentions. Returning to the king's palace, I met Aylo and Heikel at the door of the presence-chamber. Tecla Ma- riam walked before us to the foot of the throne ; after which I advanced and prostrated my- self upon the ground. * I have brought you a servant,' says he to the king, * from so distant a country, that if you ever let him escape, we shall never be able to follow him, or know where to seek him.' The king was in an alcove ^ the rest went out of sight from where the throne was, and sat down. The usual questions now began about Jerusalem and the holy places — where my country was? — why I came so far? — whether the moon and the stars, but especially the moon, was the same in my country as in theirs? — and a great many such idle and tire- some questions. I had several times offered to take my pre- sent from the man who held it, that I might offer it to his Ma- jesty and go away ; but the king always made a sign to put it off, till, being tired to death o '\m ■ m ' \ \ '' 212 TIfE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, and I thought it was better to chastise him on the spot than trust him to you, who perhaps might take the affair to heart ; for we all know your justice, and that being your relation is no excuse when you judge be- tween man and man.' * I order you, Aylo,' says Michael, ' as you esteem my friendship, to tell me the truth, really as it was, and without disguise or concealment.' Aylo began accordingly to relate the whole history, when a servant called me out ito Ozoro Esther. The whole affair was thus made up, and the king was acquainted with the issue of it. I stood in my place, where he showed me very great marks of favour ; he was grave, how- ever, and sorrowful, as if mor- tified with what had happened. The king ordered me to stay and dine at the palace, and he would send me my dinner. They all seemed to have taken my cause to heart more than I wished them to do, for fear it should be productive of some new quarrel. For my own part I never was so de- jected in my life. The trouble- some prospect before me pre- sented itself day and night. I more than twenty times resolved to return by Tigre, to which I was more inclined by the loss of a young man who accom- panied me through Barbary, and assisted me in the drawings of architecture which I made for the king there, part of which he was still advancing here, when a dysentery, which had attacked him in Arabia Felix, put an end to his life at Gondar. . From this constant frettinc and despondency I found my health much impaired, and I was on the point of becoming seriously ill. There was one thing that contributed in some measure to dissipate these mel- ancholy thoughts, which was, that all Gondar was in one scene of festivity, on occasion of the marriage -ceremony of Ozoro Ayabdar, the Itegh^'s youngest daughter, who was married to P.owussen, governor of Begem- der. The king gave her large districts of land in that pro- vince, and Ras Michael a large .portion of gold, muskets, cattle, and horses. All the town, that wished to be well looked upon by either party, brought some- thing considerable as a present. The Ras, Ozoro Esther, and Ozoro Altash, entertained all Gondar. A vast number of cattle was slaughtered every day, and the whole town looked like one great market, the com- mon people in every street ap- pearing loaded with pieces of raw beef, while drink circulated in the same proportion. After dinner we slipt away to parties of -ladies, where anarchy pre- vailed as completely as at *he house of the Ras. AH the mar- ried women ate, drank, .-rid smoked like the men ; aiid it is impossible to convey to the reader any idea of this baccha- BRUCE'S TRAVELS. 213 nalian scene in terms of com- mon decency. Although the king's favour, the protection of the Ras, and my obliging, attentive, and lowly behaviour to everybody, had made me as popular as I could wish at Gondar, and among the Tigrans fully as much as those of Amhara, yet it was easy to perceive that the cause of my quarrel with Guebra Mascal was not yet forgotten. One day, when I was stand- ing by the king in the palace, he asked, in discourse, ' Whether I, too, was not drunk in the quar- rel with Guebra Mascal, before we came to blows V and upon ray saying that I was perfectly sober, both before and after, because Anthule's red wine was finished, and I never willingly drank hydromel, or mead, he asked, with a degree of keen- ness, * Did you then soberly say to Guebra Mascal, that an end of a tallow-candle, in a gun in your hand, would do more execution than an iron bullet in his ]' ' Certainly, sir, I did so.* * And why did you say this V says the king, dryly enough, and in a manner I had not before observed. ' Because,* replied I, * it was truth ; and a proper reproof to a vain man, who, whatever emi- nence he might have obtained in a country like this, has not knowledge enough to entitle him to the trust of cleaning a gun in mine.* *0, ho !' continued the king ; * as for his knowledge, I am not speaking of that, but about his gun. You will not persuade me, that, with a tallow-candle, you can kill a man or a horse V * Pardon me, sir,' said I, bow- ing very respectfully ; * I will attempt to persuade you of no- thing but what you please to be convinced of. Will piercing the table, upon which your dinner is served (it was of sycamore, about three quarters of an inch thick), at the length of this room, be deemed a sufficient proof of what I advance ?' ' Ah ! Yagoube, Yagoube,' says the king, * take care what you say.' Ayto Engedan, who was then present, said, * I am sure if Yagoube says he can do it, he will do it ; but how, I don't know. Can you shoot through my shield* with a tallow- candled * To you, Ayto Engedan,' said I,. * I can speak freely. I could shoot through your shield if it was the strongest in the army, and kill the strongest man in the army that held it before him. When witt you see this tried V * Why, now,' says the king ;. * there is nobody here.* * The sooner the better,' said I. * I would not wish to re- main for a moment longer under so disagreeable an imputation as that of lying, an infamous one in my country, whatever it may be in this. Let me send for my gun ; the king will look out at the window. Nobody^ ~ ■ - a- ' ■ I I o. '''.i ' 1 ■ vwm ■'li.i'^i^ ' v^skf&a ^■^ ^ Mf {s^ 9 ^ i^a^Sui ';j i-ra ■' -1 ''Wm ^z '- I^^mh ' 'i ^^9 \ '^^^ 1} •f^H Ld i«IH au THE KXGlJSrf ILXPLOKF.RS. ^' 'i : 1 1: 1 -^ n says he, * knows anything of it ; The king appeared to be very anxious, and, 1 saw plainly, in- crochtlous. The gun was brought, I'.ngcdan's slueld was produced, wliich was of a strong buffah)'s hide. I said to him, • Tins is a weak one ; give nie one stronger.' He shook his head, and said, • Ah, Vagoube, you'll find it strong enough ; Kngedan's shield is known to be no toy.' Tocla Mariam brought such a shield, and the Billetana Ciueta Tecla another, both of which were most excellent in their kind. I loaded the gun before llicnt, first Htth powder, then upon it slid down one-half of what we call a farthing candle ; and, having beat off the handles e( three shields, I put them close in contact with each other, and set them all three against a post. ' Now, Engedan,' said I, * when you please, say — Fire 1 but mind youihave taken leave of your good shield for ever.' The word was given and the gun fired. It struck the three shields, neither in the most difiuult nor the easiest part for perforation, something less than l\alf-way between the rim and the boss. The candle went through the three shields with such violence, that it dashed itself to a thousand pieces against a stone wall behind it. I turned to Engedan, saying very lowly, gravely, and with- out exultation or triumph, on the contrary with absolute in- ilitTerence, ' Did not I tell you your shield was naught V A great shout of apptauiic followed from about a thousand people that were gathered toge- ther. The three shields were carried to the king, who ex- claimed in great tran^port, • I did not believe it before I saw it, and 1 can scarce believe it now I have seen it I' * Avto Isngcdan,' said I, * wc must have a touch at that table. It was said the piercing that, was more than Guebra Mascal could do. We have one-half o( the candle left still ; it is the thinnest, weakest half, and I shall put the wick foremost, because the cotton is .softest.' The table being now properly l)laced, to Engcdan's utmost astonishment, the candle, with the wick foremost, went through the table, as the other had gone through the three shields. • By St. Michael I' says Enge- dan, ' Yagoube, hereafter say to me you can raise my father Eshte from the grave, and I will believe you.' Some priests who were there, though surprised at first, seemed afterwards to treat it rather lightly, because they thought it below their dignity to be sur- prised at anything. They said It was done by writing (muck- toub), by which they meant magic. Everybody embraced that opinion, as an evident and rational one, and so the wonder with them ceased. But it was not so with the king : it made BRUGES TRAVELS. «»S the most favourable and lasting impression upon his mind ; nor (lid 1 ever after see, in his coun- tenance, any marks either of doubt or diffidence, but always, on the contrary, the most deci- sive proofs of friendship, confi- dence, and attention, and the most implicit belief of everv- thing I advanced upor any sub- ject from my own knowledge. The experiment was twice tried afterwards in presence of Ras Michael ; but he wouUl not risk his good shields, and al- ways produced the table, saying, • Engedan and these foolish boys were rightly served ; they tliought Yagoube was a liar like tlieniselves, and they lost their shields; but I believed him, and gave him my table for curiosity only, and so I saved mine.' CHAPTER IX. Division of AliysnItUft— Manners nnd Cuu- toms of the InhaMtantH. At Massuah, on the coast of the Red Sea, begins an imagi- nary division of Abyssinia into two, which is rather a division of language than strictly to be understood as territorial. The first division is called Tigrd, be- tween the Red Sea and the river Tacazz^. Between that river and the Nile, westward where it bounds the Galla, it is called Amhara. But whatever con- venience there may be from this division, there is neither geo- graphical nor historical pre- cision in it, for there are many little provinces included in the first tiiat do not belong to Tigrd ; and, in the second division, or Amliara, that which gives the name is but a very small part of it. Massuah, in ancient times, was one of the principal places of residence of the Bahama- gash, who, when he was not there himself, constantly left his deputy or lieutenant. Jn summer, he resided for several months in the island of Daha- lac, then accounted part of his territory. He was, after the King and Betwudet, the person of the greatest consideration in the kingdom, and was invested with sendic and negareet^ the kettle-drum and colours, marks of supreme command. Tigrd is the next province of Abyssinia, as well for greatness as riches, power and dignity^ and nearest Massuah. It is bounded by the territory of the Baharnagash, that is, by the river Mareb on the east, and the Tacazzd upon the west. It is about one hundred and twen- ty miles broad from e. to w. and two hundred from n. to s. This is its present situation. The hand of usurping power has abolished all distinctions on the west side of the Tacazzd ; besides many large govern- ments, such as Enderta and Antalow, and great part of the Baharnagash, were swallowed up in this province to the east. What, in a special manner makes the riches of Tigr^, is, ^■.■;;^i r HI '^<'M. m ■ :.! ilfi ■*! »■'■ .' #"^ 2l6 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. that it lies nearest the market, which is Arabia ; and all the merchandise destined to cross the Red Sea must pass through this province ; so that the go- vernor has the choice of all commodities wherewith to make his market. The strongest male, the most beautiful female slave, the purest gold, the largest teeth of ivory, all must pass through his hands. Fire-arms, moreover, which for many years have decided who is the most powerful in Abyssinia, all these come from Arabia, and not one can be purchased without his knowing to whom it goes, and after his having had the first refusal of it. Sird, a province about twenty- five miles broad, and not much more in length, is reckoned as part of Tigrd also ; but this is not a new usurpation. It lost the rank of a province, and was united to Tigrd for the misbe- haviour of its governor Kas- mati Claudius, in an expedition against the Shangalla, in the reign of Yasous the Great. After passing the Tacazzd, the boundary between Sirtf and Samen, we come to that moun- tainous province called by the last name. A large chain of rugged mountains, where is the Jew's Rock, reaches from the south of Tigr^ down near to Waldubba, the low hot country that bounds Abyssinia on the north. On the N.E. of Tigr^ lies the province of Begemder. It bor- ders upon Angot, whose gover- nor is called Angot Ras; but the whole province now, ex- cepting a few villages, is con- quered by the Galla. It has Amhara, which runs parallel to it, on the south, and is separ- ated from it by the river Bas- hilo. Both these provinces are bounded by the river Nile on the west. Begemder is about 1 80 miles in its greatest length, and 60 in breadth, comprehend- ing Lasta, a mountainous pro- vince, sometimes depending on Begemder, but often in rebel- lion. Begemder is the strength of Abyssinia in horsemen. It is said, that, with Lasta, it can bring out 45,000 men ; but this, as far as could be properly discovered, is a great exaggera- tion. They are exceedingly good soldiers when they are pleased with their general, and the cause for which they fight : otherwise, they are easily divided, a great n ^ny private interests being contmually kept alive, as it is thought industri- ously, by government itself. It is well stocked with cattle of every kind, all very beautiful. The mountains are full of iron mines; they are not so steep and rocky, nor so frequent, as in other provinces, if we except only Lasta, and abound in all sorts of wild-fowl and game. Amhara is the next province, between the two rivers Bashilo and Geshen. The length of this country from E. to w. is about 1 20 miles, and its breadth something more than 40. It is BRUGES TRAVELS, 2^^ a very mountainous country, full of nobility ; the men are reckoned the handsomest in Abyssinia, as well as the bravest. Between the two rivers Ge- shen and Samba is a low, un- wholesome, though fertile pro- vince, called VValaka ; and south- ward of that is Upper Shoa. This province, ot kingdomy was famous for the retreat it gave to the only remaining prince of the house of Solomon, who fled from the massacre of his brethren by Judith, about the year 900, upon the rock of Damo. Here the royal family remained in secu- rity, and increased in number, for nearly 400 years, till they were restored. Gojam, from north-east to south-east, is about 80 miles in length and 40 in breadth. It is a very flat country, and all in pasture; has few mountains, but these are very high ones, and are chiefly on the banks of the Nile, to the south, which river surrounds the province. On the south-east of the king- dom of Gojam, is Damot. It is bounded by the Temci on the east, by the Gult on the west, by the Nile on the south, and by the high mountains of Amid- Amid on the north. It is about forty miles in length from north to south, and something more than twenty in breadth from east to west. On the other side of Amid- Amid is the province of Agows, bounded by those mountains on the east ; by Bur^ and Um- barma, and the country of ^^J Gongas, on the > est; by Davgw and Gafat upon he south, mi% Dingleber on the north. South from Dembea is Kuara, a very mountainous province confining upon the Pagan blacks, or Shangalla, called Gongas and Guba, the Macrobi of the ancients. It is a very unwholesome province, bu t abounding in gold, not of its own produce, but that of its neighbourhood, thes Pagans — Guba, Nuba, and Shangalla. Nara, and Ras el Feel, Tehelga, and on to Tcherkin, is a frontier wholly inhabited by Mahometans. Its govern- ment is generally given to a stranger, often to a Mahometan ; but one of that faith is always deputy-governor. The use of keeping troops here is to de- fend the friendly Arabs and Shepherds who remain in their allegiance to Abyssinia, from the resentment of the Arabs of Sennaar, their neighbours ; and, by means of these friendly Arabs and Shepherds, secure a constant supply of horses for the king's troops. It is a bar- ren stripe of a very hot un- wholesome country, full of thick woods, and fit only for hunting. The inhabitants, fugitives from all nations, are chiefly Maho- metans, but very bold and expert horsemen, using no other weapon but the broad sword, with which they attack the elephants and rhinoceros. There are many other small provinces which occasionally 2l8 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. n are annexed, and sometimes are separated. The crown of Abyssinia is hereditary, and has always been so in one particular family, supposed to be that of Solomon by the Queen of Sheba, Nagasta Azab, or queen of the south. It is nevertheless elective in this line ; and there is no law of the land, nor custom, which gives the eldest son an exclu> sive title to succeed to his father. The practice has, in- deed, been quite the contrary. When, at the death of a king, his sons are old enough to govern, and, by some accident, not yet sent prisoners to the mountain, then the eldest, or he that is next, and not con- fined, generally takes possession of the throne by the strength of his father's friends ; but if no heir is then in the low country, the choice of a king is always according to the will of the minister, which passes for that of the people ; and his inclina- tion and interest being to govern, he never fails to choose an infant, whom he afterwards directs, ruling the kingdom ab- solutely during the minority, which generally exhausts, or is equal to the term of his life. From this flow all the misfor- tunes of this unhappy country. This very defect arises from a desire to institute a more than ordinary perfect form of govern- ment, for the Abyssinians' first position was, *Woe be to the kingdom whose king is a child ;' and this they know must often happen when succession is left to the course of nature. But when there was a choice to be made out of two hundred per- sons, all of the same family, all capable of reigning, it was their own fault, they thought, if they had not always a prince of proper age and qualifications to rule the kingdom, according to the necessities of the times, and to preserve the succession of the family in the house of Solo- mon, agreeable to the laws of the land ; but this mode of rea- soning, experience has proved fallacious. The king is anointed with plain oil of olives, which, being poured upon the crown of the head, he rubs it into his long hair indecently enough with both his hands, pretty much as his soldiers do with the'rs when they get access to plenty of butter. The crown is made in the shape of a priest's mitre, or head-piece; it is a kind of helmet covering the king's fore- head, cheeks, and neck. It is lined with blue taffety : the out- side is half gold and half silver, of the most beautiful filigree work. The king goes to church regu- larly, his guards taking posses- sion of every avenue and door through which he is to pass; and nobody is allowed to enter with him, because he is then on foot, excepting two officers of his bed-chamber, who support him. He kisses the threshold and sideposts of the church-door, BRUGES TRAVELS. 319 the steps before the altar, and then returns home : sometimes there is service in the cli arch, sometimes there is not ; 1 ut he lakes no notice of the difference. He rides up-stairs into the presence-chamber on a mule, and lights immediately on the carpet before his throne ; and we have sometimes set 1 great indecencies committed by the said mule in the presence- chamber, upon a Persian carpet. The Serach Massery, an officer so called, with a long whip, begins cracking and making a noise, worse than twenty French postilions, at the door of the palace before the dawn of day. This chases away the hyaena and other wild beasts; this, too, is the signal for the king's rising, who sits in judgment every morning fasting, and, after that, about eight o'clock, he goes to breakfast. There are six noblemen of the king's own choosing, who are called Baalomaal, or gentle- men of his bed-chamber; four of these are always with him. There is a seventh, who is the chief of these, called Azeleffa el Camisha, groom of the robe or stole. He is keeper of the king's wardrobe, and the first officer of the bed-chamber. These officers, the black slaves, and some others, serve him as menial servants, and are in a degree of familiarity with him unknown to the rest of the subjects. ^Vhen the king sits to con- sult upon civil matters of con- sequence, he is shut up in u kind of box opposite to the head of the council-table. The persons that deliberate sit at the table ; and according to their rank, give their voices, the youngest or lowest officer al- ways speaking first. The first that give their votes are the Shalaka, or colonels of the household troops. The second are the great butlers, men that have the charge of the king's drink. The third is the Badje- rund, or keeper of that apart- ment in the palace called the iion^s house; and after these the keeper of the banqueting-house. The next is called Lika Mag- wass, an officer that always goes before the king to hinder the pressure of the crowd. In war when the king is marching, he rides constantly round him at a certain distance, and car- ries his shield and his lance ; at least he carries a silver shield, and a lance pointed with the same metal, before such kings as do not choose to expose their persons. No prince ever lost his life in battle till the coming of the Europeans into Abyssinia, when both the ex- communicating and murdering of their sovereigns seems to have been introduced at the same time. After the Lika Magwass comes thePalambaras; after him the Fit-Auraris ; then the Gera Kasmati, and the Kanya Kasmati, their names being derived from their rank or order in encamping, the one on the right, the other on the , i • I S4n rnn nxarrsrr nxrroKrj^s. »i; »k.; ^li 1 1 ' lrl> of ihc kings tent : Knnya rtiul (Jci'.i signilying fhf f(ii^f, l^m\ th^ kO : rtlkr thoiw the iMkakiu Uillctrtna (Suctrt, or Ihc undcvH h;u«l>erl{\in ; then the scciTtnry lor (he king's roni- nii\nvis ; rtl\or \\\\\\ the ri^ht rttul loll A/.jigcs, or gcncmls ; aOor thcnt Rak Mrtsscvy ; JiUcr him the Urtshrt ; alVcr him Kjivsnirtti ot Damot, then of S;unon. then An^h.im, and last of all, TigitS bcloro whom stands a golden r\i|> upon a cushion, and he is I ailed Nehvit, as being Gover- nor of Axum, or keeper of the book of th(» law supposes! to l>e there. After the Governor of Ttgrt^ comes the Aealv Suat, or guardian of the fne, and the < hief ecclesiastical oHtnev of the king's househv>ld. Some have said tliAt this otUcer was ap- pointed to attend the king at the time of eating, at\d thai i* was his i>rovince to order both meat and drink to be withdrawn whei\c\Tr he s;\\v the kiitg ii^ dined to excess. After the Acab Saat comes the firet master of the housc- lu>ld ; then the Hctwudet, or Kas ; last of all the king gives his sentence, which is final, and sct\ds it to the table, from the balcony wheiT he is then sit- ting, by the otHce» KaMlatixS \Ve meet in Abyssinia with various usages, which many have hitherto thought to be peculiar to those aiKieiit nations \\\ which they were fust ob- served; others, not in) learned, ha\^ thought they originated in Abyssinia, We shall first takes notice of those that iv ganl the king and court. 'I'he kings of IVvsia, like those we are speaking of, w^ere eligihlo in one lamily only, that ol the Arsacidse, and it was not till ih;it race failetl they chose Darius, 'I'he title of the King of Al>vs sitiia is, AV/laco for their coronation ; and this, too» was the case of Abyssiuia, with their metropolis of Axuin. The next remarkable core- monyin whicluhesc two nations nNUCE's TRAvr.rs, aai iiLTccd, IH ihttt ol ndorntion, ii\- violnbly ol>Ncivc(l in AbyHHiniii to ihJN tlay, HH ollcii as you ontci the HOVcrcign'N prcRcnrr. This is not only kneeling, but ;,n nbsoUitc prostrnlion. You liisl liill upon your kneeH, then u|H»n ll«e HfiiniM of your hundw, I hen inrbnc your head and Ixuly till your lorrhcjul touch the earth ; and, in ease you iiavc an answer to expert, you lie in that posture till the ku% or souiebody bom him, de- sires you to rise. This, too, \v;is tl^c eustoni ol I Vrsia ; Arian says this was lust iuslituled by Cyrus, and this was precisely the posture in whieh they ;nl()ied (Jod, mentioned in the |{o(»k ol" Kxodus. It is the ronstant prartiee in Abyssinia to beset the king's cUhhs and windows within his hearing, at\d there, IVonj early morning to night, to cry for jiistitc as lout! as p»)ssible in a distrcsseil and complaining tone, and in all the dilVerent liiaguages they arc masters of, in order to their being adnutleil 10 have their supposed griev- ;inces heard. In a country so illgoverned as Abyssinia is, ami so perpetually involved in war, it may be easily supposed there is no want of people who have real injuries and violence to con)plain of ; but if it were not so, this is so much the con- stant usage, that when it hap- pens (as in the midst of the rainy season) that few people can approach the capital or stand without in such bad weather, a net of vngrnntu arc provided, maintained, and paid, whose sole business is to cry and lament, as if they had been really very nmch injured and oppressed ; and this, they tell you, is for the king's honour, that he may not be lonely, by the palace being too tpiiet. This, of all their absurd cus- toms, was the most grievous any room in the rainy season, there would be four or five hundred peoiile, who all at once wouhl begin, some roaring and crying, as if they were in pain, others demanding justice, as if they were that nioment sulfering, or if in the instant to be put to death ; and some groaning and sobbing as if just expiring ; and this horrid sym- phony was 80 artfully performed, that no ear could distinguish but that it proceeded from real distress. JJeing often so sur- prised as to send the soldiers at th.e dooi' to bring in one of them, thinking him come from the country, to examine who had injured him ; many a time he was a servant of my own, or some other etjually known ; or, if he was a stranger, upon asking him what misfor- tune had befallen him, he would answer very composedly, * No- thing was the matter with him ; that he had been sleeping all day with the horses ; that hear- ing from the soldiers at the door that I had retired to my apartment, he and his m ■H : .' '|| ».' 1 t! t f !'i 222 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. '. i ■ i companions had come to cry and make a noise under my window, to do me honour be- fore the people, for fear I should be melancholy, by being too quiet when alone ; and therefore hoped that I would order them drink, that they might continue with a little more spirit.' The violent anger which this often put me into did not fail to be punctually re- ported to the king, at which he would laugh heartily; and he himself was often hid, not far off, for the sake of being a spectator of his heavy displea- sure. These complaints, whe- ther real or feigned, have always for their burden, Rete O Jan hot\ which, repeated quick, ery much resembles Prete Janni, the name that was given to this prince, of which we never yet knew the derivation ; its signification is, * Do me justice, my king ! ' Xerxes being about to declare war against the Greeks, as- sembled all the principal chiefs of Asia in council. * That I may not,' says he, * be thought to act only by my own judgment, 1 have called you together. At the same time I think proper to intimate to you, that it is your duty to obey my will, rather than enter into any deliberation or remonstrances of your own.' We will now compare some particulars : the dress and or- naments of the two kings. The king of Abyssinia wears his hair long ; so did the ancient kings of Persia. A comet had appeared in the war with Per- sia, and was looked upon by the Romans as a bad omen. Vespasian laughed at it ; and said, if it portended any ill, it was to the king of Persia, be- cause like him it wore lontr hair. The diadem was, with the Persians, a mark of royalty as with the Abyssinians, being composed of the same materials and worn in the same manner. The king of Abyssinia wears it while marching, as a mark of sovereignty, that does not im- pede or incommode him, as any other heavier ornament would do, especially in hot weather. This fillet surrounds his head above the hair, leaving the crown perfectly uncovered. It is an offence of the first magnitude for any person, at this time, to wear anything upon his head,especially white, unless for Mahommetans, who wear caps, and over them a large white turban ; or for priests, who wear large turbans of mus- lin also. This was the diadem of the Persians, as appears from Lucian, who calls it a white fillet about the forehead. The kings of Abyssinia anciently sal upon a gold throne, which is a large, convenient, oblong, square seat, like a small bed- stead, covered with Persian carpets, damask, and cloth of gold, with steps leading up to it. It is still richly gilded ; but the many revolutions and wars have much abridged their ancient magnificence. It is, in BRUGES TRAVELS, 223 Abyssinia, high treason to sit upon any seat of the king's; and he that presumed to do this would be instantly hewn to pieces, if there was not some other collateral proof of his being a madman. It is probable that Alexander had heard of this law in Persia, and disapproved of it ; for one day, it being extremely cold, the king sitting in his chair, before the fire, saw a soldier, probably a Persian, who had lost his feeling by extreme numbness. The king immedi- ately leaped from his chair, and ordered the soldier to be set down upon it. The fire soon brought him to his senses, but he had almost lost them again with fear, by finding himself in the king's seat. To whom Alex- ander said, * Remember, and distinguish, how much more ad- vantageous to man my govern- ment is, than that of the kings of Persia. By sitting down on my seat, you have saved your life; by sitting on theirs, you would infallibly have lost it.' In Abyssinia it is considered as a fundamental law of the land, that none of the royal family, who has any deformity or bodily defect, shall be al- lowed to succeed to the crown ; and, for this purpose, any of the princes, who may have escaped from the mountain of Wechn^, and who are afterwards taken, are mutilated in some of their members, that thus they may be disqualified from ever suc- ceeding. In Persia the same was observed. Procopius tells us, that Zames, the son of Ca- bades, was excluded from the throne because he was blind of one eye ; the law of Persia pro- hibiting any person that had a bodily defect to be elected king. The kings of Abyssinia were seldom seen by the people. This absurd usage gave rise to many abuses. In Persia it pro- duced two officers, who were called the king's eyes, and the king's ears. In Abyssinia it created an officer called the king's mouth, or voice ; for be- ing seen by nobody, he spoke of course in the third person, Hear what the king says to yotiy which is the usual form of all regal mandates in Abyssinia, and what follows has the force of law. Solemn hunting-matches were always in use both with the kings of Abyssinia and those of Persia. In »both kingdoms it was a crime for a subject to strike the game till such time as the king had thrown his lance at it. This absurd custom was repealed by Artaxerxes Longi- manus in one kingdom, and by Yasous the Great in the other, so late as the beginning of the last century. The kings of Abyssinia are above all laws. They are su- preme in all causes, ecclesiasti- cal and civil : the land and per- sons of their subjects are equally their property, and every inhabi- tant of their kingdom is born their slave ; if he bears a higher rank it is by the king's gift; It "y^ ^i\ nrn F.^arrsn nxrroh'n.KS. nm\ ■ m t \ i\ \ I \% for hi« i^erttTRi rclrt lions ai-c ac- rv>unlcd imtlunji; bcUoi. The sAmc olUrtinctI in IVrsia. Thciv arc scvcJiU kinils of biT.ul in Abyssinirt, sotnc of ililVcionl j^oits oi tolV, juul Hon^c ol totiillo, which also vary in i(Urtlily. The king ol" Abys- sinia crtts of wheal bicul, ihongh nol of every wheal, InU of ihat only tluil gmws in lUc province of Detnhea, iheiTfore tailed ihc king's foovl. 1 1 al ways has been, and still is, ihe cnslonv of the kings of Abys- sinia, to nuirry what i\ntnber of wives they chov)se ; that iIuhic were iK>t thereline all wn upon her head. Ami lv>scohus intVmns us, that when l\sther was brought before the king, he was excecdiiig.lv de lighted with her, and uuulc her his lawful wile, atul when she catne into the nalacc he put a c»x>wn upot\ her liead. NVhelher placit^g the cix)wn upon the queen's b.eail had any civil etVoct as to regeiu'v in Per- sia, as it had in Abyssinia, is what history docs not itUorni us. The king of Abyssit\ia tiever is seen to walk, m>r to set his foot upon the grounvl, out of his palace ; atul when he wouhl dis. tnount lron» the horse <>r nuih' on which he rides, he has a sor vant with a stool, wlu) nlacrs n properly for him for tnat \\\\\. pose. He ritle« itito the atuc chamber to the fv)ot t)f ih,< throne^ or to the stool pl,\nil in the alcove of IWs lent. IK- very oIUmi judges capital ciimcs hiniself. Nt) n»an W lUuuleuuKd by the king in oorstMi tt) die fv>r the first (ault, unless thp crinie be of a hornd natuio, s\tch as parricide «or saciilogc. Atul, In general, the life .uul nierits of the prisoner mo weighed against his innuediatc guilt ; Ko that if his hrst bcliavi our has had more nierit lowanls the slate than his presewt tiolm quenc\y is tho\ighl to have in jurcd it, the one is placetl laiilv against the other, and the ac- cused is generally absoivoil when the sovereign jiulgos alotie. Darius had condcinnod Sandoccs, one of the kings judges, to be crucilied lor cor- ruption, thai is. for haviiig givni false judgment for a bribe. The inan was already hung up on the cross, when the king, ym- sidering with himself how ujany good services he had done, pre- vious to this, the otdy olloncc which he had d^mnntlcil. or- dered him to be pardiinevl. 'i'he Pcrsiati king, \\\ all expe- ditions, was alleniled by judges, We lind in Herodotus, ilial mi the cxpctlition of Cambyscs, ten of the principal Egyi)tian8 were condenmed to die by these juvlges for every Persian lliai JiNUClCS TKAVHrs. ••5 1. ol MiMnpliis. iSix judges nl ^vaysnUoiulcd the king ol Ahya sinirt, to tlio r.'imp, nnd, lu'loiv thorn, whvh tnkon <)n (he firhl ;ur tried aiul itunishcd on \\\v sjiot. Pcoplo innl the king di«- tin^^iiiRhrd hy favoui, or for iinv jMiMie ntlion, were in bolli kiiig(lone elnelly tcwimls ol inilil.ny Rcrviee ; yet Poncct re ccivetl fi gold ehnin from YrtHoua the (liCiU. The day Ijelbie the li.illle of SeihraxoR, Ayton l'',n- gO(l;u» leicived fl silver bridle and siuldle, covered with nilver |tl;Ues, frotn Rna Mielmcl. In AhyHsinia, when a prisoner is eoniletnncd in rnpital ensea, he is not ngfiin remitted to irison, whleh ih thought erticl. ml he is immediMtcly auried awiiy niul the Rei\ten(:e executed upon him. Altim Salam.i, the Aeah Siiat, wuh eondenmcd by the king the morning lie entered ('•(Mular, on his return from Tigie, and innnediately hfinged, ill the garment ol";i priest, on ii tree at the door of the kingH paliiec. Chrenuition, brother to the usurper Socinios, was executed that same morning ; (luchra Denghcl, Ras Michacrs soivin-law, was likewise execut- ed that same day, immediately after judgment ; and so were several others. The same was the practice in Persia, as we learn from Xcnophon, and more plainly from Diodorus. The capital punishment in Abyssinia iw the c-ross. .Soclnion fust ordered Ar/o, his compc- tiloi, who \un\ lied fc»r assistance and refuge to I'hineas, king Ot the I'alaRha, to bo crurilied without the camp. We fmd the Rame puniHluuent inllicted by AhaRUeruR upon Hainan, who was ordered to be aifixed to (he cross till he died. The next ( apital punishmetit is Haying alive. That this bar- barous execution still prevails in Abyssinia, is proved by the fate of the unlortunatc Woo- sheka, taken prisoner in the cani|)aign in i7fH;, while 1 waR Htill in Abyssinia a Bacri- fice made to the vengeance of the beautiful ()/oro Ksther, who, kind and humane as she was in other respe("ts, could receive no atonement for the death of her huKband. Lapidation, or stoning to death, is the next ia|iilal punish- ment in Abyssinia. This is chiefly indicted upon strangers cfilled l''rankR, for religious causes. 'J'he Catholic priests in Abyssinia tluit have been de- te( te(l there in these latter days, have been stoned to death, and their bodies lie still in the streets of (londar in siiuares of waste places, covered with the heaps of stones wlii( h occasioned their death by being thrown at them. 'I'here arc three of these hea])8 at the church of Abbo, all cover- ing I'Vanciscan friara ; and, be- sides them, a small i)yramid over a body who was stoned to death with them, about the first year of the reign of David iv. *■ ii k * lie 7HE r:Xi;/JsH /ixriOA\/':AS. ; i \\\ 1Vtsi;i, wo C\\\y\ \hM t\Mgn- «tot\oil 1«> (liMth by onlov t^ltho kinji ; i\\\A [\\v ^Aww iwnUov sivys, th:\l ri\;nn;ther rank, noble men ot" Tigri.^ nndeiwent the same misfortune ; a\ul what is wonvlerful, not one of them »lied in the operation, nor its eonse ouenoes, though perf.MnuHl in tne coarsest manner^ with at\ ii\u\ fotvc]>s, or i>\iteers. The (lead bodies of critnii^als slain for iiwason, munler, aiivl violence on the highway, at certain times, aw seldom buried it\ AbNT^sinia. The streets oi' CnMularwere strewed with pieces of their catxrases, which bting the wild beasts in multitudes into the city as soon as it be comes dark, so that it is scaixely sate for any one to walk in the night The dogs usevl to Ining pieces of humatv bodies into the wry house ai\d court-yaixl, to eat U\cm in greater security. NotwilhsiMuding the Ahyssi- tn;\ns wore so ancionily atul no;t>ly c«Mmor1otl with l'',g\pt, they never roimu to have ninilc tiso of oapor, or papyr\is, Imh imi(;\tod the praiiiio o( (lu> TorsiMns, who wrote upon skins ; and they do so lo this ilnv. Tins Mrisos from their h;uino early been )<'\ns. In Paiihiu, likewise, Pliny inlbrnis tis, th^ use of papynis was absuhui'ly imknowtt ; nuil thotigh it was tliseovered that papyrus grow in the I'lunhrates, near llitbylon, ot which tliey i-ould n»ake paper, they obstinately rather ehoose to adhere to their ancient eiis- torn ot weaving their letters on cloth, of which they tnade their gariucnts. The Persians, mote over, made use ot pnrrhmoiu fv>r their records, to whirh all their re\narkable tiausav lions were trusiotl ; and to this it is probably owing we have so n»at\y of their customs pro- served to this day. I'Vom this great resemblanco in customs between the Persiat\s and Abyssiniatis, following the fashional)le way of juilging aboui the oiigin of nations, one shouki boldly c(U\clude that the Abys fiinians were a colony of Per sians ; but this is very well k»H)wn to be without founvla- tioit. The customs, mentioned as otdy jieculiar to Persia, were coimnon to all the Kast; anl they were lost when those countries were over-run atul concjuered by people who in- troduced barliarous customs o( their own. The reason why we /?A7Y;A\V l^CAV/'J.S. *«7 hftve Ro tnu( li lofl r^r (Itc Pi't sinn ninloms is, flinl Hwy were wtiiun, Mn«l si» not linljlo in jili(>i-iti(Mi ; '.nul llu'ir lii'itig t»n pnichnu-nt nlso totilribiiliM! fo thcii |H!'setv;ilioti. '['be history \\\\'\v\\ tti'Hls nl flmse MiU'it'Hl and poIisluMl imlions hns iMr Rorvrtl IVw Ojigmi-iilR ol llu'lr timiniers entire from the x\\\\\^ oltiine ; while Ahysainin, nl wnr with nobody, of at war with ilsolf otily, lins |M('Rrrvi't> the niu itMil rnstonis which it en- joyed in connnon witli nil tlie |',nst, ftnd whieh W(>re only hiRt la other king(h)nifl l)y the inva- sion of slrnngera, — a niisfortnne AhvRsinia hns never snfTered since the introdnetion of letters. The old ICgyjjtians, as we are told hy Saerecl S( riplnre, did not eat with strnngers ; but Iterlmps the observation is ex- tended further thnn ever Scrip- ture meant. The instanee given of Joseph's brethren not i)oing allowed to eat with the Egyptians was, l)ecause Josejih Imd told Phnraoh that his brethren and Jacob his father were shepherds, thftt he might obtain from the ICgyptians the i;uul of (Joshen, a land, ;is the name imports, of pas- turage and grass, which the Nile never overflowed, and it was therefore in possession of the shepherds. Now the shep- herds, we are told, were the direct natural enemies of the Egyptians who live in towns. The shepherds also sacrificed to the god whom the I'lgyptians worshipped. ^riie I'.gyplinns worshipped the cow, nnd the shepherdq lived n))nn her llfsh, which niMile them a sepfirate people, tliMt could n«)t eat nt»r (oni- munii Mte tof^tlhcr ; nnd the very knowledge of this wMs, ns we are bibMincd by Scripture, the re.'is(jn why Jose'ph told Pharaoh, when he asked him what professi«ui his brethrefi were of, ' Your servMuts (snys Joseph) are shepherds, and their emphiymenl the feeding of cattle;' and this wns given ottt, thrtt tlie Ifind of (losheii ought be allotted to them, and so they and their descendants be kept separjite from the I'^-gyptians, and not exposed to mingle in their abf)miuations ; for, thoiigh they had abstained frotn those abominations, they could not kill c atlle for sacrifice (»r for food. They would have raised ill will against themselves; and, ns Moses says, wotdd have been stoned, nnd so the end of bringing them to (Joshen wotdd have been frustrated, which was to nurse them in a plentiful Innd in peace and security, till they should attain to be a mighty people, capable of sub- duing and filling the land, to which at the end of their cap- tivity, (lod was to lead them. The Abyssinians neither eat nor drink with strangers, though they have no reason for this ; and it is now a mere prejudice, because the old occasion for this regulation is lost. They break, or purify, however, every vessel a stianger of any kind shall have . I TfT^^I iM : pi ■ -K -^ - - ff ■^^ ftfl ill'' &I 22S THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. \ ',-.3 1 ^^ I'J'- V eaten or drunk out of. The custom then is copied from the Egyptians ; and they have pre- served it, though the Egyptian reason does no longer hold. The Egyptians made no ac- count of the mother what her state was ; if the father was free, the child followed the condition of the father. This is strictly so in Abyssinia. The king's child by a negro slave, bought with money, or taken in war, is as near in succeeding to the crown as any one of twenty children that he has older than that one, and born of the noblest women of the country. The men in Egypt neither bought nor sold ; the same is the case in Abyssinia at this day. It is infamy for a man to go to market to buy anything. He cannot carry water or bake bread ; but he must wash the clothes belonging to both sexes, and in this function the women cannot help him. In Abyssinia the men carried their burdens on their heads, the women on their shoulders ; and this differ- ence, we are told, obtained in Egypt. It is plain, that this buying, in the public market, by women, must have ended whenever jealousy or sequestra- tion of that sex began. For this reason it ended early in Egypt ; but, for the opposite reason, it subsists in Abyssinia to this day. It was a sort of impiety in Egypt to eat a calf; and the reason was plain, — they wor- shipped the cow. In Abyssinia, to this day, no man eats veal, although everyone very willingly eats beef. The Egyptian rea- son no longer subsists, as in the former case, but the prejudice remains, though they have for- gotten their reason. The Abyssinians eat no wild or water-fowl, not even the goose, which was a great delicacy in Egypt. The reason of this is, that, upon their conversion to Judaism, they were forced to relinquish their ancient muni- cipal customs, as far as they were contrary to the Mosaical law ; and the animals in their country, not corresponding in form, kind, or name, with those mentioned in the Septuagint, or original Hebrew, it has fol- lowed that there are many of each class that know not whether they are clean or not ; and a wonuerful confusion and uncertainty has followed through ignorance or mistake, being un- willing to violate the law in any one instance, though not under- standing it. It must be from prejudice alone we condemn the eating of raw flesh; no precept, divine or human, forbids it ; and if it be true, as later travellers have discovered, that there are na- tions ignorant of the use of fire, any law against eating raw flesh could never have been intended by God as obligatory upon mankind in general. At any rate it is certainly not clearly known whether the eat- ing raw flesh was not an earlier and more general practice than by preparing it with fire ; many BRUGES TRAVELS. 229 wise and learned men have doubted whether it was at first permitted to man to eat animal food at all. God, the author of life, and the best judge of what was proper to maintain it, gave this regimen to our first parents — 'Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed : to you it shall be for meat' And though, immediately after, he mentions both beast and fowls, and everything that creep- eth upon the earth, he does not say that he has designed any of these as meat for man. On the contrary, he seems to have intended the vegetable creation as food for both man and beast — * And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life^ I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.' After the flood, when mankind began to repossess the earth, God gave Noah a much more extensive permission : — * Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.' Saul's army, after a battle, slew^ that is, fell voraciously upon, the cattle they had taken, and threw them upon the ground to cut off their flesh, and ate ihem raw, so that the army was denied by eating blood, or living animals. To prevent this, Saul caused to be rolled to him a great stone, and ordered those that killed their oxen to cut their throats upon that stone. This was the only lawful way of killing animals for food ; the tying of the ox and throwing it upon the ground was not permitted as equivalent. The Israelites did probably in that case, as the Abyssinian s do at this day ; they cut a part of its throat, so that blood might be seen upon the ground, but nothing mortal to the animal followed from that wound. But, after laying the head upon a large stone, and cutting his throat, the blood fell from on high, or was poured on the ground like water, and sufficient evidence appeared that the creature was dead, before it was attempted to eat it. The Abyssinians came from Pales- tine a very few years after this ; and there is no doubt that they then carried with them this, with many other Jewish cus- toms, which they have con- tinued to this day. Consistent with the plan of this work, which is to describe the manners of the several na- tions through which I have passed, good and bad, as I observed them, I cannot avoid giving some account of a Poly- phemus banquet, as far as decency will permit me : it is part of the history of a bar- barous people, and, however I might wish it, I cannot decline the task. i" i 1 230 T/rn: ENGUSH EXPLORERS. IJHI. I u'k i In the capital, where one is safe from surprise at all times, or in the country or villages, when the rains have become so constant that the valleys will not bear a horse to pass them, or that men cannot venture far from home, through fear of be- ing surrounded and swept away by temporary torrents, occa- sioned by sudden showers on the mountains ; in a word, when a man can say he is safe at home, and the spear and shield is hung up in the hall, a num- ber of people of the best fashion in the villages, of both sexes, courtiers in the palace, or citi- zens in the town, meet together to dine between twelve and one o'clock. A long table is set in the middle of a large room, and benches beside it for a number of guests who are invited. Tables and benches the Portu- guese introduced amongst them ; but bull hides, spread upon the ground, served them before, as they now do in the camp and country. A cow or bull, one or more, as the company is numerous, is brought close to the door, and his feet strongly tied. The dewlap is cut only so deep as to arrive at the fat, of which it totally consists : and, by the separation of a few small blood-vessels, six or seven drops of blood only fall upon the ground. They have no stone, bench, or altar upon which the cruel assassin lays the animal's head in this operation. I must beg pardon indeed for calling this butcher an assassin. as he is not so merciful as to aim at the life, but, on the con- trary, to keep the beast alive till he be nearly eaten up. Having satisfied the Mosaical law, according to his concep- tion, by pouring these six or seven drops upon the ground, two or more of them fall to work ; on the back of the beast, and on each side of the spine they cut skin deep ; then putting their fingers between the flesh and the skin, they begin to strip the hide of the animal halfway down his ribs, and so on to the J3Uttock, cutting the skin wherever it hinders them com- modiously to strip the poor animal bare. All the flesh on the buttocks is then cut off, and in solid square pieces, without bones, or much eff"usion of blood ; and the prodigious noise the animal makes is a signal for the company to sit down to table. There are then laid be- fore every guest, instead of plates, round cakes, if they may be so called, about twice as large as a pan-cake, and something thicker and tougher. It is un- leavened bread of a sourish taste, far from being disagree- able, and very easily digested, and made of a grain called teff. It is of different colours, from black to the colour of the whitest wheat-bread. Three or four of these cakes are gener- ally put uppermost, for the food of the person opposite to whose seat they are placed. Beneath these are four or five of ordinary bread, and of a blackish kind. D RUCK'S TRAVELS. 231 lli These serve the master to wipe his fingers upon, an(i afterwards the servant for bread to his dinner. Two or three servants then come, each with a square piece of beef in his bare hands, laying it upon the cakes of teff, placed like dishes down the table, without cloth or anything else beneath them. By this time all the guests have taken up their knives, and their men have the large crooked ones, which they put to all sorts of uses during the time of war. The women have small clasped knives, such as the worst of the kind made at Birmingham, sold for a penny each. The com- pany are so ranged, that one man sits between two women ; the man with his long knife cuts a thin piece, which would be thought a good beefsteak in England, while you see the mo- tion of the fibres yet perfectly distinct, and alive in the flesh. No man in Abyssinia, of any fashion whatever, feeds him- self, or touches his own meat. The women take the steak, and cut it lengthways like strings, about the thickness oi a little finger, then crossways into square pieces, something smaller than dice. This they lay upon a piece of the teff bread, strongly powdered with black pepper, or Cayenne pepper, and fossil salt ; they then wrap it up in teff bread like a cartridge. In the meantime, the man having put up his knife, with each hand resting upon his neighbour's knee, his body stooping, his head low and fonvard, and mouth open very like an idiot, he turns to the one whose cartridge is first ready, who stuffs the whole of it into his mouth, which is so full that he is in constant danger of being choked. This is a mark of grandeur. The greater the man would seem to be, the larger piece he takes in his mouth, and the more noise he makes in chewing it, the more polite he is thought to be. They have, indeed, a proverb that says, * Beggars and thieves only eat small pieces, or with- out making a noise.' Having despatched this morsel, which he does very expeditiously, his next female neighbour holds forth another cartridge, which goes the same way, and so on till he is satisfied. He never drinks till he has finished eating ; and before he begins, in gratitude to the fair one that fed him, he makes up two small rolls of the same kind and form : each of his neighbours open their mouths at the same time, while with each hand he puts their portion into their mouth. He then falls to drink- ing out of a large handsome horn ; the ladies eat till they are satisfied, and then all drink together. A great deal of mirth and joke goes round, very sel- dom with any mixture of acri- mony or ill-humour. During all this time, the unfortunate victim at the door is bleeding indeed, but bleeding little. As long as they can cut off the flesh from his bones, they do not meddle with m M I «3« THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, i ' t the thighs, or the parts where the great arteries are. At last, they fall upon the thighs likewise ; and soon after, the animal bleed- ing to death, becomes so tough, that the cannibals, who have the rest of it to eat, find very hard work to separate the flesh from the bones with their teeth like dogs. Meanwhile, those with- in are very much elevated ; love lights all its fires, and everything is permitted with absolute free- dom. Although we read from the Jesuits a great deal about mar- riage and polygamy ; yet there is nothing which may be averred more truly, than that there is no such thing as marriage in Abys- sinia, unless that which is con- tracted by mutual consent, with- out othei form, subsisting only till dissolved by dissent of one or other, and to be renewed or repeated as often as it is agree- able to both parties, who, when they please, cohabit together again as man and wife, after having been divorced, had chil- dren by others, or whether they have been married, or had chil- dren with others or not. Mr. Bruce remembers to have once been at Koscam in presence of the Iteghd, when, in the circle, there was a woman of great quality, and seven men who had all been her husbands, none of whom was the happy spouse at that time. Upon separation they divide the children. The eldest son falls to the mother's first choice, and the eldest daughter to the father. If there be but one daughter, and all the rest sons, she is assigned to the father If there be but one son, and all the rest daughters, he is the right of the mother. If the numbers are equal after the first election, the rest are divided by lot. There is no such dis- tinction as legitimate and ille- gitimate children, from the king to the beggar; for supposing any one of their marriages valid, all the issue of the rest must be bastards. The king in his marriage uses no other ceremony than this: he sends an Azage to the house where the lady lives, where the officer announces to her, it is the king's pleasure, that she should remove instantly to the palace. She then dresses her- self in the best manner, and immediately obeys. Thence- forward he assigns her an apart- ment in the palace, and givcs her a house elsewhere in any part she chooses. Then, when he makes her Itegh^, it seems to be the nearest resemblance to marriage ; for, whether in the court or the camp, he orders one of the judges to pronounce in his presence, that he, the king, has chosen his hand- maid, naming her for his queer upon which the crown is put upon her head, but she is not anointed. The crown being hereditary in one family, but elective in the person, and polygamy jeing permitted, must have multiplied these heirs very much, and pro* BRUCE S TRAVELS, 233 tuced constant disputes, so that t was found necessary to pro- /ide a remedy for the anarchy and effusion of royal blood, which was otherwise inevitably to follow. The remedy was a humane and gentle one; they ire confined in a good climate upon a high mountain, and maintained there at the public expense. They are taught to read and write, but nothing else; 750 cloths for wrapping round them, 3000 ounces of gold, which is 30,000 dollars, or crowns, are allowed by the state for their maintenance. These princes are hardly used; and, in troublesome times, often put to death upon the smallest mis- information. During the time I was in Abyssinia, their revenue was so grossly misapplied, that some of them were said to have died with hunger and of cold, by the avarice and hard-hearted- ness of Michael neglecting to fumish them necessaries. Nor had the king, as far as ever Mr. Bruce could discern, that fel- low-feeling one would have ex- pected from a prince, rescued from that very situation him- self; however that be, and how- ever distressing the situation of those princes, we cannot but be satisfied with it, when we look to the neighbouring kingdom of Sennaar, or Nubia. There no mountain is trusted with the confinement of their princes; but, as soon as the father dies, the throats of all the collaterals, and all their descendants that can be laid hold of, are cut; and this is the case with all the black states in the desert west of Sennaar, Dar Fowr, SeltJ, and Bagirma.* In speaking of the military forces of this kingdom great exaggerations have been used. The largest army that ever was in the field, was that in the re- bellion before the battle of Ser- braxos. When they first en- camped upon the lake Tzana, the rebel army altogether might amount to about 50,000 men. In about a fortnight afterwards many had deserted ; and Mr. Bruce does not think (for he speaks only by hearsay) that, when the king marched out of Gondar, they were then above 30,000. When Gojam joined, and it was known that Michael and his army increased to above 60,000 men; cowards and brave, old and young, veteran soldiers and blackguards, all came to be spectators of that desirable event, which many of the wisest had despaired of living to see. The king's army, perhaps, never 1 Dr. Johnson's beautiful tale of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia, where war.nth of ima- gination, correct reasoning, and extensive Knowledge of the general manners of mankind, and of the various appearances of human life, are so eminently displayed, has already rendered this custom of the Abyssinian empire very generally known to English readers. He has converted the dreary mountain into a happy valley. He has excluded the real evils to which the confined princes are exposed ; but has a sufficient resource in ennui to embitter their enjoyments. The translation of 7 ,obo's voy- age was among Dr. Johnson's first literary efforts; but the information communicated by the Jesuit appears to have made a deep impression on his mind. The story of Rasse- las, and the account of Seguid's vain resolu- tion to dedicate a few days to happiness, in an island in the lake Dembea, are striking and noble proofs of this. i IS n m N L~:t. .: 'tm wk Li . _. -feil III if: 234 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. amounted to 26,000 men ; and by desertion and other causes, when they retreated to Gondar, and I would not suppose the army was 16,000, mostly from the province of Tigrd Fasil, indeed, had not joined; and putting his army at 1 2,000 men, it does not appear that any king of Abyssinia ever commanded 40,000 effective men at any time, or upon any cause what- ever, exclusive of his household troops. Their standards are ' large staves surmounted at the top with a hollow ball ; below this is a tube in which the staff is fixed ; and immediately below the ball, a narrow stripe of silk made forked, or swallow-tailed, like a vane, and seldom much broader. The standards of the infantry have their flags painted two colours crossways — yellow, white, red, or green. The horse have all a lion upon their flag, some a red, some a green, and some a white lion. The black horse have a yellow lion, and over it a white star upon a red flag, alluding to two prophecies, the one, * Judah is a young lion,' and the other, 'There shall come a star out of Judah.' This had been discontinued for want of cloth, till the war of BegemdfT, when a large piece was found in Joas's wardrobe, and was thought a certain omen of his victory, and of a long and vigorous reign. This piece of cloth was said to have been brought from Cairo by Yasous II. for the campaign of Sen- naar \ and, with the other stan- dards and colours, was surren- dered to the rebels when the king was made prisoner. The king's household troops should consist of about 8000 infantry, 2000 of which carry firelocks, and supply the place of archers ; bows have been laid aside for near a hundred years and are now only used by the Waito Shangalla, and some other barbarous inconsiderable nations. These troops are divided into four companies, each under an officer called Shalaka, which answers to our colonel. Every twenty men have an officer; every fifty a second, and every hundred a third; that is, every twenty have one officer who commands them, but is commanded like- wise by an officer, who com- mands the fifty; so that there are three officers who command fifty men, six command a hun- dred, and thirty command five hundred, over whom is the Shalaka ; and this body they call Bet, which signifies a home^ or apartment^ because each of them goes by the name of one of the king's apartments. For example, there is an apartment called Anbasa Bet, or the lioiis house^ and a regiment carrying that name has the charge of it, and their duty is at that apart- ment, or that part of the palace where it is; there is another called Jan Bet, br the elephanfs house, that gives the name to another called Work Sacala, or the gold house, which gives its BRUGES TRAVELS. 235 name to another corps ; and so on with the rest. There are four regiments that seldom, if ever, amounted to 1600 men, which depend alone upon the king, and are all foreigners, at least the officers ; these have the charge of his person while in the field. In times, when the king is out of leading-strings, they amount to four or five thousand, and then oppress the country, for they have great privileges. At times, when the king's hands are weak, they are kept incomplete out of fear and jealousy. Before the king marches, three proclamations are made. The first is, *Buy your mules, get ready your provision, and pay your servants; for, after such a day, they that seek me here shall not find me.' The second is about a week after, or accord- ing as the exigency is pressing ; this is, * Cut down the kantuffa in the four quarters of the world, for I do not know where I am going.' This kantuffa is a terri- ble thorn which very much mo- lest the king and nobility in their march, by taking hold of their long hair, and the cotton cloth they are wrapped in. The third and last proclamation is, * I am encamped upon the An- grab, or Kahha; he that does not join me there, I will chas- tise him for seven years.' I was long in a doubt what this term of seven years meant, till I recollected the jubilee- year of the Jews, with whom seven years was a prescription of offences, debts, and all tres- passes. The rains generally cease about the 8th of September ; a sickly season follows till they be- gin again about the 20th of Octo- ber ; they then continue pretty constant, but moderate in quan- tity, till Hedar St. Michael, the eighth of November. All epi- demic diseases cease with the end of these rains, and it is then the armies begin to march. In Abyssinia there are more churches than in any other country ; and, though it is very mountainous, and consequently the view much obstructed, it is very seldom you see less than five or six ; and, if you are on a commanding ground, five times that number. Every great man that dies thinks he has atoned for all his wicked- ness, if he leaves a fund to build a church, or has built one in his lifetime. The king builds many. Wherever a victory is gained, there a church is erected in the very field stinking with the putrid bodies of the slain. Formerly this was only the case when the enemy was Pagan or Infidel; now the same is ob- served when the victories are over Christians. The situation of a church is always chosen near running water, for the conveni- ence of their purifications and ablutions, in which they strictly observe the Levitical law. They are always placed upon the top of some beautiful round hill, which is surrounded entirely with rows of the oxycedrus, or Virgin ij . i T* v-l' ,.„ kit -11 236 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, cedar, which grows here in great beauty and perfection, and is called Arz. Nothing adds so much to the beauty of the country as these churches, and the plantations about them. In the middle of this plantation of cedars is interpersed, at proper distances, a number of those beautiful trees called Cuffo, which grow very high, and are all extremely picturesque. The churches are all round, with thatched roofs ; their sum- mits are perfect cones ; the out- side is surrounded by a number of wooden pillars, which are nothing else than the trunks of the cedar-tree, and are placed to support the edifice, about eight feet of the roof projecting beyond the wall of the church, which forms an agreeable walk or colonnade around it in hot weather or in rain. The inside of the church is in several di- visions, according as is pre- scribed by the law of Moses. The first is a circle somewhat wider than the inner one; here the congregation sit and pray. Within this is a square, and that square is divided by a veil or curtain, in which is an- other very small division answer- ing to the holy of holies. This is so narrow, that none but the priests can go into it. You are barefooted whenever you enter the church, and, if barefooted, you may go through every part of it, if you have any such curio- sity, provided you are pure, that is, have not had connexion with woman for twenty-four hours before, or touched carrion 01 dead bodies (a curious assem- blage of ideas), for in that case you are not to go within the precincts, or outer circumfer- ence, of the church, but stand and say your prayers at an awful distance among the cedars. Every person of both sexes, under Jewish disqualifications, is obliged to observe this dis- tance ; and this is always a place belongmg to the church, where, except in Lent, you see the greatest part of the congrega- tion; but this is left to your own conscience ; and, if there was either great inconvenience in the one situation, or great satisfaction in the other, the case would be otherwise. On your first entering the church you put off your shoes ; but you must leave a servant there with them, or else they will be stolen, if good for any- thing, by the priests and monks, before you come out of the church. At entering you kiss the; threshold and the two door- posts, go in and say what prayer you please; that finished you come out again, and your duty is over. The churches are full of pictures painted on parch- ment, and nailed upon the walls in a manner little less slovenly than you see paltry prints in beggarly country ale-houses. There has been always a sort of painting known among the scribes, a daubing much infe- rior to the worst of our sign- painters. Sometimes, for a particular church, they get » BRUGES TRAVELS, 237 Dumber of pictures of saints, on skins of parchment, ready finished from Cairo, in a style very little superior to these per- formances of their own. They are placed like a frise, and hung in the upper part of the wall. St. George is generally there with his dragon, and St. Deme- trius fighting a lion. There is no choice in their saints ; they are both of the Old and New Testament, and those that might be dispensed with from both. There is St. Pontius Pilate and his wife; there is St. Balaam and his ass; Samson and his jaw-bone; and so of the rest. But the thing that always sur- prised me most was a kind of square-miniature upon the head- piece, or mitre, of the priest, administering the sacrament at Adowa, representing Pharaoh on a white horse plunging in the Red Sea, with many guns and pistols swimming upon the surface of it around him. Nothing embossed, or in re- lief, ever appears in any of their churches. All this would be reckoned idolatry, so much so that they do not a wear a cross, as has been represented, on the top of the ball of the sendick, or standard, because it casts a shade, but there is no doubt that pictures have been used in their churches from the very earliest ages of Chris- tianity. The primate or patriarch of the Abyssinian Church is styled Abuna. The first of these pre- lates mentioned in history is Tecla Haimanout, who distin- guished himself by the restora- tion of the royal family, and the regulations which he made both in church and state. A wise ordinance was then enacted, that the Abvssinians should not have it in cneir power to raise one of their own countrymen to the dignity of Abuna. As this dignitary of the church very seldom understands the lan- guage of the country, he has no share in the government. His chief employment is in ordina- tions, which ceremony is thus performed : A number of men and children present themselves at a distance, and there stand from humility, not daring to approach him. He then asks whose these are, and they tell him that they wish to be dea- cons. On this he makes two or three signs with a small cross in his hand, and blows with his mouth twice or thrice upon them, saying, * Let them be deacons.* At one time I saw the whole army of Begemder, when just returned from shed- ding the blood of 10,000 men, made deacons by the Abuna, who stood about a quarter of a mile distant from them. With these were mingled about 1000 women, who, having part of the same blast and blandishment of the cross, were consequently as good deacons as the rest. The Itchegud, the chief of the monks, is a man in trouble- some times of much greater importance than the Abuna. There are, after the monks. f:;*«Sl-lll 238 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. II s chief priests and scribes, as in the Jewish Church, the lowest of whom are the ignorant, care- less copiers of the Holy Scrip- tures. The monks do not live in convents, as in Europe, but in separate habitations round their church, and each cultivate a portion of the land belonging to them. The priests have their maintenance assigned to them in kind, and do not labour. A steward, being a layman, is placed among them by the king, who receives all rents belonging to the churches, and distributes among the priests the portion that is their due; but neither the Abuna, nor any other churchman, has a right to in- terfere, or to touch the revenues of the church. The articles of the faith of the Abyssinians having been in- quired into, and discussed with so much keenness in the beginning of last century, I am afraid I might disoblige some of my readers if I had passed this subject without notice. Their first bishop, Frumen- tius, being ordained about the year 333, and instructed in the religion of the Greeks of the church of Alexandria by St. Athanasius, then sitting in the chair of St. Mark, it follows that the true religion of the Abyssinians, which they re- ceived on their conversion to Christianity, is that of the Greek Church ; and every rite or cere- mony in the Abyssinian church may be found and traced up to its origin in the Greek churches. while both of them were ortho dox. Frumentius preserved Abyssinia untainted with heresy till the day of his death. We find from a letter preserved in the works of St. A hanasius, that Constantius, the heretical Greek emperor, wished St. Athanasius to deliver him up, which that patriarch refused to do \ it was not in his power. Soon after this Arianism, and a number of other heresies, each in turn, were brought by the monks from Egypt, and in- fected the church of Abyssinia. A great part of these heresies, in the beginning, were certainly owing to the difference of the language in those times, and especially the two words Nature and Person ; than which no two words were ever more equivocal in every language in which they have been translated. It was settled by the first general council, that one bap- tism only was necessary for the regeneration of man, for freeing him from the sin of our first parents, and listing him under the banner of Christ. — " I con- fess one baptism for the remis- sion of sins," says the Symbol. It was maintained by the Jesuits that in Abyssinia once every year they baptized all grown people, or adults. Mr. Bruce here relates what he himself saw on the spot, and what is nothing more than the celebra- tion of our Saviour's baptism. The small river running be- tween the town of Adowa and the church, had been dammed BRUGES TRAVELS. 230 up for several days ; the stream was scanty, so tiiat it scarcely overflowed. It was in places three feet deep, in some per- haps four, or little more. Three large tents were pitched the morning before the feast of the Epiphany; one on the north for the priests to repose in dur- ing intervals of the service, and, besides this, one to communicate in: on the south there was a tent for the monks and priests of another church to rest them- selves in their turn. About twelve o'clock at night, the monks and priests met together, and began their prayers and psalms at the water-side, one party relieving each other. At dawn of day, the governor, Welleta Michael, came thither with some soldiers to raise men for Ras Michael, then on his march against Waragna Fasil, and sat down on a small hill by the water-side, the troops all skirmishing on loot and on horseback around them. As soon as the sun began to appear, three large crosses of wood were carried by three priests dressed in their sacer- dotal vestments, and who, com- ing to the side of the river, dipped the cross into the water, and all this time the firing, skirmishing, and praying went on together. The priests with their crosses returned, one of their number before them carry- ing something less than an English quart of water in a silver cup or chalice ; when they were about fifty yards from Welleta Michael, that general stood up, and the priest took as much water as he could hold in his hands and sprinkled it upon his head, holding the cup at the same time to Welleta Michael's mouth to taste ; after which the priest received it back again, saying, at the same time, * Gzier y'barak,' which is simply, ' May God bless you.' Each of the three crosses were then brought forward to Welleta Michael, and he kissed them. The ceremony of sprinkling the water was then repeated to all the great men in the tent, all cleanly dressed as in gala. Some of them, not contented with aspersion, received it in the palms of their hands joined, and drank it there ; more water was brought for those that had not partaken of the first ; and after the whole of the governors company was sprinkled, the crosses returned to the river, their bearers singing hallelujahs^ and the skirmishing and firing continuing. I also observed, that, a very little time after the gover- nor had been sprinkled, two horses and two mules, belong- ing to Ras Michael and Ozoro Esther, came and were washed. Afterwards the soldiers went in and bathed their horses and guns ; those who had wounds bathed them also. Heaps of platters and pots, that had been used by Mahometans or Jews, were brought thither likewise to be purified; and thus the whole ended. V. n mi r it I iill'-iJ •J .' 24'0 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, n \ = %. Mr. Bruce saw this ceremony performed afterwards at Kahha, near Gondar, in presence of the king, who drank some of the water, and was sprinkled by the priests; then took the cup in his hand, and threw the rest that was left upon Amha Yasous, saying, * I will be your deacon ; ' and this was thought a high compliment, the priest giving him his blessing at the same time, but offering him no more water. The Abyssinians receive the holy sacrament in both kinds, in unleavened bread, and in the grape bruised with the husk to- gether as it grows, so that it is a kind of marmalade, and is given in a flat spoon ; whatever they may pretend, some mixture seems necessary to keep it from fermentation in the state that it is in, unless the dried cluster is fresh bruised just before it is used, for it is little inore fluid than the common marmalade of confectioners, but it is perfectly the grape as it grew, bruised stones and skin together. Some means, however, have been used, as I should suppose, to prevent fermentation, and make it keep ; and though this is con- stantly denied, I have often thought I had tasted a flavour that was not natural to the grape itself. It is a mistake that there is no wine in Abyssinia; for a quantity of excellent strong wine is made at Dreeda, south- west from Gondar, about thirty miles, which would more than supply the quantity necessary for the celebration of the eucharist in all Abyssinia twenty times over. The people them- selves are not fond of wine, and plant the vine in one place only and in this they have been imi. tated by the Egyptians, their colony; but a small black grape of an excellent flavour, grows plentifully wild in every wood in Tigr^. Large pieces of bread are given to the communicants in proportion to their quality ; and I have often seen great men who, though they opened their mouths as wide as a man conveniently can do, yet from the respect the priest bore them, such a portion of the loaf was put into their mouths that water ran from their eyes, from the incapacity of chewing it; which however, they do as indecently, and with full as much noise, as they eat at table. After receiving the sacrament of the eucharist, in both kinds, a pitcher of water is brought, of which the communicant drinks a large draught: and well he needs it, to- wash down the quantity of bread he has just swallowed. He then retires from the steps of the inner division upon which the ad- ministering priest stands; and turning his face to the wall of the church, in pri/ate says some prayer with seeming decency and attention. I will now finish this sub- ject with the relation of a cir- cumstance that happened a few i BRUGES TRAVELS, ?4T months before my coming into Abyssinia, as it was accidentally told me by the priest of Adowa, the very day of the Epiphany, and which Janni vouched to be true, and to have seen. The Sunday after Ras Mi- chael's departure for Gondar from Adowa, he went to the church in great pomp, and there received the sacrament. There happened to be such a crowd to see him that the wine, part of the consecrated elements, was thrown down and spilt upon the steps whereon the communi- cants stood receiving it. Some straw or hay was instantly gathered and sprinkled upon it to cover it, and the communi- cants continued the service to the end, treading that grass under foot. This giving great offence to Janni, and some few priests that lived with him, it was told to Michael, who, with- out explaining himself, said only, * As to the fact of throwing the hay, they were a parcel of hogs, and know no better.' These few words had stuck in the stomach of the priest of Adowa, who, with great secrecy, and as a mark of friendship, begged that I would give him his opinion what he should have done, or rather what would have been done in his country? I then told him, that the answer to his question depended upon two things, which being known, his difficulties would be very easily solved. * If you do believe that the wine spilt by the mob upon the steps, and trodden under foot afterwards, was really the blood of Jesus Christ, then you were guilty of a most horrid crime, and you should cry upon the mountains to cover you; and ages of atonement are not sufficient to expiate it. You should, in the meantime, have railed tLj place roundjWith non,or built it round with stone, that no foot or any- thing else but the dew of heaven, could have fallen upon it ; or you should have brought in the river upon the place that would have washed it all to the sea, and covered it ever after from sacrilegious profanation. But if, on the contrary, you believe (as many Christian churches do), that the \ wine (notwith- standing consecration) remained in the cup nothing more than wine, but was only the symbol or type of Christ's blood of the New Testament, then the spill- ing it upon the steps, and the treading upon it afterwards, having been merely accidental, and out of your power to pre- vent, being so far from your wish that you are heartily sorry that it happened, I do not reckon that you are further liable in the crime of sacrilege, than if the wine had not been consecrated at all. You are to humble yourself, and sincerely regret that so irreverent an acci- dent happened in your hands, and in your time ; but, as you did not intend it, and could not prevent it, the consequence of an accident, where inatten- tion is exceedingly culpable, ii- 242 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. M will be imputed to you, and nothing further.' The priest declared to me with the greatest earnestness, that he never did believe that the elements in the eucharist were converted by consecration into the real body and blood of Christ. He said, however, that he be- lieved this to be the Roman Catholic faith, but it never was his ; and that he conceived the bread was bread, and the wine was wine, even after con- secration. From this example, which occurred merely acci- dentally, and was not the fruit of interrogation or curiosity, it appears to me, whatever the Jesuits say, that some at least among the Abyssinians do not believe the real pre- sence in the eucharist; but further I am not well enough informed to give a positive opinion. The Abyssinians are not all agreed about the state of souls before the resurrection of the body. The opinion which generally prevails is, that there is no third state ; but that, after the example of the thief, the souls of good men enjoy the beatific vision immediately upon the separation from the body. But their practice and books both contradict this ; for as often as any person dies, alms are given, and prayers are offered for the souls of those de- parted, which would be vain did they believe they were already in the presence of God, and in possession of the greatest bliss possible, wanting nothing to complete it. The Abyssinians practise circumcision, which is per- formed with a sharp knife or razor. There is no laceration with the nails, no formula or repetition of words, nor any religious ceremony at the time of the operation ; nor is it done at any particular age ; and gen- erally it is a woman that is the surgeon. The Falasha say they perform it sometimes with the edge of a sharp stone, some- times with a knife or razor, and at other times with the nails of their fingers ; and for this pur- pose they have the nails of their little finger of an immoderate length : at the time of the opera- tion the priest chants a hymn or verse, importing, 'Blessed art thou, O Lord, who hast ordained circumcision !' This is performed on the eighth day, and is a religious rite, accord- ing to the first institution by God to Abraham. There is another ceremony, which regards the women also, and which I may call inci- sion. This is a usage frequent, and still retained among the Jews, though positively pro- hibited by the law. 'Thou shalt not cut thy face for the sake of, or on account of, the dead.* As soon as a near re- lation dies in Abyssinia, a brother or parent, cousin-ger- man or lover, every woman in that relation, with the nail of her little finger, which she leaves long on purpose, cuts BRUCE' S TRAVELS. 243 the skin of both her temples, about the size of a sixpence ; and therefore you see either a wound or a scar in every fair face in Abyssinia; and in the dry season, when the camp is out, from the loss of friends, they seldom have liberty to heal, till peace and the army return with the rains. The Abyssinians, like the ancient Egyptians, their first colony, in computing their time, have continued the use of the solar year. Diodorus Siculus says, ' They do not reckon their time by the moon, but accord- ing to the sun ; that thirty days constitute their month, to which they add five days and the fourth part of a day, and this com- pletes their year.' It is uncertain whence they derived the names of their months ; they have no signifi- cation in any of the languages of Abyssinia. The name of the first month among the old Egyptians has continued to this day. It is Tot, probably so called from the first division of time among the Egyptians, from observation of the heliacal rising of the dog-star. The n lies of the months retained in Abyssinia are possibly in antiquity prior to this ; they are probably those given them by the Cushite, before the Kalen- dars at Thebes and Meroe, their colony, were formed. The Abyssinians have another way of describing time peculiar to themselves. They read the whole of the four evangelists every year in their churches. They begin with Matthew, then proceed to Mark, Luke, and John, in order ; and when they speak of an event, they write and say it happened in the days of Matthew — that is, in the first quarter of the year, while the Gospel of St. Matthew was yet reading in the churches. They compute the time of the day in a very arbitrary irregular man- ner. The twilight is very short, almost imperceptible, and was still more so when the court was removed farther to the southward in Shoa. As soon 5s the sun falls below the hori- 2on night comes on, and all the stars appear. This term, then, the twilight, they choose for the beginning of their day, and call it Nagg^, which is the very time the twilight of the morning lasts. The same is observed at night, and Meset is m«'ant to signify the instant of beginning the twilight, between the sun's fall- ing below the horizon and the star.s appearing. Mid-day is by them called Kater, a very old word, which signifies culmina- tion^ or a thing's being arrived or placed at the middle or highest part of an arch. All other times, in conversation, they describe by pointing at the place in the heavens where the sun was, when what they are describing happened. Nothing can be more inaccu- rate than all Abyssinian calcu- lations. Besides their absolute ignorance in arithmetic, their excessive idleness and aversion 244 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. to study, and a number of fanci- ful, whimsical combinations, by which every particular scribe or monk distinguishes himself, tliere are obvious reasons why there should be a variation be- tween their chronology and ours. The beginning of our year differs from theirs; ours begins on the ist of January, and theirs on the ist day of September, so that there are eight months' difference be- tween us. The last day of August may be the year 1780 with us, and 1779 only with the Abyssinians. And in the reign of their kings, they very seldom mention either month or day beyond an even number of years. Supposing, then, it is known that the reign of ten kings extended from such to such a period, where all the months and days are compre- hended, when we come to as- sign to each of these an equal number of years, without the correspondent months and days, it is plain that when all these separate reigns come to be added together, the one sum- total will not agree with the other, but will be more or less than the just time which that prince reigned. This, indeed, as errors compensate full as frequently as they accumulate, will seldom amount to a differ- ence of above three years, a space of time too trivial to be of any consequence in the his- tory of barbarous nations. CHAPTER X. Made Governor of Ras el Feel— Skirmish between the army of Fasil and Ras Michael. I SOON received an instance of kindness from Ayto Confu, which gave me great pleasure on several accounts. On the south part of Abyssinia, on the frontiers of SennL^r, is a hot, unwholesome, low stripe of country, inhabited entirely by Mahometans, divided into se- veral small districts, known by the general name of Mazaga. Ayto Confu had many districts of land from his father, and be- longing to his mother, Ozoro Esther, which lay on this fron- tier. He intended to displace the Mahometan deputy-gover- nor for inefficiency and cow- ardice. One day I was informed that Yasine, whom I had brought with me, had a chance of the appointment. I exerted my in- fluence in his favour with Confu and Ozoro Esther, when, among the crowd, I met Tecla Mariara, who informed me tha^ the ap- pointment had been conferred on myself. * Pardon me, Tecla Mariam,' said I, * if I do not understand you. I came here to solicit for Yasine.' ' It is no great affair,' says he, * and I hope you will never see it. It is a hot, unwholesome country, full of Mahometans; but its gold is as good as any Christian gold whatever. I BRUGES TRAVELS. 245 v^-ish it had been Begcmder with all my heart, but there is a good time coming.' After having recovered my- self a little from my surprise, I went to Ayto Confu to kiss his hand as my superior, but this he would by no means suffer me to do. A great dinner was provided us by the Itegh^, and Yasine being sent for, was appointed, clothed, that is, in- vested, and ordered imme- diately to Ras el Feel to his government. I, for the first time since my arrival in Abys- sinia, abandoned myself to joy, having, as I thought, secured to myself a retreat to Sennaar. My constitution was, however, too much weakened to- bear any excesses. The day after I found myself attacked with a slow fever, and, thinking that it was the prelude of an ague, I fell to taking bark, and shut myself up in the house, upon my constant regimen of boiled rice, with abundant draughts of cold water. About this time a piece of bad news was circulated at Gondar, that Kasmati Boro, whom the Ras had left gover- nor of Damot, had been beaten by Fasil, and obliged to retire to his own country in Gojam, to Hadis Amba, near the pass- age of the Nile, at Mine ; and that Fasil, with a larger army of stranger Galla than that he had brought to Fagitta, had taken possession of Bure, the usual place of his residence. Upon its being confirmed, I could not disguise my sorrow, as I conceived that unexpected turn of affairs to be an invinci- ble obstacle to my reaching the source of the Nile. *You are mistaken,* says Kefla Yasous to me ; * it is the best thing can happen to you. Why you desire to see those places I do not know, but this I am sure of, you never will arrive there with any degree of safety while Fasil commands. He is as perfect a Galla as ever forded tihe Nile ; he has neither word, nor oath, nor faith that can bind him ; he does mischief for mischief's sake, and then laughs at it. * At Hydar Michael (that is, in November next), all Abys- sinia will march against him, and he will not stay for us, and this time we shall not leave his country till we have eaten it bare; and then, at your ease, you will see everything, defend yourself by your own force, and be beholden to nobody; and remember what I say, peace with Fasil there never will be, for he does not desire it ; nor, till you see his bead upon a pole, or Michael's army en- camped at Bure, will you (if you are wise) ever attempt to pass Maitsha.' Memorable words ! often afterwards re- flected upon, though they were not strictly verified in the ex- tent they were meant when spoken. A council was called, where it was resolved, that, though the rainy season was at hand, the utmost expedition should 1 m WM 9 k ( 'i h ^^i ! 246 T/f£ ENGLISH EXPLORERS. be made to take the field ; that Gusho and Powussen should return to their provinces, and increase their army to the ut- most of their power ; that the king should take the low road by Foggora and Dara, there to join the troops of Begemder and Amhara, cross the Nile at the mouth of the lake, above the second cataract, as it is called, and march thence straight to Bure, which, by speedy marches, might be done in five or six days. No resolu- tion was ever embraced with more alacrity ; the cause of the Agovvs was the cause of Gon- dar, or famine would else im- mediately follow. The king's troops and those of Michael were all ready, and had just refreshed themselves by a week's festivity. Gusho and Powussen, after having sworn to Michael that lliey never would return with- out Fasil's head, decamped next morning with very differ- ent intentions in their hearts ; for no sooner had they reached Begemder, than they entered into a conspiracy, in form, against Michael, which they had meditated and digested i.i their minds ever since theaffronr they had received from Michael, about Woosheka, after the battle of Fagitta : they had resolved to make peace with Fasil, and swear with him a solemn league, that they were but to have one cause, one council, and one in- terest, till they had deprived Michael of his life and dignity. All this time I found myself declining in health, to which the irregularities of the last week had greatly contributed. The King and Ras had suffi. ciently provided tents and con- veniences for me, yet I wanted to construct for myself a tent, with a large slit m the roof, that I might have an oppor- tunity of taking observations with my quadrant, without be- ing inquieted by troublesome or curious visitors. I therefore obtained leave from the king to go to Emfras, a town about twenty miles south from Gon- dar. Gusho had a house there, and a pleasant garden, which he very willingly gave me the use of; with this advice, how- ever, which at the time I did not understand, rather to go on to Amhara with him, for I should there sooner recover my health, and be more in quiet than with the king or Michael. After taking leave of the king and the Ras I paid the same compliment t6thelteghdat Kos- cam. That excellent princess tried to dissuade me from leav- ing Gondar ; treated the inten- tion of going to the source of the Nile as a fantastical folly, unworthy of any man of sense or understanding. I excused myself the best I could. * See ! see !' says she, • how every day of our life fur- nishes us with proofs of the perverseness and contradiction of human nature ; you are come from Jerusalem, through vile Turkish governments, and hot BRUGES TRAVELS. 247 I are come unwholesome climates, to see a river and a bog, no part of which you can carry away were it ever so valuable, and of which you have in your own country a thousand larger, better, and cleaner; and you take it ill when I discourage you from the pursuit of this fancy, in which you are likely to perish, without your friends at home ever hearing when or where the accident happened. While I, on the other hand, the mother of kings, who have sat upon the throne of this country more than thirty years, have for my only wish, night and day, that, after giving up everything in the world, I could be conveyed to the church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, and beg alms for my subsistence all my life after, if I could only be buried at last in the street with- in sight of the gate of that temple where our blessed Savi- our once lay.' This was said in the most melancholy tone possible ; an unusual gloom hanging upon her countenance. I confess I left the queen very much affected with the disposi- tion I had found her in; but the prodigious bustle and pre- paration which I found was daily making in Gondar, and the assurances everybody gave me that, safe in the middle of a victorious army, I should see, at my leisure, that famous spot, made me resume my former re- solutions. Gondar, the metropolis of Abyssinia, is situated upon a hill of considerable height, the top of it nearly plain, on which the town is placed. It consists of about ten thousand families in times of peace ; the houses are chiefly of clay, the roofs thatched in the form of cones, which is always the construc- tion within the tropical raii.s. On the west end of the town is the king's house, formerly a structure of considerable conse- quence ; it was a square build- ing flanked with square towers ; it was formerly four stories high, and, from the top of it, had a magnificent view of all the coun- try southward to the lake Tzana. The palace, and all its conti- guous buildings, are surrounded by a substantial stone wall thirty feet high. There appears to have never been any embra- sures for cannon, and the four sides of this wall are above an English mile and a half in length. Immediately upon the bank opposite to Gondar, on the other side of the river, is a large town of Mahometans of about a thousand houses. These are all active and laborious people ; great part of them are employed in taking care of the king's and nobility's baggage and field-equipage, both when they take the field and when they return from it. It was on the 4th of April 1770 when I set out from Gondar for Emfras, which we reached on the 5th. The town is situated on a steep hill, and the way up to it is almost per- 1 243 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. pendicular, like the ascent of a ladder. The houses are all placed about the middle of the hill fronting the west, in number about 300. Above these houses are gardens, or rather fields. Emfras commands a view of the whole lake, and part of the country on the other side. It was once a royal residence. The lake of Tzana is the largest expanse of water known in that country. Its greatest breadth is thirty-five miles, and greatest length forty-nine miles. According to the Abyssinians, there are forty-five inhabited islands in the lake. On May 13th the king had made a forced march from Zedda, and was that night to encamp near Lamgue. The consequence was, Emfras was left empty in a few hours, every one hiding what was best in the house, or flying to the moun- tains with it. Ras Michael, ad- vancing at the head of an army, spread as much terror as would the day of judgment. Strict and just as he was in times of peace, he was most licentious and cruel the moment he took the field, especially if that coun- try he had entered had shown the least enmity against him. On the morning of the 14th I repaired to the camp at Lamgue. Although my place in the household gave me free access to wherever the king was, I rather thought it better to go to the tent of Ozoro Esther, where I was sure at least of getting a good breakfast. As soon as I showed myself at the door of the tent of that princess, who was lying upon a sofa, the moment she cast her eyes upon me she cried out, ' There is Yagoube ! There is the man I wanted 1' The tent was cleared of all but her women, and she then began to enumerate several complaints, which she thought, before the end of the campaign, would carry her to her grave. It was easy to see they were of the slightest kind, though it would not have been agreeable to have told her so, for she loved to be thofight ill, to be attended, con- doled with, and flattered. She was, however, in these circum- stances, so perfectly good, so conversable, so elegant in all her manners, that her physician would have been tempted to wish never to see her well. She was then with child by Ras Michael ; and the late fes- tival, upon her niece's marriage with Powussen of Begemder, had been much too hard for her constitution, always weak and delicate since her first mis- fortunes, and the death of Ma- riam Barea. After giving her my advice, and directing her women how to administer what I was to send her, the doors of the tent were thrown open ; all our friends came flocking round us, when we presently saw that the interval, employed in con- sultation, had not been spent uselessly, for a most abundant breakfast was produced in wooden platters upon the car- BRUGES TRAVELS. 249 pet. There were excellent stewed fowls, but so inflamed with Cayenne pepper as almost to blister the mouth ; fowls dressed with boiled wheat, just once broken in the middle, in the manner they are prepared in India, with rice called pillaw — this, too, abundantly charged with pepper ; Guinea hens, roasted hard without butter, or any sort of sauce, very white, but as tough as leather ; above ail, the never-failing brind^ for so they call the collops of raw beef, without which nobody could have been satisfied ; but, what was more agreeable to me, a large quantity of wheat-bread, of Dembea flour, equal in all its qualities to the best in Lon- don or Paris. The Abyssinians say, you must plant first and then water ; nobody, therefore, drinks till they have finished eating ; after this, the glass went cheerfully about ; there was excellent red wine, but strong, of the nature ofcote-roti, brought from Ka- roota, which is the wine country, about six miles south-east from the place where we then were ; good new brandy ; honey wine, or hydromel, and a species of beer called bouza, both of which were fermented with herbs, or leaves of trees, and made very heady ; they are disagreeable liquors to strangers. Our kind landlady, who never had quitted her sofa, pressed about the glass in the very briskest man- ner, reminding us that our time was short, and that the drum would presently give the signal for striking the tents. For my part, this weighed exceedingly with me the contrary way to her intentions, for I began to fear I should not be able to go home, and I was not prepared to go on with the army ; besides it was indispensably necessary to see both the king and Ras Michael, and that I by no means chose to do when my prepence of mind had left me ; I therefore made my apology to Ozoro Esther, by a message delivered by one of her women, and slipt out of the tent to wait upon the king. I thought to put on my most sedate appearance, that none of my companions in the king's tent should see that I was affected with liquor ; though intoxication in Abyssinia is neither uncommon nor a re- proach, when you are not en- gaged in business or attendance. I therefore went on as com- posedly as possible, without recollecting that I had already advanced near a hundred yards walking on that forbidden pre- cinct or avenue between the king's tent and Ras Michael's, where nobody interrupted me. The ease with which I pro- ceeded, among such a crowd and bustle, soon brought my transgression to my mind, and I hurried out of the forbidden place in an instant. I met several of my acquaint- ance, who accompanied me to the king's tent. It was now noonj a plentiful dinner or •. IJi!, 250 T//£ ENGLISH EXPLORERS, I breakfast was waiting, which I had absolutely refused to par- take of till I had seen the king. Thinking all was a secret that had passed at O^oro Esther's, I lifted the curtain behind the king's chair, and coming round till nearly opposite to him, I was about to perform the usual prostration, when, in the very instant, the young prince, George, who was standing op- posite to me on the king his brother's right hand, stept for- ward and laid his hand across my breast, as if to prevent me from kneeling ; then turning to the king, who was sitting as usual in his chair in the alcove, * Sir,' says he, * before you allow Yagoube to kneel, you should first provide two men to lift him up again ; for Ozoro Esther has given him so much win^, that he will never be able to do it himself.* A messenger now came for- ward from Ras Michael, bear- ing news from Begemder, that Powussen and his troops were ready to march, and that two of Gusho's nephews had rebelled, and whom it had taken some time to subdue. Also that Fasil upon hearing Ras Michael's march, was preparing to repass , the Nile into the country of the Galla. This occasioned very great doubts, because de- spatches had arrived fromNanna Georgis's son, the day before, at Tedda, which declared that Fasil had decamped from Bur^ that very day the messenger caine away, advancing north- wards towards Gondar, but with what intention he could not say j and this was well known to be intelligence that might be strictly and certainly relied upon. On the 15th the king de- camped early in the morning, and, as Prince George had said the night before, led the van in person, a flattering mark of confidence that Ras Michael had put in him now for the first time, of which the king was very sensible. The Ras, how- ever, had given him (Maguzet) a dry-nurse, as it is called, in Bil- letana Gueta Welleta Michael, an old and approved officer, trained to war from his infancy, and surrounded with the most tried of the troops of Tigr^. The king halted at the river Gomara, but advanced that same night to the passage where the Nile comes out of the lake Tzana, and resumes again the appearance of a river. The kingonthe 15th and i6th remained encamped upon the Nile. Several things that should have given umbrage, and begot- ten suspicion, happened while they were in this situation. Aylo, governor of Gojam, had been summoned to assist Ras Michael when Powussen and Gusho should march to join him with their forces of Begemder and Amhara, and his mother Ozoro Welleta Israel, then at Gondar, had promised he should not fail. This lady was younger sister to Ozoro Esther; both were daughters of the Iteghd BRUCBS TRAVELS, 251 She was as beautiful as Oeoro Esther, but very much her in- ferior in behaviour, character, and conduct : she had refused the old Ras, who asked her in marriage before he was called from Tigr^ to Gondar, and a mortal hatred had followed her refusal. It was therefore re- ported that he was heard to say he would order the eyes of Welleta Israel to be pulled out if Aylo, her son, did not join him. It must have been a man such as Ras Michael that could form such a resolution, for Welleta Israel's eyes were most captivating. She was then in the camp with her sister. A single small tent had ap- pearedinthe evening of the 15th on the other side of the Nile, and, on the morning of the 1 6th, Welleta Israel and the tent were missing ; she boldly made her escape in the night. All the camp had trembled for Welleta Israel; and every one now rejoiced that so bold an attempt had been attended with the success it merited. It was necessary, however, to dissemble before Michael. On the 17 th, after sunrise. the king passed the Nile, and encamped at a small village called Tsoomwa, where his Fit-Auraris had previously taken up their post. The Fit-Auraris is an officer depending im- mediately upon the Commander- in-chief, and is always one of the bravest and most ex- perienced men in the service. The king's passage of the Nile was the signal given for me to join him. Accordingly, I left Emfra on the i8th, and halted that night at Lamgue. Leav- ing Lamgue we came to the river Reb, which falls into Lake Tzana near this place. On the 20th, I sent the baggage and tents we had with us forward with Strates. £ Greek, and an avowed enemy to scientific inquiries or botanical research, telling him to encamp at Dara. When we reached the village of Dara in the afternoon we found Strates in a great passion, hav- ing been robbed of everything, save one of the mules which we picked up on the way. He had been stripped naked. I tried to appease him by telling him that I should have him dressed from head to foot by Negade Ras Mahomet, at the expense of the king. I had an interview with Ne- gade Ras Mahomet, and when alone, I interrogated him if he knew anything of the re- bellion in Begemder. He told me after, under the seal of secrecy, that Ras Michael had halted two days at Derdera ; that, upon a message he had received from Begemder, he had broken out into violent passions against Gusho and Powussen, calling them liars and traitors in the openest manner ; that a council had been held at Der- dera, in presence of the king, where it was in deliberation whether the army should not turn short into Begemder, to force that province to join them, »!>» THE KXGLlSff EXPT.OREl^S. \\\K lh;U it was (>;tnioi1, lov the s;\ko of the AgONVS, to RtMul rowvisscn rt sununons to join \\\\\\ tor the Inst time ; thnt, in the ine;\n\v]\iU\ thoy shouM tunix h slmight, with tlie greatest ilih^jenre, to meet l-nsil, nml give him Imttle, then return, nnd rethiec to proper snhonli- n;Uionboth Hegrnulernml An»- Tins wns the very worst news I eouKl possibly receive, mc- 1 onhng to the resohitioiis that 1 had then taken ; lor I was within al)ont lourteen miles of the great < ataraet, and it wa» l>rol>able 1 shouKI never again ]>e so near, were it evei\ always aeeessiMe; ti) ]>ass, therefore, without seeing it, was worse, in my own thoughts, than any tianger that oouhl ilnxaten me. iNegatle Ras Mahomet was a svibor, plain inan, of excellent vnulerstaniling, aiul universal gooil character for tnuh auvl integrity ; antl, as .such, very much in the favour both of the king and Kas Michael. I opened my intetUions to hin\ without reserve, desiring; his ad- vice how to manage this excur- sion to the cata' lace, have atlvisetl you not to think of such an undertaking ; these are unsettled times ; all the country is bushy, wild, and uninhabited, quite to Alata ; and though A[ahomct,the Shunv is a good man, my friend and relation, ami the king reposon trust in him, as he docs ii\ nu\ yet Alata itself is at any time b\»t a bad straggling pl.u o , there are now many slranmis and wild people there, wliom Mahomet has brought to lm assistance, siiu:e (lUebra Mo- hcdin made the attack iip^n him. If, then, anvthing was to befall you, what should 1 aiiHwcr to the king and the llegluM It would be said, the 'I'nrk l);is betrayed him ; though, ('u),| knows, I never was canahlo ol betraying your dog, and ratlui wouM be poor all my life, \\\\\\ the richest man of the pn)vinro by(U)it^g the like wn)ng, even if the bad action was ncvrr t<) be revealed, or known, unless to n\y own heart.' ' Ntahomet,' said t, * yo\i nooil not dwell on these professions ; I have lived twelve years with people of your religit>n, my lilo alwav: in their power, and 1 am now \i\ your house, in prclcrciuc to being in a tent out of doors, with Netdu) and his Christians. 1 do t\ot ask yoti whether I am to go or not, for that is rcsolvol on ; and, though you are a Ma hometan and I a ('hrislian, no religion teaches a man to do evil. We both agree in this, that God, who has ])rotc((al me thus far, is capable to pnv tect me likewise at the catarart. aiid farther, if he has not dclor- miiKHl otherwise, for my good ; I only ask you, as a man wlio knows the country, to give mo your best advice, how I may satisfy my curiosity in this PK trends Tf^ArKis, •5:1 point, with ns little (Itiiigcr, and an much cxpeditiun nB poRsibtc, leaving the rest to heftvcn.' ' Well/ Rnys he, • 1 almll do m). I lliitik, likewise, for your lomfort, that, bnrring unforeseen aaidents, yon nuiy do it nt this lime, without grr.it danger. (\w\)\'A Mehedin will not eon»e liolween this town and Alnta, lurausc we are all one people, mid the killing two men, and wounding Mahomet's son, iii.ikcs him a tiimffictini} At Alalii he knows the Slunn is iciuly to receive him as he de- serves ; nud he is himself aliaid of K.ismnti Ayahdar, with whom he is as deep in guilt as with us, and hcre,he well knows, lie dare not venture for mniiy reasons.' ' Ayahdar,' said I, ' passed the Karoola three days ago.' ' Well, well,' re|)lied Ma- homet, *so much the better. Ayahdar has the leprosy, and goes every year once, sometimes twice, to the hot wells at JiCbec ; lliey uiust jmss nearonc another, iiiHi that is the reason (Juebra Mchcdin has assembled all lliesc banditti of horse about iiim. Me is a beggar and a si'cmlthrifl ; a fortnight ago he sent to me to borrow twenty ounces of gold. You may be sure 1 did not lend it him ; he is loo much in my debt ahcady ; and I hope Ras Michael will give you his head in your hantl before winter, for the sluuneful action he has been ' (iuiliy ..r (Mir l)looi1, nnd subject to the Mvvs of rcl.iliuiion. guilty of to you and yours this iliiy. • Woodage Asnhel,* said I, ' what say you of himi' ' Why, you know,' replied Mahomet, 'nobody can inform you about his motions, as he is j»erpelually (m horseback, nml never rests night nor day ; how- ever, he has no business on this side of the water, the rather that he must be sure Ras Mi- chael, when fte j)asse(l here, took with him all the king's money that T had in my hands. When daylight is fairly come, for we do not know the changes a night may |)roduce in tliis cotinliy, take naif a dozen of your servants ; 1 will send with you my son, and four of my servants ; you will (all at Alata, go down and sec the cataract, but do not stay, return im- mediately, ar.d, U/hh Keriuiy — (lod is merciful.' I thanked my kind landlord, and let him go ; but, recollect- ing, called him again,and asked, •What shall 1 do with Netcho* How shall I rejoin him'J my t:ompany is too small to jiass Maitsha without him.' 'Sleep it) peace,' says he, ' f will provide for that ; 1 tell you in confidence, the king's money is in my hands, and was not ready when the Ras [)assed ; my son is but just arrived with the last of it this evening, tired to death ; I send the money by Nctcho, and my son too, with forty stout fellows, well armed, who will die in your service, and not run away like those 254 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, vagabond Christians, in whom you must place no confidence if danger presents itself, but imnietliately throw yourself among the Mahometans. Be- sides, there are about fifty soldiers, most of them from 'I'igre, Michael's men, that have been loitering here these two days. It was one of these that fired the gun just before you came, which alarmed Netcho ; so that, when you are come back in safety from the cataract, they shall be, by that time, all on their march to the passage. My son shall mount with you ; I fear the Nile will be too deep, but when once you are at Tsoomwa, you may set your mind at rest, and bid defiance to Woodage Asahel, who knows his enemy always before he engages him, and at this time will not venture to interrupt your march.' As I have mentioned the name of this person so often, it will be necessary to observe, that he was, by origin, a Galla, but born in Damot, of the clan Elmana or Densa, two tribes settled there in the time of Yasous I. ; that he was the most intrepid and active partisan in his time, and had an invincible hatred to Ras Michael ; nor was there any love lost betwixt them. It is impossible to con- ceive with what velocity he moved, sometimes with 200 horse, sometimes with half that number. He was constantly failing upon some part of Mi- chael's army, whether march- ing or encamped ; the blow once struck, he disappeared in a minute. When he wanted to attempt something great, he had only to summon his friends and acquaintances in the country, and he had then a little aniiy, which dispersed as soon as the business was done. It was Ras Michael's first question to the spies ; ' Where was Woodage Asahel last night?' a question they very seldom could answer with certainty. He was in his person too tall for a good horse- man, yet he was expert in this qualification by constant prac- tice. His face was yellow, as if he had the jaundice, and much pitted with the small-pox ; his eyes small, staring, and fiery , his nose as if it were broken, his mouth large, his chin long and turned up at the end ; he spoke very fast, but not much ; and had a very shy, but ill- designing look. In his char- acter he was avaricious, treach- erous, inexorable, and cruel to a proverb ; in short, he was allowed to be the most merci- less robber and murderer that age had produced in all Abys- sinia. Wearied with thinking, and better reconciled to my expedi- tion, I fell into a sound sleep. I was awakened by Strates in the morning (the 2rst of May), who, from the next room, had heard all the conversation be- tween me and Negade Ras, and began now to think that there was no safety but in the camp of the king. I will not repeat BRUGES TRAVELS, 255 his wise expostulations against going to the cataract. We were rather late, and I paid little re- gard to them. After coffee I mounted my horse, with five servants on horseback, all re- solute, active, young fellows, armed with lances in the fashion of their country. I was joined that moment by a son of Ma- homet on a good horse, armed with a short gun and pistols at his belt, with four of his ser- vants, Mahometans, stout men, each having his gun and pistols at his girdle, and a sword hung over his shoulder, mounted upon four good mules, swifter and stronger than ordinary horses. We galloped all away, and were out of sight in a short time. We then pursued our journey with diligence, but not in a hurry. We went first to a hilly and rocky country, full of trees, mostly of unknown kinds, and all of the greatest beauty possi- ble, having flowers of a hundred different colours and forms upon them. Many of the trees were loaded with fruit, and many with both fruit and flowers. I happened to be upon a very steep part of the hill, full of bushes ; and one of the ser- vants, dressed in the Arabian fashion, in a bumoose, and turban striped white and green, led my horse, for fear of slipping, till it got into the path leading to the Shum's door. I heard the fellow exclaiming in Arabic, as he led the horse, — * Good ! to see you here ! Good ! to see you here ! ' I asked him who he was speaking of, and what reason he had to wonder to see me there. * What, do you not know mel' I said I did not. * Why,' replied he, * I was several times with you at Jidda. I saw you often with Captain Price and Captain Scott, with the Moor Yasine, and Mahomet Gibberti. I was the man that brought your letters from Meti- cal Aga at Mecca, and was to come over with you to Masuah, if you had gone directly there, and had not proceeded to Ye- men or Arabia Felix. I was on board the Lion, when your little vessel, all covered with sail, passed with such briskness through the English ships, which all fired their cannon ; and evei:ybody said there is a poor man making a great haste to be assassinated among those wild people in Habbesh; and so we all thought.' He concluded, * Drink 1 no force I Englishman very goodl drink!' The man continued repeating the same words, crying as loud as he could, with an air of triumph ; while I was reflecting how shameful it was for us to make these profligate expres- sions, by frequent repedtion, so easily acquired by strangers that knew nothing else of our language. The Shum and all about him were in equal astonishment at seeing the man, to all appear- 25^ THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. ance in a passion, bawling out words they did not understand ; but he, holding a horn in his hand, began louder than before, ' Drink ! very good ! English- man!' shaking the horn in the Shuni his master's fece. Mahomet of Alata was a very grave, composed man. * I do declare,' says he, * Ali is become mad. Does anybody know what he says or means?' * That I do,' says I, * and will tell you by and bye ; he is an old acquaintance of mine, and is speaking English. Let us make a hasty meal, however, with anything you have to give us.' Our horses were immediately fed ; bread, honey, and butter served. Ali had no occasion to cry. Drink ; it went about plenti- fully, and I would stay no longer, but mounted my horse, think- ing every minute that I tarried might be better spent at the cataract. The first thing they carried us to was the bridge, which consists of one arch of about twenty-five feet broad, the extremities of which were strongly let into, and rested on, the solid rock on both sides; but fragments of the parapets remained, and the bridge itself seemed to bear the appearance of frequent repairs, and many attempts to ruin it ; otherwise, in its construction, it was ex- ceedingly commodious. The Nile here is confined between two rocks, and runs in a deep trough, with great roaring and impetuous velocity. We were told no crocodiles were ever seen so high. The cataract itself was the most magnificent sight that ever I beheld ; the height nearly forty feet. The river had been considerably in- creased by rains, and fell in one sheet of water, without any in- terval, above half an English mile in breadth, with a force and noise that was truly terri- ble, and which stunned and made me for a time perfectly di£z>. A thick fume, or haze, covered the fall all round, and hung over the course of the stream both above and below, marking its track, though the water was not seen. The river, though swelled with rain, pre- served its natural clearness, and fell, as far as I could discern, into a deep pool, or basin, in the solid rock, which was full, and in twenty different eddies to the very foot of the precipice ; the stream, when it fell, seem- ing part of it to run back with great fury upon the rock, as well as forward in the line of its course, raising a wave, or violent ebullition, by chafing against each other. Jerome Lobo pretends that he has sat under the curve, or arch, made by the projectile force of the water rushing over the precipice. He says he sat calmly at the foot of it, and, looking through the curve of the stream as it was falling, saw a number of rain- bows of inconceivable beauty in this extraordinary prism. This, however, I, without hesitation, aver to be a downright false- BRUGES TRAVELS. 257 hood. A deep pool of water, as I mentioned, reaches to the very foot of the rock, and is in perpetual agitation. Now, al- lowing that there was a seat or bencii, which there is not, in the middle of the pool, I do believe it absolutely impossi- ble, by any exertion of human strength, to have arrived at it. Although a very robust man, in the prime and vigour of life, and a hardy, practised, inde- fatigable swimmer, I am per- fectly confident I could not have got to that seat from the shore through the quietest part of that basin ; and, supposing the friar placed in his imaginary seat, under the curve of that immense arch of water, he must nave had a portion of firmness more than falls to the share of ordinary men, and which is not likely to be acquired in a mo- nastic life, to philosophize upon optics in such a situation, where everything would seem, to his dazzled eyes, to be in motion, and the stream, in a noise like the loudest thunder, to make the solid rock (at least as to sense) shake to its very founda- tion, and threaten to tear every nerve to pieces, and to deprive one of other senses besides that of hearing. It was a most magnificent sight, that ages, added to the greatest length of human life, would not efface or eradicate from my memory ; it struck me with a kind of stupor, and a total oblivion of where I was, and of every other sub- lunary concern. I was awakened from one of the most profound reveries that ever I fell into, by Mahomet, and by my friend Drink, who now put to me a thousand im- pertinent questions. It was after this I measured the fall, and believe, within a few feet, it was the height I have men- tioned; but I confess I could at no time in my life less pro- mise upon precision ; my reflec- tion was suspended, or subdued, and, while in sight of the fall, I think I was under a temporary alienation of mind. It seemed to me as if one element had broken loose from, and becopie superior to, all laws of subordi- nation ; that the fountains of the great deep were again extraor- dinarily opened, and the destruc- tion of a world was once more begun by the agency of water. It was now half an hour past one o'clock, the weather per- fectly good. I peremptorily refused returning to Alata, which our landlord importuned us to do. It was past five when we arrived at Dara, where we partook of Mahomet's hospi- tality. On the 2 2d our journey was resumed. Ras Michael had burnt nothing at Tsoomwa, though there was a house of Powussen's in the place, built by his father. From the pas- sage to Tsoomwa, all the country was forsaken ; the houses uninhabited, the grass trodden doA^n, and the fields without cattle. Everything that had life and strength fled before that terrible leader, and his no R u 1 «-i 'i ;-f'H ,.1 « . ; 1^1 2S8 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. |,». ■' V- less terrible army ; a profound silence was in the fields around us, but no marks as yet of desolation. We kept strict watch in this solitude all that night. I took my turn till twelve, as I was the least fatigued of any. Netcho had pickets about a quarter of a mile on every side of us, with fire-arms to give the alarm. On the 23d, about three in the morning, a gun was heard on the side towards the passage. This did not much alarm us, though we all turned out. In a few minutes came Ayto Adi- go (not the Shum of Karoota, already mentioned, who left us at the Gomara), but a young nobleman of Begemder, of great hopes, one of the gentlemen of the king's bed-chamber, and consequently my colleague. He intended to have brought four horses to the king, one of which he had drowned, or rather, as I afterwards understood, throttled in passing the Nile at the mouth of the lake; and two men. the king's servants, had perished there likewise. He came in great hurry, full of the news from Begemder, and of the par- ticulars of the conspiracy, such as have been already stated. With Ayto Adigo came the king's cook, Sebastos, an old Greek, nearly seventy, who had fallen sick from fatigue. After naving satisfied his inquiries, and given him what refreshment we could spare, he left Sebastos with us, and pursued his jour- ney to the camp. On the 24th, at our ordinary time, when the sun began to be hot, we continued our route due south, through a very plain flat country, which, by the constant fains that now fell, began to stand in large pools, and threat- ened to turn all into a lake. We had hitherto lost none of our beasts of carriage, but we were now so impeded by streams, brooks, and quagmires, that \\t desi)aired of ever bringing one of them to join the camp. The horses and beasts of bur- then that carried the baggage of the army, and which had passed before us, had spoiled every ford, and we saw to-day a number of dead mules lying about the fields, the houses all reduced to ruins, and smoking like so many kilns ; even the grass, or wild oats, which were grown very high, were burnt in large plots of a hundred acres together ; everything bore the marks that Ras Michael was gone before, whilst not a living creature appeared in those extensive, fruitful, and once well-inhabited plains. An awful silence reigned every- where around, interrupted only at times by thunder, now be- come daily, and the rolling of torrents, produced by local showers in the hills, which ceased with the rain, and were but the children of an hour. Amidst this universal silence that prevailed all over this scene of extensive desolation, I could not help remembering how finely Mr. Gray paints the BI^UCES TRAVELS. »59 |)assage of such an army, under a leader like Ras Michael : < ConfuMon in his van with Flight combined, And Sorrow'i faded form, and Solitude be- hind.' At Derdera we saw the church of St. Michael, the only build- ing which, in favour of his own name, the Ras had spared. It served us then for a very con- venient lodging, as much rain had fallen in the night, and the priests had all fled or been murdered. We had this even- ing, when it was clear, seen the mountain of Samseen. Our next stage from Derdera was Karcagna, a small village near the banks of the jemma, about two miles from Samseen. We knew the king had resolved to bum it, and we expected to have seen the clouds of smoke arising from its ruins, but all was perfectly cool and clear; and this very much surprised us, considering the time he had to do this, and the great punc- tuality and expedition with which his army used to execute orders of this kind. As we advanced, we had seen a great number of dead mules and horses, and the hyaenas so bold as only to leave the carcase for a moment, and snarl, as if they had regretted at seeing any of us pass alive. Since passing the Nile, I found myself more than ordin- arily depressed ; my spirits were sunk almost to a degree of des- pondency, and yet nothing had happened since that period, more than what was expected before. This disagreeable situa- tion of mind continued at night while I was in bed. The rash- ness and imprudence with which I had engaged myself in so many dangers, without any necessity for so doing ; the little prospect of my being ever able to extricate myself out of them, or, even if I lost my life, of the account being conveyed to my friends at home; the great and unreasonable pre- sumption which had led me to think that, after every one that had attempted this voyage had miscarried in it, I was the only person that was to succeed ; all these reflections upon my mind, when relaxed, dozing, and half oppressed with sleep, filled my imagination with what I have heard other people call the horrors^ the most disagree- able sensation I ever was con- scious of, and which I then felt for the first time. Impa- tient of suffering any longer, I leaped out of bed, and went to the door of the tent, where the outward air perfectly awakened me, and restored my strength and courage. All was still, and at a distance I saw several bright fires, but lower down, and more to the right than I expected, which made me think I was mistaken in the situation of Karcagna. It was then near four in the morning of the 25th. I called up my companions, happily buried in deep sleep, as I was desirous, if possible, to join the king that day. We accordingly w^re three or four miles from Derdera when the 26o THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, ji jl I sun rose ; there had been little rain that night, and we found very few torrents on our way ; but it was slippery and uneasy walking, the rich soil being trodden into a consistence like paste. We saw a number of people this day, chiefly straggling sol- diers, who, in parties of threes and fours, had been seeking in all the bushes and concealed parts of the river, for the miser- able natives, who had hid themselves thereabouts ; in this they had many of them been successful. They had some of them three, some of them four women, boys, and girls, who, though Christians like themselves, they nevertheless were carrying away into slavery, to sell them to the Turks for a very small price. A little before nine we heard a general firing to left and right of us, which continued inter- mittently for some time. We had not gone far in the plain before we had a sight of the enemy, to our very great sur- prise, and no small comfort A multitude of deer, buffaloes, boars, and various other wild beasts had been alarmed by the noise and daily advancing of the army, and gradually driven before them. The sol- diers, happy in an occasion of procuring animal food, pre- sently fell to firing wherever the beasts appeared ; every loaded gun was discharged upon them, and this continued for very nearly an hour. A numerous flock of the largest deer met us just in the face, and seemed so desper ate that they had every appear ance of running us down ; and part of them forced themselves through, regardless of us all, whilst others turned south to escape across the plain. The king and Ras Michael were in the most violent agitation of mind, the word having went about that Woodage Asahel had attacked the army, and this occasioned a great panic and disorder. I am convinced that if he or Fasil had attacked Michael just before our arrival, our whole army had fled with- out resistance, and dispersed all over the country. Here 1 left Kasmati Netcho, and was making my way towards the king's tent, when I was met by a servant of Kefla Yasous. He seiit to desire that I would come to him, alone, or that I would send one of the Greeks that followed me. I promised to do so, after having searched for Strates and Sebastos, who had been sick upon the road. Strates I found bleeding at a large wound in his forehead, speaking Greek to himself, and crying out his leg was broken, whilst he pressed it with both his hands below the knee, seemingly regardless of the gash in his head, which appeared to me a very ugly one. Sebastos was lying stretched along the ground, scarcely say- ing anything, but sighing loudly. Upon my asking him, whether his arm was broken? he an- BRUCE'S TRAVELS. « 361 swered feebly, that he was a dying man, and that his legs, his arms, and his ribs, were broken to pieces. I could not, for my life, conceive how this calamity had happened so sud- denly ; for I had not been half an hour absent, and, what seemed to me still stranger, everybody around them were bursting out into fits of laughter. Ali, Mahomet's servant, who was the only person that I saw concerned, upon my asking, told me that it was all owing to prince George, who had frightened their mules. I have already hinted, that this prince was fond of horsemanship, and rode with saddle, bridle, and stirrups, like an Arab; and, though young, was become an excellent horseman, superior to any in Abyssinia. The manner that two Arabs salute one an- other, when they meet, is, the person inferior in rank, or age, presents his gun at the other, about 500 yards distance, charged with powder only ; he then, keeping his gun always presented, gallops these 500 yards as fast as he can, and, being arrived close, lowers the muzzle of his gun, and pours the explosion just under the other's stirrups, or horse's belly. This they do, sometimes twenty at a time, and you would often think it was impossible some- body should escape being bruised or burnt. The prince had been out after the deer all the morning; and hearing that I was arrived, and seeing the two Greeks riding on their mules, he came galloping furiously with his gun presented, and, not seeing me, he fired a shot under the belly of Strates's mule, upon the ground, and wheeling as quick as lightning to the left, regardless of the mischief he had occasioned, was out of sight in a moment, before he knew the conse- quences. Never was compliment worse timed or relished. Strates had two panniers upon his mule con- taining two great earthen jars of hydromel; Sebastos had also some jars and pots, and three or four dozen of dr in king- glasses ; each of the mules was covered with a carpet, and also the panniers; and upon the pack-saddle, between these panniers, rode Strates and Se- bastos. The mules, as well as the loading, belonged to the king, and they only were per- mitted to ride them because they were sick. Strates went first, and, to save trouble, the halter of Sebastos's nmle was tied to Strates's saddle, so the mules were fastened to and fol- lowed one another. Upon fir- ing the gun so near it, Strates's mule, not used to compliments of this kind, started, and threw him to the ground; it then trampled upon him, began to run off, and wound the halter around Sebastos behind, who fell to the ground likewise amongst some stones. Both the mules then began kicking at each other, till they had •ii^-:^fii--- 262 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. thrown off the panniers and pack-saddles, and broken every- thing that was brittle in them. The mischief did not end here ; for, in struggling to get loose, they fell foul of the mule of old Azagd Tecla Haimanout, one of the king's criminal judges, a very old feeble man, and threw him upon the ground, and broke his foot, so that he could not walk alone for several months afterwards. As soon as I had pitched a tent for the wounded, and likewise dressed Tecla Hai- manout's foot, I went to Kefla Yasous. The moment I came into the tent, Kefla Yasous rose up and embraced me. He was sitting alone, but with rather a cheer- ful than a dejected countenance. He said, the rebellion of Gusho and Powussen was certain ; and named the place which Fasil had appointed to cut them off. As soon as the news of the conspiracy were known, it was agreed to march briskly forv/ard, and attack Fasil alone at Burd, then turn to Gondar to meet the other two, but that great rain had fallen to the southward; the rivers were mostly impass- able, and there would be great danger in meeting Fasil with an army when spent and fatigi^d with the difficulty of the roads. The Ras was decidedly of opinion, that they should keep their army entire for a better day, and we were immediately to cross the Nile and march back to Gondar. On the 26th May we marched towards the Nile, and on the 27 th took possession of a line of about 600 yards of ground and prepared to cross. The rain poured incessantly, and violent claps of thunder fol- lowed one upon another. The presence of such a monstrous mass of water as the Nile now presented terrified me, and made me think the idea of crossing would be laid aside. The Greeks crowded around me, cursing the hour they had first entered that country. Netcho, Ras Michael's Fit-auraris with about 400 men, had crossed in the morning, the next to attempt it was a young man, a relation of the king. The king followed him immediately, and after him the old Ras on his mule, sur- rounded with several of his friends with and without their horses. As soon as these were safely on shore, the king's household and black troops, and I with them, swam happily over, in a deep stream of red- dish-coloured water. The Ras caused Ozoro Esther to pass over in the same manner as he had crossed himself, without allowing her to use the two rafts prepared for her by the Fit-auraris. She crossed, how- ever, safely, though almost dead with fright. The river had abated towards midnight, when all the Tigrd infantry, and many mules lightly loaded, passed with less difficulty than any of the rest had done. Kefla Ya- sous with the rear and all the baggage of the army remained BRUGES TRAVELS, 2Ci until the dawn of the morning, on the other side, when they crossed at another and a better ford. On the 28th an account reached us that there had been some fighting between the king's army and Fasil's Fit-auraris. A skirmish afterwards took place, when Fasil, who saw the for- ward countenance of the king's troops, and that a few minutes would lay him under the neces- sity of risking a battle which we did not intend, withdrew his troops, retiring to Boskon Abbo. This was called the battle of Limjour, after a town of that name which had been burnt in the last campaign. As a mark of confidence in Kefla Yasous, for his diligence and activity shown in the recent engagement, the Ras gave him command of the rear. There was great rejoicings throughout the camp, every one recovered their baggage and provisions. Next day the army marched to Dingleber, where the king insisted upon treating Ras Michael and all the people of consideration. Just as the king sat down to dinner, an accident happened that occa- sioned great trepidation among all his servants. A black eagle was chased into the king's tent by some of the birds of prey that hover about the camp ; and it was afterwards in the mouth of every one, the king would be dethroned by a man of inferior birth and condition. Everybody at that time looked to Fasil : the event proved the application false, though the omen was true. Powussen of Begemder was as low-born as Fasil, as great a traitor, but more successful, to whom the ominous presage pointed ; and, though we cannot but look upon the whole as accident, it was but too soon fulfilled. In the evening of the 29th two horsemen arrived from Fasil clad in habits of peace and without arms. Fasil de- clared his resolution through them never again to appear in arms against the king, and pay the accustomed taxes punctu- al ' y . He promised to renounce all connexion with Gusho and Powussen, and concluded by desiring the Ras to give Fasil his grand-daughter, Welleta Selasse, in marriage ; all of which was agreed to. To our very great surprise therefore we heard it proclaimed, that, * Fasil is governor of the Agow, Maitsha, Gojam, knd Damot ; prosperity to him, and long may he live a faithful servant to the king our master.* Though scarce forty-three hours since Fasil had laid a scheme for drowning the greater part of the array in the Nile, and cut- ting the threats of the residue on both sides of it, at this news the whole camp abandoned it- self to joy. On the 30th of May nothing material happened, and, in a few days we arrived at Gondar. The day before we entered, being encamped on the river 264 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. Kemona, two messengers came from Gusho and Powussen, with various excuses why they had not joined. They were very ill received by the Ras, and refused an audience of the king. Their present, which is always new clothes to some value, was a small piece of dark-blue Surat cloth, value about half-a-crown, intended as an affront; they were not suffered to sleep in the camp, but forwarded to Fasil, where they were going. The 3d of June the army en- camped on the river Kahha, under Gondar. From the time we left Dingleber, some one or other of the Ras's confidential friends had arrived every day. Several of the great officers of state reached us at the Kemona, many others met us at Abba Samuel. I did not perceive the news they brought increased the spirits either of the king or the Ras ; the soldiers, however, were all contented, because they were at home; but the officers, who saw farther, wore very different countenances, especially those that v ^ of Amhara. I, in particular, had very little reason to be pleased ; for, after having undergone a constant series of fatigues, dan- gers, and expenses, I was re- turned to Gondar disappointed of my views in arriving at the source of the Nile, without any other acquisition than a violent ague. The king had heard that Gusho and Powussen, with Gojam under Ay to Aylo, and all the troops of Belessen and Lasta, were ready to fall upon him in Gondar as soon as the rains should have swelled the Tacazzd, so that the army could not retire into Tigr^; and it was now thought to be the in- stant this might happen, as the king's proclamation in favour of Fasil, especially the giving him Gojam, it was not doubted, would hasten the motion of the rebels. Accordingly that very morning, after the king arrived, the proclamation was made at Gondar, giving Fasil Gojam, Damot, the Agow, and Maitsha ; after which his two servants were again magnificently clothed and sent back with honour. As I had never despaired, some way or other, of arriving at the fountains of the Nile, from which we were not fifty miles distant when we turned back at Karcagna, so I never neglected to improve every means that held out to me the least probability of accomplish- ing this end. I had been ve7 attentive and serviceable to Fasil's servants while in the camp. I spoke greatly of their master, and, when they went away, gave each of them a small present for himself, and a trifle also for Fasil. They had, on the other hand, been very im- portunate with me, as a physi- cian, to prescribe something for a cancer on the lip, as I under- stood it to be, with which Wel- leta Yasous, Fasil's principal general, was afflicted. I had been advised, by some BRUGES TRAVELS. 265 of my medical friends, to cany along with me a preparation of hemlock, or cicuta, recom- mended by Dr. Stork, a physi- cian at Vienna. I prescribed small doses to Welleta Yasous, being much more anxious to preserve myself from reproach, than warmly solicitous about the cure of my unknown patient. They were ovegoyed at having succeeded so well in their com- mission, and declared before the king, * That Fasil, their master, would be more pleased with receiving a medicine that would restore Welleta Yasous to health, than with the magni- ficent appointments the king's goodness had bestowed upon him.' ' If it is so/ said I, * in this day of grace I will ask two favours.' ' And that 's a rarity,* says the king. * Come, out with them. I don't believe anybody is desirous you should be re- fused ; I certainly am not ; only I bar one of them- -you are not to relapse into your usual de- spondency, and talk of going home.' * Well, sir,' said I, * I obey, and that is not one of them. They are these : You shall give me, and oblige Fasil to ratify it, the village of Geesh, and the source where the Nile rises, that I may be from thence furnished with money for myself and ser- vants ; it shall stand me instead of Tangouri, near Emfras, and in value it is not worth so much. Tiie second is, that when I shall see that it is in his power to carry me to Geesh, and show me those sources, Fasil shall do it upon my request, without fee or reward, and witlwut excuse or evasion.' They all laughed at the easi- ness of the request ; all declared that this was nothing, and wished to do ten times as much. The king said, * Tell Fasil I do give the village of Geesh, and those fountains he is so fond of, to Yagoube and his posterity for ever, never to appear under another name in the deftar, and never to be taken from him or exchanged, either in peace or war.' The king's secretary and his- torian being then present, the king ordered him to enter the gift in the deftar, or revenue- book, where the taxes and revenue of the king's lands are registered. * I will write it,* says the old man, * in letters of gold ; and, poor as I am, will give him a village four times better than either Geesh or Tangouri, if he will take a wife and stay amongst us, at least till my eyes are closed.' The next morning the whole army was in motion, it being re- solved by the king and Michael to retire into Tigr^. I had the evening before taken leave of the king, in an interview which cost me more than almost any one in my life. The substance was, * That I was ill in my health, and quite unprepared to attend him into Tigr^ ; that my 266 THh ENGLISH EXPLORERS. SI, \ts heart was set upon completing the only purpose of my coming into Abyssinia, without which I should return into my own coun- try with disgrace ; that I hoped, through his majesty's influence, Fasil might find some way for me to accomplish it; if not, I trusted soon to see him return, when I hoped it would be easy ; but, if I then went to Tigr^, I was fully persuaded I should never have the resolution to come again to Gondar.' He seemed to take heart at the confidence with which I spoke of his return, and, after a confidential, friendly talk on the matter, advised me to live entirely at Koscam with the Iteghd On the 5th of June, while Powussen, Adero, and the con- spirators, were waiting his pas- sage through Belessen, the king's army marched towards Koscam, so that the distance between them increased every day. Michael, when he arrived in his government, set himself seriously to unite every part under his jurisdiction. He took possession of the mountain Ha- ramat, ordered the whole moun- tain to be surrounded with barracks, or huts, for his sol- diers, erecting houses for him- self, his principal officers, and the king. The country people were called in to plough and sow the ground in the neighbour- hood. The king and Michael, by their wise behaviour, had reconciled Tigre as one man, and the Ras had issued a pro- clamation remitting to that pro- vince their taxes for a whole year, in consideration of their fidelity and services. In the meantime Gusho and Powussen entered Gondar on the loth of June, and their will was law while they remained in Gondar. I waited upon them and had an unpleasant inter- view with them, and I felt, on leaving, that my Importance was now gone with the king. I was fallen, and they were resolved, I saw, to make me sensible of it. A council of the principal officers that remained at Gondar was held, and the result was, they fixed on a young man, about twenty-four years of age, reputed to be a son of Yasous, for their king, under the name of Socinios. I v/as resolved once more to try and continue my journey to the head of the Nile. The news that Ras Michael with 30,000 men, was approaching Gondar, inspired me with a degree of confidence and composure of mind to which I had long been a stranger. I looked upon this news as a good omen, slept soundly that night, and in the morning I was ready for the journey. CHAPTER XI. Arrival at the fountains of the Nile. On the morning of the 28th of October 1770 we left Gondar, and in the course of two days BRUGES TRAVELS. 267 :e more to we reached Bamba, a collection of villages, where P'asil was en- camped. Fasil's tentwas pitched a little below us, and I imme- diately sent Ayto Aylo's servant to present my compliments and acquaint him of my being on the road to visit him. I thought now all my difficulties were over, for I knew it was in lis power to forward us to ou.- journey's end. On the night of the 30th I received a message to attend him, when I re- paired immediately to his tent. After announcing myself, I waited about a quarter of an hour before I was admitted ; he was sitting upon a cushion, with a lion's skin upon it, and another stretched like a carpet before his feet, and had a cot ton cloth, something like a dirty towel, wrapped about his head; his upper clcak or gar- ment was drawn tight about him over his neck and shoul- ders, so as to cover his hands ; I bowed, and went forward to kiss one of them, but it was so entangled in the cloth, that I was obliged to kiss the cloth instead of the hand. This was done either as not expecting I should pay him that compliment (as I certainly should not have done, being one of the king's servants, if the king had been at Gondar) or else it was in- tended for a mark of disrespect, which was very much of a piece with the rest of his behaviour afterwards. There was no carpet or cushions in the tent, and only a little straw, as if accidentally, thrown thinly about it. I sat down upon the ground, think- ing him sick, not knowing what all this meant ; he looked stead- fastly at me, saying, half under his breath, ' Endett nawi % bogo nawi ? ' which, in Amharic, is, * How do you do ] Are you very well V I made the usual answer, ' Well, thank God.' He again stopt, as for me to speak ; there was only one old man present, who was sitting on the floor mending a mule's bridle. I took him at first for an attendant, but observing that a servant, uncovered, held a candle to him, I thought he was one of his Gal) • but then I saw a blue silk ttir jad, which he had about his neck, which is a badge of Christianity all over Abyssinia, and which a Galla would not wear. What he was, T could not make out ; he seemed, however, to be a very bad cobbler, and took no notice of us. Ayto Aylo's servant, who stood behind me, pushed me with his knee, as a sign that I should speak, which I accord- ingly began to do with some difficulty. ' I am come,' said I, * by your invitation, and the king's leave, to pay my respects to you in your own government, begging that you would favour my curiosity so far as to suffer me to see the country of the Agows, and the source of the Abay (or Nile) part of which I have seen in Egypt.' * The source of the Abay ! ' exclaimed ii 268 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, he, with a pretended surprise, *do you know what you are saying % Why, it is God knows where, in the country of the Galla, wild, terrible people. The source of the Abay ! Are you raving % ' repeats he again : * Are you to get there, do you think, in a twelvemonth, or more, or when % * * Sir,* said I, 'the king told rae it was near Sacala, and still nearer Geesh : both villages of the Agows, and both in your government.' * And so you know Sacala and Geesh 1 ' says he, whistling and half angry. * I can repeat the names that I hear,' said I ; * all Abyssinia knows the head of the Nile.' *Ay,' says he, imitating my voice and manner, *but all Abyssinia won't carry you there, that I promise you.' * If you are resolved to the contrary,' said I, * they will not ; I wish you had told the king so in time, then I should not have attempted it; it was relying upon you alone I came so far, conftdent if all the rest of Abyssinia could not protect me t)iere, that your word singly could do it.' He now put on a look of more complacency. * Look you, Yagoube,' says he, * it is true I can do it ; and, for the king's sake, who recommended it to me, I would do it ; but the Acab Saat, Abba Salama, has sent to me, to desire me not to let you pass further ; he says it is against the law of the land to permit Franks like you to go about the country, and that he has dreamed something ill win befall me if you go into Maitsha.' I was as much irritated as I thought it possible for me to be. ' So, so,' said I, * the time of priests, prophets, and dreamers is coming on again.* * I under- stand you,' says he, laughing for the first time; *I care as little for priests as Michael does and for prophets too, but I would have you consider the men of this country are not like yours; a boy of these Galla would think nothing of killing a man of your country. You white people are all eflem- inate; you are like so many women ; you are not fit for going into a province where all is war, and inhabited by men, warriors from their cradle.' I saw he intended to pro- voke me, and he had succeeded so effectually that I should have died, I believe, if I had not, imprudent as it was, told him my mind in f^ly. * Sir,' said I, * I have passed through raanj of the most barbarous nations in the world ; all of them, ex- cepting this clan of yours, have some great men among them, above using a defenceless stran- ger ill. But the worst and lowest individual among the most uncivilized people, never treated me as you have done to-day, under your own roof, where I have come so far for protection.* He asked, ' Howl' 'You have, in the first place,' said I, 'publicly called me Frank, the most odious name in this country, and sufficient BRUGES TRAVELS. 269 to occasion me to be stoned to death without further ceremony, by any set of men, wherever I may present myself. By Frank, you mean one of the Romish religion, to which my nation is as adverse as yours ; and again, without having ever seen any of my countrymen but myself, you have discovered, from that specimen, that we are all cowards and effeminate people like, or inferior to, your boys or women. Look you. Sir, you never heard that I gave myself out as more than an ordinary man in my own coun- try, far less to be a pattern of what is excellent in it. I am no soldier, though I know enough of war to see yours are poor proficients in that trade. But there are soldiers, friends and countrymen ot mine (one presents himself to my mind at this instant*) who would not think it an action in his life to vaunt of, that with 500 men he had trampled all you naked savages into dust.' On this Fasil made a feigned laugh, and seemed rather to take my freedom amiss. It was, doubtless, a passionate and rash Sj^ eech. 'As to myself,' continued I, 'unskilled in war as I am, could it be now without further consequence, let me but be armed in my own country fashion, on horseback, as I was yesterday, I should, without 1 It is with pleasure I confess the man in my mind was my brave friend, Sir William Erskiue. thinking myself overmatched, fight the two best horsemen you shall choose from this your army of famous men, who are warriors from their cradle ; and if, when the king arrives, you are not returned to your duty, and we meet again, as we did at Limjour, I will pledge my- self, with his permission, to put you in mind of this promise, and leave the choice of these men in your option.' This did not make things better. He repeated the word duty after me, and would have re- plied, but my nose burst out in a stream of blood ; and, that instant, Aylo's servant took hold of me by the shoulder, to hurry me out of the tent. Fasil seemed to be a good deal deal concerned, for the blood streamed out upon my clothes. The old man likewise assisted me when out of the tent; I found he was Guebra Ehud, Ay to Aylo's brother, whose ser- vant we had met on the road. I returned then to my tent, and the blood was soon stanched by washing my face with cold water. I sat down to recollect myself, and the more I calmed, the more I was dissatisfied at being put off my guard ; but it is impossible to conceive the provocation without having proved it. I have felt but too often how much the love of our native soil increases by our absence from it ; and how jealous we are of comparisons made to the disadvantage of our countrymen by people who, % n It ■ m •■m 270 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. all proper allowances being made, are generally not their equals, when they would boast themselves their superiors. I will confess further, in gratifi- cation to my critics, that I was from my infancy of a sanguine, passionate disposition ; very sensible of injuries that I had neither provoked nor deserved; but much reflection from very early life, continual habits of suffering in long and dangerous travels, where nothing but patience would do, had, I flattered myself, abundantly subdued my natural proneness to feel off"ences which common sense might teach me I could only revenge upon myself. However, upon further con- sulting my own breast, I found there was another cause had v'^o-operated strongly with the former in making me lose my temper at this time, which, upon much greater provoca- tion, I had never done before. I found now, as I thought, that it was decreed decisively my hopes of arriving at the source of the Nile were for ever ended ; all my trouble, all my expenses, all my time, and all my sufferings for so many years were thrown away, from no greater obstacle than the whim- sies of one barbarian, whose good inclinations I thought I had long before sufficiently secured ; and, what was worse, I was now got within less than forty miles of the place I so much wished to see ; and my hopes were shipwrecked upon the last as well as the most unexpected difficulty I had to encounter. I was just going to bed, when Ayto Welleta Michael Ras Michael's r^ephew, taken at Limjour, and a prisoner with Fasil, though now at large, came into the tent. I need not repeat the discourse that passed between us ; it was all con- dolence upon the ill-usage I had met with. He cursed Fasil, called him a thousand opprobrious names, and said Ras Michael one day would show me his head upon a pole ; he hinted that he thought Fasil expected a present, and imagined that I intended to pass the king's recommenda- tion 0.1 him in the place of it. * I have a present,' said I, ' and a very handsome one ; but I never thought that, while his nagareet was still beating, and when he had scarcely pitched his tent, when he was tired, and I no less so, that it was then a time to open baggage for this purpose; if he had waited till to-morrow, he should have had a gratifi- cation which would have con- tented him.' Welleta Michael assured me that Fasil would not deny me the required permission, and that he expected no present. This assurance composed my mind, and falling into a deep sleep I was awakened about midnight by two of Fasil's servants, who brought two lean sheep as a present, and BRUGES TRAVELS, 171 stayed all night to watch the house. Next morning another ser- vant of Fasil's came leading twelve horses, all saddled and bridled, from which I might choose one as a present. None of them in this country would have brought over £1. The servant pitched on a bright bay pony, fat, and apparently strong enough to carry me. He pre- tended that he was a great favourite of Fasil's, but too dull and quiet for him. I consented to try him, having my own saddle and bridle put on the horse. For the first two minutes after I mounted, I do not know whether I was most on the earth or in the air ; he kicked behind, reared before, leaped like a deer all four off the ground ; he then attempted to gallop, but got a check which staggered him. Finding I slacked the bridle on his neck, he set- off and ran away, flinging out behind every ten yards ; afterwards between the two hills, half up the one and half up the other, I wrought him so, that he had no longer either breath or strength, and I began to think he would scarce carry me to the camp. The poor beast made a sad figure, cut in the side to pieces, and bleeding at the jaws ; and the seis, the rascal that put me upon him, being there when I dismounted, he held up his hands upon seeing the horse so mangled, and began to testify great surprise upon the sup- posed harm I had done. I took no notice of this, only said, * Carry that horse to your master ; he may venture to ride him now, which is more than either he or you dared to have done in the morning. As rny own horse was bridled and saddled, and I found my- self violently irritated, I mount- ed, taking my short double-bar- relled gun, and galloped and trot- ted, making my horse perform everything he was capable of. This the Galla beheld with astonishment and admiration, and all the more as I shot two kites flying. Fasil now sent for me, and on hearing the whole story appeared to be in a terrible fury, and protested by every oath he could devise that he knew nothing of the matter. He repeated his pro- testations that he was innocent, and heartily sorry for the acci- dent, which, indeed, he ap- peared to be ; he told me the groom was in irons, and that, before many hours passed, he would put him to death. I was perfectly satisfied with his sin- cerity. I wished to put an end to this disagreeable con- versation : *Sir,' said I, * as this man has attempted my life, according to the laws of the country, it is I that should name the punishment.' * It is very true,' replied Fasil, ' take him, Yagoube, and cut him in a thousand pieces, if you please, and give his body to the kites.' * Are you really sincere in -* . I ^ N m^t y^ f if I 272 T//E ENGLISH EXPLORERS. <' IF and ex- what you say]' said I, will you have no after cuses V He swore solenanly he would not. 'Then/ said I, *I am a Christian : the way my religion teaches me to punish my ene- mies is by doing good for evil ; and therefore I keep you to the oath you have sworn, and desire my friend, the Fit-Auraris, to set the man at liberty, and put him in the place he held before, for he has not been undutiful to you.' I need not say what were the sentiments of the company upon the occasion ; they seemed to be most favourable to me : old Guebra Ehud could not con- tain himself, but got out of the dark corner, and squeezed both of my hands in his ; and turn- ing to Fasil, said, * Did not I tell you what my brother A^lo thought about this man 1 ' Welleta Michael said, * He was just the same all through Tigrd' Fasil, in a low voice, replied, * A man that behaves as he does may go through any country.' On bringing my present he showed some scruples at first as to receiving it. * I will not take them from you, Yagoube ; this is downright robbery ; I have done nothing for this, which is a present for a king.' * If you will not receive them,' continued I, ' such as they are offered, it is the greatest affront ever was put upon me ; I can never, you know, receive them and again.' This convinced satisfied him. * Friend Yagoube,' said he afterwards, * I go to Gondar in peace, and to keep peace there for the king on this side the Tacazz^ has no other friend than me. I have nothing to return you for the present you have given me, for I did not expect to meet a man like you in the fields ; but you will quickly be back ; we shall meet on better terms at Gondar ; the head of the Nile is near at hand ; a horseman express will arrive there in a day. He will go to Geesh with you, and re- turn you to a friend of Ayto Aylo, Shalaka Welled Amlac: he has the dangerous part of the country wholly in his hands, and will carry you safe to Gon- dar. I replied, with many thanks for his kindness, * That I wished to proceed immediately, and that my servants were already far off on the way.' *You are very much in the right,' said Fasil. 'But throw off these bloody clothes, they are not decent \ I must give you new ones.' A number of his servants hurried me out, and replaced my soiled garments with a fine loose muslin under garment, which reached to my feet Upon my coming back to his tent, he took the garment which he had newly put upon himself that morning, and put it over my shoulders with his own hand, saying at the same time, * Bear BRUGES TRAVELS. »73 witness, I give to you, Yagoube, the Agow Geesh, as fully and freely as the king has given it to me.' I bowed and kissed his hand, as is customary for feu- datories, and he then pointed to me to sit down. •Hear what I say to you,' continued Fasil ; * I think it right for you to make the best of your way now; for you will be the sooner back at Gondar. You need not be alarmed at the wild people you speak of, who are going after you, though it is better to meet them coming this way, than when they are going to their homes ; they are commanded by Welleta Ya- sous, who is your friend.* I bowed, and he continued — ' Hear me what I say ; you see those seven people (I never saw more thief-like fellows in my life),— these are all leaders and chiefs of the Galla— savages, if you please; they are all your brethren.' I bowed. He then jabbered something to them in Galla, which I did not under- stand. They all answered by the wildest howl I ever heard, and struck themselves upon the breast, apparently assenting. After some further conversa- tion, in which he alluded to my previous kindness to his ser- vants, and to some of his friends, he said, * Now before all these men, ask me anything you have at heart, and, be it what it may, they know I cannot deny it you.' 'Why then,' said I, «by all those obligations you are pleased to mention, of which you have made a recital so truly honour- able to me, I ask you the great- est favour that man can bestow upon me — send me, as con- veniently as possible, to the head of the Nile, and return me and my attendants in safety, after having despatched me quickly, and put me under no constraint that may prevent me from satisfying my curiosity in my own way.' 'This,' says he, *is no re- quest, I have granted it already ; besides, I owe it to the com- mands of the king, whose ser- vant I am. Since, however, ?t is so much at your heart, go in peace, I will provide you with all necessaries. If I am alive, and governor of Damot, as you are, we all know, a prudent and sensible man, unsettled as the state of the country is, nothing disagreeable can befall you.' He then turned again to his seven chiefs, who aii got up, himself and I, Guebra Ehud, Welleta Michael, and the Pit- Auraris ; we all stood round in a circle, and raised the palm of our hands, while he and his Galla together repeated a prayer about a minute long; the Galla seemingly with great devotion. * Now,' says Fasil, *go in peace, you are a Galla; this is a curse upon them, and their children, their com, grass, and cattle, if ever they lift their hand against you or yours, or do not defend you to the utmost, if attacked by others, or endeavour to defeat any de- s IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I Hi 12.5 ■ 2.2 US i 2.0 IIII-25 m 1.4 U£ 1.6 ^^ Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716)872-4503 ) l/.A 274 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. I '[III!' i sign they may hear is intended against you.' Upon this I offered to kiss his hand before I took my leave, and we all went to the door of the tent, where there was a very handsome grey horse bridled and saddled. * Take this horse,' says Fasil, *as a present from me; it is not so good as your own, but depend upon it, it is not of the kind that rascal gave you in the morning; it is the horse which I rode upon yesterday, when I came here to encamp ; but do not mount it yourself, drive it before you, saddled and bridled as it is : no man of Maitsha will touch you when he sees that horse ; it is the people of Maitsha, whose houses Mi- chael has burnt, that you have to fear, and not your friends the Galla.' I then took the most humble and respectful leave of him possible, and also of my new-acquired brethren the Galla, praying inwardly I might never see them again. I recom- mended myself familarly and affectionately to the remem- brance of Welleta Michael, the Ras's nephew, as well as Guebra Ehud ; and, turning to Fasil, according to the custom of the country to superiors, asked him leave to mount on horseback before him, and was speedily out of sight. Shalaka Woldo (the name of my guide) did not set out with me, being employed about some affairs of his own ; but he presently after followed, driving Fasil's horse before him. At Dingleber^ I overtook my servants, who were disposed to stop there for that night. They had been not a little annoyed and terrified by the troops of wild Galla, but I was now under no apprehension, for I perceived Fasil's horse, driven before us, commanded all necessary re- spect. Next day we passed the Kelti, a tributary of the Nile, and encamped beside a troop of the Galla, commanded by a notorious robber, called the Jumper. When I waited upon him the following morning, he seemed very much embarrassed at the visit, was quite naked, saving a towel round the loins, and was busy rubbing his arms and body with melted tallow, an attendant being busy at the same time plaiting his hair with the long and thin guts of an ox. Round his neck were also coiled two rounds of the latter. Our conversation was neither long nor interesting; I was over- come with the disagreeable smell of blood and carrion, and on giving him my small present I took my leave. The Jumper was tall and lean, very sharp- faced, with a long nose, small eyes, and prodigious large ears. When we had passed the river Kelti, we entered into the teni- tory of the Aroussi, inhabited not by Galla, but by Abyssinians, a kindred of the Agows. This territory is by much the most pleasant that we had seen in Abyssinia, perhaps it is equal to anything the East can produce. 1 The pass of the Virgin Mary. BRUGES TRAVELS. 275 The whole is finely shaded with acacia trees, or Egyptian thorn, the tree which produces the gum-arabic. The ground be- low these trees is thick covered with lupines and also wild oats, which here grow spontaneously to a prodigious height and size, some of the stalks being little less than an inch round about. The inhabitants made no sort of use of this grain, but I often made the meal into cakes, in remembrance of Scotland. The Abyssinians never could relish these cakes, which they said made them thirsty, and burnt their stomachs. I believe this is the oat in its original state, and that it is degenerated every- where with us. All Aroussi is finely watered with small streams, the Assar being the next largest river to the Nile. The strength of vegetation which the mois- ture of this river produces, sup- ported by the action of a very warm sun, is such as might be expected. We find trees and shrubs of every colour, all new and extraordinary in their shapes, crowded with birds of many uncouth forms, all of them richly adorned with variety of plumage, but not one songster among them all. Birds and flowers may both be considered liable to the observation, that the flowers are destitute of odour, and the birds of song. After passing the Assar, and several villages belonging to Goutto, our course being south- east, we had, for the first time, a distinct view of the high moun- tain of Geesh, the long-wished- for end of our dangerous and troublesome journey. Under this mountain are the x'ountains of the Nile; it bore from us s.E. by s. about thirty miles, as near as we could conjecture, in a straight line, without count- ing the deviations or crooked- ness of the road. Ever since we had passed the Assar we had been descending gently through very uneven ground, covered thick with trees, and torn up by the gullies and courses of torrents. At two o'clock in the afternoon of the second of November, we came to the banks of the Nile ; the passage here is very difllicult and dangerous, the bottom be- ing full of holes made by con- siderable springs, and light sink- ing sand. The veneration paid by the Agows for the Nile be- came here very marked. They crowded to us at the ford, and protested with much vehemence against any man's riding across the stream, mounted either upon horse or mule. Without any ceremony they unloaded our mules, laid our baggage on the grass, and insisted on our taking off our shoes. We were now conducted across, when Waldo, the guide whom Fasil had given me, sat down on a green hUlock in the presence of tihe company, with a small stick in one hand and a lighted pipe in the other. He now began gravely to ex- hort the Agows to lose no time in carrying over our baggage on their shoulders. This proposal 'i'H > 'Uf B M 'mm 276 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, they treated with a kind of ridi- cule, and hinted that he should first settle about a price for their trouble. This word was no sooner uttered, when, appar- ently in a most violent passion, he leapt up, laid by his pipe, took his stick, and ran into the midst of them, crying out, with violent execrations, *And who am I? and who am I, then ? a girl, a woman, or a Pagan dog like yourselves? and who is War- agna Fasil? are you not his slaves ? or to whom else do you belong, that you are to make me pay for the consequences of your devilish idolatries and superstitions? But you want payment, do ye? here is your payment' He then tucked his clothes tight about his girdle, began leaping two or three feet high, and laying about him with his stick over their heads and faces, or wherever he could strike them. After this Woldo wrested a lance from a long awkward fellow that was next him, stand- ing amazed, and levelled the point at him in a manner, that I thought to see the poor pea- sant fall dead in an instant. The fellow fled in a trice; so did they all to a man ; and no wonder, for in my life I never saw any one play the furious devil so naturally. Upon one man's running off, he cried out to my people to give him a gun ; which made these poor wretches run faster, and hide themselves among the bushes. Lucky, indeed, was it for Woldo, that my servants did not put him to the trial, by giving him the gun as he demanded, for he would not have ventured to fire it, perhaps to have touched it, if it had been to have made him master of the province. I sat as a spectator on the other side, trying to settle in my mind how my baggage could be conveyed across. It was with some surprise too that I ob- served Woldo cross, my servants along with him, leaving the bag- gage on the other side without any guard whatever. He then desired us to get on horseback, and drive the mules before us, which we did accordingly. We had not advanced above a hun- dred yards, when we saw a greater number of people than formerly, run down to where our baggage was lying, all of which they brought across in an in- stant. This did not apparently satisfy our guide, making them take the baggage upon their shoulders again, and convey it to the very place where our mules had halted. He now pre- tended that he had been robbed, and the Agows, to prevent fur- ther prosecution, made up the sum which he declared he had lost. Arriving pretty late at the village of Goutto, and find- ing Fasil's horse still fresh, I paid a visit to what is called the First Cataract of the Nile. It did not come up to the appear- ance I had formed of it, being scarcely sixteen feet in height, and sixty yards broad. Tninking it was now proper BRUGES TRAVELS. 277 time to give Woldo a lesson as to how I meant to behave among the Agows, I told him, that since the king had given me the small territory of Geesh, it was my intention to discharge them for that year of any taxes due to the king, or Fasil whom I represented. Woldo tried to show me I was wrong in this intention, but afterwards unwill- ingly acquiesced. On November 3d we left the village of Goutto, passing through a pJain country full of acacia- trees, and thence de- scending into a large plain full of marshes, bounded on the west by the Nile. In this plain the Nile winds more in the space of four miles than I be- lieve any river in the world. It was here not above twenty feet broad, and not above a foot deep. The sun had been very hot all along the plain of Goutto, and here so excessively that we were almost overpowered, Woldo declaring he felt so ill that he doubted if he could go any farther. We pushed on, however, and entered the plain of Abola, from thence reaching the mountains, in which, a little to the westward, lay the village of Geesh, and where were the long-expected fountains of the Nile. The river Abola comes out of the valley between these two ridges of mountains of Litch- ambara and Aformasha, but does not rise there. It has two branches, one of which has its source in the western side of Litchambara, near the centre of the curve where the moun- tains turn south ; the other branch rises on the mountain of Aformasha, and the east side of our road as we ascended to the church of Mariam. Still behind these are the mountains of Amid-amid, another ridge which begin behind Samseen, in the s.w. part of the province of Maitsha, though they become high only from the mountain of Adama ; but they are in shape exactly like the former ridges, embracing them in a large curve in the shape of a crescent. Be- tween Amid-amid and the ridge of Litchambara is the deep val- ley now known by the name of St. George; what was its an- cient, or Pagan name, I coalc| not learn. Through the middle of this valley runs the Jemma, a river equal to the Nile, if not larger, but infinitely more rapid. After leaving the valley, it crosses that part of Maitsha, on the east of the Nile, and loses itself in that river iDelow Samseen, near the ford where our army passed in the unfor- tunate retreat of the month of May. Its sources or fountains are three ; they rise in the mountains of Amid-amid, and keep on close to the east side of them, till the river issues out of the valley into Maitsha. This triple ridge of mountains, dis- posed one range behind the other, nearly in form of por- tions of three concentric circles, seems to suggest an idea that they are the Mountains of the .•,>!"y '^■ mi 11 « it?*. •.Hi' I 278 THE ENGLI5;H EXPLORERS. ; '>:T |ii5 ;i Moon, or the Monies Lunce of antiquity, at the foot of which the Nile was said to rise ; in fact there are no others. Amid- amid may perhaps exceed half a mile in height ; they certainly do not arrive at three quarters, and are greatly short of that fabulous height given them by Kircher. These mountains are all of them excellent soil, and everywhere covered with fine pasture ; but as this unfortunate country had been for ages the seat of war, the inhabitants have only ploughed and sown the top of them, out of the reach of enemies or marching armies. On the middle of the mountain are villages built of a white sort of grass, which makes them con- spicuous at a great distance ; the bottom is all grass, where their cattle feed continually under their eye; these, upon any alarm, they drive up to the top of the mountains out of danger. The hail lies often upon the top of Amid-amid for hours, but snow was never seen in this country, nor have they a word * in their language for it. It is also remarkable, though we had often violent hail at Gondar, and, when the sun was vertical, it never came but with the wind blowing directly from Amid-amid. At ten minutes past three o'clock we crossed the small river Iworra, in the valley of Abola ; it comes from the east, * By this is meant the Amharic, for in G^^z the word for snow is Tilze. This may have been invented for translating the Scrip- tures. and runs westward into that river. At a quarter after four we halted at a house in the middle of the plain, or valley. This valley is not above a mile broad, the river being distant about a quarter, and runs at the foot of the mountains. This village, as indeed were all the others we had seen since our crossing the Nile at Goutto, was surrounded by large, thick plantations, of that singular plant the Ensete, one of the most beautiful productions of nature, as well as most agree- able and wholesome food of man. We were but seldom lucky enough to get the people of the villages to wait our arrival. The fears of the march of the Galla, and the uncertainty of their destination, made them believe always we were detachments of that army, to which the pre- sence of Fasil's horse, driven constantly before us, very much contributed. I was determined to try whether, by taking away that scarecrow, Fasil's horse, from before us, and riding him myself, things would change for the better. This 1 distinctly saw that Woldo would have wished the horse to have gone rather without a rider, and this I observed the night I went to the cataract from Goutto. Sit- ting on the king's saddle, or in his seat at Gondar, is high trea- son ; and Woldo thought at all times, but now especially, that his master was inferior to no king upon earth. I com- BRUGES TRAVELS. 279 pounded, as I conceived, with Woldo's scruples, by laying aside Fasil's saddle, which was a very uneasy one ; besides, that it had iron rings instead of stirrups ; in short, as this horse was very beautiful (as many of the Galla horses are), and all of one colour, which was that of lead, without any spot of white, I hoped to make him an ac- ceptable present to the king, who was passionately fond of horses. Here it may not be improper to observe, that all very great men in Abyssinia choose to ride horses of one colour only, which have no dis- tinguishing mark whereby they may be traced in retreats, flights, or such unlucky expeditions. It is the king alone, in battle, who rides upon a horse distinguished by his marks, and that on pur- pose that he may be known. The present king, however, was too brave to owe his safety to any such expedient. After coasting some little time along the side of the valley, we began to ascend a mountain on the right. The climate seemed here most agreeably mild, the country covered with the most lively verdure, the mountains with beautiful trees and shrubs, loaded with extraordinary fruits and flowers. I found my spirits very much raised with these pleasing scenes, as were those of all my servants, who were, by our conversation, made geo- graphers enough to know we were approaching to the end of our journey. Both Strates and I, out of the Lamb's hearing, had shot a variety of curious birds and beasts. All but Woldo seemed to have acquired new strength and vigour. He con- tinued in his air of despondency, and seemed every day to grow more and more weak. At a quarter past eleven we arrived at the top of the mountain, where we, for the first time, came in sight of Sacala, which extends in the plain below from west to the point of south, and there joins with the village of Geesh, built on a similar oc- casion. Sacala, full of small low vil- lages, which, however, had es- caped the ravages of the late war, is the eastermost branch of the Agows, and famous for the best honey. The small river Kebezza, running from the east, serves as a boundary be- tween Sacala and Aformasha; after joining two other rivers, the Gometti and Googueri, which we presently came to, after a short course nearly from s.E. to N.W., it falls into the Nile a little above its junction with the Abola. At three-quarters past eleven, we crossed the river Kebezza, and descended into the plain of Sacala; in a few minutes, we also passed the Googueri, a more considerable stream than the former; it is about sixty feet broad, and perhaps eigh- teen inches deep, very cleai and rapid, running over a rug' ged, uneven bottom of black rock. At a quarter past twelve, ^^^:& '^ 28o THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. 1 ' 1 si m we halted on a small eminence, where the market of Sacala is held every Saturday. Horned cattle, many of the greatest beauty possible, with which all this country abounds ; large asses, the most useful of all beasts for riding or carriage ; honey, butter, ensete for food, and a manufacture of the leaf of that plant, painted with dif- ferent colours like mosaic work, for mats, are here exposed for sale in great plenty ; the butter and honey, indeed, are chiefly carried to Gondar, or to Bur^ ; but Damot, Maitsha, and Go- jam likewise take a consider- able quantity of all these com- modities. We had no other path but a road made by the sheep or the goats, broken and full of holes, while we were also everywhere stopt and entangled by that execrable thorn the Kantuffa. When we arrived at the top of this mountain, we had a distinct view of all the remaining terri- tory of Sacala, the mountain of Geesh, and church of St. Michael Geesh, about a mile and a half distant from St. Michael Sacala, where we then were. We saw, immediately below us, the Nile itself, strangely diminished in size, and now only a mere brook that had scarcely water to turn a mill. I could not sa- tiate myself with the sight, re- volving in my mind all those classical prophecies that had given up the Nile to perpetual obscurity and concealment. I was awakened out of this de- Hghlful reverie by an alarm that we had lost Woldo our guide. The servants could not agree when they last saw him, but conjectured, that as he had been in the woods shooting, some of the apes or baboons had killed him. Sending Ayto Aylo's servant back to seek him, they met him, apparently decrepit and ill-looking. He said he would go no further than the church, where he had resolved to take up his abode that night Without losing my temper, I told him that he was an impostor and that nothing ailed him. I soon discovered that he had taken a great fancy to a crim- son-silk sash which I wore. The sash was a handsome one, but it must have been fine in- deed to stand for a minute be- tween me and the accomplish- ment of my wishes, and I ac- cordingly gave it to him. He took the sash, and began to make apologies. * Come, come,' said I, 'we understand each other; no more words; it is now late; lose no more time, but carry me to Geesh, and the head of the Nile, directly, and show me the hill that separates me from it. He then carried me round to the south side of the church, out of the grove of trees that sur- rounded it. * This is the hill,' says he, looking archly, 'that, when you was on the other side of it, was between you and the fountains of the Nile ; there is no other. Look at that hill- BRUGES TRAVELS. 281 ock of green sod in the middle of that watery spot ; it is in that the two fountains of the Nile are to be found : Geesh is on the face of the rock where yon green trees are. If you go the length of the fountainc, pull off your shoes, as you did the other day, for these people are all Pagans, worse than those that were at the ford ; and they be- lieve in nothing that you be- lieve, but only in this river, to which they pray every day, as if it were God ; but this per- haps you may do likewise.' Half undressed as I was by loss of my sash, and throwing my shoes off, I ran down the hill, towards the little island of green sods, which was about two hundred yards distant ; the whole side of the hill was thick grown over with flowers, the large bulbous roots of which appearing above the surface of the ground, and their skins coming off on treading upon them, occasioned me two very severe falls before I reached the brink of the marsh ; I after this came to the island of green turf, which was in form of an altar, apparently the work of art, and I stood in rapture over 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 — stand- ing in that spot which had baffled the genius, industry, and inquiry of both ancients and modems, 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 dif- ference of the numbers which had perished, and agreed alone in the disappointment which had uniformly, and without ex- ception, 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 encour- agement of geography. Though a mere private Briton, I tri- umphed here, in my own mind, over kings and their armies ; and every comparison was lead- ing nearer and nearer to pre- sumption, when the place itself where I stood, the object of my vain-glory, suggested what de- pressed my short-lived tnumph. I was but a few minutes arrived at the sources of the Nile, through numbe *c;ss dangers and sufferings, tL . ast of which would have overvvnelmed 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 P .-'I !^ ^I'l i i 2^2 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. woven for myself. I resolved, therefore, to divert, till I could, on more solid reflection, over- come its progress. I saw Strates expecting me on the side of the hill. * Strates,' said I, * faithful squire I come and triumph with your Don Quixote, at that island of Bara- taria, where 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 what you mean : you very well know I am no scholar. But you had much better leave that bog; come into the house, and look after Woldo; I fear he has some- thing further to seek than your sash, for he has been talking with the old devil-worshipper ever since we arrived.' * Did they speak secretly together?' said I. *Yes, sir, they did, I assure you.' * And in whispers, Strates?' ' Every syllable ; but for that,' replied he, * they need not have been at the pains ; they under- stand one another, I suppose, and the devil, their master, understands them both ; but as for me, I comprehend their dis- course no more than if it was Greek, as they say, Greek !' says he, * I am an ass ; I should know well enough what they said if they spoke Greek.' * Come,' said I, ' take a draught of this excellent water, and drink with me a health to his majesty King George iii. and a lom^ line of princes.' I had in mv hand a large cup made of a cocoa-nut shell, which I pro- cured in Arabia, and which was brim-full.* 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 I' He asked if that was the Virgin Mary ? I answered, ' In faith, I believe so, Strates.' He di(l not speak, but only gave a humph of disapprobation. The day had been very hot, and the altercation I had with Woldo had occasioned me to speak so much, that my thirst, without any help from curiosity, led me to these frequent liba- tions at this long-sought-for spring, the most ancient of all altars. 'Strates,' said I, 'here is to our happy return. Come, friend, you are yet two toasts behind me ; can you ever be satiated with this excellent water ? ' * Look you, sir,' says he very gravely, *as for King George, I drank to him with all my heart, to his wife, to his children, to his brothers and sisters — God bless them all! Amen; but as for the Virgin Mary, as I am no Papist, I beg to be excused from drink- ing healths which my church does not drink. As for our happy return, God knows there 1 This shell was brought home by Mr. Bruce, and is still preserved. Ti r BRUGES TRAVELS, 283 home by Mr. is no one wishes it more sincerely than I do, for I have been long weary of this beg- garly country. But you Tiust forgive me if I refuse to drink any more water. They say these savages pray over that hole every morning to the devil, and I am afraid I feel his horns in my belly already, from the great draught of that water I drank first.* It was, indeed, as cold water as ever I tasted. ' Come, come,' said I, * don't be peevish, I have but one toast more to drink.' ♦Peevish or not peevish,' re- plied Strates, 'a drop of it never again shall cross my throat ; there is no humour in this, no joke ; show us some- thing pleasant as you used to do; but there is no jest in meddling with devil-worship- pers, witchcraft, and enchant- ments, to bring some disease upon one's-self here, so far from home in the fields. No, no, as many toasts in wine as you please, or, better, in brandy, but no more water for Strates. I am sure I have done myself harm already with these follies —God forgive me 1 ' * Then,' said I, * I will drink it alone, and you are henceforward un- worthy of the name of Greek ; you do not even deserve that of a Christian.' Holding the full cup then to my head, ' Here is to Catherine, empress of all the Russias, and success to her heroes at ParOo ; and hear my prediction from this altar to- day: Ages shall not pass, be- fore this ground, whereon I now stand, shall become a flourish- ing part of her dominions.' He leaped on this a yard from the ground. * If the old gentleman has whispered you this,' says he, ' out of the well, he has not kept you long wait- ing ; tell truth and shame the devil, is indeed the proverb, but truth is truth, wherever it comes from ; give me the cup ; I Avill drink that health though I should die.' He then held out both his hands. ' Strates,' said I, * be in no such haste ; re- member the water is enchanted by devil-worshippers ; there is no jesting with these, and you are far from home, and in the fields you may catch some disease, especially if you drink the Virgin Mary ; God forgive you. Remember the horns the first draught produced ; they may with this come entirely through and through.' *The cup, the cup,' says he, * and fill it full ; I defy the devil ; and trust in St. George and the dragon. Here is to Catherine, empress of all the Russias ; confusion to her enemies, and to all at Paros.' * Well, friend,' said I, 'you was long in resolving, but you have done it at last to some purpose ; I am sure I did not drink to all at Paros.' * Ah ! ' says he, *but I did, and will do it again — to all at Paros, and Cyprus, and Rhodes, Crete, and Mitylene into the bargain : here it goes with all my heart. Amen, so be it.' I .^U '-;*^t : F. -i i 284 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. W '■ '■'A • And who do you think,* said I, ' are at Paros 1 ' * Pray, who slioiild be there,' says he, * but Turks and devils, the worst race of monsters and oppressors in the Levant. I have been at Paros myself; was you ever there ? ' ' Whether I was ever there or not is no matter,' said I ; * the empress's fleet, and an army of Russians, are now pos- sibly there ; and here you, without provocation, have drunk damnation to the Russian fleet and army, who have come so far from home, and are at this moment sword in hand, to restore you to your liberty and the free exercise of your reli- gion; did not 1 tell you, you was no Greek, and scarcely deserved the name ofChristian]' * No, no, sir,' cries Strates, * for God's sake do not say so ; I would rather die. I did not understand you about Paros; there was no malice in my heart against the Russians. God will bless them, and my folly can do them no harm — Huzza I Catherine and victory ! * whilst he tossed his cap into the air. A number of the Agows had appeared upon the hill, just be- fore the valley, in silent wonder what Strates and I were doing at the altar. Two or three only had come down to the edge of the swamp, had seen the grimaces and action of Strates, and heard him huzza ; on which they had asked Woldo, as he entered into the village, what was the meaning of all this? Woldo told them, that the man was out of his senses and had been bit by a mad dog' which reconciled them imme- diately to us. They, moreover, said he would be infallibly cured by the Nile ; but the cus- tom, after meeting with such a misfortune, was to drink the water in the morning fasting. I was very well pleased both with this turn Woldo gave the action, and the remedy we stumbled upon by mere acci- dent, which discovered a con- nexion, believed to subsist at this day, between this river and its ancient governor the dog-star. The Agows of Damot pay divine honour to the Nile ; they worship the river, and thousands of cattle have been offered, and are still offiered, to the spirit supposed to reside at its source. They are divided into clans, or tribes ; and it is worthy of ob- servation, that it is said there never was a feud or hereditary animosity between any two ol these clans ; or if the seeds ot any such were sown, they did not vegetate longer than till the next general convocation of all the tribes, who meet annually at the source of the river, to which they sacrifice, calling it by the name of the God of Peace. From the edge of the cliff of Geesh, above where the village is situated, the ground slopes with a very easy descent due north, and lands you at the edge of a triangular marsh above eighty-six yards broad, in the line of the fountains, and two BRUGES TRAVELS, «8S hundred and eighty-six yards two feet from tlie edge of the cliff, above the house of the priest of the river, where I re- sided. In the middle of this marsh arises a hillock of a cir- cular form, about three feet from the surfiice of the marsh itself, though apparently founded much deeper in it. The dia- meter of this is something short of twelve feet ; it is surrounded by a shallow trench, which col- lects the water and voids it east- ward ; it is firmly built with sod or earthen turf brought from the sides, and constantly kept in re- pair ; and this is the altar upon which all their religious cere- monies are performed. In the middle of this altar is a hole, obviously made, or at least en- larged, by the hand of man. It is kept clear of grass, or other aquatic plants, and the water in it is perfectly pure and limpid, but has no ebullition or motion of any kind discernible upon its surface. This mouth, or open- ing of the source, is some parts of an inch less than three feet diameter, and the water stood at that time, the 5th of Novem- ber, about two inches from the lip or brim; nor did it either increase or diminish during all the time of my stay at Geesh, though we made plentiful use of it. Ten feet from this spring is the second fountain, about ele- ven inches in diameter, and eight feet three inches deep ; and, about twenty feet from the first is a third, its moufh being something more than two feet large, and five feet eight inches deep. Both of these latter stand in the middle of small altars, made, like the former, of firm sod, neither of them above three feet in diameter. The water from these fountains is very light and good, and perfectly tasteless. At the foot of each appeared a clear and brisk run- ning rill, uniting with each other and flowing eastward, in quan- tity that would have filled a pipe of about two inches diameter. Between the 5th and the 7th November I made thirty-five observations, by which I deter- mined the precise latitude, 10° 59' 25" north latitude, of the principal fountain. From obser- vation I did also precisely con- clude the chief fountain to be 36° 55' 30" east longitude. The night of my arrival, me- lancholy reflections upon my present state, the doubtfulness of my return in safety, were I permitted to make the attempt, the consciousness of the pain that I was then occasioning to many worthy individuals, ex- pecting daily that information concerning my situation which it was not in my power to give them; some other thoughts, per- haps, still nearer the heart than those, crowded upon my mind, and forbade all approach of sleep. I was, at that very mo- ment, in possession of what had for many^ years been the prin- cipal object of my ambition and wishes : indifference, which, from the usual infirmity of hu- \.l vM •■>^.;'-: Si 286 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. ^■m mA man nature, follows, at least for a time, complete enjoyment, had taken the place of it. The marsh and the fountains, upon comparison with the rise of many of our rivers, became now a trifling object in my sight. I remembered that magnificent scene in my own native coun- try, where the Tweed, Clyde, and Annan rise in one hill — three rivers, as I now thought, not inferior to the Nile in beauty, preferable to it in the cultiva- tion of those countries through which they flow ; superior, vastly superior, to it in the virtues and qualities of the inhabitants, and in the beauty of its flocks crowd- ing its pastures in peace, with- out fear of violence from man or beast. I had seen the rise of the Rhine and Rhone, and the more magnificent sources of the Soane ; I began, in my sorrow, to treat the inquiry about the source of the Nile as a violent effort of a distempered fancy : — ' What's Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba, That he should weep for her }'— Grief, or despondency, now roll- ing upon me like a torrent, re- laxed, not refreshed, by unquiet and imperfect sleep, I started from my bed in the utmost agony. I went to the door of my tent ; everything was still ; the Nile, at whose head I stood, was not capable either to pro- mote or to interrupt my slum- bers, but the coolness and serenity of the night braced my nerves, and chased away those phantoms that, while in bed, had oppressed and tormented me. It was true that numerous dangers, hardships, and sorrows had beset me through this half of my excursion, but it was still as true that another Guide, more powerful than my own courage, health, or understanding, if any of these can be called man's own, had uniformly protected me in all that tedious half; I found my confidence m^t abated, that still the same Guide was able to conduct me to my now wished -for home. I imme- diately resumed my former for- titude, considering the Nile indeed as no more than rising from springs, as all other rivers do, but widely different in this, that it was the palm for three thousand years held out to all the nations in the world as a deiur dignissimo, which, in my cool hours, I had thought was worth the attempting at the risk of my life, which I had long either resolved to lose, or lay this discovery, a trophy in which I couid have no com- petitor, for the honour of my country, at the feet of my Sove- reign. Nothing can be more beauti- ful than this spot ; the small rising hills about us were all thickly covered with verdure, especially with clover, the largest and finest I ever saw ; the tops of the heights crowned with trees of a prodigious size ; the stream, at the banks of which we were sitting, was limpid and pure as the finest crystal; brucf:s tfavels. 287 the ford, covered thick with a bushy kind of tree, that seemed to affect to grow to no height, but thick with foUage and young branches, rather to court the surface of the water, whilst it bore in prodigious quantities a beautiful yellow flower, not unlike a single wild rose of that colour, but without thorns ; and, indeed, upon examination, we found that it was not a species of the rose, but of hypericum. From the source to this beauti- ful ford, below the church of St. Michael Geesh, I enjoyed my second victory over this coy river, after the first obtained at the fountains themselves. It is time now to go back to Woldo, whom we left settling our reception with the chief of the village of Geesh. The miserable Agows, assembled all around him, were too much in- terested in the appearance we made, not to be exceedingly inquisitive how long oar stay was to be among them. They saw, by the horse driven before us, that we belonged to Fasil, and suspected, for the same reason, that they were to main- tain us, or, in other words that we should live at discretion upon them as long as we chose to tarry there ; but Woldo, with great address, had dispelled these fears almost as soon as they were formed. He informed them of the king's grant to me of the village of Geesh ; that Fasil's tyranny and avarice would end that day ; and an- other master like Negade Ras Georgis was come to pass a cheerful time among them, with a resolution to pay for every labour they were ordered to perform, and purchase all things for ready money : he added, moreover, that no military ser- vice was farther to be exacted from them either by the king or Governor of Damot, nor from their present master, as he had no enemies. We found these news had circulated with great rapidity, and we met with a hearty welcome upon our ar- rival at the village. Woldo had asked a house from the Shum, who veiy civilly had granted me his own ; it was just large enough to serve me, but we were obliged to take possession of four or five others; and we were scarcely settled in these when a servant arrived from Fasil, to intimate to the Shum his surrender of the property and sovereignty of Geesh to me in consequence of a grant from the king : he brought with him a fine large milk-white cow, two sheep, and two goats ; the sheep and goats I understood were from Welleta Yasous. Fasil also sent us six jars of hydromel, fifty wheat loaves of very excellent bread, and to this Welleta Yasous had added two middle-sized horns of excellent strong spirits. Our hearts were now perfectly at ease, and we passed a very merry evening. Strates, above all, endeavoured with many a bumper of the good hydromel of Bur^, to sub- due the devil which he had 'i-^ mm 28R 7 HE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. swallowed in the enchanted water. Woldo, who had done his part to great perfection, and had reconciled the minds of all the people of the village to us, had a little apprehension for himself; he thought he had lost credit with me, and therefore employed the servant of Ayto Aylo to desire me not to speak of the sash to Fasil's servant. I assured him, that, as long as I saw him acting properly, as he now did, it was much more probable I should give him another sash on our return, than complain of the means he had used to get this last. This entirely removed all his fears, and indeed as long after as he was with us, he every day de- served more and more our com- mendations. Before we went to bed I sat- isfied Fasil's servant, who had orders from Welleta Yasous to return immediately; and, as he saw we did not spare the liquor that he brought us, he promised to send a fresh supply as soon as he returned home, which he did not fail to perform the day after. Woldo being now perfectly happy, explained to the Shum that we should want some one to take the management of our house. He accordingly sent for three of his daughters in an instant, and we delivered them their charge. The eldest took it upon her readily. She was about six- teen years of age, of a stature above the middle size, remark- ably genteel, and, colour apart her features would have made her a beauty in any country in Europe. She was, besides very sprightly ; and although we understood not one word of her language, she comprehended very easily the signs we made. Next morning we had a pubHc breakfast out of doors, the white cow, the gift from Fasil, was killed, and every one invited to his share of her. The Shum, priest of the river, should like- wise have been of the party, but he declined either sitting or eating with us, though his sons were not so scrupulous. Once a year in the principal foun- tain and altar on the first ap- pearance of the dog-star, the priest assembles the heads of the clans, and having sacrificed a black heifer that never bore a calf, they plunge the head of it into this fountain. They then wrap it up in its own hide, and the carcase split in half, and cleaned with extraordinary care, is laid upon the hillock over the first fountain, and washed all over with its water, while the elders carry water in their hands joined from the two other fountains. The carcase is then at a little distance, divided into pieces corresponding to the number- of the tribes, and eaten on the spot raw, and with the Nile water, to the exclusion of any other liquor. They then pile up the bones on the place where they sit, and burn them to ashes. After they have finished this bloody banquet, BRUGES TRAVELS. 289 they carry the head into a cavern, which they say reaches below the fountains, but no one could tell me what afterwards became of it. From our landlord the Shum I gained some information re- garding the religion of the Agows. His name was Kefla Abay, 'Servant of the River.' He was a man about seventy, with a long white beard, an ornament rare in Abyssinia. He had round his body a skin wrapped and tied with a broad belt, and above this . he wore a cloak with the hood up and covering his head. He was bare- legged, but had sandals, which he put off whenever he ap- proached the bog where the Nile rises. I found that they prayed to the spirit residing in the river, whom they call the Everlasting God, Light of the World, Eye of the World, God of Peace, their Saviour, and Father of the Universe. The Agows, in whose country the Nile rises, are in point of number one of the most con- siderable nations in Abyssinia. Gondar, and indeed the neigh- bouring country, depend for their necessaries of life on them. They come 1000 or 1500 at a time to the capital, laden with cattle, honey, butter, wheat, hides, and wax. They prevent the melting of the butter in its long carriage of about 100 miles, by mixing it with the root of an herb, yellow in colour, called Moc-nwco, a very small quan- tity preserving it fresh for a con- siderable time. Though fortunate as regards climate, these Agows are not long livers. We saw a number of women, wrinkled and sun- burnt so as scarcely to appear human, wandering about under a burning sun, gathering the seeds of bent grass to make a kind of bread. The young women are marriageable at eleven; The women are like the men, generally thin and be- low the middle size. On the 9th of November, having fin- ished my memoranda relating to these remarkable places, ''I traced again on foot the. whole course of this river, from its source to the plain of Goutto. Our business being now done, nothing remained but to de- part. We had passed our time in perfect harmony ; the ad- dress of Woldo, and the great attachment of our friend Ire- pone, had kept our house in a cheerful abundance. We had lived, it is true, too magnifi- cently for philosophers, but neither idly nor riotously : and, I believe, never will any sove- reign of Geesh be again so popular, or reign over his sub- jects with greater mildness. I had practised medicine gratis, and killed, for three days suc- cessively, a cow each day, for the poor and the neighbours. I had clothed the high priest of the Nile from head to foot, as also his two sons, and had de- corated two of his daughters with beads of all the colours of 1? 290 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. w the rainbow, adding every other little present they seemed fond of, or what we thought would be agreeable. As for our ami- able Irepone, we had reserved for her the choicest of our pre- sents, the most valuable of every article we had with us, and a large proportion of every one of them ; we gave her, besides, some gold ; but she, more gener- ous and noble in her sentiments than us, seemed to pay little at- tention to these that announced to her the separation from her friends ; she tore her fine hair, which she had every day before braided in a newer and more graceful manner; she threw herself upon the ground in the house, and refused to see us mount on horseback, or take our leave, and came not to the door till we were already set out, then followed us with her good wishes and her eyes, as far as she could see or be heard. I took my leave of Kefla Abay, the venerable priest of the most famous river in the world, who recommended me, with great earnestness, to the care of his god, which, as Strates humorously enough observed, meant nothing else than that he hoped the devil would take me. All the young men in the village, with lances and shields, attended us to Saint Michael Sacala, that is, to the borders of their coun- try, and end of my little sove- reignty. CHAPTER XII. The Return from Geesh to Gondar. On the loth November 1770 we left Geesh on our return to Gondar, and passed the Abay as before, under the church of St. Michael Sacala. On the evening of the nth we halted at the house of Shalaka Welled Amlac, with whom I was well acquainted at Gondar. I had cured him of the small- pox at Koscam, and dressed him and his servant in a new suit of clothes on their leaving me. We were here well entertained according to the customs of the Maitsha and the Galla by Welled Amlac, his sisters and mother, and Fasil's wife, who at my first request gave me a lock of her fine hair from the root, which has ever since been used to suspend a plummet of an ounce and a half at the index of my three-feet quadrant. A melan- choly gloom often returned to her beautiful face, which seemed to indicate a mind ill at ease. I wondered that Fasil her hus- band had hot carried her to Gondar. She said her husband had twenty other wives beside her, but took none of them to Gondar; which was a place of war, where it was the custom to marry the wives of their enemies that they had forced to fly : Fasil will be married therefore to Michael's wife Ozoro Esther. In the afternoon we distri- buted our presents among the BRUGES TRAVELS, 291 ih to Gondar. ladies. On the morning of the 13th wc settled our account with our host, and set out on our journey. We had previ- ously heard the noise of the falls in the river Jemma, and this morning we came to the ford of the Jemma, which is strong, rugged, and uneven. We crossed the Nile near the small town of Delakus, which is inhabited by Mahometans only, a frugal, intelligent, and industrious people. Pursuing our journey north, we passed the small town of Delakus, and alighted at Googue, a consider- able village. We found the people of Googue the most savage and inhospitable we had yet met with. Upon no account would they suffer us to enter their houses, and we were obliged to remain without the greatest part of the night. They refused absolutely to give us meat for ourselves or horses. We contented ourselves with lighting a large fire in the middle of the house, which we kept burning all night, as well for guard as for drying ourselves, though we little knew at the time that it was probably the means of saving our lives, for in the morning we found the whole village sick of a fever, and two familieshad died out of thehouse where these people had put us. This fever prevailed in Abys- sinia, in all low grounds. Begin- ning immediately with the sun- shine after the first rains, it ceases upon the earth being thoroughly soaked in July and August, and begins again in September ; but now, at the be- ginning of November, it finally ceases everywhere. I took the precaution of in- fusing a dose of bark in a glass of aquavita and fumigating the place. Whether the bark pre- vented the disease or not, the aquavitcB certainly strengthened the spirits, and was a medicine to the imagination. Nothing remarkable occurred on the remainder of our journey, and my servants with the baggage reached Gondar on the 19th November. Two things chiefly occupied my mind, and prevented me from accompanying my servants and baggage into Gondar. The first was my desire of instantly knowing the state of Ozoro Esther's health: the second was to avoid Fasil, till I knew a little more about Ras Michael and the king. Taking one ser- vant along with me, I left my people at Azazo, and turning to the left, up a very craggy steep mountain, I made the utmost diligence I could till I arrived at the gate of Kos- cam, near two o'clock, without having met any one from Fasil, who was encamped oppo- site to Gondar, on the Kahha, on the side of the hill, so that I had passed obliquely behind him. He had, however, seen or heard of the arrival of my servants at Gondar, and had sent for me to wait upon him in his camp; and, when he was informed I had gone forward to > % I 'fm •i^K ■m 293 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. U 9' ':■ "A ■' Koscam, it was said he had ut- tered some words of discontent. I went straight to the Iteghd's apartment, but was not ad- mitted, as she was at her devo- tions. In crossing one of the courts, however, I met a slave of Ozoro Esther, who, instead of answering the question I put to her, gave a loud shriek, and went to inform her mistress. I found that princess greatly re- covered, as her anxiety about Fasil had ceased. Fasil had been raised by Socinios, who had mounted the throne when king Tecla Haim- anout and Ras Michael retired from Gondar to the dignity of Ras, in the hope that thus his powerful assistance might be secured in the coming contest. He dissembled for a while, but at length the usurper, having been informed of a secret com- pact existing between ^him and Michael, and having sent Po- wussen, one of his generals, to surprise him at Gondar, where he was attended by only about 1000 men, he threw off the mask, and publicly avowed that it was his intention to re- store Tecla Haimanout to the throne. He declared that, rather than fail in it, he would replace Michael Suhul in all his posts and dignities. Powussen of Begemder, meanwhile, did not disregard the orders of Socinios. Marching to surprise Fasil, he fell in with the troops of Aylo, dispersing them with little resistance. The news of this conflict however put Fasil upon his guard. He at once pro- claimed Tecla Haimanout king- and, encamping within two miles of Gondar, he invited all who wished to escape the ven- geance of Michael to join his standard. He then retreated to Dingleber, on the side of the lake, where he cut off the sup- plies of Socinios from that side, occasioning a great famine in Gondar, where many poor people perished. Hitherto I had no intercourse with So- cinios, never having been in his presence, nor had I any reason to think he knew me, or cared for me more than any Greek that was in Gondar. On the morning of the 6th Decem- ber, however, I had a message from him to come to the palace. Socinios was sitting, his eyes half closed, and red with his last night's debauch; he was apparently at that momentmuch in liquor; his mouth full of tobacco, and squirting his spittle over the floor, so that it was with difficulty I could get a clean place on which to kneel. He was dressed like the late king ; but, in everything else, how unlike ! My mind was filled with horror and detestation to see the throne on which he sat so unworthily occupied. I re- garded him as I advanced with the most perfect contempt. Hamlet's lines described him exactly : — ' A murtherer and a villain : ' A slave, that is not twentieth part the tithe Of your preceding lord ; a vice of kings ; A cutpurse of the empire, and the rule, BRUCE' S TRAVELS, 293 That from a shelf the precious diadem stole, And put it in his pocket ; A king of shreds and patches.' When I got up and stood before him, he seemed to be rather disconcerted. 'Wherefore is it,* said So- cinios, * that you, who are 2, great man, do not attend the palace % You were constantly with Tecla Haimanout, the exile, or usurper, in peace and war; you used to ride with him, and divert him with your tricks on horseback, and, I believe, ate and drank with him/ ' I am no great man, even in my own country ; one proof of this is my being here in yours. I anived in the time of the late king, and I was recommended to him by his friends in Arabia. You are perfectly well informed as to the great kindness he did all along show me, but this was entirely from his goodness, and no merit of mine. I never did eat or drink with him ; it was an honour I could not have been capable of aspiring to. Custom has established the contrary ; and for me, I saw no pleasure or temptation to trans- gress this custom, though it had been in my option, as it was not. I have, for the most part, seen him eat and drink, an honour I enjoyed in common with his confidential servants, as being an officer of his household. The gold you mention, which I have several times got from the late king and Ras el Feel, I constantly spent for his ser- vice, and for my own honour. The profession of arms is my birthright, derived from my ancestors; and with these, at his desire, I have often diverted the king, as an amusement worthy of him, and by no means below me.' * The king I ' says he in a violent passion, *and who then am I ? a slave ! Do you know, with a stamp of my foot I can order you to be hewn to pieces in an instant? You are a Frank, a dog, a liar, and a slave ! Why did you tell the Iteghd that your house was robbed of 50 ounces of gold? Any other king but myself would order your eyes to be pulled out in a moment, and your carcase to be thrown to the dogs.* What he said was true ; bad kings have most executioners. I was not, however, dismayed. I was in my own mind, stranger and alone, superior to such a beast upon the throne. At this time an old man, of a noble appearance, who sat in a corner of the room, said, * I can bear this no longer ; we shall be- come a proverb, and the hatred of all mankind. What have you to do with Yagoube, or why did you send for him ?' This person, I understood afterwards, was Ras Senuda, nephew to the Itegh^. When Senuda stopped, he began with an air of drunken drollery, * You are very angr)» to-day, Baba;' and, turning to me, said, * To-morrow see you bring me that horse which Yasine sent you to Koscam, or 1 1 IjA. ■#?!< il| Wu.. i m u& 1 B ■1 U*< Hi IS' '9.,' ■1 Im 1 m 294 TUB ENGLISH EXPLORERS, m you will hear of it. Slave and Frank as you are, bring me the horse ! ' Senuda took me by the hand, saying, in a whisper, * Don't fear him, I am here ; but go home. Next time you come here you will have horses enough along with you.' The intelligence soon after- wards came to me that Michael was approaching with a large army, and that Socinios had fled, and his followers, afraid that his presence with them might get them into trouble, stripped him naked, and giving him only a rag to cover him, put him on a good horse, and dismissed him to seek his for- tune. On the aist of December a message came to me from Ozoro Esther, desiring I would attend her son Confu to meet the king. She presented me at the same time with a magnificent dagger mounted with gold, and assured me, as my former kindness to her and her son had been re- ported to Michael, I might expect a good reception. I accordingly repaired next day to Mariam-Ohha, where the king was encamped. My first business was to wait on Ras Michael, who admitted me im- mediately upon being an- nounced. I approached near him to kiss the ground ; this he prevented by stretching out his hand. As soon as I arose, without desiring me to sit down, he asked aloud. Have you seen the king? I said. Not yet. Have you any complaint to make against any one, or grace to ask? I answered, None, but the continuance of your favour. He answered. That I am sure I owe you; go to the king. \ took my leave. I had been jostled and almost squeezed to death attempting to enter, but large room was made me for retiring. The reception I had met with was the infallible rule according to which the courtiers were to speak to me from that time for- ward. Man is the same creature everywhere, although different in colour ; the court of London and that of Abyssinia are, in their principles, one. I then went immediately to the king in the presence-chamber. His largest tent was crowded to a degree of suffocation. I re- solved, therefore, to wait till this throng was over, and was going to my own tent, which my servants pitched near that of Kefla Yasous, by that gene- ral's own desire, but, before I could reach it, I was called by a servant from the king. Though the throng had greatly de- creased, there was still a very crowded circle. The king was sitting upon an ivory stool, such as are repre- sented upon ancient medals; he had got this as a present from Arabia since he went to Tigrd ; he was plainly, but very neatly, dressed, and his hair combed and perfumed. When I kissed the ground before him, * There,' says he, * is an arch BRUGES TRAVELS. 295 rebel; what punishment shall we inflict upon him V ' Your majesty's justice/ said I^ < will not suffer you to inflict any punishment upon me that can possibly equal the pleasure 1 feel this day at seeing you sitting there.' He smiled with great good nature, giving me first the back, and then the palm of his hand to kiss. He then made me a sign to stand in my place, which I immediately did for a mo- ment, and, seeing he was then upon business, which I knew nothing of, I took leave of him, and could not help reflecting, as I went, that of all the vast multitude then in my sight, I was, perhaps, the only one des- titute either of hope or fear. All Gondar, and the neigh- bouring towns and villages, had poured out their inhabitants to meet the king upon his return. The fear of Ras Michael was the cause of all this ; and every one trembled, lest, by being ab- sent, he should be thought a favourer of Socinios. The side of the hill, which slopes gently from Belessen, is here very beautiful ; it is covered thick with herbage down to near the foot, where it ends in broken rocks. The face of this hill is of great extent, exposed to the w. and S.W., a small, but clear- running stream, rising in Beles- sen, mns thiough the middle of it, and falls into the Mogetch. It is not considerable, being but a brook, called Mariam-Ohha (/>. the water of Mariam), from a church dedicated to the Virgin, near where it rises in Belessen. An infinite number of people spread themselves all over the hill, covered with cotton gar- ments as white as snow. The number could not be less than 50 or 60,000 men and women, all strewed upon the grass pro- miscuously. Most of these had brought their victuals with them, others trusted to their friends and acquaintances in the army. The soldiers had plenty of meat. As soon as the king had crossed the Tacazz^ all was lawful prize, and though they did not murder or burn, as was Michael's cus- tom in his former marches, yet they drove away all the cattle they could seize either in Be- gemder or Belessen. Besides this, a great quantity of provi- sions of every sort poured in from the neighbourhood of Gondar, in presents to the king and great men, though there was really famine in that capi- tal, by the roads being every way obstructed. There was plenty, however, in the camp. It was then the month of December, the fairest time of the year, when the sun was in the southern tropic, and no danger from rain in the day, nor in the night from dew, so that if the remembrance of the past had not hung heavy on some hearts, it was a party of pleasure, of the most agreeable kind, to convoy the king to his capital. The priests from all the convents for many miles , round, in dresses of yellow and ■•ii't' mi ■1 ^^^ • m 29'3 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. If; iiii white cotton, came, with their crosses and drums, in proces- sion, and greatly added to the variety of the scene. Among these were 300 of the monks of Koscam, with their large crosses, and kettle-drums of silver, the gift of the Iteghd in the days of her splendour. At present it was very doubtful what their future fate was to be, after their patroness had fled from Koscam. But what most drew the attention of all tanks of people, was the ap- pearance of the Abuna and Itchegue, whose character, rank, and dignity exempted them from leaving Gondar to meet the king himself ; but they were then in great fear, and in the form of criminals, and were treated with very little respect or ceremony by the soldiers, who considered them as enemies. It will be remembered, upon a report being spread just after the election of Socinios, that Ras Michael's affairs were taking an adverse turn while besieging the mountain Haramat, that the Abuna, Itchegue, and Acab Saat had solemnly excommuni- cated the king, Ras Michael, and all their adherents, de- claring them accursed, and ab- solving iall people from their allegiance to Tecla Haimanout. But as soon as the king began his march from Tigr^, appli- cation for pardon was made through every channel possible, and it was not without diffi- culty that Ras Michael could be brought to pardon them, chiefly by the entreaty of Ozoro Esther. But this mortification was prescribed to them as a condition of forgiveness, that they should meet the king at Mariam-Ohha, not with drums and crosses, or a retinue, but in the habit and appearance of supplicants. Accordingly, thty both came by the time the king had alighted ; but they brought no tent with them, nor was any pitched for them, nor any honour shown them. The Abuna bad with him a priest or monk on a mule, and two beggarly looking servant^; on foot ; the Itchegue two monks, that looked like ser- vants, distinguished by a cowl only on their heads ; they were both kept waiting till pait three o'clock, and then were admitted, and sharply rebuked by the Ras; they after went to the king, who presently dismissed them, without saying a word to either, or without allowing them to be seated in his presence, which both of them, by their rank, were entitled to do. I asked the Abuna to make use of my tent to avoid the sun; this he willingly accepted of, was crest-fallen a littlej spoke very lowly and familiarly ; said he had always a regard for me, which I had no reason to be- lieve ; desired me to speak favourably of him before the king and the Ras, which I pro- mised faithfully to do. I or- dered coffee, which he drank with great pleasure, during which he gave me several hints, BRUGES TRAVELS. 297 as if he thought his pardon was not completed ; and at last asked me directly what were my sentiments, and what I had heartl ? I said I believed every- thing was favourable as to him and the Itchegue, but I did not know how much farther the king's forgiveness would extend. I know, says he, what you mean ; that Abba Salama (curse upon him !) he is the author of it all. What do I know of these black people, who am a stranger, so lately come into the country 1 And indeed he seemed to know very little ; for, besides his na- tive Arabic, which he spoke like a peasant, he had not learned one word of any of the various languages used in the country in which he was to live and die. Having finished coffee, I left him speaking to some of his own people; about half an hour afterwards he went away. Ras Michael had brought with him from Tigr^ about 20,000 men, the best soldiers of the empire ; about 6000 of them were musketeers, about 12,000 armed with lances and shields, and about 6000 men had joined them from Gondar ; a large pro- portion of these were horsemen, who were ai'^ouring the country in all directioi?s, bringing with them such unhappy people as deserved to be, and were therefore destined for public example. The short way from Tigrd to Gondar was by Lamalmon (that is, the mountain of Samen), and by Woggora. Ayto Tesfos had maintained himself in the government of Samen since Joas's time, by whom he was appointed ; he had continued constantly in enmity with Ras Michael, and had now taken possession of the passes near the Tacazzd, so as to cut off all communication between Gondar and Tigrd On the side of Belessen, between Lasta and Begemder, was Ras Michael and his army. Powussen and the Begemder troops cut off the road to Gojam by Foggora and Dara. Ayto Engedan, who was to be considered as an ad- vanced post of Fasil, was at Tshemmera, in the way of the Agow and Maitsha, and Coque Abou Barea on the north-west side, towards Kuara; so that Gondar was so completely in- vested, that several of the people died with hunger. Ras Michael had ordered his own nephew, Tecla, and Welleta Michael, the King's master of the household, to en- deavour to force their way from Tigrd to Woggora, and open that communication, if possible, with Gondar ; and for that pur- pose had left him 4000 men in the province of Sir^, on the other side of the Tacazzd ; and now scarce was his tent pitched at Mariam-Ohha, when he de- tached Kefla Yasous with 6000 men, to force a junction with Welleta Michael and Tecla from the Woggora side. Their orders were, if possible, to draw Tesfos to an engagement, but not to venture to storm him in the .iun;« '+ •^*■ i 1 t iiu. , i ' 1 m 1? 298 TJrE KNGUSH EXPLORERS, .! i^' ^ -i:s '■ k: \ti :■: . Hi mountain ; for Tcsfos's princi- pal post, the Jews' Rock, was inaccessible, where he had ploughed and sowed plentifully for his subsistence, and had a quantity of the purest running water at all seasons of the year : to irritate Kesfos more, Kefla Yasous was then named gover- nor of Samen in his place. This brave and active oflicer had set out immediately for his com- mand, and it was to me the greatest disappointment pos- sible that I did not see him. Although Ras Michael had been in council all night, the signal was made to strike the tents at the first dawn of day, and soon after, the whole army was in motion ; the council had been in the Ras's tent, not in presence of the king, with whom I had stayed the most part of the evening, indeed, till late in the night ; he seemed to have lost all his former gaiety, and to be greatly troubled in mind ; inquired much about the Iteghd, and Fasil ; told me he had sent his assurance of peace to the Iteghd and desired her not to leave Koscam ; but she had re- turned for answer, that she could not trust Michael, after the threatenings he had sent against her from Tigrd. It was observed also, in this day's march, that, contrary to his cus- tom before crossing the Tacazzd, he received all that came out to meet him with a sullen coun- tenance, and scarce ever an- swered or spake to them. Mi- chael also, every day since the same date, had put on a behaviour more and more se- vere and brutal. He had enough of this at all times. It was the 23d of December when we encamped on the Mo- getch, just below Gondar. This behaviour was so conspicuous to the whole people, that no sooner were the tents pitched (it being about eleven o'clock), than they all stole home to Gondar in small parties without their dinner, and presently a report was spread that the king and Ras Michael came deter- mined to burn the town, and put the inhabitants all to the sword. This occasioned the utmost con- sternation, and caused many to fly to Fasil. As forme, theking's behaviour showed me plainly all was not right, and an accident in the way confirmed it. He had de- sired me to ride before him, and show him the horse I had got from Fasil, which was then in great beauty and order, and which I had kept purposely for him. It happened that, cross- ing the deep bed of a brook, a plant of the kantuffa hung across it. I had upon my shoul- ders a white goat-skin, of which it did not take hold ; but the king, who was dressed in the habit of peace, his long hair floating all around his face, wrapt up in his mantle, or thin cotton cloak, so that nothing but his eyes could be seen, was paying more attention to the horse than to the branch of kantuffa beside him; it took BRUCFS TRAVELS. 299 first hold of his hair, and the fold of the cloak that covered his head, then spread itself over his whole shoulder in such a manner, that, notwithstanding all the help that could be given him, and that I had, (it first seeing it, cut tho princip; 1 bough asunder with my knife, no remedy remained hut he must throw off the upper g/irment, and appear in the under one, or waistcoat, with his head and face bare before all the spectators. This is accounted great dis- grace to a king, who always appears covered in public, liowever, he did not seem to be ruffled, nor was there anything particular in his countenance more than before, but with great composure, and in rather a low voice, he called twice, Who is the Shum of this district ? Un- happily he was not far off. A thin old man of sixty, and his son about thirty, came trotting, as their custom is, naked to their girdle, and stood before the king, who was by this time quite clothed again. What had struck the old man's fancy, I know not, but he passed my horse laughing, and seemingly wonderfully content with him- self. I could not help consider- ing him as a type of mankind in general, never more confident and careless than when on the brink of destruction. The king asked if he was Shum of that place ? He answered in the affirmative, and added, which was not asked oi him, that the other was his son. There is always near the king, when he marches, an officer called Kanitz Kitzera, the executioner of the camp ; he carried upon his saddle a quantity of thongs made of bull-hide, rolled uj) very arti- 'irially ; this is called the tarade. ITip king made a sign with his heaii, and another with his hand, without speaking ; and two loops of the tarade were instantly thrown round the Shum and his son's neck, and they were both hoisted upon the same tree, the tarade cut, and the end made fast to a branch. They were both left hanging, but I thought so awkwardly, that they would not die for some minutes, and might surely have been saved had any one dared to cut them down ; but fear had fallen upon every person who had not attended the king to Tigrd This cmel beginning seemed to me an omen that violent resolutions had been taken, the execution of which was im- mediately to follow ; for though the king had certainly a delight in the shedding of human blood in the field, yet till that time I never saw him order an execu- tion by the hands of the hang- man ; on the contrary, I have often seen him shudder and ex- press disgust, lowly, and in half words, at such executions ordered every day by Ras Michael. In this instance he seemed to have lost that feeling ; and rode on, sometimes conversing about Fasil's horse, or other indifferent i m T^'-pr f ,^ fc' ?! '-% li I: 300 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, 'iV| subjects, to those who were around him. In the evening of the 23d, when encamped upon Mo- getch, came Sanuda, the person who had made Socinios king, and who had been Ras under him ; he was received with great marks of favour, in reward of the treacherous part he had acted. He brought with him prisoners, Guebra Denghel, the Ras's son-in-law, one of the best and most amiable men in Abyssinia, but who had unfor- tunately embraced the wrong side of the question ; and with him Sebaat Laab and Kefla Mariam, both men of great fiimilies in Tigrd. These were, one after the other, thrown violently on their faces before the king. I was exceedingly distressed for Guebra Denghel ; he prayed the king, with the greatest earnestness, to order him to be put to death before the door of his tent, and not delivered to his cruel father-in- law. To this the king waved his hand, as a sign to carry them to Ras Michael, where they were put in custody and loaded with irons. About two hours later came Ayto Aylo, son of Kasmati Eshte, whom the king had named governor of Begemder ; he brought with him Chrema- tion, brother to Socinios, and Abba Salama the Acab Saat, who had excommunicated his father, and been instrumental in his murder by Fasil. I had a great curiosity to see how they would treat the Acab Saat ; for my head was full of what I had read in the European books, of exemption that churchmen had in this country from the juris- diction of the civil power. Aylo had made his legs to be tied under the mule's belly, his hands behind his back, and a rope made fast to them, which a man held in his hand on one side, while another held the halter of the mule on the other, both of them with lances in their hands. Chremadon had his hands bound, but his legs were not tied, nor was there any rope made fast to his hands by which he was held. While they were untying Abba Salama, I went into the presence-cham- ber, and stood behind the king's chair. Very soon after Aylo's men brought in their prisoners, and, as is usual, threw them down violently with their faces to the ground ; their hands being bound behind them, they had a very rude fall upon their faces. The Acab Saat rose in a violent passion. He struggled to get loose his hands, that he might be free to use the act of denouncing excommunication, which is by lifting the right hand and extending the fore-finger; finding that impossible, he cried out, * Unloose my hands, or you are all excommunicated.' It was with difficulty he could be prevailed upon to hear the king, who, with great compo- sure, or rather indifference, said to him, * You are the first B RUCK'S TRAVELS. . ;]■ 301 :l I ecclesiastical officer in my house- hold ; you are the third in the whole kingdom ; but I have not yet learned you ever had power to curse your sovereign, or ex- hort his subjects to murder him. You are to be tried for this crime by the judges to-morrow, so prepare to show in your de- fence upon what precepts of Christ, or his apostles, or upon what part of the general coun- cils, you found your title to do this.' * Let my hands be unloosed,' cried Salama, violently ; * I am a priest, a servant of God ; and they have power, says David, to put kings in chains, and nobles in irons. And did not Samuel hew king Agag to pieces before the Lord ? I excommu- nicate you, Tecla Haimanout.' And he was going on, when Tecla Mariam, son of the king's secretary, a young man, struck the Acab Saat so violently on the face, that it made his mouth gush out with blood, saying, at the same time, * What I suffer this in the king's presence V Upon which both Chremation and the Acab Saat were hurried out of the tent without being suf- fered to say more ; indeed, the blow seemed to have so much disconcerted Abba Salama, that it deprived him for a time of the power of speaking. In Abyssinia it is death to strike, or lift the hand to strike, before the king ; but in this case the provocation was so great, so sudden and unexpected, and the youth's worth and the inso- lence of the offender so appa- rent to everybody, that a slight reproof only was ordered to be given to Tecla Mariam. When the two prisoners were carried before the Ras he re- fused to see them, but loaded them with irons and committed them to close custody. That night a council was held in the king's tent, but it broke early up j afterwards another before the Ras, which sat much later. The reason was, that the first, where the king was, only ar- ranged the business of to-mor- row, while that before the Ras considered all that was to be done or likely to happen at any time. On the 24th the drum beat, and the army was on their march by dawn of day. They halted a little after passing the rough ground, and then doubled their ranks, and formed into close order of battle, the king leading the centre. A few of his black horse were in two lines immediately before him, their spears pointed upwards, his officers and nobility on each side, and behind him the rest of the horse distributed in the wings, excepting Prince George and Ayto Confu, who, with two small bodies, not exceeding a hundred, scoured the country, sometimes in the front, and sometimes in the flank. I do not remember who commanded the rest of the army ; my mind was otherwise engaged. They marched close and in great order, and every one trembled ^1 *. ■i 1 .^'r^ 302 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. for the fate of Gondar. We passed the Mahometan town and encamped upon the river Kahha, in front of the market- place. As soon as we had turned our faces to the town, our kettle-drums were brought to the front, and, after beating some time, two proclamations were made. The first was, — ' That all those who had flour or barley in quantities, should bring it that very day to a fair market, on pain of having their houses plundered ; and that all people, soldiers, or others, who attempted by force to take any provisions without having first paid for them in ready money, should be hanged upon the spot.' A bench was quickly brought, and set under a tree in the middle of the market ; a judge appointed to sit there ; a strong guard, and several offi- cers placed round him ; behind him an executioner, and a large coil of ropes laid at his feet. The second proclamation was, — * That everybody should re- main at home in their houses, otherwise the person flying, or deserting the town, should be reputed a rebel, his goods con- fiscated, his house burnt, and his family chastised at the king's pleasure for seven years.' So far all was well and politic. There was at Gondar a sort of mummers, being a mixture of buflbons and ballad-singers, and posture -masters. These people, upon all public occa- sions, run about the streets; and on private ones, such as marriages, come to the court- yards before the houses, where they dance, and sing songs of their own composing in honour of the day, and perform all sorts of antics. Many a time, on his return from the field with vic- tory, they had met Ras Michael and received his bounty for singing his praises. The day the Abuna excommunicated the king, this set of vagrants made part of the solemnity. They abused, ridiculed, and traduced Michael in lampoons and scur- rilous rhymes, calling him crooked, lame, old, and impo- tent, and several other oppro- brious names, which did not aff"ect him nearly so much as the ridicule of his person. It happened that these wretches, men and women, to the num- ber of about thirty and upwards, were then, with very different songs, celebrating Ras Michael's return to Gondar. The king and Ras, after the proclama- tion, had just turned to the right to Aylo Meidan, below the palace, a large field where the troops exercise. Confu and the king's household troops were before, and about 200 of the Sird horse were behind; on a signal made by the Ras, these horse turned short and fell upon the singers, and cut them all to pieces. In less than two minutes they were all laid dead upon the field, ex- cepting one young man, who, mortally wounded, had just strength enough to arrive within twenty yards of the king's horse. BRUGES TRAVELS, 303 and there speaking a fell dead without word. All the people present, most of them veteran soldiers, and conse- quently inured to blood, ap- peared shocked and disgusted at this wanton piece of cruelty. For my part, a kind of faintish- ness, or feebleness, had taken possession of my heart, ever since the execution of the two men on our rharch, about the kantuffa; and this second act of cruelty occasioned such a horror, joined with an absence of mind, that I found myself unable to give an immediate answer, though the king had spoken twice to me. It was about nine o'clock in the morning when we entered Gondar ; every person we met on the street wore the counte- nance of a condemned malefac- tor. The Ras went immediately to the palace with the king, who retired, as usual, to a kind of cage or lattice-window, where he always sits unseen when in council. Abba Salama was brought to the foot of the table without irons, at perfect liberty. The accuser for the king (it is a post in this country in no great estimation) began the charge against him with great force and eloquence. He stated, one by one, the crimes committed by him at different periods; the sum of which amounted to prove Salama to be the greatest monster upon earth. He concluded this black, horrid list, with the charge of high treason, or cursing the king, and absolving his subjects from their allegiance, the great- est crime human nature was capable of, as involving in its consequences all sorts of other crimes. Abba Salama, though he seemed under very great impatience, did not often inter- rupt him further than, *You lie,' and, ' It is a lie,' which he repeated at every new charge. Abba Salama being desired to answer in his own defence, he entered upon it with great dignity, and an air of superior- ity. He made light of the charges of immorality, which he neither confessed nor denied \ but said these might be crimes among the Franks (looking at me) or other Christians, but not the Christians of that country, who lived under a double dis- pensation, the law of Moses and the law of Christ. The Abyssinians were Beni Israel^ that is, children of Israel ; and in every age the patriarchs acted as he did. He went roundly into the murder of Joas, and of his two brothers, Adigo and Aylo, on the mountain of Wechne, and charged Michael directly with it, as also with the poisoning the late Hatze Hannes, father of the present king. The Ras seemed to avoid hearing, sometimes by speaking to people standing behind him, sometimes by readmg a paper : in particular, he asked me, standing directly behind his chair, in a low voice, ' What is the punishment in your country i^' J i ^\b 304 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, \ if till for such a crime % ' I said, in the same low tone of voice he had spoken to me, 'High treason is punished with death in all the countries I have ever known.' This I owed to Abba Salama, and it was not long before I had my return. This calmness of the Ras seemed to disconcert the Acab Saat; he lost all method; he warned the Ras, that it was owing to his excommunicating Kasmati Eshte that room was made for him to come to Gon- dar; without that event, this king would never have been upon the throne ; so that he had still done them as much good by his excommunications as he had done them harm. He told the Ras, and the judges, that they were all doubly under a curse, if they offered either to pull out his eyes, or cut out his tongue ; and prayed them, bursting into tears, not so much as to think of either, if it was only for old fellowship, or friendship, which had long sub- sisted between them. The judges gave a unanimous opinion: *He is guilty, and should die.' The last voice remained with the king, who sent Kal Hatze to the Board with his sentence: * He is guilty, and shall die the death. The hangman shall hang him upon a tree to-day! The unfortunate Acab Saat wa^ immediately hurried away by the guards to the place of execution^ where, uttering curses to the very last moment against the king, he was hanged in the very vest- ment in which he used to sit before the king. Chremation, Socinios's bro- ther, was next called; he seemed half dead with fear, and denied having any concern in his brother being elected king. After a very summary examina- tion, he was sentenced to be immediately hanged. All this had passed in less than two hours ; it was not quite eleven o'clock when all was over, and as I went home I saw the two unfortunate people hanging on the same branch. The next morning came on the trial of the unfortunate Guebra Denghel, Sebaat Laab, and Kefla Mariam; the Ras claimed his right of trying these three at his own house, as they were all three subjects of his government of Tigr^. Guebra Denghel bore his hard fortune with great unconcern, declaring that his only reason of taking up arms against the king was that he saw no other way of preventing Michael's tyranny and monstrous thirst of money and of power. He wished the king might know this was his only motive for rebellion, and that, unless it had been to make this declaration, he would not have opened his mouth be- fore so partial and unjust a judge as he considered Michael to be. But Welleta Selasse, his daughter, hearing the danger her father was in, broke sud- denly out of Ozoro Esther's BRUGES TRAVELS, 30s apartment, which was contigu- ous, and, coming into the council-room at the instant her father was condemned to die, threw herself at the Ras's feet with every mark and expression of the most extreme sorrow. I cannot, indeed, repeat what her expressions were, as I was not present, and I thank God that I was not ; I believe they are ineffable by any mouth but her own ; but they were per- fectly unsuccessful. The old tyrant spurned her away with his foot, and ordered her father to be immediately hanged. Wel- leta Selasse fell speechless to the ground. The father, for- getful of his own situation, flew to his daughter's assistance, and they were both dragged out at separate doors, the one to death, the other to after-suffer- ings greater than death itself. Welleta Selasse afterwards took poison. I saw her in her last moments, but when too late to give her any assistance. Kefla Mariam's eyes were pulled out, Sebaat Laab's eyelids were cut off by the roots, and both of them were exposed in the mar- ket-place to the burning sun, without any covering whatever. Sebaat Laab died of a fever in a few days ; Kefla Mariam lived, if not to see, at least to hear, that he was revenged, after the battle of Serbraxos, by the disgrace and captivity of Michael. I will spare myself the dis- agreeable task of shocking my readers with any further account of these horrid cruelties ; enough has been said to give an idea of the character of these times and people. Blood continued to be spilt as water, day after day, till the Epiphany ; priests, laymen, young men and old, noble and vile, daily found their end by the knife or the cord. Fifty- seven people died publicly by the hand of the executioner in the course of a very few days ; many disappeared, and were either murdered privately, or sent to prisons, no one knew where. The bodies of those killed by the sword were hewn to pieces and scattered about the streets, being denied burial. I was miserable, and almost driven to despair, at seeing my hunting dogs, twice let loose by the carelessness of my servants, bringing into the court-yard the head and arms of slaughtered men, and which I could no way prevent but by the destruction of the dogs themselves j the quantity of carrion, and the stench of it, brought down the hyaenas in hundreds from the neighbouring mountains ; and, as few people in Gondar go out after it is dark, they enjoyed the streets by themselves, and seemed ready to dispute the possession of the city with the inhabitants. Often when I went home late from the palace, I heard them grunting by twos and threes so near me as to be afraid they would take some opportunity of seizing me by the leg ; a pistol would have them, and made u '\'\< - H, Ti^T ^ -'i frightened 3o6 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. them speedily run, and I con- stantly carried two loaded at my girdle ; but the discharging a pistol in the night would have alarmed every one that heard it in the town, and it was not now the time to add anything to people's fears. 1 at last scarce ever went out, and nothing occupied my thoughts but how to escape from this bloody country by way of Sennaar. The king missing me for some days, at the palace, sent for me to come to him. He immediately remarked that I looked very ill, which, indeed, I felt to be the case, as I had scarcely eaten or slept since I saw him last. He said that besides being sick I seemed as if something had put me out of humour. I mentioned some of my grievances, which he made light of * The men you saw suffer,' said he, * were those who cut off the provisions from coming into the city ; they have occasioned the death of many poor people ; as for the hyaena, he never meddles with living people, he seeks camon, and will soon clear the streets of those incumbrances which so muchoffenH you.' I represented to him how unpleasant and un- seemly it was to have dead bodies hanging near the palace- gate, and heaped up near the houses in the town. ' The Ras has given orders,' says he, gravely, * to remove all the dead bodies before the Epiphany, when we go down to keep that festival, and wash away all this pollution in the clear-running water of the Kah- ha : but, tell me, Yagoube, is it really possible that you can take such things as these so much to heart? You are a brave man; we all know you are, and have seen it : we have all blamed you, stranger as you are in this country, for the little care you take of yourself; and yet about these things you are as much affected as the most cowardly woman, girl, or child could be.' 'Sir,' said I, *I do not know if I am brave or not • but if to see men tortured, or murdered, or to live among dead bodies without concern, be courage, I have it not, nor desire to have it.' Ras Michael was now an- nounced, and we made haste to get away. He turned to me and said, * My son is ill; Ozoro Esther has just sent to me, and complains you visit her now no more. Go see the boy, and don't neglect Ozoro Esther ; she is one of your best friends.' I inquired if she was at Gon- dar, and was answered, *No; she is at Koscam.' We parted. Engedan went to Koscam to Ozoro Esther's, and I went home to plan my route to Sennaar, and to pre- pare letters for Hagi Belal, a merchant there, to whom I was recommended from Arabia Felix. It was the 31st of December that we were ai^ Koscam, and the next niglit, the ist of Janu- ary 1 77 1, according to order, I BRUGES TRAVELS. 307 ave or not ; waited upon the king, who, not without great dispute and al- tercation, would allow me the permission to send letters to Sennaar — arranging my return home that way. At last, seeing he could do no better, it was agreed that, as an immediate engagement between Powussen, Gusho, and Ras Michael was inevitable, I should swear not to attempt to leave him till that affair was settled some way or other; but the king insisted I should also take an oath, that, should he be victorious over, or reconciled to the rebels, if the engagement I was under in my own country was not fulfilled, and I recovered my health, I should bring as many of my brethren and family as possible, with their horses, muskets, and bayonets. I cannot but hope the impossibility of performing this oath extinguished the sin of breaking it ; at any rate it was personal, and the subse- quent death of the king must have freed me from it. While the king was at the Kahha keeping the festival of the Epiphany, he received a very extraordinary visit from Araha Yasous, son of the go- vernor of Shoa, offering his per- sonal service and assistance to the king, and brought with him, as a present, 500 ounces of gold, and a thousand excellent horse- men, ready equipt at all points. Amha Yasous heard, while at Shoa, from some priests of Debra Libanos, that there was a strange white man in favour with the king at Gondar, who could do everything but raise the dead. It was among his first requests to the king to make him acquainted with me. The king, therefore, ordered me to wait upon him every morning, and 1, on my part, did not let slip that opportu- nity. Insensibly we came to be inseparable companions. Talk- ing one day of the Abyssinian kings who first lived at Shoa, he said that a book containing their history was in some of the churches at Shoa, and promised to procure it for me. Accord- ingly, he sent 300 miles for the purpose of getting it. It arrived punctually from Shoa, and was a fair and fine copy written upon parchment, in a large quarto size, in the pure ancient lan- guage of Geez. On the 1 7 th of February came messengers from Fasil, with the old language of proposals of submission and peace, and a repetition of his demand, that Walleta Selasse should be given him for a wife, and sent to him, at least as far as Dingleber, where he would advance to meet her ; excusing himself from coming to Gondar, because the Ras had already broken his promise to him ; for the condi- tion of peace made with the Ras, when he was besieging the mountain, was, That if Michael should bring the king to the Tacazze, and surrender him there, and then return and con- tent himself with the govern- ment of Tigre, without proceed- .'■* ■ 1 ■ 3oS THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. } it ing to Gondar, that Fasil should receive the king and conduct him to the capital, and be created Ras and governor in place of MichaeL Fasil had punctually performed his part, and of this Michael had taken advantage, and had violated every article which he had sti- pulated on the other side ; and this was at least the alleged reason why Fasil had refused to come to Gondar. The same evening arrived also messengers from Gusho and Powussen, de- claring to Ras Michael, that if he did not leave Gondar and return to Tigrd, they would come and burn the town. They professed great duty to the king, but charged the Ras with every sort of enormity, and upon his refusal sent him a defiance. Gentle showers of rain began now to fall, and to announce the approach of winter ; nay, some unusually severe and copious had already fallen. Gusho and Powussen, of Am- hara and Begemder, Kasmati Ayabder, governor of Foggoro, and others, were all ready to marcli, and cut off Michael's retreat to Tigrd, provided the rain did not make the Tacazze impassable. Fasil alone kept them in suspense, who, with about 12,000 men, remained at Ibaba, professing to be at peace with Michael, in the meantime keeping all Maitsha quiet, and waiting for tlie coming of Wel- leta Yasous, and 20,000 Galla, who he had sent for from the other side of the Nile. Al- though Michael had, for these last months, done everything in his power to bring back to the king such people of considera- tion as possessed the lands and estates about Gondar, yet his cruelty and insatiable greed had terrified them from putting themselves into his hand. A great desertion had likewise happened since his coming among his old troops of Tigre both of officers and soldiers! The execution of Guebra Den- ghel and other two noblemen, had greatly alienated the minds of many of their countrymen, and especially his breach of promise made before the moun- tain of Haramat, that he was to levy no taxes for seven years, but which he was now doing. The return of Welleta Michael and Kefla Yasous, with 8000 picked men, had strengthened his position, as there was nothing like them in the army. Ever since the middle of February, Ras Michael had re- solved to march out, and give battle to the rebels, who were committing every sort of vio- lence, and burning all the vil- lages, houses, and barns in Dembea. At last the cries of the people flying into Gondar, seeking protection from the cruelties of the rebels, deter- mined the Ras to march out and set his all upon the fortune of a battle. Accorc'ingly in the T3th of May he marched out of Gondar, taking with him the king and Abuna, as also Ozoro Esther, Ozoro Altash, her sister, BRUGES TRAVELS, fi 309 and all the other ladies about court. In round numbers the army consisted of about 40,000 men. Of those, about 7500 were horsemen, and nearly 7000 musketeers. Such is the con- fusion of barbarous enemies on these occasions, that I believe it is not possible to arrive at the result with greaterprecis^ion. The army was furnished with a number of excellent officers, veterans of noble families, who had spent their whole life in war. The principal was Ras Michael, who, arrived at the age of 74, had passed the last fifty years of his life in a course of continued victories. It is impossible to guess accurately at the number of the enemy, they were so continually chang- ing. It was said at one time that Begemder and Lasta had 30,000 horsemen. Another time they were magnified to 50 and 60,000. They were, however, mostly very bad troops, and continually deserting. The front, centre, and rear were understood to march in order, but it was often impossible to discern any such divisions. We were often all in confusion, sometimes we were in the middle of the front, sometimes joined and mixed with the rear. All our officers had left their command, and were crowding about Ras Michael and the king; women bearing provisions, horns of liquor, and mills for grinding corn upon their backs ; idle women of all sorts half- dead with fear, crying and roaring, mounted upon mules, and men driving mules loaded with baggage, presented an appearance that surpassed all description. There were above 10,000 women accompanying the army : the Ras had about fifty loaded with bouza, and the king, I suppose, nearly as many. The sight threw me for a moment into low spirits. I know not if the king saw it. I was perfectly silent, when he cried, ' Well, what do you say to us now, Yagoube ? ' I answered, * Is this the order in which your majesty means to engage V He laughed, and said, ' Ay ; why not % you will see.' * If this is so,' I replied, 'I only hope it is the enemy's custom, as well as your majesty's, to be in no better order.' A slight engagement ensued, in which Ayto Confu, who had, contrary to orders^ charged a body of cavalry under Woodage Asahely was severely wounded: Notwithstanding the natural hardness of his heart, and that the misfortune which had hap- pened was in immediate dis- obedience of orders, Ras Mi- chael showed great sensibility at hearing Confu was wounded,. and came immediately to see him, and gave him a slighter reproof than was expected for leaving his post in the town, as well as for his fighting without orders. Ozoro Esther, in the deepest concern, was in attend- ance on her son from the first moment of her arrival, and had seen his wound dressed and ■'4^ II s ' - £ .■i ■ 310 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. ' swathed up. She inquired of me with the deepest apprehen- sion if I thought it was possible he could recover. I advised him to be carried in a litter to Gondar, and she urged me to accompany him and see him safely there. We started and arrived at Koscam without any adventure, when Confu was left now without any fear, then I returned to the camp. Ras Michael now passed through a long valley towards Begemder, expecting if once there that he should occasion a revolt among the troops of Powussen, and likewise that he should be met and reinforced by many powerful noblemen and friends to the king. By this means he conceived his army would be so much in- creased, that he should soon bring the rebels to reason. Michael had no sooner got from between the hills into the open plain, than he was attacked by Powussen with the whole force of Begemder, who cut off the troops of his Fit-Auraris to a man, he and two or three common soldiers only escap- ing. A sharp fire from Michael's musketry soon obliged Powus- sen to shelter himself in the plain from the violent effect of the shot. After a severe strug- gle, Powussen was obliged to retreat, leaving 900 of his best troops slain on the field. On the part of Michael about 300 men, all of the cavalry, were said to have perished that day. This was the first battle of Serbraxos, which, though it con- tained nothing decisive, had still the effect of daunting the spirit of the Begemder horse, that many chiefs of that country withdrew their troops and went home, whilst such discord was sown among the leaders, that I believe they never sincerely trusted one another afterwards. On the morrow after the battle, three messengers arrived from Gusho, Powussen, and Ayabdar, and each had a sep- arate audience of the king and Ras, before whom they all three severally declared, that their masters desired to con- tinue in allegiance to him their king, Tecla Haimanout; but under this condition only, that Ras Michael should be sent to his government of Tigre', never more to return. If Michael should agree to return to Tigre', they offered to carry the king to Gondar, place him in his palace, and allow him to choose his own ministers, and govern for the future after his own ideas. This, indeed, was the universal wish, and I did not see what Ras Michael could have done, had he adopted it ; but fear, or gratitude, or both, restrained the young king from such a measure ; and the messengers left him after a plain declara- tion, 'That they had endeav- oured all in their power to save him, and he must now abide the consequences, for they washed their hands of them.' On the 19th of May, word was brought that the whole BRUGES TRAVELS. 3" I rebel army was in motion ; and soon after we heard, we saw the whole troops of Begemder appear. Michael prepared to give battle immediately. We here encountered a violent storm of thunder, lightning, and rain, with such a heavy shower that I scarce ever saw the like even in the rainy season. This This was the signal for retiring back to the camp. The whole evening was spent in festivity and joy. Ras Michael, who knew the value of the morrow, spared nothing that might re- fresh the troops this day, and the soldiers were all in good spirits. All the young nobility were as usual at Ozoro Esther's. It was with infinite pity I heard them thoughtlessly praying for a warm and fair day on the mor- row, the evening of which many of them were never to see. It was full half an hour after the king had formed, before the army of Begemder made any motion. The Ras first saw them from the hill, and made a signal, by beating his drums, and blowing his trumpets ; this was immediately answered by all the drums and trumpets of the left wing ; and for the space of a minute a thick cloud of dust, occasioned by the Be- gemder troops mounting on horseback, by such a number of men and horse passing over it so often, and now raised by the motion of the horses feet, was whirled round by a very moderate breeze, that blew steadily ; it every minute in- creased in ^ sumed varioii of towers, c. ments, as fane the middle of we began to tinctly part of then a much ikness, and as- .ha[^ s anH forms 'es and ^attle- buggesl J. In Jiis great cloud perceive indis the horsemen, greater number, and the figure of the horses more accurately defined, which came moving majestically upon us, sometimes partially seen, at other times concealed by being wrapt up in clouds and darkness; the whole made a most extraordinary, but truly picturesque, appearance. Omitting the details of this second battle of Serbraxos, the result was, the king's troops fell back under the hill of Serbrax- os, where Michael was, and, though followed by Gusho, were no further attacked by him, but on the right the rebels were forced, after a very obstinate and bloody engagement, across the river Mogetch, where, hav- ing rallied and posted them- selves strongly, it was not thought proper to force them. Nearly 3000 men perished on the king's side, while the enemy lost above 9000 men, 7000 of whom were from the troops of Begemder and Lasta, with which the king was engaged. The king being washed and dressed, and having dined, re- ceived a compliment from Ras Michael, who sent him a pre- sent of fruit and a thousand ounces of gold. At the end of a day of battle each chief is obliged to sit at . i. .;..., -.-1 M Ih *.!? d 312 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. the door of his tent, and each of his followers, who has slain a man, presents himself in his turn, armed as in fight, with a part of the body of the man whom he has slain hanging upon the wrist of his right hand. In this, too, he holds his lance, brandishing it over his master or mistress, as if he intended to strike, and repeating, in a seeming rage, a rant of non- sense, — * I am John, the son of George, the son of William, the son of Thomas ; I am the rider upon the brown horse ; I saved your father's life at such a battle. Vvhere would you have been if I had not fought for you to-day ? You give me no encouragement, no clothes, nor money ; you do not deserve such a servant as I ;* and with that he throws his bloody spoils upon the ground before his superior. I believe there was a heap of above 400 that day before Ozoro Esther, and it was monstrous to see the young and beautiful Tecla Ma- riam sitting upon a stool pre- siding at so filthy a ceremony ; nor was she without surprise that no compliment of that kind was paid by me. For my own part, tired to death, low in spirits, and cursing the hour that brought me to such a country, I almost regret- ted I had not died that day in the field of Serbraxos. I went to bed in Ayto Engedan's tent, refusing to go to Ozoro Esther, who had sent for me. I could not help lamenting how well my apprehensions had been verified, that some of our com- panions at last night's supper so anxious for the appearance of morning, should never see its evening. Four of them, all young men, and of great hopes, were then lying dead and mangled on the field ; two others, besides Engedan, had been also wounded. I had, however, a sound and refresh- ing sleep. I think madness would have been the conse- quence, if this necessary re- freshment had failed me ; such was the horror I had conceivetl of my present situation. Next day I received an order from the Ras to attend him. When my turn came to kneel before the king, he had a large chain of gold, with very massy links, which he doubled twice, and then put it over my neck, while t) e secretary said, ' Ya- goube, the king does you this great honour, not as payment of past services, but as a pledge that he will reward them if you put it in his power.' Upon this I kissed the ground, and we were both reconducted to the Ras with our insignia, and, hav- ing kissed the ground before him, and then his hands, we both had leave to retire. He seemed very busy with people arrived from without; he only lifted up his head, smiled, and said, ' Well, are you friends now?' We both bowed with- out answer, and left the tent. The chain consisted of 184 links, each of them weighing 3^\j- dwts. of fine gold. It BRUGES TRAVELS. Z^Z *as with the utmost reluctance that, being in want of every- thing, I s( 1(1 a great part of this honoii able distinction at Sennaar, in my return home ; the remaining part is still in my posses on. It is hoped my successors will never have the same excuse I had for further diminishi? g this honourable monumei which I have left them. Another skirmish took place on May 23d, which, in its re- sults, was as indecisive as any of the previous contests had been. On the 26th, we received advice, that the Edjow Galla, and some other horse of the same district, had massacred all the people they met on their way to and from Gondar, and that a body of troops had marched into the town, which threatened to set it on fire if any more provisions were sent to the camp. We were now with- out food or water ; a great council was therefore held, in which it was agreed to decamp on the 28th, in the night, and re- turn to Gondar on the 29th, in the morning. Soon the soldiers were in motion, and a confusion never to be iforgotten or de- scribed, presently followed, everybody making the best of their way to get safe down the hill. The descent of the hill had become very slippery, and men, horses, and mules were rolling promiscuously over one another. The whole road was now as smooth as a carpet on the plain we had now reached, when Ras Michael's mule fell flat on the ground, and threw him upon his face in a small puddle of water. He was quickly lifted up unhurt, and set upon his mule again. We passed the Mogotch, and at about 200 yards from the bridge, ui)on ground equally plain as the former, the mule fell again, and threw the Ras another time in the dirt; on which a general murmur and groan was heard from all his attendants, for everybody interpreted this as an omen that his power and fortune were gone from him for ever. I could not, however, help reflecting how justly the Ras was now punished for the murder of the singers in that very spot, when he returned from Mariam Ohha, and entered Gondar. The king went di- rectly to the palace, the Ras to his own house; and by the secretary's advice, I went with him to that of the Abuna ; and although many a night I have wanted rest upon less dangerous occasions, I scarcely ever slept more soundly. About eight o'clock in the morning of the 29th of May came Gusho's Fit-Auraris, and marked out the camp for his master between the Mahometan town and the church of Ledeta, so that by nine o'clock the town was com- pletely invested, as if a wall had been built round it. The same day the kettle- drums were brought to the brink of the Kahha, and a pro-' clamation made, *That all i->i 314 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. soldiers of the province of Tigrd, or who had borne arms under Ras Michael, should, on the morrow before mid-day, bring their arms, offensive and defen- sive, and deliver them up, on a spot fixed upon near the church of Ledeta, to commissaries ap- pointed for the purpose of re- ceiving them ; ' with further in- timation to the inhabitants of Gondar, ' That any arms found in any house in that town, after noon of the day of proclama- tion, should subject the owner of such house and arms to death, and the house or houses to be razed to their founda- tion.' The first of the Tigrd troops, who set an example of this, was Guebra Mascal ; he carried down to the place appointed, and surrendered about 6000 muskets, belonging to the Ras and his family. All the rest of the principal officers followed; for the inhabitants of Gondar were willing inquisitors, so that the whole arms were delivered before the hour appointed, and locked up in the church of Ledeta, under a strong guard both without and within the church. As for the Ras, he had con- tinued in the house belonging to his office, visited only by some private friends, but had sent Ozoro Esther to the Iteghd's at Koscam, as soon as he entered Gondar. He ate, drank, and slept as usual, and reasoned upon the event that had hap- pened, with great equanimity «» and seeming indifference. There was no appearance of guards set upon him ; but every mo- tion and look were privately, but strictly, watched. The next day, when he heard how ill his disarmed men we -e treated by the populace, when they were dismissed to Tigr^, he burst into tears, and cried out in great agony, * Had I died before this, I had been happy 1' The king behaved with the greatest firmness and com- posure ; he was, indeed, graver than usual, and talked less, but was not at all dejected. Scarcely anybody came near him the first day, or even the second, excepting the priests, some of the judges, and old inhabitants of the town who had taken no part. Some of the priests and monks, as is their custom, used certain liberties, and mixed a considerable degree of imper- tinence in their conversations, hinting it as doubtful whether he should remain on the throne, and mentioning it, as on tlie part of the people, that he had imbibed from Michael a pro- pensity towards cruelty and bloodshed ; what, some months ago, no man in Gondar dared to have surmised for his life. These he only answered with a severe look, but said nothing. One of these speeches being reported to Gusho, not as a complaint from the king, but through a bystander, who heard it, that nobleman ordered the offender (a priest of ErbaTensa, ft church in Woggora) to be BRUGES TRAVELS. J 315 stript naked to his waist, and tthipt with thongs, till his back was bloody. On the first of June, Gusho and Powussen came both to the house of the Ras, where they interrogated him very roughly as to all his past con- duct. He clothed himself plainly, and constantly in white, with a cowl of the same colour on his head, like the monks, a sign he had retired from the world. Nothing remarkable happened at this interview, at least as far as was known. From thence Gusho and Po- wussen went to the king's palace, where they did homage, and took the oaths of allegiance. It was there resolved that Gusho should be Ras, and the other places were all disposed of Powussen, on the 4th of June, without any previous notice given to Gusho, marched into Gondar with a thousand horse, and, without further ceremony, ordered Ras Michael ^ to be placed upon a mule, and, join- ing the rest of his army, who had all struck their tents, marched away suddenly to Begemder. Gusho took possession of the Ras's house and office ; the king's officers and servants re- turned to the palace ; the places of those that had fallen in battle were filled, and the whole town began to resume an ap- pearance of peace. Then was the season for mis- chief, had not Fasil been hover- ^Ras Michael died in 1780, in the^SSth year of his age. ing with his army, without de- claring his approbation. He came about the end of June and paid a short visit to the Iteght5 and the king, giving in a list of servants whom he wished to make his own. After these appointments, which the king dare not dispute, though otherwise much against his in- clination, Fasil retired with his army to Maitsha. In the meantime, Gusho set up everything for sale, content with the money the offices produced, and what he could squeeze from people who had crimes, real or alleged, to compound for. He did not perceive that steps were taking by his ene- mies, which would soon deprive him of all the advantages he enjoyed. This caused great dissatisfaction, and a reaction took place. The king fomented all these complaints by sending a person of consequence to Powussen, who advised him to arrest Gusho immediately. Ac- cordingly he was arrested, and confined a close prisoner in irons, in a high, damp, unin- habited tower of the king's house. On the 6th of August mes- sengers came from Fasil, and the day after from Powussen, Begemder, Gojam, Damot, and Maitsha, which provinces, by their deputies, desired that Gusho might be set at liberty. This the king agreed to, but upon condition that the Ras should instantly pay him looo ounces of gold, and 500 mus- II!:,.,,;,. I ,"-: J] , v,' 'Ml 3i6 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. kcts, which, on the other side, was as positively refused. Upon this Gusho was put into closer confinement, and heavier irons than before : and, what was the most unjust, his two sons, who had left their own country to assist their father in distress, were confined in chains with him. On the other hand, Adera Tacca Georgis (the king's Fit- Auraris), and Guebra Welleta Yasous, principal people in Maitsha, and whom Fasil had put about the king, desired leave to retire to their own country, from which it is pro- bable they will! never again return to Gondar^ unless as enemies. Although the king still ob- stinately insisted that the Ras should pay him his thousand ounces of gold, and five hun- dred muskets, as a price for his being set at liberty, this was refused by Gusho, in terms that showed he was not now, as formerly, afraid of the king's power. On the other hand, the king proclaimed Kefla Ya- sous governor of the province of Tigr^, with the same extent of command as Ras Michael had enjoyed it ; and he was already there, and had taken upon him the government of that province. At the same time the king superseded Gusho, and deprived him of his pro- vince of Amhara, which was given to- his nephew Ayto Adi- go, son of Palambaras Durrie, a man ot very great interest and property in the province • after which he immediately left Gondar, and took his way through Begemder ; but at the very entrance into Amhara, he was defeated by a son of Gusho who was expecting him ; his troops were dispersed, and his brother, Ayto Aderesson (the man who lost Gusho's horse at the battle of Tedda), wounded and taken prisoner. To a message from Fasil de- manding that Gusho should be set at liberty, the king returned a positive refusal. On the 12th of November, Fasil marched with a considerable army from Ibaba, burnt every church and village between Dingleber antl Sar Okha, destroying the in- habitants without regard to age or sex. Fasil having thus given the king a sample of what he was capable of doing, sent another peremptory demand by a crooked diminutive dwarf, for the liberation of Gusho. This request was again refused. At this, Fasil continued his march till within two miles of Gondar, and issued a proclamation which caused the city to be deserted in an instant. On the 15 th the king released Gusho from his confinement, who went imme- diately to the camp of Fasil, and next day returned to the palace, where he had an audience with the king. Fasil also came to the palace on the 17th, and announced, among other things, that he had given his daughter to Gusho in mar- riage j the king therefore gave BRUGES TRAVELS. 317 himGojam,and also restored the province of Amhara. To Fasil were given Damot, Maitsha, and Agow ; and, for the greater solemnity, the king and Fasil took a formal oath to ratify all these articles, and to remain in friendship for ever. After which, the Abuna, in pontificals, heing called to be present, pro- nounced a formal curse and sentence of excommunication, upon whichever of the parties should first break the vow they had taken. It is here a proper period to finish the history of Abyssinia ; as I was no further present at, or informed of, the public trans- actions which followed. My whole attention was now taken up in preparations for my re- turn through the kingdom of Sennaar and the desert. Neither shall I take up the reader's time with a long narrative of leave- taking, or what passed between me and those illustrious per- sonages with whom I had lived so long in the mo:jt perfect and cordial friendship. Men of little and envious mind would perhaps think I was composing a panegyric upon myself, from which, therefore, I most will- ingly refrain. But the several marks of goodness, friendship, and esteem which I received at parting are confined within my own breast, where they never shall be effaced, but continue to furnish me with the most agreeable reflections, since they were the fruit alone of personal merit, and of honest, steady, and upright behaviour. All who had attempted the same journey hitherto had met with disap- pointment, disgrace, or death ; for my part, although I under- went every sort of toil, danger, and all manner of hardship, yet th€se were not confined to my- self. I suffered always honour- ably, and in common with the rest of the state; and when sunshiny days happened (for sunshiny days there were, and very brilliant ones too), of these I was permitted freely to par- take ; and the most distin- guished characters, both at court and in the army, were always ready to contribute, as far as possible, to promote what they thought or saw was the object of my pursuits or enter- tainment. I shall only here mention what passed at the last inter- view I had with the Itegh^, two days before my departure. Tensa Christos, who was one of the chief priests of Gondar, was a native of Gojam, and con- sequently of the low church, or a follower of Abba Eustathius, in other words, as great an enemy as possible to the Catho- lic, or, as they call it, the reli- gion of the Franks. This priest came often to the Iteghd's and Ayto Aylo's, with both of whom he was much in favour, and here I now hap- pened to meet him, when I was taking my leave in the evening. ' I beg of you,' says he, 'Yagoube, as a favour, to tell me, now you are immediately I 3i8 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. M going away from this country, and you can answer me with- out fear, Are you really a Frank, or are you not ? ' * Sir,' said I, ' I do not know what you mean by fear ; I should as little decline answering you any question you have to ask had I ten years to stay, as now I am to quit this country to-morrow.' We then entered on the merits of our different forms of faith, he defending the Greek Church with considerable energy and vigour. After this conversation, I stood by Tensa Christos, saying, * And now^, holy father, I have one last favour to ask you, which is your forgiveness, if I have at any time offended you ; your blessing, now that I am im- mediately to depart, if I have it not ; and your prayers while on my long and dangerous journey, through countries of infidels and pagans.' A hum of applause jounded all throughout the room. The Iteghd said something, but what, I did not hear. Tensa Christos was surprised apparently at my humility, which he had not ex- pected, and cried out, with tears in his eyes, * Is it pos- sible, Yagoube, that you believe my prayers can do you any good V 'I should not be a Christian, as I profess to be, father,' replied I, * if I had any doubt of the effect of good men's prayers.' So saying I stooped to kiss his hand, when he laid a small iron cross upon my head, and, to my great surprise, instead of a benedic- tion, repeated the Lord's prayer. I was afraid he would have kept me stooping till he should add the ten commandments likewise, when he concluded, ' Gzier y' Baracuc,' May God bless you. After which, I made my obeisance to the Iteghe, and immediately withdrew ; it not being the custom, at public audience, to salute any one in the presence of the sovereign. Twenty greasy monks, how- ever, had placed themselves in my way as I went out, that they might have the credit of giving me the blessing likewise after Tensa Christos. As I had very little faith in the prayers of these drones, so I had some reluctance to kiss their greasy hands and sleeves ; however, in running this disagreeable gauntlet, I gave them my bless- ing in English, — Lord send you all a halter, as he did to Abba Salama (meaning the Acab Saat). But they, think- ing I was recommending them to the patriarch Abba Salama, pronounced at random, with great seeming devotion, their Amen, — So be it. CHAPTER XIIL From Gondar to Sennaar. It was the 26th of December 1 7 7 1, at one o'clock in the after- noon, that I left Gondar. I had BRVCES TRAVELS. 319 purposed to set out early in the morning, but was detained by the importunity of my friends. The king had delayed my set- ting out, by several orders sent me in the evening each day; and I plainly saw there was some meaning in this, and that he was wishing to throw diffi- culties in the way till some accident or sudden emergency (never wanting in that country) should make it absolutely im- possible for me to leave Abys- sinia. When, therefore, the last message came to Koscam on the 27th, at night, I returned my respectful duty to his ma- jesty, put him in mind of his pro- mise, and, somewhat peevishly, I believe, entreated him to leave me to my fortune ; that my ser- vants were already gone, and I was resolved to set out next morning. In continuing our journey, we entered a thick wood wind- ing round a hill, in a south- east direction, to get into the plain below, where we were sur- rounded by a great multitude of men armed with lances, shields, slings, and large clubs, or sticks, who rained a shower of stones towards us, as I may say, for they were at such a dis- tance that all of them fell greatly short of us. I, therefore, or- dered two shots to be fired over their heads, not with any inten- tion to hurt them, but to let them hear, by the balls whistling among the leaves of the trees, that our guns carried farther than any of their slings ; and that, distant as they then were, they were not in safety, if we had a disposition to do them harm. They seemed to under- stand our meaning by gliding through among the bushes, and appearing at the top of a hill farther off, where they conti- nued hooping and crying, and making divers signs, which we could not, neither did we en- deavour to understand. My message sent to them was, that if they showed the smallest ap- pearance of further insolence, either by approaching the tent or slinging stones that night, the next morning, when the horse I expected were come up, I would burn their town and put every man of them to the sword. A very submissive an- swer was sent back, with a heap of lies in excuse of what they called their mistake. My two servants coming soon after, both of whom, hereafter, were to be in the service of Ayto Confu, went boldly one to each village to bring two goats, some jars of bouza, and to prepare fifty loaves of bread for next morning. The goats were despatched instantly, so was the bouza ; but when the morning came, the people had all fled from their houses with- out preparing any bread. These villages were called Gimbaar. This was the only extraordi- nary incident which happened on our way to Tcherkin. I was met by a servant of Ayto Confu, who proposed that I should set out with him alone the next morning for Tcherkin, where I ^m 1: 320 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. J fist; i . should find Ayto Confu, and my baggage should follow me. I told him that it was a fixed resolution of mine never to separate from my servants and company, who were strangers, and without any other protec- tion than that of being with me. On the 2d of January 1772, I reached Tcherkin, and pitched my tent in the market-place, which seemed a beautiful lawn laid out for pleasure, shaded with fine old trees of an enormous height and size, and watered by a small, but very limpid brook, running over beds of pebbles as white as snow. The impatient Welleta Yasous, who had met me, would scarcely give me time to see my quad- rant and other instruments safely stowed. He hurried me on to an outer court, where I met many of my old acquaint- ances whom I had known at Ozoro Esther's at Gondar. I was then taken to an inner apartment, where, to my great surprise, instead of Ayto Confu, I saw his mother, Ozoro Esther, sitting on a couch, and at her feet the secretary's daughter, the beautiful Tecla Mariam. After having made a profound obeisance, * Ozoro Esther,' said I, ' I cannot speak for surprise. What is the meaning of your having left Gondar to come into this wilderness? As for Tecia Mariam, I am not surprised at seeing her ; I know she at any time would rather die than leave you ; but that you have both come hither without Ayto Confu, and in so short a time, is what I cannot comprehend.' * There is nothing so strange in this,' replied Ozoro Esther • * the troops of Begemder have taken away my husband, Ras Michael, God knows where • and therefore, being now a single woman, I am resolved to go to Jerusalem to pray for my husband, and to die there and be buried in the Holy Sepulchre. You would not stay with us, so we are going with you. Is there anything sur- prising in all this ?' * But tell me truly,' says Tecla Mariam, * you that know every, thing, while peeping and porint^ through these long glasses, did not you learn by the stars that we were to meet you here V— ' Madam,' answered I, ' if there was one star in the firmament that had announced to me such agreeable news, I should have relapsed into the idolatry of this country, and worshipped that star for the rest of my life.' Breakfast now came in; the conversation took a very lively turn, and from the secretary I learned that the matter stood thus: The king, restoring the villages to the Iteghd, according to the stipulation of his last treaty with Powussen, thought that he might so far infringe upon it, from gratitude to Ras Michael, as to give part of the number to Ozoro Esther, the Iteghe's daughter ; and Ayto Confu, going to Tcherkin to hunt, he took his mother along with him to put her in possession; for BRUCE' S TRAVELS, 321 the Itegh^'s people were not lambs, nor did they pay much regard to the orders of the king, nor to those of the Iteghd their mistress, at all times, far- ther than suited their own con- venience. We now wanted only the pre- sence of Ayto Confu to make our happiness complete; he came about four, and with him Ayto Engedan, and a great company. There was nothing but rej oicing on all sides. Seven ladies, relations and companions of Ozoro Esther, came with Ayto Confu ; and I confess this to have been one of the hap- piest moments of my life. I quite forgot the disastrous journey I had before me, and all the dangers that awaited me. I began even to regret being so far in my way to leave Abys- sinia for ever. There is great plenty of game of every sort about Tcherkin ; elephants, rhinoceroses, and a great number of buffaloes. Though we were all happy to our wish in this enchanted mountain, the active spirit of Ayto Confu could not rest. He was come to hunt the elephant, and hunt him he would. All those that understood anything of this exercise had assembled from a great distance, to meet Ayto Confu at Tcherkin. And the manner in which they kill the elephant is shortly as fol- lows : — Two men, absolutely naked, without any rag or cover- ing at all about them, get on horseback ; this precaution is from fear of being laid hold of by the trees or bushes, in making their escape from a very watchful enemy. One of these riders sits upon the back of the horse, sometimes with a saddle, and sometimes without one, with only a switch or short stick in one hand, carefully managing the bridle with the other ; behind him sits his com- panion, who has no other arms but a broadsword, such as is used by Sclavonians, and which is brought from Trieste. As soon as the elephant is found feeding, the horseman rides before him as near his face as possible ; or, if he flies, crosses him in all directions, crying out, * I am such a man and such a man; this is my horse, that has such a name ; I killed your father in such a place, and your grandfather in such another place, and I am now come to kill you ; you are but an ass in comparison of them/ After having made him turn once or twice in pursuit of the horse, the horseman rides close up alongside of him, and drops his companion just be- hind on the off side ; and while he engages the elephant's atten- tion upon the horse, the foot- man behind gives him a drawn stroke just above the heel, or what in man is called the ten- don of Achilles. This is the critical moment ; the horseman immediately wheels round, and takes his companion up behind him, and rides off full speed after the rest of the herd, if X ! ill A " i 1^ 32« THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. K*! i!f: they have started more than one ; and sometimes an expert Agageer will kill three out of one herd. If the sword is good, and the man not afraid, the tendon is commonly entirely separated ; and if it is not cut through, it is generally so far divided, that the animal, with the stress he puts upon it, breaks the remaining part asun- der. In either case, he remains incapable of advancing a step, till the horseman return, or his companions coming up, pierce him through with javelins and lances; he then falls to the ground, and expires with the loss of blood. The elephant once slain, they cut the whole flesh off his bones into thongs, and hang these on the branches of trees, till they become per- fectly dry. On the 6th, we had succeeded in thus killing several elephants, when there remained but two of those that had been dis- covered, a female with a calf. She was very soon found, and lamed by the Agageers; but when they came to wound with the darts, as every one did in turn, to our very great surprise, the young one, which had been suffered to escape unheeded and unpur- sued, came out from the thicket apparently in great anger, run- ning upon the horses and men with all the violence it was mas- ter of. I was amazed, and afflicted at seeing the great affection of the little animal defending its wounded mother, heedless of its own life or safety. I therefore cried to them to spare the mother, though it was then too late. Making one of its attacks upon Ayto Engedan it hurt him a little on the leg- upon which he thrust it through with his lance, and it then fell dead before its wounded mother. The next morning we were again on horseback, in search of the rhinoceros. We had killed a rhinoceros and several wild boars, when our horses were considerably blown, not tired, and though we were beat- ing homewards, still we were looking very keenly for more game. Ammonios was on tlie left among the bushes, and some large, beautiful, tall, spreading trees, close on the banks of the river Bedowi, which stands there in pools. Whether the buffalo found Am- monios, or Ammonios the buf- falo, is what we could never get him to explain to us ; but he had wounded the beast slightly in the buttock, which, in return, had gored his horse, and thrown both him and it to the ground. Luckily, however, his cloak had fallen off, which the buffalo tore to pieces, and employed himself for a minute with that and with the horse, but then left them, and followed the man as soon as he saw him rise and run. Ammonios got behind one large tree, and from that to another still larger. The buffalo turned very awkwardly, but kept close in pursuit; and there is no BRUCE S TRAVELS, 323 lan as soon doubt he would have worn our friend out, who was not used to such quick motion. Ayto En- gedan, who was near him, and might have assisted him, was laughing, ready to die at the droll figure a man of Am- monios's grave carriage made, running and skipping about naked, with a swiftness he had never before practised; and Engedan continued calling to Confu to partake of the diver- sion. The moment I heard his re- peated cries, I galloped out of the bushes to the place where he was, and could not help laughing at the ridiculous fig- ure of our friend, very attentive to the beast's motions, which seemed to dodge with great address, and keep to his adver- sary with the utmost obstinacy. As soon as Engedan saw me, he cried, * Yagoube ! for the love of the blessed Virgin ! don't in- terfere till Confu comes up.' Confu immediately arrived, and laughed more than Engedan, but did not offer to interfere ; on the contrary, he clapped his hands, and cried, *Well done, Ammonios,' swearing he never saw so equal a match in his life. The unfortunate Am- monios had been driven from tree to tree, till he had got be- hind one within a few yards of the water ; but the brush-wood upon the banks, and his atten- tion to the buffalo, hindered him from seeing how far it was below him. Nothing could be irore ridiculous than to see him holding the tree with both his hands, peeping first one way, and then another, to see by which the beast would turn. And well he might be on his guard ; for the animal was ab- solutely mad, tossing up the ground with his feet both be- fore and behind. * Sir,' said I, to Ayto Confu, *this will be but an ugly joke to-night, if we bring home that man's corpse, killed in the very midst of us, while we were looking on.' Saying this, I parted at a can- ter behind the trees, crying to Ammonios, to throw himself into the water, when I should strike the beast ; and, seeing the buffalo's head turned from me, at full speed I ran the spear into the lower part of his belly, through his whole intestinvf^ .\ ' •J. m ifijjia m 326 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, rt culty, I took a long Turkish rifled gun, and, crawling under a bank as near as possible, shot it in the body, so that it fell from the bank on the road be- fore us quite dead, and even without muscular motion. It proved to be a large lioness. On the 2 2d we came to Mariam-Ohha, and at half-past three arrived at Hor-Cacamoot. Hor, in that country, signifies the dry deep bed of a torrent which has ceased to run ; and Cacamoot, the shade of death ; so that Yasine's village, where we now took up our quarters, is called the Valley of the Sha- dow of Death — a bad omen for weak and wandering travellers as we were, surrounded by a multitude of dangers, and so far from home, that there seemed to be but One that could bring us thither. We trusted in Him, and He did deliver us. Some time before I left Gon- dar I had been threatened with an attack of the dysentery. At my arrival at Hor-Cacamoot it grew worse, and had many un- promising symptoms, when I was cured by the advice and application of a common Shan- galla, by means of a shrub called Wooginoos,^ growing very com- mon in those parts, the manner of using which he taught me. Yasine had done everything, on his part, to secure me a good reception from Fidele, Shekh of Atbara. In addition to this, I < The root of this shrub, when pounded to powder, was found to be a useful medicine in cases of dysentery. had been the means of curing Mahomet, Shekh of Beyla, of a troublesome disease, for which I had some claims on his grati- tude. I sent a servant of mine with a letter to the Shekh, men- tioning my intention of comin<» to Sennaar by way of Teawa and Beyla, and desiring him to forward my servant to Sennaar. I was now about to quit Ras el Feel for ever, in the firm per- suasion that I had done every- thing man could do to insure a safe journey and a good recep- tion at Sennaar. Yasine now took no further charge of me. He doubted very much if I should ever reach Teawa, at least without suffering some heavy affront or ill-usage. On the 17 th of March we set out from Hor-Cacamoot on our journey to Teawa, On the fol- lowing day I took an affection- ate leave of my friend Yasine, who, with all his attendants, showed, at parting, that love and attachment he had con- stantly preserved since our first acquaintance. Advancing on our journey, we were annoyed at Quaicha by the attack of a hyaena, and a lion carried away one of our asses. As we now expected to be instantly devoured, the pre- sent fear overcame the resolu- tion we had made, not to use our fire-arms unless in the ut- most necessity. I fired two guns, and ordered my servants to fire two large ship-blunder- busses, which presently freed us from our troublesome guests. BRUGES TRAVELS, 327 fwo hyaenas were killed, and a large lion being mortally wounded, was despatched by our men in the morning. On the 20th we reached Rashid, the villages composing which are now in ruins. There are seven or eight wells of good water here, and the place itself is beautiful beyond description. It is a fairyland in the middle of an inhospitable, uninhabit- ed desert — full of large, wide- spreading trees, loaded with flowers and fruit, and crowded with an immense number of the deer kind. We were just two hours in Rashid before we were flying for our lives, the simoom, or hot wind, having struck us not long after we had set out from Imserrha; and our little company, all but myself, fell mortally sick with the quantity of poisonous vapour that they had imbibed. I apprehend, from Rashid to Imserrha it is about five miles ; and, though it is one of the most dangerous halting-places between Ras el Feel and Sen- naar, yet we were so enervated, our stomachs so weak, and our headaches so violent, that we could not pitch our tent, but each wrapping himself in his cloak, resigned himself imme- diately to sleep under the cool shade of the large trees, invited by the pleasant breeze from the north, which seemed tp be merely local, confined to this small grove, created probably by the vicinity of water, and the agitation we had occasioned in it. In this helpless state to which we were reduced, I alone con- tinued not weakened by the simoom, nor overcome by sleep. A Ganjar Arab, who drove an ass laden with salt, took this opportunity of stealing one of the mules, together with a lance and shield belonging to one of my servants. The country was so woody, and he had so much advantage of us in point of time, and we were in so weak and discouraged a state, that it was thought in vain to pursue him one step. So he got off with his booty, unless he was inter- cepted by some of those wild beasts, which he would find everywhere in his way, whether he returned to Ras el Feel, or the frontiers of Kuara, his own country. This day, being the fifth of our journey, we had gone about five hours very diligently, though, considering the weak state we were in, I do not think we ad- vanced more than seven or eight miles ; and it was to me very visible that all the animals, mules, c?,mels, and horses were affected as much as we were by the simoom. They drank re- peatedly, and for a considerable length of time, but they seemed to go just so much the vorse for it. Upon approaching a pool that had water in it, though yet at some distance from it, my servants sent me word to come up speedily, and bring fire-arms with me. A lion had killed one of the deer, called Ariel, and \.K- 328 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, had eaten a part of it, but had retired upon the noise we had made in alighting. In place of him, five or six hyaenas had seized the carcase, and several others were at the instant ar- riving to join them, and partake of the prey the lion had aban- doned. I hastened upon the summons, carrying with me a musket and bayonet, and a ship-blunderbuss, with about forty small bullets in it. Hav- ing set my musket at my hand, near and ready, I levelled my blunderbuss at the middle of the group, which were feeding voraciously, like as many swine, with a considerable noise, and in a civil war with each other ; two of them fell dead upon the spot, two more died about twenty yards distance, but all the rest that could escape fled without looking back, or show- ing any kind of resentment ; I then took my musket in my hand, and stood prepared with my bayonet behind the tree, but fired no more, not knowing what their humour or disposi- tion might be as to a return upon an accession of new com- panions. We observed a variety of traps and cages, some of them very ingenious, which the Da- veina, or other Arabs, had set to catch birds, several of which we found dead in these snares, and some of them had not yet been touched by beasts ; and as there was but a small distance between the traps and the water's edge, which could only be answerable to a few days* evaporation, we, with great reason, inferred that the Davei- na, or some other Arabs, had been there a very short time before. Not a little alarmed at this discovery that the Arabs were near us, we left Imhanzara at four o'clock in the evening of the 2 Tst, our journey mostly n.w. ; at eight we lost our way, and were obliged to halt in a wood. Here we were terrified to find that the water in our girbas was entirely gone ; whether by eva- poration of the hot wind, or otherwise, I know not, but the skin had the appearance of water in it, till its lightness in unloading discovered the con- trary. Though all the people were sick, the terror of being without water gave us some- thing like alacrity, and desire to push on. We set out at eleven, but still wandered in the wood till three o'clock in the morning of the 2 2d, when we were obliged again to alight. I really then began to think we were lost, and ordered the girbas to be examined. On the sixth day from Ras el Feel, in the morning we set off in great despondency, and were thankful when we found we were on the road which led straight to the well. Shortly afterwards we reached Imgellalib, where there was plenty of water. The fear of dying of thirst made every one press to drink, and the result was, two Abyssinian Moors, a BRUGES TRAVELS. 329 man and woman, died after drinking. Having refreshed ourselves for nearly two hours by the en- joyment of this water at Im- gellalib, and raked a sufficient quantity of sand over the dead bodies of our two companions, we set out on our road through a very extensive plain ; and, at two in the afternoon, we alighted at another well, called Garigana, where the water was bad, and in small quantity. In this plain is situated the principal village of Atbara, called Teawa. At five o'clock we left Gari- gana, our journey being still to the eastward of north ; and, at a quarter past six in the even- ing arrived at the village of that name, whose inhabitants had all perished with hunger the year before ; their wretched bones being all unburied and scattered upon the surface of the ground where the village formerly stood. We encamped among the bones of the dead ; no space could be found free from them; and, on the 23d, at six in the morning, full of horror at this miserable spec- tacle, we set out for Teawa ; this was the seventh day from Ras el Feel. At three quarters after seven in the evening we arrived at Teawa, the principal village and residence of the Shekh of Atbara, between three and four miles from the ruins of Garigana. At the passage of the small river, about a quarter of a mile froro Teawa, we were met by a man on horseback, clothed with a large, loose gown of red camlet, or some such stuff, with a white muslin turban upon his head, and about twenty naked, beggarly servants on foot, with lances, but no shields ; two small drums were beating, and a pipe playing be- fore them. He was a man about seventy, with a very long beard, and of a very graceful appearance. It was with the utmost difficulty I could pre- vail upon him to mount his horse, as he declared his in- tention was to walk by the side of my mule till he entered the town of Teawa. We passed by a very com- modious house, where he or- dered my servants to unload my baggage, that being the residence assigned for me by the Shekh. He and I, with Soliman on foot by the side of my mule, crossed an open space of about 500 yards, where the market is kept, to the Shekh's house, or rather a col- lection of houses, one storey high, built with canes. The hall was a very decent one, covered with straw mats ; and there was in the middle of it a chair, understood to be the place of the grand signior. The Shekh himself was sitting on the ground for humility's sake, reading the Koran, or pretending to read it. At our entry he seemed to be surprised, and made an attempt as if to rise up, which immediately I prevented him from doing, hold- Hi 330 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. ii If f ing him down by the hand, which I kissed. I shall not fatigue the reader with the uninteresting conversa- tion that passed at this first in- terview. He said that he would detain me no longer; bid me repose a day or two in quiet and safety; and, upon my rising to go away, he got up likewise, and holding me by the hand, said, * The greatest part of the dangers you have passed in the way are, I believe, as yet unknown to you. Your Moor, Yasine, of Ras el Feel, is a thief worse than any in Habesh. Several times you escaped very narrowly, by mere chance, from being cut off, especially at Rashid, by the Arabs Daveina, whom Yasine had posted there to murder you. But you have a clean heart, and clean hands. God saw their designs, and protected you ; and I may say also, on my own part, I was not wanting.' Being then on my legs for retiring, I returned no answer, but the usual one(Ullah Kerim), i.e. God is merciful. Soliman, on the other side, echoed * Ul- lah Kerim r by which I saw he understood me. We both went out, and were conducted to the apartment provided by the old man in the red cloak, who met us on our first arrival at the river, and who now walked before me till we came to the house. We had scarce taken posses- sion of our lodging, or thrown off our clothes to put ourselves at our ease, when several slaves of both sexes brought us a quantity of dishes of meat from the Shekh, with many flattering compliments and good wishes. The whole was despatched very speedily, and some of our poor companions of the caravan, with the salt, came and helped us very thankfully, without cere- mony, as is the custom of the country. I was astonished at one young man, who came and put his mouth close to my ear, saying these few words in Arabic, * Seitan Fidele ! el Shekh el Atbara Seitan ! ' U Fidele is a devil ! the Shekh of Atbara is the devil himself ! After having shut the door, when my stranger guest had departed, I asked Soliman what he thought of the Shekh of At- bara, and his discourse? He answered, without hesitation, * He is a traitor, has deceived Yasine, and means you ill.' On the 25 th I waited on the Shekh accordingly, in his own house. Soliman the Moor, Hag! Ismael the Turk, who, besides, wasasherriffe, and my Greekser- vant, were along with me. I gave the Shekh, for a present, a large piece of blue Indian cotton cloth, with gold flowers, a silk and cotton sash, about two ounces of civet, two pounds of nutmegs, and ten pounds of pepper. He received the pre- sents very graciously to ap- pearance, and laid all the articles down beside him. I desired that he would despatch me as soon as possible, and, for that BRUGES TRAVELS. 331 end, be preparing the camels. He answered, the camels were fifteen days* journey off, in the sandy desert, for fear of the flies ; but that the want of them should not detain us, if he >'>d leave from Sennaar, for which he (vas to write that night He added, that they always were exceedingly tedious at Sennaar, and both the town and road were, at present, in a very un- settled state. After some conversation with Soliinan,he concluded, * I will do everything for him and you that you could wish : stay only this week, and if my camels do not arrive, I will send and take them from the Arabs, wherever they can be found. They are for the king's business, and not mine.' He said this with such an air of candour and sincerity, that it was impossible to doubt him. We were kept at Teawa for a much longer time than we had bargained for. During our stay, I acted as physician to the Shekh, his wives, and his beauti- ful daughter Aiseach, whom he offered me in marriage on con- dition that I should settle down as second governor of Atbara. In an interview which I had with him on the 31st, he told me * that he knew perfectly well, from Ras el Feel, that when I set out from thence, I had in my baggage 2000 ounces of )ld, besides a variety of cloth and gold, and that surely I would not be mad enough to refuse him 500 piastres, which was only 50 of these ounces, as he could easily take the whole by force, and dispose of me afterwards as he pleased.' On the 9th April Fidele re- commended Soliman to per- suade me to give him 2000 piastres, without which he swore I would never go alive out of Atbara. Soliman, on the other hand, declared, that I was a man that set no value upon money, and therefore carried it not about with me, otherwise I should not refuse what he de- sired, assuring him that with the exception of the king's present, all I had was brass, iron, and glass bottles, of no value to any but myself. He desired Soli- man to tell me that he expected me at the usual hour in the evening on Friday the loth. I waited upon the Shekh next . day at the hour appointed. Fear- ing the worst, I resolved to go armed, and took with me a small Brescian blunderbuss, about 22 inches in the barrel, which had a joint in the stock, so that it folded double. I likewise took a pair of pistols in my girdle, and my knife as usual. Fidele was sitting in a spacious room, in an alcove, on a board like a sofa. I saw he either was, or affected to be, drunk, and w^hichever was the case, I knew it would lead to mischief ; I therefore repented heartily of havingcomeinto the house alone. After he had taken two whiffs of his pipe, and the slave had left the room, *Are you pre- pared?' says he. *Have you f ; !-«S| 1 a3MB Mi«l ! i 332 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. brought the needful along with you]' I wished to have occa- sion to join Soliman, and answered, * My servants are at the outer door, and have the vomit you wanted.' * Curse you and the vomit too,' says he with great passion, *I want money, and not poison. Where are your piastres r *I am a bad person,' said I, * Fidele, to fur- nish you with either. I have neither money nor poison ; but I advise you to drink a little warm water to clear your sto- mach, cool your head, and then lie down and compose yourself; I will see you to-morrow morn- ing.' I was going out. * Hakim,' says he, * infidel or devil, or what- ever is your name, hearken to what I say. Consider where you are ; this is the room where MekBaady, a king, was slain by the hand of my father : look at his blood, where it has stained the floor, which never could be washed out I am informed you have 2o,ooQ piastres in gold with you; either give me 2000 before you go out of this chamber, or you shall die ; I will put you to death with my own hand.' Upon this, he took up his sword, that 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 his elbow, like a butcher, said, * I wait your answer.' I now stept one pace back- wards, and dropt the burnoose behind me, holding the little blunderbuss in my hand, with- out taking it off the belt. I said, in a firm tone of voice * This is my answer : I am not a man, as I have told you be* '"ore, 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 to give this injunction; he heard the noise which the closing the joint in the stock of the blun- derbuss made, and thought I had cocked it, and was instantly to fire. He let his sword drcp, and threw himself on his back on the sofa, crying, * For God's sake. Hakim, I was but jesting,' At the same time, with all his might, he cried, * Brahim ! Ma- homet ! El coom ! El coom I^' — ' If one of your servants ap- proach me,' said I, * that instant I blow you to pieces ; not one of them shall enter this room till they bring in my servants, with them ; I have a number of them armed at your gate who will break in the instant they hear roe fire.' The women had come ^0 the door. My servants were ad- mitted, each having a blunder- buss in his hand and pistols at his girdle. We were now greatly an overmatch for the Shekh, who sat far back on the sofa, and pretended that all he had done was ia joke. As no good could be expected from this expostulation, I stopt it, and took my leave, desiring the Shekh to go to bed and compose himself, and not try 1 £1 coom, that is, all his servants. BRUGES TRAVELS. ZZl ir this room any more of these experiments, which would certainly end in his shame, if not in his punish- ment. Kc made no answer, only wished us good-night. On the 1 3th. of April arrived a naked Arab of the Jehaina, with intelligence that a caravan belonging to Atbara, which had come to Nara in Abyssinia for salt, had been all seized by Ammonios, Ayto Confu's gov- ernor of Nara, their asses, and salt taken from them, and the men put in close prison. The Shekh of the Jehaina, an old man of very comely presence, with ten or twelve of his clan on camels, came over to Shekh Fidele that morning before I went out, and they found the MouUah sitting with him. The news struck all of them with a panic, but none more so than our Shekh of Atbara. The Shekh of the Jehaina said he had not heard the cause of it, but so violent a procedure had not happened even when Yasous II. invaded Sennaar, for the people of the two frontiers had all that time been friends. He begged, however, Shekh Fidele immediately to interfere, and send some person to Ras el Feel to his friend Yasine. When they had settled thus far, a mes- sage came for me to attend the Shekh. I immediately went, leaving my servants to put up my quadrant. I had, indeed, an inclination to observe the approaching eclipse \ but as I knew perfectly the situation of Teawa with regard to Ras el Feel, I thought I might spare myself this unnecessary trouble, and only make use of the eclipse to frighten Fidele as part of the punishment he so amply deserved. There was a prodigious num- ber of people assembled at the Shekh's door. The Jehaina had all come upon camels ; two or three of the principal ones were sitting with him and the Moullah, one of these, whom I did not know, but who had seen me at Ras el Feel, upon my approach- ing the Shekh, got up, took me by the hand, and made a very respectful salutation. As he was a friend of Yasine, and Shekh el Nile, I never doubted fiom that minute that this was a contrivance of theirs in my favour. * Hakim,' said the Moullah, *have you never sent a com- plaint to Yasine since you came to Teawa 1 tell me truly; no harm shall befall you from it.' * If I were not to tell you truly,' said I, 'Shekh, I would not answer you at all. I am under no obligation to do it, nor am I under any fear. You are but at the beginning of this affair, and many will suffer before I do.' * Truly,' says the Moullah, * but have you sent intelligence to Ras el FeeU' *No, no,' said Fidele, *he had it not in his power ; nor is there a man in Teawa that durst go on such an errand ; it is some dis- turbance about Tchelga.' I easily perceived that the Moullah wanted me to confess, 334 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. which I likewise saw the use of myself. * I sent,' said I, ' mes- sengers from Teawa two several times. The first, when Fidele pretended Yasine was to mur- der me in the desert; the second, when he said he had no camels ; and I also men- tioned the piastres, and his in- tention to murder me.' *Am- monios,' says black Soliman, ' and Yasine, Nara, and Ras el Feel, all belong to Ayto Confu, and were given to Yagoube by him, for his maintenance all the time he was at Gondar. Ayto Confu and he are brothers ; they were together in the camp, slept together in the same house; they are brothers, and more than brothers, for they swore to each other, when we passed Tcherkin, upon the heart of the elephant.* I swear by our holy faith that Confu will be down here himself; what does he care for a journey of two days V All now with one voice con- demned Fidele, who had not a word to say, only that if he knew the person who carried that message, he would cut off his head, if he was his brother. * But it is impossible,' says the Shekh ; * should I not have known of the messenger being absent % impossible ! ' Then turning to his servant, said, * Is Kutcho el Hybari here % I have not seen him lately.' * Sir,' says he, * you know you sent Kutcho to Mendera long before the Hakim arrived.' *True,' says 1 This is a very horrid oath, full of non- sense, and vows of friendship and secrecy. Fidele, 'then it is impossible.' * Your messengers and mine,' said I, * Shekh, are not of the same sort, nor shall I ask your leave when I am to send to Ras el Feel or Sennaar, nor shall you ever cut oflf the head from any one of them. But why are you alarmed at these asses being taken 1 Should you not be afraid of something simi- lar happening at Mecca ] Am not I under the protection of the sherriflfe? When Metical Aga hears this, will he not re- sent it 1 Will Yousef Kabil, the Christian, the sherriffe's vizier at Jidda, through whose hands your people pass, will he be gentler to them upon this account V * A curse upon him,' says the sherrifTc ; * he gentle ! he is a shark.' *Meloun Ibn Sheitan,' says the Turk Ismael, />. accursed wretch, child of the devil ! ♦ Well then,' said I, * the difficulty is only to know if he is informed of this at Mecca. Friday, the 17 th, is your festival. If the afternoon of that shall pass like those of common days, I am a worthless man and an impostor ; but if on that day, after erasser,^ a sign be seen in the heavens that shall be thought by all of you unusual and extraordinary, then am I an innocent man, and F'dele's designs against me are known to the world, at Sennaar, at Mecca, at Cairo, and at Gondar, and everywhere else, and will not be pleasing either to God or man.' * Yariif el 1 El'asser is four o'clock. V BRUGES TRAVELS. 335 Hakim,* says the sherriffe ; « Hakim ! ' " says the Shekh of the Jehaina ; * Ullah Akbar ! ' (God is great) says the Moullah, lifting his eyes up to heaven, and counting his beads very devoutly. The foretelling the sign seemed not at all to please the Shekh, who appeared very much disconcerted with the supposed invisibility of my messengers. I got up, having pushed my design just far enough. On the 14th letters arrived from Yasine to the Shekh, full of reproaches for his behaviour to me; and declaring, with most solemn oaths, that if those letters found me at Teawa, or if I was not gone from thence in peace, he would commission the Daveina Arabs to burn every stalk of com between that and Beyla as soon as it was in the ear, and that they should neither eat bread nor drink water in it, as long as he was alive, and governor of Ras el Feel. At this the Shekh consented to let us go. The eclipse happen- ing as I had predicted, a vio- lent apprehension fell upon them all ; and the women from their apartments began to howl, as they do on all melancholy oc- casions of misfortune or death. 'Now,' continued I, *I have kept my word ; it will soon be clear again, and will do no harm to man or beast.' When in the antechamber of J The Hakim, or wise man, knows. ' He IS indeed wise. the Shekh's house, I was met by Aiscach, and two or three black slaves, who cried out in great terror, * O Hakim ! what is this? what are you going to do 1' * I am going to take leave of you,' - replied. That night I sent a present to Aiscach and the other ladies who were our friends, and had been kind to us. I took leave of the Shekh on the morning of the i8th, and set out for Beyla. Our journey, for the first seven hours, was through a bar- ren, bare, and sandy plain, without finding a vestige of any living creature, without water, and without grass, a country that seemed under the immedi- ate curse of Heaven. We continued on foot, from four till the grey of the morn- ing of the 19th of April. ^ We found Beyla to be about eleven miles west of Teawa, and thirty-one and a half miles due south. We were met by Mahomet, the Shekh, at the very entrance of the town. He said he looked upon us as risen from the dead ; that we must be good people, and particularly under the care of Providence, to have escaped the many snares the Shekh of Atbara had laid for us. Mahomet, the Shekh, had provided every sort of re- freshment possible for us ; and, thinking we could not live with- out it, he had ordered sugar for us from Sennaar. Our whole company was full of joy, to which the Shekh greatly encouraged them ; and if there I i '9 _i>i ,1 "-^ ■Hi t 4 ri>.« 336 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. was an alloy to the happiness, it was the seeing that I did not partake of it. Symptoms of an aguish disorder had been hang- ing about me for several days, ever since the diarrhoea had left me. I found the greatest re- pugnance, or nausea, at the smell of warm meat; and, having a violent headache, I insisted upon going to bed supperless, after having drunk a quantity of warm water by way of emetic. Being exceedingly tired, I soon fell sound asleep, having first taken some drops of a strong spirituous tincture of the bark which I had prepared at Gon- dar, resolving, if I found any remission, as I then did, to take several good doses of the bark in powder on the morrow, be- ginning at daybreak, which I accordingly did, with its usual success. On the 20th of April, a little after the dawn of day, the Shekh, in great anxiety, came to the place where I was lying. His sorrow was soon turned into joy when he found me quite recovered from my illness. In the afternoon we walked out to see the village, which is a very pleasant one, situated upon the bottom of a hill, covered with wood, all the rest flat before it. Through this plain there are many large tim- ber trees, planted in rows, and joined with high hedges, as in Europe, foiming enclosures for keeping cattle \ but of these we saw none, as they had been moved to the Dender for fear of the flies. There is no water at Beyla but what is got from deep wells. Large plantations of Indian corn are everywhere about the town. The inhabi- tants are in continual apprehen- sion from the Arabs Daveina at Sim-Sim, about forty miles south- east from them ; and from an- other powerful race called Wed abd el Gin, i.e. Sons of the slaves of the Devily who live to the south-west of them, between the Dender and the Nile. Bey- la is another frontier town of Sennaar, on the side of Sim- Sim ; and between Teawa and this, on the Sennaar side, and Ras el Feel, Nara, and Tchelga, upon the Abyssinian side, all is desert and waste. On the 2 1 St of April we left Beyla at three o'clock in the afternoon, our direction south- west, through a very pleasant, flat country, but without water; there had been none in our way nearer than the river Rahad. About eleven at night we alighted in a wood. The place is called Baherie, as near as we could compute nine miles from Beyla. On the 2 2d, at half-past five o'clock in the morning, we left Baherie, still continuing west- ward, and at nine we came to the banks of the Rahad. We resumed our journey and at six o'clock in the evening of the 24th we set out from a shady place of repose on the banks of the Dender, through a large plain, with not a tree before us; but we presently BRUGES TRAVELS. 337 found ourselves encompassed with a number of villages, nearly of a size, and placed at equal distances in form of a semi- circle, the roofs of the houses in shape of cones, as are all those within the rains. The plain was all of a red, soapy earth, and the corn just sown. This whole country is in per- petual cultivation ; and though at this time it had a bare look, would no doubt have a magni- ficent one when waving with grain. At nine we halted at a village of pagan Nuba. These are all soldiers of the Mek of Sennaar, cantoned in these vill- ages, which, at the distance of four or five miles, surround the whole capital. Having settle- ments and provisions given them, as also arms put in their hands, they never wish to de- sert, but live a very domestic and sober life. Many of them that I have conversed with seem a much gentler sort of negro than those from Bahar el Aice, that is, than those of whom the Funge, or govern- ment of Sennaar, are com- posed. These have small features likewise, but are woolly-headed andflat-nosed, like other negroes, and speak a language rather pleasant and sonorous, but radically different from any I have heard. They pay adoration to the moon, but I never saw them pay any attention to the sun. Their priests seemed to have great influence over them, but more through the influence of fear than affection. They are immoderately fond of swine's flesh, and maintain great herds of them in their possession. There is no running water in all that immense plain they in- habit ; it is all procured from draw-wells. We saw them cleaning one, which I measured, and found nearly eight fathoms deep. In a climate so violently hot as this, there is very little need of fuel ; neither have they any, there being no turf, or any- thing resembling it, in the coun- try, no wood, not even a tree, since we had passed the river Dender. On the 25 th, at four o'clock in the afternoon, we set out from the villages of the Nuba, intending to arrive at Basboch, where is the ferry over the Nile ; but we had scarcely advanced two miles into the plain when we were enclosed by a violent v/hirlwind, or, what is called at sea, the water-spout. After suf- fering severely, we took refuge in a Nuba village, where we were kindly treated. At nine o'clock, on the 26th, we arrived at Basbach, which is a large collection of huts of these people, and has the ap- pearance of a town. The go- vernor, a venerable old man of about seventy, who was so feeble that he could scarcely walk, received us with great complacency, only saying, when I took him by the hand, * Oh, Christian ! what dost thou, at such a time, in such a coun- Y ''""^■4'"'*1'^8^3 338 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, i li i try 1' I had here a very clean and comfortable hut to lodge in, though we were sparingly supplied with provisions all the time we were there. Basbach is on the eastern bank of the Nile, not a quarter of a mile from the ford below. The river here runs north and south. Towards the sides it is shallow, but deep in the middle of the current, and in this part it is much infested with croco- diles. Sennaar is two miles and a half s.s.w. of it. We heard the evening drum very dis- tinctly, and not without anxiety, when we reflected to what a brutish people, according to all accounts, we were about to trust ourselves. We stayed here till the 29th, when leave was sent us to enter Sennaar. It was not without some difliculty that we got our quadrant and heavy baggage safely carried down the hill, for the banks are very steep to the edge of the water. As our boat was but a very indifferent em- barkation, it was obliged to make several turns to and fro before we got all our several packages landed on the western side. This assemblage, and the passage of our camels, seemed to have excited the appetite, or the curiosity, of the crocodiles. One, in particular, swam several times backwards and forwards along the side of the boat, with- out, however, making any attack upon any of us ; but, being ex- ceedingly tired of such com- pany, upon his second or third venture over, I fired at him with a rifle gun, and shot him directly under his fore-shoulder in the belly. The wound was un- doubtedly mortal, and very few animals could have lived a mo- ment after receiving it. He, however, dived to the bottom, leaving the water deeply tinged with his blood. Nor did we see him again at that time ; but the people at the ferry brought him to me the day after, having found him perfectly dead. He was about twelve feet long, and the boatmen told me that these are by much the most danger- ous, being more fierce and active than the large ones. The people of Sennaar eat the crocodile, especially the Nuba. I never tasted it myself, but it looks very much like conger-eel. CHAPTER XIV. Four months in Sennaar. On our arrival we were con- ducted by Adelan's servant to a very spacious good house belonging to the Shekh him- self, having two storeys, a long quarter of a mile from the king's palace. He left a mes- sage for us to repose ourselves, and in a day or two to wait upon the king, and that he should send to tell us when we were to come to him. This we resolved to have complied with | most exactly ; but the very next morning, the 30th of April, there came a servant from the palace e were con- to summon us tn «,^:* Obeyed. I took with me three .h Tu I' and'' ^"li"^"' ^""^e prodigious dea, of g^.^r",? .sanofonestoreyS'fclay and the floors of earth. Th- mbers through which we passed were all unfurnished and seemed as if a „„'; ' of them had formerl/K'eT mad as barracks hrZu^^' whom I did not see above fifty on guard. The iJng wis ■n a small room, not "wemv feet square, to Chich wlal cended by two short flights of nan-ow steps. The floor of the ZeX'"^""'. -'■'" broad Pe^Tn i ' °''*'' " "2' laid a teian carpet, and the walls •''"ng with tapestry of the s^ml country; the whni» '"^ *ame Jept. a'nd fnVodtr;^!^ .:?^ f ewise ctK-H^^tr arpet, and round him ,"s " 'large, loose shirt of Surafbh^i cotton cloth, which seemed i"ot to differ from the same worn -dtK;:-,-p-Hat,':s WK. His head was uncovered H wore his own short black Arab. He seemed to be BRUCE' S TXAVELS. ». 339 we';?: b:?:"bu^'^^^^^'^ ^-^^ Thirf u' ."' covered by his stmnped no decidedlitc^ lute man A* * ^'"''^' '^reso- if ""detVrmTneXCrV; lSern7ed'J^ntS;j''- erbletJ'f '-S: al^ufd HonthTd °o^Strm:".^r'- which he turnerf ,!? ^ ^P"" thatwere withhL , n^ P^°P'* ArahjJ^ • J ,""' Downrhrht learn tllf""'' ' ■^°" did fo !!f?h!^,^"a''g"age in Habeshr said he to me. I answered, 'No. in^rrahf " V" ^8yP'' Tirkey,' h^ril '^,"'''"= I 'earned it- it n rr ''• ^.'''^^ "ft-^" spoken i^ in Abyssmia, where Greek Turkish, and seveml other k„' guages, were used.' He ,atd" Impossible- He did nm think they knew anything ofTn »nir^''''^"'-°-.t,' four men dressed in white co? cover?n?;h""'l ""■'''«' ''- covering their heads and nart of their face, by whicH was '"rn^oTr^'^'^'""'"- law n 'f """S- Of of the he ki?I' / i*^"^ answered tne kings doubt of the Abvt, contributed to the total extini tion of every- thing tliat hath the breath of bfc. A thermometer graduatetl upon tins scale would exhibit a figure very dilVercnt from the connnon one ; for I am con- vinced, by experiment, that a web of the linest muslin, wrapt round the body at Scnnaar, will occasion at mitl-day a greater sensation of heat in the body than the rise of 5'' in the ther- mometer of Fahrenheit. At Sennaar, from 70'' to 78" in Fah- renheit's thermometer is cool ; from 79** to 92*' temperate; at 93" begins warm. Although the degree of the thermometer marks a greater heat than is felt by the boily of us strangers, it seems to me that the sensa- tions of llie native* bear still a less proportioj\ to that degree than ours. On the ad of Au- gust, while I was lying perfectly enervated on a carpet, in a room deluged with water, at twelve o'clock, the thermometer at 116*^, 1 saw several black labourers pulling down a house, working with great vigour, with- out any symptoms of being at all incomiiioded; After many delays previous to my leaving ISennaar I was do- termined to leave my instru- ments and papers with Kiiton, Adeian's l)rother, or with tho Sid el Coom, while I went to Shaddly to see Adelan. Hut first I thought it necessary to apply to Uagi Helal to try wlmt fumis we couhl raise to proviiK" the necessaries for our journey. I showed him the letter of 11). rahim, the Fnglish broker of Jidda, of which before he hnd received a ct>py ami repcntod advices, and told him I shouKl want aoo se(]uins at least, tor my camels and provisions, as well as for some presents that I should have occasion for, to make my way to the great men in Atbara. Never was surprise better counterfeited than by this man. Me heUl up his hands in the utmost astonisii- ment, repeating, aoo sequins! over twenty times, and askcil me if 1 thought money grew upon trees at Sennaar ; that it was with the utmost ditlicuhy he could spare me ao dollars, part of which he must borrow from a friend. This was a stroke that seemed to insure our de- struction, no other resource being now left. We were al- ready indebted to Hagi Relal twenty dollars for provision ; we had seven mouths to feed daily ; and rs we had neither meat, money, nor credit, to con- tinue at Sennaar was impossible. My servants began to murmur; some of them had known of my gold chain from the beginning, BRUCirS TRAVELS, 349 nnd these, in the common (lai)Kt-''*t imparted what they knew to the rest. In short, I resolved, though very unwill- ingly, not to sacrifice my own life and that of my servants, ami the finishing my travels, now so far advanced, to childish vanity. I determined therefore to abandon my gold chain, the honourable recoir.i)ence of a (lay full of fatigue and danger. Whom to intrust it to was the next consideration ; and, upon mature deliberation, I found it could be to nobody but Hagi llelal, bad as I had reason to think he was. However, to put a check upon him, I sent for the Sid el Coom, in whose pre- sence I repeated my accusa- tion against IJelal ; I read the SeratV's letter i« my favour, and the several letters that Belal had written me whilst I was at Gondar, declaring his acceptance of the order to fur- nish me with money when .1 should arrive at Scnnaar ; and I upbraided him, in the strong- est terms, with duplicity and breach of faith. Having settled my accounts with Hagi Belal, I received back six links, the miserable remains of one hun- dred and eighty-iour, of which my noble chain once con- sisted. This traitor kept me the few last minutes to write a letter to the English at Jidda, to re- commend him for the service he had done me at Sennaar ; and this I complied with, that I might inform the broker Ib- rahim that I luid received no money from his correspondent, and give him a caution never again to trust Hagi Belal in similar circumstances. Kverylhii\g being arranged, I left Sennaar on the 5lh Septem- ber 177a. CHAPTER XV. From Senna.ir to CItendi. Although my servants, as well as Hagi Belal, and every one at Sennaar but the Fakir and Soliman, did imagine I was going to Shaddly, yet their own fears, or rather good sense, had convinced them that it was better to proceed at once for Atbara, than ever again to be entangled between Adelan and the king. Sennaar sat heavy upon all their spirits, so that I had scarce dismounted from .my camel, and beiore I tasted food, which that day I had not done, when they all entreated me with one voice that I would consider the dangers I had escaped, and, instead of turning westward to Shaddly, continue north through Atbara. I then •told them my resolution was perfectly conformable to their wishes ; and informed them of the measures I had taken to insure success and remove dan- ger as much as possible. I recommended diligence, sob- riety, and subordination as the only means of arriving happily at the end proposed ; and 35° THE ENGLISn EXPLORERS, assured them all wc should share one common fare, and one common fortune, till our journey was terminated by good or bad success. Never \vas any discourse more grate- fully received ; every toil was welcome in flying from Sennaar, and they already began to think themselves at the gates of Cairo. On the 8th September we reached Wed el Tum^cl, three villages situated upon a pool of water. Here there is greait plenty of ebony bushes, and a species of dwarf acacia, with very small leaves, and long pods of a strong saccharine taste. This is here in great abundance, and is called Lauts or Loto, which I suspect to be the tree on whose fruit, we are told, the ancient Libyans fed. For four days after leav- ing Wed el Tumbel we were much tormented with the fly, the very noise of which put our camels in such a fright, that they ran violently into the thickest trees and bushes, en- deavouring to brush off their loads. These flies do not bite at night, nor in the cool of the morning. On the 1 6th we arrived at Herbagi,the seat of Wed Ageeb, hereditary prince of the Arabs, now subject to the government of Sennaar. The village we found large and pleasant, but thinly inhabited, and placed on dry gravelly soil. On my ar- rival I waited upon Wed Ageeb. He seemed to be a man of verv gentle manners, about thirty years of age, had a thick black beard and whiskers, large black eyes, and a long thin face, with the appearance of a weak con- stitution. He had never before seen a FAiropean, and testified great surprise at my complexion. He spoke contemptuouslyof the king of Sennaar, but very re- spectfully of Adelan and Abou Kalec, any one of whose little fingers, he said, was sufficient to crush the Mek and all who adhered to him. He sent us abundance of provisions during; our stay, and gave me a lettci to Sittina his sister, which might be useful to me if I went by way of Chendi, Barbar, and the great desert. After Chendi, he assured me there was no pro- tection to be relied upon but that of Heaven. Our way now lay through a beautiful country, partly covered with very pleasant woods, and partly in lawns, with a few fine scattered trees. But, as we neared Gidid, about three miles from the ferry across the Nile, the country seemed bare and barren, and scarcely produces anything saving grass and bent, of which the poor people use the seed for bread. On the 2 1 St we reached this passage across the Nile. The manner they pass the camels at this ferry is by fasten- ing cords under their hind quar- ters, and then tying a halter to their beads. Two men sustain these cords, anil a third the halter, so that the camels, by TRUCES 1 RAVELS, 35 » swimming, carry the boat on shore. One is fastened on each side of the stern, and one along each side of the stem. These useful beasts suffer much by this rude treatment, and many die in the passage, with all the care that can be taken, but often through malice, or out of re- venge. These boatmen pri- vately put salt in the camel's cars, which makes the animal desperate and ungovernable, till, by fretting and plunging his head constantly in the water, he loses his breath, and is drowned ; the boatmen then have gained their end, and feast u[)on the flesh. But the Arabs, when they pass their camels, use a goat's skin, blown with wind like a bladder, which they tie to the fore part of the camel, and this supports him where he is heaviest, while the man, sitting behind on his rump, guides him ; for this animal is a very bad swimmer, being heaviest before. Notwithstanding our boat- men had a very bad character at this time, we passed with our camels and baggage with- out loss or accident. They seemed indeed to show a very indifferent countenance at first, but good words, and a promise of recompence,. presently ren- dered them tractable. On the 22d we came to Halfaia, a large, handsome, and pleasant town, the limit of the tropical rains. The people here eat cats, also the river-horse and the crocodile, both of which are in great plenty. Af\er staying a week here, we continued our journey on the JQth, when we came to the village of Wed Hojila. The river Abiad, which is larj;er than the Nile, joins it there. Still the Nile preserves the name of Bahar el Azergue, or the lilue River, which it got at Sennaar. The Abiad is a very deep river; it runs dead, and with little inclination, and pre- serves its stream always un- diminished, because rising in latitudes where there are con- tinual rains. On the 30th we arrived at the small village 01 Gerri, which is built on a rising ground consisting of white bar- ren sand and gravel, intermixed with white alabaster, like peb- bles, which, in a bright sun are extremely disagreeable to the eye. At Halfaia and Gerri begins that noble race of horses justly celebrated all over the world. They are the breed that was in- troduced here at the Saracen conquest, and have been pre- served unmixed to this day. They seem to be a distinct animal from the Arabian horse, such as I have seen in the pllain» of Arabia Deserta, south of Palmyra and Damascus, where I take the most excel- lent of the Arabian breed to be, in the tribes of Mowalli and Annecy, which is about lat. 36°; whilst Dongola and the dry country near it seem to be the centre of excellence for this nobler animal : so that the 352 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. bounds within which the horse is in its greatest perfection, seem to be between the degrees of lat. 20° and 36°, and between long. 30° east from the meridian of Greenwich to the banks of the Euphrates. For this extent Fahrenheit's thermometer is never below 50** in the night, or in the day below 80°, though it may rise to 120° at noon in the shade, at which point horses are not affected by the heat, but will breed as they do at Halfaia, Gerri, and Dongola, where the thermometer rises to these de- grees. These countries, from what has been said, must of course be a dry, sandy desert, with little water, producing short, or no grass, but only roots, which are blanched like our celery, being always covered with earth, having no marshes or swamps, fat soapy earth, or mould. What figure the Nubian breed of horses would make in point of fleetness is very doubtful, their make being so ^entirely different from that of the Ara- bian ; but if beautiful and sym- metrical parts, great size and strength, the most agile, ner- vous, and elastic movements, great endurance of fatigue, do- cility of temper, and seeming attachment to man beyond any other domestic animal, can pro- mise anything for a stallion, the Nubian is aboye all compari- son the most eligible in the world. All noble horses in Nubia are said to be descended of one of the five upon which Mahomet and his four imme- diate successors, Abou Beer, Omar, Atman, and All, fled from Mecca to Medina, the night of the Hegira. The horses of Halfaia and Gerri do not arrive at the size of those in Dongola, where few are lower than sixteen hands. They are black or white, but a vast proportion of the former to the latter. I never saw the colour we call grey, that .is, dappled, but there are some bright l)ays, or inclining to sorrel. They are all kept monstrously fat upon dora, eat nothing green but the short root€ of grass that are .to be found by the side of the Nile, after the sun has withered it. •On the evening of the 2d October we arrived at Wed Baal a Nagga. The village is a very large one, belonging to a Fakir, a saint of the first con- sidejration in the government of >Chendi. All this country, ex- .cept immediately upon the Nile, is desert and sandy. Chendi, or Chandi, is a large village, the capital of its dis- trict, the government of which belongs to Sittina (as she is called), which signifies the Mis- tress, or the Lady, she being sister to Wed Ageeb, the prin- cipal of the Arabs in this coun- try. She had been married, but her husband was dead. She had one son, Idris, Wed el Faal, who was to succeed to the government of Chendi upon his mother's death, and who, in effect, governed all the affairs of his kindred already. Chendi BRUCE S TRAVELS, 353 has in it about 250 houses, which are not all built contigu- ous, some of the best of them being separate, and that of Sit- tina is half a mile from the town. There are two or three tolerable houses, but the rest of them are miserable hovels, built of clay and reeds. Sittina gave us one of these houses, which I used for keeping my instruments and baggage from being pilfered or broken ; I slept abroad in the tent, and it was even there hot enough. The women of Chendi are esteemed the most beauti- ful in Atbara, and the men the greatest cowards. This is the character they bear among their countrymen, but we had little opportunity of verifying either. On the 12th of October I waited upon Sittina, who re- ceived me behind a screen, so that it was impossible either to see her figure or face; I ob- served, however, that there were apertures so managed in the screen that she had a per- fect view of me. She expressed herself with great politeness, talked much upon the terms in which Adelan was with the king, and wondered exceedingly how a white man, like me, should venture so far in such an ill-governed country. * Allow me, madam,' said I, *to com- plain of a breach of hospitality in you, which no Arab has been yet guilty of towards me.' * Me ! ' said she, * that would be strange, indeed, to a man that bears my brother's letter. How can that be V * Why, you tell me, ma- dam, that I am a white man, by which I know that you see me, without giving me the like advantage. The queens of Sennaar did not use me so hardly; I had a full sight of them without having used any importunity.' On this she broke out into a great fit of laughter ; then fell into a con- versation about medicines to make her hair grow, or rather to hinder it from falling off. She desired me to come to her. the next day; that her son, Idris, would be then at home, and that he very much wished to see me. She that day sent us plenty of provisions from her own table. On the 13th it was so exces- sively hot that it was impossible to suffer the burning sun. The poisonous simoom blew like- wise as if it came from an oven. Our eyes were dim, our lips cracked, our knees tottering, our throats perfectly dry, and no relief was found from drink- ing an immoderate quantity of water. The people advised me to dip a sponge in vinegar and water, and hold it before my mouth and nose, and this greatly relieved me. In the evening I went to Sittina. Up- on entering the house, a black slave laid hold of me by the hand, and placed me in a pass- age, at the end of which were two opposite doors. I did not well know the reason of this ; but had stayed only a few min- utes when I heard one of the 354 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. doors at the end of the passage open, and Sittina appeared magnificently dressed, with a kind of round cap of solid gold upon the crown of her head, all beat very thin, and hung round with sequins; with a variety of gold chains, soli- taires, and necklaces of the same metal about her neck. Her hair was plaited in ten or twelve small divisions like tails, which hung down below her waist, and over her was thrown a common cotton white gar- ment. She had a purple silk stole, or scarf, hung very grace- fully upon her back, brought again round her waist, without covering her shoulders or arms. Upon her wrists she had two bracelets, like handcuffs, about half an inch thick, and two gold manacles of the same at her feet, fully an inch diameter, the most disagreeable and awkward part of all her dress. I expected she would have hurried through with some affectation of sur- prise. On the contrary, she stopped in the middle of the passage, saying in a very grave manner, * Kifhalec,' (how are you?) — I thought this was an opportunity of kissing her hand, which I did, without her show- ing any sort of reluctance. ' Allow me as a physician,' said I, 'madam, to say one word.' She bowed with her head, and said, * Go in at that door, and I will hear you.' The slave appeared, and carried me through a door at the bottom of the passage into a room, while her mistress vanisheil in at another door at the top. She was a woman scarcely forty, taller than the middle size, had a very round, plump face, her mouth rather large, very red lips, the finest teeth and eyes I have seen, hut at the top of her nose, and be- tween her eyebrows, she had a small speck made of cohol, or antimony, four-cornered, and of the size of the smallest patches our women used to wear ; an- other rather longer upon the top of her nose, and one on the middle of her chin. The fol- lowing dialogue took place be- tween us. Sittina. *Tell me what you would say to me as a physician.' Ya. * It was, madam, but in consequence of your discourse yesterday. That heavy gold cap, with which you press your hair, will certainly be the cause of a great part of it falling oft.' Sitt. * I believe so ; but I should catch cold, I am so accustomed to it, if I was to leave it off. Are you a man of name and family in your own country?' Ya. *0f both, madam.' Sitt, *Are the women handsome there?' Ya. * The handsomest in the world, madam ; but they are so good, and so excellent in all other respects, that nobody thinks at all of their beauty, nor do they value themselves upon it.' Sitt. 'And do they allow you to kiss their hands? Ya. * I understand you, madam, though you have mistaken me. There is no familiarity in kiss- BRUGES TRAVELS, 355 ing hands ; it is a mark of hom- age and distant respect paid in my country to our sovereigns, and to none earthly besides.' sat. *0 yes! but the kings.' I'd. * Yes, and the queens too, always on the knee, madam ; I said our sovereigns, meaning both kin^ and queen. On her part it is a mark of gracious condescension, in favour of rank, merit, and honourable behaviour; it is a reward for dangerous and diflicult services, above all other compensation.' Sitt. ' But do you know that no man ever kissed my hand but your Ya, 'It is impossible I should know that, nor is it ma- terial. — Of this I am confident, it was meant respectfully, can- not hurt you, and ought not to offend you.' Sitt, * It certainly has done neither, but I wish very much Idris, my son, would come and see you, as it is on his account I dressed myself to- day.' Ya. 'I hope, madam, when I do see him, he will think of some way of forward- ing me safely to Barbar, in my way to Egypt.' Sitt, * Safely 1 God forgive you I you are throwing yourself away wan- tonly. Idris himself, king of this country, dares not under- take such a journey. But why did not you go along with Ma- homet Towashi He set out only a few days ago for Cairo, the same way you are going, and has, I believe, taken all the Hybeers with him. — Go call the porter,' says she to her slave. When the porter came, *Do you know if Mahumct Towash IS gone to Egypt 1' 'I know he is gone to Barbar,' says the porter; *the two Mahomets, Abd-eljeleel, the Bishareen, are with him.' * Why did he take all the Hybeers?' says Sittina. *The men were tired and discouraged, answered the porter, by their iate ill-usage from the Cubba-beesh, and, being stripped of everything, they wanted to be at home.' Sitt, ♦ Somebody else will offer, but you must not go without a good man with you ; I will not suffer you. These Bishareen are people known here, antl may be trusted ; but, while you stay, let me see you every day, and, if you want anything, send by a servant of mine.* This being the first time I have had occasion to mention this useful set of men, it will be necessary I should here ex- plain their oflice and occupa- tion. A Hybeer is a guide, from the Arabic word Hubbar, to inform, instruct, or direct, because they are used to do this office to the caravans tra- velling through the desert in all its directions, whether to Egypt and back again, the coast of the Red Sea, or the countries of Sudan, and the western ex- tremities of Africa. They are men of great consideration, knowing perfectly the situation and properties of all kinds of water to be met on the route ; the distance of wells, whether occupied by enemies or not, and, if so, the way to avoid K' <% W^\ IM SB'S THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. them with the least inconve- nience. It is also necessary to them to know the places occu- pied by the simoom, and the seasons of their blowing in those parts of the desert ; likewise those occupied by moving sands. He generally belongs to some powerful tribe of Arabs inhabit- ing these deserts, whose protec- tion he makes use of to assist his caravans, or protect them in time of danger, and hand- some rewards were always in his power to distribute on such occasions ; but now that the Arabs in these deserts are every- where without government, the trade between Abyssinia and Cairo given over, that between Sudan and that metropolis much diminished, the importance of that office of Hybeer, and its consideration, is fallen in pro- portion. One day, sitting in my tent, musing upon the very unpro- mising asj ect of my affairs, an Arab of very ordinary appear- ance, naked, with only a cotton cloth around his middle, came up to me, and offered to con- duct me to Barbar, and thence to Egypt He said his house was at Daroo, on the side of the Nile, about twenty miles be- yond Syene, or Assouan, nearer Cairo. I asked him why he hrtd not gone with Mahomet Towash ? He said he did not like the company, and was very much mistaken if their journey ended well. Upon pressing him further if this was really the only reason, he then told me that he had been sick for some months at Chendi, con- tracted debt, and had been ob- liged to pawn his clothes, and that his camel was detained for what still remained unpaid. After much conversation, re- peated several days, I found that Idris (for that was his name) was a man of some sub- stance in his own country, and had a daughter married to the Schourbatchie at Assouan, He said that this was his last jour- ney, for he never would cross the desert again. A bargain was now soon made. I re- deemed his camel and cloak ; he was to show me the way to Egypt ; and he was there to be recompensed, according to his behaviour. I prepared now to leave Chendi, but first returned my benefactress, Sittina, thanks for all her favours. She had called for Idris, and given him very positive instructions, mixed with threats, if he misbehaved ; and hearing what I had done for him, she, too, gave him an ounce of gold, and said, at part- ing, that, for knowledge of the road through the desert, she be- lieved Idris to be as perfect as anybody ; but, in case we met with the Bishareen, they would neither show to him nor to me any mercy. She gave me, how- ever, a letter to Mahomet Abou Bertran, Shekh of one of the tribes of Bishareen, on the Ta- cazz^, near the Magiran, which she made her son write from the Howat, it not being usual, BRUGES TRAVELS, 357 she said, for her to write her- self. I begged I might be again allowed to testify my gratitude by kissing her hand, which she condescended to in the most gracious manner, laughing all the time, and saying, * Well, you are an odd man ! If Idris, my son, saw me just now, he would think me mad/ CHAPTER XVI. . From Chendi to Syene. On the 20th of October, in the evening, we left Chendi, and rested two miles from the town, and about a mile from the river ; and next day, the 21st, at three quarters past four in the morn- ing, we continued our journey, and passed through five or six villages of the Jaheleen on our left ; at nine, we alighted to feed our camels under some trees, having gone about ten miles. At this place begins a large island in the Nile several miles long, full of villages, trees, and corn. It is called Curgos. Op- posite to this is the mountain Gibbainy, where is the first scene of ruins I have met with since that of Axum, in Abys- sinia. We saw here heaps of broken pedestals, like those of Axum, all plainly designed for the statues of the dog; some pieces of obelisk, likewise, with hieroglyphics, almost totally ob- literated. The Arabs told us these ruins were very extensive ; and that many pieces of statues, both of men and animals, had been dug up there ; the statues of the men were mostly of black stone. It is impossible to avoid risking a guess that this is the ancient city of Meroe. On the 25th we came to the Tacazzd, a tributary of the Nile, and the boundary between At- bara and Barbar. The river is here about a quarter of a mile broad, and exceedingly deep. Its waters are judged by the Arabs to be lighter, clearer, and wholesomer than those of the Nile. It unites with the waters of the Nile about half a mile from this ferry. Though the boats were smaller, the people more brutish, and less expert than those at Halifoon, yet the supposed sanctity of our char- acters, and liberal payment, carried us over without any dif- ficulty. I reflected with much satisfaction npon the many cir- cumstances the sight of this river recalled to my mind ; but still the greatest was, that the scenes of these were now far distant, and that I was by so much the more advanced to- wards home. On the 26th, at six o'clock, leaving the Nile on our left about a mile, we continued our journey over gravel and sand, through a wood of acacia-trees, the colour of whose flowers was now changed to white, whereas all the rest we had before seen were yellow. At one o'clock we left the wood, and at forty minutes past three we came to ' fa.; 1 'M 11 m 3S8 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, 6-t. [III' Gooz, a small village, which nevertheless is the capital of Barbar. The village of Gooz is a collection of miserable hovels composed of clay and canes. There are not in it above thirty houses, but there are six or seven different vil- lages. The heat seemed here a little abated, but everybody complained of a disease in their eyes they call Tishash, which often terminates in blindness. I apprehend it to be owing to the simoom and fine sand blow- ing through the desert. Here a misfortune happened to Idris, our Hybeer, who was arrested for debt, and carried to prison. As we were now upon the very edge of the desert, and to see no other inhabited place till we shculd reach Egypt, 1 was not displeased to have it in my power to lay him under one other obligation before we trusted our lives in his hands, which we were immediately to do. I therefore paid his debt, and reconciled him with his creditors, vho, on their part, behaved .^-/ moderately to him. It was on the 9th of Novem- ber, at noon, we left Gooz, and set out for the sdl'ia, or watering-place, which is below a little village called Hassa. All the west side of the Nile is full of villages down to Takaki, but they are all Jaheleen, with- out government, and perpetually in rebellion. At half past three in the afternoon we came to the Nile to lay in our store of water. We filled four skins, which might contain altogether ai)Out a hogshead and a half. While the camels were loading, I bathed myself with infinite pleasure for a long half hour in the Nile ; and thus took leave of my old acquaintance, very doubtful if we should ever meet again. We then turned our face to N.E., leaving the Nile, and entering into a bare desert of fixed gravel, without trees, and of a very disagreeable whitish colour, mixed with small pieces of white marble, and pebbles like alabaster. Our camels we found were too heavily loaded, but we com- forted ourselves that this fault would be mended every day by the use we made of our provi- sions ; however, it was very much against them that they were obliged to pass this whole aight without eating. Our shoes, that had needed constant repair, were become at last absolutely useless, and the hard ground, from the time we passed Amour, had worn the skin off in several places, so that our feet were very much inflamed by the burning sand. On the 13th we saw about a mile north-west a rock not con- siderable in size, but, from the plain country in which it is situated, has the appearance of a great lower or castle, and south of it two hillocks, or little hills. These are all land-marks of the utmost consequence to caravans in their journey, be- cause they are too considerable BRUGES TRAVELS, 359 in size to be covered at any time by the moving sands. At Assa Nagga, Assiro baybe is square with us, and with the turn which the Nile takes east- ward to Korti and Dongola. The Takaki are the people nearest us, west of Assa Nagga, and Assero baybe upon the Nile. After these, when the Nile has turned e. and w., are the Chaigie, on both sides of the river, on to Korti, where the territory called the kingdom of Dongola begins. As the Nile no longer remains on our left, but makes a remarkable turn, which has been much mis- represented in the maps, I put my quadrant in order, and by a medium of three observations, one of Procyon, one of Rigel, and one of the middle star of the belt of Orion, I found the latitude of Assa Nagga to be 1 9° 30', which being on a parallel with the farthest point of the Nile northward, gives the lati- tude of that place where the river turns west by Korti to- wards Dongola, and this was of great service to me in fixing some other material points in my map. On the 14th, at seven in the morning, we left Assa Nagga, our course being due north. At one o'clock we alighted among some acacia-trees at Waadi el Halboub, having gone twenty-one miles. We were here at once surprised and ter- rified by a sight, surely one of the most magnificent in the vorid. In that vast expanse of desert, from w. and to n.w. of us, we saw a number of pro- digious pillars of sand at dif- ferent distances, at times mov- ing with great celerity, at others stalking on with a ma- jestic slowness ; at intervals we thought they were coming in a very few minutes to overwhelm us ; and small quantities of sand did actually more than once reach us. Again they would retreat so as to be almost out of sight, their tops reaching to the very clouds. There the tops often separated from the bodies ; and these, once dis- joined, dispersed in the air, and did not appear more. Some- times they were broken near the middle, as if struck with a large cannon shot. About noon they began to advance with considerable swiftness upon us, the wind being very strong at north. Eleven of them ranged alongside of us about the dis- tance of three miles. The greatest diameter of the largest appeared to me at that distance as if it would measure ten feet. They retired from us with a wind at s.e., leaving an impres- sion upon my mind to which I can give no name, though surely one ingredient in it was fear, with a considerable deal of wonder and astonishment. It was in vain to think of flying ; the swiftest horse, or fastest sailing ship, could be of no use to carry us out of this danger, and the full persuasion of this riveted me as if to the spot where I stood, and let the ' I 360 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. camels gain on me so much in my state of lameness, that it was with some difficulty I could overtake them. The effect this stupendous sight had upon Idris was to set him to his prayers — indeed, rather to his charms ; for besides the names of God and Mahomet, all the rest of the words were mere gibberish and nonsense. This created a violent alterca- tion between him and Ismael the Turk, who abused him for not praying in the words of the Koran, maintaining, with ap- parent great wisdom at the same time, that nobody had charms to stop these moving sands but the habitants of Arabia Deserta. I'rom this day, subordination, though not en- tirely ceased, was fast on the decline ; all was discontent, murmuring, and fear. Our water was greatly diminished, and that terrible death by thirst began to stare us in the face, and this was owing in a great measure to our own imprudence. Ismael, who had been left sentinel over the skins of water, had slept so soundly, that this had given an opportunity to a Tucorory to open one of the skins that had not been touched, and serve himself out of it at his own discretion. I suppose that, hearing somebody stir, and fearing detection, he had withdrawn himself as speedily as possible, without taking time to tie the mouth of the girba, which we found in the morning with scarce a quart of water in it. On the 1 6th, our men, if not gay, were in better spirits than I had seen them since we left Gooz. One of our Barbarins had even attempted a song- but Hagi Ismael very gravely reproved him, by telling him, that singing in such a situation was a tempting of Providence. There is, indeed, nothing more different than active and pas- sive courage. Hagi Ismael would fight, but he had not strength of mind to suffer. At elevei o'clock, while we con- templated with great pleasure the rugged top of Chiggre, to which we were fast approaching, and where we were to solace ourselves with plenty of good water, Idris cried out, with a loud voice, Fall upon your faces, for here is the simoom ! I saw from the south-east a haze come, in colour like the purple part of the rainbow, but not so compressed or thick. It did not occupy twenty yards in breadth, and was about twelve feet high from the ground. It was a kind of blush upon the air, and it moved very rapidly, for I scarce could turn to fall upon the ground with my head to the northward, when I felt the heat of its current plainly upon my face. We all lay flat on the ground, as if dead, till Idris told us it was blown over. The meteor, or purple haze, which I saw, was indeed passed, but the light air that still blew was of heat to threaten suffoca- tion. For my part, I found distinctly in my breast that I PRUCE'S TRAVELS. 361 had imbibed a part of \\, nor was I free of an asthmatic sen- sation till I had been some months in Italy, at the baths of Poretta, near two years after- wards. This phenomenon of the simoom, unexpected by us, though foreseen by Idris, caused us all to relapse into our former despondency. It still continued to blow, so as to exhaust us entirely, though the blast was so weak as scarcely would have raised a leaf from the ground. At twenty minutes before five the simoom ceased, and a com- fortable and cooling breeze came by starts from the north, blow- ing five or six minutes at a time, and then falling calm. We were now come to the Acaba, the ascent before we arrived at Chiggre, where we intended to have stopped that night, but we all moved on with tacit consent, nor did one per- son pretend to say how far he guessed we were to go. Chiggre is a small narrow valley, closely covered up, and surrounded with barren rocks. The wells are ten in number, and the narrow gorge which opens to them is not ten yards broad. The springs, however, are very abundant. Where- ever a pit is dug five or six feet deep, it is immediately filled with water. The principal pool is about forty yards square and five feet deep; but the best tasted water was in the cleft of a rock, about 30 yards higher, on the west side of this narrow outlet. All the water, however, was very foul, with a number of animals both aquatic and land. It was impossible to drink with- out putting a piece of our cot- ton girdle over our mouths, to keep, by filtration, the filth of dead animals out of it. We saw a great many partridges upon the face of the bare rock ; but what they fed upon I could not guess, unless upon in- sects. Our first attention was to our camels, to whom we gave that day a double feed of dora, that they might drink for the lestofour journey, should the wells in the way prove scant of water. We then washed in a large pool, the coldest water, I think, I ever felt, on account of its being in a cave covered with rock, and was inaccessible to the sun in any direction. All my people seemed to be greatly recovered by this refrigeration, but from some cause or other, it fared otherwise with the Turco- rory ; one of whom died about an hour after our arrival, and another early the next morning. Subordination, if now not entirely gone, was expiring, so that I scarcely expected to have interest eiiough with my own servants to help me to set up my large quadrant ; yet I was exceedingly curious to know the situation of this remarkable place, which Idris the Hybeer declared to be half way to Assouan. On the 17th of November, in the forenoon, we left the valley I j f ^S' • m :\ \ . \ 362 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, and pool of Chiggre. On the evening of the next day we alighted in a wood called Ter- fowey, full of trees and grass. On our way thither we had again been terrified by an army (as it seemed) of sand pillars, which at one time seemed to be coming directly upon us, but were never nearer than two miles, though a considerable quantity of sand fell round us. Idris pointed out on our way some sandy hillocks, where one of the largest caravans which ever came out of Egypt, was then covered with sand to the number of some thousands of camels. We lighted a large fire at our halting-place, as the nights were excessively cold, though the thermometer was at 53°, and the cold occasioned me inexpressible pain in my feet, now swelled to a mon- strous size, and everywhere inflamed and excoriated. I had taken upon me the charge of the baggage, and Mahomet, Idris's young man, the care of the camels; but he too was gone to the well, though expected to return immediately. Our camels were always chained by the feet, and the chain, secured by a padlock, lest they should wander in the night, or be liable to be stolen and carried off. Musing then upon the geographical diffi- culties just mentioned, and , gazing before me, without any particular intention or suspicion, I heard the chain of the camels clink, as if somebody was unloosing them, and then at the end of the gleam made by the fire, I saw distinctly a man pass swiftly by, stooping as he went along, his face almost to the ground. A little time after this I heard another clink of the chain, as if from a pretty sharp blow, and immediately after a movement among the camels. I then rose, and cried in a threatening tone, in Arabic, * I charge you, on your life, whoever you are, either come up to me directly, or keep at a distance till day, but come that way no more ; why should you throw your life awayl' In a minute after, he repassed in the shade among the trees, pretty much in the manner he had done before. As I was on guard between the baggage and the camels, I was conse- quently armed, and advanced deliberately some steps, as far as the light of the fire shone, on purpose to discover how many they were, and was ready to fire upon the next I saw. *If you are an honest man,' cried I aloud, * and want any- thing, come up to the fire and fear not, I am alone; but if you approach the camels or the baggage again, the world will not be able to save your life, and your blood be upon your own head.' Mahomet, Idris's nephew, who heard me cry, came running up from the well to see what was the matter. We went down together to where the camels were, and, upon examination, found that BRUGES TRAVELS. 363 the links of one of the chains had been broken, but the open- ing not large enough to let the corresponding whole link through, to separate it A hard blue stone was driven through a link of one of the chains of another camel, and left sticking there, the chain not being en- tirely broken through ; we saw, besides, the print of a man's feet on the sand. There was no need to tell us after this that we were not to sleep that night ; we made therefore another fire on the other side of the camels with branches of the acacia- tree, which we gathered On examination we found an indication of a number of people being in the neighbourhood, in which case our present situation was one of the most desperate that could be figured. We were in the middle of the most bar- ren inhospitable desert in the world, and it was with the ut- most difficulty that, from day to day, we could carry wherewithal to assuage our thirst. We had with us the only bread it was possible to procure for some hundred miles ; lances and swords were not necessary to destroy us ; the bursting or tearing of a girba, the lameness or death of a camel, a 'horn or sprain in the foot, which might disable us from walking, were as certain death to us as a shot from a cannon. There ^vas no staying for one an- other; to lose time was to die, because, with the utmost exertion our camels could make, we scarce could carry along with us a scanty provision of bread and water sufficient to keep us alive. Our only chance then remaining was, that their num- ber might be so small, that, by our great superiority in fire- arms and in courage, we might turn the misfortune upon the aggressors, deprive them of their camels and means of carrying water, and leave them, scattered in the desert, to that death, which either they or we, with- out alternative, must suffer. I explained myself to this pur- pose, briefly to the people, on which a great cry followed, * God is great ! let them come ! ' Our arms were perfectly in order, and our old Turk Ismael seemed to move about and direct with the vigour of a young man. As we had no doubt they would be mounted on camels, so we placed our- selves a little within the edge of the trees. The day broke; no Arabs appeared ; all was still. The danger which occurred to our minds then was, lest, if they were few, by tarrying we should give them time to send off mes- sengers to bring assistance. I then took Ismael and two Barbarins along with me, to see who these neighbours of ours could be. We soon traced in the sand the footsteps of the man who had been at our camels ; and following them behind the point of a rock, which seemed calculated for concealing thieves, we saw two I i I I ^s^m 3^4 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. I ft' ragged, old, dirty tents, pitched with grass cords. The two Barbarins entered one of them, and found a naked woman there. Ismael and I ran briskly into the largest, where we saw a man and a woman, both perfectly naked, frightful, emaciated figures, not like the inhabitants of this world. The man was partly sitting on his hams; a child, seemingly of the age to suck, was on a rag at the corner, and the woman looked as if she wished to hide herself. I sprung forward upon the man, and, taking him by the hair of the head, pulled him upon his back on the floor, setting my foot upon his breast, and j-ointing my knife to his throat, I said to him sternly, * If you mean to pray, pray quickly, for you have but this moment to live.' The fellow was so frightened, he scarce could beg us to spare his life ; but the woman, as it afterwards appeared, the mother of the sucking child, did not seem to copy the passive dis- position of her iitisband. She ran to the corner of the tent, where was an old lance, with which, I doubt not, she would have sufficiently distinguished herself, hut it happwied to be entangled with the cloth of the tent, and Ismael felled her to the ground with the butt-end of his blunderbuss, and wrested the lance from her. A violent howl was set up by the remain- ing woman, like the cries of those in torment. ' Tie them/ said I,'* Ismael; keep them «eparate, and carry them to the baggage, till I settle accounts with this camel -stealer, and then you shall strike their three heads off, where they intended to leave us miserably to perish with hunger; but keep them separate.' While the Barbarins were tying the woman, the one that was the nurse of the child turned to her husband and said, in a most mournful, despairing tone of voice, * Did I not tell you, you would never thrive, if you hurt that good man 1 Did not I tell you this would hap- pen for murdering the Agal' Upon the man's appearing, all my people declared, with one general voice, that no time was to be lost, but that they should all be put to death as soon as the camels were loaded, before we set out on our jour- ney ; and, indeed, at first view of the thing, self-preservation, the first law of nature, seemed strongly to require it. Hagi Ismael was so determined on the execution, that he was already seeking a knife sharper than his own. * We will stay, Hagi Ismael,' said I, * till we see if this thief is a liar also. If he prevaricates in the an- swers he gives to my questions, you shall then cut his head off, and we will consign him with the lie in his mouth, soul and body to hell, to his master whom he serves.' Ismael answered, ' The truth is the truth ; if he lies he can deserve no better.' ' You see,' said I, placing the BRUGES TRAVELS. 3^5 man upon his knees, * your time is short ; the sword is now drawn which is to make an end of you ; take time, answer dis- tinctly and deliberately, for the first trip or lie that you make, is the last word that you will utter in this world. Your wife siiall have her fair chance like- wist, and your child ; you and all siidU go together, unless you tell me the naked truth. — Here, Ismael, stand by him, and take my sword ; it is, I believe, the sharpest in the company. * Now I ask you, at your peril, who was the good man your wife reproached you with having murdered ? Where was it, and when, and who were your accomplices?' He an- swered trembling, and indis- tinctly, through fear, * It was a black, an Aga from Chendi.' 'Mahomet Towash?' says Is- mael ; * Ullah Kerim ! God is merciful ! ' * The same,* says the Bishareen. He then related the particulars of his death, in the manner which I shall have occasion to state afterwards. * Where are the Bishareen !' continued I j * where is Abou Bertran 1 How soon will a light camel and messenger arrive where he now is 1' * In less than two days ; perhaps,' says he, ' in a day and a half, if he is very diligent, and the camel good.' * Take care,' said I, ' you are in danger. Where did you and your women come from, and when ?' * From Abou Ber- tran,' says he ; * we arrived here at noon on the sth day, but the camels were all she^amels ; they are favourite camels of Shekh Seide ; we drove them softly ; the two you saw at the tents are lame ; besides, there were some others unsound ; there were also women and children.' * Where did that party and their camels go to from thisi And what number of men was there with them 1 ' * There were about three hundred camels of all sorts, and about thirty men, all of them servants; some of them had one lance, and some of them two ; they had no shields or other arms.' * What did you intend last night to do with my camels 1' ' I intended to have carried them, with the women and child, to join the party at the Nile.' * What must have become of me in that case? We must have died.' He did not answer. * Take care,' said I, * the thing is now over, and you are in my hands ; take care what you say. ' * Why, certainly,* says he, * you must have died ; you could not live ; you could not go anywhere else.' * If an- other party had found us here, in that case would they have slain us ?' He hesitated a little ; then, as if he recollected him- self, said, * Yes, surely, they murdered the Aga, and would murder anybody that had not a Bishareen with them.' A vio- lent cry of condemnation imme- diately followed. * Now attend and understand me distinctly,' said I ; * for upon these two questions hangs your life : Do you know of any party of Bish- ;' IS Urff ' - •{ i 366 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. • \ I. ^'f I \ I, T-k'. If! .i.*jr' areen wlio are soon to pass here, or any wells to the north, and in what number 1 And have you sent any intelligence, since last night you saw us herel' He answered, with more readi- ness than usual, * We have sent nobody anywhere ; our camels are lame j we were to follow, as soon as they should be able to travel, to join those at the Nile. The parties of the Bishareen are always passing here, sometimes more, sometimes less ; they will not come till they hear from the Nile whether the grass is grown. They have with them two dro- medaries, who will carry the news from the Nile in three days, or they will come in small parties like the last, for they have no fear in these parts. The wells to the north belong to the Ababde. When they pass by them with cattle, they are always in great numbers, and a Shekh along with them ; but those wells are now so scanty, they have not water for any num- ber, and they must, therefore, all pass this way.' I got up and called on Ismael. The poor fellow thought he was to die. Life is sweet, even to the most miserable. He was still upon his knees, holding his hands clasped' round the back of his neck, and already, I suppose, thought he felt the edge of Ismael's knife. He swore that every word he had spoken was truth, and if his wife was brought she could not tell another story. I thereupon left him, and went to his wife, who, when she saw Hagi Ismael with a drawn sword in his hand, thought all was over with her husband, and fell into a violent fit of despair, crying out, * That all the men were liars and murderers, but that she would have told the truth if I had asked her first.' * Then go, Hagi Ismael,' said I, ' tell them not to put him to death till I come ; and now you have your chance, which if you do not improve by telling the truth, I will first slay your child with my own hand before your face, and then order you all to be cruelly put to death toge- ther.* She began with great earnestness to say, * She could not tell who killed Mahomet Towash, for she only heard it in conversation from her hus- band, who was there, after he had come home.' I then, word for word, put those questions to her that I had done to her hus- band, and had precisely the same answers. The only differ- ence was, that she believed a party of the Ababde would pass Chiggre soon; but seeing me rise to go away, she burst into a flood of tears, and tore her hair in the most violent excess of passion, shrieking out to have mercy upon her, and pressing the little child to her breast, as if to take leave of it ; then lay- ing it down before me, in great agony and bitterness of heart, she again shrieked out, * If you are a Turk, make it a slave, but do not kill my child, and spare my husband.' BRUGES TRAVELS, 367 Though I understood Arabic well, I did not, till that day, know it had such powers, or that it contained expressions at once so forcible and so simple. I found myself so much moved, and my tears came so fast, that it was in vain to endeavour to carry on a farce under such tragical appearances. * Woman,' said I, * I am not a Turk, nor do I make slaves or kill children. It is your Arabs that force me to this ; it was you that attacked me last night ; it was you that murdered Mahomet Towash, one of your own religion, and busied in his duty. I am a stranger, seeking my own safety, but you are all murderers and thieves.* * It is true,* says she, 'they are all murderers and liars, and my husband, not knowing, may have lied too. Only let me hear what he told you, and I will tell you whether it is truth or not.* Day was now advancing apace, and no resolution taken, whilst our pre- sent situation was a very unsafe one. We carried the three pri- soners bound, and set George, the Greek, sentinel over them. I then called the people to- gether. I stated fairly, in a council held among ourselves, the hor- ror of slaughtering the women and child, or even leaving them to starve with hunger, by killing their camels, from whom they got their only sustenance : for, though we should not stain our hands with their blood, it was the same thing to leave them to perish : that we were strangers, and had fallen upon them bv acci- dent, but they were in their own country. * Since you are differ- ing in your opinions, and there is no time to lose,' said I, ' allow me to give you mine. It has appeared to me, that often since we began this journey, we have been preserved by visible in- stances of God's protection, when we should have lost our lives, if we had gone by the rules of our own judgment only.' We are, it is true, of different religions, but all wor- ship the same God. Suppose the present case should be a trial, whether we trust really in God's protection, or whether we believe our safety owing to our own foresight and courage. If the man's life be now taken away, to-morrow we may meet the Bishareen, and then we shall all reflect upon the folly of our precaution. For my own part, my constant creed is, that I am in God's hands, whether in the house or in the desert ; and not in those of the Bishareen, or of any lawless spoiler. But this I declare to you, if ever we meet these Arabs, if the ground is such as has been near all the wells we have come to, I will fight the Bishareen boldly and cheerfully, without a doubt of beating them with ease. I do not say my feelings would be the same if my conscience was loaded with that most heinous and horrid crime, murder in cold blood ; and therefore my determination is to spare the n% IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) /. ^ 1.0 I.I y^lM |2.5 ■^ Uii |2.2 £f yo 12.0 I ^ 1-25 \ 1.4 i|.6 II =^ llll^^ ^ 6" ► Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WeST MAIN STRUT WEBSTH.N.Y. 14580 (716) S73-4503 '^'°^*'* ^ w '^ v^^o ► ^'• ■^ 368 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. life even of this man, and I will oppose his being put to death by every means in my power.' It was easy to see, that fear of their own lives only, and not cruelty, was the reason they sought that of the Arab. They answered me, two or three of them at once, * That it was all very well ; what should they do? should they give them- selves up to the Bishareen, and be murdered like Mahomet Towash? was there any other way of escaping V * I will tell you, then, since you ask me, what you should do : You shall follow the duty of self-defence and self-preservation, as far as you can do it without a crime. You shall leave the women and the child where they are, and with them the camels, to give them and their child milk ; you shall chain the husband's right hand to the left of some of yours, and you shall each of you take him by turns, till we shall carry him into Egypt. Perhaps he knows the desert and the wells better than Idris ; and if he should not, still we have two Hybeers instead of one ; and who can foretell what may happen to Idris, more than to any other of us 1 But as he knows the stations of his people, and their courses at particular seasons, that day we meet one Bishareen, the man that is chained with him, and conducts him, shall instantly stab him to the heart, so that he shall not see, much less triumph in, the success of his treacliery. On the contrary, if he is faithful, and informs Idris where the danger is, and where we are to avoid it, keeping us rather by- scanty wells than abundant ones, on the day I arrive safely in Egypt, I will clothe him anew, as also his women, give him a good camel for himself, and a load of dora for them all. As for the camels we leave here, they are females, and neces- sary to give the women food. They are not lame, it is said ; but we shall lame them in ear- nest, so that they shall not be able to carry a messenger to the Bishareen before they die with thirst in the way, both they and their riders, if they should at- tempt it.' An universal applause fol- lowed this speech ; Idris, above all, declared his warmest appro- bation. I sent two Barbarins to lame the camels effectually, but not so as to make them past recovery. After which, for the nurse and the child's sake, I took twelve handfuls of the bread which was our only food, — and indeed we could scarcely spare it, as we saw afterwards, — and left it to this miserable family, with this agree- able reflection, however, that we should be to them, in the end, a much greater blessing than in the beginning we had been an affliction, provided only they kept their faith, and on their part deserved it. On the 2oth we left the well, at Terfowey, after having warned the women, tliat their BRUCE'S TRAVELS. 369 H:i! chance of seeing their husband again depended wholly upon his and their faithful conduct. We took our prisoner with us, his right hand being chained to the left of one of the Barbarins. We had no sooner got into the plain, than we felt great symp- toms of the simoom ; and about a quarter before twelve, our prisoner first, and then Idris, cried out, * The simoom ! the simoom !' My curiosity would not suffer me to fall down with- out looking behind me. About due south, a little to the east, I saw the coloured haze as before. It seemed now to be rather less compressed, and to have with it a shade of blue. The edges of it were not defined as those of the former, but like a very thin smoke, with about a yard in the middle tinged with those colours. We all fell upon our faces, and the simoom passed with a gentle ruffling wind. It continued to blow in this man- ner till near three o'clock ; so we were all taken ill that night, and scarcely strength was left us to load the camels and ar- range the baggage. This day one of our camels died, partly famished, partly overcome with extreme fatigue. At half-past eight in the even- ing we alighted at a well called Naibey, in a bare sandy plain, where there were a few straggling acacia-trees. We found near the well the corpse of a man and two camels upon the ground. On the 2 2d, one of the Turco- rory was seized with a frenzy or madness. At first I took it for a fit of the epilepsy, by the distortions of his face ; but it was soon seen to be of a more serious nature. I offered to bleed him^ which he refused; neither, though we gave him water, would he drink, but very moderately. He rolled upon the ground, and moaned, oflen repeating two or three words which I did not understand. He refused to continue his journey, or rise from where he lay, so that we were obliged to leave him to his fortune. We went this day very diligently, not remarkably slow nor fast; but though our camels, as we thought, had fared well for these two nights, another of them died about four o'clock this afternoon, when we came to Umarack. I here began to provide for the worst. I saw the fate of our camels approaching, and that our men grew weak in propor- tion ; our bread, too, began to fail us, although we had plenty of camel's flesh in its stead; our water, though in all appear- ance we were to find it more frequently than in the begin- ning of our journey, was never- theless brackish, and scarcely served the purpose to quench our thirst; and, above all, the dreadful simoom had perfectly exhausted our strength, and brought upon us a degree of cowardice and languor that we struggled with in vain. I there- fore, as the last effort, began to throw away everything weighty 2 A .v^_ \t^k ' 5«rt| ^l\ ■-ft 370 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, I could spare, or that was not absolutely necessary, such as all shells, fossils, minerals, and petrifactions, that I could get at, the counter-cases of my qua- drant, telescopes, and clock, and several such like things. Our camels were now re- duced to five, and it did not seem that these were capable of continuing their journey much longer. In that case, no remedy remained, but that each man should carry his own water and provisions. Now, as no one man could carry the water he should use between well and well, and it was more than pro- bable that distance would be doubled by some of the wells being found dry ; and if that was not the case, yet, as it was impossible for a man to carry his provisions, who could not walk without any burden at all, our situation seemed to be most desperate. The Bishareen alone seemed to keep up his strength, and was in excellent spirits. He had attached himself, in a par- ticular manner, to me, and with a part of that very scanty rag, which he had round his waist, he had made a wrapper, very artifi- cially, according to the manner his countrymen, the Bishareen, practise on such occasions. This had greatly defended my feet in the day, but the pain occasioned by the cold in the night was really scarce suffer- able. I offered to free him from the confinement of his left hand which was chained to some one of the company night and day ; but he very sensibly refused it, saying, 'Unchain my hands when you load and unload your camels, I cannot then run away from you; for, though you did not shoot me, I should starve with hunger and thirst ; but keep me to the end of the journey as you began with me; then I cannot mis- behave, and lose the reward which you say you are to give me.' From Umarack we came to Umgwat, a large pool of excel- lent water, sheltered from the rays of the sun by a large rock. A bird of the duck kind rose from the spring as we ap- proached, and flying straight west, and rising as he flew, we thought to be a sure proof that his journey was a long one. He vanished from our sight, with- out descending, or seeking to approach the earth, from which I drew an unpleasant inference, that we were yet far from the Nile. We left the well, and con- tinued along a sandy valley, which is called Waadi Umgwat. This night it was told me that Georgis, and the Turk Ismael, were both so ill, and so despond- ing, that they had resolved to pursue the journey no further, but submit to their destiny, as they called it, and stay behind and die. It was with the utmost difficulty I could get them to lay aside this resolution; and the next morning I promised they should ride by turns upon BRUGES TRAVELS. 371 one of the camels, a thing that none of us had yet attempted. On the 25 th we aHghted at El Haimer where we met a troop of Arabs, all upon camels, who proved to be Ababdd. From them I had the direction from Haimer to Syene, which I found to be n.n.w., or more northerly. On the 26th, when we left Abou Heregi, we had an unexpected entertainment, which filled our hearts with a very short-lived j oy. The whole plain before us seemed thick covered with green grass and yellow daisies. We advanced to the place with as much speed as our lame condition would suffer us ; but how terrible was our disappointment, when we found the whole of that verdure to consist in senna and colo- quintida, the most nauseous of plants, and the most incapable of being substituted as food for man or beast. At nine o'clock in the even- ing we alighted at Saffieha, which is a ridge of craggy mountains to the s.E. and n.w. The night here was immoder- ately cold, and the wind north. We were now very near a crisis, one way or the other. Our bread was consumed, so that we had not sufficient for one day more ; and though we had camel's flesh, yet, by living so long on bread and water, an invincible repugnance arose either to smell or taste it. As our camels were at their last gasp, we had taken so sparingly of water, that, when we came to divide it, we found it insuffi- cient for our necessities, if Syene was even so near as we con- ceived it to be. Georgis had lost one eye, and was nearly blind in the other. Ismael and he had both become so stiff by being carried, that they could not bear to set their feet to the ground ; and I may say for myself, that, though I had supported the wounds in my feet with a patience very uncommon, yet they were ar- rived at that height as to be perfectly intolerable, and, as I apprehended, on the point of mortification. The bandage, which the Bishareen had tied about the hollow of my foot, was now almost hidden by the flesh swelling over it. Three large wounds on the right foot and two on the left, continued open, whence a quantity of lymph oozed continually. It was also with the utmost difficulty we could get out the rag, by cut ting it to shreds with scissors. The tale is both unpleasant and irksome. Two soles which remained from our sandals, the upper leathers of which had gone to pieces in the sand near Gooz, were tied with a cotton cloth very adroitly by the Bishareen. But it seemed im- possible that I could walk farther, even with this assistance, and therefore we determined to throw away the quadrant, tele- scopes, and timekeeper, and save our lives by riding the camels alternately. But Pro- vidence had already decreed I I KJ; i7a THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS if- «■ * m that we should not terminate this dangerous journey by our own ordinary foresight and con- trivance, but owe it entirely to his visible support and inter- position. On the 27th, at half-past five in the morning, we at- temi)ted to raise our camels at Safheha by every method that we could devise, but all in vain : only one of them could get upon his legs, and that one did not stand two minutes till he kneeled down, and could never be raised afterwards. This the Arabs all declared to be the effects of cold ; and yet Fahrenheit's thermometer, an hour before day, stood at 42°. Every way we turned ourselves death now stared us in the foce. We had neither time nor strength to waste, nor jirovisions to support us. We then took the small skins that had con- tained our water, and filled them as far as we thought a man could carry them with ease; but after all these shifts, there was not enough to serve us three days, at which I had esti- mated our journey to Syene, which still however was uncer- tain. Finding, therefore, the camels would not rise, we killed two of them, and took as much flesh as might serve for the deficiency of bread, and, from the stomach of each of the camels, got about four gallons of water, which the Bishareen Arab managed with great dex- terity. It is known to people conversant with natural history, that the camel has within him reservoirs in which he can pre- serve drink for any number of days he is used to. In those caravans, of long course, which come from the Niger across the desert of Selima, it is said that each camel, by drinking, lays in a store of water that will sui)port him for forty days. I will by no means be a voucher of this account, which carries with it an air of exaggeration ; but fourteen or sixteen days, it is well known, an ordinary camel will live, though he hath no fresh supply of water. When he chews the cud, or when he eats, you constantly see him throw, from this repository, mouthfuls of water to dilute his food ; and nature has contrived this vessel with such properties, that the water within it never putrifies nor turns unwhole- some. It was indeed vapid, and of a bluish cast, but had neither taste nor smell. Nothing but death was be- fore our eyes ; and in these dreadful moments of pain, suf- fering, and despair, honour, in- stead of relieving me, suggested still what was to be an augmenta- tion to my misfortune ; the feel- ing this produced fell directly upon me alone, and every other individual of the company was unconscious of it. The draw- ings made at Palmyra and Baal- bee for the King were, in many parts of them, not advanced farther than the outlines, which I had carried with me, that, if leisure or confinement should BRUGES TRAVELS, 373 happen, 1 might finish them iluring my travels in case of failure of other employment, so far at least, that on my return through Italy they might be in a state of reciuving further im- provement, which might carry them to that perfection 1 have since been enabled to conduct them. These were all to be thrown away, with other not less valuable papers, and, with my quadrant, telescopes, and time keeper, abandoneil to the rude and ignorant hands of robbers, or to be buried in the sands. P>ery memorandum, every description, sketch, or observations, since I departed from Badjoura and passed the desert to Cosseir, till I reached the present spot, were left in an undigested heap, with our car- rion-camels, at SafReha, while there remained with me, in lieu of all my memoranda, but this mournful consideration, that I was now to maintain the reality of these my tedious perils, with those who either did, or might affect, from malice and envy, to doubt ray veracity upon ray ipse x- ceedingly disappointed at not seeing the river to the west- ward ; however, the vicinity of the Nile was very evident by the high uniform mountains that confine its torrent when it comes out of Nubia. The evening was still, so that sitting down and covering my eyes with my hands, not to be di- verted by external objects, 1 listened and heard distinctly the noise of waters, which 1 supposed to be the cataract, but it seemed to the southward of us, as if we had i)assed it. I was, however, fully satisfied that it was the Nile. I communicated to them this joyful news, which was con- lirmed by Idris. A cry of joy followed this annunciation. Christians, Moors, and Turks, .ill burst into floods of tears kissing and embracing one another, and thanking (lodlor his mercy in this deliverance. On the 29th we lell Ahou Seielat ; about nine, we saw the palnvtrees at Assouan ; and a (|uarter before ten arrived in a grove of palm-trees 011 the north of that city. ClIAPri'-R xvir. HcUint hoincwnniR tlirounh V'^yi't, uiid arttvul (It MnrHcillcN. Without congratulating one another on their escape and sale arrival, as they had the night before at Abou Seielat, my comi)anions, with one ac- cord, ran to the Nile to drink. I sat my.self down under the shade of the palm-trees to re- collect myself. It was very hot, and I fell into a profound sleep. Hut Hagi Ismael, who was neither sleepy nor thirsty, hut exceedingly hungry, had gone into the town in search of some- body that would give him food. He had not gone far before his green turban and ragged ap pearance struck some brethren janizaries who met him, one of whom asked him the reason of his being there, and whenee he came 1 Ismael, in a violent pas- sion, and broken Arabic, said that he was a janizary of Cairo, was last come from hell, where there was not one devil, but thousands, from a country of Kafrs that called themselves BRUCE ^ TRAVELS, ) 375 MuRHuliiianH ; tliat he had wnlkcd (liroiiKh a desert where the earth was on lire, and the wind wan fl.imc, and in fear of dying every (lay willi thirst and hunger. The soldier, who heard him talk in this disjointed, raving manner, desired him to go with Iiim to tiic Aga. This was the very thing that Ismael wanted. He only desired time to ao (juaint his companions. ' I lave you companions,' says the sol- (licr, 'from such a country?' ' Companions I' says Ismael. ' What do you imagine I came this journey alone?' ' If the journey,' says the man, ' is such as you describe it, 1 do not think many would go with you ; well, go along with my companions, and I will seek yours ; but how shall I find them V * Go,' says Ismael, * to the palm-trees, and when you find the tallest man you ever saw in your life, more ragged and dirty than I am, call him Yagoube, and desire him to come along with you to the Aga.' The soldier accordingly found me still sitting at the root of the palm-tree. The servants, who had now satisfied their thirst, and were uncertain what was next to be done, were sitting together at some distance from me. They began to feel their own weariness, and were in- clined to leave me to a little repose, which they hoped might enable me to overcome mine. For my own part, a dulness and insensibility, an universal relaxation of spirits which I cannot describe, a kind of stu- por, or palsy of the mind, had overtaken me, almost to a de- privation of understanding. I'Vom this stu|>or I was awa- kened by the arrival of the soldier, who cried out to us at some distance, * Vou nuist come to the Aga to the castle, all of you, as fast as you can ; the 'I'urk is gone before you.' * It will not be very fast, if we even should do that,' said I ; * the Turk has ridden two days on a camel, and I have walked on foot, and do not know at pre- sent if I can walk at all.' 1 endeavoured, at the same time, to rise and stand upright, which I did not succeed in, after several attempts, without great pain and difficulty. I observed the soldier was in prodigious astonishment at my ai)pear- ance, habit, and, above all, at my distress. ' We shall get people in town,' says he, • to assist you, and, if you cannot walk, the Aga will send you a mule' The Turk and the Greeks made a very '^couth appear- ance. Ismae and Michael had in their hands two mon- strous blunderbusses. The whole town crowded after us while we walked to the castle, and could not satiate them- selves with admiring a company of such an extraordinary ap- pearance. The Aga was struck dumb upon our entering the room, and told me afterwards that he thought me a full foot u « '?: I ."I '} "I i •''va*' 376 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. taller than any man he had ever seen in his life. Aga, * Where are those let- ters and firman V Va. * Where they may be now I know not ; we left them at Saffieha with all the rest of our baggage ; our camels died, our provisions and water were exhausted ; we, therefore, left everything be- hind us, and made this one effort to save our lives. It is the first favour I am to ask of you, when I shall have rested myself two days, to allow me to get fresh camels, to go in search of my letters and bag- gage V Aga. ' God forbid I should ever suffer you to do so mad an action ! You are come hither by a thousand miracles, and after this will you tempt God and go back? We shall take it for granted what those papers contain. You will have no need of a firman between this and Cairo.' Ya. * We shall leave it upon that footing for the present. Allow me only to say, I am a servant of the king of England, travelling, by his order, and for my own and my countrymen's information ; that I had rather risk my life twenty times than lose the papers I have left in the desert.' Aga. * Go in peace, and eat and sleep.— ^Carry them,' says he, speaking to his attendants, * to the house of the Schourbatchie.' Thus ended our first interview with the Aga, who put us in pos- session of a very good house. Having kept the house five or six days, and being rested and refreshed, we set out one night, after it was dark, for the recovery of my baggage. We had the unspeakable satisfac- tion to find our quadrant and whole baggage, with which we loaded five camels; and there were three camels more, upon which we rode by turns. Here then we were to close our travels through the desert, by discharging the debts con- tracted in it. We had now got our credit and letters, which furnished us with money. I began by recompensing Idris Welled Hamran, the Hybeer, for his faithful services. The next thing was to keep our faith with our prisoner. I made Idris choose him a good camel, clothed him anew, and gave him dresses for his two wives, with a load of dora. I then despatched him with the Aga's protection. The poor fellow, with tears in his eyes, declared, if I would permit him, he would only go back and deliver up what I had given him to his family, and return to me at Syene, and follow me as my servant wherever I should go. Although we had wherewithal to have bought proper dresses, I thought it better to do this when we should come to Cairo. We got each of us a coarse barracan, for cleanhness only, aiid a pair of trousers. I fur- nished Ismael with a new green turban, to give us some weight with the vulgar during our voy- age down the Nile. I then went to my friend, the Aga, to BRUGES TRAVELS. \ 377 concert the measures that re- mained necessary for leaving Assouan and beginning our jour- ney. He testified the [ "eatest joy at seeing us again. He had been informed of our whole expedition by his servants the night before, and praised us, in the presence of his attendants, for our alacrity, steadiness, and courage, under the great fa- tigues of travelling. Ismael had told him of the trees and plants which I painted, and he ex- pressed great curiosity to see them when I should find it con- venient. From the known dis- position of those people, that what they desire must be granted instantly, I asked him whether he was at leisure or not to see them ? He said, ' By all means ; it was a good time.' I then sent Michael, my servant, for a book of trees, and one of fishes. As Michael had brought the drawings, I turned to the trees and flowers. The Aga was greatly pleased with them, and laughed, putting them up to his nose, as if smelling them. They did not offend him, as they were not the likeness of anything that had life. I then showed him a fish, and reached the book to an old man with a long beard, but who had a very cheerful countenance. He looked at it with great surprise. The Aga had several times called him his father. * Do not be angry,' says he to me, * if I ask you a question.' I will answer all your questions with pleasure,' said I, * and, in your turn, you must not take the answer ill.' ' No, no,' said two or three of them, * Hagi Soliman knows better.' Soliman. * Do you not believe,' says he, * that that fish will rise against you at the day of judgment V Ya. * I do not know, but I shall be very much surprised if it does.' * I assure you he will,' says Hagi Soliman. Ya. * Be it so ; it is a matter of indifference to me.* Sol. ' Do you know what God will say to you about that fish? Shall I tell you V Ya. * I have not the least idea, and you will oblige me.* Sol. * God will say to you, Did you make that fish % What will you answer V Ya, * I will answer, I did.* Sol. * He will say to you again, Make a soul to it.* Ya. * I will answer, I cannot* Sol. * He will say. Why did you make that fish's body, when you was not capa- ble to give it a soul? What can you answer then?' Ya. *I made that body, because thou gavest me talents and capacity to do it. I do not make the soul, because thou hast denied me power and ability, and re- served that to thyself only.' Sol. ' Do you think he will be contented with that answer?' Ya, * I do most certainly think so. It is truth, and I do not think a more direct one can be given.' Sol. * Aha ! the Moul- lah would tell you that will not do; painting thmgs that have life is idolatry, and the punish- ment is hell-fire.* Ya. * Pa- tience, then, my case is despe- rate, for it is not a sin I intend Xi.WTi :'4 il ^ ■'•> » 378 THE ENG/JS/I EXPLORERS. to repent of.' 'I'hus ended this curious discussion, and we went away in perfect good luimour one with the other. A number of the better sort drank coffee with me in tlie evening. The Aga sent me two sheep, and, observing my feet much in- flamed and wounded, made me likewise a present of a pair of slippers of soft Turkey leather, to defend them from the incle- mency of tiie weather. It was the nth of December when we left Syene — we cannot say sailed, for our mast being down, we went with the current and the oars when tiie wind was against us. In our voyage down the Nile we had but very indif- ferent weather, clear throughout the day, exceedingly cold in the night and morning ; but, being better clothed, better fed than in the desert, and under cover, we were not so sensible of it, though the thermometer showed the same degrees. I had given to each of my servants, to Soliman and to the Greeks likewise, a common blanket, called a barracan, of the warmest and coarsest kind, with a waistcoat and trousers of the same ; and all of us, I believe, had consigned to the Nile the clothes in which we passed the desert. The mean- ness of our appearance did not at all shock us, since nothing contributes more to safety in a country like this. I passed Shekh Nimmer not without re- gret, but it was night, and I was very ill. On the 191I1 we arrived at How, where the intermitting fever, which I had at Syene again returned with unusual violence. As we were within a short distance of Furshout, I despatched one of the liar- barins, with a camel to the monastery of Fursnout, reciuest- ing the fathers to send me some wheat bread and rice. Uj)on his arrival he was treated as an impostor, the fathers declaring that they knew on good au- thority that I was drowned in the Red Sea, while another was equally positive that my death had happened from rob- bers in Abyssinia. On the 20th we arrived at Fursbout, when some awkward apologies ]\assed at meeting them. If these fathers, the sole object of whose mission was the con- version of Ethiopia and Nubia, were averse before to the under- taking their mission, they did not seem to increase in keen- ness from the circumstances which they learned from me. On the 20th we arrived at Furshout, though Hagi Ismael's invitation, and the unkindness of the fathers, had strongly tempted me to take up my quarters at Badjoura to guard him against the pleurisy, and the mistaking again the month of Ramadan. On the 27th we sailed for Cairo. On the loth of January 1773, we arrived at the convent of St. George there. If the capuchins in Furshout received us coldly, these Caloyeros of St. George JUa/C/i'S TRAVELS. 379 kept still at a greater distance. It was by violence that we got admittance into the convent, lint this difficulty was to be but of short duration ; the morn- ing was to end it, and give us a sight of our friends, and in the meantime we were to sleep soundly. \\\x\. we forgot that we were at Cairo, no longer to depend upon the ordinary or rational course of events, but upon the arbitrary oppressive will of irra- tional tyrants. Accordingly I had, for about an hour, lost myself in the very uncommon enjoyment of a most profound sleep, when I was awakened by the noise of a number of strange tongues; and, before I could recollect myself sufficiently to account what this strange tu- mult might be, eleven or twelve soldiers, very like the worst of banditti, surrounded the carpet whereon I was asleep. ' I was told that Ismael, that you brought from Habesh, has been with the Bey, and he wants to sec you.' I had no shirt on, nor had I been master of one for fourteen months past. I had a waist- coat of coarse, brown, woollen blanket, trousers of the same, and an upper blanket of the same wrapt about me, and in these I was lying. I had cut off my long beard at Furshout, but still wore a prodigious mustache. I had a thin, white, muslin cloth round a red Turk- ish cap, which served me for a night-cap, a girdle of coarse woollen cloth that wrapt round my waist eight or ten times, and swaddled me up from the middle to the pit of my stomach, but without either shoes or stockings. In the left of my girdle I had two Knglish pistols mounted M'ith silver, and, on the right hand, a common crooked Abyssinian knife, with a handle of a rhinoceros horn. Thus equipped, I was ushered by the banditti, in a dark and very windy night, to the door of the convent. The Sarach, or commander of the party, rode upon a mule, and, as a mark of extreme con- sideration, he had brought an ass for me, with sods, or a car- saddle upon its back. The beast had not a light load, but was strong enough. The diffi- culty was, its having no saddle, and there were no stirrups, so that my feet would have touched the ground had I not held them up, which I did with the utmost pain and difficulty, as they were all inflamed and sore, and full of holes from the inflam- mation in the desert. Nobody can ever know, from a more particular description, the hun- dredth part of the pain I suffered that night I was happy it was all external. I had hardened ray heart ; it was strong, vigor- ous, and whole, from the near prospect I had of leaving this most accursed country, and being again restored to the conversation of men. Few people walk in the streets of Cairo at night ; some we did ;t.'i ' S0' M 38o THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. meet, who made us way, only observing to each other, when we passed, that I was some thief the Janizary Aga had apprehended. In this most dis- agreeable manner I had rode near three miles, when I arrived at the Bey's palace. There all was light and all was bustle, as if it had been noon-day. I alighted with great difficulty from my disconsolate ass, but with much greater pleasure than ever I mounted the finest horse in the world. I was introduced to Ma- homet Bey Abou Dahab. He was son-in-law to Ali Bey, my friend, whom he had betrayed, and forced to fly into Syria, where he still was at the head of a small army, He had been present with him the day I had my last audience, when he was plainly dressed as a soldier. A large sofa, or rather two large sofas, furnished with cushions, lookup a great part of a spacious saloon. They were of the richest crimson and gold, ex- cepting a small yellow and gold one like a pillow, upon which he was leaning, supporting his head with his left hand, and sitting just in the corner of the two sofas. Though it was late, he was in full dress, his girdle, turban, and handle of his dagger, all shining with the finest bril- liants, and a finer sprig of diamonds upon his turban. The room was light as day, with a number of wax-torches or candles. I found myself humbled at the sight of so much greatness and affluence. My bare feet were so dirty, I had a scruple to set them upon the rich Persian carpets with which the whole floor was covered, and the pain that walking at all occasioned gave me altogether so crouching and cringing a look, that the Bey upon seeing me come in, cried out, * What's that ? Who is that 1 From whence is he come 1 ' His secretary told him, and imme- diately upon that I said to him in Arabic, with a low bow, * Mahomet Bey, I am Yagoube, an Englishman; better known to your father-in-law than to you, very unfit to appear before you in the condition I am, having been forced out of my bed by your soldiers in the middle of the only sound sleep I have had for many years.' He seemed to be exceedingly shocked at this, and said to his attendants in Turkish, 'My people ! who dares do this \ it is impossible.' Those that were privy to the message reminded him of his sending for me, and the cause, which he had forgot They told him what Ismael had said, and what the Copht, the tax-gatherer, had mentioned, all very much in my favour. He turned himself with great vio- lence on the sofa, and said, * I remember the man well, but it was not a man like this ; this is bad payment indeed. I was going to ask you, Yagoube,' says he, 'who those were that had brought you out in such distress, and I find that I have done it BRUGES TRAVELS. 381 ! I myself; but take my word, as I am a Mussulman, I did not in- tend it ; I did not know you was ill' My feet, at that time, gave me such violent pain, that I was like to faint, and could not answer \ but as there were two flowered velvet cushions upon one of the steps above the floor, I was obliged to kneel down upon one of them, as I did not .know how sitting might be taken. The Bey im- mediately saw this, and cried out, *What nowl what is the matter r I saw he thought I had some complaint to make, or something to ask. I showed him my feet in a terrible situa- tion, the effects, I told him, of my passing through the desert. He desired me immediately to sit down on the cushion. * It is the coldness of the night, and hanging upon the ass,' said I, •occasions this; the pain will be over presently.' * You are an unfortunate man,' says the Bey ; 'whatever I mean to do for your good, turns to your mis- fortune.' * I hope not, sir,' said I J * the pain is now over, and I am able to hear what inay be your commands.' * I have many questions to ask you,' says the Bey. *You have been very kind to poor Ismael, who is a Sherriffe, and to my Christian servant likewise ; and I wanted to see what I could do for you ; but this is not the time; go home and sleep, and I will send for you. Eat and drink, and fear nothing. My father-in-law is gone, but by the grace of God, I am here in his place ; that is enough.' I bowed and took my leave. There was a slave very richly dressed, who had a small bas- ket with oranges in his hand, who came out at another door, as if from the Bey, and said to me, *Here, Yagoube, here is some fruit for you.* In that country it is not the value of the present, but the character and power of the per- son that sends it, that creates the value ; the 20,000 men that slept in Cairo that night would have thought the day the Bey gave them, at an audience, the worst oiange in that basket, the happiest one in their life. It is a mark of friendship and pro- tection, and the best of all assurances. Well accustomed to ceremonies of this kind, I took a single orange, bowing low to the man that gave it me, who whispered me, * Put your hand to the bottom ; the best fruit is there, the whole is for you ; it is from the Bey.' A purse was exceedingly visible. It was a large crimson one wrought with gold, not netted, or transparent as ours are, but liker a stocking. I lifted it out ; there were a considerable num- ber of sequins in it ; I put it in my mouth and kissed it, in re- spect from whence it came, and said to the young man that held the basket, 'This is, in- deed, the best fruit, at least commonly thought so, but it is forbidden fruit for me. The 'w !•', 382 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. mm w^^ Bey's protection and favour is more agreeable to me than a thousand such purses would be.' The servant showed a pro- digious surprise. In short, nothing can be more incredible to a Turk, whatever his quality may be, than to think that any man can refuse money offered him. Although I expressed myself with the utmost grati- tude and humility, finding it impossible to prevail upon me, the thing appeared so extraor- dinary, that a beggar in a bar- racan, dressed like those slaves who carry water, and wash the stairs, should refuse a purse of gold, he could no longer con- sent to my going away, but carried me back to where the Bey was still sitting. He was looking at a large piece of yel- low satin. He asked the usual questions, *How now? What is the matter 1 ' To which his slave gave him a long answer in Turkish. He laid down the satin, turned to me and said, * Why, what is this % You must surely want money ; that is not your usual dress % What ! does this proceed from your pride ? ' * Sir,' answered I, * may I beg leave to say two words to you ? There is not a man to whom you ever gave money more grateful, or more sensible of your generosity in offering it me, than I am at present. The reason of my waiting upon you in this dress was, because it is only a few hours ago since I left the boat. I am not, how- ever, a needy man, or one that is distressed for money ; that being the case, and as you have already my prayers for your charity, I would not deprive you of those of the widow and the orphan, whom that money may very naturally relieve. Julian and Rosa, the first house in Cairo, will furnish me with what money I require ; besides I am in the service of the greatest King in Europe, who would not fail to .supply me abundantly if my necessities re- quired it, as I am travelling for his service.' *This being so,' says the Bey, with great looks of complacency, * what is in my power to do for you 1 You are a stranger now where I com- mand; you are my father's stranger likewise, and this is a double obligation upon me: What shall I do?' 'There are,' said I, * things that you could do, and you only, if it were not too great presumption - for me to name them.' * By no means ; if I can, I will do it ; if not, I will tell you so.' I saw, by the Bey's manner of speaking, that I had risen con- siderably in character in his opinion since my refusal of the money. * I have, sir,' said I, * a number of countrymen, brave, rich, and honest, that trade in India, where my King has great dominions.' He said, as half to himself, ' True, we know that.' * Now there are many of these that come to Jidda. I left there eleven large ships belong- ing to them, who, according to treaty, pay high duties to the BRUGES TRAVELS. ) 383 custom-house, and, from the dictates of their own generosity and magnificence, give large presents to the prince and to his servants for protection ; but the sherriffe of Mecca has of late laid duty upon duty, and extortion upon extortion, till the English are at the point of giving up the trade altogether.' 'Why,' says the Bey, *when they say you are such a brave nation, why don't you beat down Jidda about his ears? Have you no guns in your ships?' ' Our ships, sir,' said I, ' are all armed for war ; stout vessels, full of brave officers and skilful seamen : Jidda, and much stronger places than Jidda, could not resist one of them an hour. But Jidda is no part of our dominions ; and in countries belonging to stranger princes we carry ourselves humbly, and trade in peace, and never use force till obliged to it in our own defence.' * And what would you have me to do ? ' says he. *Our people,' replied I, 'have/taken a thing into their head, which I am satisfied they are well founded in : They say, that if you would permit them to bring their ships and merchandise to Suez, and not to Jidda, they might then de- pend upon your word, that if they were punctual in fulfilling their engagements, they should never find you failing in yours.' 'That they shall never have to say of me,' says the Bey ; * all this is to my advantage. But you do not tell me what I am to do for you V 'Be steady, sir,' said I, * in your promise ; it IS now late, but I will come to settle the duties with you ; and be assured, that when it is known at home what, at my private desire, you have done for my country in general, it will be the greatest honour that ever a prince conferred on me in my life.' * Why, let it be so,' says he ; * bring coffee ; see you admit him whenever he calls ; bring a caftan.' * Coffee was accordingly brought, and I was clothed in my caftan. I went down -stairs with my bar- racan hid under it, and was received with greater respect by the bystanders than when I came up ; the man was the same, but it was the caftan that made the difference. I was twice after this with Mahoniet Bey, in which time I concluded the agreement in favour of the Enghsh merchants. Instead of 14 per cent, and an enormous present, the Bey agreed for 8, and no present at all ; and, at his own expense, sent the firman to Mocha, to- gether with my letter. Mr. Greig, Captain Thornhill's lieu- tenant, whom I have mentioned as having seen at Jidda, was the first who came down the Gulf to Suez in the Minerva, and in the whole voyage behaving in a manner that did honour to his country. Not one ship has ever yet entered the Red Sea, as 1 am informed, with- -it is a loose garment like a night-gown ; it is a gift of ceremony, and mark of favour. ' MA 'Mr mmm. ■m 384 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. out a copy of my letter and finnan. Mahomet Bey being about to depart to give battle to his father-in-law, I thought it was no longer convenient for me to stay at Cairo ; I went therefore the last time to the Bey, who pressed me very much to go to the camp with him. I was suf- ficiently cured, however, of any more Don Quixote undertak- ings. I excused myself, with every mark of gratitude, and profession of attachment ; and I shall never forget his last words, as the handsomest thing ever said to me, and in the politest manner. *You won't go,' says he, * and be a soldier : What will you do at home? You are not an India mer- chant?' I said, * No.' *Have you no other trade nor occupa- tion, but that of travelling?' I said, * That was my occupa- tion.' * Ali Bey, my father-in- law,' replied he, * often observed there was never such a people as the English j no other nation on earth could be compared to them, and none had so many great men in all professions, by sea and land : I never under- stood this till now ; that I see it must be so, when your King cannot find other employment for such a man as you, but sending him to perish by hun- ger and thirst in the sands, or to have his throat cut by the lawless barbarians of the desert' I saw that the march of the Bey was a signal for all Egypt's being presently in disorder, and I did not delay a moment to set out for Alexandria, where I arrived without anything re- markable. There I found my ship ready; and the day after set sail. Walking on the quay, I was accosted by a friend of mine, a Turk, a man of some consequence. He told me it was whispered that the Beys had met, and that Ali Bey had been totally defeated, wounded, and taken. * We are friends,' says he ; ' you are a Christian ; and this connection of the Bey with the Russians has exasperated the lower sort of people greatly against you all. What is a day or two to you, now you are going at any rate? Be advised; go on board your ship early in the afternoon, and make your captain haul out beyond the Diam ond, for mischief is at hand.' My cap- tain was as ready as I ; and we accordingly hauled out beyond the Diamond. The weather was so clear, and the wind so directly fair, that, contrary to custom, we set sail that very night, after being witnesses thai the mischief had begun, by the number of lights and repeated firings of muskets we heard from the town. Our vessel sprung a leak off Derna on the coast, where I was once before shipwrecked. The wind being contrary, we put about ship, and stood be- fore it for Cyprus; our vessel filled apace, and we were in- tending to put a cable round her waist, when the leak was found. A violent storm over- BRUGES TRAVELS. 385 took u the night after. I ap- prehend our ship was old, and the captain was again much alarmed, but the wind calmed next day. I was exceedingly distressed with the Guinea-worm in my leg, when the captain came and sat down by my bed-side. ' Now the matter is over,' says he, 'will you tell me one thing] it is mere curiosity ; I will not let any one know.' * Before I tell you,' said I, *I dare say you will not. What is it?' ' How many of those things, you know,* says he, winking, ' have you on board ?' ' Upon the word of a man, said I, ' I do not know what you mean.' * Ces morts! these dead men ! How many have you in these trunks] for last night the crew was going to throw all your boxes overboard.' * I can tell you, captain,' said I, 'that you and they had better been in bed sick of a fever, than been guilty of that unprovoked violence. Brutal comme un Fravenfaiy is a proverb even in your own country ; I would not wish to have such a con- firmation of the truth of it. But there are my keys ; in case another gale should come, choose out of my trunks the one that, according to your idea and theirs, is likeliest to have a dead man in it, and then take another; and the first one you find, throw them all overboard.' I forced him to open two of the chests ; and lucky it was, as I believe ; for off the island of Malta we had another violent gale, but which did us no damage. At last, after a passage of about three weeks, we landed happily at Marseilles. After all, though we exalt fortune into a divinity, the true good luck is prudence : Nullum nuinen abest si sit prudentkt ; sed te, Nos facimus, Fortuna, deant, coeloque loca- mus. Jl'VENAL M ' is vl?^^ Ik I 2 B LIFE AND TRAVELS OF MUNGO PARK. TRAVELS IN THE INTERIOR OF AFRICA. CHAPTER I. Soon after my return from the East Indies in 1793, having learned that the noblemen and gentlemen associated for the purpose of prosecuting dis- coveries in the interior of Africa were desirous of engag- ing a person to explore that continent, by the way of the Gambia river, I took occasion, through means of the President of the Royal Society, to whom I had the honour to be known, of offering myself for that ser- vice. I had been informed that a gentleman of the name of Houghton, a captain in the army, and formerly fort-major at Goree, had already sailed to the Gambia, under the direc- tion of the Association, and that there was reason to appre- hend he had fallen a sacrifice to the climate, or perished in some contest with the natives. But 886 this intelligence, instead of de- terring me from my purpose, animated me to persist in the offer of my services with the greater solicitude. I had a passionate desire to examine into the productions of a country so little known, and to become experimentally acquainted with the modes of life and character of the natives. I knew that I was able to bear fatigue, and I re- lied on my youth and the strength of my constitution to preserve me from the effects of the climate. The salary which the committee allowed was suffi- ciently large, and I made no stipulation for future reward. If I should perish in my jour- ney, I was willing that my hopes and expectations should perish with me ; and if I should succeed in rendering the geo- graphy of Africa more familiar to my countrymen, and in opening to their ambition and PARKS LIFE AND TRA VELS. 387 instead of de- ambition and industry new sources of wealth and new channels of commerce, I knew that I was in the hands of men of honour, who would not fail to bestow that remune- ration which my successful ser- vices should appear to them to merit. The committee of the Association having made such inquiries as they thought neces- sary, declared themselves satis- fied with the qualifications that I possessed, and accepted me for the service ; and, with that liberality which on all occasions distinguishes their conduct, gave me every encouragement which it was in their power to grant, or which I could with propriety ask. It was at first proposed that I should accompany Mr. James Willis, who was then recently appointed consul atSenegambia, and whose countenance in that capacity, it was thought, might have served and protected me ; but Government afterwards re- scinded his appointment, and I lost that advantage. The kind- ness of the committee, however, supplied all that was necessary. Being favoured by the secretary of the Association, the late Henry Beaufoy, Esq., with a recommendation to Dr. John Laidley {a gentleman who had resided many years at an English factory on the banks of the Gambia), and furnished with a letter of credit on him for £200, I took my passage in the brig Endeavour — a small vessel trad- ing to the Gambia for bees' wax and ivory, commanded by Captain Richard Wyatt — and I became impatient for my de- parture. We sailed from Portsmouth on the 22d day of May 1795. On the 4th of June we saw the mountains over Mogadore, on the coast of Africa ; and on the 2ist of the same month, after a pleasant voyage of thirty days, we anchored at Jillifrey, a town on the northern bank of the river Gambia, opposite to James's Island, where the En- glish had formerly a small fort. The kingdom of Barra, in which the town of Jillifrey is situated, produces great plenty of the necessaries of life ; but the chief trade of the inhabi- tants is in salt — which com- modity they carry up the river in canoes as high as Barra- conda, and bring down in re- turn Indian corn, cotton cloths, elephants' teeth, small quantities of gold dust, etc. The num- ber of canoes and people con- stantly employed in this trade makes the king of Barra more formidable to Europeans than any other chieftain on the river : and this circumstance probabl)' encouraged him to establish those exorbitant duties which traders of all nations are obliged to pay at entry, amounting to nearly ^20 on every vessel, great and small. These duties or customs are generally col- lected in person by the Alkaid, or governor of Jillifrey, and he is attended on these occasions by a numerous train of depend- ants, among whom are found ^'^k' mi \ .< "1 m ^1 ,1- •' Hi 388 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, i !l! many who, by their frequent intercourse with the English, have acquired a smattering of our language : but they are commonly very noisy and very troublesome — begging for every- thing they fancy with such earnestness and importunity, that traders, in order to get quit of them, are frequently obliged to grant their requests. On the 23d we departed from Jillifrey, and proceeded to Vin- tain, a town situated about two miles up a creek on the southern side of the river. This place is much resorted to by Europeans on account of the great quantities of bees' wax which are brought hither for sale; the wax is collected in the woods by the Feloops, a wild and unsociable race of people. Their country, which is of considerable extent, abounds in rice; and the na- tives supply the traders, both on the Gambia and Cassamansa rivers, with that article, and also with goats and poultry, on very reasonable terms. The honey which they collect is chiefly used by themselves in making a strong intoxicating liquor, much the same as the mead which is produced from honey in Great Britain. In their traffic with Euro- peans, the Feloops generally employ a factor or agent of the Mandingo nation, who speaks a little English, and is acquaint- ed with the trade of the river. This broker makes the bargain ; and, with the connivance of the European, receives a certain part only of the payment, which he gives to his employer as the whole ; the remainder (which is very truly called the clieating money) he receives when the Feloop is gone, and appro- priates to himself as a reward for his trouble. The language of the Feloops is appropriate and peculiar; and as their trade is chiefly conducted, as hath been ob- served, by Mandingoes, the Europeans have no inducement to learn it. The numerals are as fol- low : — One, Enory. Two, Sickaba, or Cookaba. Three, Sisajee. Four, Sibakeer. Five, Footuck. Six, Footuck- Enory. Seven, Footuck-Cookaba. Eight, Footuck-Sisajee. Nine, Footuck-Sibakeer. Ten, Sibankonyen. On the 26 th we left Vintain, and continued our course up the river, anchoring whenever the tide failed us, and frequently towing the vessel with the boat. The river is deep and muddy ; the banks are covered with impenetrable thickets of man- grove; and the whole of the adjacent country appears to be flat and swampy. The Gambia abounds with fish, some species of which are excellent food ; but none of them that I recollect are known in Europe. At the entrance PANICS LIFE AND TEA VELS. 389 from the sea, sharks are found in great abundance, and, higher up, alligators and the hippopo- tamus (or river-horse) are very numerous. In six days after leaving Vin- tain we reached Jonkakonda, a place of considerable trade, where our vessel was to take in part of her lading. The next morning the several European traders came from their differ- ent factories to receive their letters, and learn the nature and amount of the cargo ; and the captain despatched a mes- senger to Dr. Laid ley to inform him of my arrival. He came to Jonkakonda the morning fol- lowing, when I delivered him Mr. Beaufoy's letter, and he gave me a kind invitation to spend my time at his house until an opportunity should offer of prosecuting my journey. This invitation was too accept- able to be refused, and being furnished by the Doctor with a horse and guide, I set out from Jonkakonda at daybreak on the 5 th of July, and at eleven o'clock arrived at Pisania, where I was accommodated with a room and other conveniences in the Doc- tor's house. Pisania is a small village in the king of Yany's dominions, established by British subjects as a factory for trade, and in- habited solelv by them and their black servants. It is situated the banks of the Gambia, on sixteen miles above Jonkakon- da. The white residents, at the time of my arrival there, con- sisted only of Dr. Laidley, and two gentlemen who were bro- thers, of the name of Ainsley ; but their domestics were numerous. They enjoyed perfect security under the king's protection, and being highly esteemed and re- spected by the natives at large, wanted no accommodation or comfort which the country could supply, and the greatest part of the trade in slaves, ivory, and gold was in their hands. Being now settled for some time at my ease, my first ob- ject was to learn the Mandingo tongue, being the language in almost general use throughout this part of Africa, and without which I was fully convinced that I never could acquire an exten- sive knowledge of the country or its inhabitants. In this pur- suit I was greatly assisted by Dr. Laidley. In researches of this kind, and in observing the manners and customs of the natives, in a country so little known to the nations of Europe, and furnished with so many striking and un- common objects of nature, my time passed not unpleasantly, and I began to flatter myself that I had escaped the fever, or seasoning, to which Europeans, on their first arrival in hot cli- mates, are generally subject. But on the 31st of July I im- prudently exposed myself to the night-dew in observing an eclipse of the moon, with a view to determine the longitude of the place j the next day I found myself attacked with a t i f », ■.r l^ '^' %% ^ i hi j«) 390 THE ENCLISH EXPLORERS. sniiirt fcvor and (Iclirium, ami such an illnoss lollowcd, as ron- tnicd luc lo the house (huiiin the greatest part of August. My recovery was very slow, hut \ cm! traced every short interval of convalescence lo walk out, and make myself actjuainted with the productions of the country. 'I'he country itself being an inunense level, and very gene- rally covered with wood, i)rc- sents a tiresome and gloomy unifornuty to the eye ; but although nature has denied to the inhabitants the beauties of romantic landscapes, she has bestowed on them, with a libe- ral hand, the more im|)ortant blessings of fertility and abun- dance. A little attention to cul- tivation procures a sutllciency of corn, the fields alTord a rich pasturage for cattle, and the natives are plentifully supplied with excellent fish, both from the Gambia river and the Walli creek. The grains which are chiefly cultivated are, — Indian corn, zea mays ; two kinds of holcus spicatus^ called by the natives sooth) and satiio ; holcus nigcr^ and holcus bico/or^ the former of which they have named bassi 7(>oo/if/t(iy and the latter lhissi(/ui. These, together with rice, are raised in considerable quanti- ties ; besides which, the inha- bitants in the vicinity of the towns and villages have gardens which produce onions, cala- vances, yams, cassavi, ground nuts, pompions, gourds, water- melons, and some other escu- lent plants. I observed likewise, near the towns, small patches of cotton anil indigo. 'The fonuer of these articles supplies thetu with clothing, and with the latter they dye their cloth of an ex- cellent blue colour, in a manner that will hen-allcr be described. In preparing their corn for fooil, the natives use a l.uge wooden mortar called a paloon^ in which they bruise the seed until it parts with the oiiter covering, or husk, which is then separated from the clean corn by exposing it to the wind, nearly in the same manner as wheal is cleared trom tiie chalT in England. The coin thus freed from the husk is returned to the mortar ami beaten into meal, which is dressed variously in dilVerent countries ; but the most common preparation of it among the nat ions of the ( lanihia is a sort of pudding which they call kouskous. It is made by first moistening the flour with water, and then stirring and shaking it about in a large calabash, or gourd, till it ad- heres together in small granules resembling sago. It is then put into an earthen pot, whose bot- tom is perforateil with a number of small holes ; and this pot being placed upon another, the two vessels are luted together either with a paste of meal and water, or with cow's dung, and placed upon the fire. In the lower vessel is commonly some animal food and water, the PARK S TJFE AND TRAVELS, .19' stcntti or vapour of which as- cends throuKh the perforations in the bottom of the upper ves- sel, and softens and prepares the kouskotis^ which is very miicii esteemed tliroughout all the countries that I visited. \ am informed that the same manner of preparing flour is very gene- rally used on the Harhary coast, and that the dish so ])repare(i is there called by the same name. It is therefore probable that the negroes i)orrowe(l the practice from the Moors. For gratifying a taste for variety, another sort of pudding, called //m//>/.i,s is sometimes i)re- pared from the meal of corn ; and they have also adopted two or three different modes of dressing their rice. Of vege- table food, therefore, the na- tives have no deficiency ; and although the common class of peojile are but si)aringly sup- plied with animal food, yet this article is not wholly withheld from them. Their domestic animals are nearly the same as in Europe. Swine are found in the woods, but their flesh is not esteemed. Probably the marked abhor- rence in which this animal is held by the votaries of Moham- med, has spread itself among the pagans. Poultry of all kinds, the turkey excepted, is everywhere to be had. The guinea-fowl and red partridge abound in the fields, and the woods furnish a small species of antelope, of which the venison is highly and deservedly prized. Of the other wild animals in the Mandingo countries, the most common arc the hytcna, the panther, and the elephant. Ccmsidering the use that is made of the latter in the isiist Indies, it may be thought extraordinary that the natives of Africa have not, in any p^rt of this immense continent, ac(|uircd the skill of taming this powerful and docile creature, and applying his strength and faculties to the service of man. When I told some of the natives that this was actu.dly done in the coun- tries of the Mast, my auditors laughed me to scorn, and ex- claimed, iobaubo fonnio I — ' a white man's lie 1 ' The neg»"oes frequently find means to destroy the elephant by fire-arms ; they hunt it principally for the sake of the teeth, which they transfer in barter to those who sell them again to the Europeans. The flesh they cat, and consider it as a great delicacy. The usual beast of burden in all the negro territories is the ass. The application of animal labour to the purposes of agri- culture is nowhere adopted j the |)lough, therefore, is wholly unknown. The chief imple- ment used in husbandry is the hoe, which varies in form in different districts ; and the labour is universally performed by slaves. On the 6th of October, the waters of the Gambia were at the greatest height, being fifteen feet above the high-water mark of the tide, after which they Hm, ii % '■ iv '-i ' ■ 1' "I ■ •- I f 39« THE ENGLISH EXPi.ORERS, began to subside — at first slowly, but afterwards very ranidly, sometimes sinking more than a foot in twenty-four hours : by the beginning of November the river had sunk to its former level, and the tide ebbed and flowed as usual. When the river had subsided, and the atmosphere grew dry, I re- covered apace, and began to think of my departure — for this is reckoned the most proper season for travelling : the na- tives had completed their har- vest, and i)rovisions were every- where cheap and plentiful. Dr. Laidley was at this time employed in a trading voyage at Jonkakonda. I wrote to him to desire that he would use his interest with the slatees, or slave-merchants, to procure me the company and protection of the first coftlc (or caravan) that might leave Gambia for the interior country ; and, in the meantime, I requested him to purchase for me a horse and two asses. A few days after- wards the Doctor returned to Pisania, and informed me that a coffle would certainly go for the interior in the course of the dry season j but that, as many of the merchants belonging to it had not yet completed their assortment of goods, he could not say at what time they would set out. As the characters and dispo- sitions of the slatees, and people that composed the cara- van, were entirely unknown to me — and as they seemed rather averse to my purpose, and im. willing to enter into any posj. tive engagements on my account — and the time of their dc- parlure being with;d very un- certain, I resolved, on further deliberation, to avail myself of the dry season, and proceed without them. Dr. Laidley approved my dc- termination, and ])romiscd me every assistance in his power, to enable me to prosecute nn journey with comfort and safely. This resolution having been formed, I made preparations accordingly. CHAPTER IT. The natives of the countries bordering on the Clambia, though distributed into a great many distinct governments, may, I think, be divided into four great classes, — the Feloops, the JalofTs, the Foulahs, and the Mandingoes. Among all these nations, the religion of Mohammed has made, and con- tinues to make, considerable progress ; but in most of them, the body of the people, both free and enslaved, persevere \v maintaining the blind bu harmless superstitions of theii ancestors, and are called by the Mohammedans kafirs^ or infidels. Of the Feloops, I have little to add to what has been ob- served concerning them in the former chapter. They are of a gloomy disposition, and are PARK'S LIFE AND TRA VELS. 393 8U|)i)08cd never to forj^ivc an injury. 'I'hey are even said to tnuisinit their (luarrcls as deadly feuds to their posterity — inso much that a son considers it as incumbent on him, Irom a just sense of filial obligation, to be- come the avenger of his de ceased father's wrongs. If a man loses his life \u one of those sudden quarrels whi< h perpetually occur at their feast s, when the whole i)arty is intoxi- cated with nieati, his son, or the eldest of his sons (if he has more than one), endeavours to procure his father's sandals, which he wears once a year, on the anniversary of his father's death, until a fit opportunity offers of revenging his fate, when the object of his resent- ment seldom escapes his pur. suit. This fierce and unrelent- ing disposition is, however, counterbalanced by many good qualities : they display the ut- most gratitude and affection towards their benefactors — and the fidelity with which they preserve whatever is intrusted to them is remarkable. Dur- ing the present war, they have more than once taken up arms to defend our merchant vessels from Trench privateers ; and English property, of consider- able value, has frequently been left at Vintain, for a long time, entirely under the care of the Feloops, who have uniformly manifested, on such occasions, the strictest honesty and punctu- ality. How greatly is it to be wished, that the minds of a people so determined and faith- ful could be softened and civilised by the mild and be- nevolent spirit of Christianity I The Jaloffs (or Yaloffs) arc an active, jjowcrful, and war- like race, inhabiting great part ii that tract which lies between the fiver Senegal and the Man- dingo states on the Gambia; yet ihey differ from the Man- dingoes, not or)ly in language, but likewise in complexion and features. The noses of the Jaloffs are not so much de- pressed, nor the lips so pro- tuberant, as among the gene- rality of Africans; and although their skin is of the deepest black, they are considered by the white traders as the most sightly negroes on this part of the continent. Their language is said to be copious and significant, and is often learnt by Europeans trad- ing to Senegal. 1 cannot say much of it from my own know- ledge, but have preserved their numerals, which are these : — One, Wean. Two, Yar. Three, Yat. Four, Yanet. Five, Judom. Six, Judom Wean. I Seven, Judom Yar. Eight, Judom Yat. Nine, Judom Yanet. Ten, Fook. Eleven, Fook aug Wean, etc. The Foulahs (or Pholeys), such of them at least as reside near the Gambia, are chiefly of 'm' i-m • '•♦• ■<;5j- j% ,i;^^ .394 IHE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. a tawny complexion, with soft silky hair, and pleasing features. They are much attached to a pastoral life, and have intro- duced themselves into all the kingdoms on the windward coast as herdsmen and husbandmen, paying a tribute to the sovereign of the country for the lands which they hold. Not having many opportunities, however, during my residence at Pisania, of improving my acquaintance with these people, I defer enter- ing at large into their character until a fitter occasion occurs, which will present itself when I come to Bondou. The Mandingoes, of whom it remains to speak, constitute, in truth, the bulk of the inhabi- tants in all those districts of Africa which I visited ; and their language, with a few ex- ceptions, is universally under- stood and very generally spoken in that part of the continent. Their numerals are these : — One, Killin, Two, I'oola. Three, Sabba. Four, Nani. Five, Loolo. / Six, Woro. Seven, Eight, Nine, Oronglo. Sie. Conunta. Ten, Eleven Tang. , Tanning Killin, etc. They are called Mandingoes, I conceive, as having originally migrated from the interior state of Manding, of which some account will hereafter be given. In every considerable town there is a chief magistrate, called the alkaid^ whose office is here- ditary, and whose business it is to preserve order, to levy duties on travellers, and to preside at all conferences in the exercise of local jurisdiction and the administration of justice. These courts are composed of the elders of the town (of free con- dition), and are i^xva^Ci palavers; and their proceedings are con- ducted in the open air with suffi- cient solemnity. Both sides of a question are freely canvassed, witnesses are publicly examined, and the decisions which follow generally meet with the approba- tion of the surroundingaudience. As the negroes have no writ- ten language of their own, the general rule of decision is an appeal to ancient custom; but since the system of Mohammed has made so great progress among them, the converts to that faith have gradually intro- duced, with the religious tenets, many of the civil institutions of the prophet ; and where the Koran is not found sufficiently explicit, recourse is had to a commentary called Al Sharra, containing, as I was told, a complete exposition or digest of the Mohammedan laws, both civil and criminal, properly ar- ranged and illustrated. This frequency of appeal to written laws, with which the pagan natives are necessarily unacquainted, has given rise in their palavers to (what I little expected to find in Africa) pro- PARK'S LIFE AND TRA VELS, 395 fessional advocates, or ex[)oiin- (lers of the law, wlio are allowed to appear and to plead for plaintiff or defendant, much in the same manner as counsel in the law courts of Great Britain. They are Mohammedan negroes, who have made, or affect to have made, the laws of the prophet their peculiar study; and if I may judge from their harangues, which I frequently attended, I believe, that in the forensic qualifications of pro- crastination and cavil, and the arts of confounding and per- plexing a cause, they are not always surpassed by the ablest pleaders in Europe. While I was at Pisania, a cause was heard which furnished the Mo- hammedan lawyers with an admirable opportunity of dis- playing their professional dex- terity. The case was this : — An ass belonging to a Sera- wooUi negro (a native of an interior country near the river Senegal) had broice into a field of corn belonging to one of the Mandingo inhabitants, and de- stroyed great part of it. The Mandigo having caught the animal in his field, immediately drew his knife and cut its throat. The Serawoolli thereupon called 2i palaver (or in European terms, brought an actioti) to recover damages for the loss of his beast, on which he set a high value. The defendant con- fessed he had killed the ass, but pleaded a set-off, insisting that the loss he had sustained by the ravage in his corn was etjual to the sum demanded for the animal. To ascertain this fact was the point at issue, and the learned advocates contrived to puzzle the cause in such a manner that, after a hearing ot three days, the court broke up without coming to any deter- mination upon it ; and a second palaver was, I suppose, thought necessary. The Mandingoes, generally speaking, are of a mild, sociable, and obliging disposition. The men are commonly above the middle size, well shaped, strong, and capable of enduring great labour. The women are good- natured, sprightly, and agree- able. The dress of both sexes is composed of cotton cloth of their own manufacture t that of the men is a loose frock, not unlike a surplice, with drawers which reach half way down the leg ; and they wear sandals on their feet, and white cotton caps on their heads. The women's dress consists of two pieces of cloth, each of which is about six feet long, and three broad. One of these they wrap round the waist, which, hanging down to the ankles, answers the pur- pose of a petticoat ; the other is thrown negligently over the bosom and shoulders. This account of their cloth- ing is indeed nearly applicable to the natives of all the different countries in this part of Africa ; a peculiar national mode is observable only in the head- dresses of the women. Thus, in the countries of the J* I'M Vx fiti r W- It- s^^ r^n ^Ar^nsrf ^\n\^\'f^KX \\\\^ \\\\v\\'tM\. \\\ \\ks\\\1\\\, \\\v \w-mU \\\ :\ \V\\ \:\'^\v\\\\ :\\\\\ ^\\-^^\\\\ )\\W\\SV\ \\\\\S \\\\\\V «CfV «shrTU. \\\ k:\M\i\ M\\\ \ \\X.\ \\\M\ \\\V Wx^WWW y■^\<^v \\W\\ \\:\\\ r;V <\\\\i '^\^\\\ '\\ ;> VkWM \^\\^v. \\y^\:\\K'X^ VNi \\\xy. \\\\\^A)\ WMSy^w^ \\\ \\\\<^ |^:m \){ V mWvl \\M\, ^\s\\\\\ \\s\\\ \vv\ \\\'$\'\s \\\>vvn \\hul\ i«x plrirn^ \\\\)\ ^v^I»UM ltUV;Hil«« ihv^ f^hwih \vr-*lhl IUirV\Vh\iM\(!Myr«5,rhnlis ur^^r^rtlU "^tu'llrViMl Ohih tlu' sdn hV hril^^ tMr^hnl Ih \\\v n\yM\v{\\ «5hhU^I;lvgr1»tT. h i«hrh^il\;H;ill y\\\\\\v rUV;h1«< rtVr hfth^rli Iv hihl hllh \\|\ \\\v\y \\m\\ ptftytM^ (trrhhl itm t\> \\\x' y\\\v^ t>l ll\r kwyMs. in the rtirhuui which I htivr M^AM\^ AMt i^M) n'At'MtA m I^Hti^'l HUhl l«>vM III Hlllltl lllMl IHV Hitir'MtlllHlH M|(|tlv • Ill'^Hy It) jM'|krv 'I'IH' l,|i(tM ||Um*OtlHlhl i\\^ 111 M «|Mh' ht luijtt'lt^'^M !lMt| lil'U'tllMlV kti-iv^M-y, Hlitl tiH^ tMUplnyt'il 111 (•||||tv;llt»if| \\\^ I'tMii. Ill III" trilb ol »;l|lll', f1il»l l»« PlMvllt^ M|)|tf>i^ hi rill Itllllll, liilli'il 111 lll^ nflllip luniilU'l tlM \\\^ Mhiv^'N Ih ilif U>*»l |ii»IU"<. 1 ivn*» Ihhl. lum t»VH< liltti H't.» M;Hlillli|',M )lt!|t(lhl frtM llhlllir^^ tioi'llv^ lil'i f^lrivr* nl lill. MMI «1t>ll llllll Im fi t(ll(1|lf»f'(, wHllOllI n^i l:llH»H> f1 jttllMVfM Oh lll-l I'tMltlllih HI, 111 Hilu.'l Mttltli. |tlllH»ltl|» illMI !>♦ r« |illltll^ lllrll, itill llll'< Ht>l»lh>' MJ |ilH liHlltill l« t^^Vlt'liihMl nlilv Im llih HtiHvt^Hl ilt»llir«^ll«- «lrM-h. Cllji |lvi>«< ImIu'M III Wfil-, riti»l llutqh lililitiltliuilr' vli-lllii^ who fif^' HiiiiliMiifif^il In mIhvm)' Imi Mlinh*^ m iHaMlviMII-V flHtl, III mIimiI, mII \\\m\^ lllilirl|«|tv |U't(|i|h vtliM fitr- hiHil^lii ilnwii liHiii llih IhImImi MMIIlill^fci l>il '^;ll^ llrlvf' IU1 flf Miillv nlitilt'Vn, l»ii| inny l'^ lirtiird rtlul »lh(tHsi^(| mI In nil l-i'^^lir'iN rt« ♦lir' tiiviif^^ llilitkfl h|M|irl. H SHItl^HllU'q ll;l|t|i^li«, iiiilr'Hl, n'lit^H lid f^liljtfl flit* HH llm rtiiifll, llifll rt liilliiriiu' filul inliMldr-inh' ♦ilfl'^lr'l lllft»l|tHliih'4 Ith jMllt'llflSt'll n\l\\'(^n f1IHM|l(jr lli'i tlititH'Slli's I rtful lliHi nlTq|itlh^ rtt kmU If iml: lilt' hrtiriili, Ith t:nit1t' t'nilllr'd In itll lltf |i|lvl b'ucs mIiIip iihHvi^ iIm^m. [%' (mIiIIpmI: l';iiH»|t^'iiti f^Strtll llslimtiii on ililft telebfrtl^d ♦ Iv^^t wrt« rt fjU'lnfv hf ilip Vhf. Iiin't*:'*'^ H»i»l iH Ifih miit(f |(^ rl«Mliif't| lilh IllllhtllUllHM m(" lim llMIIIMMtlkl «'MI»j'l hi ||);i| \iih- |M|fl|ttMill|j llHIhMlHI llHI^it'rlHHdlj:} illM lU'^HIfl. rilP hill* l(, I'KMkIi, mihI |i:i((^ll'(li filiMnfifHi t^lU'f ^^MMlVfly (iftkCthUNHl IIU'IM- *jhlvh« of »lfjjU ftiiltofdliifif^ fM'toiK>n Iff Mllui jlMlIt Mf t()^ Hv^f. I lir* liMd^ wKli I''iil0|f^, hy llh|ll(j; MllMWMldt^ lr(i*l Ojipfi, \VM«1 mIhIMhI MlllllllllMl^fl I llP t^flflf^ wlili 11 ll(h «?iild'^(."<« of ICmj/Imo^I Ml (hh lioK' lioM io If «?(i|i|d iIimI Ih^ i^nqt; vmIo^ of lllllh)K'V|"OHfl Ifl llfld^^ic';^o,^700. rii^ f'>t'Orli MhH iltifi^*\ sfllf Oi'iIhImIh ft tjifi/tll «l(nf^, nt\t) llih Amf'fWMh«< liMv^ InO'ly ntui « f«=>w Vf"M«fh fo iff*' (httut'm fiy Wfiy of ^vpffloi^'Of. 'Hie toirifrio(llti<'«» ex[»ofte^1 v * -* if ft-**; 398 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. II i to the Gambia from Kurope consist chiefly of fire-arms and ammunition, iron ware, spiritu- ous liquors, tobacco, cotton caps, a small quantity of broad cloth, and a few articles of the manufacture of Manchester; a small assortment of India goods, with some glass beads, amber, and other trifles : for which are taken in exchange slaves, gold dust, ivory, bees' and wax, hides. Slaves are the chief article, but the whole number which at this time are annually exported from the Gambia by all nations, is supposed to be under one thousand. Most of these unfortunate victims are brought to the coast in periodical caravans ; many of them from very remote inland countries, for the lan- guage which they speak is not understood by the inhabitants of the maritime districts. In a subsequent part of my work I shall give the best informa- tion I have been able to collect concerning the manner in which they are obtained. On their arrival at the coast, if no im- mediate opportunity offers of selling them to advantage, they are distributed among the neigh- bouring villages, until a slave- ship arrives, or until they can be sold to black traders, who sometimes purchase on specula- tion. In the meanwhile, the poor wretches are kept con- stantly fettered, two and two of them being chained together, and employed in the labours of the field ; and, I am sorry to [ add, are very scantily fed, as well as harshly treated. The price of a slave varies accord- ing to the number of purchasers from Europe, and the arrival of caravans from the interior ; but in general, I reckon that a young and healthy male, from sixteen to twenty-five years of age, may be estimated on the spot from £iS to £30 ster- ling. The negro slave-merchants, as I have observed in the former chapter, are called slatees, who, besides slaves, and the mer- chandise which they bring for sale to the whites, supply the inhabitants of the maritime dis- tricts with native iron, sweet- smelling gums and frankincense, and a commodity called shea- ioulou^ which, literally translated, signifies tree-butter. In payment of these articles, the maritime states supply the interior countries with salt — a scarce and valuable commodity, as I frequently and painfully ex- perienced in the course of my journey. Considerable quan- tities of this article, however, are also supplied to the inland natives by the Moors, who ob- tain it from the salt pits in the Great Desert, and receive in return corn, cotton cloth, and slaves. In their early intercourse with Europeans, the article that at- tracted most notice was iron. Its utility, in forming the in- struments of war and husbandry, made it preferable to all others, and iron soon became the mea- Itercourse with rticle that at- |ce was iron. PARK'S LIFE AND TRA VELS. 399 sure by which the value of all other commodities was ascer- tained. Thus, a certain quan- tity of goods, of whatever deno- mination, appearing to be equal in value to a bar of iron, con- stituted, in the trader's phraseo- logy, a bar of that particular merchandise. Twenty leaves of tobacco, for instance, were considered as a bar of tobacco ; and a gallon of spirits (or rather half spirits and half water) as a bar of rum — a bar of one com- modity being reckoned equal in value to a bar of another com- modity. As, however, it must unavoid- ably happen, that according to the plenty or scarcity of goods at market in proportion to the demand, the relative value would be subject to continual fluctuation, greater precision has been found necessary ; and at this time, the current value of a single bar of any kind is fixed by the whites at two shil- lings sterling. Thus, a slave whose price is £15, is said to be worth 150 bars. In transactions of this nature it is obvious that the white trader has infinitely the advan- tage over the African, whom, therefore, it is difficult to satisfy, for, conscious of his own igno- rance, he naturally becomes exceedingly suspicious and wavering ; and, indeed, so very unsettled and jealous are the negroes in their dealings with the whites, that a bargain is never considered by the Euro- pean as concluded until the purchase money is paid and the party has taken leave. CHAPTER III. On the 2d of December 1795 I took my departure from the hos- pitable mansion of Dr. Laidley. I was fortunately provided with a negro servant who spoke both the English and Mandingo tongues. His name was John- son. He was a native of this part of Africa, and having in his youth been conveyed to Jamaica as a slave, he had been made free, and taken to Eng- land by his master, where he had resided many years, and at length found his way back to his native country. As he was known to Dr. Laidley, the Doc- tor recommended him to me, and I hired him as my inter- preter, at the rate of ten bars monthly to be paid to himself, and five bars a month to be paid to his wife during his ab- sence. Dr. Laidley further- more provided me with a negro boy of his own, named Demba, a sprightly youth, who, besides Mandingo, spoke the language of the Serawoollies, an inland people (of whom mention will hereafter be made), residing on the banks of the Senegal ; and, to induce him to behave well, the Doctor promised him his freedom on his return, in case I should report favourably of his fidelity and services. I was furnished with a horse for my- I I \ i \ 1 1 ■.■1 -I, -I 1^ 'J* I 1 ■' II ■r{ 't.Hf n ISi 400 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, E' '! self (a small, but very hardy and spirited beast, which cost me to the value of £7, los.), and two asses for my interpreter and servant. My baggage was light, consisting chiefly of provisions for two days ; a small assort- ment of beads, amber, and to- bacco, for the purchase of a fresh supply as I proceeded ; a few changes of linen, and other necessary apparel ; an umbrella, a pocket sextant, a magnetic compass, and a thermometer ; together with two fowling-pieces, two pair of pistols, and some other small articles. A free man (a bushreen^ or Mohammedan) named Madi- boo, who was travelling- to the kingdom of Bambara, and two slatees, or slave -merchants, of the Serawoolli nation, and of the same sect, who were going to Bondou, offered their ser- vices, as far as they intended respectively to proceed ; as did likewise a negro named Tami (also a Mohammedan), a native of Kasson, who had been em- ployed some years by Dr. Laid- ley as a blacksmith, and was returning to his native country with the savings of his labours. All these men travelled on foot, driving their asses before them. Thus I had no less than six attendants, all of whom had been taught to regard me with great respect, and to consider that their safe return hereafter to the countries on the Gambia would depend on my preser- vation. Dr. Laidley himself, and Messrs. Ainsley, with a number of their domestics, kindly de- termined to accompany me the two first days; and I believe they secretly thought they should never see me afterwards. We reached Jindey the same day, having crossed the Walli creek, a branch of the Gambia, and rested at the house of a black woman, who had formedy been the paramour of a white trader named Hewett, and who, in consequence thereof, was called, by way of distinction, seiiiora. In the evening we walked out to see an adjoining village, belonging to a slatee named Jemaffoo Momadoo, the richest of all the Gambia traders. We found him at home, and he thought so highly of the honour done him by this visit, that he presented us with a fine bullock, which was immediately killed, and part of it dressed for our evening's repast. The negroes do not go to supper till late, and, in order to amuse ourselves while our beef was preparing, a Mandingo was desired to relate some diverting stories, in listening to which, and smoking tobacco, we spent three hours. These stories bear some resemblance to those in the Arabian Nights' Entertain- ments, but, in general, are of a more ludicrous cast. About one o'clock in the afternoon of the 3 ^ of Decem- ber, I took my leave of Dr. Laidley and MeLi^rs. Ainsley, and rode slowly into the woods. I had now before me PARK'S LIFE AND TRA VELS. 401 a boundless forest, and a coun- try, the inhabitants of which were strangers to civilised life, and to most of whom a white man was the object of curiosity or plunder. I reflected that I had parted from the last Euro- pean I might probably behold, and perhaps quitted for ever the comforts of Christian society. Thoughts like these would ne- cessarily cast a gloom over my mind ; and I rode musing along for about three miles, when I was awakened from my reverie by a body of people, who came running up and stopped the asses, giving me to understand that I must go with them to Peckaba, to present myself to the king of Walli, or pay cus- toms to them. I endeavoured to make them comprehend that the object of my journey not being traffic, I ought not to be subjected to a tax like the slatees, and other merchants, who travel for gain ; but I rea- soned to no purpose. They said it was usual for travellers of all descriptions to make a present to the king of Walli, and without doing so I could not be permitted to proceed. As they were tnore numerous than my attendants, and withal very noisy, I thought it prudent to comply with their demand ; and having presented them with four bars of tobacco, for the king's use, I was permitted to continue my journey, and at sunset reached a village near Kootacunda, where we rested for the night. . In the morning of Decembei 4th, I passed Kootacunda, the last town of Walli, and stopped about an hour at a small ad- joining village to pay customs to an officer of the king of WooUi; we rested the ensuing night at a village called Taba- jang; and at noon the next day (December 5th) we reached Medina, the capital of the king of Woolli's dominions. The kingdom of Woolli is bounded by Walli on the west, by the Gambia on the south, by the small river Walli on the north-west, by Bondou on the north-east, and on the east by the Simbani wilderness. The inhabitants are Man- dingoes ; and, like most of the Mandingo nations, are divided into two great sects— the Mo- hammedans, who are called bushreens, and the Pagans, who are called indiscriminately kafirs (unbelievers) and sonaktes (t\e. men who drink strong liquors). The pagan natives are by far the most numerous, and the government of the country is in their hands ; for though the most respectable among the bushreens are fre- quently consulted in affairs of importance, yet they are never permitted to take any share in the executive government, which rests solely in the hands of the mansaj or sovereign, and great officers of the state. Of these, the first in point of rank is the presumptive heir of the crown, who is called the far' banna ; next to him are the 2C ")tt i.'-* ^t' IS; '!•< . hi 4oa THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS k alkaidsy or provincial gover- nors, who are more frequently called keamos. Then follow the two grand divisions of free- men and slaves ; of the former, the slatees, so frequently men- tioned in the preceding pages, are considered as the prin- cipal ; but, in all classes, great respect is paid to the authority of aged men. On the death of the reigning monarch, his eldest son (if he has attained the age of man- hood) succeeds to the regal authority. If there is no son, or if the son is under the age of discretion, a meeting of the great men is held, and the late monarch's nearest relation (commonly his brother) is called to the government, not as re- gent, or guardian to the infant son, but in full right, and to the exclusion of the minor. The charges of the government are defrayed by occasional tributes from the people, and by duties on goods transported across the country. Travellers, on going from the Gambia towards the interior, pay cus- toms in European merchandise. On returning, they pay in iron and sheatoulou. These taxes are paid at every town. Medina, the capital of the kingdom, at which I was now arrived, is a place of consider- able extent, and may contain from eight hundred to one thousand houses. It is fortified in the common African manner, by a surrounding high wall built of clay, and an outward fence of pointed stakes and prickly bushes ; but the walls are neglected, and the outward fence has suffered considerably from the active hands of busy housewives, who pluck up the stakes for firewood. I obtained a lodging at one of the king's near relations, who apprised me, that at my introduction to the king, I must not presume to shake hands with him. • It was not usual,' he said, 'to allow this liberty to strangers.' Thus instructed, I went in the afternoon to pay my respects to the sovereign, and ask per- mission to pass through his territories to Bondou. The king's name was Jatta, He was the same venerable old man of whom so favourable an account was transmitted by Major Houghton. I found him seated upon a mat before the door of his hut ; a number of men and women were arranged on each side, who were singing and clapping their hands. I saluted him respectfully, and informed him of the purport of my visit. The king graciously replied, that he not only gave me leave to pass through his country, but would offer up his prayers for my safety. On this, one of my attendants, seemingly in return for the king's condescension, began to sing, or rather to roar, an Arabic song ; at every pause of which the king himself, and all the people present, struck their hands against their fore- heads, and exclaimed, with de- vout and affecting solemnity, l-ft PARK'S LIFE AND TRA VELS. 403 Ametty amen I The king told me furthermore, that I should have a guide the day follow- ing, who would conduct me safely to the frontier of his king- dom. I then took my leave, and in the evening sent the king an order upon Dr. Laidley for three gallons of rum, and received in return great store of provisions. December 6. — Early in the morning I went to the king a second time, to learn if the guide was ready. I found his majesty sitting upon a bullock's hide, warming himself before a large fire ; for the Africans are sensible of the smallest variation in the temperature of the air, and frequently complain of cold when a European is op- pressed with heat. He received me with a benevolent counten- ance, and tenderly entreated me to desist from my purpose of travelling into the interior; telling me that Major Hough- ton had been killed in his route, and that if I followed his foot- steps, I should probably meet with his fate. He said that I must not judge of the people of the eastern country by those of Woolli : that the latter were acquainted with white men, and respected them, whereas the people of the east had never seen a white man, and would certainly destroy me. I thanked the king for his affectionate solicitude, but told him that I had considered the matter, and was determined, notwithstand- ing all dangers, to proceed. The king shook his head, but desisted from further persuasion, and told me the guide should be ready in the afternoon. About two o'clock, the guide appearing, I went and took my last farewell of the good old king, and in three hours reached Konjour, a small village, where we determined to rest for the night. Here I purchased a fine sheep for some beads, and my Sera woolli attendants killed it with all the ceremonies pre- scribed by their religion. Part of it was dressed for supper, after which a dispute arose be- tween one of the Serawoolli negroes and Johnson, my in- terpreter, about the sheep's horns. The former claimed the horns as his perquisite, for having acted the part of our butcher, and Johnson contested the claim. I settled the matter by giving a hom to each of them. This trifling incident is mentioned as introductory to what follows : for it appeared on inquiry that these horns were highly valued, as being easily convertible into portable sheaths, or cases, for containing and keeping secure certain charms or amulets called saphies^ which the negroes constantly wear about them. These saphies are prayers^ or rather sentences, from the Koran, which the Mohammedan priests write on scraps of paper, and sell to the simple natives, who consider them to possess very extraordinary virtues. Some of the negroes wear them to guard if ''..,4-' "■'^ikS'Im ,; 4 m \ 404 Tffh: nNGUsn nxn.oKERs, 'i themRelvcB rtgalnut the !)lte of HniikcR or alligMtoiR ; ami on thi.i oriTtnion \\\v. sapliiein roin inonly cucIorlmI in a snake'R or alligator'R skin, and tied round the ankle. ()thcr» have rc( (itirae to them in tinie of war, to pro leel their persons against hostile weaponn ; but the ronnnon nse to wliirh these atnnlcts are ap olied, K% to prevent or cure i)odily diseascH — to preserve from Iwmger ami thirst — and generally to eomiliale the favour of superior i)ower«, under all the cinun^stancea and oc( ur- renoes of life.* Jn this case, it Is inipoBsible not to admire the wonderful « DUtagion of superstilitMi ; for, notwithstanding that the tna- jorily of the negroes are pagans, and absolutely rejet^t the doc- trines of Mohammed, I did tiot meet with a man, whether a bushreen or kafir, who was not fully persuaded of the powerful efficacy of these anudets. The truth is, that all the natives of this part oi Africa consider the art of writing as bordering on magic ; and it is not in the dot> trines of the pro)>het, but in the arts of the magician^ that their confidence is .placed. It will hereafter be seen that I was myself lucky enough, in circum- .siances of distrcKB, to turn the popular credulity in this respect to good account. On the 7th 1 departed from Konjour, and slept at a village ' ! beli«v« iliAt nimllftf chnrntn or nitidlet**, under the nftrties oC (f NIandingt) (owns, antl nuuli empltjyed by the pagan natives in keeping tlu'ir women \\\ m\\ jectlon ; for as the kafirs .irc nt)t restricted in the numluM of their wives, every one mnrrips as nwiny as he can conveniently maintain— and as it fre«)ucutly happens that the ladies tlisagrpc among themselves, fainily i|iiar- rels Rometimes ripo to suth a height, that the authority of ilu; husband can no lom^er preserve peace in his household. I n such cases, the intcrposititm of Muin- bo Jumbo is -cajllcd in, and is always decisive. This Htrangc minister of jus- tice (wit is supposed to be either the husband himself, or some person instructed by him), disguitscd in the dress that has been mentionctl, and arincd with the rod of public authority, announces his coming (when- ever his services arc required) by loud and dismal screams in the woods near the town. He begins the pantomime at the approach of night ; and as soon as it is dark, he enters the town, and proceeds to the ben- tang, at which all the inhabi- tants immediately assemble. December 9.— As there was rARK\S If IE AND TRA\ ''TX 40.1 no wrtler to l»e iMornrpd on the rood, we ItavclliMl with grcnt ox|)(Mlitl()n until we nn« h('«| T(iiiil»n':titi'lfi ; ami vsrosth , wlio were strong, n 'ive, you g men. full of etindaiion, and mccU' lomed, L mippose, from the* infancy to this soil of exertion lli'ing stripped o4 their ( lothing, except a/ slmrt pair of diawer^, and having their skin anointdl with oil, or s/trit butter, the cond»atttnts approached each each other on all fours, parry- ing with, and o(»asionally ex- tentrr1nr1hl t^ttoni, hMil tUo \\<^v^ OV ti\>» M!\H«linp,Or"i l«M \\v\\\\\\\ \\\^ \\\A\ hni« ru<»l I lofh.Ht Thr iMHioiun. o» ilnilni( m \\\\\A\r'\\ rtVp VMV i<»»rtvv t \\\ \\\\\\m\ »^vr»h loniv ri^V Mnt livvl l>.'iv«t jt Ivw ol |i'nio)M*t»i< »nri » h:\<\»!h»\ MMlt rtl I'tlMrtiMliI;). h\«ti:^h b;iO. 01 rt M^n-^ltci. t^ml ««i^ hoOifft of miniwuviifh rtip r^.ufmt rt-l fh^ rooil\MMl lillMilr iU- I^W^r\l1«» of llir-^»' ^liMlt"?, ihr Mnp, »M Uotitln l«< wril «< Mn^ f*on\\lii!iMr to fl\n nri^MuMuin}) roti^j^tVxion** ''\\\A MrUlontil nt.in lUM^ ^\^s\\\ \\\r' MrtH»iiii^op« Mini StM-rt\VO0llir*«<^ Uiih \\\\\s\\\ lIU'V rtvr fh'»fnrnfly rtf wrth Shi«i' n-o^Sfil \\\v V"'hlruu< vivrM Willi ;» !^''vMf !\\nl Mooify riunnilijii, \\sH\\\ ihMortlt*^t>0«; \svv\\ \<\\^v\\v\\ \\\ rt looilri t!\rtpfcv) A\^ Of n ftovtn" «'^i<' /\//PA\V ///^/? .^At> n.iVf'L^. '<'5 .■»|.fl.-.^^x^-.^^^.£:^^..>, .■.■■.^, ..., i^i..^-..w.... MiiNMHHMii4>w. MMHiilMij;ori, \\\<^\ Mir? tin r« «nilhltv •♦! Hu^ \\\v^\^\\ iHMHv "Hif'f MM|i»l«i»nt .(I W fJirrtI i1I»'i'« IVr»tii llinl «il Imp MMIulliiRnpw «lilrlly in \\\\<\, ilml llu'v MiP iiinip liii nuMllfilrlv iiiultM- Hip IiiIIiipiup mI Ihp Mnlirmiinptlrtii hws i Uw nil llir ililpf tiiPin Hip lllll«»'»lv»! !lp|uMfiiiPiit of Hu' iliilHfPh, rtful liPrtiHly whliF-H flipy I»mH IimH I»p1I»m liislmi'lMfN MriH m iiiiipr fpHjatloti. WlHi Hip MMlifiifMiiprlMM (miHi N Hhn IhIniHh'pH Hip AtnMp IflllgllMfrp, wlHl Wlllfll ftUJflf (if Hip I'niilrtliN hrtvp m sllgftf ft^-- ♦|iirtliilrt»U'p. *('liplr firtHvplohgiip fili.Miiiulw vpiv imuh In ll'jiilfh, lull HiPfp h «(»MipHiiti$j iifijilprt- flrtiif ill Hip mfiiifipf nf pm tiMHM( Itig II. A ftlffiti^Pr, tm liPMiin^HiP comiMMM ^0f1vpr«^ linn Mf fWM rnillfll|1< WfKiM liiui^iiip HiMl, Hipy wpfp N(f>IH ilia pmpIi (filler. 'I'lipir Miirne- irtls nfp Hicfip t - Ofip, (JOi Twf), hppHHpe. > ) '11 f I &. l(SfS m*l> riil i^'MiiTiiitiiiiinii '■111 nn'frilnfiliiUlir'i I: I. ^<>i'^ »l»»tthv» t\\\\\ V\\\\S\ t\\\ \h^ ^\vM nV\\\ \\\ \\\\^ \\\'M\t\i\v\\\v\\\ tA!^v\m^lv \i,v\\\W \\\ Kinil yw*'*»» t\\\\\ \\\m\m\\s\ i^w [\\^ N\h\\h rt^v ronMh \\% iM^\\{^\\ T)w \ i\ulo rt^v twi t\u\\ns so t tin tnlitlM ni M| HM'i „ m'nilr \\i\\ M\\\ litM'il lnMO itu pn\illt'«, iM Hh'«<»Mvr'(l in n\\u\\\ vi\\\\\v\\ (mMaj jMi»I q: ii «»M\m lik»'\vi«i»« lo nntMni ilu«li lu'ttdii »(hlly on lln^ii iin-rn miil io\n« Mnt rtltlnn^l) ntilk <•« )t)pniinil, il ifl funni^vhiM h'inioltnlOi' \\\m l)n> t^'onitOH, iomI in«lt>iM) ttll tin* iiyh;\)titiO)ti iM tlti^ jttnt ol Al\int, tOt> toti^Hv nniM <|MttlnltMl with tin* 1^\^ ol n\itkin^ (-hiM'm> A l\in» nttrn Innt'iM to [W ruR tonvH ol ihv»ii ton-(>»(lotR nu«lo^ tlUM\< Vi«»\V with MM PV»» ol pU' |n>liri» »'\>MVll»itk»» innovation. 'I'l^o \\v\\\ ni tho rlin^wto i\n< nnjMiNWrhiMi* obh'rliot\«( ; {\\\\\ \\w \\\\ysW |nooi»»s m^m'rtVR (0 \\w\\\ (00 lon^ Mn^l lh»nl»lt»sonu' to W i\\\\'\\\M with unv Rolid hitViO\tt<}ii*. IU»Ri«1»'» l>onl{U\R, ll\i»v l^osR^nw ftonu' t^voollottt l\o\Bp«, tlu' Ini'inl ol whirh Rivnm tt> hi* rt nn\t»niM»l the* Atuhidu with thc» oiigin.*! A(\iiiit\. s% rJh'f{'\^ ftf^n ,^/vn WAtnfA 4»r i« tnllK l-ltirllv t1^ U'l, Mhll llml \\n\ I itlliMtlM In \v\\ \ fMhVr4lril \\\Us \\\\\S, i< \li«ti>lMlv MlhltMnh. i'liiq »»U>I|>m| M\t't tl I OimmI liiMO liu i'«i»'»v»"il Im i , tlu» ImimmI oi I bo rt utivUui'ol »■ i ■ I illli (IIAPII'W V. Tllti'. ItlitMilMMt of KmImmum, ill whit li I W(i« lutw MiilvftI, h iitiit'ii liv iiit^ I'lciicli (iiilliiiii. lull lIlfllillllClllMl I llMVMtl(lH|l|fM \ti iiitlvrMrilly imcil hv (lie iiti ||\TM. i'liln i-iMliidy in iiniiiiilfMl Mil iIh' nniilii ciml tiiitl ttniilli liy |IiIII|ImM|I<, Mil lli«« \\v*k\ I»v IlilllillMI (Mill I'lMtltl TlHIII, tllul (III du' luiHli i»V IliM liv«'i H»'ii«» Hill. Tli»» nil finil iliiiirtlf* flip. I jU'lllVi', ItlOlp )MII(« Mild Atlluilli oiin llliili III fitly nf (lu> nhII)!* iiuiilfi tiiwiitttfi IliM ('(Mini ] |)i«> l,i(i> Mi lilt* I'Miitiliy in pvf'iy- ull('H'llll«'IWp«»t«Hl Willi ll l»llMl« Inn viiilfly Ml IiIIIn ntnl vMilpyfl i mill tln' wliiililiMfl mI IIk^ Hciicufii ilv»'i, wliiili »|pm>«'iuls IImiii (Iu- 101 l(V liilln orilic iiiiciiMi, iiiiilte ilu» mi'iu'iy Mil ilH l»iiiiltl SiiiiWMMllii'fl, III (fifl ilm I''h«ii( ll wilir it) Sft\i,\^ffh, 1'li(»ii (Mill \s\y\\\\\\ Is Ii, |(?l. Iil.uk s llipy iii(> lull lo W (li<)liiittiiinliMil ill this rcM|ifMl IVmiii Hip JiilMflii. Thr i^MVi'iiinuMtl ifi iiiMiiiiiclii (III, iiiui lite K^^til ttiitliMiily, liom wlinl I i?MjK'rifMU'Pil mI it, Hi'vtiiR IM lip nttiili UMiily rMitiiiil, lll»ll>. 'Hie |»PM|»IP lIlPIIIRpiVPR liowrvei, I'Mliiplrtilt of no m|» |»ivflRiMii, niul wiTiiiiMt fill vpiy (UIHiMllR IM nttp)H)t( lIlP l^ill^ ill (I ninli'Rt lio Wdft m»iliw Im I'lilci into with tlip RMVpi(»lgii mI Kns- son. 'Tiip iSpirtWMMlllpR HIT lin- Itilnnlly rt ttiuiitig jirojilp ; llipy furnkilv rdiiloil on a gt odl ( mhi- IIIhM'I* Willi lIlP {'"MMll ll ill ^mM tlllll nlllVPK, ftllll Mllll llltlllllfllM «Mlll»« (itllDl- ill «I(IV»'« Willi lIlM tliili^li fill ImiImn mm (lifOfiiiiMfi. 'I'lify fiiP tcikMitpil iMlfifiidy (ilif tiiul |iiq( ill llici^ ilftiiiii^M^ ImiI flip liii|p|Mli^ril)|p in (lipir pftPiliMim Im fit t|iiiip wpfillli« fttid llipy iIpiIvp iM»i«li|p»fil»lp iiimOH liy llip fillip of null mill (mMmm I ImIIi ill illnldiil CMiifil^iPS. WlipM M Hi'IiiwmmIII (IIPII llflllt fPlllMtn llMIIlP flMlll ll llfl(lill|4 fXtilMliliOII, liip iipi^liliMiitn iMiiiip(tifilp|y fin^ nP|llll|p|M(Mllglflltllfl|p|lillllliMm liin tilliviil. ( Ml lilpnp Ml f'fiqlMliii lltp lifivp||pMli«|ilfiyn liln wpiiilll find liliPifillly liy iiiiildii)^ a fpw jilPHPlllN lo liifi ftipiidn ; lilll if IIP lififl lippii iihNiM-f'pntiriil liin Ipvpp in niiMii iivpr, find pv»'fy Miip liMiltn ii|iMii hint im fi iiiMM Iff iiM iindpintfoidln^, wlio i oiild |ipiImiiii n Imii^ joiiiMpy nnd (nir llicv PH|)i(()'. He was a rigid Mohammedan, but distiiwuished for his ho8|ii- taUty. iTiis town may be sup- posed, on a gross computation, to contain two thousand inha- bitants. It is surrounded by a high wall, in which arc A num- ber of port-holes for musketry to fire through, in case of an attack. Every man's possession is likewise surrounded by a wall, the v;!;ole forming so many dis- tinct citadels ; and amongst a people unacquainted with the use of artillery, these walls an- swer all the purposes of stronger fortifications. To the westward of the town is a small river, on the banks of which the natives raise great plenty of tobacco and onions. The same evening Madiboo, the bushreen, who had accom- junied me from Pisania, went to |>ay a visit to his father and mother, who dwelt at a neigh- bouring town called Dramanct. He was joined by my other attendant, the blacksmith. As soon as it was dark I was in- vited to see the sports of the inhabitants, it being their Km, torn, on the arrival «)f strangers, to wolcotne then» by diversions of different kinds. I found n great crowd s\irrounding a pnrty who were dancing, by the light of son\e large fires, to the tnuRii of four drums, which were l)cat with great exactness and \\\\\. I'ormity. The dances, however, consisted more In wanton gcs tures than in nniscular exertion or graceful attitudes. The Ijulics vied with each other in displ.iy. ing the most voluptuous tnovc mcnts imaginable. Dfcembfr 25. — About t wo o'clock in the morning a num. ber of horsemen came into the town, and, having awakened my landlord, talked to him for some time in the Sera wool li tongue ; after which they dismoiniied and came to the bcntang, on which I had matlc my l)C(l. One of them, thinking that 1 was asleep, attempted to steal the musket that lay by me on the mat, but findmg that he could not effect his purpose un- discovered, he desisted ; and the strangers sat down by mc till dayliglit. I could now easily perceive, by the countenance of my in- terpreter, Johnson, that some- thing very unpleasant was in agitation. I was likewise sur- prised to see Madiboo and the blacksmith so soon returned. On inquiring the reason, Madi- boo informed me that, as they were dancing at Dramanet, ten horsemen belonging to Batchcri, king of the country, witii his 5. PAR/CS LIFE AND TRA VKLS, 4t9 being tlicir cus- ival of Htriuigcrs, [?in by ili versions hIr. ! foinul II rrotiniling !i pnrty ing, by the light ires, lo the nuiNir which were boat u'lnesN nn«l uni- ilances, however, I in wanton gcs nu!)('ulnr exertion lules. 'I'lie ladies other in display^ ohiptuous niovc- l)le. 15. — AluMit two morning a num- n came into the ing awakened my [I to him for sonic irawoolli tongue ; |hcy dismonnld tlic bcntang, on made my bed. thinking that I emptcd to steal t lay by me on finding that he his nurpose un- desiatcd ; and at down by me easily perceive, [lance of my in- 9on, that some- bleasant was in las likewise sur- [adiboo and the I soon returned. reason, Madi- |e that, as they Dranianet, ten ting to Batrhcri, imtry, with his second no at their head, had arrived there, incpiiring if the white man had passed, and, on hcing told that 1 was at Joag, they rode o(T without stopping. Mrtdiboo adilcd, that on hear- ing thiSf he and the blacksmith hastened back to give mo notice of their coming?. Whilst 1 was listening to this narrative, the ten horsemen mentioned by Matliboo arrived, ami, coming to the bentang, dismounted and seated themselves with those who had come before — the whole being about twenty in number -tbrming a circle round mc, and each man holding his musket in his hand. I took this opportunity to observe to my landlord, that as I did not un- derstand the Serawoolli tongue, 1 hoped, whatever the men had to say, they would speak in Mandingo. I'o this they agreed ; and a short man, loaded with a remarkable number of saphies, opened the business in a very long harangue, informing me that I had entered the king^'s town without having first paid the duties, or giving any preeent to the king ; and that, accord- ing to the laws of the country, my people, cattle, and baggage were forfeited. He added, that they had received orders from the king to conduct me to Maana,* the place of his resi- dence, and, if I refused to come with them, their orders were to bring me by force; upon his • Maann is within « short tlistntico of the niins of Foit St. Jt'scjih, on tlio Senegal river, formerly u French factory saying which, nil of them rose tip and asked me if I was ready. It would have been ctpially vain and imprudent in me to have resisted or irritated sucli a body of men ; I therefore affected to comply with their commands, and begged them only to stop a little until t had given my horse n feed of corn, and setllnl matters with my landlord. Tlic poor blacksmith, who was a native of Kasson, mistook this feigned compliance for a real intention, and, taking mc away from the company, told mc that he had always behaved towards mc as if I had been his father and master, and he hoped I would not entirely ruin him by going to Maana ; adding, that as there was ^s^ry reason to believe a war would soon take place between Kasson and Ka- jaaga, he should not only lose his little property, the savings of four years' industry, but should certainly be detained and sold as a slave, unless his friends had an opportunity of paying two slaves for his redemption. I saw this reasoning in its full force, and determined to do my utmost to preserve the black- smith from so dreadful a fate. I therefore told the king's son that I was ready to go with him, upon condition that the blacksmith, who was an inha- bitant of a distant kingdom, and entirely unconnected with me, should be allowed to stay at Joag till my return. To this they all objected, and insisted that, as wc had all acted con- :y 1 1' > !'Ir%#' 430 THE ENGUSn EX PICKERS, tniry to the lawH, wc were nil e<|U{illy iimwcrablc lor our con- 1 now took my landlord aside, and givii\g him a Ninall present of gunpowder, aNkol his adviec in KO <'ritie:i1 a Kituation. lie was iloeidedly of opinion (hat I ought not to go to the king : he was lullv eonvineed, he said, that if the king should discover any- thing valuable in my possession, he would not be over scrupu- lous about the means of obtain- ing it. Towards the evening, nji I was sitting tipon the l)entang el\e\\'^ng straws, an old temale slave, passing by with n basket upon her head, asked me if I Ihui ^ot my dinner. As I thought she only laughed at mc, I gave her no answer ; but my boy, who was sitting close l)y, answered for me, and told her that the kiiig's people had robbed mc of all my money. On hearing this, the good old woman, with a look of.itchcri, king of Kajaaga, to cndeiivuur to settle the disputes which had arisen bctwi'cn his uncle aiul the latter ; but, alter dcbiUin|r the matter four clays wiihout suci'ess, he was now on his return -anti heaving that a white man was at Joag, on his way lo Kasson, cunosily brxnight him to see me. I repn'sentetl lo him my situation and distresses, when he frankly oH'crcd mc his 1)rotcction, and said he would )e my guide to Kasson (pro. vidcd 1 would set out tlu> next morning), and be answer- able ior my safety. I readily and gratelully accepted hin olVer, ami was ready, with my attendants, by daylight on the morning of the a 7th of De- cember. My protector, whoso name was Demba Sego, probably after his uncle, had a numerous re- tinue. Our company, at Iciiv- ing Joag, consisted of thirty per- sons and six loaded asses ; and we rode on cheerfully enough for some hours, without any remarkable occurrence, until we came to a species of tree, for which my interpreter, John- son, had made frequent inquiry. On fmding it, he desired us to stop ; and, producing a white chicken, which he had pur- chased at Joag for the pur- pose, he tied it by the leg to one of the branches, and then told us w- might now safely proceed, for that our journey would be prosperous. At noon we had reached P.IJiK'S LIFE AND TRAVFJ.!^, 43! iHHy to hatchrri, liign, to ctulcavuiir li.sputcH which \\\\\ en his mule and tit, alter (U'hiitin|r four (lays wilhont was now on liis learinKth.ita white oaK, on his way to oKity brought liiiu I represented lo lion and distresHcs, ikly otVcrcd nic his lul said he would ; to Kasson (pro. >uld set out iho ;), and I)c answer- safety. I rciuhly ly accepted his !is ready, with my »y daylight on the the 27 th of Do- (in^^adi, a large town where we stopped about an hour, until some of the mhnch that had fallen hchitid came up. Here I ob- served a number of date-trres, and a nioH(|ue built of clay, with six turrets, on the pinnadcH of which were placed stx ostrich eggs. A little before sunset we arrived at the town of Sainee, on the banks of the Senegal, which is here abcautiful but shal- low river, moving slowlv over a 1)0(1 of snml and gravel, 'i'he banks are high, and covered with verdure— the country is open and cultivated — and the rorky hills of Fellow and H.im- houk add much to the beauty of the landsca|)C. DacmlTtr i^th. — We <)e- narted from Samee, and arrived in the afternoon at Kayce, a large village, part of which is situated on the north, and ])art on the south side of the river. The ferryman then taking hold of the most steady of the iiorscs by a rope, led him into the water, and paddled the canoe a little from the brink ; ui)on which a general attack commenced upon the other horses, who, finding themselves pelted and kicked on all sides, unanimously phmged into the river, and followed their com- panion. A few boys swam in after them ; and, by laving water upon them when they attempted to return, urged them onwards ; and we had the satis- faction, in about fifteen minutes, to see them all safe on the other side. It was a matter of greater difficulty to manage the asses ; their n.itural stubitorn- ncHs of disposition made them endure a great deal of pHting and shoving before they w«)uld V(Miture into the water ; and when they had reached the middle of the stream, four of them turned iKick, in spite of every exertion to get them for- wards. Two hours were spent in getting the whole of them over ; an hour more was em- ployed i-n transporting the bag- gage; and it was near sunset before the cmnoc returned, when Demba Sego and myself em- barked in this dangerous !]>aH- sage-boat, which the least motion was like to overset. The king's nephew thought this a proper time to have a peep into a tin box of mine, that stood in the fore part of the canoe ; and in stretching out his hand for it, he unfortunately destroyed the equilibrium, ami overset the canoe. J/Uckiiy we were not far advanced, and got back to the shore without much difliculty ; from whence, after wringing the water from our clothes, we took a fresh depar- ture, and were soon afterwards safely landed in Kasson. CHAPTER VI. We no sooner found ourselves safe in Kasson, than Demba Sego told me that we were now in his uncle's dominions, and he hoped I would consider, be- 'f^ 1; ■ iiai 1'. 4*9 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. h .1 i: II ^ ing now out of danger, the obli- gation I owed to him, and make him a suitable return for the trouble he had taken on my account by a handsome present. This, as he knew how much liad been pilfered from me at Joag, was rather an unexpected proposition, and I began to fear that I had not much im- proved my condition by cross- ing the water ; but as it would have been folly to complain, I made no observation upon his conduct, and gave him seven bars of amber and some to- bacco, with which he seemed to be content. After a long day's journey, in the course of which I observed a number of large loose nodules of white granite, we arrived at Teesee on the evening of De- cember iQth, and were accom- modated in Demba Sego's hut. The next morning he intro- duced me to his father, Tiggity Sego, brother to the king of Kasson, chief of Teesee. The old man viewed me with great earnestness, having never, he said, beheld but one white man before, whom by his de- scription I immediately knew to be Major Houghton. In the afternoon one of his slaves eloped ; and a general alarm being given, every person that had a horse rode into the woods, in the hopes of appre- hending him, and Demba Sego begged the use of my horse for the same purpose. I readily consented; and in about an hour they all returned with the slave, who was severely flogged, and afterwards put in irons. On the day following (Decem- ber 31st) Demba Sego was ordered to go with twenty horse- men to a town In Gedumab, to adjust some dispute with the Moors, a party ov whom were supposed to have stolen three horses from Teese.e. Demba begged a second lime the use of my horse, adding, that the sight of my bridle and saddle would give him consequence among the Moors. This re- quest also I readily granted, and he promised to return at the end of three days. During his absence I amused myself with walking about the town, and conversing with the na- tives, who attended me every- where with great kindness and curiosity, and supplied me with milk, eggs, and what other provisions I wanted, on very easy terms. Teesee is a large unwalled town, having no security against the attack of an enemy except a sort of citadel, in which Tiggity and his family con- stantly reside. This town, according to the report of the natives, was formerly inhabited only by a few Foulah shepherds, who lived in considerable afflu- ence by means of the excellent meadows in the neighbourhood, in which they reared great herds of cattle. But their prosperity attracting the envy of some Mandingoes, the latter drove out the shepherds, and took possession of their lands. PARK'S LIFE AND TRA VELS, ) 423 ; severely flogged, is put in irons. )llowing (Decem- jmba Sego was vith twenty horse- 1 In Gedumab, to dispute with the :y ov whom were lave stolen three reesee. Demba )nd time the use adding, that the tridle and saddle The present inhabitants, though they possess both cattle and corn in abundance, are not over nice in articles of diet ; rats, moles, squirrels, snakes, locusts, etc., are eaten without scruple by the highest and low- est. My people were one evening invited to a feast given by some of the townsmen, where, after making a hearty meal of what they thought fish and kouskous, one of them found a piece of hard skin in the dish, and brought it along with him to shew me what sort of fish they had been eating. On examining the skin, I found they had been feasting on a large snake. Another custom still more extraordinary is, that no woman is allowed to eat an egg. This prohibition, whether arising from ancient supersti- tion, or from the craftiness of some old bushreen, who loved eggs himself, is rigidly adhered to, and nothing will more affront a woman of Teesee than to offer her an egg. The custom is the more singular, as the men eat eggs without scruple in the presence of their wives, and I never observed the same prohibition in any other of the Mandingo countries. The third day after his son's departure, Tiggity Sego held a palaver on a very extraordinary occasion, which I attended ; and the debates on both sides of the question displayed much ingenuity. The case was this : —A young man, a kafir of con- siderable affluence, who had recently married a young and handsome wife, applied to a very devout bushreen, or Mus- sulman priest, of his acquaint- ance, to procure him saphies for his protection during the approaching war. The bush- reen. complied with the request ; and in order, as he pretended, to render the saphies more effi- cacious, enjoined the young man to avoid any nuptial in- tercourse with his bride for the space of six weeks. Severe as the injunction was, the kafir strictly obeyed; and, without telling his wife the real cause, absented himself from her com- pany. In the meantime, it be- gan to be whispered at Teesee that the bushreen, who always performed his evening devotions at the door of the kafir's hut, was more intimate with the young wife than he ought to be. At first, the good husband was unwilling to suspect the honour of his sanctified friend, and one whole month elapsed before any jealousy rose in his mind, but hearing the charge repeated, he at last interrogated his wif(^ on the subject, who frankly con fessed that the bushreen had seduced her. Hereupon the kafir put her into confine- ment, and called a palaver upon the bushreen's conduct. The fact was clearly proved against him ; and he was sentenced to be sold into slavery, or to find two slaves for his redemption, according to the pleasure of the complainant. The injured husband, however, was unwill* ]TW.< 424 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. I I" s. ,::il ing to proceed against his friend to such extremity, and desired rather to have him publicly flogged before Tiggity Sego's gate. This was agreed to, and the sentence was immediately executed. The culprit was tied by the hands to a strong stake; and a long black rod being brought forth, the execu- tioner, after flourishing it round his head for some time, applied it with such force and dexterity to the bushreen's back as to make him roar until the woods re- sounded with his screams. The surrounding multitude, by their hooting and laughing, mani- fested how much they enjoyed the punishment of this old gallant ; and it is worthy of re- mark, that the number of stripes was precisely the same as are enjoined by the Mosaic law, forty ^ save one. As there appeared great pro- bability that Teesee, from its being a frontier town, would be much exposed during the war to the predatory incursions of the Moors of Gedumah, Tiggity Sego had, before my arrival, sent round to the neighbouring villages to beg or to purchase as much provisions as would afford subsistence to the inha- bitants for one whole year, in- dependently of the crop on the ground, which the Moors might destroy. This project was well received by the country people, and they fixed a day on which to bring all the provisions they could spare to Teesee ; and as my horse was not yet returned, I went, in the afternoon of Janu- ary 4th, 1796, to meet the es- cort with the provisions. It was composed of about 400 men, marching in good order, with corn and ground nuts in large calabashes upon their head. They were pre- ceded by a strong guard of bowmen, and followed by eight musicians or singing-men. As soon as they approached the town, the latter began a song, every verse of which was an- swered by the company, and succeeded by a few strokes on the large drums. In this man- ner they proceeded, amidst the acclamations of the populace, till they reached the house of Tiggity Sego, where the loads were deposited; and in the evening they all assembled under the bentang tree, and spent the night in dancing and merriment. On the 5th of January, an embassy of ten people belong- ing to Almami Abdulkader, king of Foota-Torra, a country to the west of Bondou, arrived at Teesee ; and, desiring Tiggity Sego to call an assembly of the inhabitants, announced publicly their king's determination to this effect: — *That unless all the people of Kasson would embrace the Mohammedan re- ligion, and evince their convei- sion by saying eleven public prayers, he, the king of Foota- Torra, could not possibly stand neuter in the present contest, but would certainly join his arms to those of Kajaaga.' A FARJCS LIFE AND TRA VELS. 425 message of this nature from so oowerful a prince could not fail :o create great alarm ; and the inhabitants of Teesee, after a long consultation, agreed to conform to his good plea-^^re, humiliating as it was to them. Accordingly, one and all publicly offered up eleven prayers, which were considered a sufficient testimony of their having renounced paganism, and embraced the doctrines of the prophet. It was the 8th of January before Demba Sego returned with my horse ; and being quite wearied out with the delay, I went immediately to inform his father that I should set out 'for Kooniakary early the next day. The old man made many frivo- lous objections, and at length gave me to understand that I must not think of departing without $rst paying him the same duties he was entitled to receive from all travellers ; be- sides which he expected, he said, some acknowledgment for his kindness towards me. Ac- cordingly, on the morning of the 9th, my friend Demba, with a number of people, came to me, and said that they were sent by Tiggity Sego for my present, and wished to see what goods I had appropriated for that pur- pose. I knew that resistance was hopeless, and complaint unavailing ; and being in some measure prepared, by the inti- mation I had received the night before, I quietly offered him seven bars of amber, and five of tobacco. After surveying these articles for some time very coolly, Demba laid them down, and told me that this was not a present for a man of Tiggity Sego's consequence, who had it in his power to take whatever he pleased from me. He added, that if I did not consent to make him a larger offering, he would carry all my baggage to his father, and let him choose for himself. I had no time for reply, for Demba and his attendants immediately began to open my bundles, and spread the different articles upon the floor, where they underwent a more strict exami- nation than they had done at Joag. Everything that pleased them they took without scruple; and amongst other things, Dem- ba seized the tin box which had so much attracted his attention in crossing the river. Upon collecting the scattered remains of my little fortune after these people had left me, I found that, as at Joag I had been plundered of half, so here, without even the shadow of accusation, I was deprived of half the remainder. The blacksmith himself, though a native of Kasson, had also been compelled to open his bundles, and take an oath that the different articles they con- tained were his own exclusive property. There was, however, no remedy; and having been under some obligation to Dem- ba Sego for his attention to- wards me in the journey from Joag, I did not reproach him '■'^^i 426 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, Pi Jil I i J ' III iJ •i i 1 t s for his rapacity, but determined to quit Teesce, at all events, the next morning. In tlie mean- while, in order to raise the drooping spirits of my atten- dants, 1 purchased a flit sheep, and had it dressed for our dinner. Early in the morning of January loth, therefore, I left Teesee, and about mid-day as- cended a ridge, from whence we had a distant view of the hills round Kooniakary. In the evening we reached a small villag-^, where we slept, and, departing from thence the next morning, crossed in a few hours a narrow but deep stream called Krieko, a branch of the Sene- gal. About two miles farther to the eastward, we passed a large town called Madina, and at two o'clock came in sight of Jumbo, the blacksmith's native town, from whence he had been absent more than four years. Soon after this, his brother, who had by some means been ap- prised of his coming, came out to meet him, accompanied by a singing man. He brought a horse for the blacksmith, that he might enter his native town in a dignified manner ; and he desired each of us to put a good cliarge of powder into our guns. The singing man now led the way, followed by the two bro- thers, and we were presently joined by a number of people from the town, all of whom de- monstrated great joy at seeing their old acquaintance the blacksmith, by the most extra- vagant jumping and singing, On entering the town the sing. ing man begpn an extempore song in praise of the blacksmith, extolling* his courage in having overcome so many difficulties, and concluding with a strict in- junction to his friends to dress him plenty of victuals. When we arrived at the black- smith's place of residence, we dismounted, and fired our mus- kets. The meeting between him and his relations was very tender ; for these rude children of nature, free from restraint, display their emotions in the strongest and most expressive manner. Amidst these trans- ports the blacksmith's aged mother was led forth, leaning upon a staff. Every one made way for her, and she stretched out her hand to bid her son welcome. Being totally blind, she stroked his hands, arms, and face, with great care, and seemed highly delighted that her latter days were blessed by his return, and that her ears once more heard the music of his voice. During the tumult of these congratulations, I had seated myself apart by the side of one of the huts, being unwilling to interrupt the flow of filial and parental tenderness; and the attention of the company was so entirely taken up with the blacksmith, that I believe none of his friends had observed me. When all the people present had seated themselves, the blacksmith was desired by his I'll PARirS LIFE AND TRA VELS. 427 ng and singing, he town the sing. in an extempore of the blacksniiiji, jourage in having many difficulties, ig with a strict in- s friends to dross victuals. rrived at the black- of residence, wc md fired our nnis- meeting between relations was very liese rude children ee from restraint, emotions in the 1 most expressive nidst these trans- )lacksmith's aged led forth, leaning Every one made and she stretched i to bid her son eing totally blind, his hands, arms, 1 great care, and y delighted that s were blessed by nd that her ears eard the music of father to give them some ac- count of his adventures; and silence being commanded, he began — and, after repeatedly thanking God for the success that had attended him, related every material occurrence that iiatl happened to him from }m leaving Kasson to his arrival at the Gambia, his employment and success in those parts, and the dangers he had escaped in returning to his native country. In the latter part of his narra- tion, he had frequently occa- sion to mention me ; and after many strong expressions con- cerning my kindness to him, he pointed to the place where I sat, and exclaimed, Ajffilie ibi siring t — (* See him sitting there r) In a moment all eyes were turned upon mej I ap- peared like a being dropped from the clouds; every one was surprised that they had not observed me before ; and a few women and children expressed great uneasiness at being so near a man of such an uncom- mon appearance. By degrees, however, their, apprehensions subsided, and when the black- smith assured them that I was perfectly inoffensive, and would hurt nobody, some of them ven- tured so far as to examine the texture of my clothes ; but many of them were still very suspicious ; and when by acci- dent I happened to move my- self, or look at the young chil- dren, their mothers would scamper off with them with the greatest precipitation. In a few hours, however, they all became reconciled to me. With these worthy people I spent the remainder of that, and the whole of the ensuing day, in feasting and merriment ; and the blacksmith declared he would not quit me during my stay at Kooniakary — for which place we set out early on the morning of the 14th of January, and arrived about the middle of the day at Soolo, a small village three miles to the south of it. As this place was somewhat out of the direct road, it is necessary to observe, that I went thither to visit a biatee, or Gambia trader, of great note and reputation, named Salim Daucari. He was well known to Dr. Laidley, who had trusted him with effects to the value of five slaves, and had given me an order for the whole of the debt. We luckily found him at home, and he received me with great kindness and atten- tion. ' It is remarkable, however, that the king of Kasson was by some means immediately ap- prised of my motions ; for I had been at Soolo but a few hours, before Sambo Sego, his second son, came thither with a party of horse, to inquire what had prevented me from proceeding to Kooniakary, and waiting im- mediately upon the king, who, he said, was impatient to see me. Salim Daucari made my apology, and prohiised to ac- company me to Kooniakary the I ,■'1 « I*! 428 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. s;\iuc evening. \\vo iniuhl phMfHMl wilhoMl U'rti, U»i Inoro wn» no ti tlii'iii lot my {iimNrt^r. 'I'lir |(it))r, wlu)Nr inniio wnn t)i(iNV Kttolftlllllli, \S'M IMll lo bn (li^ liii^ninliiMl liont IiIn AnltjrctN Ity iinv Nn|iriloiilviii )Hiint ol iIitnn ; (t It.-mk ofortiili, hIhmiI two f«Tl lii^l), tijion wliicli wnn N|iirMl(iiv Itiiii, hikI k^ lulfil llip viuitmw t JH'imiRliuu ON lIlMl lliul ilulU(;(Ml 11)0 to |II(NH lliKMigli Itin ronnlry, \\\\{\ my uimoHN for nolullii)^ liin |ito Irdion, lip rtpjtointMl poiliMlly HittiHriod t ImiI Roid il wan itol In Iii me, ami if he wan d(*ad, hin noun would take < are of nu'. ThlH advh e wan rertaiidy well meant on the part of Ihe king, and perhapR I waM lo blame in not following it : but i rellected that Ihe hot iiumiIIir weie approachitig, and t dre>ided the thoughtH of npending Ihe rainy Reanon in the interior of Africa. 'I'heRe <;onRideralionR, and the averRion 1 felt at tho idea of returidng without hav- ing made a greater progrenn in diHcovery, made mc (hUermino to g«i forward ; aiut though tho king cotdd not give me a guide to llandmrra, I Itegged that ho wouhl allow a man to accotn- pany rne an near the frontierH of luR kingdom an waR coiiRint' cut with Rafety. Finding that J waR deternnned to proceed, the king told mo that one routo Rlill remained, but that, ho naid, waa by no meann free from danger which wan to go Irofii Kaarta Into the Moorinli king- dom of Ludamar, from whence 1 might paHR, by a clrcuitoun route, into llamlmrra. Jf I wiHhed to follow IIuh route, ho would appoint people to con- duct mc to larra, the frontier town of Lu(lamar. He then iiupiircd very particularly how i liad been treated Rincu 1 luul if» j't*< ■ ' su ',,1 t « 'If- f\h I m -I'tr ^ ..».' • ■'is iih ■mt AU TiiR rsNGUsn ExrroKP:KS. Ill \v\\ the (inml)irt, ninl rtNknl, In n jtuulnr wny, how many Hlrtvon 1 oNpri'icd to rnrry honic with Ml" \>\\ \\\y return. lip wan nb'Mii to proixol, when a 'nan tnonnlcil on a fnu' Moon<(h horse, whirh was covrrotl with Rwcat nml toain, entriod tlic I'onrt, and niKitiCying that h(* had Roinothing of iniportancoto ronnnunicato, the king im- mediately took \i(> hin nandaln, whirh iR the signal to utrangerH to retire. I areordinglv took leave, l>nt desired my hoy to stay ftlmut the place, in f)rder to learn something of the ii\- telligenoc that this messenger had bronsht. In nlunit att hovir the boy rclurncd, and in- formed mc that the Rimbarra tirmy had left I'ooladoo, and was on its march towards Kaarta; that the man 1 had Been, who had brought this intelligence, was one of the scotits, or watchmen, employed by the king, each of whom lias his particular station (commonly on some rising ground) from whence he has the best view of the country, and watches the motions of tl\e enemy. Fehtmty 13. — At daylight I sent my horse-pistols and hol- sters as a present to the king, and being very desirous to get away from a nlace which was likely soon to become the scat of war, I begged the messenger to ijiform the king that I wished to depart from Kemmoo as soon as he should find it convenient to appoint me a guide. In about an hour the king sent his n»es«;enger t<» thank me for ihp present, and eight lutrseuu-n to rondurt mo to Jarra. Thcv told me that the king wislud me to proceed to Jarra with :ill p«>ssible expedition, that they might return belbrc anything dc risive shoulil happen betweoii the hrmies of Hambarra fnul Kaarta. We acrordingly dc- parlecl forthwith from Knii moo, an ompanied by three ol Daisy's sons, and about two lunulred horsetnen, who kindly undertook to sec mc a liiilo way on my joutney. CHAITKR VIII. On the evening of the day of our departure from Kemmoo (the king's eldest son and great part of the horsemen having returned) we reat bed a vill.tgc called Marina, where we slept. During the night some thievts broke into the hut where I had deposited my baggage, and having cut open one of my bundles, stole a quantity of beads, part of my clothes, and some amber and gold, which happened to be in one of the pockets. I complained to my protectors, but without efTect. The next day (Fel)ruary 14th) was far advanced before we departed from Marina, and we travelled slowly, on account of the excessive heat, until four o'clock in the afternoon, when two negroes were observed sif- ting among some thorny Inishcs. /V/A'A^V //A/r AND TRAVELS. 435 Ihnnk lue (or the cigiU liorHonu-n to to Jnrm. 'I'l\rv : Iho king wisliod <1 to Jnnfi witl* nil edition, thnt tlioy hdorcrtnytlunndo I hftl'pon brtwcon of Unnjbftna \\\\\\ c (itronllnnly dc- iwllli from Kcni mnicd l»y thrrc ol <, aiul nbout two Bcmcn, who kindly Rcc nic a little ourncy. I'TER VIU. nt n titllo •listrtiuc (n»in the roftd. 'I'lto kiii^'f* |nM»plr, Ink- ing it for nrnnliMl tlint thry wcrr niiMwny Rlnvrs, »o( krd their nuiskt'tfl, nnd roilo nt lull H)»rril in (liiforrtit (hrr<'ti«)ns thrcMigh the hushes, in orarrans ha«l actually cntLMcil the town ; but ohRerving my boy upon the top of one of the Imta, I calletl to him to know wiiat was the lu.Uter. He in- formed me that the Moors were come a second time to steal the cattle, and that they were now close to the town. 1 mountetl the roof of the hut, and observed a Inrge herd of bullocks coming towards the town, followed by live Moors on horseback, who drove the cattle forward with their nuis- kets. When they liad reached the wells which are close to the town, the Moors selected from the herd sixteen of the finest beasts, and drove them oft* at lull gallop. During this trans- action, the townspeonle, to the number of five hundred, stood collected close to the walls of the town ; and wlien the Moors drove the cattle away, though they passed within pistol-shot oftnem, the inhabitants scart:ely made a show of resistance. 1 only saw four muskets fired, which, being loaded with gun- l^owder of the negroes' own manufacture, did no execution. Shortly after this 1 observed a mmiber of jicoplc supi)orling a young man ujwn horseback, and conducting him slowly to- wards the town. This was one of the herdsmen, who, attempt- ing to throw his spear, had been wounded by a shot from one of the Moors. His mother walked on before, quite frantic with grief, clapping her hands, and cnunierating the g(nnl qualities of her son. Kt mi(f\) fouio / (* lie never told a lioV) saiil the disconsolate mother, as her wounded son was cai rial in at the gate — Ee majf'o Joni\\ abdifii / ('lie never told a lie; no, never I '^ When they had conveyed lum to his hut, and laid him u))on a mat, all the Rpet'latora joined in lamenting hi.s fate, l)y screaming and howling in the most piteous manner. After their grief had subsided a little, I was desired to exandne the wound. 1 found that the ball had passed quite through his leg, having fractured hodi l>ones a little below the knee : the poor boy was faint from the loss of blooil, and his situation withal so very precarious, that I could not console his relations with any great hopes of his recovery. However, to givt him a possible chance, 1 oh- served to them that it was necessary to cut off his leg above the knee. This proj)osal made every one start >vith horror ; they had never heard of such a method of cure, and would by no means give their consent to it ; indeed, they evidently considered me a sort of cannibal for proposing so cruel and unheanl-of an opera- tion, which, in their opinion, would be attended with more pain and danger than the wound itself. The patient was tiicre- >rs. His molher jie, quite fmntic piiig licr hands, lin^ llie mnni • son. Ke mufi'y) ever told a lio I ') jnsolftle mother, il m\\ WHS can ioil — He maffofom^ never tohl a lie; When ll>ey had I to his luit, and II ft mat, all the lied in lamenting screannng .iiul he most pitcuus ffrief had suhsidcd Tesired to exan\ine 1 found tlmt the sed quite through iiff fractured l)odi below the knee: was faint from the and his situation y precarious, tiiat nsole his relations at hopes of his lowever, to give |)le chance, 1 oh- em that it was cut off his leg e. This proposal one start with had never hcanl hod of cure, and means give their it ; indeed, they aidcrcd mc a sort for proposing so licard-of an opera- in their oidnion, nded with more cr than the woviml Liticnt was there- PARK'S rtm ANn TRAvnrs. AM fore committed to the cnre of some old htishreens, who en- deavoured to seciire him a passage into paradise, by whis- pering in his ear some Arabic sentences, and desiring him to repeat them. Aller mnny tm- mtceesHKil attempts, the poor hcMlhen at Inst pronounced, !.,i illah rf Alh/u Mafuimet ntsowl allahi ('There is but one (iod, nnd Molmmmed in Ids Prophet') : and the disciples of the t'ropliet assured his nmilicr that her son had given suiricient evidence of his faith, and would be hnppy in a future stale. He died the same evening. h(bruitry \*]. — My gttides in- formed me that, in orrler to avoid the ^Toorish banditti, it was necessary to travel in the night ; we accordingly departed from Funingkedy in the after- noon, accompanied by about thirty people, carrying their effects with them into lAidnmar, for fear of the war. We travelled with great silence and expedition until midnight, when we stopped in a sort of en- closure, near a small village ; hut the thermometer being so low as 68 degrees, none of the negroes could sleep on account of the cold. At daybreak on the i8th we resumed our journey, and at eight o'clock passed Simbing, di, when ft parly of Moors uurx' poctodly cntorctl the hut, md*! dispelled tho golden drrtitit, They canto, they said, by Ajj., orders, to ctmvey mo to \\\h camp at llonowm. If I wcitt peateably, Ihoy l(»ld me, I littil nothing lo fear ; but if t tr fused, Ihey luul orders U) biin)/ mo by force. I was slnuk duntb by surprise nnd tciioi. which the Moors observiufi, rii ii*K hir ll(thing about the matter, How- ever, savs he, if you cannot repair tiio gun, you shall givo nte some kitives and scissors inmiediately ; and whcit my boy, who a»le■'■' 'X MA ■'■f< (louble-barrcllcd gun, and told the eye a great number of dirty- 444 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. \ % ■ ! (^f looking tents, scattered without order over a large space of ground ; and among the tents appeared large herds of camels, cattle, and goats. We reachecl the skirts of this camp a little before sunset, and, with much entreaty, procured a little water. My arrival was no sooner ob- served, than the people who drew water at the wells threw down their buckets ; those in the tents mounted theii !:^rses, and men, women, and children came running or galloping to- wards me. I soon found myself surrounded by such a crowd that I could scarcely move ; one pulled my clothes, another took off my hat, a third stopped me to examine my waistcoat- buttons, and a fourth called out, La illah el Allah Mahamet ras rise and follow gged they would I remain where I &s only for a few hey paid little at- vhat I said, and, threatening words, pulled out a pistol ler bag, that was he pommel of his presenting it to- napped it twice. with so much in- lat I really doubted pistol was loaded. [t a third time, and the flint with a 1, when I begged ;ist, and returned the camp. When Ai's tent we found it of humour. He Moor's pistol, and ielf for some time ^ and shutting the [th, taking up his he fresh primed ling round to me lacing look, said i Arabic which I irstand. I desired PARK'S LIFE AND TRAVELS, 449 my boy, who was sitting before the tent, to inquire what offence I had committed ; when I was informed, that having gone out of the camp witiiout A li's i)er- niission, they suspected that I had some design of making my escape ; and that, in future, if I was seen without the skirts of the camp, orders hud been given that I should be shot by the first person that observed me. In the afternoon the horizon to the eastward was thick and hazy, and the Moors prognosti- cated a sand wind, which ac- cordingly commenced on the morning following, and lasted, with slight intermissions, for two days. The force of the wind was not in itself very great; it was what a seaman would have denominated a stiff breeze; but the quantity of sand and dust carried before it was such as to darken the whole atmosphere. About this time all the women of the camp had their feet and the ends of their fingers stained of a dark saffron colour. I could never ascertain whether this was done from motives of religion, or by way of ornament. The curiosity of the Moorish ladies had been very troublesome to me ever since my arrival at Benowm; and on the evening of the 25th (whether from the instigation of others, or im- j pelled by their own ungovern- able curiosity, or merely out of frolic, I cannot affirm), a party of them came into my hut, and gave me plainly to understand that the object of their visit was to ascertain, by actual inspec- tion, whether the rite of circum- ci.sion extended to the Nazarenes ^Ciiristians) as well as to the followers of Mohammed. The reader will easily judge of my surprise at this unexpected de- clanition ; and in order to avoid the proposed scrutiny, I thought it best to treat the business jocularly. I observed to them that it Nvas not customary in my country to give ocular demon- stration in such cases before so many beautiful women ; but that if all of them would retire, except the young lady to whom I pointed (selecting the youngest and handsomest), 1 would satisfy her curiosity. The ladies en- joyed the jest, and went away, laughing heartily ; and the young damsel herself, to whom I had given the preference (though she did not avail herself of the privi- lege of inspection), seemed no way displeased at the compli- ment, for she soon afterwards sent me some meal and milk for my supper. March 28. — This morning a large herd of cattle arrived from the eastward, and one of the drivers, to whom Ali had lent my horse, came into my hut with the leg of an antelope as a present, and told me that my horse was standing before All's tent. In a little time Ali sent one of his slaves to inform me, that in the afternoon I must be in readiness to ride out with him, as he intended to show me to some of his women. 2 F J I; t^§- 3**\ 'i. 'I tt-d f : 450 TIf£ ENGLISH EXPLORERS. About four o'clock, Ali, with six of his courtiers, came riding to my hut, and told me to fol- low them. I readily complied. But here a new difficulty occur- red. The Moors, accustomed to a loose and easy dress, could not reconcile themselves to the appearance of my nankeen breeches^ which they said were not only inelegant, but, on ac- count of their tightness, very indecent; and as this was a visit to ladies, Ali ordered my boy to bring out the loose cloak which I had always worn since my arrival at Benowm, and told me to wrap it close round me. We visited the tents of four dif- ferent ladies, at every one of which I was presented with a bowl of milk and water. All these ladies were remarkably corpulent, which is considered here as the highest mark of beauty. They were very in- quisitive, and examined my hair and skin with great attention, but affected to consider me as a sort of inferior being to them- selves, and would knit their brows and seem to shudder when they looked at the white- ness of my skin. The Moors areceUdinly very good horseme:.. They ride without fear — their saddles be- ing high before and behind, afford them a very secure seat ; and if they chance to fall, the whole country is so soft and sandy, that they aro veiy seldom hurt. Their greatest pride, and one of their principal amuse- ments, is to put the horse to its full speed, and then stop hirs with a sudden jerk, so as fre- quently to bring him down upon his haunches. Ali always rode upon a milk-white horse, with its tail dyed red. He never walked, unless when he went to say his prayers ; and even in the night, two or three horses were always kept ready saddled, at a little distance from his own tent. The Moors set a very high value upon their horses ; for it is by theii superior fleetness that they are enabled to make so many pre- datory excursions into the negro countries. They feed them three or four times a day, and generally give them a large quantity of sweet milk in the evening, which the horses ap- pear to relish very much. April 3. — ^This forenoon, a child, which had been some time sickly, died in the next tent; and the mother and relations immediately began the death- howl. They were joined by a "number of female visitors, who came on purpose to assist at this melancholy concert. I had no opportunity of seeing the burial, which is generally per- formed secretly, in the dusk of I the evening, and frequently at only a few yards' distance from the tent. Over the grave they plant one particular shrub, and no stranger is allowed to pluck a leaf, or even to touch it— sfl| great a veneration have tf for the dead. April 7.— About four o'clockj in the afternoon a whirlwind | RS. PARK'S LIFE AND TRA VELS. 451 , then stop him I jerk, so as fre- ring him down :hes. Ali always milk-white horse, dyed red. He unless when he his prayers ; and ight, two or three iways kept ready little distance from The Moors set value upon their it is by theii :ness that they are lake so many pre- iions into the negro They feed them r times a day, and ive them a large sweet milk in the ich the horses ap- 1 very much. -This forenoon, a had been some tirae in the next tent; •ther and relations began the death- ^ were joined by a ■emale visitors, who (urpose to assist at holy concert. I had [nity of seeing the \i is generally per- itly, in the duskol , and frequently at 'ards' difiUnce from ;ver the grave they articular shrub, and is allowed to pluck en to touch it-so eration have thejj -About four o'clock ;rnoon a whir passed through the camp with such violence that it overturned three tents, and blew down one side of my hut. These whirl- winds come from the Great Desert, and at this season of the year are so common that I have seen five or six of them at one time. They carry up quantities of sand to an amaz- ing height, which resemble, at a distance, so many moving pillars of smoke. The scorching heat of the sun, upon a dry and sandy country, makes the air insuffer- ably hot. Ali having robbed me of my thermometer, I had no means of forming a compar- ative judgment ; but in the middle of the day, when the beams of the vertical sun are seconded by the scorching wind from the desert, the ground is frequently heated to such a de- gree as not to be borne by the naked foot. Even the negro slaves will not run from one tent to another without their sandals. At this time of the day the Moors lie stretched at length in their tents, either asleep, or unwilling to move ; and I have often felt the wind $9 hot, that I could not hold niy hand in the current of air which came through the cre- vices of my hut without feeling sensible pain. April 8. — This day the wind blew from the south-west ; and in the night there was a heavy shower of rain, accompanied with thunder and lightning. April 10, — In the evening the tabaldy or large drum, was beat to announce a wedding, which was held at oneof the neighbour- ing tents. A great number of people of both sexes assembled, but without that mirth and hilarity which take place at a negro wedding. Here was neither singing nor dancing, nor any other amusement that I could perceive. A woman was beating the drum, and the other women joining at times like a chorus, by setting up a shrill scream, and at the same time moving their tongues from one side of the mouth to the other with great celerity. I was soon tired, and had returned into my hut, where I was sitting almost asleep, when an old woman entered with a wooden bowl in her hand, and signified that she had brought me a present from the bride. Before I could re- cover from the surprise which this message created, the woman discharged the contents of the bowl full in my face. Finding that it was the same sort of holy water with which, among the Hottentots, a priect is said to sprinkle a newly-married couple, I began to suspect that the old lady was actuated by mischief or malice ; but she gave me seriously to understand that it was a nuptial benediction from the bride's own per- son, and which, on such occa- sions, is always received by the young unmarried Moors as a mark of distinguished favour. This being the case, I wiped my face, and sent my acknow- ■tVi^i v^**- 'lAil <1 m ■I'l :! 452 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, : :l! ledgments to the lady. The wedding drum continued to beat, and the women to sing, or rather whistle, all night. About nine in the morning, the bride was brought in state from her mother's tent, attended by a number of women, who carried her tent (a present from the husband), some bearing up the poles, others holding by the strings ; and in this manner they marched, whistling as formerly, until they came to the place appointed for her residence, where they pitched the tent. The husband followed, with a number of men, leading four bullocks, which they tied to the tent strings ; and having killed another, and distributed the beef among the people, the ceremony was concluded. CHAPTER XI. One whole month had now elapsed since I was led into captivity, during^ which time each returning da ought me fresh distresses. I watched the ling- ering course of the sun with anxiety, and blessed his evening beams as they shed a yellow lustre along the sandy floor of my hut ; for it was then that my oppressors left me, and allowed me to pass the sultry night in solitude and reflection. About midnight a bowl of kouskoas, with some salt and water, were brought for me and my two attendants. This was our common fare, and it was all that was allowed us to allay the cravings of hunger and support nature for the whole of the following day ; for it is to be observed that this was the Mohammedan Lent, and as the Moors keep the fast with a re- ligious strictness, they thought it proper to compel me, though a Christian, to a similar observ- ance. Time, however, some- what reconciled me to my situa- tion. I found that I could bear hunger and thirst better than I expected; and at length I en- deavoured to beguile the tedi- ous hours by learning to write Arabic. April 14. — As Queen Fatirna had not yet arrived, Ali pro- posed to go to the north and bring her back with him ; but as the place was two days' journey from Benowm, it was necessary to have some refresh- ment on the road; and Ali, suspicious of those about hira, was so afraid of being poisoned, that he never ate anything but what was dressed under his own immediate inspection. A fine bullock was therefore killed, and the flesh being cut up into thin slices, was dried in the sun ; and this, with two bags of dry kouskous, formed his tra- velling provisions. Previous to his departure, the black people of the town of Benowm came, according to their annual custom, to show their arms, and bring their stipulated tribute of corn and cloth. They were but badly PARK'S LIFE AND TEA VELS. 453 fare, and it was owed us to allay of hunger and for the whole of 3ay; for it is to hat this was the Lent, and as the be fast with a re- ;ss, they thought mpel me, though a similar observ- however, some- d me to my situa- that I could bear irst better than I i at length I en- beguile the tedi- learning to write armed — twenty-two with mus- kets, forty or fifty with bows and arrows, and nearly the same number of men and boys with spears only. They arranged themselves before the tent, where they waited nntil their arms were examined, and some little disputes settled. About midnight on the i6th, Ali departed quietly from Be- nowm, accompanied by a few attendants. He was expected to return in the course of nine or ten days. April 1 8. — Two days after the departure of Ali, a shereef arrived with salt and some other articles from Walet, the capital of the kingdom of Biroo. As there was no tent appropriated for him, he took up his abode in the same hut with me. He seemed to be a well-informed man, and his acquaintance both with the Arabic and Bambarra tongues enabled him to travel with ease and safety through a number of kingdoms; for though his place of residence was Walet, he had visited Housga, and had lived some years at Timbuctoo. Upon my inquiring so particularly about the distance from Walet to Timbuctoo, he asked me if I intended to travel that way ; and being answered in the affir- mative, he shook his head, and said, it would not do ; for that Christians were looked upon there as the devil's children, and enemies to the Prophet. From him I learned the follow- ing particulars : — That Houssa was the largest town he had ever seen : that Walet was larger than Timbuctoo, but being re- mote from the Niger, and its trade consisting chiefly of salt, it was not so much resorted to by strangers : that between Be- nowm and Walet was ten days' journey ; but the road did not lead through any remarkable towns, and travellers supported themselves by purchasing milk from the Arabs, who keep their herds by the watering-places : two of the days' journeys was over a sandy country, without water. From Walet to Tim- buctoo was eleven days more ; but water was more plentiful, and the journey was usually performed upon bullocks. He said there were many Jews at Timbuctoo, but they all spoke Arabic, and used the same prayers as the Moors. He fre- quently pointed his hand to the south-east quarter, or rather the east by south, observing that Timbuctoo was situated in that direction ; and though I made him repeat this information again and again, I never found him to vary more than half a point, which was to the south- ward. April 24. — This morning Shereef Sidi Mahomed Moora Abdalla, a native of Morocco, arrived with five bullocks loaded with salt. He had formerly re- sided some months at Gibraltar, where he had picked up as much English as enabled him to make himself understood. He in- i formed me that he had been r|. n4A ■W' |;t..^ ii \ !;■( ! f ■ m 11 454 TffB ENGLISH EXPLORERS, five months in coming from Santa Craz; but that great part of the time had been spent in trading. When I requested him to enumerate the days em- ployed in travelling from Mo- rocco to Benowm, he gave them as follows: — To Swera, three days ; to Agadier, three ; to Jinikin, ten ; to Wadenoon, four ; to Lakeneig, five ; to Zeeriwin-zerimani, five; to Ti- sheet, ten ; to Benowm, ten — in all, fifty days : but travellers usually rest a long while at Jinikin and Tisheet — at the latter of which places they dig the rock salt, which is so great an article of commerce with the negroes. In conversing with these she- reefs, and the different strangers that resorted to the camp, I passed my time with rather less uneasiness than formerly. On the other hand, as the dressing of my victuals was now left en- tirely to the care of All's slaves, over whom I had not the smallest control, I found my- self but ill supplied, worse even than in the fast month : for two successive nights they neglected to send us our accustomed meal ; and though my boy went to a small negro town near the camp, and begged with great diligence from hut to hut, he could only procure a few hand- fuls of ground nuts, which he readily shared with me. We had been for some days in daily expectation of Ali's re- turn from Saheel (or the north countrj') with his wife Fatima. In the meanwhile, Mansong, king of Bambarra, as I have related in Chapter viir., had sent to Ali for a party of horse to assist in storming Gedin- gooma. With this demand Ali had not .only refused to comply, but had treated the messengers with great haughtiness and con- tempt; upon which Mansong gave up all thoughts of taking the town, and prepared to chas- tise Ali for his contumacy. Things were in this situation when, on the 29th of April, a messenger arrived at Benowm with the disagreeable intelli- gence that the Bambarra army was approaching the frontiers of Ludamar. This threw the whole country into confusion, and in the afternoon All's son, with about twenty horsemen, arrived at Benowm. He ordered all the cattle to be driven away immediately, all the tents to be struck, and the people to hold themselves in readiness to de- part at daylight the next morn- ing. April 30. — At daybreak the whole camp was in motion. The baggage was carried upon bullocks — the two tent poles being placed one on each side, and the different wooden articles of the tent distributed in like manner; the tent cloth was thrown over all, and upon this was commonly placed one or two women; for the Moorish women are very bad walkers. The king's favourite concubines rode upon camels, with a saddle of a particular construction, and mwhile, Mansong, nbarra, as I have Dhapter viir., had or a party of horse storming Gedin- th this demand Ali refused to comply, :ed the messengers ughtiness and con- 1 which Mansong thoughts of taking i prepared to chas- is contumacy, re in this situation i 29th of April, a -rived at Benowm isagreeable intelli- he Bambarra army hing the frontiers , This threw the ry into confusion, ftemoon Ali's son, twenty horsemen, owm. He ordered to be driven away all the tents to be ie people to hold readiness to de- It the next mom- -At daybreak the was in motion. was carried upon two tent poles one on each side, :nt wooden articles istributed in like tent cloth was 11, and upon this y placed one or for the Moorish ery bad walkers. ourite concubines lels, with a saddle construction, and PARK'S LIFE AND TEA VELS. 455 a canopy to shelter them from the sun. We proceeded to the northward until noon, when the king's son ordered the whole company, except two tents, to enter a thick low wood which was upon our right. I was sent along with the two tents, and arrived in the evening at a negro town called Farani : here we pitched the tents in an open place at no great distance from the town. May I. — As I had some rea- son to suspect that this day was also to be considered as a fast, I went in the morning to the negro town of Farani, and begged some provisions from the dooty, who readily supplied my wants, and desired me to come to his house every day during my stay in the neighbour- hood. These hospitable people are looked upon by the Moors as an abject race of slaves, and are treated accordingly. May 3. — We departed from the vicinity of Farani, and after a circuitous route through the woods, arrived at Ali's camp in the afternoon. This encamp- ment was larger than that of Benowm, and was situated in the middle of a thick wood, about two miles distant from a negro town called Bubaker. I immediately waited upon Ali, in order to pay my respects to Queen Fatima, who had come with him from Saheel. He seemed much pleased with my coming, shook hands with me, and informed his wife that I was the Christian. She was a woman of the Arab caste, with long black hair, and remark- ably corpulent. She appeared at first rather shocked at the thought of having a Christian so near her; but when I had, by means of a negro boy who spoke the Mandingo and Arabic tongues, answered a great many questions which her curiosity suggested respecting the country of the Christians, she seemed more at ease, and presented me with a bowl of milk, which I considered as a very favourable omen. The heat was now almost in- suflferable — all nature seemed sinking under it. The distant country presented to the eye a dreary expanse of sand, with a few stunted trees and prickly bushes, in the shade of which the hungry cattle licked up the withered grass, while the camels and goats picked off the scanty foliage. The scarcity of water was greater here than at Be- nowm. Day and night the wells were crowded with cattle, lowing and fighting with each other to come at the troughs. Excessive thirst made many of them furious; others, being too weak to contend for the water, endeavoured to quench their thirst by devouring the black mud from the gutters near the wells, which they did with great avidity, though it was commonly fatal to them. One night, having solicited in vain for water at the camp, and been quite feverish, I re- solved to try my fortune at the :f' > •1 ;. ■! ;■ ?:'■.:.:? m 4S6 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, < ill 1- . wells, which were about half a mile distant from the camp. Accordingly I set out about midnight, and being guided by the lowing of the cattle, soon arrived at the place, where I found the Moors very busy drawing water. I requested permission to drink, but was driven away with outrageous abuse. Passing, however, from one well to another, I came at last to one where there was only an old man and two boys. I made the same request to this man, and he immediately drew me up a bucket of water ; but, as I was about to take hold of it, he recollected that I was a Christian, and fearing that his bucket might be polluted by my lips, he dashed the water into the trough, and told me to drink from thence. Though this trough was none of the largest, and three cows were already drinking from it, I re- solved to come in for my share ; and kneeling down, thrust my head between two of the cows, and drank with great pleasure, until the water was nearly ex- hausted, and the cows began to contend with each other for the last mouthful. In adventures of this nature I passed the sultry month of May, during which no material change took place in my situa- tion. All still considered me as a lawful prisoner; and Fatima, though she allowed me a larger quantity of victuals than I had been accustomed to receive at Benowm, had as yet said no- thing on the subject of my release. In the meantime, the frequent changes of the wind, the gathering clouds, and dis- tant lightning, with other ap- pearances of approaching rain, indicated that the wet season was at hand, when the Moors annually evacuate the country of the negroes, and return to the skirts of the Great Desert. This made me consider that my fate was drawing towards a crisis, and I resolved to wait for the event without any seem- ing uneasiness; but circum- stances occurred which pro- duced a change in my favour more suddenly than I had fore- seen or had reason to expect. The case was this : — The fugi- tive Kaartans, who had taken refuge in Ludamar, as I have related in Chapter viii., finding that the Moors were about to leave them, and dreading the resentment of their own sove- reign, whom they had so basely deserted, offered to treat with Ali for two hundred Moorish horsemen, to co-operate with them in an effort to expel Daisy from Gedingooma ; for until Daisy should be vanquished or humbled, they considered that they could neither return to their native towns, nor live in security in any of the neigh- bouring kingdoms. With a view to extort money from these people by means of this treaty, Ali despatched his son to Jarra, and prepared to follow him in the course of a few days. This was an opportunity of loo PARK'S LIFE AND TEA VELS, 457 great consequence to me to be neglected. I immediately ap- plied to Fatima, who, I found, had the chief direction in all affairs of state, and begged her interest with Ali to give me permission to accompany him to Jarra. This request, after some hesitation, was favourably received. Fatima looked kindly on me, and, I believe, was at length moved with compassion towards me. My bundles were brought from the large cow-skin bag that stood in the corner of Ali's tent, and I was ordered to explain the use of the different articles, and show the method of putting on the boots, stock- ings, etc. — with all which I cheerfully complied, and was told that in the course of a few days I should be at liberty to depart. Believingj therefore, that I should certainly find the means of escaping from Jarra, if I should once get thither, I now freely indulged the pleasing hope that my captivity would soon terminate ; and happily not having been disappointed in this idea, I shall pause in this place to collect and bring into one point of view, such observations on the Moorish cl aracter and country as I had no fair opportunity of intro- ducing into the preceding nar- rative. CHAPTER XII. The Moors of this part of Africa are divided into many separate tribes, of which the most formid- able, according to what was re- ported to me, are those of Tra- sart and II Braken, which in- habit the northern bank of the Senegal river. The tribes of Gedumah, Jaffnoo, and Luda- mar, though not so numerous as the former, are nevertheless very powerful and warlike, and are each governed by a chief, or king, who exercises absolute jurisdiction over his own horde, without acknowledging allegi- ance to a common sovereign. In time of peace, the employ- ment of the people is pastur- age. The Moors, indeed, sub- sist chiefly on the flesh of their cattle, and are always in the extreme of either gluttony or abstinence. In consequence of the frequent and severe fasts which their religion enjoins, and the toilsome journeys which they sometimes undertake across the desert, they are enabled to bear both hunger and thirst with surprising fortitude ; but whenever opportunities occur of satisfying their appetite, they generally devour more at one meal than would serve a Euro- pean for three. They pay but little attention to agriculture, purchasing their corn, cotton cloth, and other necessaries from the negroes, in exchange for salt, which they dig from the pits in the Great Desert. W I .5M (•■'••.'VSl, ■■■' ■•,i>'i's'^'^l r fa; ' i] 4';8 Tff£ ENGLISH EXPLORERS. The natural barrenness of the country is such, that it furnishes but few materials for manufac- ture. The Moors, however, contrive to weave a strong cloth, with which they cover their tents ; the thread is spun by their women from the hair of goats, and they prepare the hides of their cattle so as to furnish saddles, bridles, pouches, and other articles of leather. They are likewise sufficiently skilful to convert the native iron, which they procure from the negroes, into spears and knives, and also into pots for boiling their food ; but their sabres, and other weapons, as well as their fire-arms and an munition, they purchase from the Europeans, in exchange for the negro slaves which they ob- .tain in their predatory excur- sions. Their chief commerce of this kind is with the French traders on the Senegal river. The Moors are rigid Moham- medans, and possess, with the bigotry and superstition, all the intolerance of their sect. They have no mosques at Benowm, but perform their devotions in a sort of open shed, or enclo- sure, made of mats. The priest is, at the same time, school- master to the juniors. His pupils assemble every evening before his tent ; where, by the light of a large fire, made of brushwood and cow's dung, they are taught a few sentences from the Koran, and are initiat- ed into the principles of their creed. Their alphabet differs but little from that in Richard- son's Arabic Grammar. They always write with the vowel points. Their priests even affect to know something of foreign literature. The priest of Benowm assured me that he could read the writings of the Christians : he showed me a number of barbarous characters, which he asserted were the Roman alphabet ; and he pro- duced another specimen, equally unintelligible, which he declared to be the Kallam il Indi^ or Persian. His library consisted of nine volumes in quarto; most of them, I believe, were books of religion — for the name of Mohammed appeared, in red letters, in almost every page of each; His scholars wrote their lessons upon thin boards ; paper being too expensive for general use. The boys were diligent enough, and appeared to pos- sess aconsiderable share of emu- lation — carrying their boards slung over their shoulders, when about their common employ- ments. When a boy has com- mitted to memory a few of their prayers, and can read and write certain parts of the Koran, he is reckoned sufficiently instructed ; and, with this slender stock of learning, commences his career of life. Proud of his acquire- ments, he surveys with contempt the unlettered negro ; and em- braces every opportunity of dis- playing his superiority over such of his countrymen as are not distinguished by the same ac- complishments. PARK'S LIFE AND TRA VELS. 459 The education of the girls is neglected altogether : mental accomplishments are but little attended to by the women; nor is the want of them con- sidered by the men as a defect in the female character. They are regarded, I believe, as an inferior species of animals ; and seem to be brought up for no other purpose than that of administering to the sensual pleasures of their imperious masters. Voluptuousness is therefore considered aS their chief accomplishment, and slavish submission as their in- dispensable duty. The Moors have singular ideas of feminine perfection. The gracefulness of figure and mo- tion, and a countenance en- livened by expression, are by no means essential points in their standard. With them cor- pulence and beauty appear to be terms nearly synonymous. A woman of even moderate pretensions must be one who cannot walk without a slave under each arm to support her ; and a perfect beauty is a load for a camel. In consequence of this prevalent taste for un- wieldiness of bulk, the Moorish ladies take great pains to ac- quire it early in life ; and for this purpose many of the young girls are compelled by their mothers to devour a great quan- tity of kouskous, and drink a large bowl of camel's milk every moming. It is of no import- ance whether the girl has an appetite or not ; the kouskous and milk must be swallowed, and obedience is frequently enforced by blows. I have seen a poor girl sit crying, with the bowl at her lips, for more than an hour, and her mother, with a stick in her hand, watch- ing her all the while, and using the stick without mercy when- ever she observed that her daughter was not swallowing. This singular practice, instead of producing indigestion and disease, soon covers the young lady with that degree of plump- ness which, in the eye of a Moor, is perfection itself. As the Moors purchase all their clothing from the negroes, the women are forced to be very economical in the article of dress. In general ihey con- tent themselves with a broad piece of cotton cloth, which is wrapped round the middle, and hangs down like a petticoat almost to the ground. To the upper part of this are sewed two square pieces, one before and the other behind, which are fastened together over the shoulders. The head-dress is commonly a bandage of cotton cloth, with some parts of it broader than others, which serve to conceal the face when they walk in the sun. Fre- quently, however, when they go abroad, they veil themselves from head to foot. The emplo3mient of the wo- men varies according to their degrees of opulence. Queen Fatima, and a few others of high rank, like the great ladies 'Vrn^rn 'mm ■ ■tl:. m >■ .,•1. It 460 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. in some parts of Europe, pass their time chiefly in conversing with their visitors, performing their devotions, or admiring their charms in a looking-glass. The women of inferior class employ themselves in different domestic duties. They are very vain and talkative ; and when anything puts them out of humour, they commonly vent their anger upon their female slaves, over whom they rule with severe and despotic autho- rity, which leads me to observe that the condition of these poor captives is deplorably wretched. At daybreak they are compelled to fetch water from the wells in large skins, called girbas; and as soon as they have brought water enough to serve the family for the day, as well as the horses (for the floors seldom give their horses the trouble of going to the wells), they are then em- ployed in pounding the com and dressing the victuals. This being always done in the open air, the slaves are exposed to the combined heat of the sun, the sand, and the fire. In the intervals, it is their business to sweep the tent, churn the milk, and perform other domestic offices. With all this they are badly fed, and oftentimes cruelly punished. The men's dress, among the Moors of Ludamar, differs but little from that of the negroes, which has been already de- scribed, except that they have all adopted that characteristic of the Mohammedan sect, the turbaUy which is here universally made of white cotton cloth. Such of the Moors as have long beards display them with a mixture of pride and satisfaction, as denoting an Arab ancestry. Of this number was Ali himself ; but among the generality of the people the hair is short and bushy, and universally black. And here I may be permitted to observe, that if any one cir- cumstance excited among them favourable thoughts towards my own person, it was my beard, which was now grown to ah enormous length, and was always beheld with approbation or envy. I believe, in my conscience, they thought it too good a beard for a Christian. The only diseases which I observed to prevail among the Moors, were the intermittent fever and dysentery — for the cure of which nostrums are sometimes administered by their old women, but in general nature is left to her own opera- tions. Mention was made to me of the small-pox as being sometimes very destructive ; but it had not, to my know- ledge, made its appeararce in Ludamar while I was in captivity. That it prevails, however, among some tribes of the Moors, and that it is fre- quently conveyed by them to the negroes in the southern states, I was assured on the authority of Dr. Laidley, who also informed me that the ne- groes on the Gambia practise inoculation. PARK'S LIFE AND TRA VELS, 461 le intermittent The administration of crimi- nal justice, as far as I had op- portunities of observing, was prompt and decisive ; for al- though civil rights were but little regarded in Ludamar, it was necessary, when crimes were committed, that examples should sometimes be made. On such occasions, the offender was brought before Ali, who pro- nounced, of his sole authority, what judgment he thought pro- per. But I understood that capital punishment was seldom or never inflicted, except on the negroes. Although the wealth of the Moors consists chiefly in their numerous herds of cattle, yet, as the pastoral life does not afford full employment, the majority of the people are per- fecwly idle, and spend the day in trifling conversation about their horses, or inlaying schemes of depredation on the negro villages. Of the number of All's Moor- ish subjects, I had no means of forming a correct estimate. The military strength of Luda- mar consists in cavalry. They are well mounted, and appear to be very expert in skirmishing and attacking by surprise. Every soldier furnishes his own horse, and finds his accoutre- ments, consisting of a large sabre, a double-barrelled gun, a small red leather bag for holding his balls, and a pow- der-horn slung over the shoul- der. He has no pay, nor any remuneration but what arises from plunder. This body is not very numerous ; for when Ali made war upon Bambarra, I was informed that his whole force did not exceed two thou- sand cavalry. They constitute, however, by what I could learn, but a very small proportion of his Moorish subjects. The horses are very beautiful, and so highly esteemed, that the negro princes will sometimes give from twelve to fourteen slaves for one horse. Ludamar has for its northern boundary the great desert of Sahara. From the best inquiries I could make, this vast ocean of sand, which occupies so large a space in northern Africa, may be pronounced almost destitute of inhabitants, except where the scanty vegetation which ap- pears in certain spots affords pasturage for the flocks of a few miserable Arabs, who wan- der from one well to another. In other places, where the sup- ply of water and pasturage is more abundant, small parties of the Moors have taken up their residence. Here they live, in independent poverty, secure from the tyrannical government of Barbary. But the greater part of the desert, being totally destitute of water, is seldom visited by any human being, unless where the trading caravans trace out their toil- some and dangerous route across it. In some parts of this extensive waste, the ground is covered with low stunted shrubi:, which serve as landmarks for s\ Hfi^ <' m •^ Y ''11 iiil ^ ▼^ .0. ^f^ t IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 1.1 21 12.5 ■50 ■M/' ^ ^ 12.2 I: I Ul Hfi :^ 1^ 12.0 1 1.25 1 1.4 1.6 ^= 1111=3= == *l 6" ► ^ '/ f Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 145S0 (716) 872-4503 'V- 46: THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. m the caravans, and furnish the camels with a scanty forage. In other parts the disconsolate wanderer, wherever he turns, sees nothing around him but a vast interminable expanse of sand and sky — a gloomy and barren void, where the eye finds no particular object to rest upon, and the mind is filled with painful apprehensions of perishing with thirst. The few wild animals which inhabit these melancholy re- gions are the antelope and the ostrich ; their swiftness of foot enabling them to reach the dis- tant watering-places. On the skirts of the desert, where water is more plentiful, are found lions, panthers, elephants, and wild boars. Of domestic animals, the only one that can endure the fatigue of crossing the desert is the camel. By the particu- lar con formation of the stomach, he is enabled to carry a supply of water sufficient for ten or twelve days ; his broad and yielding foot is well adapted for a sandy country ; and, by a singular motion of his upper lip, he picks the smallest leaves from the thorny shrubs of the desert as he passes along. The camel is, therefore, the only beast of burden employed by the trading caravans, which tra- verse the desert in different directions, from Barbary to Nigritia. As this useful and docile creature has been suffi- ciently described by systemati- cal writers, it is unnecessary for me to enlarge upon his pro- perties. I shall only add, that his flesh, though to my own taste dry and unsavoury, is pre- ferred by the Moors to any other; and that the milk of the female is in universal esteem, and is indeed sweet, pleasant, and nutritive. I have observed that the Moors, in their complexion, resemble the mulattoes of the West Indies; but they have something unpleasant in their aspect, which the mulattoes have not. I fancied that I discovered in the features of most of them a disposition to- wards cruelty and low cunning ; and I could never contemplate their physiognomy without feel- ing sensible uneasiness. From the staring wildness of their eyes, a stranger would imme- diately set them down as a nation of lunatics. The treachery and malevolence of their char- acter are manifested in their plundering excursions against the negro villages. Oftentimes without the smallest provoca- tion, and sometimes under the fairest professions of friendship, they will suddenly seize upon the negroes' cattle, and even on the inhabitants themselves. The negroes very seldom re- taliate. Like the roving Arabs, the Moors frequently remove from one place to another, according to the season of the year or the convenience of pasturage. In the month of February, when the heat of the sun scorches up PARK'S LIFE AND TRA VELS. 463 every sort of vegetation in the desert, they strike their tents and approach the negro country to the south, where they reside until the rains commence, in the month of July. At this time, having purchased corn and other necessaries from the negroes, in exchange for salt, they again de- part to the northward, and con- tinue in the desert until the rains are over, and that part of the country becomes burnt 'p and barren. This wandering and restless way of life, while it inures them to hardships, strengthens at the same time the bonds of their httle society, and creates in them an aversion towards strangers which is almost insurmountable. Cut off from all intercourse with civilized nations, and boasting an advantage over the negroes, by possessing, though in a very limited degree, the knowledge of letters, they are at once the vainest and proudest, and per- haps the most bigoted, fero- cious, and intolerant of all the nations on the earth — combin- ing in their character the blind superstition of the negro with the savage cruelty and treach- ery of the Arab. CHAPTER XIII. Having, as hath been related, obtained permission to accom- pany Ali to Jarra, I took leave of Queen Fatima, who, with much grace and civility, returned me part of my apparel ; and the evening before my departure, my horse, with the saddle and bridle, were sent me by AU's order. Early on the morning of the 26th of May I departed from the camp of Bubaker, accom- panied by my two attendants, Johnson and Demba, and a number of Moors on horseback, Ali, with about fifty horsemen, having gone privately from the camp during the night. We stopped about noon at Farani, and were there joined by twelve Moors riding upon camels, and with them we proceeded to a watering-place in the woods, where we overtook Ali and his fifty horsemen. They were lodged in some low shepherds' tents near the wells. May 28. — Early in the morn- ing the Moors saddled their horses, and All's chief slave ordered me to get in readiness. In a little time the same mes- senger returned, and, taking my boy by the shoulder, told him, in the Mandingo language, that * Ali was to be his master in future ;' and then turning to me, * The business is settled at last,' said he ; * the boy, and every- thing but your horse, goes back to Bubaker, but you may take the old fool' (meaning Johnson the interpreter) * with you to Jarra.' I made him no answer ; but being shocked beyond de- scription at the idea of losing the poor boy, I hastened to Ali, who was at breakfast before his tent, surrounded by many of his I .» (t» 464 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. 1 1! !t courtiers. I told him (perhaps in rather too passionate a strain), that whatever imprudence I had been guilty of in coming into his country, I thought I had already been sufficiently pun- ished for it by being so long detained, and then plundered of all my little property ; which, however, gave me no uneasiness when compared with what he had just now done to me. I observed that the boy whom he had now seized upon was not a slave, and had been accused of no offence ; he was, indeed, one of my attendants, and his faith- ful services in that station had procured him his freedom. His fidelity and attachment had made him follow me into my present situation, and, as he looked up to me for protection, I could not see him deprived of his liberty without remonstrating against such an act as the height of cruelty and injustice. Ali made no reply, but, with a haughty air and malignant smile, told his interpreter that if I did not mount my horse immediately he would send me back likewise. There is something in the frown of a tyrant which rouses the most secret emotions of the heart : I could not suppress my feelings, and for once enter- tained an indignant wish to rid the world of such a monster. Poor Demba was not less affected than myself. He had formed a strong attachment to- wards me, and had a cheerful- ness of disposition which often beguiled the tedious hours of captivity. He was likewise a proficient in the Bambarra tongue, and promised on that account to be of great utility to me in future. But it was in vain to expect anything favour- able to humanity from people who are strangers to its dic- tates. So, having shaken hands with this unfortunate boy, and blended my tears with his, as- suring him, however, that I would do my utmost to redeem him, I saw him led off by three of All's slaves towards the camp at Bubaker. When the Moors had mounted their horses I was ordered to follow them, and, after a toil- some journey through the woods in a very sultry day, we arrived in the afternoon at a walled village called Doombani, where we remained two days, waiting for the arrival of some horse- men from the northward. On the I St of June we de- parted from Doombani to- wards Jarra. Our company now amounted to two hundred men, all on horseback, for the Moors never use infantry in their wars. They appeared capable of en- during great fatigue ; but from their total want of discipline, our journey to Jarra was more like a fox-chase than the march of an army. At Jarra I took up my lodging at the house of my old acquaint- ance, Daman Jumma, and in- formed him of everything that had befallen me. I particularly requested him to use his interest with Ali to redeem my boy, and •i^ PACK'S LIFE AND TRA VELS. 465 ; was likewise 1 the Bambarra romised on that 3f great utility to But it was in anything favour- lity from people igers to its dic- ing shaken hands rtunate boy, and ;ars with his, as- liowever, that I itmost to redeem 1 led off by three towards the camp ok up my lodging my old acquaint- Jumma, and in- f everything that le. I particularly JO use his interest eem my boy, and promised him a bill upon Dr. Laidley for the value of two slaves the moment he brought him to Jarra. Daman very readily undertook to negotiate the business, but found that Ali considered the boy as my prin- cipal interpreter, and was un- willing to part with him, lest he should fall a second time into my hands, and be instrumental in conducting me to Bambarra. Ali, therefore, put off the matter from day to day, but withal told Daman, that if he wished to purchase the boy for himself, he should have him thereafter at the common price of a slave, which Daman agreed to pay for him whenever All should send him to Jarra. The chief object of Ali, in this journey to Jarra, as I have already related, was to procure money from such of the Kaar- tans as had taken refuge in his country. Some of these had solicited his protection to avoid the horrors of war, but by far the greatest number of them were dissatisfied men, who wished the ruin of their own sovereign. These people no sooner heard that the Bambarra army had re- turned to Sego without subduing Daisy, as was generally ex- pected, than they resolved to make a sudden attack them- selves upon him before he could recruit his forces, which were now known to be much dimi- nished by a bloody campaign, and in great want of provisions. With this view they solicited the Moors to join them, and offered to hire of Ali two hundred horsemen, which Ali, with the warmest professions of friend- ship, agreed to furnish, upon condition that they should pre- viously supply him with four hundred head of cattle, two hundred garments of blue cloth, and a considerable quantity of beads and ornaments. June 8. — In the afternoon Ali sent his chief slave to inform me that he was about to return to Bubaker ; but as he would only stay there a few days to keep the approaching festival {banna salee)i and then return to Jarra, I had permission to remain with Daman until his return. This was joyful news to me ; but I had experienced so many disappointments, that I was un- willing to indulge the hope of its being true, until Johnson came and told me that Ali, with part of the horsemen, were actually gone from the town, and that the rest were to follow him in the morning. June 9. — Early in the morn- ing the remainder of the Moors departed from the town. They had, during their stay, com- mitted many acts of robbery; and this morning, with the most unparalleled audacity, they seized upon three girls, who were bringing water from the wells, and carried them away into slavery. June 12. — Two people, dread- fully wounded, were discover«d at a watering-place in the woods; one of them had just breathed his last, but the other was 2 G 466 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, '\ II i brought alive to Jarra. On re- covering a little, he informed the people that he had fled through the woods from Kas- son ; that Daisy had made war upon Sambo, the king of that country ; had surprised three of his towns, and put all the inhabitants to the sword. He enumerated by name many of the friends of the Jarra people who had been murdered in Kasson. This intelligence made the death-howl universal in Jarra for the space of two days. This piece of bad news was followed by another not less distressing. A number of run- away slaves arrived from Kaarta on the 14th, and reported that Daisy, having received informa- tion concerning the intended attack upon him, was about to visit Jarra. This made the negroes call upon Ali for the two hundred horsemen, which he was to furnish them accord- ing to engagement. But Ali paid very little attention to their remonstrances, and at last plainly told them that his cavalry were otherwise em- ployed. The negroes, thus de- serted by the Moors, and fully apprised that the king of Kaar- ta would show them as little clemency as he had shown the inhabitants of Kasson, resolved to collect all their forces, and hazard a battle before the king, who was now in great distress for want of provisions, should become too powerful for them. They therefore assembled about eight hundred effective men in the whole, and with these they entered Kaarta on the evening of the 1 8th of June. June 19. — This morning the wind shifted to the south-west • and about two o'clock in the afternoon we had a heavy tornado, or thunder-squall, ac- companied with rain, which greatly revived the face of nature, and gave a pleasant coolness to the air. This was the first rain that had fallen for many months. As every attempt to redeem my boy had hitherto been un- successful, and in all probability would continue to prove so whilst I remained in the country, I found that it was necessary for me to come to some deter- mination concerning my own safety before the rains should be fully set in ; for my land- lord, seeing no likelihood of being paid for his trouble, be- gan to wish me away — and Johnson, my interpreter, refus- ing to proceed, my situation be- came very perplexing. I de- termined to avail myself of the first opportunity of escaping, and to proceed directly for Bambarra, as soon as the rains had set in for a few days, so as to afford me the certainty of finding water in the woods. Such was my situation, when, on the evening of the 24th of June, I was startled by the report of some muskets close to the town, and, inquiring the reason, was informed that the Jarra army had returned from fighting Daisy, and that this RS. PARKS LIFE AND TRA VELS, 467 . with these they I on the evening June. rhis morning the 3 the south-west ; o'clock in the ; had a heavy lunder-squall, ac- /ith rain, which ed the face of gave a pleasant he air. This was that had fallen for • ttempt to redeem hitherto been un- d in all probability nue to prove so ined in the country, ; it was necessary me to some deter- ticeming my own ^ the rains should in ; for my land- no likelihood of or his trouble, be- 1 me away — and r interpreter, refus- d, my situation be- perplexing. I de- ivail myself of the inity of escaping, ceed directly for J soon as the rains r a few days, so as e the certainty of • in the woods, my situation, when, ing of the 24th of J startled by the le muskets close to ,nd, inquiring the informed that the ad returned from isy, and that this firing was by way of rejoicing. However, when the chief men of the town had assembled, and heard a full detail of the ex- pedition, they were by no means relieved from their uneasiness on Daisy's account. The de- ceitful Moors having drawn back from the confederacy, after being hired by the negroes, greatly dispirited the insurgents, who, instead of finding Daisy with a few friends concealed in the strong fortress tf Gedin- gooma, had found him at a town near Joka, in the open country, surrounded by so numerous an army that every attempt to attack him was at once given up; and the con- federates only thought of en- riching themselves by the plun- der of the small towns in the neighbourhood. They accord- ingly fell upon one of Daisy's towns, and carried off the whole of the inhabitants; but lest intelligence of this might reach Daisy, and induce him to cut off their retreat, they returned through the woods by night, bringing with them the slaves and cattle which they had captured. June 26. — This afternoon a spy from Kaarta brought the alarming intelligence that Daisy liad taken Simbing in the morn- ing, and would be in Jarra some time in the course of the ensuing day. Early in the morning nearly one-half of the townspeople took the road for Bambarra, by the way of Deena. Their departure was very affecting — the women and chil- dren crying — the men sullen and dejected — and all of them looking back with regret on their native town, and on the wells and rocks beyond which their ambition had never tempted them to stray, and where they had laid all their plans of future happiness — all of which they were now forced to abandon, and to seek shelter among strangers. June 27. — About eleven o'clock in the forenoon we were alarmed by the sentinels, who brought information that Daisy was on his march towards Jarra, and that the confederate army had fled before him without firing a gun. The terror of the townspeople on this occasion is not easily to be described. Indeed, the screams of the women and children, and the great hurry and confusion that everywhere prevailed, made me suspect that the Kaartans had already entered the town ; and although I had every reason to be pleased with Daisy's be- haviour to me when I was at Kemmoo, I had no wish to expose myself to the mercy of his army, who might, in the general confusion, mistake me for a Moor. I therefore mounted my horse, and taking a large bag of com before me, rode slowly along with the towns- people, until we reached the loot of a rocky hill, where I dis- mounted and drove my horse up before me. When I had reached the summit I sat down, and 4. -%|m ^, >*'i Mj] 468 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. ^m '•n "I !t!ll| •ill" having a full view of the town and ihc nci^libourinj; country, could not help lanKMiling the situation of the poor inhabitants, who were thronging after me, driving their sheep, cows, goats, etc., ami carrying a scanty por- tion of provisions and a few clothes. There was a great noise and crying everywhere ui)on the road ; for many aged people and children were unable to walk, and these, with the sick, were obliged to be carried, otherwise they must have been left to certain destruction. About five o'clock we arrived at a small farm belonging to the Jarra people, called Kadeeja; and here 1 found Daman and Johnson employed in filling Urge bags of corn, to be car- ried upon bullocks, to serve as provisions for Daman's family on the road. /inie 28. — At daybreak we departed from Kadeeja, and, having passed Troongoomba without stopping, arrived in the afternoon at Queira. I re- mained here two days in order to recruit my horse, which the Moors had reduced to a perfect Rosinante, and to wait for the arrival of some Mandingo ne- groes, who were going for Bam- barra in the course of a few days. On the afternoon of the ist of July, as I was tending my horse in the fields, All's chief slave and four Moors arrived at Queira, and took up their lodging at the dooty's house. My interpreter, Johnson, who suspected the nature of this visit, sent two boys to overhear their conversation, from which he learnt that they were sent to convey me back to JUihaker. The same evening two of the Moors came privately to look at my horse, and one of them proposed taking it to the dooly's hut, but the other observed that sucli a precaution was unneces- sary, as I could never escape upon such an animal. They then incjuired where I slept, and returned to their companions. All this was like a stroke of thunder to me, for I dreaded nothing so much as confinement again among the Moors, from whose barbarity I had nothing but death to expect. I there- fore determined to set off im- mediately forBambarra — a mea- sure which I thought offered almost the only chance of saving my life and gaining the object of my mission. I communicated the design to Johnson, who, al- though he applauded my reso- lution, was so far from showing any inclination to accompany me, that he solemnly protested he would rather forfeit his wages than go any farther. He told me that Daman had agreed to give him half the price of a slave for his service to assist in con- ducting a cotfle of slaves to Gambia, and that he was deter- mined to embrace the oppor- tunity of returning to his wife and family. Having no hopes, therefore, of persuading him to accom- pany me, I resolved to proceed . : :» /^s. PARK'S LIFE AND TRA VELS. 460 L' nature of this \ boys to overhear utioii, from wliidi they were sent tu );ick to Jhihakcr. /ening two of the privately to h)ok and one of them ng it to the dooly's »tlier observed that ition was unneccs- )uld never escape in animal. Tiicy where I slept, and leir companions. IS like a stroke of ne, for I dreaded ich as confinement the Moors, from rity I had nothing expect. I thcre- led to set off im- Bambarra — a niea- I thought offered ly chance of saving gaining the object . I communicated Johnson, who, al- )plauded my reso- I far from showing )n to accompany olemnly protested er forfeit his wages farther. He told lan had agreed to he price of a slave to assist in con- file of slaves to that he was deter- brace the oppor- rning to his wife hopes, therefore, him to acconi- solved to proceed by myself. About midnight I got my clothes in readiness, which consisted of two shirts, two pair of trousers, two pocket- handkerchiefs, an upper and under waistcoat, a hat, and a pair of half-boots; these, with a cloak, constituted my whole wardrobe. And I had not one single bead, nor any other article of value in my posses- sion, to purchase victuals for myself or corn for my horse. About daybreak, Johnson, who had been listening to the Moors all night, came and whispered to me that they were asleep. The awful crisis was now arrived when I was again either to taste the blessing of freedom, or languish out my days in captivity. A cold sweat moistened my forehead as I thought on the dreadful alter- native, and reflected that, one way or another, my fate must be decided in the course of the ensuing day. But to deliberate was to lose the only chance of escaping. So, taking up my bundle, I stepped gently ovc^r the negroes, who were sleeping in the open air, and having mounted my horse, I bade John- son farewell, desiring him to take particular care of the pa- pers I had intrusted him with, and inform my friends in Gam- bia that he had left me in good health, on my way to Bambarra. I proceeded with great cau- tion, surveying each bush, and frequently listening and look- ing behind me for the Moorish horsemen, until I was about a mile from the town, when I was sur])rised to find myself in the neighbourhood of a korree belonging to the Moors. The shepherds followed me for about a mile, hooting and throwing stones after me ; and when I was out of their reach, and had begun to indulge the pleasing hopes of escaping, I was again greatly alarmed to hear some- body holloa behind me, and, looking back, I saw three Moors on horseback, coming after me at full speed, whooping and brandishing their double-bar- relled guns. I knew it was in vain td think of escaping, and therefore turned back and met them, when two of them caught hold of my bridle, one on each side, and the third, presenting his musket, told me I must go back to Ali. When the human mind has for some time been fluctuating between hope and despair, tortured with anxiety, and hurried from one extreme to another, it affords a sort of gloomy relief to know the wor^f. that can possibly happen. S'. ;^ was my situation. An indiffc. - ence about life and all its en- joyments had completely be- numbed my faculties, and I rode back with the Moors with ap- parent unconcern. But a change took place much sooner than I had any reason to expect. In passing through some thick bushes, one of the Moors or- dered me to untie my bundle and show them the contents. Having examined the different '«■: .'" KSu ih 470 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. 'Sri ' l-.lll til! articles, they found nothing worth taking except my cloak, which they considered as a very valuable acquisition, and one of them pulling it from me, wrap- ped it about himself, and, with one of his companions, rode off with their prize. When I at- tempted to follow them, the third, who had remained with me, struck my horse over the head, and, presenting his mus- ket, told me I should proceed no farther. I now perceived that these men had not been sent by any authority to appre- hend me, but had pursued me solely with the view to rob and plunder me. Turning my horse's head, therefore, once more towards the east, and ob- serving the Moor follow the track of his confederates, I con- gratulated myself on having escaped with my life, though in great distress, from such a horde of barbarians. I was no sooner out of sight of the Moor, than I struck into the woods to prevent being pur- sued, and kept pushing on with all possible speed, until I found myself near some high rocks, which I remembered to have seen in my former route from Queira to Deena, and, directing my course a little to the north- ward, I fortunately fell in with the path. CHAPTER XIV. It is impossible to describe the joy that arose in my mind, when I looked around and con- cluded that I was out of danger. I felt like one recovered from sickness ; I breathed freer ; I found unusual lightness in my limbs; even the desert looked pleasant; and I dreaded nothing so much as falling in with some wandering parties of Moors, who might convey me back to the land of thieves and murderers from which I had just escaped. I soon became sensible, how- ever, that my situation was very deplorable, for I had no means of procuring food, nor prospect of finding water. About ten o'clock, perceiving a herd of goats feeding close to the road, I took a circuitous route to avoid being seen ; and con- tinued travelling through the wilderness, directing my course by compass nearly east-south- east, in order to reach as soon as possible some town or village of the kingdom of Bambarra. A little after noon, when the burning heat of the sun was reflected with double violence from the hot sand, and the distant ridges of the hills, seen through the ascending vapour, seemed to wave and fluctuate like the unsettled sea, I became faint with thirst, and climbed a tree in hopes of seeing distant smoke, or some other appear- ance of a human habitation— but in vain : nothing appeared all around but thick underwood and hillocks of white sand. About four o'clock I came suddenly upon a large herd of goats, and pulling my horse into PARK'S LIFE AND TRA VELS. 471 a bush, I watched to observe if the keepers were Moors or negroes. In a little time I per- ceived two Moorish boys, and with some difficulty persuaded them to approach me. They informed me that the herd be- long to Ali, and that they were going to Deena, where the water was more plentiful, and where they intended to stay until the rain had filled the pools in the desert. They showed me their empty water-skins, and told me that they had seen no water in the woods. This account afforded me but little consolation ; however, it was in vain to repine, and I pushed on as fast as possible, in hopes of reaching some watering-place in the course of the night. My thirst was by this time become insufferable ; my mouth was parched and inflamed; a sud- den dimness would frequently come over my eyes, with other symptoms of fainting ; and my horse being very much fatigued, I began seriously to apprehend that I should perish of thirst. To relieve the burning pain in my mouth and throat, I chewed the leaves of different shrubs, but found them all bitter, and of no service to me. A little before sunset, having reached the top of a gentle rising, I climbed a high tree, from the topmost branches of which I cast a melancholy look over the barren wilderness, but without discovering the most distant trace of a human dwell- ing. The same dismal uni- formity of shrubs and sand everywhere presented itself, and the 'orizon was as level and uninterrupted as that of the sea. Descending from the tree, I found my horse devouring the stubble and brushwood with great avidity; and as I was now too faint to attempt walk- ing, and my horse too much fatigued to carry me, I thought it but an act of humanity, and perhaps the last I should ever have it in my power to perform, to take off his bridle and let him shift for himself ; in doing which I was suddenly affected with sickness and giddiness, and, falling upon the sand, felt as if the hour of death was fast ap- proaching. Here then, thought I, after a short but ineffectual struggle, terminate all my hopes of being useful in my day and generation : here must the short span of my life come to an end. I cast (as I believed) a last look on the surrounding scene, and whilst I reflected on the awful change that was about to take place, this world with its enjoyment seemed to vanish from my recollection. Nature, however, at length resumed its functions, and on recovering my senses, I found myself stretched upon the sand, with the bridle still in my hand, and the sun just sinking behind the trees. I now summoned all my . resolution, and determined to make another effort to prolong my existence ; and as the even- ing was somewhat cool, I re- k ^ Sn^t'- in ^,x 47a THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. solved to travel as far as my limbs would carry me, in hopes of reaching (my only resource) a watering-place. With this view I put the bridle on my horse, and driving him before me, went slowly along for about an hour, when I perceived some lightning from the north-east — a most delightful sight, for it promised rain. The darkness and lightning increased very rapidly, and in less than an hour I heard the wind roaring among the bushes. I had al- ready opened my mouth to receive the refreshing drops which I expected, but I was instantly covered with a cloud of sand, driven with such force by the wind as to give a very disagreeable sensation to my face and arms, and I was ob- liged to mount my horse and stop under a bush, to prevent being suffocated. The sand continued to fly in amazing quantities for. nearly an hour, after which I again set forward, and travelled with difficulty until ten o'clock. About this time I was agreeably surprised by some very vivid flashes of lightning, followed by a few heavy drops of rain. In a little time the sand ceased to fly, and I alighted and spread out all my clean clothes to collect the rain, which at length I saw would certainly fall. For more than an hour it rained plenti- fully, and I quenched my thirst by wringing and sucking my clothes. There being no moon, it was remarkably dark, so that I was obliged to lead my horse, and direct my way by the compass, which the lightning enabled me to observe. In this manner I travelled with tolerable exi)ecli. tion until past midnight, when, the lightning becoming more distant, I was under the neces- sity of groping along, to the no small danger of my hands and eyes. About two o'clock my horse started at something, and looking round, I was not a little surprised to see a light at a short ;distance among the trees ; and supposing it to be a town, I groped along the sand in hopes of finding corn-stalks, cotton, or other appearances of cultivation, but found none. As I approached I perceived a number of other lights in dif- ferent places, and began to suspect that I had fallen upon a party of Moors. However, in my present situation, I was resolved to see who they were, if I could do it with safety. I accordingly led my horse cautiously towards the light, and heard, by the lowing of the cattle and the clamorous tongues of the herdsmen, that it was a watering-place, and most likely belonged to the Moors. De- lightful as the sound of the human voice was to me, I re- solved once more to strike into the woods, and rather run the risk of perishing of hunger than trust myself again in their hands; but being still thirsty, and dreadhig the approach of the burning day, I thought it pru- PARKS LIFE AND TRA VELS. 473 dt'iU to search for the wells, which I expected to find at no great distance. In this pur- suit I inadvertently approached so near to one of the tents as to be perceived by a woman, who immediately screamed out. Two people came running to her assistance from some of the neighbouring tents, and passed so very near to me that I thought I was discovered, and hastened again into the woods. About a mile from this place I heard a loud and confused noise somewhere to the right of my course, and in a short time was happy to find it was the croaking of frogs, which was heavenly music to my ears. I followed the sound, and at day- break arrived at some shallow muddy pools, so full of frogs that it was difficult to discern the water. The noise they made frightened my horse, and I was obliged to keep them quiet, by beating the water with a branch, until he had drunk. Having here quenched my thirst, I ascended a tree, and the morn- ing being calm, I soon perceived the smoke of the watering-place which I had passed in the night, and observed another pillar of smoke east-south-east, distant twelve or fourteen miles. To- wards this I directed my route, and reached the cultivated ground a little before eleven o'clock, where, seeing a number of negroes at work planting com, I inquired the name of the town, and was informed that it was a Foulah village be- longing to Ali, called Shrilla. I had now some doubts about entering it ; but my horse being very much fatigued, and the day growing hot, — not to men- tion the pangs of hunger which began to assail me, — I resolved to venture ; and accordingly rode up to the dooty's house, where I was unfortunately denied admittance, and could not obtain even a handful of corn either for myself or horse. Turning from this inhospitable door, 1 rode slowly out of the town, and, perceiving some low scat- tered huts without the walls, I directed my route towards them, knowing that in Africa, as well as in Europe, hospitality does not always prefer the highest dwellings. At the door of one of these huts an old motherly- looking woman sat, spinning cotton. I made signs to her that I was hungry, and inquired if she had any victuals with her in the hut. She immediately laid down her distaff, and desired me, in Arabic, tocome in. When I had seated myself upon the floor, she set before me a dish of kouskous that had been left the preceding night, of which I made a tolerable meal; and in return for this kindness I gave her one of my pocket-hand- kerchiefs, begging at the same time a little com for my horse, which she readily brought me. Whilst my horse was feeding the people began to assemble, and one of them whispered something to my hostess which very much excited her surprise. '.rL!! £i ^ i'i f;i '■ ^'-f \ ^\\ ^M :i, .:■>" ^ .:.■ . l\. ^ .;] S 4 ff'*' n hi: S'K ^^M mi 474 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. ;; ). f I i Though I was not well ac- quainted with the Foulah lan- guage, I soon discovered that some of the men wished to apprehend and carry me back to Ali, in hopes, I suppose, of receiving a reward. I there- fore tied up the corn ; and lest any one should suspect I had run away from the Moors, I took a northerly direction, and went cheerfully along, driving my horse before me, followed by all the boys and girls of the town. When I had travelled about two miles, and got quit of all my troublesome atten- dants, I struck again into the woods, and took shelter under a large tree, where 1 found it necessary to rest myself— a bundle of twigs serving me for a bed, and my saddle for a pillow. July 4.— At daybreak I pur- sued my course through the woods as formerly ; saw num- bers of antelopes, wild hogs, and ostriches, but the soil was more hilly, and not so fertile as I had found it the preceding day. About eleven o'clock I ascended an eminence, where I climbed a tree, and d'scovered, at about eight miles' distance, an open part of the country, with several red spots, which I concluded were cultivated land, and, directing my course that way, came to the precincts of a watering-place about one o'clock. From the appearance of the place, I judged it to be- long to the Foulahs, and was hopeful that I should meet a better reception than I had ex- perienced at Shrilla. In this I was not deceived, for one of the shepherds invited me to come into his tent and partake of some dates. This was one of those low Foulah tents in which there is room just sufficient to sit upright, and in which the family, the furniture, etc., seem huddled together like so many articles in a chest. When I had crept upon my hands and knees into this humble habitation, i found that it contained a wo- man and three children, who, together with the shepherd and myself, completely occupied the floor. A dish of boiled com and dates was produced, and the master of the family, as is customary in this part of the country, first tasted it himself, and then desired me to follow his example. Whilst I was eat- ing, the children kept their eyes fixed upon me, and no sooner did the shepherd pronounce the word Nazarani^ than they be- gan to cry, and their mother crept slowly towards the door, out of which she sprang like a greyhound, and was instantly followed by her children. So frightened were they at the very name of a Christian, that no entreaties could induce them to approach the tent. Here I purchased some corn for my horse, in exchange for some brass buttons, and having thanked the shepherd for his hospitality, struck again into the woods. At sunset I came to a road that wok the direction on than I had ex- Shrilla. In this I vQd, for one of the ited me to come and partake of This was one of iah tents in which just sufficient to nd in which the rniture, etc., seem :her like so many est. When I had '• hands and knees ible habitation, I contained a wo- 26 children, who, the shepherd and 2tely occupied the 1 of boiled com s produced, and the family, as is this part of the tasted it himself, red me to follow Whilst I was eat- n kept their eyes and no sooner rd pronounce the than they he- ld their mother wards the door, le sprang like a d was instantly sr children. So they at the very ristian, that no induce them tent. Here I corn for my ange for some and having lepherd for his ick again into sunset I came ok the direction PARKS LIFE AND TRA VELS. 475 '5* for Bambarra, and resolved to follow it for the night; but about eight o'clock, hearing some people coming from the southward, I thought it prudent to hide myself among some thick bushes near the road. As these thickets are generally full of wild beasts, I found my sit'iation rather unpleasant — .itting in the dark, holding my horse by the nose with both hands, to prevent him from neighing, and equally afraid of the natives without and the wild beasts within. My fears, however, were soon dissipated ; for the people, after looking round the thicket, and perceiv- ing nothing, went away, and I hastened to the more open parts of the wood, where I pur- sued my journey east-south- east, until past midnight, when the joyful cry of frogs induced me once more to deviate a little from my route, in order to quench my thirst. Having accomplished this from a large pool of rain-water, I sought for an open place, with a single tree in the midst, under which I made my bed for the night. I was disturbed by some wolves towards morning, which induced me to set forward a little before day ; and having passed a small village called Wassalita, I came about ten o'clock (July 5th) to a negro town called Wawra, which properly belongs to Kaarta, but was at this time tributary to Mansong, king of Bambarra. CHAPTER XV. Wawra is a small town sur- rounded with high walls, and inhabited by a mixture of Man- dingoes and Foulahs. The in- habitants employ themselves chiefly in cultivating com, which they exchange with the Moors for salt. Here, being in security from the Moors, and very much fatigued, I resolved to rest my- self; and meeting with a hearty welcome from the dooty, whose name was Flancharee, I laid myself down upon a bullock's hide, and slept soundly for- about two hours. The curiosity of the people would not allow me to sleep any longer. They had seen my saddle and bridle, and were assembled in great numbers to learn who I was, and whence I came. Some were cf opinion that I was an Arab ; others insisted that I was some Moorish sultan, and they continued to debate the matter with such warmth that the noise awoke me. The dooty (who had formerly been at Gam.bia) at last interposed in my behalf, and assured them that I was certainly a white man ; but he was convinced, from my appearance, that I was a poor one: July 6. — It rained very much in the night, and at daylight I departed, in company with a negro who was going to a town called Dingyee for com ; but we had not proceeded above a mile before the ass upon which ivl^'lll -i'li :.:n W- *'i •} ' *l I* 'J- << I •'I ■i ■ ! . ■ ■g 476 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. I ?■ he rode threw him off, and he returned, leaving me to prose- cute the journey by myself. I reached Dingyee about noon ; but the dooty and most of the inhabitants had gone into the fields to cultivate corn. An old Foulah, observing me v/andering about the town, de- sired me to come to his hut, where I was well entertained : andthedooty, when he returned, sent me some victuals for my- self and corn for my horse. July 7. — In the morning, when I was about to depart, my landlord, with a great deal of diffidence, begged me to give him a lock of my hair. He had been told, he said, that white men's hair made a saphie, that would give to the posses- sor all the knowledge of white men. I had never before heard of so simple a mode of educa- tion, but instantly complied with the request. I reached a small town called Wassiboo, about twelve o'clock, where I was obliged to stop until an opportunity should offer of procuring a guide to Satile, which is distant a very long day's journey, through woods without any beaten path. I accordingly took up my resi- dence at the dooty's house, where I stayed four days, dur- ing which time I amused myself by going to the fields with the family to plant corn. Cultiva- tion is carried on here on a very extensive scale ; and, as the natives themselves express it. * Hunger is never known.' In cultivating the soil the men and women work together. They use a large sharp hoe, much superior to that used in Gambia, but they are obliged, for fear of the Moors, to carry their arms with them to the field. The master, with the handle of his spear, marks the field into regular plats, one of which is assigned to every three slaves. On the evening of the nth eight of the fugitive Kaartans arrived at Wassiboo. They had found it impossible to live under the tyrannical govern- ment of the Moors, and were now going to transfer their al- legiance to the king of Bam- barra. They offered to take me along with them as far as Satii^, and I accepted the offer. July T2. — At daybreak we set out, and travelled with un- common expedition until sun- set. We stopped only twice in the course of the day ; once at a watering-place in the woods, and another time at the ruins of a town formerly belonging to Daisy, called Illa-compe (the corn-town). When we arrived in the neighbourhood of Satile, the people who were employed in the corn-fields, seeing so many horsemen, took us for a party of Moors, and ran scream- ing away from us. The whole town was instantly alarmed, and the slaves were seen in every direction driving the cattle and horses towards the town. It was in vain that one of our ^s. PARK'S LIFE AND TRA VELS, 477 the soil the men work together, arge sharp hoe, to that used in hey are obhged, Moors, to carry th them to the laster, with the ipear, marks the ar plats, one of 2d to every three ling of the nth -tgitive Kaartans issiboo. They ipossible to live ■annical govem- loors, and were Tansfer their al- 2 king of Barn- offered to take them as far as accepted the daybreak we ivelled with un- ition until sun- )ed only twice f the day; once Lce in the woods, le at the ruins lerly belonging Illa-compe (the hen we arrived rhood of Satil^, were employed ds, seeing so , took us for a md ran scream- s. The whole mtly alarmed, were seen in riving the cattle irds the town, liat one of our company galloped up to unde- ceive them ; it only frightened them the more ; and when we arrived at the town we found the gates shut, and the people all under arms. After a long parley we were permitted to enter ; and, as there was every appearance of a heavy tornado, the dooty allowed us to sleep in his balooUj and gave us each a bullock's hide for a bed. July 13. — Early in the morn- ing we again set forward. The roads were wet and slippery, but the country was very beauti- ful, abounding with rivulets, which were increased by the rain into rapid streams. About ten o'clock we came to the mins of a village which had been destroyed by war about six months before. About noon my horse was so much fatigued that I could not keep up with my com- panions; I therefore dismounted, and desired them to ride on, telling them that I would follow as soon as my horse had rested a little. But I found them unwilling to leave me; the lions, they said, were very* numerous in those parts, and though they might not so readily attack a body of people, they would soon find out an individual ; it was therefore agreed that one of the company should stay with me to assist in driving my liorse, while the others passed on to Gallooto procure lodgings, and collect grass for the horses before night. Accompanied by this worthy negro, I drove my horse before me until about four o'clock, when we came in sight of Galloo, a considerable town, standing in a fertile and beauti- ful valley surrounded with high rocks. Early next morning (July 14th), having first returned many thanks to our landlord for his hospitality, while my fellow-travellers offered up their prayers that he might never want, we set forward, and about three o'clock arrived at Moorja, a large town, famous for its trade in salt, which the Moors bring here in great quantities, to exchange for com and cotton cloth. As most of the people here are Mohammedans, it is not allowed to the kafirs to drink beer, which they call neodoUo (corn spirit), except in certain houses. In one of these I saw about twenty people sitting round large vessels of this beer with the greatest conviviality, many of them in a state of in- toxication. On the morning of the i6th we again set forward, accom- panied by a coffle of fourteen asses, loaded with salt, bound for Sansanding. The road was particularly romantic, between two rocky hills ; but the Moors sometimes lie in wait here to plunder strangers. As soon as we had reached the open country the master of the salt cofile thanked us for having stayed with him so long, and now desired us to ride on. The sun was almost set before we reached Datliboo. In the m ■■'» 'C B*,.iiLaii-"i ^ -* '?( r l^^l 478 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, ;:i % ^ 4- evening we had a most tre- mendous tornado. The house in which we lodged, being flat- roofed, admitted the rain in streams ; the floor was soon ankle-deep, the fire extinguished, and we were left to pass the night upon some bundles of firewood that happened to lie in a corner. July 1 7. — We departed from Datliboo, and about ten o'clock passed a large coffle returning from Sego with corn-hoes, mats, and other household utensils. At five o'clock we came to a large village where we intended to pass the night, but the dooty would not receive us. When we departed from this place my horse was so much fatigued that I was under the necessity of driving him, and it was dark before we reached Fanimboo, a small village, the dooty of which no sooner heard that I was a white man, than he brought out three old muskets, and was much disappointed when he was told that I could not repair them. July 18. — We continued our journey, but, owing to a light supper the preceding night, we felt ourselves rather hungry this morning, and endeavoured to procure some corn at a village, but without success. My horse becoming weaker and weaker every day, was now of very little service to me ; I was obliged to drive him before me for the greater part of the day, and did not reach Geosorro until eight o'clock in the even- ing. I found my companions wrangling with the dooty, who had absolutely refused to give or sell them any provisions, and, as none of us had tasted victuals for the last twenty-four hours, we were by no means disposed to fast another day if we could help it. But finding our entreaties without efiect, and being very much fatigued, I fell asleep, from which I was awak- ened about midnight with the joyful information, Kinne natal (* The victuals are come!') This made the remainder of the night pass away pleasantly, and at daybreak, July 19th, we resumed our journey, proposing to stop at a village called Doolinkeaboo for the night following. My fellow-travellers, having better horses than myself, soon left me, and I was walking bare- foot, driving my horse, when I was met by a cofile of slaves, about seventy in number, coming from Sego. They were tied to- gether by their necks with thongs of a bullock's hide, twisted like a rope — seven slaves upon a thong, and a man with a musket between every seven. Many of the slaves were ill-conditioned, and a great number of them women. In the rear came Sidi Mahomed's servant, whom I remembered to have seen at the camp of Benowm. He pre- sently knew me, and told me that these slaves were going to Morocco by the way of Luda- mar and the Great Desert. In the afternoon, as I ap- proached Doolinkeaboo, I met '.■^i^ PARK'S LIFE AND TRA VELS. 479 I my companions h the dooty, who y refused to give I any provisions, of us had tasted le last twenty-four :re by no means ist another day if p it. But finding without effect, and ich fatigued, I fell vhich 1 was awak- nidnight with the Ltion, Kinue natal i are come!') This ainderofthe night leasantly, and at HQth, we resumed proposing to stop lied Doolinkeaboo t following. My rs, having better myself, soon left as walking bare- my horse, when I \ coffle of slaves, in number, coming i'hey were tied to- ■ necks with thongs hide, twisted like n slaves upon a nan with a musket r seven. Many of re ill-conditioned, number of them he rear came Sidi servant, whom I to have seen at lenowm. He pre- me, and told me res were going to the way of Luda- jreat Desert, irnoon, as I ap- )linkeaboo, I met about twenty Moors on horse- back, the owners of the slaves I had seen in the morning. They were well armed with muskets, and were very inqui- sitive concerning me, but not so rude as their countrymen generally are. From them I learned that Sidi Mahomed was not at Sego, but had gone to Kancaba for gold dust. When I arrived at Doolin- keaboo I was informed that my fellow-travellers had gone on, but my horse was so much fatigued that I could not possi- bly proceed after them. The dooty of the town, at my re- quest, gave me a draught of water, which is generally looked upon as an earnest of greater hospitality, and I had no doubt of making up for the toils of the day by a good supper and a sound sleep ; unfortunately, I had neither the one nor the other. The night was rainy and tempestuous, and the dooty limited his hospitality to the draught of the water. July 20. — In the morning I endeavoured, both by entreaties and threats, to procure some victuals from the dooty, but in vain. I even begged some corn from one of his female slaves, as she was washing it at the well, and had the mortification to be refused. However, when the dooty was gone to the fields, his wife sent me a handful of meal, which I mixed with water and drank for breakfast. About eight o'clock I departed from Doolinkeaboo, and at noon stopped a few minutes at a large korree, where I had some milk given me by the Foulahs ; and hearing that two negroes were going from thence to Sego, I was happy to have their com- pany, and we set out imme- diately. About four o'clock we stopped at a small village, where one of the negroes met with an acquaintance, who invited us to a sort of public entertainment, which was conducted with more than common propriety. A dish, made of sour milk and meal, called sinkatoOy and beer made from their corn, was distributed with great liberality, and the women were admitted into the society — a circumstance I had never before observed in Africa. There was no compulsion — every one was at liberty to drink as he pleased — they nodded to each other when about to drink, and on setting down the cala- bash commonly said Berka (* Thank you'). Both men and women appeared to be some- what intoxicated, but they were far from being quarrelsome. Departing from thence, we passed several large villages, where I was constantly taken for a Moor, and became the subject of much merriment to the Bambarrans, who, seeing me drive my horse before me, laughed heartily at my appear- ance. Hfi has been at Mecca, says one, you may see that by his clothes ; another asked me if my horse was sick ; a third wished to purchase it, etc. — so that, I believe, the very slaves 48o THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. were ashamed to be seen in my company. Just before it was dark we took up our lodging for the night at a small village, where I procured some victuals for myself and some com for my horse, at the moderate price of a button ; and was told that I should see the Niger (which the negroes call Joliba, or the Great Water) early the next day. The lions are here very numer- ous ; the gates are shut a little after sunset, and nobody allowed to go out. The thoughts of seeing the Niger in the morning, and the troublesome buzzing of musquitoes, prevented me from shutting my eyes during the night ; and I had saddled my horse, and was in readiness before daylight, but, on account of the wild beasts, we were ob- liged to wait until the people were stirring and the gates opened. This happened to be a market day at Sego, and the roads were everywhere filled with people carrying different articles to sell. We passed four large villages, and at eight o'clock saw the smoke over Sego. As we approached the town, I was fortunate enough to over- take the fugitive Kaartans, to whose kindness I had been so much indebted in my jour- ney through Bambarra. They readily agreed to introduce me to the king; and we rode to- gether through some marshy ground, where, as I was anxi- ously looking around for the river, one of them called out, Geo affillil (* See the water !'), and, looking forwards, I saw with infinite pleasure the great object of my mission — the long, sought-for majestic Niger, gUt- tering to the morning sun, as broad as the Thames at West- minster, and flowing slowly to the eastward. I hastened to the brink, and having drunk of the water, lifted up my fervent thanks in prayer to the Great Ruler of all things, for having thus far crowned my endeavours with success. The circumstance of the Niger's flowing towards the east, and its collateral points, did not, however, excite my surprise, for, although I had left Europe in great hesitation on this subject, and rather believed that it ran in the contrary direction, I had made such frequent inquiries during my progress concerning this river, and received from negroes of different nations such clear and decisive assurances that its general course was to- wards the rising sun^ as scarce left any doubt on my mind, and more especially as I knew that Major Houghton had collected similar information in the same manner. Sego, the capital of Bambarra, at which I had now arrived, consists, properly speaking, of four distinct towns — two on the northern bank of the Niger, called Sego Korro, and Sego Boo ; and two on the southern bank, called Sego Soo Korro, and Sego See Korro. They are all surro mded with high mud PARK'S LIFE AND TRA VELS. 481 walls. The houses are built of clay, of a square form with flat roofs — some of them have two stories, and many of them are whitewashed. Besides these buildings, Moorish mosques are seen in every quarter ; and the streets, though narrow, are broad enough for every useful purpose, in a country where wheel- carriages are entirely unknown. From the best in- quiries I could make, I have reason to believe that Sego contains altogether about thirty thousand inhabitants. The king of Bambarra constantly resides at Sego See Korro. He em- ploys a great many slaves in conveying people over the river, and the money they receive (though the fare is only ten kowrie shells for each dual) furnishes a revenue to the course of a year. are of a singular construction, each of them being formed of the trunks of two large trees rendered concave, and joined together, not side by side, but endways — the junction being exactly across the middle of the canoe : they are therefore very long, and disproportionably narrow, and have neither decks nor masts : they are however very roomy, for I observed in one of them four horses and several people crossing over the river. When we arrived at this ferry, with a view to pass over to that part of the town in which the king resides, we found a great number waiting indivi- considerable king in the The canoes for a passage : they looked at me with silent wonder, and I distinguished with concern many Moors among them. There were three different places of embarkation, and the ferry- men were very diligent and ex- peditious ; but from the crowd of people, I could not immedi- ately obtain a passage, and sat down upon the bank of the river to wait for a more favour- able opportunity. The view of this extensive city — the numer- ous canoes upon the river — the crowded population, and the cultivated state of the surround- ing country — formed altogether a prospect of civilisation and magnificence which I little ex- pected to find in the bosom of Africa. I waited more than two hours without having an opportunity of crossing the river, during which time the people who had crossed carried information to Mansong, the king, that a white man was waiting for a passage, and was coming to see him. He immediately sent over one of his chief men, who informed me that the king could not possibly see me until he knew what had brought me into his country; and that I must not presume to cross the river with- , out the king's permission. He therefore advised me to lodge at a distant village, to which he pointed, for the night, and said that in the morning he would give me further instructions how to conduct myself. This was very discouraging. However, 2 H M r; :f| !iK 482 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, 1'. -'.A as there was no remedy, I set off for the village, where I found, to my great mortifica- tion, that no person would ad- mit me into his house. I was regarded with astonishment and fear, and was obliged to sit all day without victuals in the shade of a tree ; and the night threatened to be very uncom- fortable — for the wind rose, and there was great appearance of a heavy rain — and the wild beasts are so very numerous in the neighbourhood, that I should have been under the necessity of climbing up a tree and resting amongst the branches. About sunset, how- ever, as I was preparing to pass the night in this manner, and had turned my horse loose that he might graze at liberty, a woman, returning from the labours of the field, stopped to observe me, and perceiving that I was weary and dejected, inquired into my situation, which I briefly explained to her ; whereupon, with looks of great compassion, she took up my saddle and bridle, and told me to follow her. Having con- ducted me into her hut, she lighted up a lamp, spread a mat on the floor, and told me I might remain there for the night. Finding that I was very hungry, she said she would pro- cure me something to eat. She accordingly went out, and re- turned in a short time with a very fine fish, which, having caused to be half broiled upon some embers, she gave me for supper. The rites of hospital ity being thus performed towards a stranger in distress, my worthy benefactress (pointing to the mat, and telling me I might sleep there without apprehen- sion) called to the female part of her family, who had stood gazing on me all the while in fixed astonishment, to resume their task of spinning cotton, in which they continued to employ themselves great part of the night. They lightened their labour by songs, one of which was composed extempore, for I was myself the subject of it It was sung by one of the young women, the rest joining in a sort of chorus. The air was sweet and plaintive, and the words, literally translated, were these :— * The winds roared, and the rains fell. The poor white man, faint and weary, came and sat under our tree. He has no mother to bring him milk — no wife to grind his com. Chorus. — Let us pity the white man- no mother has he,' etc. etc. Trifling as this recital may ap- pear to the reader, to a person in my situation the circumstance was affecting in the highest degree. I was oppressed by such unexpected kindness, and sleep fled from my eyes. In the morning I presented my compassionate landlady with two of the four brass buttons which remained on my waist- coat — the only recompense I could make her. July 21. — I continued in the village all this day in conversa- PARICS LIFE AND TRA VELS. 483 ites of hospitality ormed towards a itress, my worthy pointing to the ing me I might ithout apprehen- I the female part who had stood all the while in ncient, to resume winning cotton, in itinued to employ eat part of the lightened their igs, one of which I extempore, for I tie subject of it J one of the young rest joining in a IS. The air was laintive, and the y translated, were winds roared, and The poor white J weary, came and tree. He has no ng him milk— no lis com. Chonis, the white man- ias he,' etc. etc. lis recital may ap- eader, to a person 1 the circumstance r in the highest ras oppressed by ted kindness, and om my eyes. In I presented my ;e landlady with bur brass buttons led on my waist- ily recompense I ler. I continued in the is day in conversa- tion with the natives, who came in crowds to see me, but was rather uneasy towards evening to find that no message had arrived from the king ; the more so as the people began to whis- per that Mansong had received some very unfavourable accounts of me from the Moors and slatees residing at Sego, who, it seems, were exceedingly suspi- cious concerning the motives of my journey. I learned that many consultations had been held with the king concerning my reception and disposal ; and some of the villagers frankly told me that I had many enemies, and must expect no favour. July 22. — About eleven o'clock a messenger arrived from the king, but he gave me very little satisfaction. He in- quired particularly if I had brought any present, and seemed much disappointed when he was told that I had been robbed of everything by the Moors. When I proposed to go along with him, he told me to stop until the afternoon, when the king would send for me. July 23. — In the afternoon another messenger arrived from Mansong, with a bag in his hands. Ke told me it was the king's pleasure that I should depart forthwith from the vici- nage of Sego; but that Man- song, wishing to relieve a white man in distress, had sent me five thousand kowries, to en- able me to purchase provisions in the course of my journey : the messenger added, that if my intentions were really to proceed to Jennd, he had orders to accompany me as a guide to Sansanding. I was at first puzzled to account for this be- haviour of the king; but from the conversation I had with the guide, I had afterwards reason to believe that Mansong would willingly have admitted me into his presence at Sego, but was apprehensive he might not be able to protect me against the blind and inveterate malice of the Moorish inhabitants. His conduct, therefore, was at once prudent and liberal. The cir- cumstances under which I made my appearance at Sego were undoubtedly such as might create in the mind of the king a well-warranted suspicion that I wished to conceal the true object of my journey. He argued, probably, as my guide argued, who, when he was told that I had come from a great distance, and through many dangers, to behold the Joliba river, naturally inquired if there were no rivers in my own coun- try, and whether one river was not like another. Notwith- standing this, and in spite of the jealous machinations of the Moors, this benevolent prince thought it suflficient that a white man was found in his dominions, in a condition of extreme wretchedness, and that no other plea was necessary to entitle the sufferer to his bounty. ¥f '1* »f , " (1 'I, It - 484 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, \\ ! !!■ 1 i n Ij: V CHAPTER XVI. Being, in the manner that has been related, compelled to leave Sego, 1 was conducted the same evening to a village about seven miles to the eastward, with some of the inhabitants of which my guide was acquainted, and by whom we were well received. ^ H e was very friendly and communicative, and spoke highly of the hospitality of his countrymen, but withal told me that if Jennd was the place of my destination, which he seemed to have hitherto doubted, I had undertaken an enterprise of greater danger than probably I was apprised of; for, although the town of Jennd was nominally a part of the king of Bambarra's dominions, it was in fact, he said, a city of the Moors — the leading part of the inhabitants being bushreens, and even the governor himself, though ap- pointed by Mansong, of the same sect. Thus was I in dan- ger of falling a second time into the hands of men who would consider it not only justifiable, but meritorious, to.destroy me — and this reflection was aggra- vated by the circumstance that the danger increased as I ad- vanced in my journey, for I learned that the places beyond Jenn^ were under the Moorish influence in a still greater de- gree than Jenn^ itself, and Tim- * I should have before observed that I found the language of Bambarra a sort of corrupted Mandingo. After a little practice, I understood and spoke it without difficulty. buctoo, the great object of my search, altogether in possession of that savage and merciless people, who allow no Christian to live there. But I had now advanced too far to think of returning to the westward on such vague and uncertain in- formation, and determined to proceed ; and being accom- panied by the guide, I departed from the village on the morning of the 24th. About eight o'clock we passed a large town called Kabba, situated in the midst of a beautiful and highly cultivated country, bearing a greater re- semblance to the centre of Ekagland than to what I should have supposed had been the middle of Africa. The people were everywhere employed in collecting the fruit of the shea trees, from which they prepare the vegetable butter mentioned in former parts of this work. These trees grow in great abundance all over this part of Bambarra. They are not planted by the natives, but are found growing naturally in the woods; and in clearing woodland for cultivation, every tree is cut down but the shea. The tree itself very much resembles the American oak, and the fruit— from the kernel of which, being first dried in the sun, the butter is prepared by boiling the ker- nel in water — has somewhat the appearance of a Spanish olive. The kernel is enveloped in a sweet pulp, under a thin green rind ; and the butter produced from it, besides the advantage ^^m PARJCS LIFE AND TRA VELS. 485 resembles the and the fruit— of which, being ; sun, the butter soiling the ker- as somewhat the Spanish olive, enveloped in a er a thin green )utter produced the advantage of its keeping the whole year without salt, is whiter, firmer, and, to my palate, of a richer flavour, than the best butter I ever tasted made from cow's milk. The growth and pre- paration of this commodity seem to be among the first objects of African industry in this and the neighbouring states, and it constitutes a main article of their inland commerce. We passed in the course of the day a great many villages inhabited chiefly by fishermen, and in the evening about five o'clock arrived at Sansanding — a very large town, containing, as I was told, from eight to ten thousand inhabitants. This place is much resorted to by the Moors, who bring salt from Beeroo, and beads and coral from the Mediterranean, to exchange here for gold dust and cotton cloth. This cloth they sell to great advantage in Beeroo, and other Moorish countries, where, on account of the want of rain, no cotton is cultivated. I desired my guide to con- duct me to the house in which we were to lodge, by the most private way possible. We ac- cordingly rode along between the town and the river, passing by a creek or harbour, in which I observed twenty large canoes, most of them fully loaded, and covered with mats to prevent the rain from injuring the goods. As we proceeded, three other canoes arrived, two with pas- sengers, and one with goods. I was happy to find that all the negro inhabitants took me for a Moor, under which charactei I should probably have passed unmolested, had not a Moor, who was sitting by the river- side, discovered the mistake, and, setting up a loud exclama- tion, brought together a number of his countrymen. When I arrived at the house of Counti Mamadi, the dooty of the to\vn, I was surrounded with hundreds of people speak- ing a variety of different dia- lects, all equally unintelligible to me. At length, by the assist- ance of my guide, who acted as interpreter, I understood that one of the spectators pre- tended to have seen me at one place, and another at some other place ; and a Moorish woman absolutely swore that she had kept my house three years at Gallam, on the river Senegal. It was plain that they mistook me for some other person, and I desired two of the most confident to point towards the place where they had seen me. They pointed due south ; hence I think it probable that they came from Cape Coast, where they might have seen many white men. Their language was different from any I had yet heard. The Moors now assembled in great number, with their usual arro- gance, compelling the negroes to stand at a distance. They immediately began to question me concerning my religion, but finding that I was not master ot %\ . (■: 1 ( 1^ i m !W -i-si C; 486 THE ENGLISH EXPLORER:^ J ;i' Arabic, they sent for two men, whom they call Ilhuidi (Jews), in hopes that they may be able to converse with me. These Jews, in dress and appearance, very much resemble the Arabs ; but though they so far conform to the religion of Mohammed as to recite in public prayers from the Koran, they are but little respected by the negroes ; and even the Moors themselves al- lowed that, though I was a Chris- tian, I was a better man than a Jew. They however insisted that, like the Jews, I must con- form so far as to repeat the Mo- hammedan prayers ; and when I attempted to wave the subject by telling them that I could not speak Arabic, one of them, a shereef from Tuat, in the Great Desert, started up and swore by the Prophet, that if I refused to go to the mosque, he would be one that would assist in carry- ing me thither ; and there is no doubt but this threat would have been immediately executed had not my landlord interposed in my behalf. He told them that I was the king's stranger, and he could not see me ill treated whilst I was under his protection. He therefore ad- vised them to let me alone for the night, assuring them that in the mOming I should be sent about my business. This some- what appeased their clamour, but they compelled me to ascend a high seat by the door of the mosque, in order that everybody might see me, for the people had assembled in such numbers as to be quite ungovernable- climbing upon the houses, and squeezing each other, like the spectators at an execution. Upon this seat I remained until sunset, when I was conducted into a neat little hut, with a small court before it, the door of which Counti Mamadi shut, to prevent any person from dis- turbing me. But this precaution could not exclude the Moors. They climbed over the top of the mud wall, and came in crowds into the court, * in order,' they said, * to see me perfor?n my evening devotions^ and eat egj:^s.* The former of these ceremonies I did not think proper to com- ply with, but I told them I had no objection to eat eggs, pro- vided they would bring me eggs to eat. My landlord imme- diately brought me seven hen's eggs, and was much surprised to find that I could not eat them raw ; for it seems to be a prevalent opinion among the inhabitants of the interior that Europeans subsist almost en- tirely on this diet. When I had succeeded in persuading my landlord that this opinion was without foundation, and that I would gladly partake of any victuals which he might think proper to send me, he ordered a sheep to be killed, and part of it to be dressed for my supper. About midnight, when the Moors had left me, he paid me a visit, and with much earnest- ness desired me to write him a saphie. * If a Moor's saphie is good,' said this hospitable old l'^ PARICS LIFE AND TRA VELS. 487 ungovernable— the houses, and 1 other, like the an execution. I remained until '. was conducted :tle hut, with a fore it, the door ti Mamadi shut, person from dis- .it this precaution lude the Moors. >ver the top of the came in crowds ' in order,' they me perform my iSf and eat eggs.' these ceremonies : proper to corn- told them I had 3 eat eggs, pro- Id bring me eggs landlord imme- me seven hen's much surprised could not eat it seems to be a ion among the the interior that »sist almost en- ;t. When I had persuading my his opinion was tion, and that I partake of any he might think me, he ordered lied, and part of for my supper, ht, when the me, he paid me 1 much earnest- to write him a VIoor's saphie is hospitable old man, ' a white man's must needs be better.' I readily furnished him with one, possessed of all the virtues I could concentrate, for it contained the Lord's Prayer. The pen with which it was written was made of a reed ; a little charcoal and gum- water made very tolerable ink, and a thin board answered the purpose of paper. /u/y 25. — Early in the morn- ing, before the Moors were as- sembled, I departed from San- sanding, and slept the ensuing night at a small town called Sibili, from whence on the day following, I reached Nyara, a large town at some distance from the river, where I halted the 27 th, to have my clothes washed, and recruit my horse. The dooty there has a very commodious house, flat-roofed, and two storeys high. He showed me some gunpowder of his own manufacturing ; and pointed out, as a great curiosity, a little brown monkey that was tied to a stake by the door, telling me that it came from a far distant country called Kong. /u/y 28. — I departed from Nyara, and reached Nyamee about noon. This town is inhabited chiefly by Foulahs from the kingdom of Masina. The dooty, I know not why, would not receive me, but civilly sent his son on horse- back to conduct me to Modi- boo, which he assured me was at no great distance. We rode nearly in a direct line through the woods, but in general went forwards with great circumspection. I ob- served that my guide frequently stopped and looked under the bushes. On inquiring the rea- son of tlus caution, he told me that lions were verv numerous in that part of the nuntry, and frequpntly attacked people tra- velling ihrough ♦hp woods. While he was speaking, my horse started, and looking round, I observed a large ani- mal of the camelopard kind standing at a little distance. The neck and forelegs were very long; the head was fur- nished with two short black horns, turning backwards ; the tail, which reached down to the ham joint, had a tuft of hair at the end. The animal was of a mouse colour, and it trotted away from us in a very sluggish manner — moving its head from side to side, to see if we were pur- suing it. Shortly after this, as we were crossing a large open plain, where there were a few scattered bushes, my guide, who was a little way before me, wheeled his horse round in a moment, calling out something in the Foulah language which I did not understand. I inquired in Mandingo what he meant; IVara billi billil (* A very large lion ! ') said he, and made signs for me to ride away. But my horse was too much fatigued ; so we rode slowly past the bush from which the animal had given us the alarm. Not seeing anything myself, however, I thought my guide had been 488 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, f# mistaken, when the Foulah suddenly put his hand to his mouth, exclaiming Soubah an allahi I (' God preserve us ! ') and, to my great surprise, I then perceived a large red lion, at a short distance from the bush, with his head couched between his forepaws. I expected he would instantly spring upon me, and instinctively pulled my feet from my stirrups to throw myself on the ground, that my horse might become the victim rather than myself. But it is probable the lion was not hungry; for he quietly suffered us to pass, though we were fairly within his reach. My eyes were so riveted upon this sove- reign of the beasts, that I found it impossible to remove them until we were at a considerable distance. We now took a cir- cuitous route through some swampy ground, to avoid any more of these disagreeable ren- counters. At sunset we arrived at Modiboo — ^a delightful vilhge on the banks of the Niger, commanding a view of the river for many miles, both to the east and west. The small green islands (the peaceful re- treat of some industrious Foulahs, whose cattle are here secure from the depredations of wild beasts) and the majestic breadth of the river, which is here much larger than at Sego, render the situation one of the most enchanting in the world- Here are caught great plenty offish, by means of long cotton nets, which the natives make themselves, and use nearly in the same manner as nets are used in Europe. I observed the head of a crocodile lyinw upon one of the houses, which they told me had been killed by the shepherds in a swamp near the town. These animals are not uncommon in the Niger, but I believe they are not oftentimes found dangerous. They are of little account to the traveller when compared with the amazing swarms of mosqui- toes, which rise from the swamps and creeks in such numbers as to harass even the most torpid of the natives ; and as my clothes were now almost worn to rags, I was but ill prepared to resist their attacks. I usually passed the night without shut- ting my eyes, walking back- wards and forwards, fanning myself with my hat ; their stings raised numerous blisters on my legs and arms, which, together with the want of rest, made me very feverish and uneasy. July 29. — Early in the morn- ing, my landloid, observing that I was sickly, hurried me away, sending a servant with me as a guide to Kea. But though I was little able to walk, my horse was still less able to carry me j and about six miles to the east of Modiboo, in crossing some rough clayey ground, he fell, and the united strength of the guide and myself could not place him again upon his legs. I sat down for some time be- side this worn-out associate of my adventures, but finding him I^S, PARK'S LIFE AND TRA VELS. 489 nd use nearly in .nner as nets are >pe. I observed a crocodile lying the houses, which had been killed erds in a swamp . These animals :ommon in the believe they are ; found dangerous. ttle account to the n compared with warms of mosqui- i from the swamps such numbers as 1 the most torpid es ; and as my now almost worn I but ill prepared attacks. I usually ^ht without shut- 5, walking back- brwards, fanning hat ; their stings us blisters on my 1, which, together of rest, made me ind uneasy. ^arly in the mom- d, observing that urried me away, ant with me as a But though I to walk, my horse ble to carry me ; miles to the east n crossing some ground, he fell, i strength of the yself could not n upon his legs. some time be- -out associate of but finding him still unable to rise, I took off the saddle and bridle, and placed a quantity of grass be- fore him. I surveyed the poor animal, as he lay panting on the ground, with sympathetic emotion, for I could not sup- press the sad apprehension that I should myself, in a short time, lie down and perish in the same manner, of fatigue and hunger. With this foreboding I left my poor horse, and with great re- luctance followed my guide on foot along the bank of the river until about noon, when we reached Kea, which I found to be nothing more than a small fishing village. The dooty, a surly old man, who was sitting by the gate, received me very coolly; and when I informed him of my situation, and begged his protection, told me with great indifference that he paid very little attention to fine speeches, and that I should not enter his house. My guide re- monstrated in my favour, but to no purpose, for the dooty remained inflexible in his de- termination. I knew not where to rest my wearied limbs, but was happily relieved by a fish- ing canoe belonging to Silla, which was at that moment coming down the river. The dooty waved to the fisherman to come near, and desired him to take charge of me as far as Moorzan. The fisherman, after some hesitation, consented to carry me, and I embarked in the canoe in company with the fisherman, his wife, and a boy. The negro who had conducted me from Modiboo now left me. I requested him to look to my horse on his return, and take care of him if he was still alive, which he promised to do. Departing from Kea, we proceeded about a mile down the liver, when the fisherman paddled' the canoe to the bank and desired me to jump out. Having tied the canoe to a stake, he stripped off his clothes, and dived for such a length of time that I thought he had actually drowned himself, and was surprised to see his wife behave with so much indiffer- ence upon the occasion ; but my fears were over when he raised up his head astern of the canoe and called for a rope. With this rope he dived a se- cond time, and then got into the canoe and ordered the boy to assist him in pulling. At length they brought up a large b'sket, about ten feet in dia- meter, containing two fine fish, which the fisherman — after re- turning the basket into the wa- ter — unmediately carried ashore and hid in the grass. We then went a little farther down and took up another basket, in which was one fish. The fisher- man now left us to carry his prizes to some neighbouring market, and the woman and boy proceeded with me in the canoe down the river. About four o'clock we arrived at Moorzan, a fishing town on the northern bank, from whence I was conveyed across the river ^ ■ , li H^ ;; \ M [if, -v w mtM. r*' ' '}>M ■ 'P' iiTb iil ill a ■ . ,,1 t 1' t ■ ■ J 1 1 ... . d 490 TIfi: ENGLISH EXPLORERS. ( I- 1:1 to Silla, a large town, where I remained until it was quite dark, under a tree, surrounded by hundreds of people. With a great deal of entreaty the dooty allowed me to come into his baloon to avoid the rain, but the place was very damp, and I had a smart paroxysm of fever during the night. Worn down by sick- ness, exhausted with hunger and fatigue, half- naked, and without any article of value by which I might procure provi- sions, clothes, or lodging, I began to reflect seriously on my situation. I was now con- vinced, by painful experience, that the obstacles to my further progress were insurmountable. The tropical rains were already set in with all their violence — the rice-grounds and swamps were everywhere overflowed — and, in a few days more, travel- ling of every kind, unless by water, would be completely ob- structed. The kowries, which remained of the king of Bam- barra's present, were not suffi- cient to enable me to hire a canoe for any great distance, and I had but little hopes of subsisting by charity in a coun- try where the Moors have such influence. But, above all, I perceived that I was advancing more and more within the power ot those merciless fanatics, and, from my reception both at Sego and Sansanding, I was appre- hensive that, in attempting to reach even Jennd (unless under the protection of some man of consequence amongst them which I had no means of ob- taining), I should sacrifice my life to no purpose, for my dis- coveries would perish with me. The prospect either way was gloomy. In returning to the Gambia, a journey on foot of many hundred miles presented itself to my contemplation, through regions and countries unknown. Nevertheless, this seemed to be the only alterna- tive, for I saw inevitable de- struction in attempting to pro- ceed to the eastward. With this conviction on my mind, I hope my readers will acknowledge that I did right in going no farther. Having thus brought my mind, after much doubt and perplexity, to a determination to. return westward, I thought it incumbent on me, before I left Silla, to collect from the Moorish and negro traders all the information I could con- cerning the farther course of the Niger eastward, and the situation and extent of the king- doms in its vicinage ; and the following few notices I received from such various quarters as induce me to think they are authentic : — » Two short days* journey to the eastward of Silla is the town of Jennd, which is situated on a small island in the river, and is said to contain a greater num- ber of inhabitants than Sego itself, or any other town in Bambarra. At the distance of two days more, the river spreads PARK'S LIFE AND TRA VELS. 491 :e amongst them no means of ob- )uld sacrifice my )Ose, for my dis- i perish with me. either way was returning to the jmey on foot of miles presented contemplation, tis and countries evertheless, this the only alterna- w inevitable de- tempting to pro- tward. With this my mind, I hope ^ill acknowledge ght in going no days' journey to Silla is the town 1 is situated on a the river, and is I a greater num- :ants than Sego other town in ; the distance of the river spreads into a considerable lake, called Dibbie (or the Dark Lake), concerning the extent of which, all the information I could ob- tain was, that in crossing it from west to east the canoes lose sight of land one whole day. From this lake the water issues in many different streams, which terminate in two large branches, one whereof flows towards the north-east, and the other to the east; but these branches join at Kabra, which is one day's journey to the southward of Timbuctoo, and is the port or shipping-place of that city. The tract of land which the two streams encircle is called Jin- bala, and is inhabited by ne- groes ; and the whole distance by land from Jennd to Tim- buctoo is twelve days' journey. From Kabra, at the distance of eleven days' journey down the stream, the river passes to the southward of Houssa, which is two days' journey distant from the river. Of the farther pro- gress of this great river, and its final exit, all the natives with whom I conversed seem to be entirely ignorant. Their com- mercial pursuits seldom induce them to travel farther than the cities of Timbuctoo and Houssa, and as the sole object of those journeys is the acquirement of wealth, they pay but little at- tention to the course of rivers or the geography of countries. It is, however, highly probable that the Niger affords a safe and easy communication be- tween very remote nations. All my informants agreed, that many of the negro merchants who arrive at Timbuctoo and Houssa from the eastward speak a different language from that of Bambarra, or any other kingdom with which they are acquainted. But even these merchants, it would seem, are ignorant of the termination of the river, for such of them as can speak Arabic describe the amazing length of its course in very general terms, saying only that they believe it runs to the world's end. The names of many king- doms to the eastward of Houssa are familiar to the inhabitants of Bambarra. I was shown quivers and arrows of very curious workmanship, which I was informed came from the kingdom of Kassina. On the northern bank of the Niger, at a short distance from Silla, is the kingdom of Masina, which is inhabited by Foulahs. They employ themselves there, as in other places, chiefly in pasturage, and pay an annual tribute to the king of Bambarra for the lands which they occupy. To the north-east of Masina is situated the kingdom of Tim- buctoo, the great object of European research — the capital of this kingdom being one of the principal marts for that ex- tensive commerce which the Moors carry on with the negroes. The hopes of acquiring wealth in this pursuit, and zeal for pro- pagating their religion, have mB 492 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, filled this extensive city with Moors and Mohammedan con- verts. The king himself, and all the chief officers of state, are Moors ; and they are said to be more severe and intolerant in their principles than any other of the Moorish tribes in this part of Africa. I was in- formed by a venerable old negro, that when he first visited Timbuctoo, he took up his lodging at a sort of public inn, the landlord of which, when he conducted him into his hut, spread a mat on the floor, and laid a rope upon it, saying, ' If you are a Mussulman, you are my friend — sit down ; but if you are a kafir, you are my slave, and with this rope I will lead you to market.' The present kiig of Timbuctoo is named Abu Abrahi ma. He is reported to possess immense riches. His M'ives and concubines are said to be clothed in silk, and the chief officers of state live in considerable splendour. The whole expense of his govern- ment is defrayed, as I was told, by a tax upon merchandise, which is collected at the gates of the city. The city of Houssa (the capi- tal of a large kingdom of the same name, situated to the eastward of Timbuctoo) is an- other great mart for Moorish commerce. I conversed with many merchants who had visited that city, and they all agreed that it is larger and morepopulous than Timbuctoo. The trade, police, and govern- ment are nearly the same in both ; but in Houssa the ne- groes are in greater proportion to the Moors, and have some share in the government. Concerning the small king- dom of Jinbala I was not able to collect much information. The soil is said to be remark- ably fertile, and the whole country so full of creeks and swamps that the Moors have hitherto been baffled in every attempt to subdue it. The in- habitants are negroes, and some of them are said to live in con- siderable affluence, particularly those near the capital, which is a resting-place for such mer- chants as transport goods from Timbuctoo to the western parts of Africa. To the southward of Jinbala is situated the negro kingdom of Gotto, which is said to be of great extent. It was formerly divided kito a number of petty states,, which were governed by their own chiefs; but their private q:uarrels invited inva- sion from the neighbouring kingdoms. At length a politic chief of the name of Moossee, had address enough to make them unite in hostilities against Bambarra ; and on this occa- sion he was unanimously chosen general — the different chiefs consenting for a time to act under his command. Moossee immediately despatched a fleet of canoes, loaded with provi- sions, from the banks of the lake Dibbie up the Niger to- wards Jenn^, and with the PARK'S LIFE AND TEA VELS. 493 rly the same in Houssa the ne- eater proportion and have some vernment. the small king- 1 1 was not able ich information. (1 to be remark- and the whole 1 of creeks and :he Moors have baffled in every due it. The in- egroes, and some d to live in con- mce, particularly capital, which is J for such mer- port goods from ;he western parts whole of his army pushed for- wards into Bambarra. He ar- rived on the bank of the Niger opposite to Jenn^, before the townspeople Jiad the smallest intimation of his approach. His fleet of canoes joined him the same day, and having landed the provisions, he embarked part of his army, and in the night took Jennd by storm. This event so terrified the king of Bam- barra, that he sent messengers to sue for peace ; and in order to obtain it, consented to de- liver to Moossee a certain num- ber of slaves every year, and return everything that had been taken from the inhabitants of Gotto. Moossee, thus trium- phant, returned to Gotto, where he was declared king, and the capital of the country is called by his name. On the west of Gotto is the kingdom of Baedoo, which was conquered by the present king of Bambarra about seven years ago, and has continued tribu- tary to him ever since. West of Baedoo is Maniana, the inhabitants of which, ac- cording to the best information I was able to collect, are cruel and ferocious — carrying their resentment towards their ene- mies so far as never to give quarter, and even to indulge themselves with unnatural and disgusting banquets of human flesh. CHAPTER XVH. Having, for the reasons as- signed in the last chapter, de- termined to proceed no farther eastward than Silla, I acquainted the dooty with my intention of returning to Sego, proposing to travel along the southern side of the river ; but he informed me that, from the number of creeks and swamps on that side, it was impossible to travel by any other route than along the northern bank, and even that route, he said, would soon be impassable, on account of the overflowing of the river. How- ever, as he commended my determination to return west- ward, he agreed to speak to some one of the fishermen to carry me over to Moorzan. I accordingly stepped into a canoe about eight o'clock in the morning of July 30th, and in about an hour was landed at Moorzan. At this place I hired a canoe for sixty kowries, and in the afternoon arrived at Kea, where, for forty kowries more, the dooty permitted me to sleep in the same hut with one of his slaves. This poor negro, per- ceiving that I was sickly, and that my clothes were very ragged, humanely lent me a large cloth to cover me for the night. July 3 1 . — The dooty's brother being going to Modiboo, I em- braced the opportunity of accom- panying him thither, there being no beaten road. He promised o^ !,L p. LJlWll i% ^\ I 494 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, to carry my saddle, which I had left at Kea when my horse fell down in the woods, as I now proposed to present it to the king of Bambarra, We departed from Kea at eight o'clock, and about a mile to the westward observed on the bank of the river a great number of earthen jars piled up together. They were very neatly formed, but not glazed, and were evidently of that sort of pottery which is manufactured at Downie (a town to the west of Timbuctoo), and sold to great advantage in different parts of Bambarra. As we ap- proached towards the jars, my companion plucked up a large handful of herbage, and threw it upon them, making signs for me to do the same, which I did. He then, with great seriousness, told me that these jars belonged to some supernatural power ; that they were found in their present situation about two years ago ; and as no person had claimed them, every tra- veller as he passed 'them, from respect to the invisible proprie- tor, threw some grass, or the branch of a tree, upon the heap, to defend the jars from the rain. Thus conversing, we travelled in the most friendly manner, until unfortunately we perceived the footsteps of a lion, quite fresh in the mud, near the river- side. My companion now pro- ceeded with great circumspec- tion ; and at last, coming to some thick underwood, he in- sisted that I should walk before him. I endeavoured to excuse myself, by alleging that I did not know the road ; but he ob- stinately persisted, and, after a few high words and menacing looks, threw down the saddle and went away. This very much disconcerted me ; but as I had given up all hopes of obtaining a horse, I could not think of encumbering myself with the saddle, and, taking off the stirrups and girths, I threw the saddle into the river. The negro no sooner saw me throw the saddle into the water, than he came running from among the bushes where he had con- cealed himself, jumped into the river, and, by help of his spear, brought out the saddle and ran away with it. I continued my course along the bank ; but as the wood was remarkably thick, and I had reason to believe that a lion was at no great dis- tance, I became much alarmed, and took a long circuit through the bushes to avoid him. About four in the afternoon I reached Modiboo, where I found my saddle. The guide, who had got there before me, being afraid that I should inform the king of his conduct, had brought the saddle with him in a canoe. ' While I was conversing with the dooty, and remonstrating against the guide for having left me in such a situation, I heard a horse neigh in one of the huts ; and the dooty in- quired with a smile, if I knew PARICS LIFE AND TRA VELS. 495 who was speaking to me ? He explained himself by telling me that my horse was still alive, and somewhat recovered from his fatigue ; but he insisted that I should take him along with me, adding, that he had once kept a Moor's horse for four months, and when the horse had recovered and got into good condition, the Moor re- turned and claimed it, and refused to give him any reward for his trouble. August I. — I departed from Modiboo, driving my horse be- fore me, and in the afternoon reached Nyamee; where I re- mained three days, during which time it rained without intermis- sion, and with such violence that no person could venture out of doors. August 5. — I departed from Nyamee; but the country was so deluged that I was frequently in danger of losing the road, and had to wade across the savannas for miles together, knee-deep in water. Even the corn ground, which is the driest land in the country, was so completely flooded that my horse twice stuck fast in the mud, and was not got out with- out the greatest difficulty. In the evening of the same day I arrived at Nyara, where I was well received by the Jooty; and as the 6th was '-^'"V, I did not depart until the iiioming of the 7th; but the water had swelled to such a height, that in many places the road was scarcely passable, and though I waded breast-deep across the swamps, I could only reach a small village called Nemaboo» where however, for a hundred kowries, I procured from some Foulahs plenty of corn for my horse and milk for myself. August 8. — The difficulties I had experienced the day before made me anxious to engage a fellow-traveller, particularly as I was assured that, in the course of a few days, the country would be so completely overflowed as to render the road utterly im- passable ; but though I offered two hundred kowries lor a guide, nobody would accom- pany me. However, on the morning following (August 9th), a Moor and his wife, riding upon two bullocks, and bound for Sego with salt, passed the village, and agreed to take me along with them ; but I found them of little service, for they were wholly unacquainted with the road, and being accustomed to a sandy soil, were very bad travellers. Instead of wading before the bullocks to feel if the ground was solid, the woman boldly entered the first swamp, riding upon the top of the load ; but when she had proceeded about two hundred yards, the bullock sunk into a hole, and threw both the load and herself among the reeds. The fright- ened husband stood for some time seemingly petrified with horror, and suffered his wife to be almost drowned before he //ent to her assistance. 490 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, 1 I w It v 1 1: if i|l1i if "M I r About sunset we reached Sibity, but the dooty received me very coolly; and when I solicited for a guide to Sansand- ing, he told me his people were otherwise employed. I was shown into a damp old hut, where I passed a very uncom- fortable night ; for when the walls of the huts are softened by the rain, they frequently become too weak to support the weight of the roof. I heard three huts fall during the night, and was apprehensive that the , hut I lodged in would be the fourth. In the morning, as I went to pull some grass for my horse, I counted fourteen huts which had fallen in this manner since the commence- ment of the rainy season. It continued to rain with great violence all the loth; and as the dooty refused to give me any provisions, I purchased some corn, whidi i divided with my horse. - "^ ^ August 1 1. — The dooty com- pelled me to depart from the town, and I set out for San- sanding, without any great hopes of faring better than I had done at Sibity ; for I learned, from people who came to visit me, that a report pre- :, vailed, and was universally be- lieved, that I had come to Bambarra as a spy; and as Mansong had not admitted me r into his presence, the dooties of the different towns were at liberty to treat me in what manner they pleased. From repeatedly hearing the same story, I had no doubt of the truth of it; but as there was no alternative, I determined to proceed, and a little before sunset I arrived at Sansanding. My reception was what I ex- pected. Count! Mamadi, who had been so kind to me for- merly, scarcely gave me wel- come. Every one wished to shun me ; and my landlord sent a person to inform me that a very unfavourable report was received from Sego con- cerning me, and that he wished me to depart early in the morn- ing. About ten o'clock at night Counti Mamadi himself came privately to me, and in- formed me that Mansong had despatched a canoe to Jennd to bring me back ; and he was afraid I should find great dif- ficulty in going to the west country. He advised me there- fore to depart fi-om Sansanding before daybreak, and cautioned me against stopping at Diggani, or any town near Sego. August 12. — I departed from Sansanding, and reached Kabba in the afternoon. As I ap- proached the town I was sur- prised to see several people assembled at the gate ; one of whom, as I advanced, came running towards me, and taking my horse by the bridle, led me round the walls of the town, and then, pointing to the west, told me to go along, or it would fare worse with me. It was in vain that I represented the danger of being benighted in the woods, exposed to the in- PARK'S LIFE AND TRA VELS. 497 clemency of the weather and the fury of wild beasts. * Go along ! * was all the answer ; and a number of people coming up and urging me in the same manner, with great earnestness, I suspected that some of the king's messengers, who were sent in search of me, were iw the town, and that these negroes, from mere kindness, conducted me past it, with a view to facili- tate my escape. I accordingly took the road for Sego, with the uncomfortable prospect, of pass- ing the night on the branches of a tree. After travelling about three miles, I came to a small village nean the road. The dooty was splitting sticks bythe''gate,butIfound I could have no admittance ; and when I attempted to^nter, he jumped up, and with the stick he held in his hand, threatened to strike me off the horse, if I presumed to advance another step. At a little distance from this village (and further from the road) is another small one. I conjectured that, being rather out of the common route, the inhabitants might have fewer objections to give me house- room for the night ; and having crossed some corn-fields, I sat down under a tree by the well. Two or three women came to draw water, and one of them perceiving I was a stranger, in- quired whether I was going. I told her I was going for Sego, but being benighted on the road, I wished to stay at the vil- lage until ^oming, and begged she would act^uaint the dooty with my situation. In a little time the dooty sent for me, and permitted me to sleep in a large baloom August 1 3. — About ten o'clock I reached a small village within half a mile of Sego, where I en- deavoured, but in vain, to pro- cure some provisions. Every one seemed anxious to avoid me; and I could plainlyperceive, by I the looks and behaviour of the inhabitants, that some very unfavourable accounts had been circulated concerning me. I was again informed that Man- song had sent people to appre- hend me; and the dooty's son told me I had no time to lose, if I wished to get safe out of Bambarra. I now fully saw the danger of my situation, and determined to avoid / Sego alto- gether. I accordingly mounted my horse, and taking the road for Diganni, travelled as fast as I could till I was out of sight of the villagers, when I struck to the westward, through high grass and swampy ground. About noon I stopped under a tree to consider what course to take, for I had now no doubt that the Moors and slatees had misinformed the king respecting the object of/ my mission, and that people were absolutely in search of me to convey me a prisoner to Sego. Sometimes I had thoughts of swimming my horse across the Niger, and going to the southward for Cape Coast ; but reflecting that I had ten days to travel before I 2 I 498 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, should reach Kong, and after- wards an extensive country to traverse, inhabited by various nations with whose language and manners I was totally un- acquainted, I relinquished this scheme, and judged that I should better answer the pur- pose of my mission by proceed- ing to the westward along the Niger, endeavouring to ascer- tain how far the river was navi- gable in that direction. Having resolved upon this course, I pro- ceeded accordingly, and a little before sunset arrived at aFoulah village called Sooboo, where, for two hundred kowries, I pro- cured lodging for the night. August 14. — I continued my course along the bank of the river, through a populous and well-cultivated country. I passed a walled town called Kamalia,* without stopping ; and at noon rode through a large town called Samee, where there happened to be a market, and a number of people assem^ bled in an open place in the middle of the town, selling cattle, cloth, com, etc. I rode through the midst of them without being much observed, every one taking me for a Moor. In the afternoon I ar- rived at a small village called Binni, where I agreed with the dooty's son, for one hundred kowries, to allow roe to stay for the night ; but when the dooty returned, he insisted that II should instantly leave the iplace ; j 1 There is another town of this name here- ■ after to be mentioned. \ and if his wife and son had not interceded for me, I must have complied. August 15. — About nine o'clock I passed a large town called Sai, which very much excited my curiosity. It is completely surrounded by two very deep trenches, at about two hundred yards distant from the walls. On the top of the trenches are a number of square towers, and the whole has the appearance of a regular fortification. About noon I came to the village of Kaimoo, situated upon the bank of the river; and as the corn I had purchased at Sibili was exhausted, I endea- voured to purchase a fresh supply, but was informed that com was become very scarce all over the country, and though I offered fifty kowries for a small quantity, no person would sell me any. As I was about .'> depart, however, one of the villagers (who probably mistook me for some Moorish shereef) brought me some as a present^ only desiring me to bestow my blessing upon him, which I did in plain English, and he re- ceived itwithathousandacknow- ledgments. Of 'this present I made my dinner ; and it was the third successive day that I had subsisted entirelyupon raw com. In the evening I arrived at a small village -called Song, the surly 'inhabitants of which would not receive me, nor so much as permit me to enter the gate; but as iions were very PARK'S LIFE AND TRA VELS. 499 river; and as numerous in this neighbourhood, and I had frequently, in the course of the day, observed the impression of their feet on the road, I resolved to stay in the vicinity of the village. Having collected some grass for my horse, I accordingly lay down under a tree by the gate. About ten o'clock I heard the hollow roar of a lion at no great distance, and attempted to'open the gate, but the people fvom within told me that no person mu3t attempt to enter the gate without the dooty's permission. I begged them to inform the (looty that a lion was approach-' ing the village, and I hoped he woujd allow me to come with- in the gate. I waited for an ans;ver to this message with great anxiety, for the lion kept prowling round the village, and once advanced «o vwy near me that I heard him nistting among the grass, and climbed the tree for safety. About midnight the dooty, with some of his people, opened the gate, and desired me to come in. They were convinced, they said, that I was not a Moor, for no Moor ever waited any time at the gate of a village without ^cursing the inhabitants. Augu^ r6. — ^Abofutten o'clock I passed a considerable town, with a mosque, called Jabbee< Here the country -begins to rise into hills, and I could see the sunmiits of high mountains to the westward. About noon I stopped at a small village near Yamina, where I purchased some com, and dried my papers and clothes. The town of Yamina, at a distance, has a very fine appear- ance. It covers nearly the same extent of ground as San- sanding, but having been plun- dered by Daisy, king of Kaarta, about four years ago, it has not yet resumed its former pros- perity — nearly one-half of the town being nothing but a heap of rums. However, it is still a con- siderable place, and is so much frequented by the Moors that I did not think it safe to lodge in it.; but in order to satisfy myself respectmg its population and extent,! resolved to ride through it, in doing which I observed a great many Moors sitting upon the bentangs, and other places of public resort. Everybody >iocdced at me with astonishment, but as I rode briskly along, they had no time to ask ques- tions. I arrived in the evening at Fasra, a walled village, where, without much difficulty, I pro- cured a lodging for the night. Attgust ij. — Early in the movning I pursued my journey, and at eight o'clock passed a considerable town called Balaba, after which the road quits the plain, and stretches along the side of the hUL I passed in tiie course of this day the ruins of three towns, the inhabitants 'Of which were all carried away by Daisy, king of Kaarta, on the same day that he took and plundered Yamina. Near one of these niins I climbed a tama- '"ft 500 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. ft 1 \ It I o rind-tree, but found the fruit quite green and sour, and the prospect of the country was by no means inviting — for the high grass and bushes seemed com- pletely to obstruct the road, and the low lands were all so flooded by the river, that the Niger had the appearance of an extensive lake. In the evening I arrived at Kanika, where the dooty, who was sitting upon an ele- phant's hide at the gate, re- ceived me kindly, and gave me for supper some milk and meal, which I considered (as to a person in my situation it really was) a very great luxury. August i8. — By mistake I took the wrong road, and did not discover my error until I had travelled nearly four miles, when, coming to an eminence, I observed the Niger consider- ably to the left. Directing my course towards it, I travelled through long grass and bushes with great difficulty, until two o'clock in the afternoon, when I came to a comparatively small but very rapid river, which I took at first for a creek, or one of the streams of the Nigen However, after I had examined it with more attention, I was convinced that it was a distinct river j and as the road evidently crossed it (for I could see the pathway on the opposite side), I sat down upon the bank, in hopes that some traveller might arrive who would give me the necessary information concern- ing the fording-place — ^for the banks were so covered with reeds and bushes that it would have been almost impossible to land on the other side, except at the pathway, which, on ac- count of the rapidity of the stream, it seemed very difficult to reach. No traveller how- ever arriving, and there being a great appearance of rain, I examined the grass and bushes for some way up the bank, and determined upon entering the river considerably above the pathway, in order to reach the other side before the stream had swept me too far down. With this view I fastened my clothes upon the saddle, and was stand- ing up to the neck in water, pulling my horse by the bridle to make him follow me, when a man came accidentally to the place, and seeing me in the water, called to me with great vehemence to come out. The alligators, he said, would de- vour both me and my horse, if we attempted to swim over. When I had got out, the stranger, who had never before seen a European, seemed won- derfully surprised. He twice put his hand to his mouth, ex- claiming, in a low tone of voice, * God preserve me ! who is thisl' but when he heard me speak the Bambarra tongue, and found that I was going the same way as himself, he promised to as- sist me in crossing the river, the name of which he told me was Frina. He then went a little way along the bank, and called to some person, who answered from the other side. In a short PARK'S LIFE AND TRA VELS. 501 time a canoe with two boys ame paddling from among the reeds. These boys agreed for fifty kowries to transport me and my horse over the river, which was effected without much difficulty; and I arrived in the evening at Taffara, a walled town, and soon dis- covered that the language of the natives was improved, from the corrupted dialect of Bam- barra, to the pure Mandingo. CHAPTER XVIII. On my arrival at Taffara I in- quired for the dooty, but was informed that he had died a few days before my arrival, and that there was at that moment a meeting of the chief men for electing another, there being some dispute about the succes- sion. It was probably owing to this unsettled state of the town that I experienced such a want of hospitality in it, for, though I informed the inhabit- ants that I should only remain with them for one night, and assured them that Mansong had given me some kowries to pay for my lodging, yet no per- son invited me to come in, and I was forced to sit alone under the bentang-tree, exposed to the rain and wind of a tornado, which lasted with great violence until midnight. At this time the stranger who had assisted me in crossing the river paid Jne a visit, and observing that I had not found a lodging, in- viti d me to take part of his sui per, which he had brought to the door of his hut; for, being a guest himself, he could n' c, without his landlord's con- sent, invite me to come in. After this I slept upon some \ 3t grass in the comer of a < urt. My horse fared still Aurse than myself, the corn I purchased l?eing all expended, and I could not procure a supply. August 20. — I passed the town of Jaba, and stopped a few minutes at a village called Somino, where I begged and obtained some coarse food, which the natives prepare from the husks of corn, and call boo. About two o'clock I came to the village of Sooha, and en- deavoured to purchase some corn from the dooty, who was sitting by the gate, but without success. I then requested a little food by way of charity, but was told he had none to spare. Whilst I was examining the countenance of this inhos- pitable old man, and endea- vouring to find out the cause of the sullen discontent which was visible in his eye, he called to a slave who was working in the corn-field at a little distance, and ordered him to bring his hoe along' with him. The dooty then told him to dig a hole in the ground, pointing to a spot at no great distance. The slave, with his hoe, began to dig a pit in the earth, and the dooty, who appeared to be a man of a very -■ R \ I 1^ S02 run MNGUSJf liXrWKJCKS, \ < :S j|m|k ( IHk \^ I w Sm ; H, : 11 fretful tlisposition, kept nuitter- ing and talking to hii\)sclf until the pit was almost ftnishccl, when he repeatedly pronounecil the words t/iwktiho (' good for no- thing') —/jiz/X'/vi ftmm (' a real plague') — vvhieh expressions 1 thought couUl ho appiietl to nobody l>ut njyself ; and as the pit luul very much the appear- ance of a grave, I thought it j^rudent to mount my l\orse, and was about to ilecamp, when the slave, who had before gone into the village, to niy sui prise returned with the corpse of a boy about nine or ten years of age, unite nakeil. 'J'he negro carried the body by a leg and an arm, and threw it into the pit with a savage inditVerence, which 1 had never before seen. As he covered the body with earth, the dooty often ex- pressed Iiimself, //(///////hie (a charn» to procure wealth). He brougiit me, as a present, some meal and milk ; and when I had finished the saphie, and read it to him with an audible voice, he seemed highly satisfied with his bargain, and promised to bring me in the morning some milk for my breakfast. When 1 /V/A'A"^ IIFE AND TRAVELS, 503 hftd finished my supper ul" rice ami suit, I laid niyNelf down upon A l)iill()(^k'H hide, and slept very quietly until morning -this being tlio first good meal and refreshing sleep that I hud cn- joyetl lor a long time. ///«'//>>"/ 91.- -At daybreak I departed from Koolikorro, and iibout noon passed the villages of Kayoo and Toolumbo. Jn the afternoon I arrived at Mar- mhoo, a large town, anil, like Koolikorro, famous for its trade in Halt. 1 was conducted to the house of a Kaartan, of the tribe of Jower, by whom I was well received. This man had ac- quired a considerable property in the slave-trade, and, from his hospitality to strangers, was railed, by way of pre-eminence, ptft (the landlord), and his house was a sort of public inn for all travellers. Those who had money were well lodged, for they always made him some return for his kindness, but those who had nothing to give were content to acri'pt what- ever he thought proper ; and as I could not rank myself among the moneyed men, I was happy to lake up my lodging in the same hut with seven poor fel- lows who had come from Kan- cjiba in a canoe, lint our land- lord sent us some victuals. ////(,'7Av/ 22. — One of the land- lord's servants went with me a little way from the town to show me what road to take ; but, whether from ignorance or de- sign I know not, he directed me wrong, and I did not dis- cover my mistake until the day was far advanced, when, coming to a deep creek, 1 had some thoughts of turning back ; but as, by that means, 1 foresaw that 1 coulil not possibly reach Jiammakoo before night, I re- solved to cross it, an(l, leading my horse close to the brink, I went behind him and pushed him headlong into the water, and then taking the bridle in my teeth, swam over to the other side. About four o'clock in the afternoon, having altered my course fronj the river to- wards the mountains, I came to a small pathway which led to a village called I'rookaboo, where I slept. Au):^i4st 23. — l^'.arly in the morning) r set out for Uammakoo, at which |)lace I arrived about five o'clock in the afternoon. I hml heard Ihimmakoo much talked of as a great market for salt, and \ felt rather disap- pointed to find it only a mid- dling town, not (]uite ko large as Marraboo ; however, tlie small- ness of its size is more than compensated by the richness of its inluibitants ; for when the Moors bring their salt through Kaarla or IJambarra, they con- stantly rest a few days at this place, and the negro merchants here, who are well acquainted with the value of salt in dilTer- ent kingdoms, frequently pur- chase by wholesale, and retail it to great advantage. Here I lodged at the house of a Sera- wooUi negro, and was visited by a number of Moors. They i Mia I*, i . 504 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. '% I M A If: \ fl \ spoke very good Mandingo, and were more civil to me than their countrymen had been. One of them had travelled to Rio Grande, and spoke very highly of the Christians. He sent me in the evening some boiled rice and milk. I now endeavoured to procure information concern- ing my route to the westward from a slave-merchant who had resided some years on the Gambia. He gave me some imperfect account of the dis- tance, and enumerated the names of a great many places that lay in the way, but withal told me that the road was im- passable at this season of the year : he, was even afraid, he said, that I should find great difficulty in proceeding any farther ; as the road crossed the Joliba at a town about half a day's journey to the westward of Bammakoo, and there being no canoes at that place large enough to receive my horse, I could not possibly get him over for some months to come. This was an obstruction of a very serious nature; but as I had no money to maintain my- self even for a few days, I re- solved to push on, and if I . could not convey my horse across the river, to abandon him, and swim over myself. In thoughts of this nature I passed the night, and in the morning consulted with my landlord how I should sur- mount the present difficulty. He informed me that one road still remained, which was indeed very rocky, and scarcely pass. able for horses ; but that if I had a proper guide over the hills to a town called Sibidoo- loo, he had no doubt but with patience and caution I might travel forwards through Man- ding. I immediately applied to the dooty, and was informed that a /////' kea (singing man) was about to depart for Sibi- dooloo, and would show me the road over the hills. With this man, who undertook to be my conductor, I travelled up a rocky glen about two miles, when we came to a small vil- lage ; and here my musical fellow-traveller found out that he had brought me the wrong road. He told me that the horse-road lay on the other side of the hill, and throwing his drum on his back, mounted up the rocks, where indeed no horse could follow him, leaving me to admire his agility, and trace out a road for myself. As I found it impossible to proceed, I rode back to the level ground, and directing my course to the eastward, came about noon to another glen, and discovered a path on which I observed the marks of horses' feet i following this path I came in a short time to some shep- herds' huts, where I was in- formed that I was in the right road, but that I could not pos- sibly reach Sibidooloo before night. A little before sunset I de- scended on the north-west side of this ridge of hills, and as I PARJCS LIFE AND TRA VELS. 505 d scarcely pass. 3 ; but that if I vas looking about for a con- venient tree under which to pass the night (for I had no hopes of reaching any town) I descended into a delightful val- ley, and soon afterwards ar- rived at a romantic village called Kooma. This village is surrounded by a high wall, and is the sole property of a Man- dingo merchant, who fled hither with his family during a former war. The adjacent fields yield him plenty of corn, his cattle roam at large in the valley, and the rocky hills secure him from the depredations of war. In this obscure retreat he is seldom visited by strangers, but when- ever this happens, he makes the weary traveller welcome. I soon found myself surrounded by a circle of the harmless vil- lagers. They asked a thousand questions about my country; and, in return for my informa- tion, brought corn and milk for myself, and grass for my horse, kindled a fire in the hut where I was to sleep, and appeared very anxious to serve me. ^ August 25. — I departed from Kooma, accompanied - by two shepherds who were going to- wards Sibidooloo. The road was very steep and rocky, and as my horse had hurt his feet much in coming from Bamma- koo, he travelled slowly and with great difficulty; for in many places the ascent was so sharp, and the declivities so great, that if he had made one talse step, he must inevitably have been dashed to pieces. The shepherds being anxious to proceed, gave themselves little trouble about me or my horse, and kept walking on at a con- siderable distance. It was about eleven o'clock, as I stopped to drink a little water at a rivulet (my companions being near a quarter of a mile before me), that I heard some people calling to each other, and presently a loud screaming, as from a person in great dis- tress. I immediately conjec- tured that a lion had taken one of the shepherds, and mounted my horse to have a better view of what had happened. The noise, however, ceased, and I rode slowly towards the place from whence I thought it had proceeded, calling out, but without receiving any answer. In a little time, however, I per- ceived one of the shepherds lying among the long grass near the road, and though I could see no blood upon him, I con- cluded he was dead. But when I came close to him, he whis- pered to me to stop, telling me that a party of armed men had seized upon his companion, and shot two arrows at himself as he was making his escape. I stopped to consider what course to take, and looking round, saw at a little distance a man sitting upon the stump of a tree : I distinguished also the heads of six or seven more, sitting among the grass, with muskets in their hands. I had now no hopes of escaping, and there- fore determined to ride forward M ' .^-IH- 5o6 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. ill i I towards them. As I approached them, I was in hopes they were elephant-hunters ; and by way of opening the conversation, in- quired if they had shot any- thing, but, without returning an answer, one of them ordered me to dismount, and then, as if recollecting himself, waved with his hand for me to proceed. I accordingly rode past, and had with some difficulty crossed a deep rivulet, when I heard somebody holloa, and looking behind, saw those I had taken for elephant-hunters running after me, and calling out to me to turn back. I stopped until they were all come up, when they informed me that the king of the Foulahs had sent them on purpose to bring me, my horse, and everything that be- longed to me, ta Fooladoo, and that therefore I must turn back and go along with them. With- out hesitating a moment, I turned round andfollov-ed them^ and we travelled together nearly a quarter of a mile without ex- changing a word ; when coming to a dark place in the wood, one of them said in the Man- dingo language,' *This place will do,' and immediately snatched my hat from my head. Though I was by no means free of apprehension, yet I resolved to show as few signs of fear as possible, and there- fore told them that unless my hat was returned to me I should proceed no farther. But before I had time to receive an answer anotb«^r drew his knife, and seiz- ing upon a metal button which remained upon my waistcoat, cut it off and put it into his pocket. Their intentions were now obvious, and I thought that the easier they were per- mitted to rob me of everything, the less I had to fear. I there- fore allowed them to search mv pockets without resistance, and examine every part of my ap- parel, which they did with the most scrupulous exactness. But observing that I had one waistcoat under another, they insisted that I should cast them both off; and at l^ist, to make sure work, they stripped me quite naked. Even my half- boots (though the sole of one of them was tied on to my foot with a broken bridle-rein) were minutely inspected. Whilst they were examining the plun- der, I begged them, with great earnestness, to return my pock- et-compass; b'lt when I pointed it out to them, as it was lying on the ground, one of the banditti, thinking I was about to take it up, cocked his musket, and swore that he would lay me dead upon the spot if I presumed to put my hand upon it. After this, some of them went away with my horse, and the remainder stood considering whether they should leave me quite naked, or allow me something to shel- ter me from the sun. Humanity at last prevailed : they returned me the worst of the two shirts, and a pair of trousers ; and, as they went away, one of them threw back my hat, in the PARK'S LIFE AND TRA VELS. 5*^7 :■/<' in crown of which I kept my memorandums, and this was probably the reason they did not wish to keep it. After they were gone, I sat for some titne looking around me with amaze- ment and terror. Whichever way I turned, nothing appeared but danger and difficulty. I saw myself in the midst of a vast wilderness, in the depth of the rainy season — naked and alone, surrounded by savage animals, and men still more savage. I was five hundred miles from the nearest Euro- pean settlement. All these circumstances crowded at once on my recollection, and I con- fess that my spirits began to fail me. I considered my fate as certain, and that I had no alternative but to lie down and perish. The influence of re- ligion, however, aided and sup- ported me. I reflected that no human prudence or foresight could possibly have averted my present sufferings. I was in- deed a stranger in a strange land, yet I was still under the protecting eye of that Provi- dence who has condescended to call Himself the stranger's Friend. At this moment, pain- ful as my reflections were, the extraordinary beauty of a small moss in fructification irresisti- bly caught my eye. I mention this to show from what trifling circumstances the mind will sometimes derive consolation ; for though the whole plant was not larger than the top of one of my fingers, I could not con- template the delicate conforma- tion of its roots, leaves, and capsula, without admiration. Can that Being, thought I, who planted, watered, and brought to perfection, in this obscure part of the world, a thing which appears of so small importance, look with unconcern upon the situation and sufferings of crea- tures formed after His own im- age 1 Surely not I Reflections like these would not allow me to despair. I started up, and, disregarding both hunger and fatigue, travelled forwards, as- sured that relief was at hand ; and I was not disappointed. In a short time I came to a small village, at the entrance of which I overtook the two shep- herds who had come with me from Kooma. They were much surprised to see me; for they said they never doubted that the Foulahs, when they had robbed, had murdered me. De- parting from this village, we travelled over several rocky ridges, and at sunset arrived at Sibidooloo, the frontier town of the kingdom of Manding. CHAPTER XIX. The town of Sibidooloo is situated in a fertile valley, surrounded with high rocky hills. It is scarcely accessible for horses, and during the fre- quent wars between the Bam- barrans, Foulahs, and Mandin- goes, has never once been plun- So8 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. dcred by an enemy. When I entered the town, the people gathered round me, and followed me into the baloon, where I was presented to the dooty or chief man, who is here called mansa, which usually signifies king. Nevertheless, it appeared to me that the government of Manding was a sort of republic, or rather an oligarchy — every town having a particular mansa, and the chief power of the state, in the last resort, being lodged in the assembly of the whole body. I related to the mansa the circumstances of my having been robbed of my horse and apparel ; and my story was con- firmed by the two shepherds. He continued smoking his pipe all the time I was speaking; but I had no sooner finished, than, taking his pipe from his mouth, and tossing up the sleeve of his cloak with an indignant air — * Sit down,' said he ; ' you shall have everything restored to you ; I have sworn it :' — and then, turning to an attendant, ' Give the white man,' said he, * a draught of water ; and with the first light of the morning go over the hills, and inform the dooty of Bammakoo that a poor white man, the king of Bam- barra's stranger, has been robbed by the king of Fooladoo's people.' I little expected, in my for- lorn condition, to meet with a man who could thus feel for my suiierings. I heartily thanked the mansa for his kind- ness, and accepted his invita- tion to remain with him until the return of the messenger. I was conducted into a hut, and had some victuals sent me, but the crowd of people which assembled to see me — all of whom commiserated my mis- fortunes, and vented impreca- tions against the Foulahs — pre- vented me from sleeping until past midnight. Two days I remained without hearing any intelligence of my horse or clothes; and as there was at this time a great scarcity of provisions, approaching even to famine, all over this part of the country, 1 was unwilling to trespass any farther on the mansa's generosity, and begged permission to depart to the next village. Finding me very anxious to proceed, he told me that I might go as far as a town called Won da, where he hoped I would remain a few days until I heard some account of my horse, etc. I departed accordingly on the next morning, the 28th, and stopped at some small villages for refreshment. I was presented at one of them with a dish which I had never before seen. It was composed of the blossoms or anthera of the maize, stewed in milk and water. It is eaten only in time of great scarcity. On the 30th, about noon, I arrived at Wonda, a small town with a mosque, and surrounded by a high wall The mansa, who was a Moham- medan, acted in two capacities — as chief magistrate of the PARICS LIFE AND TRA VELS, 509 town, and schoolmaster to the children. He kept his school in an open shed, where I was desired to take up my lodging until some account should arrive from Sibidooloo concern- ing my horse and clothes ; for though the horse was of little use to me, yet the few clothes were essential. The little rai- ment upon me could neither protect me from the sun by day, nor the dews and mosqui- toes by night : indeed, my shirt was not only worn thin like a piece of muslin, but withal so very dirty that I was happy to embrace an opportunity of washing it, which having done, and spread it upon a bush, I sat down naked in the shade until it was dry. Ever since the commence- ment of the rainy season, my health had been greatly on the decline. I had often been affected with slight paroxysms of fever ; and from the time of leaving Bammakoo, the symp- toms had considerably in- creased. As I was sitting in the manner described, the fever returned with such violence that it very much alarmed me ; the more so, as I had no medi- cine to stop its progress, nor any hope of obtaining that care and attention which my situa tion required. I remained at Wonda nine days, during which time I ex- perienced the regidar return of the fever every day. And though I endeavoured as much as possible to conceal my dis- tress from my landlord, and frequently lay down the whole day out of his sight, in a field of corn,— conscious how bur- densome I was to him and his family, in a time of such great scarcity, — yet I found that he was apprised of my situation ; and one morning, as I feigned to be asleep by the fire, he observed to his wife that they were likely to find me a very troublesome and charge- able guest ; for that, in my pre- sent sickly state, they should be obliged, for the sake of their good name, to maintain me until I recovered or died. The scarcity of provisions was certainly felt at this time most severely by the poor people, as the following circumstance most painfully convinced me : — Every evening during my stay I observed five or six women come to the mansa's house, and receive each of them a certain quantity of com. As I knew how valuable this article was at this juncture, I inquired of the mansa whether he maintained these poor women from pure bounty, or expected a return when the harvest should be gathered in. * Observe that boy,' said he (pointing to a fine child, about five years of age) ; ' his mother has sold him to me for forty days' provision for herself and the rest of her family. I have bought another boy in the same manner.' Good God I thought I, what must a mother suffer before she sells her own child ! I could not ""1 I 111 H: % iii'i'jl 41, i ll ■■.»■ '• !h iK- 5IO THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. I get this melancholy subject out of my mind ; and the next night, when the women returned for their allowance, I desired the boy to point out to me his mother, which he did. She was much emaciated, but had nothing cruel or savage in her countenance ; and when she had received her corn, she came and talked to her son with as much cheerfulness as if he had still been under her care. September 6. — Two people arrived from Sibidooloo, bring- ing with them my horse and clothes; but I found that my pocket-compass was broken to pieces. This was a great loss, which I could not repair. September 7. — As my horse was grazing near the brink of a well, the ground gave way and he fell in. The well was about ten feet in diameter, and so very deep that when I saw my horse snorting in the water I thought it was impossible to save him. The inhabitants of the village, however, imme- diately assembled, ;and having tied together a number of withes,^ they lowered a man down into the well, who fastened those withes round the body of the horse ; and the people hav- ing first drawn up the man, took hold of the withes, and to my surprise, pulled the horse out with the greatest facility. The poor animal was now re- duced to a mere skeleton, and i From a plant called kalba^ that climbs like a vine upon the trees. the roads were scarcely pass- able, being either very rocky, or else full of mud and water. I therefore found it impracti- cable to travel with him any farther, and was happy to leave him in the hands of one who, I thought, would take care of him. I accordingly presented him to my landlord, and desired him to send my saddle and bridle, as a present, to the mansa of Sibidooloo, being the only re- turn I could make him for hav- ing taken so much trouble in procuring my horse and clothes. I now thought it necessary, sick as I was, to take leave of my hospitable landlord. On the morning of September 8th, when I was about .to depart, he presented me with liis spear, as a token of remembrance, and a leather bag to contain my clothes. Having converted my half-boots into sandals, I tra- velled with more ease, and slept that night at a village called Ballanti. ^On the 9th I reached Nemacoo ; but ithe mansa of the ^village thought fit to make me sup upon the chame- leon's dish. By way -of apology, however, he assured ime the next morning that the scarcity of corn was such that he could not possibly allow me any. I could not accuse him of unkind- ness, as all the people actually appeared to be starving. September 10. — It rained hard all day, and the people kept themselves in their huts. In the afteooon I was visited by a negro, named Modi Lemina PARK'S LIFE AND TRA VELS. 5 1 1 Xaura, a great trader, who, suspecting my distress, brought roe some victuals, and promised to conduct me to his own house at Kinyeto the day following. September 11. — I departed from Nemacoo, and arrived at Kinyeto in the evening ; but having hurt my ankle in the way, it swelled and inflamed so much that I could neither walk nor set my foot to the ground the next day, without great pain. My landlord observing this, kindly invited me to stop with him a few days, and I accordingly remained at his house until the 14th, by which time I felt much relieved, and could walk with the help >of a staff. I now set out, thanking ray landlord for his great care and attention; and being accom- panied by a young man who was travelling the same way, I proceeded for Jerijang, a beauti- ful and well-cultivated district, the mansa of which is reckoned the most powerful chief of any in Manding. On the 1 5 th I reached Dosita, a large town, where I stayed one day on account of the rain ; but I continued very sickly, and was slightly delirious in the night On the 17th I set out for Mansia, a considerable town, where small quantities of gold are collected. The road led over a high rocky hill, and my strength and spirits were so much ^e^diausted, that before I could reach .the top of the hill I aps the most prominent defect in their character was that insurmountable propensity, which the reader must have ob- served to prevail in all classes of them, to steal from me the few eflfects I was possessed of. For this part of their conduct no complete justification can be offered, because theft is a crime in their own estimation ; and it must be observed, that they are not habitually and generally guilty of it towards each other. On the other hand, as some counterbalance to this depravity in their nature, allowing it to be such, it is impossible for me to forget the disinterested charity and tender solicitude with which many of these poor heathens (from the sovereign of Sego to the poor women who received me at different times into their cottages when I was perishing of hunger) sympathised with me in my sufferings, relieved my distresses, and contributed to my safety. This acknowledg- ment, however, is perhaps more particularly due to the female part of the nation. Among the men, as the reader must have seen, my reception, though generally kind, was sometimes otherwise. It varied accord- ing to the various tempers of those to whom I made applica- tion. The hardness of avarice in some, and the blindness of bigotry in others, had closed up the avenues to compassion j but I do not recollect a single in- stance of hard-heartedness to- wards me in the women. In all my wanderings and wretched- ness, I found them uniformly kind and compassionate; and I can truly say, as my prede- cessor Mr. Ledyard has elo- quently said before me, * To a woman I never addressed my- self in the language of decency and friendship, without receiv- ing a decent and friendly an- swer. If I was hungry or thirsty, wet or sick, they did not hesi- tate, like the men, to perform a generous action. In so free and so kind a manner did they contribute to my relief, that if I was dry, I drank the sweetest draught, and if hungry, I ate the coarsest morsel, with a double relish.' It is surely reasonable to sup- pose that the soft and amiable sympathy of nature, which was thus spontaneously manifested towards me in my distress, is displayed by these poor people, as occasion requires, much more strongly towards persons of their own nation and neighbourhood, and especially when the objects of their compassion are en- deared to them by the ties of consanguinity. Accordingly the maternal affection (neither suppressed by the restraints, nor diverted by the solicitudes of civilised life) is everywhere conspicuous among them, and creates a correspondent return of tenderness in the child. An illustration of this has been 1: 5i8 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. already given. * Strike me/ said my attendant, * but do not curse my mother.* The same sentiment I found universally to prevail, and observed in all parts of Africa, that the greatest affront which could be offered to a negro was to reflect on her who gave him birth. It is not strange that this sense of filial duty and affec- tion among the negroes should be less ardent towards the father than the mother. The system of polygamy, while it weakens the father's attach- ment by dividing it among the children of different wives, con- centrates all the mother's jeal- ous tenderness to one point — the protection of her own off- spring. I perceived with great satisfaction, too, that the ma- ternal solicitude extended not only to the growth and security of the person, but also, in a certain degree, to the improve- ment of the mind of the infant ; for one of the first lessons in which the Mandingo women instruct their children is the practice of truth. The reader will probably recollect the case of the unhappy mother, whose son was murdered by the Moor- ish banditti at Funingkedy. Her only consolation in her uttermost distress was the re- flection that the poor boy, in the course of his blameless life, had never told a lie. Such testi- mony fi:om a fond mother on such an occasion, must have operated powerfully on the youthful part of the surround- ing spectators. It was at once a tribute of praise to the de- ceased, and a lesson to the living. The negro women suckle their children until they are able to walk of themselves. Three years' nursing is not un- common, and during this period the husband devotes his whole attention to his other wives. To this practice, it is owing, I presume, that the family of each wife is seldom very numerous. Few women have more than five or six children. As soon as an infant is able to walk, it is permitted to run about with great freedom. The mother is not over solicitous to preserve it from slight falls, and other trifling accidents. A little practice soon enables a child to take care of itself, and ex- perience acts the part of a nurse. As they advance in life, the girls are taught to spin cot- ton and to beat corn, and are instructed in other domestic duties, and the boys are em- ployed in the labours of the field. Both sexes, whether bushreens or kafirs, on attain- ing the age of puberty, are cir- cumcised. This painful opera- tion is not considered by the kafirs so much in the light of a religious ceremony as a matter of convenience and utility. They have, indeed, a superstiti- ous notion that it contributes to render the marriage state prolific. The operation is per- formed upon several young people at the same time, all of PARKS LIFE AND TRA VELS. 519 sexes, whether whom are exempted from every sort of labour for two months afterwards. During this period they form a society called soli- mana. They visit the towns and villages in the neighbour- hood, where they dance and sing, and are well treated by the inhabitants. I had fre- quently, in the course of my joumey, observed parties of this description, but they were all males. I had, however, an opportunity of seeing a female solimana at Kamalia. In the course of this celebra- tion, it frequently happens that some of the young women get married. If a man takes a fancy to any one of them, it is not considered as absolutely necessary that he should make an overture to the girl herself. The first object is to agree with the parents concerning the recompence to be given them for the loss of the company and services of their daughter. The value of two slaves is a com- mon price, unless the girl is thought very handsome, in which case the parents will rai^'e their demand very con- siderably. If the lover is rich enough, and willing to give the sum demanded, he then com- municates his wishes to the damsel ; but her consent is by no means necessary to the match, for if the parents agree to it, and eat a few kolla-rmiSy which are represented by the suitor as an earnest of the bar- gain, the young lady must either have the man of their choice, or continue unmarried, for she cannot afterwards be given to another. If the parents should attempt it, the lover is then authorised, by the ^aws of the country, to seize upon the girl as his slave. When the day for celebrating the nuptials is fixed on, a select number of people are invited to be present at the wedding — a bullock or goat is killed, and great plenty of victuals is dressed for the oc- casion. As soon as it is dark, the bride is conducted into a hut, where a company of ma- trons assist in arranging the wedding-dress, which is always white cotton, and is put on in such a manner as to conceal the bride from head to foot. Thus arrayed, she is seated upon a mat in the middle of the floor, and the old women place themselves in a circle round her. They then give her a series of instructions, and point out, with great propriety, what ought to be her future conduct in life. This scene of instruc- tion, however, is frequently in- terrupted by girls, who amuse the company with songs and dances, which are rather more remarkable for their gaiety than delicacy. While the bride re- mains within the hut with the women, the bridegroom devotes his attention to the guests of both sexes, who assemble with- out doors, and by distributing among them small presents of koUa-nuts, and seeing that every one partakes of the good cheer which is provided, he contri- ■'%m 520 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. butes much to the general hilarity of the evening. When supper is ended, the company spend the remainder of the night in singing and dancing, and seldom separate until day- break. About midnight the bride is privately conducted by the women into the hut which is to be her future residence, and the bridegroom, upon a signal given, retires from his company. The newly-married couple, however, are always disturbed towards morning by the women, who assemble to inspect the nuptial sheet (ac- cording to the manners of the ancient Hebrews, as recorded in Scripture) and dance round it. This ceremony is thought indispensably necessary, nor is the marriage considered as valid without it. The negroes, as hath been frequently observed, whether Mohammedan or pagan, allow a plurality of wives. The Mo- hammedans alone are by their religion confined to four, and as the husband commonly pays a great price for each, he re- quires from all of them the ut- most deference and submission, and treats them more like hired servants than companions. They have, however, the man- agement of domestic affairs, and each in rotation is mistress of the household, and has the care of dressing the victuals, overlooking the female slaves, etc. But though the African husbands are possessed of great authority over their wives, 1 1 did not observe that in general they treat them with cruelty, neither did I perceive that mean jealousy in their di: Posi- tions which is so prevalent among the Moors. They per- mit their wives to partake of all public diversions, and this indulgence is seldom abused, for though the negro women are very cheerful and frank in their behaviour, they are by no means given to intrigue — I be- lieve that instances of conjugal infidelity are not common. When the wives quarrel among themselves, — a circumstance which, from the nature of their situation, must frequently hap- pen, — the husband decides be- tween them, and sometimes finds it necessary to administer a little corporal chastisement before tranquillity can be re- stored. But if any one of the ladies complains to the chief of the tovvTi that her husband has unjustly punished her, and shown an undue partiality to some other of his wives, the affair is brought to a public trial. In these palavers, how- ever, which are conducted chiefly by married men, I was informed that the complaint of the wife is not always con- sidered in a very serious light, and the complainant herself is sometimes convicted of strife and contention, and left with- out remedy. If she murmurs at the decision of the court, the magic rod of Mumbo Jumbo soon puts an end to the business. The children of the Man- PARK'S LIFE AND TRA VELS. 521 dingoes are not always named after their relations, but fre- quently in consequence of some remarkable occurrence. Thus my landlord at Kamalia was called Karfa^ a word signifying \ij replace^ because he was born shortly after the death of one of his brothers. Other names are descriptive of good or bad qualities — as Modi, a. good man; Fadibba, father of the town, etc.: indeed, the very names of their towns have something descrip- tive in them — as Sibidooloo, the town of ciboa-trees ; Kenneyeto, victuals here; Dosita, lift your spoon. Others appear to be given by way of reproach — as BammakoOj wash a crocodile; Karrankallat no cup to drink from, etc. A child is named when it is seven or eight days old. The ceremony commences by shaving the infant's head ; and a dish called dega, made of pounded com and sour milk, is prepared for the guests. If the parents are rich, a sheep or goat is commonly added. This feast is called ding koon lee (the child's head-shaving). During my stay at Kamalia I was present at four different feasts of this kind, and the ceremony was the same in each, whether the child be- longed to a bushreen or a kafir. The schoolmaster, who officiated as priest on those occasions, and who is necessarily a bush- reen, first said a long prayer over the dega, during which every person present took hold of the brim of the calabash with his right hand. After this, the schoolmaster took the child in his arms and said a second prayer, in which he repeatedly solicited the blessing of God upon the child and upon all the company. When this prayer was ended, he whispered a few sentences in the child's ear, and spat three times in its face, after which he pronounced its name aloud, and returned the infant to the mother.^ This part of the ceremony being ended, the father of the child divided the dega into a number of balls, one of which he dis- tributed to every person present; and inquiry was then made if any person in the town was dangerously sick, it being usual in such cases to send the party a large portion of the dega, which is thought to possess great medical virtues. Among the negroes every in- dividual, besides his own proper name, has likewise a kontong^ or surname, to denote the family or clan to which he belongs. Some of these families are very numerous and powerful. It is impossible to enumerate the various kontongs which are found in different parts of the country, though the knowledge of many of them is of great service to the traveller ; for as every negio plumes himself upon the importance or the anti- quity of his clan, he is much flattered when he is addressed by his kontong. 1 Soon after baptism the children are marked in different pnrts of the skin, in a manner resembling what is called tattooing in the South Sea Islands. < '! ; •-- ;:< -1 ■; * .:>: ' % 522 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. Salutations among the negroes to each other, when they meet, are always observed, but those in most general use among the kafirs are, Abbe haeretto^ E ning seni^ Anawari^ etc., all of which have nearly the same meaning, and signify *Are you well?' or to that effect. There are likewise salutations which are used at different times of the day — as E ning somo (* Good morning'), etc. The general answer to all salutations is to repeat the kontong of the per- son who salutes, or else to re- peat the salutation itself, first pronouncing the word Marhaba ('My friend'). CHAPTER XXI. The Mandingoes, and, I be- lieve, the negroes in general, have no artificial method of dividing time. They calculate the years by the number of rainy seasons. They portion the year into inoons^ and reckon the days by so many suns. The day they divide into morning, mid-day, and evening ; and far- ther subdivide it, when neces- sary, by pointing to the sun's place in the heavens. I fre- quently inquired of some of them what became of the sun during the night, and whether we should see the same sun, or a different one, in the morn- ing ; but I found that they con- sidered the question as very childish. The subject appeared to them as placed beyond the reach of human investigation— they had never indulged a con- jecture, nor formed any hypo- thesis, about the matter. The moon, by varying her form, has more attracted their attention. On the first appearance of the new moon, which they look upon to be newly created, the pagan natives, as well as Mo- hammedans, say a short prayer- and this seems to be the only visible adoration n^hich the kafirs offer up to the Supreme Being. This prayer is pro- nounced in a whisper— the party holding up his hands before his face : its purport (as I have been assured by many different people) is to return thanks to God for His kindness through the existence of the past moon, and to solicit a continuation of His favour during that of the new one. At the conclusion they spit upon their hands, and rub them over their faces. This seems to be nearly the same ceremony which prevailed among the hea- thens in the days of Job.^ Great attention, however, is paid to the changes of this luminary in its monthly course, and it is thought very unlucky to begin a journey, or any other work of consequence, in the 'ast quarter. An eclipse, whether of the sun or moon, is supposed to be effected by witchcraft. The stars are very little re- garded; and the whole study of astronomy appears to them PARK'S LIFE AND TRA VELS. 523 same ceremony d among the hea- lys of Job.^ tion, however, is changes of this monthly course, ht very unludy aey, or any other uence, in the ^ast eclipse, whether loon, is supposed by witchcraft. I very little re- the whole study appears to them as a useless pursuit, and at- tended to by such persons only as deal in magic. Their notions of geography are equally puerile. They ima- gine that the world is an ex- tended plain, the termination of which no eye has discovered -it being, they say, overhung with clouds and darkness. They describe the sea as a large river of salt water, on the fartiier shore of which is situated a country called Tobaubo doo (the land of the white people). At a distance from Tobaubo doo, they describe another country, which they allege as inhabited by cannibals of gi- gantic size, called komi. This countr> they caliyi?«^ sang doo (the land where the slaves are sold). But of all countries in the world their own appears to them as the best, and their own people as the happiest; and they pity the fate of other nations, who have been placed by Providence in less fertile and less fortunate districts. Some of the religious opinions of the negroes, though blended with the weakest credulity and superstition, are not unworthy attention. I have conversed with all ranks and conditions upon the subject of their faith, and can pronounce, without the smallest shadow of doubt, that the belief of one God, and of a future state of reward and pun- ishment, is entire and universal among them. It is remarkable, however, that except on the ap- pearance of a new moon, as be- fore related, the pagan natives do not think it necessary to offer up prayers and supplica- tions to the Almighty. They represent the Deity, indeed, as the creator and preserver of all things ; but in genc'al they consider Him as a being so remote, and of so exalted a nature, that \% is idle to ima- gine the feeble supplications of wretched mortals can reverse the decrees and change the purposes of unerring wisdom. If they are asked, for what reason then do they offer up a prayer on the appearance of the new moon, the answer is, that custom has made it neces- sary — they do it because their fathers did it before them. Such is the blindness of unas- sisted nature! The concerns of this world, they believe, are committed by the Almighty to the superintendence and direc- tion of subordinate spirits, over whom they suppose that certain magical ceremonies have great influence. A white fowl, sus- pended to the branch of a par- ticular tree, a snake's head, or a few handfuls of fruit, are offer- ings which ignorance and super- stition frequently present, to deprecate the wrath, or to con- ciliate the favour, of these tute- lary agents. But it is not often that the negroes make their religious opinions the subject of conversation : when interro- gated, in particular, concerning their ideas of a future state, they express themselves with great reverence, but endeavour im ill ., m 'U\ :i.''il 524 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. to shorten the discussion by observing, Mo o mo inta alio (* No man knows anything about it'). They are content, they say, to follow the precepts and examples of their fore- fathers, through the various vicissitudes of life ; and when this world presents no objects of enjoyment or of comfort, they seem to look with anxiety towards another, which they believe will be better suited to their natures, but concerning which they are far from indulg- ing vain and delusive conjec- tures. The Mandingoes seldom at- tain extreme old age. At forty, most of them become grey-haired and covered with wrinkles, and but few of them survive the age of fifty-five or sixty. They calculate the years of their lives, as I have already observed, by the number of rainy seasons (there being but one such in the year), and dis- tinguish each year by a parti- cular name, founded on some remarkable occurrence which happened in that year. Thus, they say, the year of the Far- bamia war — the year of the Kaarta war — the year on which Gadou was -^hmderedf etc. etc. ; and I have no doubt that the year 1796 will in many places be distinguished by the name of tobaubo tambi sang (the year the white man passed), as such an occurrence would naturally form an epoch in their tradi- tional history. But notwithstanding that longevity is uncommon among them, it appeared to me that their diseases are but few in number. Their simple diet and active way of life, preserve them from many of those dis- orders which embitter the days of luxury and idleness. Fevers and fluxes are the most com- mon and the most fatal. For these they generally apply saphies to different parts of the body, and perform a great many other superstitious ceremonies — some of which are indeed well calculated to inspire the patient with the hope of recovery, and divert his mind from brooding over his own danger — but I have sometimes observed among them a more systematic mode of treatment. On the first at- tack of a fever, when the patient complains of cold, he is fre- quently placed in a sort of vapour bath. This is done by spreading branches of the mu- ilea orientalis upon hot wood embers, and laying the patient upon them wrapped up in a large cotton cloth. Water is then sprinkled upon the branches, which descending to the hot embers, soon covers the pa- tient with a cloud of vapour, in which he is allowed to remain until the embers are almost extinguished. This practice commonly produces a profuse perspiration, and wonderfully relieves the sufferer. For the dysentery, they use the bark of different trees re- duced to powder, and mixed with the patient's food; but PARK'S LIFE AND TRA VELS. 525 this practice is in general very unsuccessful. The other diseases which prevail among the negroes are the^'tfWJ, the elephantiasis^ and a leprosy of the very worst kind. This last-mentioned complaint appears at the beginning in scurfy spots upon different parts of the body, which finally settle upon the hands or feet, where the skin becomes withered, and cracks in many places. At length the ends of the fingers swell and ulcerate, the discharge is acrid and fetid, the nails drop off, and the bones of the fingers become carious, and separate at the joints. In this manner the disease continues to spread, fre- quently until the patient loses all his fingers and toes. Even the hands and feet are some- times destroyed by this inve- terate malady, to which the negroes give the name of balla ou (incurable). The guif tea worm As likewise very common in certain places, especially at the commence- ment of the rainy season. The negroes attribute this disease, which has been described by many writers, to bad water, and allege that the people who drink from wells are more subject to it than those who drink from streams. To the same cause they attribute the swelling of the glands of the neck {goitres), which are very common in some parts of Bambarra. I observed also, in the interior countries, a few instances of simple gonor- rksa. but never the confirmed iues. On the whole, it appeared to me that the negroes are better surgeons than physicians. I found them very successful in their management of fractures and dislocations, and their splints and bandages are simple and easily removed. The pa- tient is laid upon a soft mat, and the fractured limb is fre- quently bathed with cold wa- ter. AH abscesses they open with the actual cautery, and the dressings are composed of either soft leaves, shea butter, or cow's dung, as the case seems, in their judgment, to require. Towards the coast, where a supply of European lancets can be procured, they sometimes perform phlebotomy, and in cases of local inflammation a curious sort of cuppin;* is prac- tised. This operation is per- forined by making incisions in the part, and applying to it a bullock's horn, with a small hole in the end. The operator then takes a piece of bees' wax in his mouth, and putting his lips to the hole, extracts the air from the horn, and, by a dexter- ous use of his tongue, stops up the hole with the wax. This method is found to answer the purpose, and in general pro- duces a plentiful discharge. When a person of conse- quence dies, the relations and neighbours meet together, and manifest their sorrow by loud and dismal bowlings. A bullock or goat is killed for such per- sons as come to assist at the funeral, which generally takes iiRltl ii 1 ^2 ■.! 526 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, place in the evening of the same day on which the party died. The negroes have no appro- priate burial-places, and fre- quently dig the grave in the floor of the deceased's hut, or in the shade of a favourite tree. The body is dressed in white cotton, and wrapped up in a mat. It is carried to the grave, in the dusk of the evening, by the relations. If the grave is without the walls of the town, a number of prickly bushes are laid upon it to prevent the wolves from digging up the body; but I never observed that any stone was placed over the grave as a monument or memorial. Of their music and dances, some account has incidentally been given in different parts of my journal. On the first of these heads, I have now to add a list of their musical instru- ments, the principal of which are — the koonting^ a sort of guitar with three strings; the korro^ a large harp with eighteen strings ; the simbing^ a small harp with seven strings ; the balafou^ an instrument com- posed of twenty pieces of hard wood of different lengths, with the shells of gourds hung under- neath to increase the sound ; the tangiangi a drum, open at the lower end ; and, lastly, the tabala^ a large drum, commonly used to spread an alarm through the country. Besides these, they make use of small flutes, bow-strings, elephants' teeth, and bells ; and at all their dances and concerts, clappimx of hands appears to consti- tute a necessary part of the' chorus. With the love of music is I naturally connected a taste for poetry ; and fortunately for the I poets of Africa, they are in a I great measure exempted from that neglect and indigence which in more polished countries commonly attend the votaries of the Muses. They consist of | two classes ; the most numerous are the singing tnen^ calkd Jii/i kea^ mentioned in a former part of my narrative. One or more of these may be found in every town. They sing extempore songs in honour of their chief men, or any other persons who are willing to give * solid pud- ding for empty praise.' But a nobler part of their office is to recite the historical events of their, country: hence, in war they accompany the soldiers to the field, in order, by reciting the great actions of their an- cestors, to awaken in them a spirit of glorious emulation. The other class are devotees of the Mohammedan faith, who travel about the country sing- ing devout hymns, and perform- ing religious ceremonies, to conciliate the favour of the Almighty, either in averting calamity or insuring success to any enterprise. Both descrip- tions of these itinerant bards are much employed and re- spected by the people, and very liberal contributions are made for them. PARK'S LIFE AND TRA VELS. 527 The usual diet of the negroes issomewhat different in different districts ; in general, the people of free condition breakfast about daybreak upon gruel made of meal and water, with a little of the fruit of the tamarind to give it an acid taste. About two o'clock in the afternoon, a sort of hasty-pudding, with a little shea butter, is the common meal; but the supper consti- tutes the principal repast, and is seldom ready before mid- night. This consists almost universally of kouskous, with a small portion of animal food or shea butter mixed with it In eating, the kafirs, as well as Mohammedans, use the right hand only. The beverages of the pagan ne- groes are beer and mead, of each of which they frequently drink to excess. The Mohammedan convert drinks nothing but water. The natives of all de- scriptions take snuff and smoke tobacco ; their pipes are made of wood, with an earthen bowl of curious workmanship. But in the interior countries the greatest of all luxuries is salt. It would appear strange to a European to see a child suck a piece of rock-salt as if it were sugar. This, however, I have frequently seen, although, in the inland parts, the poorer class of inhabitants are so very rarely indulged with this pre- cious article, that to say a man eats salt with his victuals^ is the same as saying, he is a rich man. I have myself suffered great in- convenience from the scarcity of this article. The long use of vegetable food creates so painful a longing for salt, that no words can sufficiently de- sdribe it. The negroes in general, and the Mandingoes in particular, are considered by the whites on the coast as an indolent and inactive people, I think, with- out reason. The nature of the climate is, indeed, unfavourable to great exertion ; but surely a people cannot justly be denomi- nated habitually indolent whose wants are supplied, not by the spontaneous productions of nature, but by their own exer- tions. Few people work harder, when occasion requires, than the Mandingoes ; but not hav- ing many opportunities of turn- ing to advantage the super- fluous produce of their labour, they are content with cultivat- ing as much ground only as is necessary for their own support. The labours of the field give them pretty full employment during the rains ; and in the dry season, the people who live in the vicinity of large rivers employ themselves in fishing. The fish are taken in wicker baskets, or with small cotton nets, and are preserved by being first dried in the sun, and afterwards rubbed with shea butter, to prevent them from contracting fresh moisture. Others of the natives employ themselves in hunting. Their weapons are bows and arrows ; but the arrows in common use 1. >; k ■ 528 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, are not poisoned.^ They are very dexterous marksmen, and will hit a lizard on a tree, or any otiicr small olject, at an amazing distance. They likewise kill guinea-fowls, par- tridges, and pigeons, but never on the wing. While the men are occupied in these pursuits, the women are very diligent in manufacturing cotton cloth. They prepare the cotton for spinning by laying it in small quantities at a time upon a smooth stone or piece of wood, and rolling the seeds out with a thick iron spindle ; and they spin it with the distaff. The thread is not fine, but well twisted, and makes a very dur- able cloth. A woman with common diligence will spin from six to nine garments of this cloth in one year, which, according to its fineness, will sell for a minkalli and a-half, or two minkallies each." The weaving is performed by the men. The loom is made ex- actly upon the same principle as that of Europe, but so small and narrow, that the web is seldom more than four inches broad. The shuttle is of the ^ Poisoned arrows are used chiefly in war. The poison, which is said to be very deadly, is prepared from a shrub called koona (a species of echites), which is very common in the woods. The leaves of this shrub, when boiled with a small quantity of water, yield a thick black juice, into which the negroes dip a cotton thread : this thread ^ey fasten round the iron of the arrow in sucn a manner that it is almost impossible to extract the arrow when it has sunk be- yond the barbs, without leaving the iron point and the poisoned thread in the wound. ' A minkalli is a quantity of gold nearly equal in value to ten shillings sterling. common construction, but as the thread is coarse, the cham- ber is somewhat larger than the European. The women dye this cloth of a rich and lasting blue colour, by the following simple pro- cess: — The leaves of the in- digo, when fresh gathered, are pounded in a wooden mortar, and mixed in a large earthen jar, with a strong ley of wood ashes ; chamber-ley is some- times added. The cloth is steeped in this mixture, and allowed to remain until it has acquired the proper shade. In Kaarta and Ludamar, where the indigo is not plentiful, they collect the leaves and dry them in the sun ; and when they wish to use them, they reduce a sufficient quantity to powder, and mix it with the ley as be- fore mentioned. Either way the colour is very beautiful, with a fine purple gloss, and equal, in my opinion, to the best Indian or European blue. This cloth is cut into various pieces, and sewed into gar- ments with needles of the na- tives' own making. As the arts of weaving, dye- ing, sewing, etc., may easily be acquired, those who exercise them are not considered in Africa as following any parti- cular profession, for almost every slave can weave, and every boy can sew. The only artists who are distinctly ac- knowledged as such by the negroes, and who value them- selves on exercising appropriate PARK'S LIFE AND TRA VELS, 5*9 ami peculiar trades, are the ma- nufacturers of leather and of iron. The first of these arc called karrankea (or, as the word is sometimes pronounced, ^aungay). They are to be found in almost every town, and they frequently travel through the country in the exercise of their ailing. They tan and dress leather with very great expedi- tion, by steeping the hide first in a mixture of wood-ashes and water until it parts with the hair, and afterwards by using the pounded leaves of a tree called goo as an astringent. They are at great pains to render the hide as soft and pliant as possible, by rubbing it frequently between their hands, and beating it upon a stone. The hides of bullocks are con- verted chiefly into sandals, and therefore require less care in dressing than the skins of sheep and goats, which are used for covering quivers and saphies, and in making sheaths for swords and knives, belts, pock- ets, and a variety of ornaments. These skins commonly are dyed of a red or yellow colour — the red, by means of millet stalks reduced to powder, and the yellow, by the root of a plant the name of which I have for- gotten. The manufacturers in iron are not so numerous as the krrankeaSf but they appear to have studied their business with equal diligence. The negroes on the ccast being cheaply sup- plied with iron from the Euro- pean traders, never attempt the manufacturing of this article themselves ; but in the inland parts, the natives smelt this useful metal in such quantities, as not only to supply them- selves from it with all necessary weapons and instruments, but even to make it an article of commerce with some of the neighbouring states. During my stay at Kamalia, there was a smelting furnace at a short distance from the hut where I lodged, and the owner and his workmen made no secret about the manner of conducting the operation, and readily allowed me to examine the furnace, and assist them in breaking the iron- stone. The furnace was a circu- lar tower of clay, about ten feet high and three feet in diameter, surrounded in two places with withes, to prevent the clay from cracking and falling to pieces by the violence of the heat. Round the lower part, on a level with the ground (but not so low as the bottom of the furnace, which was somewhat concave), were made seven openings, into every one of which were placed three tubes of clay, and the openings again plastered up in such a manner that no air could enter the furnace but through the tubes, by the opening and shutting of which they regulated the fire. ^ These tubes were formed by plastering a mixture of clay and grass round a smooth roller of wood, which, as soon as the clay began to harden, was with- 2 L .it- ■J 530 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. drawn, and the tube left to dry in the sun. The ironstone which I saw was very heavy, of a dull red colour, with greyish specks ; it was broken into pieces about the size ofa hen's egg. A bundle of dry wood was first put into the furnace, and covered with a considerable quantity of char- coal, which was brought, ready burnt, from the woods. Over this was laid a stratum of iron- stone, and then another of charcoal, and so on, until the furnace was quite foil. The fire was applied through one of the tubes, and blown for some time with -'bellows made of goats' skins. The operation went on very slowly at first, and it was some hours before the flame appeared above the fornace ; but after this, it burnt with great violence all the first night, and the people who at- tended put in at times more charcoal. On > the day follow- ing the fire was not so fierce, and on the second night some of the tubes were withdrawn, and the air allowed to have freer access to the furnace ; but the heat was still very great, and a bluish flame rose some feet above the top of the furnace. On the third day from the com- mencement of the operation, all the tubes were taken out, the ends of many of them being vitrified with the heat ; but the metal \ /as not removed until some days afterwards, when the whole was perfectly cool. Part of the furnace was then taken down, and the iron appeared in the form of a large irregular mass, with pieces of charcoal adhering to it. It was sonor- ous ; and when any portion was broken off, the fracture exhibited a granulated appearance, like I broken steel. The owner in- formed me that many parts ofl this cake were useless, but still f there was good iron enough to repay him for his trouble. This iron, or rather steel, is formed I into various instruments by be- ing repeatedly heated in a forge,! the heat of which is urged by a pair of double bellows of a very! simple construction, being made of two goats' skins, the tubes from which unite before they enter the forge, and supply al constant and very regular blast. The hammer, forceps, and anvil I are all very simple, and the workmanship (particularly in I the formation of knives and spears) is not destitute of merit. The iron, indeed, is hard and brittle, and requires much la- bour before it can be made to I answer the purpose. Most of the African black- 1 smiths are acquainted also with the method of smelting gold, in| which process they use an alka- line salt obtained from a ley ofl burnt corn-stalks evaporated to] dryness. They likewise draw the gold into wire, and form it| into a variety of ornaments, some of which are executed i with a great deal of taste andj ingenuity. PARK'S LIFE AND TRA VELS. 531 I large irregular I ices of charcoal! It was sonor- lany portion was I fracture exhibited appearance, like! The owner in- at many parts ofl useless, butstilll d iron enough to his trouble. This : steel, is formed] istruments bybe- heatedinaforgeJ lich is urged by a bellows of a very iction, being made skins, the tubes unite before they ge, and supply a| very regular blast. forceps, and anvil I simple, and the (particularly in of knives and destitute of merit, leed, is hard and equires much la- t can be made to CHAPTER XXII. A STATE of subordination, and certain inequalities of rank and condition, are inevitable in every stage of civil society ; but when the subordination is carried to so great a length that the persons and services of one part of the community are en- tirely at the disposal of another part, it may then be denomi- nated a state of slavery, and in this condition of life, a great body of the negro inhabitants of Africa have continued from the most early period of their history, with this aggravation, that their children are bom to no other inheritance. The slaves in Africa, I sup- pose, are nearly in the proportion of three to one to the freemen. They claim no reward for their services except food and cloth- ing, and are treated with kind- ness or severity, according to the good or bad disposition of their masters. Custom, how- ever, has established certain rules with regard to the treatment of slaves, which it is thought dis- honourable to violate. Thus, the domestic slaves, or such as are bom in a man's own house, are treated with more lenity than those which are purchased with money. The authority of the master over the domestic slave, as I have elsewhere ob- served, extends only to reason- able correction ; for the master cannot sell his domestic, with- out having first brought him to a public trial before the chief men of the place. But these restrictions on the power of the master extend not to the case of prisoners taken in war, nor to that of slaves purchased with money. All these unfortunate beings are considered as stran- gers and foreigners, who have no right to the protection of the law, and may be treated with severity, or sold to a stranger, according to the pleasure of their owners. There are, in deed, regular markets, where slaves of this description are bought and sold, and the value of a slave, in the eye of an African purchaser, increases in proportion to his distance from his native kingdom; for when slaves are only a few days' jour- ney from the place of their na- tivity, they frequently effect their escape, but when one or more kingdoms intervene, es- cape being more difficult, they are more readily reconciled to their situation. On this account, the unhappy slave is frequently transferred from one dealer to another, until he has lost all hopes of returning to his native kingdom. The slaves which are purchased by the Europeans on the coast are chiefly of this description. A few of them are collected in the petty wars, hereafter to be described, which take place near the coast, but by far the greater number are brought down in large caravans from the inland countries, of which many are unknown, even by name, to the Europeans. ill ■III M^m it i, 53^ THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, The slaves which are thus brought from the interior may be divided into two distinct classes — first, such as were slaves from their birth, having been born of enslaved mothers ; secondly, such as were born free, but who afterwards, by whatever means, became slaves. Those of the first description are by far the most numerous, for prisoners taken in war (at least such as are taken in open and declared war, when one kingdom avows hostilities against another) are generally of this description. The com- paratively small proportion of free people to the enslaved throughout Africa has already been noticed ; and it must be observed, that men of free con- dition have many advantages over the slaves, even in war time. They are in general better armed, and well mounted, and can either fight or escape with some hopes of success; but the slaves, who have only their spears and bows, and of whom great numbers are loaded with baggage, become an easy prey. Thus, when Mansong, king of Bambarra, made war upon Kaarta (as I have related in a former chapter), he took in one day nine hundred prisoners, of which number not more than seventy were freemen. This account I received from Daman Jumma, who had thirty slaves at Kemmoo, all of whom were made prisoners by Mansong. Again, when a freeman is taken prisoner, his friends will some- times ransom him, by givini,' two slaves in exchange ; but when a slave is taken, he has no hopes of such redemption. To these disadvantages, it is to be added, that the slatees, who purchase slaves in the interior countries, and carry them down to the coast for sale, constantly prefer such as have been in that condition of life from their infancy, well knowing that these have been accustomed to hun- ger and fatigue, and are better able to sustain the hardships of a long and painful journey than freemen ; and on their reachint; the coast, if no opportunitv offers of selling them to ad- vantage, they can easily be made to maintain themselves by their labour; neither are they so apt to attempt making their escape, as those who have once tasted the blessings of freedom. Slaves of the second descrip- tion generally become such by one or other of the following causes: — i. captivity; 2. fa- mine ; 3. insolvency ; 4. crimes. A freeman may, by the estab- lished customs of Africa, become a slave, by being taken in war. War is of all others the most productive source, and was pro- bably the origin, of slavery, for when one nation had taken from another a greater number of captives than could be ex- changed on equal terms, it is natural to suppose that the con- querors, finding it inconveni- ent to maintain their prisoners, would compel them to labour PARK'S LIFE AND TRA VELS. 533 -at first, perhaps, only for their own support, but afterwards to support their masters. Be this as It may, it is a known fact, that prisoners of war in Africa are the slaves of the conquerors ; and when the weak or unsuc cessful warrior begs for mercy beneath the uplifted spear of his opponent, he gives up at the same time his claim to liberty, and purchases his life at the expense of his freedom. In a country divided into a thousand petty states, mostly independent and jealous of each other, where every freeman is accustomed to arms, and fond of military achievements, where the youth who has practised the bow and spear from his infancy, longs for nothing so much as an opportunity to dis- play his valour, it is natural to imagine that wars frequently originate from very frivolous provocation. When one nation is more powerful than another, a pretext is seldom wanting for commencing hostilities. Thus, the war between Kajaaga and Kasson was occasioned by the detention of a fugitive slave; that between Bambarra and Kaarta by the loss of a few cattle. Other cases of the same nature perpetually occur, in which the folly or mad ambition of their princes, and the zeal of their religious enthusiasts, give full employment to the scythe of desolation. The wars of Africa are of two kinds, which are distin- guished by different appella- tions : that species which bears the greatest resemblance to our European contests is denomi- natecl killiy a word signifying * to call out,* because such wars are openly avowed and previously declared. Wars of this descrip- tion in Africa commonly ter- minate, however, in the course of a single campa'^n . A battle is fought — the vaii^aished sel- dom think of rallymg again — the whole inhabitants become panic-struck — and the conquer- ors have only to bind the slaves, and carry off their plunder and their victims. Such of the prisoners as, through age or infirmity, are unable to endure fatigue, or are found unfit for sale, are considered as useless, and, I have no doubt, are frequently put to death. The s-^me fate commonly awaits a chief, or any other person who has taken a very distinguished part in the war. And here it may be observed that, notwith- standing this exterminating sys- tem, it is surprising to behold how soon an African town is rebuilt and repeopled. The circumstance arises probably from this : that their pitched battles are few — the weakest know their own situation, and seek safety in flight. When their country has been desolated, and their ruined towns and vil- lages deserted by the enemy, such of the inhabitants as have escaped the s7vordand the c/tatA. generally return, though with cautious steps, to the place of their nativity —for it seems to be m m ■iifi i¥p- ! wfr. hi i m )U 534 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, the universal wish of mankind to spend the evening of their days where they passed their infancy. The poor negro feels this de- sire in its full force. To him no water is sweet but what is drawn from his own well, and no tree has so cool and pleasant a shade as the tabba tree* of his native village. When war compels him to abandon the delightful spot in which he first drew his breath, and seek for safety in some other kingdom, his time is spent in talking about the country of his ancestors ; and no sooner is peace restored than he turns his back upon the land of strangers, rebuilds with haste his fallen walls, and exults to see the smoke ascend from his native village. The other species of African warfare is distinguished by the appellation oiiegria (plundering or stealing). It arises from a sort of hereditary feud, which the inhabitants of one nation or district bear towards another. No immediate cause of hostility is assigned, or notice of attack given, but the inhabitants of each watch every opportunity to plunder and distress the objects of their animosity by predatory excursions. These are very common, particularly about the beginning of the dry season, when the labour of the harvest is over, and provi- sions are plentiful. Schemes of vengeance are then meditated. The chief man surveys the 1 This is a large spreading tree (a species of sterculid] under which the bentang is commonly placed. number and activity of his vassals, as they brandish their spears at festivals, and, elated with his own importance, turns his whole thoughts towards re- venging some depredation or insult, which either he or his ancestors may have received from a neighbouring state. Wars of this description are generally conducted with great secrecy. A few resolute indi- viduals, headed by some person of enterprise and courage, march quietly through the woods, sur- prise JO. the night some unpro- tected village, and carry off the inhabitants and their effects, before their neighbours can come to their assistance. One morning during my stay at Kamalia, we were all much alarmed by a party of this kind. The king of Fooladoo's son, with five; hundred horsemen, passed secre*:ly through the woods, u little to the southward of Kamalia and on the morn- ing following plundered three towns belonging to Madigai, a powerful chief in Jallonka- doo. The success of this expedi- toin encouraged the governor of Bangassi, a town in Fooladoo, to make a second inroad upon another part of the same country. Having assembled about two hundred of his people, he passed the river Kokoro in the night, and car- ried off a great number of| prisoners. Several of the in- habitants who had escaped these attacks were afterwards PARK'S LIFE AND TRA VELS, 535 H("i activity of his ley brandish their tivals, and, elated importance, turns oughts towards re- e depredation or either he or his ly have received Douring state, lis description are ducted with great few resolute indi- ed by some person ind courage, march ^h the woods, sur- light some unpro- , and carry off the and their effects, neighbours can : assistance. One ring my stay at ; were all much , party of this kind, f Fooladoo's son, undred horsemen, s^^^ly through the e to the southward and on the mora- ; plundered three iging to Madigai, chief in Jallonka- seized by the Mandingoes, as they wandered about in the woods, or concealed themselves in the glens and strong places of the mountains. These plundering excursions always produced speedy retalia- tion; and when large parties cannot be collected for this purpose, a few friends will com- bine together and advance into the enemy's country, with a view to plunder or carry ©ff the inhabitants. A single indi- vidual has been known to take his bow and quiver and pro- ceed in like manner. Such an attempt is doubtless in him an act of rashness ; but when it is considered that in one of these predatory wars he has probably been deprived of his child or his nearest relation, his situa- tion will rather call for pity than censure. The poor suf- ferer, urged on by the feelings of domestic or paternal attach- ment, and the ardour of re- venge, conceals himself among the bushes, until some young or unarmed person passes by. He then, tiger-like, springs upon his prey, drags his victim into the thicket, and in the night carries him off as a slave. When a negro has, by means like these, once fallen into the hands of his enemies, he is either retained as the slave of his conqueror, or bartered into a distant kingdom ; for an Afri- can, when he has once subdued his enemy, will seldom give him an opportunity of lifting up his hand against him at a future period. A conqueror commonly disposes of his cap- tives according to the rank which they held in their native kingdom. Such of the domes- tic slaves as appear to be of a mild disposition, and particu- larly the young women, are re- tained as his own slaves. Others that display marks of discontent, arc disposed of in a distant country; and such of the freemen or slaves as have taken an active part in the war, are either sold to the slatees, or put to death. War, there- fore, is certainly the most general and most productive source of slavery, and the de- solations of war often (Jjut not always) produce the second cause of slavery, famine ; in which case a fre^nan becomes a slave to avoid a greater calamity. Perhaps, by a philosophic and reflecting mind, death it- self would scarcely be con- sidered as a greater calamity than slavery ; but the poor negro, when fainting with hun- ger, thinks like Esau of old, * Behold, I am at the point to die, and what profit shall this birthright do to mel' There are many instances of freemen voluntarily surrendering up their liberty to save their lives. During a great scarcity which lasted for three years, in the countries of the Gambia, great numbers of people became slaves in this manner. Dr. Laidley assured me that at that time many free men came and ^1 >i S3<5 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, begged, with great earnestness, to be put upon his slave-chain, to save them from perishing of hunger. Large families are very often exposed to absolute want ; and as the parents have almost unlimited authority over their children, it frequently happens, in all parts of Africa, that some of the latter are sold to purchase provisions for the rest of the family. When I was at Jarra, Daman Jumma pointed out to me three young slaves whom he had purchased in this manner. I have already related another instance which I saw at Wonda ; and I was informed that in Fooladoo, at that time, it was a very common prac- tice. The third cause of slavery is insolvency. Of all the offences (if insolvency may be so called) to which the laws of Africa have affixed the punishment of slavery, this is the most com- mon. A negro trader com- monly contracts debts on some mercantile speculation, either from his neighbours, to pur- chase such articles as will sell to advantage in a distant mar- ket, or from the European traders on the coast — payment to be made in a given time. In both cases, the situation of the adventurer is exactly the same. If he succeeds, he may secure an independency : if he is unsuccessful, his person and services are at the disposal of another ; for in Africa, not only the effects of the insolvent, but even the insolvent himself, is sold to satisfy the lawful de- mands of his creditors .1 The fourth cause above enu- merated is, the commission of crimes on which the laws of the country affix slavery as a punish- ment. In Africa, the only offences of this class are mur- der, adultery, and witchcraft, and I am happy to say that they did not appear to me to be common. In cases of murder, I was informed that the nearest relation of the deceased had it in his power, after conviction, either to kill the offender with his own hand, or sell him into slavery. When adultery occurs, it is generally left to the option of the person injured either to sell the culprit, or accept such a ransom for him as he may think equivalent to the injury he has sustained. By witch- craft is meant pretended magic, by which the lives or healths of persons are affected ; in other words, it is the administering of poison. No trial for this offence, however, came under 1 When a neero takes up goods on credit from any of the Europeans on the coast, and does not make payment at the time appointed, the European is authorised by the laws of the country to seize upon the debtor himself, if he can find him, or, if he cannot be found, on any person of his family ; or, in the last resort, on any native of tht iami kingdom. The person thus seized on. is detained, while his friends are sent in quest of the debtor. When he is found, a meeting is called of the chief people of the place, and the debtor is compelled to ransom his friend by fulfilling his engagements.^ If he is unable to do this, his person is immediately secured and sent down to the coast, and the other released. If the debtor cannot be found, the person seized on is obliged to Eay double the amount of the debt, or is imself sold into slavery. I was given to understand, however, that this part of the law is seldom enforced. PARK'S LIFE AND TRA VELSi 537 my observation while I was in Africa, and I therefore suppose that the crime and its punish - irent occur but very seldom. When a free man has become aslave by any one of the causes before mentioned, he generally continues so for life, and his children (if they are born of an enslaved mother) are brought up in the same state of servitude. There are, how- ever, a few instances of slaves obtaining their freedom, and sometimes even with the con- sent of their masters, as by performing some singular piece of service, or by going to battle and bringing home two slaves as a ransom ; but the common way of regaining freedom is by escape, and when slaves have once set their minds on running away, they often suc- ceed. Some of them will wait for years before an opportunity presents itself, and during that period show no signs of discon- tent. In general, it may be remarked, that slaves who come from a hilly country, and have been much accustomed to hunt- ing and travel, are more apt to attempt to make their escape than such as are bom in a flat country, and have been em- ployed in cultivating the land. Such are the general outlines of that system of slavery which prevails in Africa, and it is evi- dent, from its nature and extent, that it is a system of no modern date. It probably had its origin in the remote ages of antiquity, before the Mohammedans ex- plored a path across the desert. How far it is maintained and supported by the slave traffic, which, for two hundred years, the nations of Europe have carried on with the natives of the coast, it is neither within my province nor in my power to explain. If my sentiments should be required concerning the effect which a discontinu- ance of that commerce would produce on the manners of the natives, I should have no hesi- tation in observing that, in the present unenlightened state of their minds, my opinion is, the effect would neither be so ex- tensive nor beneficial as many wise and worthy persons fondly expect. CHAPTER XXIII. Those valuable commodities, gold and ivory (the next ob- jects of our inquiry), have pro- bably been found in Africa from the first ages of the world. They are reckoned among its most important productions in the earliest records of its history. It has been observed that gold is seldom or never dis- covered, except in mountainous and barren countries — nature, it is said, thus making amends in one way for her penuriousness in the other. This, however, is not wholly true. Gold is found in considerable quantities throughout every part of Man- ding, a country which is indeed hilly, but cannot properly be S'^it . V' (I ri 538 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. called mountainous^ much less ^arrm. It is also found in great plenty in Jallonkadoo (particu- larly about Boori), another hilly, but by no means an unfertile, country. It is remarkable that in the place last mentioned (Boori), which is situated about four days' journey to the south- west of Kamalia, the salt market is often supplied at the same time with rock-salt from the Great Desert, and sea-splt ^rom the Rio Grande ; the price ot each, at this distance from its source, being nearly the same. And the dealers in each, whether Moors from the north or negroes from the west, are invited thither by the same motives — that of bartering their salt for gold. The gold of Manding, so far as I could learn, is never found in any matrix or vein, but al- ways in small grains nearly in a pure state, from the size of a pin's head to that of a pea, scattered through a large body of sand or clay, and in this state it is called by the Mand- ingoes sanoo munko (gold powder). It 4S, however, ex- tremely probable, by what I could learn of the situation of the ground, that most of it has originally been washed down by repeated torrents from the neighbouring hills. The man- ner in which it is collected is nearly as follows : — About the beginning of De- cember^ when the harvest is over, and the streams and tor- rents have greatly subsided, the mansa or chief of the town ap- points a day to begin sanoo kco (gold-washing), and the women are sure to have themselves in readiness by the time appointed. A hoe or spade for digging up the sand, two or three cala- bashes for washing it in, and a few quills for containing the gold dust, are all the imple- ments necessary for the pur- pose. On the morning of their departure a bullock is killed for the first day's entertainment, and a number of prayers and charms are used to insure suc- cess, for a failure on that day is thought a bad omen. The mansa of Kamalia, with fourteen of his people, were, I remember, so much disap- pointed in their first day's wash- ing, that very few of them had resolution to persevere, and the few that did had but very in- different success ; which indeed is not much to be wondered at, for instead of opening some untried place, tjjey continued to dig and wash in the same spot where they had dug and washed for years, and where, of course, but few large grains could be left. The washing the sands of the streams is by far the easiest way of obtaining the gold dust ; but in most places the sands have been so narrowly searched before, that unless the stream takes some new course, the gold is found but in small quantities. While some of the party are busied in washing the sands, others employ themselves farther up the torrent, where PARKS LIFE AND TEA VELS. 539 the rapidity of the stream has carried away all the clay, sand, etc., and left nothing but small pebbles. The search among these is a very troublesome task. I have seen women who have had the skin worn off the tops of their fingers in this employment. Sometimes, how- ever, they are rewarded by finding pieces of gold, which they call sanoo birro (gold stones), that amply repay them for their trouble. A woman and her daughter, inhabitants ofKamalia, found in one day two pieces of this kind ; one of five drachms, and the other of three drachms weight. But the most certain and profitable mode of washing is practised in the height of the dry season, by digging a deep pit, like a draw-well, near some hill which has previously been discovered to contain gold. The pit is dug with small spades or corn- hoes, and the earth is drawn up in large calabashes. As the negroes dig through the dif- ferent strata of clay or sand, a calabash or two of each is washed by way of experiment ; and in this manner the labourers proceed, until they come to a stratum containing gold, or un- til they are obstructed by rocks, or inundated by water. In general, when they come to a stratum of fine reddish sand, with small black specks therein, they find gold in some propor- tion or other, and send up large calabashes full of the sand for the women to wash ; for though the pit is dug by the men, the gold is always washed by the women, who are accustomed from their infancy to a similar operation in separating the husks of com from the meal. As I never descended into any one of these pits,* I cannot say in what manner they are worked underground. Indeed, the situation in which I was placed made it necessary for me to be cautious not to incur the suspicion of the natives, by examining too far into the riches of their country; but the manner of separating the gold from the sand is very simple, and is frequently per- formed by the women in the middle of the town j for when the searchers return from the valleys in the evening, they commonly bring with them each a calabash or two of sand, to be washed by such of the females as remain at home. The operation is simply as fol- lows : — A portion of sand or clay (for the gold is sometimes found in a brown-coloured clay) is put into a large calabash, and mixed with a sufficient quantity of water. The woman whose office it is, then shakes the calabash in such a manner as to mix the sand and water to- gether, and give the whole a rotatory motion — at first gently, but afterwards more quickly, until a small portion of sand and water, at every revolution, flies over the brim of the cala- bash. The sand thus separated < 'i;£ ill I 540 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. is only the coarsest particles mixed with a little muddy water. After the operation has been continued for some time, the sand is allowed to subside, and the water poured off; a portion of coarse sand, which is now uppermost in the cala- bash, is removed by the hand, and fresh water being added, the operation is repeated until the water comes off almost pure. The woman now takes a second calabash, and shakes the sand and water gently from the one to the other, reserving that portion of sand which is next the bot- tom of the calabash, and which is most likely to contain the gold. This small quantity is mixed with some pure water, and being moved about in the calabash, is carefully examined. If a few particles of gold are picked out, the contents of the other calabash are examined in the same manner ; but in gene- ral the party is well contented if she can obtain three or four grains from the contents of both calabashes. Some women, how- ever, by long practice, become so well acquainted with the nature of the sand, and the mode of washing it, that they will collect gold where others cannot find a single particle. The gold dust is kep) in quills stopped up with cotton; and the washers are fond of display- ing a number of these quills in their hair. Generally speaking, if a person uses common dili- gence, in a proper soil it is supposed that as much gold may be collected by him in the course of the dry season as is equal to the value of two slaves. Thus simple is the process by which the negroes obtain gold in Manding; and it is evident from this account that the country contains a con- siderable portion of this pre- cious metal, for many of the smaller particles must neces- sarily escape the observation of the naked eye ; and as the na- tives generally search the sands of streams at a considerable distance from the hills, and consequently far removed from the mines where the gold was originally produced, the la- bourers are sometimes but ill paid for their trouble. Minute particles only of this heavy metal can be carried by the current to any considerable dis- tance ; the larger must remain deposited near the original source from whence they came. Were the gold-bearing streams to be traced to their fountains, and the hills from whence they spring properly examined, the sand in which the gold is there deposited would no doubt be found to contain particles of a much larger size ; and even the small grains might be collected to considerable advantage by the use of quicksilver and other improvements, with which the natives are at present un- acquainted. Part of this gold is converted into ornaments for the women, but in general these ornaments PARK'S LIFE AND TRA VELS. 541 account that are more to be admired for their weight than their work- manship. They are massy and inconvenient, particularly the ear-rings, which are commonly so heavy as to pull down and lacerate the lobe of the ear ; to avoid which, they are sup- ported by a thong of red leather, which passes over the crown of the head from one ear to the other. The necklace displays greater fancy, and the proper arrangement of the different beads and plates of gold is the great criterion of taste and elegance. When a lady of consequence is in full dress, her gold ornaments may be worth altogether from fifty to eighty pounds sterling. A small quantity of gold is likewise employed by the slatees in defraying the expenses of their journeys to and from the coast, 'but by far the greater proportion is annually carried away by the Moors in exchange for salt and other merchandise. During my stay at Kamalia, the gold collected by the differ- ent traders at that place for salt alone was nearly equal to one hundred and ninety-eight pounds sterling ; and as Ka- malia is but a small town, and not much resorted to by the trading Moors, this quantity must have borne a very small proportion to the gold collected at Kancaba, Kimkaree, and some other large towns. The value of salt in this part of Africa is very great. One slab, about two feet and a half in length, fourteen inches in breadth, and two inches in thickness, will sometimes sell for about two pounds ten shil- lings sterling; and from one pound fifteen shillings to two pounds may be considered as the common price. Four of these slabs are considered as a load for an ass, and six for a bullock. The value of Euro- pean merchandise in Manding varies very much, according to the supply from the coast, or the dread of war in the country ; but the return for such articles is commonly made in slaves. The price of a prime slave, when I was at Kamalia, was from twelve to nine minkallies, and European commodities had then nearly the following value : >■ \ jwder, C i8 gun-flints, 48 leaves of tobacco, so charges of gunpowdc A cutlass, A musket, from three to four minkallies. one minkalli. The produce of the country, and the different necessaries of life, when exchanged for gold, sold as follows : — Common provisions for one day, the weight of one ieeleekissi (a black bean, six of which make the weight of one minkalli) — a chicken, one teeleekissi — a sheep, three teeleekissi — a bul- lock, one minkalli — a horse, from ten to seventeen min- kallies. The negroes weigh the gold in small balances, which they always carry about them. They make no difference, in point of value, between gold dust and •I '!^r^ ?;li 'H' f- \ 4 ; It '}■ \Vd 54» THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. wrought gold. In bartering one article for another, the person who receives the gold always weighs it with his own teelee- kissi. These beans are some- times fraudulently soaked in shea-butter to make them heavy, and I once saw a pebble ground exactly into the form of one of them ; but such practices are not very common. Having now related the substance of what occurs to my recollection concerning the African mode of obtaining gold from the earth, and its value in barter, I proceed to the next article of which I proposed to treat, — namely, ivory. Nothing creates a greater sur- prise among the negroes on the sea- coast than the eagerness dis- played by the European traders to procure elephants' teeth, it being exceedingly difficult to make them comprehend to what use it is applied. Although they are shown knives with ivory hafts, combs, and toys of the same material, and are con- vinced that the ivory thus manu- factured was originally parts of a tooth, they are not satisfied. They suspect that this commo- dity is more frequently con- verted in Europe to purposes of far greater importance, the true nature of which is studi- ously concealed from them, lest the price of ivory should be en- hanced. They caimot, they say, easily persuade themselves that ships would be built, and voy- ages undertaken, to procure an article which had no other value than that of furnishing handles to knives, etc., when pieces of wood would answer the purpose equally well. Elephants are very numer- ous in the interior of Africa, but they appear to be a dis- tinct species from those found in Asia. Blumenbach, in his figures of objects of natural his- tory, has given good drawings of a finder of each, and the variation is evident. M. Cuvier also has given, in the Magazin Encyclopedique^ a clear account of the difference between them. As I never examined the Asiatic elephant, I have chosen rather to refer to those writers than advance this as an opinion of my own. It has been said that the African elephant is of a less docile nature than the Asiatic, and incapable of being tamed. The negroes certainly do not at present tame them; but when we consider that the Cartha- ginians had always tame ele- phants in their armies, and actually transported some of them to Italy in the course of the Punic wars, it seems more iikcly that they should have possessed the art of taming their own elephants than have submitted to the expense of bringing such vast animals from Asia. Perhaps the barbarous practice of hunting the African elephants for the sake of their teeth has rendered them more untractable and savage than they were found to be in former times. The greater part of the ivory PARK'S LIFE AND TRA VELS. 543 which is sold on the Gambia and Senegal rivers is brought from the interior country. The lands towards the coast are too swampy, and too much inter- sected with creeks and rivers, for so bulky an animal as the elephant to travel through with- out being discovered ; and when once the natives discern the marks of his feet in the earth, the whole village is up in arms. The thoughts of feasting on his flesh, making sandals of his hide, and selling the teeth to the Europeans, inspire every one with courage, and the ani- mal seldom escapes from his pursuers ; but in the plains of Bambarra and Kaarta, and the extensive wilds of Jallonkadoo, the elephants are very numer- ous, and, from/the great scarcity of gunpowder in those districts, they are less annoyed by the natives. Scattered teeth are frequently picked up in the woods, and travellers are very diligent in looking for them. It is a com- mon practice with the elephant to thrust his teeth under the roots of such shrubs and bushes as grow in the more dry and elevated parts of the country, where the soil is shallow. These bushes he easily overturns, and feeds on the roots, which are in general more tender and juicy than the hard woody- branches or the foliage; but when the teeth are partly decayed by age, and the roots more fomly fixed, the great exertions of the animal in this practice frequently cause them to break short. At Ka- malia I saw two teeth, one a very large one, which were found in the woods, and which were evidently broken off in this man- ner. Indeed, it is difficult other- wise to account for such a large proportion of broken ivory as is daily offered for sale at the dif- ferent factories, for, when the elephant is killed in hunting, unless he dashes himself over a precipice, the teeth are always extracted entire. There are certain seasons of the year when the elephants collect into large herds, and traverse the country in quest of food or water ; and as all that part of the country to the north of the Niger is destitute of rivers, whenever the pools in the woods are dried up, the elephants approach towards the banks of that river. Here they continue until the commence- ment of the rainy season, in the months of June or July, and during this time they are much hunted by such of the Bambarrans as have gunpowder to spare. The elephant-hunters seldom go out singly — a party of four or five join together, and having each furnished himself with powder and ball, and a quantity of corn-meal in a leather bag sufficient for five or six days' provision, they enter the most unfrequented parts of the wood, and examine with great care everything that can lead to the discovery of the elephants. In this pursuit, notwithstanding the bulk of the 111 ::llf! ;) Uii r'li '< . .'■ • m H i ml 544 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. animal, very great nicety of observation is required. The broken branches, the scattered dung of the animal, and the marks of his feet, are carefully inspected ; and many of the hunters have, by long experi- ence and attentive observation, become so expert in their search, that as soon as they observe the footmarks of an elephant, they will tell almost to a certainty at what time it passed, and at what distance it will be found. When they discover a herd of elephants, they follow them at a distance, until they per- ceive some one stray from the rest, and come into such a situa- tion as to be fired at with advantage. The hunters then approach with great caution, creeping amongst the long grass, until they have got near enough to be sure of their aim. They then discharge all thpir pieces at once, and throw them- selves on their faces among the grass. The wounded elephant immediately applies his trunk to the different wounds, but being unable to extract the balls, and seeing nobody near him, he becomes quite furious, and runs about amongst the bushes, until by fatigue and loss of blood he has exhausted himself, and affords the hunters an opportunity of firing a second time at him, by which he is gene- rally brought to the ground. The skin is now taken off, and extended on the ground with pegs to dry ; and such parts of the flesh as are most esteemed are cut up into thin slices, and dried in the sun, to serve for provisions on some future occasion. The teeth are struck out with a light hatchet, which the hunters always carry along with them, not only for that purpose, but also to enable them to cut down such trees as contain honey; for though they carry with them only five or six days' provisions, they will re- maii in the woods for months if they are successful, and sup- port themselves upon the flesh of such elephants as they kill, and wild honey. The ivory thus collected is seldom brought down to the coast by the hunters them- selves. They dispose of it to the itinerant merchants, who come annually from the coast with arms and ammunition to purchase this valuable com- modity. Some of these mer- chants will collect ivory in the course of one season sufficient to load four or five asses. A great quantity of ivory is like- wise brought from the interior by the slave coffles ; there are, however, some slatees of the Mohammedan persuasion, who, I'rom motives of religion, will not deal in ivory, nor eat of the flesh of the elephant, unless it has been killed with a spear. The quantity of ivory col- lected in this part of Africa is not so great, nor are the teeth in general so large, as in tne countries nearer the line : few of them weigh more than eighty PARICS LIFE AND TEA VELS. S4S arge, as in tne the line: few lorc than eighty or one hundred pounds, and upon an average, a bar of European merchandise may be reckoned as the price of a pound of ivory, I have now, I trust, in this and the preceding chapters, ex- plained with sufficient minute- ness the nature and extent of the commercial connection which at present prevails, and has long subsisted, between the negro natives of those parts of Africa which I visited, and the nations of Europe ; and it ap- pears that slaves, gold, and ivory, together with the few articles enumerated in the be- ginning of my work, — viz., bees' wax and honey, hides, gums, and dye-woods, — consti- tute the whole catalogue of ex- portable commodities. Other productions, however, have been incidentally noticed as the growth of Africa, such as grain of different kinds, tobac- co, indigo, cotton-wool, and perhaps a few others; but of all these (which can only be obtained by cultivation and labour), the natives raise suffi- cient only for their own immedi- ate expenditure, nor, under the present system of their laws, manners, trade, and govern- ment, can anything further be expected from them. It can- not, however, admit of a doubt, that all the rich and valuable productions both of the East and West Indies might easily be naturaliced, and brought to the utmost perfection, in the tropical parts of this immense continent. Nothing is wanting to this end but example to enlighten the minds of the natives, and instruction to enable them to direct their industry to proper objects. It was not possible for me to be- hold the wonderful fertility of the soil, the vast herds of cattle, proper both for labour "xnd food, and a variety of other circum- stances favourable to colonisa- tion and agriculture,— and re- flect, withal, on the means which presented themselves of a vast inland navigation,— with- out lamenting that a country so abundantly gifted and favoured by nature should remain in its present savage and neglected state. Much more did I lament that a people of manners and disposition so gentle and bene- volent, should either be left as they now are, immersed in the gross and uncomfortable blind- ness of pagan superstition, or permitted to become converts to a system of bigotry and fana- ticism, which, without enlight- ening the mind, often debases the heart. On this subject many observations might be made, but the reader will pro- bably think that I have already digressed too largely; and I now, therefore, return to my situation at Kamalia. CHAPTER XXIV. The schoolmaster to whose care I was intrusted during the 2 M Wif ." •; !• I* * ,i i;. "If n 546 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, absence of Karfa, was a man of a mild disposition and gentle manners; his name was Fan- kooma, and .although he him- self adhered strictly to the re- ligion of Mohammed, he was by no means intolerant in his principles towaids others who differed from him. He spent much of his time in reading, and teaching appeared to be his pleasure as well as employment. His school consisted of seven- teen boys, most of whom were sons of kafirs, and two girls, one of whom was Karfa's own daughter. The girls received their instruction in the daytime, but the boys always had their lessons, by the light of a large fire, before daybreak, and again late in the evening ; for being considered, during their scholar- ship, as the domestic slaves of the master, they were employed ir planting corn, bringing fire- wood, and in other servile offices, through the day. Exclusive of the Koran, and a book or two of commentaries thereon, the schoolmaster pos- sessed a variety of manuscripts, which had partly been pur- chased from the trading Moors, and partly borrowed from bush- reens in the neighbourhood, and copied with great care. Other Mss. had been produced to me at different places in the course of my journey ; and on recounting those I had be- fore seen, and those whicli were now shown to me, and interro- gating the schoolmaster on the subject, I discovered that the negroes are in possession (among others) of an Arabic version of the Pentateuch of Moses, which they call Taurda la Moosa. This is so highly esteemed that it is often sold for the value of one prime slave. They have likewise a version of the Psalms of David (Zabora Dawidi); and, lastly, the Book of Isaiah, which they call Lingeeli la Isa^ and it is in very high esteem. I suspect, indeed, that in all these copies there are interpola- tions of some of the peculiar tenets of Mohammed, for I could distinguish in many pas- sages the name of the Prophet. It is possible, however, that this circumstance might otherwise have been accounted for, if my knowledge of the Arabic had been more extensive. By means of those books many of the converted negroes have acquired an acquaintance with some of the remarkable events recorded in the Old Testament. The account of our first parents, the death of Abel, the deluge, the lives of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the story of Joseph and his brethren, the history of Moses, David, Solomon, etc., all these have been related to me, in the Maiulingo language, with tolerable exactness by dif- ferent people, and my surprise was not greater on hearing these accounts from the lips of the negroes, than theirs on finding that I was already ac- quainted with them ; for al- though the negroes in general have a very great idea of the PARK'S LIFE AND TEA VELS. 547 wealth and power of the Euro- peans, I am afraid that the Mohammedan converts among them think but very lightly of our superior attainments in re- ligious knowledge. The white traders in the maritime districts take no pains to counteract this unhappy prejudice, always per- forming their own devotions in secret, and seldom condescend- ing to converse with the negroes in a friendly and instructive manner. To me, therefore, it was not so much the subject of wonder as matter of regret, to observe that, while the super- stition of Mohammed has in this manner scattered a few faint beams of learning among these poor people, the precious light of Christianity is alto- gether excluded. I could not but lament that, although the coast of Africa has now been known and frequented by the Europeans for more than two hundred years, yet the negroes still remain entire strangers to the doctrines of our holy re- ligion. We are anxious to draw from obscurity the opinions and records of antiquity, the beau- ties of Arabian and Asiatic literature, etc. ; but while our libraries are thus stored with the learning of various countries, we distribute with a parsimoni- ous hand the blessings of re- ligious truth to the benighted nations of the earth. The nati\ cs of Asia derive but little advantage in this respect from an intercourse with us ; and even the poor Africans, whom we affect to consider as bar- barians, look upon us, I fear, as little better than a race of for- midable but ignorant heathens. When I produced Richard- son's Arabic Grammar to some slatees on the Gambia, they were astonished to think that any European should under- stand and write the sacred language of their religion. At first, they suspected that it might have been written by some of the slaves canied from the coast, but on a closer ex- amination, they were satisfied that no bushreen could write such beautiful Arabic, and one of them offered to give me an ass, and sixteen bars of goods, if I would part with the book. Perhaps a short and easy intro- duction to Christianity, such as is found in some of the cate- chisms for children, elegantly printed in Arabic, and distri- buted on different parts of the coast, might have a wonderful effect. The expense would be but trifling j curiosity would in- duce many to read it ; and the evident superiority which it would possess over their present manuscripts, both in point of elegance and cheap?iess, might at last obtain it a piace among the school-books of Africa. The reflections which I have thus ventured to submit to my readers on this important sub- ject, naturally suggested them- selves to my mind on perceiving the encouragement which was thus given to learning (such as it is) in many parts of Africa. •f-n-l« 548 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, I have observed that the pupils at Kamalia were most of them the children of pagans — their jjarents, therefore, could have had no predilection for the doc- trines of Mohammed. Their aim was their children's im- provement ; and if a more en- lightened system had presented itself, it would probably have been preferred. The children, too, wanted not a spirit of emulation, which it is the aim of the tutor to encourage. When any one of them has read through the Koran, and performed a certain number of public prayers, a feast is prepared by the schoolmaster, and the scholar undergoes an examination, or (in European terms) takes out his degree. I attended at three different inaugurations of this sort, and heard with pleasure the distinct and intelligent an- swers which the scholars fre- quently gave to the bushreens, who assembled on those occa- sions and acted as examiners. When the bushreens had satis- fied themselves respecting the learning and abilities of the scholar, the last page of the Koran was put into his hand, and he v/as desired to read it aloud : after the boy had finished this lesson, he pressed the paper against his forehead and pronounced the word Amen^ upon which all the bushreens rose, and shaking him cordially by the hand, bestowed upon him the title of bushreen. When a scholar has under- gone tins examination, his pa- rents are informed that he has completed his education, and that it is incumbent uu them to redeem their son, by giving to the schoolmaster a slave, or the price of a slave, in exchange, which is always done, if the parents can afford to do it j if not, the boy remains the domes- tic slave of the schoolmaster until he can, by his own industry, collect goods sufficient to ran- som himself. About a week after the de- parture of Karfa, three Moors arrived at Kamalia with a con- siderable quantity of salt and other merchandise, which they h obtained on credit from a merchant of Fezzan, who had lately arrived at Kancaba. Their engagement was to pay him his price when the goods were sold, which they expected would be in the course of a month. Being rigid bushreens, they were accommodated with two of Karfa's huts, and sold their goods to very great ad- vantage. On the 24th of January, Karfa returned to Kamalia with a number of people, and thir- teen prime slaves whom he had purchased. He likewise brought with him a young girl whom he had maixied at Kancaba, as his fourth wife, and had given her parents three prime slaves for her. She was kindly re- ceived at the door of the baloon by Karfa's other wives, who conducted their new acquaint- ance and copartner into one of the best huts, which they had PARK'S LIFE AND TRA VELS. 549 caused to be swept and white- washed on purpose to receive her. My clothes were by this time become so very ragged that I was almost ashamed to appear out of doors, but Karfa, on the day after his arrival, generously presented me with such a gar- ment and trousers as are com- monly worn in the country. The slaves which Karfa had brought with him were all of them prisoners of war; they had been taken by the Bam- barra army in the kingdoms of Wassela and Kaarta, and carried to Sego, where some of them had remained three years in irons. From Sego they were sent, in company with a num- ber of other captives, up the Niger in two large canoes, and offered for sale at Yamina, Bammakoo, and Kancaba; at which places the greater num- ber of the captives were bar- tered for gold dust, and the remainder sent forward to Kan- karee. Eleven of them confessed to me that they had been slaves from their infancy, but the other two refused to give any account of their former condition. They were all very inquisitive, but they viewed me at first with looks of horror, and repeatedly asked if my countrymen were cannibals. They were very de- sirous to know what became of the slaves after they had crossed the salt water. I told them that they were employed in cultivat- ing the land; but they would not believe me, and one of them putting his hand upon the ground, said, with great simplicity, * Have you really got such ground as this to set your feet upon?' A deeply- rooted idea that the whites pur- chase negroes for the purpose of devouring them, or of selling them to others, that they may be devoured hereafter, naturally makes the slaves contemplate a journey towards the coast with great terror, insomuch that the slatees are forced to keep them constantly in irons, and watch them very closely, to pre- vent their escape. They are commonly secured by putting the right leg of one and the left of another into the same pair of fetters. By supporting the fetters with a string, they can walk, though very slowly. Every four slaves are likewise fastened together by the necks with a strong rope of twisted thongs, and in the night an additional pair of fetters is put on their hands, and sometimes a light iron chain passed round their necks. Such of them as evince marks of discontent are secured in a different manner. A thick billet of wood is cut about three feet long, and a smooth notch being made upon one side of it, the ankle of the slave is bolted to the smooth part by means of a strong iron staple, one prong of which passes on each side of the ankle. All these fetters and bolts are made from native iron; in the pre- V w- %m ■< .■ ; I 550 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. sent case, they were put on by the blacksmith as soon as the slaves arrived from Kan- caba, and were not taken off until the morning on which the coffle departed for Gambia. In other respects, the treat- ment of the slaves during their stay at Kamalia was far from being harsh or cruel. They were led out in their fetters every morning to the shade of the tamarind-tree, where they were encouraged to play at games of hazard, and sing diverting songs, to keep up their spirits; for, though some of them sustained the hardships of their situation with amazing fortitude, the greater part were very much dejected, and would sit all day in a sort of sullen melancholy, with their eyes fixed upon the ground. In the evening their irons were ex- amined, and their hand-fetters jut on, after which they were conducted into two large huts, wl.ere they were guarded dur- ing the night by Karfa's domes- tic slaves. But notwithstanding all this, about a week after their arrival, one of the slaves had the address to procure a small knife, with which he opened the rings of his fetters, cut the rope, and made his escape : more of them would probably have got off had they assisted each other, but the slave no sooner found himself at liberty, than he refused to stop and assist in breaking the chain which was fastened round the necks of his companions. As all the slatees and slaves belonging to the coffle were now assembled, either at Ka- malia, or at some of the neigh- bouring villages, it might have been expected that we should set out immediately for Gambia; but though the day of our de- parture was frequently fixed, it was always found expedient to change it. Some of the people had not prepared their dry pro- visions; others had gone to visit their relations, or collect some trifling debts ; and, last of all, it was necessary to con- sult whether the day would be a i ucky one. On account of on e of these, or other such causes, our departure was put off, day after day, until the month of Feb- ruary was far advanced, after which, all the slatees agreed to remain in their present quarters until the fast moon was oi'cr. And here I may remark that loss of time is an object of no great importance in the eyes of a negro. If he has anything of consequence to perform, it is a matter of indifference to him whether he does it to-day or to- morrow, or a month or two hence ; so long as he can spend the present moment with any degree of comfort, he gives himself very little concern about the future. The fast of Ramadan was observed with great strictness by all the bushreens; but in- stead of compelling me to fol- low their example, as the Moors did on a similar occasion, Karfa frankly told me that I was at PARJCS LIFE AND TRA VELS. l^^ liberty to pursue my own in- clination. In order, however, to manifest a respect for their religious opinions, I voluntarily fasted three days, which was thought sufficient to screen me from the reproachful epithet of kafir. During the fast all the slatees belonging to the coffle assembled every morning in Karfa's house, where the school- master read to them some religious lessons from a large folio volume, the author of which was an Arab of the name of Sheiffa. In the evening such of the women as had embraced Mohammedanism assembled, and said their prayers publicly at the missura. They were all dressed in white, and went through the different prostra- tions prescribed by their religion with becoming solemnity. In- deed, during the whole fast of Ramadan the negroes behaved themselves with the greatest meekness and humility, forming a striking contrast to the savage intolerance and brutal bigotry which at this period characterise the Moors. When the fast month was almost at an end, the bushreens assembled at the missura to watch for the appearance of the new moon, but the evening being rather cloudy, they were for some time disappointed, and a number of them had gone home with a resolution to fast another day, when on a sudden this delightful object showed her sharp horns from behind a cloud, and was wel- comed with the clapping of hands, beating of drums, firing of muskets, and other marks of rejoicing. As this moon is reckoned extremely lucky, Karfa gave orders that all the people belonging to the coffle should immediately pack up their dry provisions, and hold themselves in readiness ; and on the 1 6th of April the sla- tees, held a consultation, and fixed on the 19th of the same month as the day on which the coffle should depart from Ka- malia. This resolution freed me from much uneasiness, for our departure had already been so long deferred, that I was ap- prehensive it might still be put off until the commencement of the rainy season ; and although Karfa behaved towards me with the greatest kindness, I found my situation very unpleasant. The slatees were unfriendly to me, and the trading Moors who were at this time at Kamalia continued to plot mischief against me from the first day of their arrival. Under these circumstances, I reflected that my life in a great measure de- pended on the good opinion of an individual who was daily hearing malicious stories con- cerning the Europeans, and I could hardly expect that he would always judge with im- partiality between me and his countrymen. Time had, in- deed, reconciled me in some degree to their mode of life, and a smoky hut, or a scanty supper, gave me no great un- 1:11 MM % 552 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, easiness ; but I became at last wearied out with a constant state of alarm and anxiety, and felt a painful longing for the manifold ulessings of civilised society. April 19. — ^The long-wished- for day of our departure was at length arrived ; and the slatees having taken the irons from their slaves, assembled with them at the door of Karfa's house, where the bundles were all tied up, and every one had his load assigned him. The coffle, on itb departure from Kamalia, consisted of twenty- seven slaves for sale, the pro- perty of Karfa and four other slatees ; but we were afterwards joined by five at Maraboo, and three at Bala — making in all thirty-five slaves. The freemen were fourteen in number, but most of them had one or two wives and some domestic slaves ; and the schoolmaster, who was now upon his return for Woradoo, the place of his nativity, took with him eight of his scholars, so that the num- ber of free people and domestic slaves amounted to thirty- eight, and the whole amount of the cofile was seventy-three. Among the free men were six jillikeas (singing men), whose musical talents were frequently exerted either to divert our fatigue or obtain us a welcome from strangers. When we departed from Kamalia, we were followed for about half a mile by most of the inhabitants of the town, some of them crying, and others shaking hands with their rela- tions who were now about to leave them; and when we had gained a piece of rising ground, from which we had a view of Kamalia, all the people belonging to the coffle were ordered to sit down in one place, with their faces to- wards the west, and the towns- people were desired to sit down in another place with their faces towards Kamalia. In this situation, the schoolmaster, with two of the principal slatees, having taken their places be- tween the two parties, pro- nounced a long and solemn prayer, after which they walked three times round the coffle, making an impression in the ground with the ends of their spears, and muttering some- thing by way of charm. When this ceremony was ended, all the people belonging to the cofile sprang up, and without taking a formal farewell of their friends, set forwards. As many of the slaves had remained for years in irons, the sudden ex- ertion of walking quick with heavy loads upon their heads occasioned spasmodic contrac- tions of their legs ; and we had not proceeded above a mile before it was found neces- sary to take two of them from the rope, and allow them to walk more slowly until we reached Maraboo, a walled village, where some people were waiting to join the coffle. Here we stopped about two hours, to allow the strangers time to pack up their provisions, PARJCS LIFE AND TEA VELS. 553 vW, and then continued our route to Bala, which town we reached tbout four in the afternoon. The inhabitants of Bala at this season of the year subsist chiefly on fish, which they take in great plenty from the streams in the neighbourhood. We re- mained here until the afternoon of the next day, the 20th, when we proceeded to Worumbang, the frontier village of Manding, towards Jallonkadoo. As we proposed shortly to enter the Jallonka Wilderness, the people of this village furnished us with great plenty of provisions, and on the morning of the 21st we entered the woods to the west- ward of Worumbang. After having travelled some little way, a consultation was held whether we should continue our route through the wilderness, or save one day's provisions by going to Kinytakooro, a town in Jal- lonkadoo. After debating the matter for some time, it was agreed that we should take the road for Kinytakooro ; but as that town was a long day's journey distant, it was neces- sary to take some refreshment. Accordingly every person opened his provision-bag, and brought a handful or two of meal to the place where Karfa and the slatees were sitting. When every one had brought his quota, and the whole was properly arranged in small gourd-shells, the schoolmaster offered up a short prayer, the substance of which was, that God and the holy Prophet might preserve us from robbers and all bad people, that our provisions might never fail us, nor our limbs become fatigued. This ceremony being ended, every one partook of the meal, and drank a little water ; after which we set forward (rather running than walking) until we came to the river Kokoro, a branch of the Senegal, where we halted about ten minutes. The banks of this river are very high, and from the grass and brushwood which had been left by the stream, it was evi- dent that at this place the water had risen more than twenty feet perpendicular dur- ing the rainy season. At this time it was only a small stream, such as would turn a mill, swarming with fish ; and on account of the number of crocodiles, and the danger of being carried past the ford by the force of the stream in the rainy season, it is called Kokoro (dangerous). From this place we continued to travel with the greatest expedition, and in the afternoon crossed two small branches of the Kokoro. About sunset we came in sight of Kinytakooro, a considerable town, nearly square, situated in the middle of a large and well-cultivated plain : before we entered the town, we halted until the people who had fallen behind came up. During this day's travel, two slaves, a woman and a girl, belonging to a slatee of Bala, were so much fatigued that they could not V.' 554 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, keep up with the coffle; they were severely whipped, and dragged along until about three o'clock in the afternoon, when they were both affected with vomiting, by which it was dis- covered that they had eaten clay. This practice is by no means uncommon amongst the negroes ; but whether it arises from a vitiated appetite, or from a settled intention to de- stroy themselves, I cannot affirm. They were permitted to lie down in the woods, and three people remained with them un- til they had rested themselves ; but they did not arrive at the town until past midnight, and were then so much exhausted that the slatee gave up all thoughts of taking them across the woods in their present con- dition, and determined to return with them to Bala, and wait for another opportunity. As this was the first town beyond the limits of Handing, greater etiquette than usual was observed. Every person was ordered to keep in his proper station, and we marched towards the town in a sort of procession nearly as follows : — In front five or six singing men, all of them belonging to the coffle J these were followed by the other free people ; then came the slaves, fastened in the usual way by a rope round their necks, four of them to a rope, and a man with a spear between each four ; after them came the domestic slaves, and in the rear the women of free condition, wives of the slatees etc In this manner we pro- ceeded until we came within a hundred yards of the gate when the singing men began a loud song, well calculated to flatter the vanity of the inhabi- tants, by extolling their known hospitality to strangers, and their particular friendship for the Mandingoes. When we entered the town we proceeded to the bentang, where the people gathered round us to hear our dentegi (history) ; this was related publicly by two of the singing men — they enumer- ated every little circumstance which had happened to the coffle, beginning with the events of the present day, and relating everything in a backward series until they reached Kamalia. When this history was ended, the master of the town gave them a small present, and all the people of the coffle, both free and enslaved, were invited by some person or other, and accommodated with lodging and provisions for the night. CHAPTER XXV. We continued at Kinytakooro until noon of the 2 2d of April, when we removed to a village about seven miles to the west- ward, the inhabitants of which, being apprehensive of hostili- ties from the Foulahs of Foola- doo, were at this time employed in constructing small temporary PARirS LIFE AND TRA VELS. 555 huts among the rocks, on the side of a high hill dose to the village. The situation was al- most impregnable, being every- where surrounded with high pre- ci|)ices, except on the eastern side, where the natives had left a pathway sufficient to allow one person at a time to ascend. Upon the brow of the hill, im- mediately over this path, I ob- served several heaps of large loose stones, which the people told me were intended to be thrown down upon the Foulahs a they should attempt the hill. At daybreak on the 23d we departed from this village, and entered the Jallonka Wilder- ness. We passed, in the course of the morning, the ruins of two small towns which had lately been burnt by the Foulahs. The fire must have been very intense, for I observed that the walls of many of the huts were slightly vitrified, and ap- peared at a distance as if covered with a red varnish. About ten o'clock we came to the river Wonda, which is somewhat larger than the river Kokoro; but the stream was at this time rather muddy, which Karfa as- sured me was occasioned by amazing shoals of fish. They were indeed seen in all direc- tions, and in such abundance that I fancied the water itself tasted and smelt fishy. As soon as we had crossed the river, Karfa gave orders that all the people of the coffle should in future keep close together, and travel in their proper station. The guides and young men were accord- ingly placed in the van, the women and slaves in the centre, and the freemen in the rear. In this order we travelled with uncommon expedition through a woody but beautiful country, interspersed with a pleasing variety of hill and dale, and abounding with partridges, gui- nea-fowl, and deer, until sunset, when we arrived at a most romantic stream called Co-meis- sang. My arms and neck hav- ing been exposed to the sun during the whole day, and irri- tated by the rubbing of my dress in walking, were now very much inflamed and covered with blisters, and I was happy to embrace the opportunity, while the coffle rested on the bank of the river, to bathe myself in the stream. This practice, together with the cool of the evening, much diminished the inflammation. About three miles to the westward of the Co-meissang we halted in a thick wood, and kindled our fires for the night. We were all by this time very much fatigued, having, as I judged, travelled this day thirty miles, but no person was heard to com- plain. Whilst supper was pre- paring, Karfa made one of the slaves break some branches from the trees for my bed. When we had finished our supper of kous- kous moistened with some boil- ing water, and put the slaves in irons, we all lay down to sleep; but we were frequently disturbed »* •" k '^Bl I ^ \^ ^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // ^ A. ^ 1.0 I.I no ~^~ 1^ 12^ 12.2 IIS lAO I 2.0 L25 i 1.4 1.6 -► V Ta % ^ :> Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WIST MAIN STRieET WEBSTER, N.Y. MSSO (716) 872-4503 V^V ^ s^ '^^U 4s 556 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. in thenightbythehowlingofwild beasts, and we found the small brown ants very troublesome. April 24. — Before daybreak the bushreens said their morn- ing prayers, and most of the free people drank a little moen- ing (a sort of gruel), part of which was likewise given to such of the slaves as appeared least able to sustain the fatigues of the day. One of Karfa's female slaves was very sulky, and when some gruel was offered to her she refused to drink it. As soon as day dawned we set out, and tra- velled the whole morning over a wild and rocky country, by which my feet were much bruised, and I was sadly ap- prehensive that I should not be able to keep up with the coffle during the day; but I was in a great measure relieved from this anxiety when I ob- served that others were more exhausted than myself. In particular, the woman slave who had refused victuals in the morning, began now to lag behind, and complain dread- fully of pains in her legs. Her load was taken from her and given to another slave, and she was ordered to keep in the front of the coffle. About eleven o'clock, as we were resting by a small rivulet, some of the people discovered a hive of bees in a hollow tree, and they were proceeding to obtain the honey, when the largest swarm I ever beheld flew out, and, attacking the people of the coffle, made us fly in all direc- tions. I took the alarm first, and I believe was the only person who escaped with im- punity. When our enemies thought fit to desist from pur- suing us, and every person was employ.d in picking out the stings he had received, it was discovered that the poor woman above mentioned, whose name was Nealee, was not come up \ and as many of the slaves in their retreat had left their bundles behind them, it be- came necessary for some per- sons to return and bring them. In order to do this with safety, fire was set to the grass a con- siderable way to the eastward of the hive, and the wind driv- ing the fire furiously along, the party pushed through the smoke and recovered the bundles. They likewise brought with them poor Nealee, whom they found lying by the rivulet. She was very much exhausted, and had crept to the stream in hopes to defend herself from the bees, by throwing water over her body j but this proved ineffectual, for she was stung in the most dread- ful manner. When the slatees had picked out the stings as far as they could, she was washed with water, and then rubbed with bruised leaves ; but the wretched woman obstinately refused to proceed any farther, declaring that she would rather die than walk another step. As entreaties and threats were used in vain, the whip was at length applied ; PARK'S LIFE AND TRAVELS, 557 and after bearing patiently a few strokes, she started up, and walked with tolerable expedi- tion for four or five hours longer, when she made an attempt to run away from the coffle, but was so very weak that she fell down in the grass. Though she was unable to rise, the whip was a second time applied, but with- out effect, upon which Karfa desired two of the slatees to place her upon the ass which carried our dry provisions ; but she could not sit erect, and the ass being very refractory, it was found impossible to carry her forward in that manner. The slatees, however, were unwilling to abandon her, the day's jour- ney being nearly ended; they therefore made a sort of litter of bamboo-canes, upon which she was placed, and tied on it with slips of bark. This litter was carried upon the heads of two slaves, one walking before the other, and they were fol- lowed by two others, who re- lieved them occasionally. In this manner the woman was carried forward until it was dark, when we reached a stream of water at the foot of a high hill called Gankaran-Kooro, and here we stoppedYor the night and set about preparing our supper. As we had only ate one hand- ful of meal since the preceding night, and travelled all day in a hot sun, many of the slaves who had loads upon their heads were very much fatigued, and some of ^tva snapped their finger 5 f which among the negroes is a sure sign of desperation. The slatees im- mediately put them all in irons'; and such of them as had evinced signs of great despondency were kept apart from the rest, and had their hands tied. In the morning they were found greatly recovered. April 2^. — At daybreak poor Nealee was awakened, but her limbs were now become so stiff and painful that she could neither walk nor stand ; she was therefore lifted, like a corpse, upon the back of the ass, and the slatees endeavoured to secure her in that situation by fastening her hands together under the ass's neck, and her feet under the belly, with long slips of bark ; but the ass was so very unruly that no sort of treatment could induce him to proceed with his load, and as Nealee made no exertion to prevent herself from falling, she was quickly thrown off, and had one of her legs much bruised. Every attempt to carry her for- ward being thus found ineffec- tual, the general cry of the coffle was Kang-tegif kang-tegi (*Cut her throat, cut her throat*) ! — an operation I did not wish to see performed, and therefore marched onwards with the fore- most of the coffle. I had not walked above a mile, when one of Karfa's domestic slaves came up to me, with poor Nealee's garment upon the end of his bow, and exclaimed, Nealee affeeleeta (' Nealee is lost') I I asked him whether the slatees had given him the garment as -I M^4 558 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, a reward for cutting her throat. He replied, that Karfa and the schoolmaster would not consent to that measure, but had left her on the road, where undoubtedly she soon perished, and was pro- bably devoured by wild beasts. The sad fate of this wretched woman, notwithstanding the out- cry before mentioned, made a strong impression on the minds of the whole coffle, and the schoolmaster fasted the whole of the ensuing day in conse- quence of it. We proceeded in deep silence, and soon after- wards crossed the river Fur- koomah, which was about as large as the river Wonda. We now travelled with great expe- dition, every one being appre- hensive he might otherwise meet with the fate of poor Nealee. It was, however, with great diffi- culty that I could keep up, al- though I threw away my spear and everything that could in the least obstruct me. About noon we saw a large herd of elephants, but they suffered us to pass unmolested ; and in the evening we halted near a thicket of bamboo, but found no water, so that we were forced to pro- ceed four miles farther, to a small stream, where we stopped for the night. We had marched thij day, as I judged, about twenty-six miles. April 26. — This morning two of the schoolmaster's pupils complained much of pains in their legs, and one of the slaves walked lame, the soles of his feet being very much blistered and inflamed; we proceeded, notwithstanding, and about eleven o'clock began to ascend a rocky hill called Boki-Kooro, and it was past two in the after- noon before we reached the level ground on the other side. This was the most rocky road we had yet encountered, and it hurt our feet much. In a short time we arrived at a pretty large river called Boki, which we forded ; it ran smooth and clear over a bed of whinstone. About a mile to the westward of the river, we came to a road which leads to the north-east towards Gadou, and seeing the marks of many horses' feet upon the soft sand, the slatees conjectured that a party of plunderers had lately rode that way to fall upon soroe town of Gadou ; and lest they should discover upon their re- turn that we had passed, and attempt to pursue us by the marks of our feet, the coffle was ordered to disperse, and travel in a loose manner through the high grass and bushes. A little before it was dark, having crossed the ridge of hills to the westward of the river Boki, we came to a well called cullong qui (white sand well), and here we rested for the night. April 2 7. — We departed from the well early in the morn- ing, and walked on with the greatest alacrity, in hopes of reaching a town before night. The road, during the forenoon, led through extensive thickets of drv bamboos. About two o'clock we came to a stream ■ 'H PARK'S LIFE AND TRA VELS. 559 called Nunkolo, where we were each of us regaled with a hand- ful of meal, which, according to a superstitious custom, was not to be eaten until it was first moistened with water from this stream. About four o'clock we reached Sooseeta, a small Jallonka village, situated in the district of Kullo, which com- prehends all that tract of coun- try lying along the banks of the Black River, or main branch of the Senegal. These were the first human habitations we had seen since we left the village to the westv/ard of Kiny- takooro, having travelled in the course of the last five days up- wards of one hundred miles. Here, after a great deal of entreaty, we were provided with huts to sleep in, but the master of the village plainly told us that he could not give us any provisions, as there had lately been a great scarcity in this part of the country. He as- sured us that, before they had gathered in their present crops, the whole inhabitants of Kullo had been for twenty-nine days without tasting corn, during which time they supported them- selves entirely upon the yellow powder which is found in the pods of the nitta^ so called by the natives, a species of mimosa, and upon the seeds of the bam- boo-cane, which, when properly pounded and dressed, taste very much like rice. As our dry provisions were not yet ex- hausted, a considerable quan- tity of kouskous was dressed for supper, and many of the villagers were invited to take part of the repast ; but they made a very bad return for this kindness, for in the night they seized upon one of the school- master's boys, who had fallen asleep under the bentang-tree, and carried him away. The boy fortunately awoke before he was far from the village, and setting up a loud scream, the man who carried him put his hand upon his mouth, and ran with him into the woods ; but afterwards understanding that he belonged to the schoolmas- ter, whose place of residence is only three days' journey distant, he thought, I suppose, that he could not retain hiiii as a slave withoutthe schoolmaster's know- ledge, and therefore stripped off the boy's clothes, and per- mitted him to return. Aprih^. — Early in the morn- ing we departed from Sooseeta, and about ten o'clock came to an unwalled town called Manna, the inhabitants of which were employed in collecting the fruit of the nitta-trees, which are very numerous in this neighbour- hood. The pods are long and narrow, and contain a few black seeds enveloped in the fine mealy powder before mentioned; the meal itself is of a bright yellow colour, resembling the flour of sulphur, and has a sweet mucilaginous taste. When eaten by itself it is clammy, but when mixed with milk or water, it constitutes a very pleasant and nourishing article of diet. K I 56o THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. 'I'b.e language of the people of Manna is the same that is spoken all over that extensive and hilly country called Jallon- kadoo. Some of the words have a great affinity to the Mandingo, but the natives nemselves con- sider it as a distinct language. Their numerals are these : — One, Kidding. Two, Fidding, Three, Sarra. Four, Nani. Five, Soolo. Six, Seni. Seven, Soolo ma fidding. Eight, Soolo ma sarra. Nine, Soolo ma nani. Ten, Nuflf. The Jallonkas, like the Man- dingoes, are governed by a number of petty chiefs, who are in a great measure indepen- dent of each other. They have no common sovereign, and the chiefs are seldom upon such terms of friendship as to assist each other even in war-time. The chief of Manna, with a number of his people, accom- panied us to the banks of the Bafing, or Black River (a prin- cipal branch of the Senegal), which we crossed upon a bridge of bamboos of a very singular construction. The river at this place is smooth and deep, and has very little current. Two tall trees, when tied together by the tops, are sufficiently long to reach from one side to the other — the roots resting upon the rocks, and the tops floating in the water. When a few trees have been placed in this direc- tion, they are covered with dry bamboos, so as to form a float- ing bridge, with a sloping gang- way at each end, where the trees rest upon the rocks. Th's bridge is carried away ever/ year by the swelling of the river in the rainy season, and is constantly rebuilt by the in- habitants of Manna, who, on that account, expect a small tribute from every passenger. In the afternoon we passed several villages, at none of which we could procure a lodg- ing; and in the twilight we received information that two hundred Jallonkas had as- sembled near a town called Melo, with a view to plunder the coffle. This induced us to alter our course, and we tra- velled with great secrecy until midnight, when we approached a town called Koba. Before we entered the town the names of all the people belonging to the coffle were called over, and a freeman and three slaves were found to be missing. Every person immediately con- cluded that the slaves had murdered the freeman and made their escape. It was therefore agreed that six people should go back as far as the last village, and endeavour to find his body, or collect some information concerning the slaves. In the meantime the coffle was ordered to lie concealed in a cotton - field near a large nitta-tree, and nobody to speak except in a whisper. It was towards morn- PARK'S LIFE AND TRA VELS. 56« ing before the six men re- turned, having heard nothing of the man or the slaves. As none of us had tasted victuals for the last twenty-four hours, it was agreed that we should go into Koba, and endeavour to procure some provisions. We accordingly entered the town before it was quite day, and Karfa purchased from the chief man, for three strings of beads, a considerable quantity of ground nuts, which we roasted and ate for breakfast. We were afterwards provided with huts, and rested here for the day. About eleven o'clock, to our great joy and surprise, the free- man and slaves who had parted from the coffle the preceding night, entered the town. One of the slaves, it seems, had hurt his foot, and the night being .very dark, they soon lost sight of the coffle. The free- man, as soon as he found him- self alone with the slaves, was aware of his own danger, and insisted on putting them in irons. The slaves were at first rather unwilling' to submit, but when he threatened to stab them one by one with his spear, they made no farther resistance ; and he remained with them among the bushes until morning, when he let them out of irons, and came to the town in hopes of hearing which route the coffle had taken . The informa- tion that we received concern- ing the Jallonkas, who intended io rob the coffle, was this day contirmed, and we were forced to remain here until the after- noon of the 30th, when Karfa hired a number of people to protect us, and we proceeded to a village called Tinkingtang. Departing from this village on the day following, we crossed a high ridge of mountains to the west of the Black River, and travelled over a rough stony country until sunset, when we arrived at Lingicotta, a small village in the district of Wora- doo. Here we shook out the last handful of meal from our dry provision-bags, this being the second day (since we crossed the Black River) that we had travelled from morning until night without tasting one morsel of food. May 2. — We departed from Lingicotta ; but the slaves being very much fatigued, we halted for the night at a village about nine miles to the westward, and procured some provisions through the interest of the schoolmaster, who now sent forward a messenger to Mala- cotta, his native town, to in- form his friends of his arrival in the country, and to desire them to provide the necessary quantity of victuals to entertain the coffle for two or three days. May 3. — We set out for Ma- lacotta, and about noon arrived at a village near a considerable stream of water which flows to the westward. Here we detei- mined to stop for the return of the messenger who had been sent to Malacotta the day be- fore ; and as the natives assured 2 N W. Sfta TTTE F.NClJSn rXPl.OKF.RS. WW there were no cnuMHlilos in this sticani, I wnU .'ind hathi'd niyscir. Very low pcopii' Iumv can Nwini, lor they canu* in numbers to dissuade me iVouj venturing into a pool wiiere they saiil the water would come over my head. About two o'eloek the messenger returned from Malaeolta, and the school- master's ehler brother being im- ]iatient to sec hinj, came along with the messenger to meet hiju at this village. The iuterview l)etween the two brothers, who had not seen eaeh other lor niito years, was very natural and nlVeeting. They fell upon eaeh Other's neck, and it was some lime before cither of them could speak. At lengtii, when the schoolmaster had a little recovered himself, he took his l)rother by the hand, and turn- ing roimd, * This is the man,' saul he, pointing to Karla, 'who has been my father in Manding. 1 would have pointed him out sooner to you, but my heart was too full.* \Ve reacheil Malacotta in tlic evening, where we were well received. This is an unwalled town. The huts for the most l)art are made of si)lit cane, twisted into a sort of wicker- work, and plasiered over with mud. Here we remained three days, and were each day \)xq- sented with a bullock from the schoolmaster. \\q were like- wise well entertained by the townspeople, who aj^pear to be very active and industrious. They make very good soap by boiling ground ntits in water, and then adding a ley of wood ashes. They likewise manufac ture excellent iron, which tluy carry to Mondou to barter lor salt. A party of the towns- people had lately returned iVom a. tradingexpedition of this kind, and brought information ron cerning a war between Alinnini Abdulkader, king of l«'oota- Torra, and Damel, king ol the Jalolfs. The events of this war soon became a favourite subjct t with the singing men, and ilu- conn\u)n topi** of conversation in all the kingdoms bordeiin^ upon the Senegal and (lanihia ; and as the account is somewli.it singular, I shall here ahri«]m: it for the reader's information. The king ol 3«'oota-Torra, in- flamed with a zeal for propa- gating his religion, had sent ;in embassy to Damel similar to that which he had sent to Kasson, as has been previously related. The ambassador, on the i)re- sent occasion, was accompanied by two of the ])rincipal hiish- reens, who carried each a large knife fixed on the top of a long pole. As soon as he had pro- cured admission into the ihc- sence of Damel, and announced the i)leasure of his sovereign, he ordered the bushreens to ))resent the emblems of his mission. The two knives were accordingly laid before Daniel, and the ambassador explained himself as follows : — ' With this knife,' said he, ' Abdulkader will condescend to shave the head of Damel, if Damel will embrace r.tAWCS r.II'F. AND TRAVELS, 5 ^'3 '11 lUtH in water, a ley of wood •wise luaimrac m, wliieli tluy I to barter lor of Iho towiis- retunu'd IVom ion oltliis kind, formation ton •Iween Alnianu njj; of I'\)()ta iol, king ol tlio lmUs of this war Lvoiirite subjici \ nu'M, and tlu- ;)f conversati()i\ lonis borderini; il and (^ianil)ia ; int is sonu wlial I here al)rid);c r's information. 'oota-Torra, in- /cal ft)r propa- )n, had sent an el similar to that icnt to Kasson, !viously related. )r, on the i»re- as acc;omi)anied in'incipai Imsh- ed each a large 10 top of a lonj? as he had i)ro- n into the i^e- and announced his sovereign, ; bushrcens to nblems of liis two knives were before Darnel, ador explained vs : — * With this Abdulkader will shave the head nel will embrace the Mohammedan Tiith ; and with Ihi.s other knife, Abdul kader will (Mit the throat of Darnel, if Damel reluses to em brace it : take your <:hoi(:e.' Daniel coolly told the andias sador that he had no choice to make he neither chose to have his head shaved nor his throat cut ; and with this answer the aud)assador was civilly (lis nussed. Abdulkader took his measures accordingly, and with a powerful army invaded Da- niel's country. The inhabitants of the towns and villages Idled up their wells, destroytnl their jirovisions, carried off tlu-ir effects, and abandoned their dwellings, as he approached, lly this means he was led on from place to place, until he had advanced three days' jour- ney into the coimtry of the Jalofls. He had, indeed, met with no opposition, but his army had suffered so much from tile scarcity of water that several of his men had died by the way. This induced him to direct his march towards a watering-place in the woods, where his men, having quenched their thirst, and being overcome with fatigue, lay down carelessly to sleep among the bushes. In this situation they were attacked by Darnel before daybreak, and completely routed. Many of them were trampled to death, as they lay asleep, by the Jaloff horses ; others were killed in at- teiTii)ting to make their escape ; and a still greater number were taken prisoners. Among the lat((!r was Abdulkader liiniHelf. This ambitious, or rather frantic prince, who but a month before liad sent the threatening mes- sage to Dainel, was now him- self led into his presence as a miserable captive. The beha- viour of 1 )amel on this occasion is never mentioned by the sing- ing men but in terms of the highest a|)prol)ati()n ; and it was indeed so extraordinary in an African prince, that the reader may fmd it dil)i( ult to give credit to the recital. When his roy.d prisoner was brought before him in irons, and thrown upon the ground, the magnani nious Daniel, instead of setting his foot upon his neck and stabbing hiin with his spear, according to custom in such cases, addressed him as foJ- l(jws : — * Abdulkader, answer nie thisijueslion. If the chance of war had placed me in your situation, and you in mine, how would you have treated nief ' 1 would have thrust my si)ear into your heart,' returned Ab- dulkader, with great firmness ; * and I know that a similar fate awaits me.' * Not so,' said Darnel ; ' my spear is indeed red with the blood of your sub- jects killed in battle, and \ could now give it a deeper stain by dipping it in your own, but this would not build up my towns, nor bring to life the thousands who fell in the woods. I will not, therefore, kill you in cold blood, but I will retain you as my slave, until I per- ceive that your presence in 5^>4 THE ENGUSU EXPLORERS, your own kinf^dotu will he no longer dangerous to your neigh- bours ; and tlien 1 will consitler of the proper way of disposing of you.' Abdulkader was ac- cordingly retained, and worked as a slave for three months ; at the end of which period Darnel listened to the solicitations of the inhabitants of Foota-Torra, and restored to them their king. Strange as this story ujay ap- pear, I have no doubt of the truth of it. It was told mc at Malacotta by the negroes ; it was afterwards related to mc by the Europeans on the Gam- bia, by some of the French at (loree, and confirmed by nine slaves who were taken prisoners along with Abdulkader by the watering-place in the woods, and carried in the same ship with me to the West Indies. CHAPTER XXVI. On the 7th of May we departed from Malacotta, and having crossed the Ba Lee (Honey River), a branch of the Senegal, we arrived in the evening at a walled town called Bintingala, where we rested two days. From thence, in one day more, we proceeded to Dindikoo, a small town situated at the bot- tom of a high ridge of hills, from which this district is named Konkodoo (the country of mountains^. These hills are very productive of gold. I was shown a small quantity of this metal, which had been lately collected : thegrains were about the usual size, but nuuh flatter than tho.se of Manding, and were founil in white (|uartz, which had been broken to pieces by hanuners. At this town I met with a negro whoso hair and skin were of a dull white colour. He was of that sort which are called in the Spanish West Indies albinos^ or white negroes. The skin is cadaverous and unsightly, and the natives considered this com- plexion (1 believe truly) as the ertect of disease. May II. — At daybreak we departed from Dindikoo, and, after a toilsome day's travel, arrived in the evening at Sata- doo, the capital of a district of the same name. This town was formerly of considerable extent, but many families had left it in consequence of the predatory incursions of the Foulahs of Foota-Jalla, who made it a practice to come secretly through the woods and carry off people from the corn- fields, and even from the wells near the town. In the after- noon of the 1 2 th we crossed the Falemti River, the same which I had formerly crossed at Bondou in my journey eastward. This river, at this season of the year, is easily forded at this place, the stream being only about two feet deep. The water is very pure, and flows rapidly over a bed of sand and gravel. We lodged for the night at a small village called Medina, the sole PAKK'S LIFE AND TRA VKLS, 56s ])roj)c'rty of a Mandingo incr- clmiU, who, by ti long inter- course with luiropcans, lins been induced to adopt some of their customs. llis victuals were served up in pewter dislies, and even his houses were built alter the fashion of the JMiglish houses on the (Jlauibia. May 13. — In the niorninj^, as we were preparing to depart, a coflle of slaves belonging to some Seravvoolli traders crossed the river, and agreed to proceed with us to Haniserile, the capi- tal of Dentila — a very long day's journey from this place. We accordingly set out together, and travelled with great expedi- tion through the wootls until noon, when one of the Sera- woolll slaves dropped the load from his head, for which he was smartly whipped. The load was replaced, but he had not proceeded above a mile before he let it fall a second time, for which he received the same punishment. After this he travelled in great pain until about two o'clock, when we 8toi)ped to breathe a little by a pool of water, the day being remarkably hot. The poor slave was now so completely ex- hausted that his master was obliged to release him from the rope, for he lay motionless on the ground. A Serawoolli, therefore, undertook to remain with him, and endeavour to bnng him to the town during the cool of the night ; in the meanwhile we continued our route, and after a very hard day's travel, arrived at lianiscrilc late in the cvcf ng. One of our slatces was a native of this j)lacc, from which he had been absent three years. This man invited me to go with him to his house, at the gate of which his friends met him with many expressions of joy, shaking hands with him, embracing him, and singing and ilancing before him. As soon as he had seated himself upon a mat, by the threshold of his door, a young woman (his in- tended bride) brought a little water in a calabash, and kneel- ing down before him, desired him to wash his hands ; when he had done this, the girl with a tear of joy sparkling in her eyes, drank the water — this being considered as the great- est proof she could possibly give him of her fidelity and at- tachment. About eight o'clock the same evening, the Sera- woolli, who had been left in the woods to take care of the fatigued slave, returned and told us that he was dead ; the general opinion, however, was that he himself had killed him or left him to perish on the road, for the Serawoollies are said to be infinitely more cruel in their treatment of slaves than the Mandingoes. We remained at Baniserile two days, in order to purchase native iron, shea- butL r, and some other articles for sale on the Gambia; and here the slatee who had invited me to his house, and who pos- sessed three slaves, part of the 566 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, coftle, having ol)tained informa- tion that the price on the coast was very low, determined to separate from us, and remain with his slaves where he was, until an opportunity should offer of disposing of them to advan- tage — giving us to understand that he should complete his nup- tials with the young woman l)e- fore mentioned in the meantime. May 1 6. — We departed from Raniserile,and travelled through thick woods until noon, when we saw at a distance the town of Julifunda, but did not ap- jiroach it, as we proposed to rest for the night at a large town called Kirwani, which we reached about four o'clock in the afternoon. This town stands in a valley, and the country, for more than a mile round it, is cleared of wood and well cultivated. The inhabi- tants appear to be very active and industrious, and seem to have carried the system of agriculture to some degree of perfection, for they collect the dung of their cattle into large heaps during the dry season, for the purpose of manuring their land with it at the proper time. I saw nothing like this in any other part of Africa. Near the town are several smelting furnaces, from which the natives obtain very good iron. They afterwards hammer the metal into small bars, about a foot in length and two inches in breadth, one of which bars is sufficient to make two Man- dingo corn-hoes. On the morn- ing after our arrival we were visited by a slatee of this place, who informed Karfa, that auionL' some slaves he had lately pur- chased was a native of I'oota- Jalla, and as that country was at no great distance, he could not safely employ him in the labours of the field, lest he should effect his escape. The slatee was therefore desirous of exchanging this slave for one of Karfa's, and oftered some cloth and shea-butter to induce Karfa to comply with the proposal, which was accepted. The slatee thereupon sent a boy to order the slave in question to bring him a few ground-nuts. The poor creature soon after- wards entered the court in which we were sitting, having no suspicion of what was nego- tiating, until the master caused the gate to be shut, and told him to sit down. The slave now saw his danger, and per- ceiving the gate to be shut upon him, threw down the nuts and jumped over the fence. He was immediately pursued and overtaken by the slatees, who brought him back and secured him in irons, after which one of Karfa's slaves was released and delivered in exchange. The unfortunate captive was at first very much dejected, but in the course of a few days his melan- choly gradually subsided, and he became at length as cheerful as any of his companions. Departing from Kirwani on the morning of the 20th, we entered the Tenda Wilderness PARK'S LIFE AND TRA VELS. /I 567 of two days' journey. The woods were very thick, and the country shelved towards the south-west. About ten o'clock we met a coffle of twenty-six people, and seven loaded asses, returning from the Gambia. Most of the men were armed with muskets, and had broad belts of scarlet cloth over their shoul- ders, and European hats upon their heads. They informed us that there was very little de- mand for slaves on the coast, as no vessel had arrived for some months past. On hear- ing this, the SerawooUies, who liad travelled with us from the Falemd River, separated them- selves and their slaves from the coffle. They had not, they said, the means of maintaining their slaves in Gambia until a vessel should arrive, and were unwilling to sell them to dis- advantage j they therefore de- parted to the northward for Kajaaga. We continued our route through the wilderness, and travelled all day through a rugged country, covered with extensive thickets of bamboo. ,At sunset, to our great joy, we arrived at a pool of water near a large tabba-tree, whence the place is called Tabbagee, and here we rested a few hours. The water at this season of the year is by no means plenti- ful in these woods, and as the days were insufferably hot, Karfa proposed to travel in the night. Accordingly, about eleven o'clock the slaves were taken out of their irons, and the people of the coffle received orders to keep close together, as well to prevent the slaves from attempting to escape as on account of the wild beasts. We travelled with great alacrity until daybreak, when it was discovered that a free woman had parted from the coffle in the night : her name was called until the woods resounded, but no answer being given, we con- jectured that she had either mistaken the road, or that a lion had seized her unperceived. At lengtli it was agreed that four people should go back a few miles to a small rivulet, where some of the coffle had stopped to drink as we passed it in the night, and that the coffle should wait for their re- turn. The sun was about an hour high before the people came back with the woman, whom they found lying fast asleep by the stream. We new resumed our journey, and about eleven o'clock reached a walled town called Tambacunda, where we were well received. Here we remained four days, on account of a palaver which was held on the following occasion : — Modi Lemina, one of the sla- tees belonging to the coffle, had formerly married a woman of this town, who had borne him two children ; he afterwards went to Manding, and remained there eight years without send- ing any account of himself dur- ing all that time to his deserted wife, who, seeing no prospect of his return, at the end of "I ■;■?( ill -'i», !i:.,., -.lil 568 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. three years had married another man, to whom she had likewise borne two children. Lemina now claimed his wife ; but the second husband refused to de- liver her up, insisting that by the laws of Africa, when a man has been three years absent from his wife without giving her notice of his being alive, the woman is at liberty to marry again. After all the cir- cumstanr.°s had been fully in- vestigateu in an assembly of the chief men, it was deter- mined that the wife should make her choice, and be at liberty either to return to the first husband, or continue with the second, as she alone should think proper. Favourable as this determination was to the lady, she found it a difficult matter to make up her mind, and requested time for con- sideration ; but I think I could perceive that first love would carry the day. Lemina was in- deed somewhat older than his rival, but he was also much richer. What weight this cir- cumstance had in the scale of his wife's affections I pretend "ot to say. About one o'clock on the morning of the 26th we reached Sibikillin, a walled village ; but the inhabitants having the character of inhospitality to- wards strangers, and of being much addicted to theft, we did not think proper to enter the gate. We rested a short time under a tree, and then con- tinued our route until it was dark, when we halted for the night by a small stream run- ning towards the Gambia. Next day the road led over a wild and rocky country, every- where rising into hills, and abounding with monkeys and wild beasts. In the rivulets among the hills we found great plenty of fish. This was a very hard day's journey ; and it was not until sunset that we reached the village of Koomboo, near to which are the ruins of a large town formerly destroyed by war. The inhabitants of Koomboo, like those of Sibi- killin, have so bad a reputa- tion, that strangers seldom lodge in the village ; we ac- cordingly rested for the night in the fields, where we erected temporary huts for our protec- tion, there being great appear- ance of rain. May 28. — We departed from Koomboo, and slept at a Fou- lah town about seven miles to the westward ; from which, on the day following, having crossed a considerable branch of the Gambia, called Neola Koba, we reached a well-inha- bited part of the country. Here are several towns within sight of each other, collectively called Tenda, but each is distinguished also by its particular name. We lodged at one of them called Koba Tenda, where we remained the day following, in order to procure provisions for our support in crossing the Sim- bani woods. On the 30th we reached Jallacotta, a consider- PARICS LIFE AND TRA VELS. 5^9 able town, but much infested by Foulah banditti, who come through the woods from Bor.- dou, and steal everything they can lay their hands on. A few days before our arrival they had stolen twenty head of cattle, and on the day follow- ing made a second attempt, but were beaten off, and one of them tiken prisoner. Here one of the slaves belonging to the coffle, who had travelled with great difficulty for the last three days, was found unable to proceed any further: his master (a singing man) pro- posed therefore to exchange him for a young slave girl belonging to one of the towns- people. The poor girl was ignorant of her fate until the bundles were all tied up in the morning, and the coffle ready to depart, when, coming with some other young women to see the coffle set out, her mas- ter took her by the hand, and delivered her to the singing man. Never was a face of serenity more suddenly changed into one of the deepest dis- tress ; the terror she manifested on having the load put upon her head, and the rope fastened round her neck, and the sorrow with which she bade adieu to her companions, were truly affecting. About nine o'clock we crossed a large plain covered with ciboa-Xxt.^^ (a species of palm), and came to the river Nerico, a branch of the Gam- bia. This was but a small river at this time, but in the rainy season it is often danger- ous to travellers. As soon as we had crossed this river, the singing men began to vocifer- ate a particular song, expres- sive of their joy at having got safe into the west country, or, as they expressed it, the land of the setting sun. The country was found to be very level, and the soil a mixture of clay and sand. In the afternoon it rained hard, and we had re- course to the common negro umbrella, a large ciboa-leaf, which, being placed upon the head, completely defends the whole body from the rain. We lodged for the night under the shade of a large tabba-tree, near the ruins of a village. On the morning following we crossed a stream called Nou- lico, and about two o'clock, to my infinite joy, I saw myself once more on the banks of the Gambia, which at this place being deep and smooth, is navigable ; but the people told me, that a little lower down the stream is so shallow that the coffles frequently cross it on foot. /um 2. — We departed from Seesukunda, and passed a num- ber of villages, at none of which was the coffle permitted to stop, although we were all very much fatigued ; it was four o'clock in the afternoon before we reached Baraconda, where we rested one day. Departing from Bara- conda on the morning of the 4th, we reached in a few hours Medina, the capital of the king iii'i \ • 570 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. of WooUi's dominions, from whom the reader may recollect I received an hospitable recep- tion in the beginning of Decem- ber 179s, in my journey east- ward (see p. 402). I immediately inquired concerning the health of my good old benefactor, and learned with great concern that he was dangerously ill. As Karfa would not allow the coffle to stop, I could not present my respects to the king in person, but I sent him word, by the officer to whom we paid customs, that his prayers for my safety had not been un- availing. We continued our route until sunset, when we lodged at a small village a little to the westward of Kootacunda, and on the day following ar- rived at Jindey, where, eighteen months before, I had parted from my friend Dr Laidley — an interval during which I had not beheld the face of a Chris- tian, nor once heard the delight- ful sound of my native language. Being now arrived within a short distance of Pisania, from whence my journey originally commenced, and learning that my friend Karfa was not likely to meet with an immediate op- portunity of selling his slaves on the Gambia, it occurred to me to suggest to him that he would find it for his interest to leave them at Jindey until a market should offer. Karfa agreed with me in this opinion, md hired from the chief man of the town huts for their ac- commodation, and a piece of land on which to employ them in raising corn and other pro- visions for their maintenance. With regard to himself, he de- clared that he would not quit me until my departure from Africa. We set out accordingly, Karfa, myself, and one of the Foulahs belonging to the coffle, early on the morning of the 9th; but although I was now approaching the end of my tedious and toilsome journey, and expected in another day to meet with countrymen and friends, I could not part, for the last time, with my unfortu- nate fellow-travellers— doomed, as I knew most of them to be, to a life of captivity and slavery in a foreign land- without great emotion. During a wearisome peregrination of more than five hundred British miles, exposed to the burning rays of a tropical sun, these poor slaves, amidst their own infinitely greater sufferings, would commiserate mine, and frequently, of their own accord, bring water to quench my thirst, and at night collect branches and leaves to prepare me a bed in the wilderness. We parted with reciprocal ex- pressions of regret and bene- diction. My good wishes and prayers were all I could bestow upon them, and it afforded me some consolation to be told that they were sensible I had no more to give. My anxiety to get forward admitting of no delay on the road, we reached Tendacunda PARJCS LIFE AND TRA VELS. 571 in the evening, and were hospi- tably received at the house of an aged black female called Seniora Camilla, a person who resided many years at the Eng- lish factory, and spoke our language. I was known to her before I had left the Gambia, at the outset of my journey, but my dress and figure were now so different from the usual appearance of a European, that she was very excusable in mis- taking me for a Moor. When I told her my name and country, she surveyed me with great astonishment, and seemed un- willing to give credit to the testimony of her senses. She assured me that none of the traders on the Gambia ever expected to see me again, hav- ing been informed long ago that the Moors of Ludamar had murdered me, as they had murdered Major Houghton. I inquired for my two attendants, J ohnson and Demba, and learnt, with great sorrow, that neither of them was returned. Karfa, who had never before heard people converse in English, listened to us with great atten- tion. Everything he saw seemed wonderful. The furniture of the house, the chairs, etc., and particularly beds with curtains, were objects of his great ad- miration, and he asked me a thousand questions concerning the utility and necessity of dif^ ferent articles, to some of which I found it difficult to give satis factory answers. On the morning of the loth, Mr Robert Ainsley having learnt that I was at Tendacunda, came to meet me, and politely offered me the use of his horse. He informed me that Dr Laidley had removed all his property to a place called Kayee, a little further down the river, and that he was then gone to Dooma- sansa with his vessel to pur- chase rice, but would return in a day or two. He therefore invited me to stay with him at Pisania, until the doctor's re- turn. I accepted the invitation, and being accompanied by my friend Karfa, reached Pisania about ten o'clock. Mr. Ains- ley's schooner was lying at anchor before the place. This was the most surprising object which Karfa had yet seen. He could not easily comprehend the use of the masts, sails, and rigging, nor did he conceive that it was possible, by any sort of contrivance, to make so large a body move forwards by the common force of the wind. The manner of fastening to- gether the different planks which composed the vessel, and filling up the seams so as to exclude the water, was per- fectly new to him ; and I found that the schooner, with her cable and anchor, kept Karfa in deep meditation the greater part of the day. About noon on the 1 2th, Dr. Laidley returned from Dooma- sansa, and received me with great joy and satisfaction, as one risen from the dead. Find- ing that the wearing apparel i I r'^" I \W'f tf 57* THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, which I had left under his care was not sold or sent to Eng- land, I lost no time in resuming the English dress, and disrobing my chin of its venerable encum- brance. Karfa surveyed me in my British apparel with great delight, but regretted exceed- ingly that I had taken off my beard, the loss of which, he said, had converted me from a man into a boy. Dr. Laidley readily undertook to discharge all the pecuniary engagements which I had entered into since my departure from the Gambia, and took my draft upon the Association for the amount. My agreement with Karfa (as I have already related) was to pay him the value of one prime slave, for which I had given him my bill upon Dr. Laidley before we departed from Ka- malia ; for in case of my death on the road, I was unwilling that my benefactor should be a loser. But this good creature had continued to manifest to- wards me so much kindness, that I thought I made him but an inadequate recompence when I told him that he was now to receive double the sum I had originally promised ; and Dr. Laidley assured him that he was ready to deliver the goods to that amount whenever he thought proper to send for them. Karfa was overpowered by this unexpected token of my grati- tude, and, still more so, when he heard that .1 intended to send a handsome present to the good old schoolmaster, Fan- kooma, at Malacotta. He pro- mised to carry up the goods along with his own; and Dr. Laidley assured him that he would exert himself in assisting him to dispose of his slaves to the best advantage the moment a slave vessel should arrive. These, and other instances of attention and kindness shown him by Dr. Laidley, were not lost upon Karfa. He would often say to me, ' My journey has indeed been prosperous !' But observing the improved state of our manufactures, and our manifest superiority in the arts of civilised life, he would sometimes appear pensive, and exclaim, with an involuntary sigh, Fato fing inta feng (' Black men are nothing') ! At other times he would ask me, with great seriousness, what could possibly have induced me, who was no trader, to think of ex- ploring so miserable a country as Africa? He meant by this to signify that, after what 1 must have witnessed in my own country, nothing in Africa could in his opinion deserve a moment's attention. I have preserved these little traits of character in this worthy negro, not only from regard to the man, but also because they ap- pear to me to demonstrate that he possessed a mind above his condition. And to such of my readers as love to contemplate human nature in all its varieties, and to trace its progress from rudeness to refinement, I hope the account I have given of PARK'S LIFE AND TRA VELS, 573 this poor African will not be unacceptable. ' No European vessel had ar- rived at Gambia for many months previous to my return from the interior, and, as the rainy season was now setting in, I persuaded Karfa to return to his people at Jindey. He parted with me on the 14th with great tenderness; but as I had little hopes of being able to quit Africa for the remainder of the year, I told him, as the fact was, that I expected to see him again before my departure. In this, however, I was luckily disappointed, and my narrative now hastens to its conclusion ; for, on the isth, the ship Charlestown, an American ves- sel, commanded by Mr. Charles Harris, entered the river. She came for slaves, intending to touch at Goree to fill up, and to proceed from thence to South 1 Carolina. As the European merchants on the Gambia had at this time a great many slaves on hand, they agreed with the captain to purchase the whole of his cargo, consisting chiefly of rum and tobacco, and deliver him slaves to the amount, in the course of two days. This afforded me such an oppor- tunity of returning, though by a circuitous route, to my native country, as I thought was not to be neglected. I therefore immediately engaged my pas- sage in this vessel for America ; and having taken leave of Dr. Laidley, to whose kindness I was so largely indebted, and my other friends on the river, I embarked at Kayee on the 17th day of June. Our passage down the river was tedious and fatiguing ; and the weather was so hot, moist, and unhealthy, that before our arrival at Goree four of the sea- men, the surgeon, and three of the slaves, had died of fevers. At Goree we were detained, for want of provisions, until the be- ginning of October. The number of slaves received on board this vessel, both on the Gambia and at Goree, was one hundred and thirty, of whom about twenty-five had been, I suppose, of free condition in Africa, ar. most of those, being bushreenij, could write a little Arabic. Nine of them had be- come captives in the religious war between Abdulkader and Damel, mentioned in the latter part of the preceding chapter. Two of the others had seen me as I passed through Bondou, and many of them had heard of me in the interior countries. My conversation with them, in their native language, gave them great comfort ; and as the sur- geon was dead, I consented to act in a medical capacity in his room for the remainder of the voyage. They had in truth need of every consolation in my power to bestow ; not that I observed any wanton acts of cruelty prac- tised either by the master or the seamen towards them, but the mode of confining and securing negroes in the American slave ships (owing chiefly to the weak- 574 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, ness of their crews) being abun- dantly more rigid and severe than in British vessels employed in the same traffic, made these poor creatures to suffer greatly, and a general sickness prevailed amongst them. Besides the three who died on the Gambia, and six or eight while we re- mained at Goree, eleven per- ished at sea, and many of the survivors were reduced to a very weak and emaciated con- dition. In the midst of these dis- tresses, the vessel, after having been three weeks at sea, be- came so extremely leaky as to require constant exertion at the pumps. It was found neces- sary, therefore, to take some of the ablest of the negro men out of irons and employ them in this labour, in which they were often worked beyond their strength. This produced a complication of miseries not easily to be de- scribed. We were, however, relieved much sooner than I expected, for the leak continu- ing to gain upon us, notwith- standing our utmost exertions to clear the vessel, the seamen insisted on bearing away for the West Indies, as affording the only chance of saving our lives* Accordingly, after some objec- tions on the part of the master, we directed our course for Antigua, and fortunately made that island in about thirty-five days after our departure from Goree. Yet even at this junc- ture we narrowly escaped de- struction ; for, on approaching the north-west side of the island, we struck on the Diamond Rock, and got into St. John's Harbour witli great difficulty. The vessel was afterwards condemned as unfit for sea, and the slaves, as I have heard, were ordered to be sold for the benefit of the owners. At this island I remained ten days, when the Chesterfield packet, homeward bound from the Leeward Islands, touching at St. John's for the Antigua mail, I took my passage in that vessel. We sailed on the 24th of November, and after a short but tempestuous voyage, arrived at Falmouth on the 2 2d of December, from whence I im- mediately set out for London ; having been absent from Eng- land two years and seven months. . f [Here terminates the account of Mr. Park's first travels in Africa, as written by himself, and we continue the narrative of his life and second expedi- tion as follows.] r: PARK'S LIFE AND TRA VELS. 575 i ■ I,. NARRATIVE OF SECOND TRAVELS IN AFRICA. All the requisite preparations for the enterprise were com- pleted before the end of Janu- ary, and on the 30th of that month, 1805, Park set sail from Portsmouth, in the Crescent transport, taking on board with him from the dockyards of that place four or five artificers, besides his two friends, Mr. Anderson and Mr. Scott, whose appointments, of course, took place by his desire. The re- mainder of the party was to be supplied by the British garrison of Goree. On the 9th of April the transport reached Jillifrey on the Gambia, and in a few days afterwards continued its voyage up the river to Kayee. From this town he sent several letters to his friends. By delays, for which he was not responsible, he was necessitated to enter upon his route into the interior at a season of the year when travelling becomes extremely difficult from the heats, hurri- canes, and rains incidental to the climate. The period, in- deed, for these tropical casual- ties was not yet arrived, but it was close at hand. Park fore- saw clearly the chance of hav- ing to combat these disadvan- tages, but he flattered himself with the hope of reaching the Niger before the tempestuous season set in. At Kayee he was able, for the first time, to perfect his preparations for the route by attaching a few of the natives to his party. Isaaco, a Man dingo priest and mer- chant, and one well inured to long inland journeys, engaged himself to act as guide to the expedition, and to give it the assistance of several negroes, his own personal attendants. On the 27th of April, with this addition to his company. Park left Kayee, and commenced his land journey, under a salute from the Crescent, which had thus far escorted the party up the Gambia. On the evening of the 28th they reached Pis- ania, after a march rendered ex- tremely fatiguing by the heat and by the difficulty of getting the asses to advance. At Pisania, Park was again enter- tained by Mr. Ainsley, the kind friend to whom he owed so much on his former journey. The party did not leave this place till the 4th of May, when they set out in the following order : — The asses, loaded with the baggage, and marked with red paint to prevent their being stolen, were divided among the soldiers, a certain number to each of the six messes into which the men were arranged. Mr. Scott went with the front party. Lieutenant Martyn m the centre, and Park and Mr 576 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, Anderson took charge of the rear. For several days the party travelled nearly in this order, in a parallel line with the Gambia — the line which their leader had formerly traversed alone. They had tents, which they pitched and slept in by night. On the nth of May they reached Medina, the cap- ital of WooUi, where the king exacted a heavy cess of amber and coral bars for himself and his relatives and great men. On the 20th of May, Park had pursued his journey as far as a town called Tambico, where the guide Isaaco was robbed of his arms, cruelly flogged, and detained. He had been sent to remonstrate against the seizure of his own horse by some of the natives, as a boy was watering it at a well. It was with considerable difficulty, and only after the payment of some articles of value, that the guide could be released and the journey continued. On the 26th, when the party had come up to a place called Bee Creek, a curious accident befell them. Some of Isaaco's people, being in search of honey, disturbed a large swarm of bees, which attacked the men and beasts of the company with such violence as to send them flying in every direction for safety. The se- verity of this assault may be conceived from the fact that six asses and one horse were lost on the occasion — two, if not three, of the asses being literally stung to death, and the other animals being never recovered after their dispersion. Many of the people were seriously stung about the face and hands. Continuing his route at no great distance from the Gambia, Park was subjected to rather heavy impositions by the chiefs of Badoo and Jillifinda, at which latter place the party arrived on the ist of June. Their route now lay straight east, leaving the neighbourhood of the Gambia. The weather at this time began to be broken, and the men to suffer accord- ingly. On the 8th of June one of the party, a carpenter, died of dysentery. On the loth, while they were at a place called Shrondo, several very heavy tornadoes occurred, and the ground was covered with water about three inches deep. This tempest had an instant effect on the health of the soldiers, and proved, says Park, to be the beginning of sorroiv. On the following day twelve of the soldiers were ill with a dysenteric affection, the same by which the carpenter had been cut off. Park visited the gold mines of Shrondo, and saw a female go through the operation of washing the gravel in which the gold grains are found. This gravel was taken out of pits dug in a meadow and washed . in small basins (calabashes) by pounds or so at a time. The woman referred to extracted no less than twenty- three particles of gold (about a PARJCS LIFE AND TEA VELS. 577 grain weight each) from about two pounds of gravel in a few minutes. Pieces of gold as large as a fist, she informed the traveller, were occasionally found. Other spots around are not less rich in gold than this, and altogether a great quantity of the metal is procured from the district annually. From this period the troubles of Park increased rapidly. Fever, as well as dysentery, spread among the men, and the leader of the party suf- fered from it also, though not so severely as Lieutenant Mar- tyn and some of the others. Before the end of June, the numbers of the company had thinned lamentably. Several of the soldiers had been left behind at their own request, under the charge of the natives, being totally unable to proceed. Park did all he could for them under the circumstances, by paying persons to show them every necessary care and atten- tion, but none of them ever recovered. Others of the men strayed from their companions, and were never again heard of. The majority of the rest of the party, at the same time, con- tinued for the most part so ill, that they could scarcely be kept on the backs of the asses by all the exertions of their more healthy friends. Several of the sick begged again and again to be left by the wayside to die. But not even then could a peaceful death have been hoped for, for wolves and lions prowled around the party by night and by day. On the night of the 2d of July the asses were attacked at midnight by several young lions, and one of these animals passed so riear one of the sentries that he cut at it with his sword. On the 4th of July the guide Isaaco made a narrow escape from a crocodile in passing a river called the Wonda, one of the feeders of the Senegal. Isaaco was engaged in driving some of the asses through the stream, when the crocodile rose close to him, and seizing him by the left thigh, pulled him under water. With wonderful presence of mind, he thrust his finger into the monster's eye, on which it quitted its hold, and Isaaco made for the bank, crying for a knife ; but the crocodile followed, and again seized him by the other thigh, when Isaaco had recourse to the same expedient, and thrust his fingers into both eyes with such violence that the creature was compelled a second time to let go its hold, after which it flounced about for a moment in stupid blindness, and then went down the river. Isaaco's wounds were so serious, however, as to compel Park to remain near the same spot for several days — a vlelay which was not so much to be regretted, as on the 6th of July every man of the party was unwell but one. Mr. An- derson and Mr. Scott, on whom Park chiefly rested for counsel and assistance, had been very 2 o I't P I ^1.3f? •1- 578 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, ill for several preceding days. The rains and storms continued to rage at intervals, and with increasing violence. On the loth the party re- sumed their march, and on the following evening reached a con- siderable town called Keminoon, a place remarkable only for the thieving spirit which pervades all classes in and around it. On the 19th the party, thinned by the loss of one or two more men, and with sick- ness still pressing on the sur- vivors, reached the banks of the Ba Woolima, another feeder of the Senegal, and a stream at this season twenty feet deep, being swelled by the rains. After much difficulty, the party got their baggage across the river, which was about sixty feet in width, by means of a bridge, constructed for the oc- casion by some negroes in a very ingenious way. On the 2ist the party were all safely over the Ba Woolima, and con- tinued their route. The 30th was marked by the death of the last of the St. Jago asses, the whole forty having either died or been abandoned on the road at different places. Park had been forced in conse- quence to buy or to hire new ones as he went along. The route was still continued by daily marches; but before the 1 9th of August more than three- fourths of the party of travellers had died, or had been left be- hind to die. Among the latter was Mr. Scott, whom Park saw on the 1 6th for the last time. Whether or not the negroes used those well who fell behind it is difficult to tell ; but Park seldom gave up his exertions to re-unite them to his party until he heard of their fate. Indeed, the personal toils which the leader of this ill-fated band voluntarily and cheerfully under- went for the sake of his poor companions, are almost beyond belief. His kindness to them, his unwearied patience, his pru- dence, his encouraging hope- fulness — were such, perhaps, as man never evinced in the like circumstances. Poor Anderson was a little more fortunate than his friend Scott, for the former lived at least to see the great river which was one of the chief objects of their journey. After leaving a place called Toniba on the 19th of August, * coming,' says Park, *to the brow of a hill, I once more saw the Niger rolling its immense stream along the plain ! ' Heavy as the cost was by which the sight had been purchased, the river was a pleasant spectacle to the party, as it promised an alleviation of their toils for the future. On the 2 2d (after a loss of several more men by the fever) Park embarked from Bammakoo on the Niger (or Joliba) in a canoe which he had purchased. On the 26th he sent Isaaco forward to the large town of Sego, in order to make some presents to the king or chief, Mansong, and to obtain his permission to pass. Mansong sent six canoes PARK'S LIFE AND TRA VELS. 579 to carry the party on to Sego. The king showed considerable kindness to them ; yet Park did not remain long at Sego, but moved down the river to a smaller town called Sansanding, where he resolved to wait for a canoe which Mansong promised to sell to him. In this canoe he proposed to move down the Niger to its termination. After much labour, he did get a ves- sel of the desired kind fitted up, and named it His Britannic Majesty's schooner ^ the Joliba. At Sansanding, on the 28th of October, Mr. Anderson under- went the fate of so many of his companions, and regarding his death, Park observes — * No event that took place during the journey ever threw the smallest gloom over my mind till I laid Mr. Anderson in the grave. I then felt myself as if left a second time lonely and friendless amidst the wilds of Africa.' At this point the authentic account of Mungo Park's second journey ends. Isaaco's engage- ment here terminated, and the papers given to him by the traveller, and carried back to the coast, constitute the only records of the expedition which came from Park's own pen. These papers (the matter of which has been now abridged) were ac- companied by several letters, the most interesting of which is one (dated Sansanding, Novem- ber 17th) addressed to Lord Camden. In this letter Park says — 'I am sorry to say that of forty-four Europeans who left the Gambia in perfect health, five only are at present alive — namely, three soldiers (one de- ranged in bis mind). Lieutenant Martyn, and myself. From this account I am afraid that your lordship will be apt to consider matters as in a very hopeless state ; but I assure you I am far from despairing. With the assistance of one of the soldiers, I have changed a large canoe into a tolerably good schooner, on board of which I this day hoisted the British flag, and shall set sail to the east, with the fixed resolution to dis- cover the termination of the Niger ^ or perish in the attempt. I have heard nothing that I can de- pend on respecting the remote course of this mighty stream, but I am more and more in- clined to think that it can end nowhere but in the sea. * My dear friend Mr Ander- son, and likewise Mr Scott, are both dead ; but though all the Europeans who are with me should die, and though I were myself half dead, I would still persevere, and if I could not succeed in the object of my journey, I would at last die on the Niger^ A source of perpetual regret it must be to all who sympia- thise with what is noble and lofty in human doings, that the hopes of so dauntless a spirit as this should have been doomed to disappointment. His other letters from Sansanding (ad- :^^^i II it- ^^l fi 58o THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. dressed to Sir Joseph Banks, to Mrs. Park, and to his father-in- law) are written in the same hopeful and resolute tone. He concludes his communication to his wife in these words : — • I think it not unlikely but I shall be in England before you re- ceive this. You may be sure that I feel happy at turning my face towards home. We this morning have done with all intercourse with the natives, and the sails are now hoisting for our departure /?r the coast.* But, alas ! these were the last tidings that were heard for a long time of the fate of His Majesty's schooner the Joliba, and of those whom she bore with her down the mysterious current of the Niger. In the following year (1806), unfavour- able accounts were brought by the native traders from the in- terior of Africa to the British settlements on the coast, and rumours spread abroad that Park and his companions had perished. No authentic infor- mation, however, could be ob- tained on the subject ; and the British people, who felt a deep interest in the traveller's fate, were long, long reluctant to be- lieve in the report of his death. It was hoped that he and his friends were only retained in slavery. Four years passed away, and the same -doubt hung over the matter. At length, in 18 10, the British governor of Senegal, Colonel Maxwell, with the concurrence of the home authorities, despatched Park's former guide, Isaaco, to the interior, to ascertain the truth if possible. In the beginning of the year mentioned, Isaaco, set out for the Niger, and, after an absence of twenty months, returned to the coast with a full confirmation of the reports con- cerning Park's death. Isaaco, who was a trustworthy and in- telligent man, kept a journal of his proceedings for the satisfac- tion of his employers. No part of this journal relates to the missing travellers, but Isaaco was fortunate enough to procure another journal, written by the very native who had succeeded him at Sansanding as guide to the traveller. Isaaco relates that he met this native, whose name was Araadi Fatouma, at Madina, a town a little further down the Niger than Sansand- ing. Amadi Fatouma, when he first saw Isaaco, burst into tears, and said, *They are all dead !' Afterwards, at the re- quest of the other, Amadi pro- duced a journal written in Ara- bic, and containing an account of all he knew relative to the closing scenes of Park's career. The following are the leading facts in this document : — After sailing from Sansanding, with Park, Marty n, the other three surviving Europeans, and three negro assistants, besides the guide, Amadi Fatouma, on board, the little schooner passed Jennd and Timbuctoo in safety, though not without daily attacks from the natives in canoes. Having laid in a good stock of PARK'S LIFE AND TRA VELS. 581 'i provisions, the party had at first no occasion to go on shore . But the news apparently spread that white men were passing down the river, and canoes came to attack them in great numbers. At one time the schooner had to beat off no less than sixty canoes. Nevertheless, the party made their way in safety to Yaour (or Yaourie), in the king- dom of Haoussa (or Houssa)i, where Amadi's engagement as guide terminated ; but, before separating from the party, he went on shore and bought provisions for them, besides making some conciliatory pre- sents to the chief of Yaour. This same chief was also in- trusted with some presents for the king of Yaour, who was not present. The chief put a ques- tion to Park through Amadi as to 'the intention of the white men to return to that place.' Park answered, * that he could not return any more j* and this reply seems to have had a fatal effect, for it induced the trea- cherous chief to> retain for his own use the presents intended for the king. Amadi witnessed the consequences so far as to put this beyond douibt. After separating from the party, and seeing the schooner continue her course, he spent the night on shore, and in the morning called to pay his respects to the king. On entering the royal residence, he found two mes- sengers newly arrived there from the deceitful chief, with information that the white men had passed without making any presents to the king or to the chief himself, and that Amadi Fatouma (of whose story the wily chief wa» afraid) was a bad man, and ini Ie»lgMe with the whites. Amadi was immedi- ately thrown into irons; aiulon the follow ui;4 morning the irri- tated king sent a, large army to a place further down the river, called Boussa. There is before Boussa a rock extending across the river, with only one open- ing in it, in the form of a door, for the water to pass through. The king's men took posses- sion of the top of this rock, until Park came up to it and attempted to pass. The natives attacked him and his friends with lances, pikes, arrows, and other missiles. Park defended himself vigorously for a long time, but at last, after throwing everything in the canoe over- board, being overpowered by numbers, and seeing no chance of getting the canoe past, he took hold of one of the white men, and jumped into the river. Martyn did the same ; and the whole were drowned in. their attempt to escape by swimming. One black re- mained in the canoe (the other two being killed), and he cried for mercy. The canoe fell in- to- the hands of the natives. Amadi Fatouima, oa being freed from his irons, three months afterwards, ascertained these facts from the native who had survived the catastrophe. Twenty-one years from the Ittt' ""4 582 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. period of Park's journey, and sixteen from tlie time of Isaaco's discoveries, passed away, ere satisfactory evidence was re- ceived in confirmation of Amadi Fatouraa's account of the tra- veller's death, and the manner of his death. In 1826 Captain Clapperton visited Boussa, and saw the very part of the river where the party perished. In 1830 John and Richard Lander were at the same spot, and their description must convince every one of Amadi Fatouma's veracity. * On our arrival,' say the Landers, ' at this formidable place, we discovered a range of black rocks running directly across the stream, and the water, finding only one narrow passage, rushed through it with great impetuosity, overturning and carrying away everything in its course.' If further evi- dence were required, the state- ments of the natives to Clap- perton and the Landers, and the discovery by the latter tra- vellers of a mantle, a gun, a book, and an invitation card, that had belonged to Park, put the truth of Amadi's narrative beyond doubt, as far as regards the scene and the manner of the ill-fated party's destruction. The Landers and Clapperton entertained hopes for some time of recovering the journals and papers of Park, but they be- came ultimately convinced that all memorials of this kind had been lost in the Niger. It may be held, therefore, as has been said, that Mungo Park closed his career in the manner described by Amadi Fatouma. The character of the lamented traveller it would be a waste of words to ex- patiate on. His deeds, the soundest test by which man can be tried, sufficiently prove his claim to the possession of all the highest qualifications of a traveller; and as a man, — a son, a husband, a father, and a friend, — he was a rare example to his kind. The distinguish- ing feature of his mind and acts was plain, solid, practical usefulness. In person Mungo Park was above the middle size, and was possessed of great hardihood and muscular vigour of frame. He left three sons and one daughter. The eldest of his sons, named after him- self, died in India, in the situa- tion of an assistant-surgeon to the forces there. Thomas, the second son, inherited much of his father's enterprising spirit, and almost from childhood cherished the resolve of pene- trating the mystery that hung over his parent's fate. After patiently and laboriously quali- fying himself for the task, he set out in 1827 for Africa, but arrived on the Guinea coast only to die there — though not before he had showed powers of observation whicli made his fate the more to be deplored. Id, therefore, as , that Mungo J career in the )ed by Amadi e character of aveller it would words to ex- lis deeds, the by which man jfficiently prove e possession of qualifications of 1 as a man, — a , a father, and a a rare example The distinguish- his mind and solid, practical person Mungo ve the middle assessed of great muscular vigour left three sons :er. The eldest imed after him- dia, in the situa- stant-surgeon to i. Thomas, the herited much of :erprising spirit, rom childhood •esolve of pene- stery that hung It's fate. After iboriously quali- or the task, he J27 for Africa, m the Guinea e there— though had showed servation which the more to be DISCOVERIES IN AFRICA SUBSEQUENT TO PARK, AND DOWN TO DR. LIVINGSTONE'S DEATH. The fate of Park, however much regretted, did not destroy the hope of future success in the exploration of Africa, still held to be the country of wonders ; and there were some problems, such as that of the course of the Ni^er, and the source of the White Nile, the solution of which was looked forward to with great curiosity. It was accordingly determined by the Government that an expedition should be fitted out, divided into two parties, one to descend the Niger, and the other to ascend the Congo, with a view to ascertain the relation of these two rivers to each other. The former of these divisions was intrusted to Major Peddie, the latter to Captain Tuckey ; and the expedition, which sailed in i8i6, arrived at its two destina- tions under favourable auspices; but they had scarcely entered the country when they met with opposition and misadventure; death soon began to thin their ranks; powerful chiefs took advantage of their calamities, and matters came to such a pass that the enterprise was abandoned. Little better can be said of the spirited under- taking of Major Gray in 1818 ; and a subsequent mission of Major Laing in 1821 afforded us not much more than some acute conjectures as to the sou'ce of the Niger, which he thought lay much farther to the south than Park had supposed. Other missions were under- taken, but nothing accom- plished of any interest till the time of Denham and Clapper- ton, who took their course to Central Africa by the medium of Tripoli. These parties were >o far successful, that they were enabled, through great persever- ance, toil, and danger, to give us interesting accounts of that country, occupied by the people called Fellatahs, with the im- portant kingdoms of Houssa and Bomou, and the great J •as 584 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, towns of Soccatoo and Kouka. We are also put in possession of the most interesting details regarding the great interior sea of Africa, lake Tschad, along the shores of which the mission travelled for days, surveying its darkening crowds of wild fowl ; and a further journey from the banks of the lake down the country of Mandara opened up to our knowledge a great dis- trict hitherto unexplored. We have notices of the rivers Yeou and Shary, in regard to which various speculations were then entertained ; accounts of vari- ous negro towns, the customs of the people, and their never- ceasing wars, all which go to form a narrative which made a useful sequel to that of Park. But no circumstance con- nected with this expedition was of greater importance than the fact that it furnished Richard Lander, who was servant to Clapperton, and was present at his death at Soccatoo, with cer- tain ideas, from which he drew a conclusion as to the probable course of the Niger. Impressed with these, he, on his return to England, contrived to obtain a commission for the purpose of exploring the course of the still mysterious river> and, accom- panied by his brother John, he set forth on his enterprise in January 1830. Having arrived at Badagry, they made their way to the great town of Eyeo, where Clapperton had resided for a time, and they then pro- ceeded to Keeshee, situated in a hilly region frequented by the lion and the leopard. They next got to Kiama, a territory also diversified with mountains and forests; and after passing through other towns, they came to Boussa on the Niger, from whence they sailed in a canoe to Youri, a large city with a fertile country around it. They here made inquiry for Park's papers without any success. The travellers next embarked on the Cubbie, a tributary of the Niger, and soon arrived again at Boussa, from whence, on the 20th September, they set sail. In their voyage down- wards they passed many towns, some of large size, and contain- ing numerous inhabitants, all seeming to live a life of light- hearted gaiety, only menaced by the intestine wars continu- ally breaking out in all this as well as in other parts of Africa. After passing Leschee, they found the Niger bordered by ranges of rocky hills, part, pro- bably, of the great chain which reaches across the African con- tinent. From the very centre of the stream rises a majestic rock, almost perpendicular, called Mount Kesa, its base fringed by venerable trees. They next came to a remark- able island, a sort of minia- ture Holland in the heart of Africa, about 15 miles long and 3 broad, surrounded by the Niger, and scarcely rising above the level of the river. Here the numerous natives are busily engaged in making cotton tobci RECENT AFRICAN DISCO VERIES. 5»S Lesa, its base and trousers with a skill which would not disgrace European workmen. Rabba, to which they next came, is only inferior to Soccatoo, the largest city in the Fellatah dominions. At Zagoshe they exchanged their canoes for one larger, and were thence carried down the river at the rate of 3 or 4 miles an hour. The Niger here varied from 2 to 6 miles broad — in many parts swarming with crowds of hippopotami. At length they came to Eggo, a town 4 miles in length and 2 in breadth, where they were received as strange- looking people, well worth seeing. They were here told that if they proceeded further down the river they would be mur- dered or sold as slaves; but these stories were not con- firmed by their arrival at Ka- cunda, where they were treated with much kindness. Yet here too they got the same account of the lower towns, whose com- munities were described as ferocious outlaws, and they went their way with fear and apprehension. Soon afterwards they came to the spot where the Tschadda enters the great river, and where they found a large town, the seat of a very extensive commerce. The Landers had now per- formed a great part of their famous voyage with compara- tively little opposition, and it was not till after leaving Da- mugoo that they experienced danger from the inhabitants nearer the coast. At length reaching the Eboe country, they were taken charge of for a ran- som by a petty chief with the name of King Boy, who under- took to carry them to Brass- Town. On the 17 th November Richard Lander embarked on his final navigation. The branch of the Niger, which here enters the sea, is divided into two smaller sections called the first and second Brass Rivers, but Brass-Town is not built upon either; it stands upon a large creek connected with the main stream by numerous rivulets winding through the alluvial district. In the evening they reached the second, and next morning the first Brass River, called sometimes the Nun, and, in a quarter of an hour after. Lander, with inexpressible de- light, saw two European vessels " at anchor. Such was the issue of this important voyage, whereby one of the most important problems of African geography was solved after efforts which lasted for forty years. Park, in his first journey, reached the banks of the Niger, and saw it running towards the interior of the con- tinent ; in the second he em- barked at Bammakoo, and by sailing down to Boussa, marked its continuous progress for 1000 miles. It was reserved for Lan- der to trace its windings about 800 miles more, and to see it finally emptying itself into the Atlantic. If we proceed in geographical 586 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. order, and thus keep by the west coast, we might mention several modem travellers who have not added much to our knowledge. This certainly cannot be said of Paul B. du Chaillu, who, by his recent travels, has passed into regions of which previously we had scarcely any knowledge. After giving us an account of the mouth of the Gaboon river, he proceeds, principally for the sake of hunting, up the river Muni, which empties its waters in the Bay of Corisco. This river, some of whose tributaries rise in the range of mountains called Sierra del Crystal, is of considerable size, but it did not suffice to bear the traveller far in the direction he wished. After crossing the Noonday, and tra- veUiiig ten miles in a north-east direction, the traveller reached a range of granite hills, which are a part of the Sierra del Crystal. This range is about 600 feet high, the summit form- ing a tableland three miles long. Proceeding onwards, and still rising with the elevation of ulte- rior ranges, he attained a height of 5000 feet, from which he could see to the east the furthest range of the Sierra del Crystal, which was the goal of his wishes. It was here that Chaillu first found traces of the gorilla. After a chase, he and his companions failed in their attempt to get possession of a specimen ; but, as the pursuit of this animal was the object of his enterprise, he persevered till, by his own account, he effected his purpose. The traveller next got among the people called the Fans, who are described as cannibals'. For some reason not explained, Chaillu returned to the coast, and determined upon going up the Moondah and cross over to the Gaboon. This he effected, and subsequently we find him flitting from one place to an- other—now on the river Ogobai, again on the Ovenga, and many places not hitherto described, but all noticed after the manner of a hunter, with so few preten- sions to geographical delinea- tion, that we fail to perceive the advantages of his journeys, ex- cept as means of gratifying his main object. Yet his book is filled with marvellous exploits and extraordinary accounts of pecuHar people and manners, so as to render it one of the most interesting of modern travels. Perhaps the most useful part of his narrative is the evidence he offers, that an important mountain-range divides the con- tinent of Africa nearly along the line of the equator, starting on the west from the range which runs along the coast north and south, and ending in the east, probably in the country south of Abyssinia, or perhaps termi- nating abruptly to the north of the lake Tanganyika of Captains Burton and Speke. Eastern Africa has also come in for its share in the modern progress of discovery. It was soon found that a more peculiar interest attached to its geogra- phical, as well as natural history RECENT AFRICAN DISCOVERIES. 587 features, than to those of the western coast ; and it was also found that travellers could pro- ceed onwards with comparative safety from the natives, while the climate was at least not more trying to Europeans than other regions of that continent. The coast-line had been sur- veyed by several French and English savafis at intervals from 1822 to 1844, but the inland explorations may be dated from the time when Dr. Krapf of the Church Missionary Society established himself at a place near Mombaz in 1844. This place soon became famous as a starting-point for journeys into the interior, undertaken by him- self and his fellow-labourers ; and from these desultory begin- nings we may date the great discoveries which have since been made in Eastern Africa. No point could have been better chosen than Mombaz. It lies 2° or 3° below the equator, and is thus only a little to the south- east of the lake Nyanza, and those hills which, under the name of Mountains of the Moon, have so long been a problem in geography. Dr. Krapf visited the district of Ukambani as well asUsambara, two very important regions scarcely before known ; but the most useful fact de- rived from these journeys, and also others undertaken in other neighbouring parts by Messrs. Rebmann and Erdhart, was, that there existed under the equator certain mountains co- hered with snow. When this discovery was announced, the missionaries were attacked by many European geographers, who asserted that the supposed snow was merely calcareous earth or white bleached rocks ; but the fact was soon estab- lished. In 1848 Mr. Rebmann saw Kilimandjaro, or Ndsharo, as the people call the mountain, and in subsequent journeys he saw it again. In 1849 Dr. Krapf also saw it ; in addition to all which Mr. Rebmann slept at the bottom of it, and even by moonlight could easily make out snow. Then the natives told him that the white matter visible upon the dome-like sum- mit, when brought down, proved to be nothing b''t water, and that many who ascended the mountain perished from cold — the influence oidshins^ or spirits, as they thought. The second mountain is calle:^ by various names, but is now best known by that of Regnia, and that it is also snow-capped there is now no reason to doubt. Nor are these the only mountains bearing snow in these regions, one more, called Kimaja Keg- nia, much further to the west, being distinctly spoken to. But what settles the question of the snow is the many rivers which flow from these mountains, one of which goes to form the great lake Baringu, not far to the eastward of Victoria Nyanza. The maps of the missionaries, containing these and other new features of a country all but un- known, attracted the attention ill m 1 ]% if *••!■ T 588 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. of the Royal Geographical So- ciety, and the consequence was that that body, aided by Govern- ment, sent out Major Burton and Captain Speke to Zanzibar, where they arrived in Decem- ber 1857. In the beginning of next year, these gentlemen, after visiting Usambara and some other places, set out for the interior. During the first month they traversed the mari- time region, nearly flat, infested by myriads of reptiles, and the home of fever. This flat country terminates at a place called Zungomero, where the land begins to rise rapidly, and to be diversified by defiles and ra- vines. The great interior table- land here begins, marked at the eastern extremity by a bold escarpment — a region stated to be watered by numerous streams,, having a temperate, healthy cli- mate, and whichy on these ac- counts, may become, in Euro- pean views of colonisation, one of the richest parts of Africa. This region is occu- pied by a negro race called the Usagara, who construct huts of osier-wands, rear cattle, and cultivate the soil — occupations too often interrupted by the slave-hunters of the coast. The height here arrived at was generally about 2000 or 3000 feet, though one mountain, called Robeho, is 5697 feet above the level of the sea. On descending from this plateau the travellers saw a series of plains stretching away to the west as far as the horizon, parts burnt up by the sun, and others rejoicing in a dense and almost impenetrable vegetation ; but, making a general estimate, it may be said that there was more of virgin forest than of culture, more desert than forest, and a great many more wild animals than human beings. Going a little to the west and north, the travellers crossed the countries called Ugogo and Macgunda. These are mostly desert, but the fertile country Unyamwesi soon opened upon their vision, with its hills covered with tall slender trees, and fre- quented by the antelope and zebra, and its rich plains covered by domestic cattle. This cannot be said to be only now made known to Europeans : it was known to the Portuguese of the sixteenth century as be- longing to a negro nation who trafficked with Europeans. Its name means Country of the Moon, or Moonland, which many have very fancifully sup- posed to have some connection with Ptolemy's appellation. It is said to be the garden of Easteim Africa, where all the quadrupeds are to be met with, including the zebra and giraffe, which are peculiar to this con- tinent The natives, too, are a superior race, following an ingenious industry. Kasd, the capital, is about 400 miles from the coast. On the west of the capital the country again descends to the level of the interior, with a soil well-watered, and con RECENT AFRICAN DISCOVERIES. 589 tinuous culture of all the pro- ductions to be found in India. Marching 200 miles across a country where the rivers all flow to the west, the travellers reached a series of heights, on the summit of which the cara- van rested. It was here they first got a sight of the great lake. On advancing a few paces they were seized with astonishment — ^all fatigue was forgot — the great end was at- tained — the vision of that lake about which Europeans had been tantalised for three hun- dred years. And how easy was the discovery in comparison of the toil required to solve many other geographical problems. The lake is called by the ne- groes Tanganyika; by the Arabs, Ujiji, from a place on its banks. In a frail fishing bark the travellers contrived to navigate its northern half, but without getting to the extreme point. They were told that a great river flows into its north- em extremity, and that it is surrounded there by lofty mountains. It lies between the parallels of 3° to 8° south, at a distance of about 600 miles from Zanzibar, and so about 1250 from the mouth of the Congo on the western coast. It is about 300 miles long, 30 40 broad, and 1800 feet a^ove the sea-level. With ele- aled shores and sweet water, it abounds in fish. It is the reservoir of many surrounding streams, and divides two races exceedingly unlike — that on the east, cultivating the finest of soils ; and that on the west, the Ubembe, living on vermin and human flesh. After spending nearly three months in laborious researches, the travellers returned to Kazd, where it was determined that Burton, who was ill, should re- main in the town ; and Speke should go to verify certain reports as to the existence of a great lake further to the north. Speke, with a part of his escort, accordingly set out ; and after a, march of twenty-five days, over a country presenting no serious obstacles, he came to the shores of a great lake, called by the natives simply Nyanza, or the Water, to which he pre- fixed the name Victoria, in honour of the Queen, a useful addition as distinguishing this lake from that of Nyassa to the south— a name which also means the Water. He did not go further than the southern point, which he found to be in latitude 2° 44' south ; longitude, 33° east, and 3552 feet above file sea-level — ^bemg thus about 450 miles south of the highest point of the Nile that had been reached by Miani. Nothing as to its extent northward could be told by the natives, except- ing the statement that it reached to the end of the world. Arab merchants, however, asserted that it was the source of some great river ; but Speke made up his mind to the conclusion that that river was the White Nile. In all these countries .'1 m I iiil II 59© THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. through which he had gone, cultivation appeared more gene- ral than in others he had tra- versed, the climate was healthy and generally mild, with a heat never exceeding 85° Fahren- heit. Thus a great progress had been made in solving the pro- blems of the lakes ; but the Snowy Mountains were so far still an enigma till Baron C. von Decken, accompanied by Mr. Thornton, ascended, in 1861, Kilimi Njaro to the height of 13,000 feet, where they were met by avalanches. They calculated its elevation to be 20,000 feet, the upper portions being covered with perpetual snow. This moun- tain is described as being of volcanic origin. South of it is a lake called Yibd, 30 miles long, 2 or 3 broad, and 1900 feet above the sea-level. An Alpine region, diversified with rising peaks, extends to the north. The great object, in so far as concerned the source of the Nile, was still unattained ; and Speke having found friends in England, set out again from Zanzibar, this time accom- panied by Captain Grant, a former companion in arms, by the same route he had tra- velled in 1857. A caravan of natives were sent to form a de- pot at Kazd, and the travellers were escorted by sixty armed men from Zanzibar, engaged to carry their baggage, with a host of porters, bearing beads, calico, and other articles for exchange. The journey began under great discouragements : they were obliged to march on foot, in consequence of mules and donkeys having been found unsuitable, the country was parched, the tribes were at war, there was a threatening of famine, guides and bearers went off; and when they reached Kaz^, their progress was ar- rested for want of interpreters and carriers. Having over- come some of these difficulties, the expedition was again on its march in October — the new route being at north-west, lead- ing through the kingdom of Ukinza, a cultivated country. We next trace them to the kingdom of Karagwd, a territory on the western shore of the Nyanza, and occupying the eastern slopes of a mountainous region, stretching 200 miles to the west, and 5000 feet above the sea-level. These are again said to be part of the Moun- tains of the Moon. There are two rivers in this territory — one flowing from the west into the lake, and the other going to join lake Liita N'Zige to the north-west. Here is a fine climate, said to equal that of England; and the whole country is refreshed by streams; tall grass grows upon the slopes, pease, beans, the sugar-cane, bananas, and tobacco are abundant, and fat cattle pasture in the valleys — all signs that the negroes here are of a superior order, which they were RECENT AFRICAN DISCO VERIES. 591 found to be. Having made favour with the king, Speke got recommendations to the ruler of the neighbouring country. They next reached Uganda, called the paradise of Equatorial Africa, where every- thing grows in luxuriance. The king, who had heard of -he navigation of the Nile by white men, and was anxious for com- merce in that direction, received the travellers with great kind- ness, and detained them five months almost as prisoners, yet with every attention he could bestow. The natives of Uganda are called the French of Africa, in consequence of their vivacity and good taste in dress and dwellings. The country ex- hibits the greatest luxuriance, — abounding in coffee, the banana, and date-palm, and the climate is mild and general. Proceeding to the north-west, the travellers reached Unyoro, which stretches to the little LUta N'Zige lake. This, which is the ancient kingdom of Kit- tara, harbours the elephant and rhinoceros amongst its dark forests and rank grass. The people differ considerably from those of Uganda, being com- posed of inferior tribes of negroes belonging to a peculiar race called the Wahuma, who do not eat fleshmeats, but live on the sweet potato and grain. Kamrasi, the king, is morose and cruil, occupied chiefly in fattening his wives and children till they can scarcely stand up- right, a d in acts of despotism. For the first time Speke found savages entirely naked. Beyond Unyoro, the dialects of the north come in use — those of the south ceasing, as it were, at once. An entire year was expended in passing through these king- doms, where white men were now for the first time seen. In all of them there was a strong desire to detain the strangers ; nor would they have effected their escape perhaps for years, had they not been able to deal largely in presents, and still more in promises to introduce commerce between the kings and the Queen of England. Turning to the north side of the lake, where the great secret was concealed, we find that some rivers flow into the lake, and some out of it. Of the former, there are the Mworango and the Luyere. East of these, and at about the middle of the north line of the lake, flows the main branch of the White Nile, leav- ing * Napoleon Channel,' with a breadth of 150 yards, by certain runs called the Ripon falls, over rocks supposed to be of igneous origin, 12 feet in height. This northern shore runs east and west, and is about 20 miles to the north of the equator. The extent of the lake is supposed to be about 150 miles either way ; the water is sweet and of no great depth. The surface is 3553 feet above the sea-level. It is covered with whole fleets of canoes, be- longing to the diflferent nations on its shores ; and yet, with U' "f.l r, f m-m 592 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, this simple mode of communi- cation with each other, the peoples have no other inter- course, if they are not almost entirely unknown to each other. Lake Baringa, which we have already noticed as being known to the missionaries, lies at the north-east verge of Nyanza, de- scribed by the natives as a long narrow basin, and supposed to be connected in some way with the greater lake. There is less doubt that the Baringa gives issue to the Asua, a river which falls into the White Nile on the east, about 80 miles from Gondokoro on the north. Little is yet known of the inhabitants of the region between the Asua and the Nile except their names — the Usoga, Uvuma, Ukori, and Avama. It is interesting to note the manner in which Speke made his discovery. Arriving at Murchison Firth, he went north- ward some fifty miles to a town called Kari ; there he crossed the Luyere river already men- tioned, and finding his way to the White Nile, he followed it till he came to the point of debouchure at the Ripon falls. Returning to Kari, he rejoined the expedition, and followed the downward course of the main stream to the Karuma Falls, where the river makes a bend to join the little Liita N'Zige lake on the west. This junction is made at the north end of the lake. With its southern end resting on the equator, it extends, like a nar- row reservoir, 150 miles in a northern direction, having with- in it, towards the northern end, an island containing deposits of salt. It is about 2200 feet above the sea, with a fall of surface-level to the extent of 13 53 feet in the space of 120 miles which intervene between it and the Nyanza. The sup- position is (for it is not yet properly ascertained) that the Nile, after passing through the north-western extremity of the lake, returns again to the east, where it is met by the Asua. From the Karuma Falls it rushes towards the west — all at this point that the travellers could ascertain, in consequence of being prohibited by the wars then raging about the lake from going in that direction. Passing from these falls into the Ukidi country, the travellers again met the river in tl|e Madi kingdom, near the junctio i of the Asua, in latitude 5* 35' north. They had no doubt of its being the same Nile which they parted with at the Karuma Falls, though the reason assigned for this certainty — the occur- rence of *the long flats and long rapids ' for which the river is distinguished — does not of itself seem very convincing. Continuing their journey, they came to De Bono's station, in latitude 3° north, where they met a great many Turks, traders in ivory, the only occupants of the place. Some days after- wards they set out, accompanied by the traders, for Gondokoro, RECENT AFRICAN DISCO VERIES. 59: 50 miles in a 1, having with- northern end, ining deposits >out 2200 feet kvith a fall of the extent of ; space of 120 rvene between za. The sup- it is not yet ined) that the ig through the :tremity of the in to the east, by the Asua. la Falls it rushes ist — all at this :ravellers could ;onsequence of d by the wars it the lake from ection. these falls into •y, the travellers ver in tl^e Madi the junctio I of atitude 5* 35' id no doubt of me Nile which at the Karuma reason assigned ty — the occur- ong flats and which the river —does not of y convincing, r journey, they ►no's station, in th, where they y Turks, traders ly occupants of me days aft«r- it, accompanied "or Gondokoro, where they arrived on the 15th of February. The latitude was ascertained to be 4" 54' 5* north; longitude, 31° 46' 9* east, a determination which will regulate the itineraries of tra- vellers from a point so central. Here they met, to their great joy, their friend Mr. S. W. Baker, well known for his bold adventures in those parts of Africa, and who had come up the Nile to meet them. This gentleman, on learning that a part of the White River had been left unexplored, deter- mined with prompt decision to set out for the lake Liita N'Zige ; but it has since been learned that after organising a^arty of Khartum men, and paying them in advance, they mutinied and deserted him, leaving him to prosecute an adventure to the upper streams of the Sobat Another peculiar incident con- nected with this part of the main expedition, was the ap- pearance of the ladies Tinnd and Madame van Capellan, sisters, with the daughter of the former, who, having a swift steamer on the Nile, came up to succour the travellers, and afterwards, accompanied by M. de Heuglin and Dr. Steudner, intended to steer westward, by lake No and the Bahr-el-Gazal, the first and only great affluent of the Nile, which joins it on the west bank. This river meets the main stream in the parallel of 9° north, having at first the appearance of a small marshy lake, round the entrance of which the Nile winds with considerable velocity. The second tributary is the Giraffe, which joins the Nile on the right or east, falling with a swirl into the main stream, with a volume of water equal to a third of that of the Nile. The source of the Giraffe is quite unknown. The third on the same side is the South Sobat, a full stream, but not so rapid as the Giraffe. The North Sobat was passed unobserved. The fourth is the Blue River, which joins the Nile at Khartum, in latitude 15** 30' north. As to this last river, Speke de- scribes it as the Blue Nile, a mountain stream rising in the country beyond the rainy zone, and subject to the influence of tropical rains and droughts. The suspicion so long enter- tained that it was the true Nile was, in his opinion, absurd ; for all the waters it is able to send would be absorbed long before it reached the sea. The fifth and last tributary of the Nile is the Atbara, a river very like the Blue River, only smaller. Beyond this the Nile flows on through Nubia and Egypt without a single tributary, a distance of 1000 miles, to the Mediterranean, which it enters by the Damietta and Rosetta mouths, the only two remaining of the seven terminal outlets by which it escaped from the delta. Among the most useful re- sults of these journeys, are the facts recorded in the tables of temperature. We have hitherto 2 p v"\;. 594 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. been led to suppose that Equa- torial Africa was subjected to great heat, suited to the nature of its inhabitants, and so un- favourable to the health of the European as to forbid the hope of successful colonisation. Yet in Karagw^, only i* south of the equator, the temperature, during five months, was on one occasion only so high as 85° of Fahrenheit. At nine in the morning it ranged from 60" to 71°; and the nights were in- variably cool. At Uganda, 1 700 feet lower, the temperature is only a little higher. At Un- yoro it is hotter, the maximum being 86°, and the minimum 61° to 72°. The mean temper- ature for the whole year is 68°; maximum 82°, minimum 51°; the extreme range 49°. Com- pare these with the mean of Funchal, in Madeira, Bermuda, Gibraltar, and Cape Town, show- ing 67° and 68°, while the maxi- mum above given corresponds with the summer temperature of New Orleans and Canton, and the minimum, 51°, is nearly the same as that of London and Vienna. These equatorial figures are doubtless due to the elevation of the table-land. There is nothing remarkable in the rain-fall, or the direction or intensity of the winds. But not- withstanding of all these facts, it is too clear that Equatorial Africa, however it may be bene- fited by Christianity, must still be held as set apart for itself — the people peculiar to it, its wild animals, and plagues. All these discoveries, as has been observed, owed their be- ginnings to the missionaries at Mombaz. In like manner the researches in South-east Africa, which have resulted in the open- ing up of the lake regions of that country, originated in the missionaries connected with the Cape. The exertions of those who preceded David Living- stone, however useful, were mostly limited to the Kaffir re- gions; and it was not till the time of Livingstone that any attempt was made to pass what is called the desert of Kalahari, comprehending the space from the Orange River, in south latitude 29°, to Lake Ngami in the north, and from about 24" east longitude, to near the west coast. Dr. Livingstone formed the resolution to pass this desert ; and from 1849 he was en- gaged in carrying that resolu- tion into effect The region of the desert is occupied by the Bakalahari and the Bushmen, who prey upon the game, chiefly antelopes, which require only a scanty supply of water, and feed upon the grass and numerous tuberculous plants. The start was made in June, and the party proceeded without interruption. They came on the second day to Serotli, where the country is fiat, and composed of white sand. After passing the salt-pan district of Ncho-kotsa, where the play of the mirage on the salt incrustations deceived them into the belief that the reservoirs were lakes, they came to the RECENT AFRICAN DISCO VERIES. 595 river Zouga, running to tl e north-east, and described by t' e people as coming out of the lake Ngami. The people of this dis- trict possess a language wh' h shows that they are connecicd by lineage with the north. On ascending this river, descri' ed as beautifully wooded, i :y found a large stream flo\ mg into it called the Tamunak'le. The information received that this stream came from a country of rivers, first suggested to Dr. Livingstone that there might be a highway capable of being tra- versed by boats to an unex- plored region ; and when the party came to the lake, this idea became so predominant that it seemed to diminish the value of the actual discovery. The lake, supposed to be about seventy miles in circumference, is shallow, and never can be of much commercial importance. Dr. Livingstone returned to Kolobeng. His next purpose was to go up the Tamunak'le and visit Sebituane, the chief of the Makololo, who live in the swamps between the Chobe and the Zambesi. In June 185 1 he saw, in the centre of the con- tinent, the Zambesi itself, which was not previously known to exist there at all; and having come to a resolution to ascend it from Sesheke, he subsequently made the necessary prepara- tions. He collected canoes to the number of thirty -three, with about one hundred and sixty men. They went rapidly along, admiring the beauty of the banks, a mile asunder, and the many islands finely wooded. The occurrence of cataracts forced them at times to carry their canoes ; but they soon made their way to the Barotse valley, 100 miles in length, and bearing a resemblance to that of the Nile, with its capital, Naliele, erected on an emi- nence. Up to Libonta the river presents the appearance of low banks without trees ; but twenty miles beyond that the forest comes down to the water's edge, and along with it the plague of Africa — the tsetse, a fly whose bite is fatal to domestic oxen, and to no other, animals. Having at length ar- rived at Ma-Sekeletu, the chief who accompanied the expedi- tion resolved to return, and the party accordingly made again for Sesheke. The doctor hav- ing failed to discover a healthy place for a settlement, now de- termined on endeavouring to open a path to the west coast. This he put into execution by what may be called his third journey. In this he reached the junction of the Loeti and the Zambesi, and having re- turned to Linyanti, he started for the west coast. Reaching the confluence of the Leeba with the Zambesi, he crossed the Quango, and arrived at Loanda. On his return to Liny- anti, once more he visited the falls called Victoria, arrived at Tete, and finally at Quilimane, on the east coast. Dr. Livingstone had thus laid i 596 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. open a wide zone, comprehend- ing the country of rivers ; but as the Zambesi was fed by large streams from the north, it was necessary that these should be explored. One of these, the Shirt^, he ascended by means of a small steamer in 1859. He found it a stream with a breadth of 160 yards, and a depth of 10 or 12 feet. By this means he was led to the Shirwah, a lake 200 miles long and 50 broad, with an elevation above the sea level of 1500 or 2000 feet, and, like the Tanganyika, surrounded by verdant moun- tains, whereof one, Mount Zom ba, is 8000 feet high. In the vicinity of this the members of the mission were located. Fish, leeches, alligators, and sea-cows abound in the hke, the water of which is brackish. In August 1 86 1 Dr. Living- stone and Jiis party proceeded to explore another lake called Nyassa, by ascending further the Shir^, and passing through a valley with many villages and plantations. Coming to a series of rapids called Murchison Cataracts, they were obliged to carry a four-oared boat for a period of three weeks to get again to the navigable part of the river. These cataracts ex- tend over 35 miles of latitude, with a total fall, from the first to the last, of 1 200 feet. These obstacles having been sur- mounted, the travellers again launched their- boat in the up- per parts of the Shird, and soon thereafter they found themselves floating on the Nyassa lake, or, as it is sometimes called, the Star lake, the western shores of which they explored for 200 miles, partly by the banks on foot, and partly by the boat. This lake they found to be exposed to frequent storms, so violent that the party could not venture far from the shore ; yet they got some rou^h measure- ments by triangulation at those places where the opposite bank could be seen. The lake is represented as having something of the boot shape of Italy, be- ing narrowest at the ankle, where it is 20 miles across, and increasing gradually to 50 or 60. It is estimated as lying 1200 feet above the sea-level, and being about 350 miles from the coast of Mozambique. The party could learn nothing as to its northern extremity, but it is supposed to extend beyond the parallel of the tenth degree south; its southern extremity being in the fourteenth degree. It is surrounded by low marshy plains, frequented by water fowl, and forming a haunt for the elephant and other wild beasts. Beyond, at the distance of 8 miles, were seen ranges of granite hills covered with wood. The party estimated the depth of the lake by the colour of the water ; near the shore it is bright green, and towards the centre a deep blue, like the colour of the sea. Within a mile of the shore a sounding- line of 200 fathoms failed to reach the bottom. The tern- RECENT AFRICAN DISCO VERIES. f^A 597 perature of the water was ']2^ of Fahrenheit, and fish were plentiful. It was further ob- served that the lake is fed by many streams, no fewer than ti/elve having been crossed by the party as they proceeded on the west side j and the conse- quence is, that during the rainy season the waters rise sometimes to the extent of 3 feet. The natives inhabiting the country to the south of the lake are of one tribe and one lan- guage, rearing their villages so close together that they form a continuous line. They are of a superior class of negroes; good cultivators of the soil, and hardy fishermen. Like most of the people in the countries tra- versed by the party, those in this region were civil to the strangers, and exacted no tribute. The slave trade, which seems to em- brace all regions occupied by the negro, was found here to be carried on with- activity; there being even a boat, called a dhow^ ready for carrying the vic- tims from one side to the other. Thus was another of the African problem* solved ; for although Portuguese travellers had mentioned that there was a lake in the quarter, and even given it a name, Maravi, ac- cording to which it figures in some old maps, yet the accounts were so vague and valueless that the lake did not appear in the more modern maps. Other problems remained, such as the origin of the Rovuma River, which fell into the Indian Ocean about the tenth degree of southern latitude. At this time Dr. Livingstone and a party went up it 30 miles, but the waters began to fall so rapidly that they were obliged to return. In the Nyassa district traces of the odious slave-trade were everywhere met with in the shape of ruined villages, broken utensils, and human skeletons. The extent of the slave-trade in this district was borne out by the fact that 19,000 slaves alone pass through the custom-house of the island of Zanzibar. On the 27 th April 1862, Mrs. Livingstone died from the effects of climate at Shupanga, on the Zambesi, where she was buried. The Rev. James Stewart of the Free Church of Scotland read the service over the grave. Livingstone now emplbyed him- self in exploring the Rovuma, which he found to- have two feeders, one from the south- west, rising in- the mountain Nyassa, the other from the west- north-west. He next continued* his researches on the Zambesi and Shir^. In January 1863-, the Pioneer steamed up the Shir^, with the Lady Nyassa in tow. Traces of the dreadful results of a slave raid were everywhere visible. The miser- able inhabitants who had been spared were in a state of semi- starvation. Dead bodies were frequently met in the huts * with the poor rags round the loins, the skull fallen off the pillow j the little skeleton of the child, that had perished first, rolled St t HI \: ■: 4 ■ i -it] mm I'm ;■ 'IS' 598 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. up in a mat between two large skeletons.' Mr. Thornton, geo- logist of the expedition, after assisting Baron Vanderdecken in a survey of the Kilimanjaro Mountains, proving the height of the highest member of the range to be 14,000, and the height of the highest peak above the level of the sea to be 20,000 feet, was attacked with fever and died on the 21st April. While engaged in making a road through the forest to con- nect the lower Shird with the upper, the Rev. Charles Living- stone, and Dr. John Kirk, after having been repeatedly seized with fever and dysentery, were obliged to part from Living- stone on the 19th of May 1863 and return home. Only two months later he received a des- patch from Lord John Russell, Minister for Foreign Affairs, withdrawing the expedition. In accordance with these instruc- tions, he proceeded to the mouth of the Zambesi and to Zanzibar, and navigating the vessel himself, sailed for Bom- bay, a distance of over 2500 miles. He then disposed of his vessel the Lady Nyassa for ;£"20oo. Unfortunately, soon after this money was committed to the hands of a Bombay banker, he became bankrupt, and the whole sum was lost. Early in 1865, with recruited health, and after having super- intended the publication of his explorations on the Zambesi, the Shird, the Rovuma, and Lake Nyassa, he began to make preparations for a new expedi- tion. Sir Roderick Murchison, President of the Geographical Society, requested him this time to undertake the exploration of the intermediate country lying between Northern Nyassa and Tanganyika. Earl Russell re- newed Livingstone's appoint- ment as H.M. Consul to the tribes in the interior. Mr. James Young of Kelly, one of his oldest friends, subscribed ;^iooo to further this expedition, and ;^5oo was given by Govern- ment, and another ;^5oo by the Royal Geographical Society for a like purpose. He set out from England on the 14th August 1865, accom- panied by his daughter Agnes as far as Paris, thence proceed- ing alone direct to Bombay. The Government of that Pre- sidency assisted him with a supply of arms and other necessaries for the expedition. He also secured the services of Chuma, Wakatani, Edward Gardner, Simon Price, and other Zambesi liberated slaves who were being educated in a Nassick school there. Having supplied the other necessary requirements for his explora- tions, he sailed from Bombay to Zanzibar. At Zanzibar the British Consul, Dr. G. E. Se- ward, did all in his power to further the expedition. »0n the 19th March 1866, * For the remainder of the narrative we are partly indebted to the L^e and Labours of Dr. Livingstone by H. M. Stanlev, now given by permission ; supplemented by ad- ditional facts brought to light in Living* stone's Last JoumaU. s. RECENT AFRICAN DISCO VERIES. 599 a new expedi- rick Murchison, B Geographical id him this time e exploration of e country lying :m Nyassa and Larl Russell re- tone's appoint- Consul to the rior. Mr. James ily, one of his [bscribed;£iooo expedition, and /en by Govem- tier ;£5oo by the hical Society for rom England on ist 1865, accom- daughter Agnes thence proceed- 2Ct to Bombay. ;nt of that Pre- id him with a ms and other the expedition, ■ed the services akatani, Edward on Price, and liberated slaves g educated in a there. Having other necessary for his explora- d from Bombay At Zanzibar the , Dr. G. E. Se- in his power to edition. ith March 1866, ler of the narrative we o the Life and Labours by H. M. Stanley, now the Life and Labours y H. M. Stanley, now , supplemented by ad- ht to light in Living- 'tis. he sailed from Zanzibar for Mikindany Bay, a deep inden- tation in the East African coast, about twenty miles north of the river Rovuma, and about five degrees of latitude south of the island of Zanzibar. His expedi- tion consisted of Dr. Livingstone himself, ten natives of Johanna, engaged by Mr. Sunley, the English Consul, thirteen na- tives of the 2^mbesi, whom tiie Doctor had formerly left at Zanzibar as he was proceeding homeward from the Zanzibar Expedition, and thirteen Sepoys of the Bombay Marine, alto- gether thirty-six souls. The only European of the party was Dr. Livingstone. The animals taken with him were six camels, four buffaloes, four asses, and two mules, with which he had resolved he should experiment, as to their adaptability for African travelling. On the 24th of March the British man-of- war Penguin deposited the ex- pedition at Mikindany Bay. A few days afterwards Living- stone and his party started for the interior in a south-westerly direction, with the intention of crossing the Rovuma to reach the north end of Lake Nyassa. A few letters reached the coast for friends at home, in- forming them how he was suc- ceeding in his journey. Then there came a long pause, to be broken, however, in December 1866, by the sad intelligence of his murder by a predatory band of the Mazitu, which inhabit the unexplored lands through which the western feeders of the Rovuma flow. This griev- ous tale was borne to Zanzibar by a Johanna man named Musa. The summary of the infor- mation received from this man was to the effect that after leaving the southern bank of the Rovuma, Livingstone had discharged the Bombay Sepoys, and had left them on the route to return to Zanzibar. One by one each of the Sepoys had fallen ill. The expedition had then gone on, had crossed the Lake Nyassa, and begun their journey westward, when they were suddenly attacked by a band of the Mazitu, who slew Livingstone with a blow from a war hatchet, and killed and dispersed his followers. From the fatal scene, which he said was between Marenga and Mukliosowa, Musa had es- caped with a few other mem- bers of the unfortunate expedi- tion. After some deliberation, Sir Roderick Murchison and the Geographical Society entreated the Government to equip a boat expedition to proceed to Lake Nyassa, to discover the truth of the report, as there were a great many influential people in England, who, like Sir Roderick, doubted, for several reasons, the veracity of Musa. This boAt expedition was en- trusted to Mr. E. D. Young, a warrant officer of the Royal Navy, and Lieutenant Faulk- i:> ■ I )00 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. ner, of the 17 th Lancers, and departed from England on the nth of June, for the Zambesi. Arriving at that river, a port- able steel boat, built in sections, was put together, and the first Search Expedition after Living- stone started for the Shird At Chibisa's, below the Mur- chison Cataracts of the Shird, the steel boat was disconnected, thence carried overland a dis- tance of forty miles, then launched on the quiet waters of the Upper Shir^, up which the party sailed for the Nyassa Lake. Mr. Young proved con- clusively that though no mem- ber of the expedition saw the traveller, Dr. Livingstone was not murdered anywhere near - the locality mentioned by Musa. The natives round about so- lemnly averred that he had gone to the West in good con- dition and health. At Mar- enga the people said that the Johanna men had returned to their village, but two days after they had departed from the lake in company with the Doc- tor, and that when they were asked why they had returned, they replied that they had sim- ply agreed to take him so far, and therefore were at liberty to return. This was, at least, con- firmatory evidence that the Jo- hanna men had lied ; that they had only concocted their tragic tale after theu departure from Nyassa, in order to obtain their pay from the Consul In 1868, however, letters came firom Livingstone himself, dated at Bemba, February 1867, wherein he explained that he had been unable to send des- patches before, owing to the absence of caravans in the new lands he had traversed. We continue the narrative, with little alteration, in the words of a leading journalist, in reviewing Livingstone's Last Journals : — * On the 1 8th of July 1868, Livingstone saw, for the first time, the shores of Lake Bemba, or Bangweolo, which had never before been visited by a Euro- pean. The country around the lake, we learn from his diary, is all flat, and very much de- nuded of trees except the mot- sikiri or mosikisi, which has fine dark, dense foliage, and is spared for its shade and the fatty oil yielded by its seeds. The fat was used by the people to lubri- cate their hair. The bottom of the lake consists of fine white sand, and a broad belt of strong rushes, say 100 yards wide, shows shallow water. In the afternoons quite a crowd of canoes anchor at its outer edge to angle. The hooks are like ours, but without barbs. The fish are chiefly perch, but there are two kinds, which reach the large size of 4 feet by \\ in thickness. The climate in the region of the lake is extremely moist, as is shown by the num- ber of sponges or oozes in the earth (something in the nature of a bog) that are there met with. In travelling thirty miles of latitude, Livingstone had RECENT AFRICAN DISCO VERIES. 60 1 to cross twenty-one of these sponges. Bums are literally in- numerable, rising on the ridges. The Doctor said they were un- doubtedly the primary or ulti- mate sources of the Zambesi, Congo, and Nile. By their union are formed streams of from thirty to eighty or a hun- dred yards broad. These he proposed to call the secondary sources, and, as in the case of the Nile, they are drawn off by three lines of drainage, they be- come the head waters of the river of Egypt. We now know that Dr. Livingstone was mis- taken in supposing them to be the head waters of the Nile. * Livingstone, in October of the same year, had made his way north to the Kalongosi. In November he wrote on the subject of the discovery of the sources of the Nile. After enu- merating the labours of others in this direction, and paying a high compliment to the Dutch lady. Miss Tinnd, he concluded his observations thus : — * " Dr. Beke, in his guess, came nearer the sources than most others, but after all he pointed out where they would not be found. Old Nile played the theorists a pretty prank by hav- ing his springs 500 miles south of them all ! I call mine a contribution, because it is just a hundred years (1769) since Bruce, a greater traveller than any of us, visited Abyssinia, and having discovered the sources of the Blue Nile, he thought that he had then solved the ancient problcn. Am I to be cut out by some one discover- ing southern fountains of the river of Egypt, of which I have now no conception ?" * This was written in the days when Livingstone still believed that he was the discoverer of the sources of the Nile. The entries in his Journal are full of buoyancy and strong play- ful humour. At Kabwabwata, many of his old servants who had refused to accompany their master to Lake Bangweolo returned to him, and were taken back into his service. An outbreak of war among the various tribes delayed Living- stone here for a considerable time. He was now trying to reach Ujiji. Early in 1869 he was attacked by a dangerous illness, which left evils behind from which he never quite re- covered. In crossing the Lo- fuko, which was here waist deep, he caught a severe cold which affected his chest and lungs. On the 8th and 9th January he had to be carried. He was at this time so ill that he could not raise himself to the sitting posture. He lost count of the days of the week and month at this time. On the 14th of Feb- ruary he had a^ain arrived at Lake Tanganyika. On the 1 5 th the cough and chest pain, from which he had been suffering, had diminished, but his body was greatly emaciated. On the 2Sthhe extracted twenty /^/wy^j, an insect like a maggot, from his body. On the application I" ■. if t. nr i! l'„ > i ■j- • 6o3 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. of a poultice they seem obliged to come out for want of air. The large pimple in which they live is painful. We learn from the following entry made at this time that Livingstone had come to the conclusion that Tangan- yika was a river : — * " Tanganyika has encroached on the Ujiji side upwards of a mile ; and the bank, which was in the memory of men now living garden-ground, is covered with about two fathoms of water. In this, Tanganyika resembles most other rivers in this country, as the Upper Zambesi, for in- stance, which, in the Barotsd country, has been wearing east- wards for the last thirty years ; this lake, or river, has worn eastwards too." * In some of the villages he visited he found the people were civil, but at others they were low and disagreeable. The country here is swarming with villages. On the 17 th November the Lua- mo River (200 yards wide) was reached. In January of the next year, 1870, Livingstone was again suffering from sickness, with choleraic symptoms, pro- bably brought on by the water. In July irritable eating ulcers fastened on his feet, causing the traveller to return. If the foot were put to the ground, a dis- charge of bloody ichor flowed, and the same discharge hap- pened every night with con- siderable pain, that prevented sleep. ... A great amount of superstition exists in Manyuema and Bambarrd. In the Metamba country, adjacent to the Lua- laba, a quarrel with a wife often ends in the husband killing her and eating her heart, mixed up with a huge mess of goat's flesh : this has the charm character. Fingers are taken as charms in other parts, but in Bambarrd alone is the depraved taste the motive for cannibalism. He notes the following in his jour- nal at Bambarr^ on the i8th August : — * " I learn from Josut and Moenepemb^, who have been to Katanga and beyond, that there is a Lake n.n.w. of the copper mines, and twelve days distant. It is called Chibungo, and is said to be large. Seven days west of Katanga flows an- other Lualaba, the dividing line between Rra and Lunda or Londa. It is very large, and, as the Lufira flows into Chi- bungo, it is probable that the Lualaba West and the Lufira form the Lake. Lualaba West and Luflra rise by fountains south of Katanga, three or four days off. Luambai and Lunga fountains are only about ten miles distant from Lualaba West and Lufira fountains : a mound rises between them, the most remarkable in Africa. Were this spot in Armenia, it would serve exactly the description of the garden of Eden in Genesis, with its four rivers, the Gihon, Pison, Hiddekel, and Euphrates. As it is, it possibly gave oc- casion to the story told to Herodotus by the Secretary of Minerva in the City of Sais, RECENT AFRICAN DISCOVERIES. 603 m about two hills with conical tops, Crophi and Mophi. * Mid- way between them,' said he, * are the fountains of the Nile, fountains which it is impossible to fathom ; half the water runs northward into Egypt, half to the south towards Ethiopia/ * " Four fountains rising so near to each other would readily be supposed to have one source, and half the water flowing into the Nile, and the other half to the Zambesi, required but little imagination to originate, seeing the actual visitor would not feel bound to say how the division was effected. He could only know the fact of waters rising at one spot, and separating to flow north and south. The conical tops to the mound look like invention, as also do the names. * " A slave, bought on Lualaba East, came from Lualaba West in about twelve days. These two Lualabas may form the loop depicted by Ptolemy, and upper and lower Tanganyika be a third arm of the Nile." * The ulcers from which the Doctor was suffering were now becoming worse. They fastened on any part abraded by acci- dent. It seemed to be a spreading fungus, for the mat- ter settling on any part near, became a fresh centre of pro- pagation. In October they had commenced to heal, but for eighty days he had been com- pletely laid up with them. In January 187 1 we find him still detained at Bambarrd. He re- marks about the Manyuema people, that they are the most callous, bloody savages he knows. One puts a scarlet feather from a parrot's tail on the ground, and challenges those near to stick it in the hair. He who does so must kill a man or woman. An- other custom is that none dare wear the skin of the musk cat unless he has murdered somebody. Guns alone (he continues) prevent them from killing us all, and for no reason either. On the 4th of February 187 1, the men from the coast, for v.hom he had been waiting so long, arrived. Their first de- mand was for more money, and they swore that the consul told them not to go forward, but to force Livingstone back. On the 31st of March he came to the Lualaba, which was here 3000 yards broad. His ink and writing paper had by this time failed him, and he was driven to writing with the juice of a plant across old newspapers. While waiting for a canoe to take them across the Lualaba, a mutiny broke out among the men, and they were heard by Abed, a faithful servant, plotting the destruction of their master. They also did everything in their power to prevent him get- ting a canoe. In the end Livingstone came to the con- clusion that there was nothing for it but to go back to Ujiji for other men. Livingstone had several narrow escapes from I death, from unfriendly natives ; .^►:(; \- m^ } A ■:i m 6o4 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, they came across on their way back. Ujiji was reached on the 23d of October, and on the 28th Mr. H. M. Stanley arrived. * ''The great traveller," says Mr. Stanley, " was reduced to a skeleton by illness and fatigue ; he was sick, destitute, and for- lorn. All his men except four had either deserted or had died, and there seemed to be no hope for him. His piteous appeals for help to his friends at Zanzibar were either ne- glected or his letters were lost. There was no prospect but that of lingering illness and death before him. Under the influ- ence, however, of good cheer and nourishing food, and, per- haps, social fellowship with another of his race, he speedily recovered, and in six or seven days after his rescue was en- abled to accompany a portion of the American Expedition in a boat to the north end of Lake Tanganyika, where both Liv- ingstone and the author saw a river nmning through a broad gorge enclosed by lofty moun- tains into the lake, with no possible outlet whatever at any part in the firmly connected mountain-walls which surround the entire northern half of the Tanganyika. After a journey of 750 miles, and a residence of over four months together, Liv- ingstone and the American Expedition became parted for ever at Unyanyembd on March 14, 1872." ' Before the sad end came, the resolution to go on with his explorations, to satisfy himself and the world that the Nile really did spring up where he believed, could not be daunted. He was weak, and Stanley urged him to press on no fur- ther ; but writes Livingstone : — * " My judgment said, * All your friends will wish you to make a complete work of the exploration of the sources of the Nile before you retire.' My daughter Agnes says, * Much as I wish you to come home, I would rather that you finished your work to your own satisfaction, than return merely to gratify me.* Rightly and nobly said, my darling Nannie. Vanity whispers loudly, * She is a chip of the old block ! ' My blessing on her and on all the rest." * And therefore he went on, confident that he would show the world the sources of the Nile. He got to Unyanyemb^, and there had to remain, wait- ing for the promised help. The journals during his stay are filled with reflections and with observations, many of them of high scientific value. Through all that he says may be seen tender, earnest, manly piety. He was growing weary with waiting, sick in mind, and weak in body, and he prayed that he might be spared to finish his task. Here is a touching entry (1872) : — ^i^th March. — Birthday. My Jesus, my King, my life, my all ; I again dedicate my whole RECENT AFRICAN DISCOVERIES. 60s 1, than return re he went on, he would show sources of the ;o Unyanyemb^, to remain, wait- lised help. The ; his stay are ctions and with lany of them of alue. Through rs may be seen , manly piety, ng weary with mind, and weak prayed that he id to finish his is a touching —Birthday. My g, my life, my Sicate my whole self tb Thee. Accept me, and grant, O Gracious Father, that ere this year is gone I may finish my task. In Jesus' name I ask it Amen, so let it be. ' David Livingstone. 'Many times he urges the necessity for missionaries. They must not, he says, stay on the coast, but go into the interior ; and he sketches for them their duties, and their difficulties, and their delights. His pictures of parts of the country are most attractive. In all his writing, however, he never loses sight of the great object of his journey- ing in that region. An entry on May 31, 1873, he says : — * " In reference to this Nile source, I have been kept in perpetual doubt and perplexity. I know too much to be positive. Great Lualaba, or Lualubba, as Manuyema say, may turn out to be the Congo or the Nile, a shorter river after all — the foun- tains flowing north and south seem in favour of its being the Nile. Great Westing is in favour of the Congo. It would be comfortable to be positive like Baker. * Every drop, from the passing shower to the roaring mountain torrent, must fall into Albert Lake, a giant at its birth.' How soothing to be positive ! " * These doubts about the Nile sources grew stronger, but they never overcame his confidence. He died in the faith that the Nile rose between ic° and 12° south latitude.' Livingstone's death, took place, on the ist of May 1873, at Ilala, in Central Africa. For some time previous, as related, he had been very weak. Forcing his feeble strength, however, he pushed on, riding on a donkey. Then he had to be carried on a kitanda or bedstead ; but soon after passing Ilala, he gave up travelling, and the boys erected a hut, in which he lay for a few days, gradually grow- ing weaker, and at last, on the day mentioned, he expired. In his Last Journals^ the now familiar death scene is given thus: — *The lad's evident alarm made Susi run to arouse Chuma, Chowperd, Matthew, and Muanyasdr^, and the six men went immediately to the hut. Passing inside they looked towards the bed. Dr. Living- stone was not lying on it, but appeared to be engaged in prayer, and they instinctively drew backwards for the instant. Pointing to him, Majwara said. When I lay down be was just as he is now, and it is because I find that he does not move that I fear he is dead. They asked the lad how long he had slept. Majwara said he could not tell, but he was sure that it was some considerable time. The men drew nearer. A candle stuck by its own wax to the top of the box shed a light sufficient for them to see his form. Dr. Livingstone was kneeling by the side of his bed — ^his body stretched forward, his head buried in his hands, , upon the pillow. For a minute •^8 -IS!" • Vffi 6o6 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, they watched him. He did not stir. There was no sign of breathing. Then one of them (Matthew) advanced softly to him, and placed his hands to his cheeks. It was sufficient — life had been extinct some time, and the body was almost cold. Livingstone was dead. His sad-hearted servants raised him tenderly up, and laid him full length on the bed ; then, care- fully covering him, they went out into the damp night air to consult together. It was not long before the cocks crew, and it is from this circumstance, coupled with the fact that Susi spoke to him sometime shortly before midnight, that we are able to state with tolerable cer- tainty that he expired early on the I St of May.' * About the period,' says Mr. Stanley, when * Livingstone must have been toiling through the oozy marshes, bounding a portion of the Lake Bangweolo on the north, the fourth Search and Relief Expedition arrived at Zanzibar, in February 1873. This party was commanded by Lieutenants Cameron and Mur- phy and a Dr. Dillon, and was sent to Africa under the auspices of the Geographical Society, and was assisted by Sir Bartle Frere, who was then at Zanzibar, en- deavouring to obtain the first results which Livingstone's ener- getic denunciation of the slave trade had caused his Govern- ment and nation to desire. The expedition arrived at Unyan- yembd in the latter part of August 1873. In October the leaders were startled at the appearance of Chuma in their midst, who had come from the south, and who informed them that Living- stone's body was but twenty days behind, being brought by Livingstone's followers. * In the beginning of Novem- ber, the faithful followers of Livingstone, seventy-nine in number, appeared at Unyan- yembd with the mournful bur- den they had carried over 1,000 miles. Soon after, Dr. Dillon, who was sick, and Lieutenant Murphy, who had resigned his share in the expedi- tion, started from Unyanyemb^. At Kasegdra, Dr. Dillon, who was blind and temporarily de- ranged, committed suicide. In February 1874, the body of Livingstone arrived at Zanzibar, and was shipped in care of Mr. Arthur Laing, as well as all his books, papers, and personal effects to England, where the steamer to which all had been transhipped at Aden arrived on the 1 6th of April 1874, eight years and eighteen days since Livingstone had departed from England. * After the arrival of the steamer Malwa, which con- tained the body, in the dock at Southampton, the coffin was borne to the Royal Pier, and then carried through a sympa- thetic and reverent population, who had gathered en masse io pay a mute but impressive tribute of respect for all that Livingstone had done through RECENT AFRICAN DISCO VERIES. 607 life, to the lasting glory of the English name. Then taken to London, the body was formally examined by Sir William Fer- gusson and the friends of Livingstone, and by the left arm-bone, which the lion's jaws had splintered nearly thirty years ago, was recognised in- stantly,and all doubt of his death was finally and fully dissipated for ever. On Saturday, April 18, 1874, the body of the great explorer was borne, amid testi- monies of profound respect from great numbers of people, to its final home inWestminsterAbbey. Amongst the tributes to his memory few are more correct and appropriate than that by Sir Samuel W. Baker:— * The life of Dr. Livingstone is well known, but although his char- acter as an explorer has been established for many years, there are few persons beyond scientific geographers who truly appreciate his enormous labours. When we examine the maps of all his published works, we must be struck with amazement that any one man should have been able to support the bodily fatigue of travelling over the many thousand miles in Africa marked by that thin and wan- dering line of red which denotes his track. The world knows but little of such fatigues — the toil of body in unhealthy climates ; the lack of food ; constant exposure to both sun and rain ; perpetual anxiety ; delays and passive hostility that wear out the brain with over- taxed patience ; hopes deferred, followed by that sickness of heart which is a greater strain upon the nervous system than the heaviest physical work. These are the trials that Living- stone sustained throughout his life of exploration ; and still he endured until he dropped upon his road worn out in his great work ; and in solitude he died upon his knees by his bedside, far from the world, but in com- munion at the last|with Him who had been his guide and pro- tector through a life of difficul- ties and perils. * His geographical opinions may or may not be accepted on all points, but there can only be one opinion concerning the man : he was the greatest of all explorers of this century ; he was one of a noble army of martyrs who have devoted their lives to the holy cause of free- dom; and he has laid down his life as a sacrifice upon a wild and unknown path, upon which he has printed the first footsteps of civilisation.' By way of appropriate con- clusion, some extracts follow from interesting letters written from time to time by Dr. Living- stone. The first conveys his thanks to Mr. James Gordon Bennett, proprietor of the New York Heraldf and gives an idea of his circumstances previous to the arrival of Mr. Stanley : — * If I explain the forlorn con- dition in which he found me, you will easily perceive that J , "'hi ^Jp> m .:H:| J I 6o8 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, have good reason to use very strong expressions of gratitude. I came to Ujiji off a tramp of between 400 and 500 miles be- neath a blazing vertical sun, havi'^q; been baffled, worried, del'^ d, and forced to return, when ' Tiost in sight of the end of the geographical part of my mission, by a number of half- caste Moslem slaves sent to me from Zanzibar instead of men. The sore heart, made still sorer by the truly woful sights I had seen of " man's inhumanity to man," reacted on the bodily frame, and depressed it beyond measure. I thought that I wad dying on my feet. It is not too much to say, that almost every step of the weary sultry way I was in pain, and I reached Ujiji a mere ruckle of bones. Here I found that some ;£'5oo worth of goods I had ordered from Zanzibar had unaccountably been intrusted to a drunken half-caste Moslem tailor, who, after squandering them for six- teen months on the way to Ujiji, finished up by selling off all that remained for slaves and ivory for himself. He had divined on the Koran, and found that I was dead. He had also writ- ten to the governor of Unyan- yembd that he had sent slaves after me to Manyema, who re- turned and reported my decease, and begged permission to sell off the few goods that his drunken appetite had spared. He, how- ever, knew perfectly well from men who had seen me, that I was alive, and waiting for the goods and men ; but as for morality, he is evidently an idiot; and there being no law here except that of the dagger or musket, I had to sit down in great weakness, destitute of everything save a few barter cloths and beads I had taken the precaution to leave here in case of extreme need. The near prospect of beggary among Ujijians made me miserable. I could not despair, because I laughed so much at a friend, who, on reaching the mouth of the Zambesi, said " that he was tempted to despair on breaking the photograph of his wife : we could have no success after that." After that, the idea of despair has to me such a strong smack of the ludicrous, it is out of the question. 'Well, when I had got to about the lowest verge, vague rumours of an English visitor reached me. I thought of my- self as the man who went down from Jerusalem to Jericho ; but neither priest, Levite, nor Sa- maritan could possibly pass my way. Yet the good Samaritan was close at hand, and one of my people rushed up at the top of his speed, and in great excitement gasped out, "An Englishmanlcoming ! I see him !" And off he darted to meet him. An American flag, the first ever seen in these parts, at the heau of a caravan, told me the na- tionality of the stranger. I Lin as cold and non-demonstrative as we islanders are usually re- puted to be, but your kinc ness RECENT AFRICAN DISCOVERIES. 609 made my frame thrill. It was indeed overwhelming, and I said in my soul, " Let the richest blessings descend from the Highest on you and yours." * The news Mr. Stanley had to tell me was thrilling : the mighty political changes on the Continent, the success of the Atlantic cables, the election of General Grant, and many topics riveted my attention for days together, and had an immediate and beneficial effect on my health. I had been without news from home for years, save what I could glean from a few Saturday Reviews and copies of Punch for 1868. The appetite re- vived, and in a week I began to feel strong again. Mr. Stan- ley brought a most kind and encouraging despatch from Lord Clarendon, whose loss I sin- cerely deplore — the first I have received from the Foreign Office since 1866 — and information that Her Majesty's Govern- ment had kindly sent ;£iooo to my aid. Up to his arrival I was not aware of any pecu- niary aid. I came unsalaried, but this want is now happily repaired ; and I am anxious that you and all my friends should know that, though uncheered by letters, I have stuck to the task which my friend Sir Roder- ick Murchison set me, with John-Bullish tenacity, believing that all will come right at last.' To the Earl of Clarendon he gave the following summary of his geographical conclusions : — * I wrote a very hurried letter on the a8th ultimo, and sent it by a few men who had resolved to run the risk of pass- ing through contending parties of Banyamwezi and mainland Arabs at Unyanyembd, which is some twenty days east of this. I had just come off a tramp of more than 400 miles beneath a vertical torrid sun, and was so jaded in body and mind by being forced back by faithless, cowardly attendants, that I could have written little more though the messengers had not been in such a hurry to depart as they were. I have now the prospect of sending this safely to the coast by a friend; but so many of m^ letters have disappeared at Un- yanyemb^, when intrusted to the care of the Lewale or Governor, who is merely the trade agent of certain Banians, that I shall consider that of the 28th as one of the unfortunates, and give in this as much as I can recall. '• I have ascertained thac the watershed of the Nile is a broad upland between 10° and 12" south latitude, and from 4000 to 5000 feet above the level of the sea. Mountains stand on it at various points, which, though not apparently very high, are between 6000 and 7000 feet of actual altitude. The watershed is over 700 miles in length from west to east. The springs that rise on it are almost innumerable \ that is, it would take a large part of a man's life to count them. A 2 Q '' ;-i': 6io THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, bird's-eye view of some parts of he watershed would resemble the frost vegetation on window- panes. They all begin in an ooze at the head of a slightly depressed valley. A few hun- dred yards down, the quantity of water from oozing earthen sponge forms a brisk perennial bum or brook a few feet broad, and deep enough to require a bridge. These are the ultimate or primary sources of the great rivers that flow to the north in in the great Nile valley. The primaries unite and form streams in general larger than the Isis at Oxford or Avon at Hamilton, and may be called secondary sources. They never dry, but unite again into four large lines of drainage, the head waters or mains of the river of Egypt These four are each called by the natives Lualaba, which, if not too pedantic, may be spoken of as lacustrine rivers, extant specimens of those which in prehistoric times abounded in Africa, and which in the south are still called by Bechuanas ** Melapo ; " in the north, by Arabs, " Wadys ; " both words meaning the same thing — river- beds in which no water ever now flows. Two of the four great rivers mentioned fall into the central Lualaba, or Webb's Lake River, and then we have but two main lines of drainage as depicted nearly by Ptolemy. * The prevailing winds on the watershed are from the south- east. This is easily observed by the direction of the branches; and the humidity of the climate is apparent in the numbers of lichens, which make the upland forest look like the mangrove swamps on the coast • In passing over sixty miles of latitude, I waded thirty-two primary sources from calf to waist deep, and requiring from twenty minutes to an hour and a quarter to cross stream and sponge ; this would give about one source to every two miles. * A Suaheli friend, in passing along part of the Lake Bang- weolo, during six days counted twenty-two from thigh to waist deep. This lake is on the watershed, for the village at which I observed on its north- west shore was a few seconds into 1 1° south, and its southem shores and springs and rivulets are certainly in 12° south. I tried to cross it in order to measure the breadth accurately. The first stage to an inhabited island was about twenty-four miles. From the highest point here, the tops of the trees, evidently lifted by the mirage, could be seen on the second stage and the third stage ; the mainland was said to be as far as this beyond it But my canoe men had stolen the canoe, and got a hint that the real owners were in pursuit, and got into a flurry to return home. "They would come back for me in a few days truly," but I had only my coverlet left to hire another craft if they should leave me in this wide expanse of water ; and being 4000 feet f RECENT AFRICAN DISCO VERIES. 6ii )f the climate ; numbers of «e the upland ;he mangrove ast IX sixty miles led thirty-two from calf to requiring from o an hour and ss stream and aid give about ery two miles. ;nd, in passing le Lake Bang- c days counted thigh to waist ike is on the the village at d on its north- ; a few seconds md its southem ngs and rivulets 12° south. I it in order to ad[th accurately. ;o an inhabited lut twenty-four lc highest point of the trees, by the mirage, on the second lird stage ; the id to be as far . it But my ftolen the canoe, that the real lursuit, and got return home, [come back for ;s truly," but I :overlet left to \ if they should ^s wide expanse leing 4000 feet above the sea, it was very cold : so I returned. * The length of this lake is, at a very moderate estimate, 150 miles. It gives fwth a large body of water in the Luapula; yet lakes are in no sense sources, for no large river begins in a lake. But this and others serve an important pur- pose in the phenomena of the Nile. It is one large lake» and, unlike the Okara, — which, ac- cording to Suabeli, who travelled long in our company^ is three or four lakes run into one huge Victoria NyanKi, — ogives out a large river, which, on departing out of Moero, is still larger. These men had spent many years east of Okara, and could scarcely be mistaken in saying that, of the three or four lakes there, only one, the Okara, gives oflf its watei to the north. * Tbe '' White Nile'' of Speke, less by a lull half than the Shir^ out of Nyassa (for it is only eighty or ninety yards lM*oad), can scarcely be named in com- parison with the central or Webb's Lualaba, of firora 2000 to 6000 yards, in relation to the phenomena of the Nile. The structirre and economy of the watershed answer very much the same end as the great lacus- trine rivers, but I cannot at pre- sent copy a lost despatch which explained that. The mountains on the watershed are probably what Ptolemy, for reasons now unknown, called the Mountains of the Moon. From their bases I found that the springs of the Nile do unquestionably arise. This is just what Ptolemy put down, and is true geography. We must accept the fountains, and nobody but Philistines will reject the mountains, though we cannot conjecture the rea- son for the name. * Mounts Kenia and Kiliman- jaro are said to be snow-capped ; but they are so far from the sources, and send no water to any part of the Nile, they could iiever have been meant by the correct ancient explorers, from whom Ptolemy and his prede- cessors gleaned their true geo- graphy, so different from the trash that passes current in modem times. * Before leaving the subject of the watershed, I may add that I know about 600 miles of it, but am not yet satisfied, for unfortunately the seventh hun- dred is the most interesting of the whole. I have a very strong impression, that in the last hun- dred miles the fountains of the Nile mentioned to Herodotus by the Secretary of Minerva in the city of Sais do arise, not, like all the rest, from oozing earthen spcMiges, but from an earthen mound; and half the water flows northward to Egypt, the other half south to Inner Ethiopia. These fountains, at no great distance oflf, become large rivers, though at the mound they are not more thafi ten miles apart. That is, one fountain rising on the north- east of the mound becomes Bartle Frere's Lualaba, and it «" -111 vcl (■■t 6l3 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, flows into one of the lakes pro- per, Kamolondo, of the central line of drainage ; Webb's Lua- laba, the second fountain, rising on the north-west, becomes (Sir Paraffin) Young's Lualaba, which, passing through Lake Lincoln and becoming Loeki or Lomame, and joining the central line too, goes north to Egypt. The third fountain on the south-west, Palmerston's, becomes the Liambia or Upper Zambesi ; while the fourth, Os- well's fountain, becomes the Kafue, and falls into Zambesi in Inner Ethiopia. ' More time has been spent in the exploration than I ever anticipated. My bare expenses were paid for two years; but had I left when the money was expended, I could have given little more information about the country than the Portuguese, who, in their three slave-trading expeditions to Cazembe, asked for slaves and ivory alone, and heard of nothing else. From one of the subordinates of their last so-called expedition, I learnt that it was believed that the Luapula went to Angola ! I asked about the waters till I was ashamed, and almost afraid of being set down as afllicted with hydrocephalus. I had to feel my way, and every step of the way, and was generally groping in the dark; for who cared where the rivers ran? Many a weary foot I trod ere I got a clear idea of the drainage of the great Nile valley. The most intelligent natives and traders thought that all the rivers of the upper part of that valley flowed into Tanganyika. But the barometers told me that to do so the water must flow up-hill. The great rivers and the great lakes all make their waters converge into the deep trough of the valley, which is a full inch of the barometer lower than the Upper Tangan- yika. It is only a sense of duty, which I trust your Lord- ship will approve, that makes me remain, and, if possible, finish the geographical question of my mission. After being thwarted, baffled, robbed, wor- ried almost to death in follow- ing the central line of drainage down, I have a sore longing for home; have had a perfect surfeit of seeing strange new lands and people, grand moun- tains, lovely valleys, the glorious vegetation of primeval forests, wild beasts, and an endless suc- cession of beautiful man; be- sides great rivers and vast lakes — the last most interesting from their huge outflowings, which explain some of the phenomena of the grand old Nile. * Let me explain, but in no boastful style, the mistakes of others who have bravely striven to solve the ancient problem, and it will be seen that I have cogent reasons for following the painful, plodding investigation to its conclusion. Poor Speke's mistake was a foregone conclu- sion. When he discovered the Victoria Nyanza, he at once leaped to the conclusion that RECENT AFRICAN DISCOVERIES, 613 >'in that all the )er part of that to Tanganyika, sters told me lie water must l*e great rivers akes all make iverge into the le valley, which : the barometer Upper Tangan- ily a sense of ust your Lord- ve, that makes id, if possible, iphical question I. After being d, robbed, wor- death in foUow- line of drainage a sore longing e had a perfect ig strange new le, grand moun- eys, the glorious trimeval forests, an endless suc- itiful man; be- _ and vast lakes interesting from iowings, which the phenomena Nile, jlain, but in no [the mistakes of bravely striven xient problem, ,een that I have [for following the ig investigation .. Poor Speke's foregone conclu- discovered the he at once conclusion that therein lay the sources of the river of Egypt, " 20,000 square miles of water,'' confused by sheer immensity, * Ptolemy's small kke **Co- loc " is a more correct represen- tation of the actual size of that one of three or four lakes which alone sends its outflow to the north ; its name is Okara. Lake Kavirondo is three days distant from it, but connected by a narow arm. I^ke Naibash or Neibash is four day» from Kavi- rondo. Baringo is ten days dis- tant, and discharges by a river, the Nagardabash, to the north- east. * These three or four lakes, which have been described by several intelligent Suaheli, who have lived for many years oi> their shores, were run into one huge Victoria Nyanza. But no sooner did Speke and Grant turn their faces to this lake to prove that k contained the Nile fountains^ than* they turned their backs to the springs of the viver of Egypt, whicli are between 400 and 500 miles south of the most southerly portion of the Victoria Lake. Every step of their heroic and real4y splendid achievement of following the river down, took them farther and £Eurther from the sources they sought. But for devotion to the foregone conclusion^ the sight of the little "White Nile," as unable to* account for the great river, they must have turned off to the west, down into the deep trough of the great valley, and there found lacustrine rivers amply sufficient to account for the Nile and all its phenomena. * The next explorer, Baker, believed as .onestly as Speke and Grant, that in the Lake River Albert he had a second source of the Nile to that of Speke. He came farther up the Nile than any other in mo- dern times, but turned when between 600 and 700 miles shwt of the caput Nili. He is now employed in a more noble work than the discovery of Nile sources ; and if, as all must earnestly wish, he succeeds in suppressing the Nile slave-trade, the boon he will bestow on hu- manity will be of far higher value than all my sources together. * When intelligent men like these and Bruce have been mistaken, I have naturally felt anxious that no one should come after me and find sources south of mine, which I now think can only be possible by water running up the southern , slope of the watersheds * But all that can ii» modem ' times, and in; common modesty, be fairly claimed, is, the re- discovevy of what had sunk into oblivion, like the circunv- navigation of Africa by the Phoenician admiral of one of the Pharaohs, about b.c. 60a. He was not believed^ because he leported that in passing round Libya he had the sun on his right hand. This, to us who had gone round the Cape from east to west, stamps his tale as genuine. il ■'■II 6i4 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. * The predecessors of Ptolemy probably gained their informa- tion from men who visited this very region ; for in the second century of our area he gave, in substance, what we now find to be genuine geography. *The springs of the Nile, rising in io° to 12° south lati- tude, and their water collecting into two large lacustrine rivers, and other facts, could have been leamed only from primi- tive travellers or traders, — the true discoverers of what em- perors, kings, philosophers, all the great minds of antiquity, longed to know, and longed in vain. * The geographical results of four arduous trips in different directions in the Manyema country are briefly as follows : — ^The great river, Webb's Liaalaba, in the centre of the Nile valley, makes a great bend to the west, soon after leaving Lake Moero, of at least 180 miles ^ then, turning to the noTtJi for some distance, it makes another large sweep west, of about 120 miles, in the courseof which about thirty miles of southing are made ; it then draws round to north-east, receives the Lomame, or Loeki, a large river v/hich flows through Lake Lincoln. After the union a large lake is formed, with many inhabited islands in it; but this has still to be explored. It is the fourth large lake in the central line of drainage, and cannot be Lake Albert; for, assuming Speke's longitude of Ujiji to be pretty correct, and my reckoning not enor- mously wrong, the great central lacustrine river is about five degrees west of U^per and Lower Tanganyika. *The mean of many baro- metric and boiling-point obser- vations made Upper Tangan- yika 2880 feet high. Respect for Speke's memory made me hazard the conjecture that he found it to be nearly the same ; but from the habit of writing the Annum Domini^ a mere slip of the pen made him say 1844 feet. But I have more con- fidence in the barometers than in the boiling-points ; and they make Tanganyika over 3000 feet, and the lower part of Central Lualaba one inch lower, or about the altitude ascribed to Gondokoro. * Beyond the fourth lake the water passes, it is said, into large reedy lakes, and is in all probability Petherick's branch — the main stream of the Nile — in distinction from the smaller easter arm, which Speke, Grant, and Baker took to be the river of Egypt. * In my attempts to penetrate farther and farther I had but little hope of ultimate success ; for the great amount of westing led to a continual effort to sus- pend the judgment, lest, after all, I might be exploring the Congo instead of the Nile; and it was only after the two great western drains fell into the cen- tral main, and left but the two great lacustrine rivers of Ptol- RECENT AFRICAN DISCOVERIES. 615 emy, that I felt pretty sure of being on the right track. * The great bends west pro- bably form one side of the great rivers above that geo- graphical loop, the other side being Upper Tanganyika and the Lake River Albert. A water- fall is reported to exist between Tanganyika and Albert Nyanza, but I could not go to it ; nor have I seen the connecting link between the two — the upper side of the loop — though I be- lieve it exists. * The Manyema are certainly cannibals, but it was long ere I could get evidence more posi- tive than would have led a Scotch jury to give a verdict of "not proven." They eat only enemies killed in war; they seem as if instigated by revenge in their man-eating orgies, and on these occasions they do not like a stranger to see them. I offered a large reward in vain to any one who would call me to witness a cannibal feast. Some intelligent men have told me that the meat is not nice, and made them dream of the dead. The women never partake, and I am glad of it, for many of them far down Lualaba are very pretty ; they bathe three or four times a day, and are expert divers for oysters. *' The terror that guns inspire generally among the Manyema, seems to 'arise among the Ba- kuss from an idea that they are supernatural. The effect of gun-shot on a goat was shown, in order to convince them that the traders had power, and that the instruments they carried were not, as they imagined, the mere insignia of chieftainship : they looked up to the skies, and offered to bring ivory to pur- chase the charm by which lightning was drawn down ; and afterwards, when the traders tried to force a passage which was refused, they darted aside when seeing Banyamwezi's fol- lowers place the arrows in the bow-strings, but stood in mute amazement while the guns mowed them down in great numbers. They use long spears in the thick vegetation of their country with great dexterity; and they have told me frankly, what was self-evident, that but for the fire-arms, not one of the Zanzibar slaves or half-castes would ever leave their country. ^ There is not a single great chief in all Manyema. No matter what name the different divisions of people bear, — Manyema, Balegga, Babire, Bazire, Bakoos, — there is no political cohesion ; not one king or kingdom. Each head man is independent of every other. The people are indus- trious, and most of them culti- vate the soil largely. We found them everyv/heie very honest. When detained at Bambarr^, we had to send our goats and fowls to the Manyema villages, to prevent them being all stolen by the Zanzibar slaves; the slave-owners had to do the same. < Manyema land is the only 6i6 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, country in Central Africa I have seen where cotton is not culti- vated, spun, and woven. The clothing is that known in Mada- gascar as 'Mambas" or grass cloth, made from the leaves of the " Muale " palm. *They call the good spirit above "Ngulu," or the Great One ; and the spirit of evil, who resides in the deep, "Mulambu." A hot fountain near Bambarrd is supposed to belong to this being, the author of death by drowning and other misfortunes.* The following is an account of travel in Manyema-land, which occurs in a despatch to Lord Granville : — *The country is extremely beautiful, but difficult to travel over. The mountains of light grey granite stand like islands in new red sandstone, and mountain and valley are all clad in a mantle of different shades of green. The vege- tation is indescribably rank. Through the grass — if grass it can be called, which is over half an inch in diameter in the stalk, and from ten to twelve feet high — nothing but ele- phants can walk. The leaves of this megatherium grass are armed with minute spikes, which, as we worm our way along elephant-walks, rub dis- agreeably on the side of the face where the gun is held, and the hand is made sore by fend- ing it off the other side for hours. The rains were fairly set in bv November; and in the mommgs, or after a shower, these leaves were loaded with moisture, which wet us to the bone. The valleys are deeply undulating, and in each in- numerable dells have to be crossed. There may be only a thread of water at the bottom ; but the mud, mire, or {Scotice) " glaur " is grievous ; thirty or forty yards of the path on each side of the stream are worked by the feet of passengers into an adhesive compound. By placing a foot ou each side of the narrow way, one may waddle a little distance along ; but the rank crop of grasses, gingers, and bushes cannot spare the few inches of soil required for the side of the foot, and down he comes into the slough. The path often runs along the bed of the rivulet for sixty or more yards, as if he who first cut it out went that distance seeking for a part of the forest less dense for his axe. In other cases, the Muale palm, from which here, as in Madagascar, grass-cloth is woven, and called by the same name, "lamba," has taken possession of the valley. The leaf-stalks, as thick as a strong man's arm, fall off and block up all passage, save by a path made and mixed up by the feet of elephants and buffaloes ; the slough tl. erein is groan-compelling and deep. * Every now and then the traders, with rueful faces, stand panting; the sweat trickles down my face ; and I suppose that I look as grim as they, though I try to cheer them with the hope that RECENT AFRICAN DISCO VERIES. 617 good prices will reward them at the coast for ivory obtained with so much toil. In some cases the subsoil has given way beneath the elephant's enor- mous weight ; the deep hole is filled with mud ; and one, taking it all to be about calf deep, steps in to the top of the thigh, and flaps on to a seat soft enough, but not luxurious ; a meny laugh relaxes the facial muscles, though I have no other reason for it than that it is better to laugh than to cry. * Some of the numerous rivers which in this region flow into Lualaba are covered with living vegetable bridges : a species of dark glossy-leaved grass, with its roots and leaves, felts itself into a mat that covers the whole stream. When stepped upon it jdelds twelve or fifteen inches, and that amount of water rises up on the leg. At every step the foot has to be raised high enough to place it on the unbent mass in front. This high stepping fatigues like walking on deep snow. Here and there holes appear which we could not sound with a stick six feet long; they give the impression that anywhere one might plump through and finish the chapter. Where the water is shallow, the lotus, or sacred lily, sends its roots to the bottom, and spreads its broad leaves over the floating bridge, so as to make believe that the mat is its own ; but the grass referred to is the real felting and supporting agent, for it often performs duty as bridge where no lilies grow. The bridge is called by Man- yema * kintefwetefwe,' as if he who first coined it was gasping for breath after plunging over a mile of it. * Between each district of Manyema large belts of the primeval forest still stand. Into these the sun, though vertical, cannot penetrate, except by sending down at mid-day thin pencils of rays into the gloom. The rain-water stands for months in stagnant pools made by the feet of elephants ; and the dead leaves decay on the damp soil, and make the water of the numerous rivulets of the colour of strong tea. The climbing plants, from the size of whip- cord to that of a man-of-war's hawsers, are so numerous, the ancient path is the only pas- sage. When one of the giant trees falls across the road, it forms a wall breast-high to be climbed over, and the mass of tangled ropes brought down makes cutting a path round it a work of time which travellers never undertake. *The shelter of the forest from the sun makes it pleasant, but the roots of trees high out of the soil across the path keep the eyes, ox-like, on the ground. The trees are so high, that a good shot-gun does no harm to parrots or guinea-fowls on their tops ; and they are often so closely planted, that I have heard gorillas, here called "sokos," growling about fifty i 'life 6i8 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, yards off, without getting a glimpse of them. His nest is a poor contrivance ; it exhibits no more architectural skill than the nest of our cushat dove. Here the " soko " sits in pelting rain, with his hands over his head. The natives give him a good character, and from what I have seen he deserves it ; but they call his nest his house, and laugh at him for being such a fool as to build a house, and not go beneath it for shelter.' Livingstone remarks on the personal appearance of the fe- male slaves thus : — * Many of the women were very pretty, and, like all iadies, would have been much prettier if they had only let themselves alone. Fortunately, the dears could not change their charm- ing black eyes, beautiful fore- heads, nicely rounded limbs, well-shaped forms, and small hands and feet. But they must adorn themselves ; and this they do — oh, the hussies ! — by filing their splendid teeth to points like cats' teeth. It was distress- ing, for it made their smile, which has generally so much power over us great he-donkeys, rather crocodile-like. Orna- ments are scarce. What would our ladies do, if they had none, but pout and lecture us on " women's rights 1 " But these specimens of the fair sex make shift by adorning their fine warm brown skins, tattooing them with various pretty devices without colours, that, besides purposes of beauty, serve the heraldic uses of our Highland tartans. They are not black, but of a light warm brown colour ; and so very sisterish — if I may use the new coinage — it feels an injury done to one's-self to see a bit of grass stuck through the cartilage of the nose, so as to bulge out the ala nasi (wings of the nose of anatomists). Cazembe's Queen — a Ngombe, Moari by name — would be es- teemed a real beauty in London, Paris, or New York, and yet she had a small hole through the cartilage near the top of her fine slightly aquiline nose. But she had only filed one side of the two fronts of her superb snow-white teeth; and then what a laugh she had ! Let those who wish to know go and see her carried to her farm in her pony phaeton, which is a sort of throne fastened on two very long poles, and carried by twelve stalwart citizens. If they take Punch's motto for Cazembe, * Niggers don't re- quire to be shot here,' as their own, they may show themselves to be men ; but whether they do or not, Cazembe will show himself a man of sterling good sense. Now these people, so like ourselves externally, have genuine human souls. Rua, a very large section of country north and west of Cazembe's, but still in the same inland re- gion, is peopled by men very like those of Insama and Cazembe. * An Arab, Said-bin-habib, went to trade in Rua two years ago, and as the Arabs usually RECENT AFRICAN DISCO VERIES. 619 do when the natives have no guns, Said-bin-Habib's elder brother carried matters with a high hand. The Rua men ob- served that the elder brother slept in a white tent, and pitch- ing their spears into it by night, killed him. As Moslems never forgive bloodshed, the younger brother forthwith ran at all indis- criminately in a large district. Let it not be supposed that any of these people are, like the American Indians, insatiable, bloodthirsty savages, who will not be reclaimed, or enter into terms of lasting friendship with fair-dealing strangers. Had the actual murderers been de- manded, and a little time been granted, I feel morally certain, from many other instances among tribes who, like the Ra Rua, have not been spoiled by Arab traders, they would all have been given up. The chiefs of the country would, first of all, have specified the crime of which the elder brother was guilty, and who had been led to avenge it. It is very likely that they would stipulaite that no other should be punished but the actual perpetrator. Do- mestic slaves acting under his orders, would be considered free from blame. I know of nothing that distinguishes the uncontaminated Africans from other degraded peoples more than their entire reasonableness and good sense. It is different after they have had wives, children, and relations kid- napped ; but that is more than human nature, civilised or sa- vage, can bear. In the case in question, indiscriminate slaugh- ter, capture, and plunder took place. A very large number of very fine young men were cap- tured, and secured in chains and wooden yokes. I came near the party of Said-bin-Habib, . close to the point where a huge rent in the mountains of Rua allows the escape of the river Lualaba out of Lake Moero ; and here I had for the first time ^n opportunity of ob- serving the , differences between slaves and freemen made cap- tives. When fairly across Lua- laba, Said thought his captives safe, and got rid of the trouble of attending to and watching the chained gang by taking off both chains ap.d yokes. All declared their ^oy and perfect willingness to follow Said to the end of the world or else- where ; but next morning twenty- two made clear off to the moun- tains. Many more, in seeing the broad Lualaba roll between them and the homes of their in- fancy, lost all heart, and in three days eight of them died. They had no complaint but pain in the heart.' The following is part of a letter sent to Mr. James Gordon Bennett, proprietor of the New York Herald^ and gives his views on the slave-trade, with a real- istic picture of daily family life in Central Africa : — * I fear that a portion at least of the sympathy in England for '' J :>■' I 620 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. • what simple folks called the "Southern cause" during the American civil war was a lurk- ing liking to be slaveholders themselves. One Englishman at least tried to put into prac- tice his theory of getting the in- ferior race to work for nothing. He was brother to a member of Parliament for a large and rich constituency, and when his motherdied she left him ^^2000. With this he bought a waggon and oxen at the Cape of Good Hope, and an outfit composed chiefly of papier-mach^ snuff- boxes, each of which had a looking-glass outside and an- other inside the lid. These, he concluded, were the '* sinews of war." He made his way to my mission station, more than a thousand miles inland, and then he found that his snuff- boxes would not even buy food. On asking the reason for invest- ing in that trash, he replied that, in reading a book of travels, he saw that the natives were fond of peering into look- ing-glasses, and liked snuff,, and he thought that he might ob- tain ivory in abundance for these luxuries. I gathered from his conversation that he had even speculated on being made a chief. He said that he knew a young man who had so specu- lated ; and I took it to be him- self. We supported him for about a couple of months, but our stores were fast drawing to a close. We were then recently married, and the young house- keeper could not bear to appear inhospitable to a fellow-country- man. I relieved her by feeling an inward call to visit another tribe. " Oh," said our depen- dant, " I shall go too." " You had better not," was the reply, and no reason assigned. He civilly left some scores of his snuff-boxes, but I could never use them either. He frequently reiterated, " People think these blacks stupid and ignoiant ; but, by George^ they would sell any Englishman." * I may now give an idea of the state of supreme bliss, for the attainment of which all the atrocities of the so-called Arabs are committed in Central Africa. In conversing with a half-caste Arab prince, he advanced the opinion, which I believe is general among them, that all women were utterly and irre- trievably bad. I admitted that some were no better than they should be, but the majority were unmistakeably good and trustworthy. He insisted that the reason why we English allowed our wives so much liberty was because we did not know them so well as Arabs did. " No, no," he added, " no woman can be good — ^no Arab womaik — no English woman can be good; all must be bad;" and then he praised his own and countrymen's wisdom and cunning in keeping their wives from ever seeing other men. A rough joke as to making them- selves turnkeys, or, like the in- ferior animals, bulls over herds, turned the edge of his invec- RECENT AFRICAN DISCO VERIES. 631 ir, like the in- tives, and he ended by an in- vitation to his harem to show that he could be as liberal as the English. Captain S , of H.M.S. Corvette, accepted the invitation also to be made everlasting friends by eating bread with the prince's im- prisoned wives. The prince's mother, a stout lady of about forty-five, came first into the room where we sat with her son. When young she roust have been very pretty, and she still retained many of her for- mer good looks. She shook hands, inquired for our welfare, and to please us sat on a chair, though It would have been more agreeable for her to squat on a mat. She then asked the cap- tain if he knew Admiral Wyvil, who formerly, as Commodore, commanded at the Cape Sta- tion. 'It turned out that, many years before, an English ship was wrecked at the island on which she lived, and this good lady had received all the lady passengers into her house, and lodged them courteously. The Admiral had called to thank her, and gave her a written testimonial acknowledging her kindness. She now wished to write to him for old acquaint- ance sake, and the Captain promised to convey the letter. She did not seem to confirm her son's low opinion of women. A red cloth screen was lifted firom a door in front of where we sat, and the prince's chief wife entered in gorgeous ap- parel. She came forward with a pretty, jaunty step, and with a pleasant smile held out a neat little sweet cake, off which we each broke a morsel and ate it. She had a fine frank address, and talked and looked just as a fair English lady does who wishes her husband's friends to feel themselves perfectly at home. Her large, beautiful jet black eyes riveted the attention for some time before we could notice the adornments, on which great care had evidently been bestowed. Her head was crowned with a tall scarlet hat of nearly the same shape as that of a Jewish high priest, or that of some of the lower ranks of Catholic clergymen. A tight- fitting red jacket, profusely decked with gold lace, reached to the waist, and allowed about a finger's breadth of the skin to appear between it and the upper edge of the skirt, which was of white Indian muslin, dotted over with tambourine spots of crimson silk. The drawers came nearly to the ankles, on which were thick silver bangles, and the feet were shod with greenish yellow slippers, turned up at the toes, and roomy enough to make it probable she had neither corns nor bunions. Around her neck were many gold and silverchains; and she had ear-rings not only in the lobes of the ears, but others in holes made all round the rims. Gold and silver bracelets of pretty Indian workmanship decked the arms, and rings of the same ma- i«i» 632 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. terial set with precious stones graced every finger and each thumb. A lady alone could de- scribe the rich and rare attire, 80 I leave it. The only flaw in the get-up was short hair. It is so kept for the convenience of drying soon after the bath. To our northern eyes, it had a tinge too much of the masculine. While talking with this chief lady of the harem, a second en- tered and performed the cere- mony of breaking bread too. She was quite as gaily dressed, about eighteen years of age, of perfect form, and taller than the chief lady. Her short hair was oiled and smoothed down, and a little curl cultivated in front of each ear. This was plea- santly feminine. She spoke little, but her really resplendent eyes did all save talk. They were of a brownish shade, and lustrous, like the ** een o' Jeanie Deans filled wi' tears ; they glanced like lamour beads" — "lamour," Scotich for amber. The lectures of Mr. Hancock at Charing Cross Hospital, Lon- don, long ago, have made me look critically on eyes ever since. A third lady entered, and broke bread also. She was plain as compared with her sister houris, but the child of the chief man of those parts. Their complexion was fair brunette. The prince remarked that he had only three wives, though his rank entitled him to twelve. * A dark slave woman, dressed like, but less gaudily than her superior, now entered with a tray and tumblers of sweet sherbet. Having drunk there- of, flowers were presented, ami then betel-nut for chewing. The head lady wrapped up enough for a quid in a leaf, and handed it to each of us, and to please her we chewed a little. It is slightly bitter and astringent, and like a Kola-nut of West Africa, and was probably intro- duced as a tonic and preven- tive of fever. The lady superior mixed lime with her own and sister's — good large quids. This made the saliva flow freely, and it being of a brick-red colour, stained their pretty teeth and lipS) and by no means improved their looks^ It was the fashion, and to them nothing uncomely, when they squirted the red saliva quite artistically all over the floor. On asking the reason why the mother took no lime in her quid, and kept her teeth quite clean, she replied that the reason was, she had been on a pilgrimage to Mecca, and was a Hajee. The whole scene of the visit was like a gorgeous picture. The ladies had tried to please us, and were thoroughly successful. We were delighted with a sight of the life in a harem ; but whether from want of wit, wisdom, or something else, I should still vote for the one-wife system, having tried it for some eighteen years. I would not exchange a mono- gamic harem, with some merry, laughing, noisy children, for any polygamous gathering in Africa or the world. It scarcely RECENT AFRICAN DISCO VERIES. 623 belongs to the picture, which I have attempted to draw as favourably as possible, in order to show the supreme good for the sake of the possible attain- ment of which the half-caste Arabs perpetrate all the atroci- ties of the slave-trade ; but a short time after this visit, the prince fled on board our steamer for protection from creditors. He was misled by one calling himself Colonel Aboo, who went about the world saying he was a persecuted Christian. He had no more Christianity in him than a door-nail. At a spot some eighty miles south- west of the south end of Tan- ganyika, stands the stockaded village of the chief Chitimbwa. A war had commenced between a party of Arabs numbering 600 guns and the chief of the dis- trict situated west of Chitimbwa, while I was at the south end of the lake. * The Arabs hearing that an Englishman was in the country, naturally inquired where he was, and the natives, fearing that mischief was intended, denied positively that they had ever seen him. They then strongly advised me to take refuge on an inhabited island \ but, not explaining their reasons, I am sorry to think that I suspected them of a design to make me a prisoner, which they could easily have done by removing the canoes, the island being a mile from the land. They afterwards told me how nicely they had cheated the Arabs, and saved me from harm. The end of the lake is in a deep cup-shaped cavity, with sides running sheer down at some parts 2000 feet into the water. The rocks of red clay schist crop out among the sylvan vegetation, and here and there pretty cascades leap down the precipices, forming a landscape of surpassing beauty. Herds of elephants, buffaloes, and antelopes enliven the scene, and with the stockaded villages embowered in palms along the shores of the peaceful water, realise the idea of Xenophon's Paradise. When about to leave the village of Mbette, or Pam- bette, down there, and climb up the steep path by which we had descended, the wife of the chief came forward, and said to her husband and the crowd looking at us packing up our things, *■ Why do you allow this man to go awayl He will certainly fall into the hands of the Mazitu [here called Batubal, and you know it, and are silent." On inquiry, it appeared certain that these marauders were then actu- ally plundering the villages up above the precipices at the foot of which we sat. We waited six days, and the villagers kept watch on an ant-hill outside the stockade, all the time looking up for the enemy. When we did at last ascend, we saw the well-known lines of march of the Mazitu — straight as arrows through the country, without any regard to the native paths ; their object was simply plunder, for in this case there was no 624 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. bloodshed. We found that the really benevolent lady had pos- sessed accurate information. On going thence round the end of the lake, we came to the village of Karambo, at the con- fluence of a large river, and the head man refused us a passage across; "because," said he, "the Arabs have been fighting with the people west of us ; and two of their people have since been killed, though only in search of ivory. You wish to go round by the west of the lake, andjthe people may suppose that you are Arabs; and I dare not allow you to run the risk of being killed by mistake." On seeming to disbelieve, Karamba drew his finger across his throat, and said, " If at any time you discover that I have spoken falsely, I give you leave to cue my throat" That same after- noon two Arab slaves came to the village in search of ivory, and confirmed every word Ka- ramba had spoken. ' Having previously been much plagued by fever, and without a particle of medicine, it may have been the irritability produced by that disease that made me so absurdly pig-headed in doubting the intentions of my really kind benefactors three several times. The same cause may be in operation when modem travellers are unable to say a civil word about the natives; or if it must be ad- mitted, for instance, that savages will seldom deceive you if placed on their honour, why must we turn up the whites of our eyes, and say it is an instance of the anomalous character of the Africans ) Being heaps of ano- malies ourselves, , it would be just as easy to s^f that it is in- teresting to find other people like us. The tone which we modem travellers use is that of infinite superiority, and it is utterly nauseous to see at every step our great and noble ele- vation cropping out in low cunning. Unable to go north- west, we tumed off to go due south 150 miles or so; then proceeded west till past the disturbed district, and again resumed our northing. But on going some sixty miles we heard that the Arab camp was some twenty miles farther south, and we went to hear the news. The reception was extremely kind, for the party consisted of gentle- men from Zanzibar, and of a very different stamp from the murderers we afterwards saw at Manyema. They were afraid that the chief with whom they had been fighting might flee southwards, and that in going that way I might fall into his hands. Being now recovered, I could readily believe them; and they, being eager ivory traders, as readily believed me when I asserted that a con- tinuance of hostilities meant shutting up the ivory market. No one would like to sell if he stood a chance of being shot. Peace, therefore, was to be made; but the process of "mix- ing blood," forming a matri* RECENT AFRICAN DISCOVERIES. 625 of our eyes, tance of the ter of the leaps of ano- it would be tfiat it is in- other people le which we use is that of )r, and it is ) see at every id noble ele- out in low I to go north- jff to go due or so; then till past the t, and again hing. But on miles we heard imp was some ler south, and le news. The Ltremely kind, isted of gentle- jar, and of a |amp from the terwards saw jey were afraid ,th whom they ig might flee that in going [t fall into his [ow recovered, lelieve them; eager ivory y believed me that a con- itilities meant ivory market. e to sell if he if being shot. was to be locess of "mix- ing a matri- monial alliance with the chiefs daughter, etc., required three and a half months, and during long intervals of that time I remained at Chitimbwa's. The stockade was situated by a rivulet, and had a dense grove of high, damp-loving trees round a spring on one side, and open country, pretty well cultivated, on the oUier. It was cold, and over 4700 feet above the sea, with a good deal of forest land and ranges of hills in the dis- tance. The Arabs were on the west side of the stockade, and one of Chitimbwa's wives at once vacated her house on the east side for my convenience. * Chitimbwa was an elderly man with grey hair and beard, of quiet self-possessed manners. He had five wives ; and my hut being one of the circle which their houses formed, I often sat reading or writing outside, and had a good opportunity of see- ing the domestic life in this Central African harem without appearing to be prying. The chief wife, the mother of Chi- timbwa's son and heir, was somewhat aged, but was the matron in authority over the establishment. The rest were young, with fine shapes, plea- sant countenances, and nothing of the West Coast African about them. Three of them had each a child, making, with the eldest son, a family of four children to Chitimbwa. The matron seemed to reverence her hus- band, for, when she saw him ap- proaching, she invariably went out of the way, and knelt down till he had passed. It was the time of year for planting and weeding the plantations, and the regular routine work of all the families in the town was nearly as follows : — Between three and four o'clock in the morning, when the howling of the hyaenas and growling of the lions or leopards told that they had spent ^e night fasting, the first human sounds heard were those of the good-wives knock- ing o£f the red coals from the ends of the sticks in the fire, and raising up a blaze to which young and old crowded for warmth from the cold, which at this time is the most intense of the twenty-four hours. Some Psange smoker lights his pipe, and makes the place ring with his nasty screaming, stridulous coughing. Then the cocks be- gin to crow (about four a.m.), and the women call to each other to make ready to march. ' They go off to Uieir gardens in companies, and keep up a brisk, loud conversation, with a view to frighten away any lion or buffalo that may not yet have retu-ed, and for this the human voice is believed to be effica- cious. The gardens, or planta- tions, are usually a couple of miles from the village. This is often for the purpose of securing safety for the crops from their own goats or cattle, but more frequently for the sake of the black loamy soil near the banks of rivulets. This they prefer for maize and dura (holcus 2 R i i>P • •■St I ilil , "1 V: :l 626 7'HE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. sorghum), while, for a small species of millet, called mileza, they select a patch in the forest, which they manure by burning the branches of trees. The distance which the good-wives willingly go to get the soil best adapted for different plants makes their arrival just about dawn. Fire has been brought from home, and a little pot is set on with beans or pulse — something that requires long simmering — and the whole fa- mily begins to work at what seems to give them real plea- sure. The husband, who had marched in front of each little squad with a spear and little axe over his shoulder, at once begins to cut off all the sprouts on the stumps left in clearing the ground. All the bushes also fall to his share, and all the branches of tall trees too hard to be cut down are filed round the root, to be fired when dry. He must also cut branches to make a low fence round the plantation, for few wild beasts like to cross over anything hav- ing the appearance of human workmanship. The wart-hog having a great weakness for ground-nuts, otherwise called pig- nuts {Arachis hypogaa), must be circumvented by a series of pitfalls, or a deep ditch and earthen dike all round the nut plot. If any other animal has made free with the food of the family, papa carefully exa- mines the trail of the intruder, makes a deep pitfall in it, covers it carefully over ; and every day it is a most interesting matter to see whether the thief has been taken for the pot The mother works away vigorously with her hoe, often adding new patches of virgin land to that already under cultivation. The children help by removing the weeds and grass which she has uprooted into heaps to be dried and burned. They seem to know and watch every plant in the field. It is all their own ; no one is stinted as to the land he may cultivate ; the more they plant, the more they have to eat and to spare. In some parts of Africa the labour falls almost exclusively on the women, and the males are represented as atrociously cruel to them. It was not so here, nor is it so in Central Afiica generally. In- deed, the women have often decidedly the upper hand. The clearances by law and custom were the work of the men ; the weeding was the work of the whole family, and so was the reaping. The little girls were nursing baby under the shade of a watch-house perched on the tops of a number of stakes about twelve feet or fourteen feet high ; and to this the family adjourn when the dura is in ear, to scare away birds by day, and antelopes by night. * About II A.M. the sun be- comes too hot for comfortable work, and all come under the shade of the lofty watch-tower, or a tree left for the purpose. Mamma serves out the pottage, now thoroughly cooked by RECENT AFRICAN DISCO VERIES. 637 placing a portion in each pair of hands. It is bad manners here to receive any gift with but one hand They eat it with keen appetites, and with so much relish, that for ever after- wards they think that to eat with the hand is far nicer than with a spoon. Mamma takes and nurses baby while she eats her own share. Baby seems a gene- ral favourite, and is not ex- hibited till he is quite a little ball of fat Every one then takes off beads to ornament him. He is not born with a silver spoon in his mouth, and one may see poor mothers who have no milk muc a little flour and water in the palm of the hand, and the sisters look on with intense in- terest to see the little stranger making a milk-bottle of the side of the mother's hand, the crease therein just allowing enough to pass down. They are wide- awake little creatures, and I thought that my own little ones imbibed a good deal of this quality. I never saw such un- wearied energy as they display the livelong day, and that, too, in the hot season. The meal over, the wife, and perhaps daughter, goes a little way into the forest and collects a bundle of dry wood, and with the baby slung on her back in a way that suggests the flattening of the noses of many Africans. Placing the wood on her head, and the boy carrying her hoe, the party wends home. Each wife has her own granary in which the produce of the garden is stowed. It is of the beehive shape of the huts, only the wdls are about 13 feet high, and it is built on a stage about 18 inches from the ground. It is about 5 feet in diameter, and roofed with wood and grass. The door is near the ro6f ; and a ladder, made by nc'ches being cut in a tree, is used to enable the owner to climb into it. The first thing the good-wife does on coming home is to get the ladder, climb up, and bring down millet or dura grain suffi- cient for her family. She spreads it in the sun ; and while this is drying or made crisp, occurs the only idle time I have seen in the day's employment. Some rested, others dressed their hus- band's or neighbour's hair, others strung beads. I should have liked to see them take life more easily, for it is as pleasant to see the negro re- clining under his palm as it is to look at the white man lolling on his ottoman. But the great matter is, they enjoy their la- bour, and the children enjoy life as human beings ought, and have not the sap of life squeezed out of them by their own parents, as is the case with nailers, glass- blowers, stockingers, fustian-cut- ters, brick-makers, etc., in Eng- land. At other periods of the year, when harvest is home, they enjoy more leisure and jollifica- tion with their native beer called " pombe." But in no case of free people, living in their own free land under their own free laws, are they like what slaves become. I''- 1' 628 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS, * When the grain is dry, it is pounded in a large wooden mortar. To separate the scales from the seed, a dexterous toss of the hand drives all the chaff to one corner of the vessel. This is lifted out, and then the dust is tossed oat by another peculiar up-and-down half-hori- zontal motion of the vessel, diffi- cult to describe or do, which leaves the grain quite clean. It is then ground'into fine meal by a horizontal motion of the upper millstone, to which the whole weight is applied, and at each stroke the flower is shoved off the farther end of the nether millstone, and the flour is fin- ished. They have meat but seldom, and make relishes from the ponidge into which the flour is cooked, of the leaves of certain wild and cultivated plants; or they roast some ground nuts, grind them fine, and make a curry. They seem to know that oily matter, such as the iiuts contain, is requisite to modify their otherwise farin- aceous food, and some even grind a handful of castor-oil nuts with the grain for the same purpose. The husband having employed himself in the after- noon in making mats for sleep- ing on, in preparing skins for clothing, or in making new handles for hoes, or cutting out wooden bowls, joins the family in the evening, and all partake abundantly of the chief meal of the day before going off to sleep. They have considerable skill in agriculture, and great shrewd- ness in selecting the sorts pro* per for different kinds of pro- duce. When Bishop Mackenzie witnessed their operations in the field, he said to me, " When I was in England and spoke in public meetings about our mis- sion, I mentioned that, among other things, I meant to teach them agriculture ; but now I see that the Africans know a great deal more aibout it than I do." One of his associates, earnestly deshing to benefit the people to whom he was going, took lessons in basket-mdcing before he left England ; but the speci- mens of native workmanship he met withscene at Ilala, 605; body brought to England, and interment in Westminster, 607; letters on slave-trade, etc., 607-633. Lotus, the, 435. Luxor, Brace at, 138. Mandbvillb, Sir John: his travels, 43.96. Mandingoes, the, 394, 395, 401; stories told by, 40a Masuah, the port of, 159; the Naybe of, 162. Mecca, 48. Medina, 403. Mocha, the town of, 152. Mohammed, the life of, 66. Mombaz, missionaries at, 594. Monkish blessing, a, 318. Moors, the, 446, 447, 450, 457, 463; Park's captivity among, 446; escape from the, 47a Moss, hope derived from sight of, by Park, 507. Mother, an African, grief of, 436. Mount Tabor, 63. Sinai, 51 ; convent of, 51. Murchison, Sir Roderick, and Liv- ingstone Search Expedition, 599. Nazareth, 62. Negro slave, burial of a, 502 ; bridal customs, 519; baptism of children, 521; division of time, 522; reli- gious opi.:ions, 523 ; diseases and medicmes, 5^4 » music, love of, 526 J art of weaving, etc., 530. Niger, the, Park's arrival at, 480; towns on the, 490-493 ; Park's death in the, 581. Nile, an army crossing the, 262 ; a 638 INDEX. ford on the, 275 ; a terry on the, 350 ; Bruce at the Blue NUe, 281 ; the White Nile explored by Captain Speke, 592 J Livingstone's specula- tions as to the true sources of, 601 • 609. Norseman, the, 17. Nuba, natives of, 337. Nyassa, lake, 589 ; explored by Liv- ingstone, 596 ; slave-trade in the vicinity of, 596. OzoRO Esther's kindness to Bruce, 248 ; present to Bruce, 294. Oats, Wild, 275. Palmyra described by Bruce, 106. Paradise, terrestrial, 90. Park, Mungo, travels in Africa, 386- 582 ; his arrival at Jillifrey, 387 ; his captivity among the Moors, 446 ; escape from the, 470 ; death of, 581 ; discoveries subsequent to, 583-633. Parry, Lieutenant, Arctic Expedi- - tion, 29, 33 ; second expedition, 34. Peddie and Tuckey's African expedi- tion, 583. Physician, duties of a, 265. Fisania, the village of, 389; native customs of, 389. Plucking out the eyes of criminals, 226. Polar expeditions, number of, 40; English expedition of 1875, 40> 4'^' Polaris expedition, the, 39; results of the, 40. Prester, John's land, 76. Priest's family sold into slavery, 176. Proclamation as governor, a, 263. Purple fish of Tyre, 108. Pyramids, the, 49, 116, 118. Rae, Dr., finds traces of the Franklin expedition, 37. Ras, Michael, palace of, 181 ; Brace's meeting with, 205. Raw flesh, the eating of, 186. Red Sea, the, 5a Religion in Abyssinia, 238. Rhodes, Knight of, 45. Rosetta described by Brace, 112. Ross, Captain, joins Arctic expedi- tion, 29 ; second expedition, 35. Runic inscriptions, 17. Saphie, writing of a, 502. Scene of blood, a, 305-309. Sebaste, city of, 61. Sego, the town of, described, 48a Sennaar, Brace's reception in, 339 ; position of women in, 345 ; soil of, 34S ; the Nile, at, 346 j dress, 346 ; temperature, 347 ; sufferings in the desert of, 373. Shaw's travels, remarks on, 102. Shekh Nimmer visited by Brace, 129. Shiho tribes, the, 171. Shir^ river, the, 596. Shooting extraordinary, 224. Simoon, a, 359. Sittina, interview with, at Chendi, 3S4. Slave coffle, a, 478, 555, 565. Slave trade, the African, 398; Living- stone's letters on, 607-633. Slavery, some of the causes of, 535. Small-ftox, Abyssinian, remedies for, 201 ; remedies adopted by Brace, 203. Socinios, bratality of, 293. Speke, Captain, journey to South Africa, 588 ; first sight of L?ke Tan- ganyika, 58i9. Stoning to death, 225. Storm near Ptolemais, 104. Sultan of Babylonia, the, 46. Summary execution, a, 299. Syen^, Brace's arrival at, 131 ; inter- view with the Aga of, 131. Tacazze River, the, 189, 357. Tanganyika, disc* .ery of lake, 589. i86. j8. ttce, in. xctic expcdi- dition, 35* 33. JO9. ribed, 4Sa )tion in, 339 » , 345 ; ^^ o^» ^6; dress, 346; ifferings in the INDEX, 639 Taranta, the mountain of, 173; diffi* cult ascent of, 174. Tempting offer, a, 265, 331. Tensa ChristAs, Brace's interview with, 317. Terfowey, 368 ; simoon near, 369. Thebes, remains of temples at, 126 ; visit to the sepulchres, 127. Tyre, the fishermen of, 108. Ujui, discovery of lake, 589.- Vale of Devils, the, 87. Vale of Tears, the, 52. Victoria Nyanza, naming of lake, 589. Vizir of Jidda, 149. Wars in Africa described by Park, 533 ; wars of plunder, 534. Whirlwind, a violent, 337. Willoughby's voyage to the North, 18. Wines of Cyprus, 46. Wounded Greek, a, 26a Young, Mr. E. D., and Livingstone Search Expeditions, 599. Mr. James, of Kelly, 598. Zambesi, Livingstone's explorations on the, 595, 597. Zanzibar, arrival of Burton and Speke at, 588 ; Livingstone's arrival at, 598. Zeni Brothers, the, 17. s on, 102. ed by Bruce, r, 224. at Chendi, ;5> 565- 398; Living- >7-633. ittses of, 535. I, remedies for, Ipted by Bruce, 293. ley to South thtofLekeTan- L 104. Ihe, 46. ,299. at, 131 ; int«'^' |of, I3>' 189, 357- of lake, 589- KDINBURGH ! T. AND A. CONSTABLK. I'MIMTBRS TO THE QUBBN, AND TO THB UNIVERSITY.