The Life and Adventures of Bruce, the African Traveller Part 17

Bruce, drooping, bending in despondency over the fountains of the Nile, forms a striking picture, strongly exemplifying the practical difference between moral and religious exertions; for although, among men, he had gained his prize, it may justly be asked, What was it worth?

The course of a river is like the history of a man's life, and all of it that is useful is worth knowing; but the source of the one is as the birth of the other, and "the hillock of green sod" is the "infant mewling and puking in its nurse's arms."

Bruce, however, soon recovered from his despondency, though he could not reason it away; and he says, "I resolved, therefore, to divert it till I could, on more solid reflection, overcome its progress. I saw Strates expecting me on the side of the hill. 'Strates,' said I, 'faithful squire! come and triumph with your Don Quixote at that island of Barataria to which we have most wisely and fortunately brought ourselves! Come and triumph with me over all the kings of the earth, all their armies, all their philosophers, and all their heroes!' 'Sir,' says Strates, 'I do not understand a word of what you say, and as little 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 something farther to seek than your sash, for he has been talking with the old devil-worshipper ever since we arrived.' 'Come,' said I, 'take a draught of this excellent water, and drink with me a health to his majesty King George III., and a long line of princes.' I had in my hand a large cup, made of a cocoanut sh.e.l.l, which I procured in Arabia, and which was brimful.[31] 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!'[32]. He asked if that was the Virgin Mary. I answered, 'In faith, I believe so, Strates.' He did not speak, but only gave a humph of disapprobation. 'Come, come,' said I, 'don't be peevish; I have but one toast more to drink.' 'Peevish or not peevish,' replied Strates, 'a drop of it shall never again cross my throat: there is no humour in this--no joke. Show us something pleasant, as you used to do; but there is no jest in meddling with devil-worshippers, witchcraft, and enchantments, 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.'"

A number of the Agows had appeared upon the hill just before the valley, in silent astonishment at what Strates and Bruce could possibly be doing at the altar. Two or three, who came down to the edge of the swamp, had seen the grimaces and action of Strates; on which they asked Woldo, as he entered into the village, what was the meaning of all this? Woldo told them that the man was only out of his senses, having been bitten by a mad dog; with which they were perfectly satisfied, observing that he would be infallibly cured by the Nile, but that the proper mode of effecting the cure was to drink the water in the morning, fasting. "I was very well pleased," says Bruce, "both with this turn Woldo gave the action, and the remedy we stumbled upon by mere accident, which discovered a connexion, believed to subsist at this day, between this river and its ancient governor, the dog-star."

After this scene of affected cheerfulness, Bruce retired to his tent, where he was again haunted by the reflections which he had in vain endeavoured to shake off. He says, "Relaxed, 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 promote or to interrupt my slumbers; 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."

Bruce remained at Geesh four days, during which time he was constantly occupied in making various surveys and astronomical observations. "The hillock of green sod" is in the middle of a small marsh of about twelve feet in diameter, surrounded by a wall of sod, at the foot of which there is a narrow trench which collects the water. In the centre of this hillock there is a hole, filled with water, which has no ebullition or perceptible motion of any kind on its surface: this hole is about three feet in diameter and about six feet deep. At the distance of ten feet from the hillock there is a second small fountain, about eleven inches in diameter and eight feet deep; and at twenty feet there is another hole, some two feet broad and six feet deep. These holes or altars are surrounded by walls of sod, like the former. The water from all these unites; and the quant.i.ty, Bruce says, "would have filled a pipe of about two inches in diameter."

The result of about forty observations places these fountains in north lat.i.tude 10 59' 25", and 36 55' 30" east longitude. The mercury in the barometer stood at twenty-two inches, which indicates an alt.i.tude above the level of the sea of more than two miles. The thermometer, on the 6th of November, in the morning, was 44, at noon 96, and at sunset 46.

Having now given the result of Bruce's observations, it is necessary to make a few general remarks upon the subject.

There is, perhaps, no geographical problem which has occupied the attention of so many ages as the discovery of the sources of the Nile.

Had this river flowed through a rich and populous country, the information sought after would, like its waters, have descended rapidly from its source to its mouth; but in the great sandy desert of Nubia the problem of its origin was absorbed; and, thus flowing in mysterious solitude and silence, it reached Egypt, leaving its history behind it.

The curiosity, therefore, not only of the Egyptians, but of strangers of all countries, was constantly excited. The fruitless attempt of Cambyses to penetrate Ethiopia, the eager inquiries which Alexander is said to have made on his first arrival at the temple of Jupiter Ammon, and the expedition of Ptolemy Philadelphus, are the most ancient evidences of this curiosity.

If a river, like a ca.n.a.l, were as broad and valuable at one end as at the other, its source would be a point of as much importance as its mouth; but we have just seen what the source of a river is, and which may be defined as that point from which the most remote particle of its waters proceed.

In a populous country like England, where nearly every field has been the subject of a lawsuit, and where every one has been surveyed with the most scrupulous accuracy, the source of the Thames is of course no mystery; yet not one person out of a hundred thousand knows where it is, and for the reason that there is no practical use in the inquiry: all that one cares to know is how far the Thames is navigable; at what point, in short, it ceases to be useful to the community. But if this be the case in a highly civilized country, how wild a project must it appear to search for the source of a river through sands and deserts, and savage and barbarous nations, merely to determine from what particular spot its most distant drop of water proceeds! We might as well inquire, in an army of soldiers, which is the individual whose father or grandfather was born farthest from the capital: a question which some might call exceedingly curious, but which would certainly be very idle, and lead to endless and equally senseless discussion.

He who embarks in a useless enterprise is subject to disappointments which no rational being can lament; and, although we have hitherto supported Bruce in all his facts and feelings, in truth and justice we must now admit, that, of the above remark, this enterprising traveller is himself a most striking example; for, after all his trouble and perseverance, there can be no doubt, 1st, that the fountains of Geesh are not the real source of the Nile; and, 2dly, that Bruce was not the first European who visited even them.

A glance at any common map will show that, at about sixteen degrees, or eleven hundred miles, from the line, at the boundary of the tropical rains, the river Nile divides into two branches--the White river and the Blue river. The White river runs very nearly north and south; the Blue river, bending towards the east, comes from Ethiopia, or, as we term it, Abyssinia. Now a question naturally arises, Which of these two rivers is the princ.i.p.al stream? The Ethiopians have, of course, always claimed that distinction for the Blue river; and Cambyses, Alexander, Ptolemy, and almost every one down to Bruce, looked to Ethiopia for the sources of the Nile; but it is indisputably settled that the White river is the main branch or artery of the Nile. Nay, much to Bruce's honour, he himself admits this; and states not only that the White river is by far the larger and deeper of the two, but that it evidently proceeds from a more remote source; since, instead of periodically rising and falling as the Blue river does (which shows that the latter depends on the tropical rains), the waters of the White river are unceasingly flowing; which, as Bruce justly remarks, denotes that this river is fed by those distant rains which are known to be always falling in the neighbourhood of the equator. Our candid traveller adds, that if it were not for the constant supply of the White river, the waters of the Blue or Abyssinian river (which is formed by the union of three great streams, the Mareb, the Bowiha, and the Tacazze) would be absorbed in the sands of the desert of Nubia, and that the Nile would consequently never reach Egypt.

The real source of the Nile, therefore, still remains unknown, or, rather, it hangs in the equatorial clouds from which the rains that feed it descend.

Bruce, who had hazarded everything to solve the Quixotical problem of his day, naturally clings to the fact that the Blue river was in Abyssinia, and even in Sennaar considered as the true Nile. His statement has lately been corroborated by Burckhardt, who, in his Travels to Nubia in 1816, says, "It is usual with the native Arabs to call the branch of the river on which Sennaar lies, and which rises in Abyssinia, by the name Nil, as well as that of Bahr el Azrek (Blue river). Thus every one says that Sennaar is situated on the Nile; so far, therefore, Bruce is justified in styling himself the discoverer of the Nile; but I have often heard the Sennaar merchants declare, that the Bahr el Abyad (White river), which is the name invariably given to the more western branch, is considerably larger than the Nile."

But the Blue river was not only looked upon as the Nile in Nubia and Abyssinia; it had also been always so considered in Europe; and Bruce accordingly did reach the goal which human curiosity had so long been striving to attain.

In regard, however, to his having been the discoverer of the source of the Blue river, or Abyssinian Nile, it must also be admitted that Bruce was not the first European who visited it. Peter Paez, the intelligent Jesuit, whose career has been already noticed in our slight sketch of the history of Abyssinia, certainly visited, one hundred and fifty years before Bruce, these fountains, which he describes with very tolerable exactness; and although Bruce, eager and jealous, very naturally endeavours to detect small inaccuracies, yet it is perfectly evident that Paez's description is that of an eyewitness. Paez, it is true, says that the fountains "are about a league or a cannon-shot distant from Geesh;" whereas, on measuring this distance, Bruce found it to be only a third of a mile; but, in a strange country and atmosphere, conjectures as to distance are almost always erroneous; and a Jesuit's calculation of the range of a cannon-shot would not, probably, be anywhere very correct.

But, although Paez first saw and described the fountains of Geesh, it may fairly be said that Bruce was the first to impart the intelligence to the European public; for Paez's description, which was originally written in Portuguese, was published in Latin, after his death, by Athanasius Kircher, a brother Jesuit, well known for his extensive learning and his voluminous writings; and appearing in this form, and containing also a number of improbable statements, it made no progress beyond the little circle or society to which it was originally addressed.

It is undoubtedly true, that, in Bruce's time, the discovery of the source of the Abyssinian river was still the idle problem of the day; and therefore, although Paez had gone thither before him, and though Kircher had actually published Paez's account of these fountains, the intelligence had never reached the public ear, the fact having been unnoticed from the absurdities with which it was combined. In short, it is evident that to Bruce the public is practically indebted for the description (whatever it may be worth) of the "hillock of green sod,"

the source of the Bahr el Azergue, one of the great branches of the Nile.[33]

It must farther be admitted, that Bruce manfully performed his task; and his solid reputation can well afford, if necessary, to throw aside altogether the bawble for which, as a young man, he so eagerly and enthusiastically contended: the reader has only to glance his eye over the immense country he has delineated to perceive the justice of this remark. But to return to the narrative.

When Bruce first reached the fountains of Geesh, the miserable Agows eagerly a.s.sembled around Woldo, to inquire how long the party was to remain among them. Fasil's horse was quite sufficient to explain from whence the strangers had arrived; and it was consequently expected that they were to be maintained as long as they might think proper to stop.

Woldo, however, soon dissipated all their fears. He told them of the king's grant of the village of Geesh to Bruce; and added, that he was come to live happily among them, to pay them for everything, and, moreover, that no military service would be required from them, either by the king or the governor of Damot. This joyful intelligence was quickly circulated among these simple people; and, when Bruce returned from the fountain, he met with a very hearty welcome at the village.

The shum, the priest of the river, gave up his own house to our traveller, and his attendants were lodged in four or five others. "Our hearts," says Bruce, "were now perfectly at ease, and we pa.s.sed a very merry evening. Strates, above all, endeavoured, with many a b.u.mper of the good hydromel of Bure, to subdue the evil spirit which he had swallowed in the enchanted water."

Woldo was also perfectly happy. Out of sight of everything belonging to Fasil except his horse, he displayed Bruce's articles for barter to the shum, to whom he explained that oxen and sheep would be paid for in gold. The poor shum, overpowered at the sight of so much wealth and generosity, told Woldo that he must insist that Bruce and his attendants should take his daughters as their housekeepers. "The proposal was,"

says Bruce, "a most reasonable one, and readily accepted. He accordingly sent for three in an instant, and we delivered them their charge. The eldest, called Irepone, took it upon her readily; she was about sixteen years of age, of a stature above the middle size, but she was remarkably genteel, and, colour apart, her features would have made her a beauty in any country in Europe: she was, besides, very sprightly; we understood not one word of her language, though she comprehended very easily the signs that we made."

The next day a white cow was killed, and every one was invited to partake of her. The shum should have been of the party, but he declined sitting or eating with the strangers, though his sons were not so scrupulous. He accordingly was left to pray to the Spirit of the River, which these poor, deluded people call "The Everlasting G.o.d, Light of the World, Eye of the World, G.o.d of Peace, Saviour, and Father of the Universe!"

Bruce asked the old shum if ever he had seen the Spirit; he answered, without hesitation, "Yes, very frequently!"

The shum, whose t.i.tle was Kefla Abay, or "Servant of the River," was a man of about seventy. The honourable charge which he possessed had been in his family, he conceived, from the beginning of the world; and, as he was the father of eighty-four children, it would appear that his race was likely to flow as long as the Nile itself. He had a long white beard; and round his body was wrapped a skin, which was fastened by a broad belt. Over this he wore a cloak, the hood of which covered his head: his legs were bare, but he wore sandals, which he threw off as soon as he approached the bog from which the Nile rises; a mark of respect which Bruce and his attendants were also required to show.

The Agows, in whose country the Nile or Blue river rises, are, in point of number, one of the most considerable nations in Abyssinia, although they have been much weakened by their battles with the Galla tribes.

They supply Gondar with cattle, honey, wheat, hides, wax, b.u.t.ter, &c. To prevent their b.u.t.ter from melting on the road, they mix with it the yellow root of an herb called mot-moco. This country, although within ten degrees of the line, is, from its elevation, healthy and temperate; the sun is, of course, scorching, but the shade is cool and agreeable.

The Agows are said not to be long livers, but their precise age it is very difficult to ascertain. "We saw," says Bruce, "a number of women, wrinkled and sunburned, so as scarce to appear human, wandering about under a burning sun, with one, and sometimes two children upon their back, gathering the seeds of bent gra.s.s to make a kind of bread."

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Kefla Abay, or "Servant of the River."_]

By the 9th of November Bruce had finished all his observations relating to these remarkable places: he traced again, on foot, the whole course of the Nile, from its source to the plain of Goutto.

"Our business," says he, "being now done, nothing remained but to depart. We had pa.s.sed our time in perfect harmony; the address of Woldo, and the great attachment of our friend Irepone, had kept our house in a cheerful abundance. We had lived, it is true, too magnificently for philosophers, but neither idly nor riotously; and, I believe, never will any sovereign of Geesh be again so popular, or reign over his subjects with greater mildness. I had practised medicine gratis, and killed, for three days successively, 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 decorated two of his daughters with beads of all the colours of the rainbow, adding every other little present they seemed fond of, or that we thought would be agreeable. As for our amiable Irepone, we had reserved for her the choicest of our presents, 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 generous and n.o.ble in her sentiments than we, seemed to pay little attention to these, which 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 G.o.d, 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 country and end of my little sovereignty."

FOOTNOTES:

[31] This sh.e.l.l was brought home by Bruce, and is still preserved.

[32] A lady in England to whom Bruce was very deeply attached.

[33] Still doubts have been expressed whether the fountains discovered by Bruce are the most distant source of the Bahr el Azrek or Blue river, Mr. English, an American, who was in the service of Ishmael Pasha, in his narrative of an expedition to Dongola and Sennaar, expresses an opinion that "the Nile of Bruce has not its princ.i.p.al fountain in Abyssinia, but rather in the lofty range a.s.signed for its origin by the people of Sennaar. On viewing the ma.s.s of water downward while he was in the kingdom now mentioned, even before the flood had attained two thirds of the usual magnitude it acquires during the rainy season, he thought it very improbable that the main source of such a river was not distant more than three hundred miles."--See _History, &c., of Nubia and Abyssinia_, Harpers' Family Library.--_Am. Ed._

CHAPTER XIV.

Bruce returns to Gondar.--His Residence there.--Accompanies the King in the Battles of Serbraxos.--Revolution at Gondar.--Defeat and Overthrow of Ras Michael.--Bruce returns to Gondar, and succeeds in obtaining Permission to leave Abyssinia.

On the 10th of November, 1770, Bruce left Geesh to return to Gondar, and on the evening of the 11th he reached the house of Shakala Welled Amlac, to whom he had been addressed by Fasil. This singular character was from home; but his wife, mother, and sisters received Bruce kindly, knowing him by report; and, without waiting for Amlac, a cow was instantly slaughtered.

The venerable mistress of this worthy family, Welled Amlac's mother, was a very stout, cheerful woman, and bore no signs of infirmity or old age: "but his wife," says Bruce, "was, on the contrary, as arrant a hag as ever acted the part on the stage; very active, however, and civil, and speaking very tolerable Amharic." His two sisters, about sixteen or seventeen, were really handsome; but Fasil's wife, who was there, was the most beautiful and graceful of them all: she seemed to be scarcely eighteen, tall, thin, and of a very agreeable carriage and manners. At first sight, a cast of melancholy seemed to hang upon her countenance, but this soon vanished, and she became very courteous, cheerful, and conversible.

"Fasil's two sisters," says Bruce, "had been out, helping my servants in disposing the baggage; but when they had pitched my tent, and were about to lay the mattress for sleeping on, the eldest of these interrupted them, and, not being able to make herself understood by the Greeks, she took it up and threw it out of the tent door, while no abuse or opprobrious names were spared by my servants; one of whom came to tell me her impudence, and that they believed we were got into a house of thieves and murderers. To this I answered by a sharp reproof, desiring them to conform to everything the family ordered them.

"Immediately after this Welled Amlac arrived, and brought the disagreeable news that it was impossible to proceed to the ford of the Abay, as two of the neighbouring shums were at variance about their respective districts, and in a day or two would decide their dispute by blows."

Satisfied that Bruce understood him, Amlac put on the most cheerful countenance. Another cow was killed, great plenty of hydromel produced, and he prepared to regale his guests as sumptuously as possible, after the manner of the country. "We were there," says Bruce, "as often before, obliged to overcome our repugnance to eating raw flesh. Shakala Welled Amlac set us the example, entertained us with the stories of his hunting elephants, and feats in the last wars, mostly roguish ones. The room where we were (which was indeed large, and contained himself, mother, wife, sisters, his horses, mules, and servants, night and day) was all hung round with the trunks of these elephants, which he had brought from the neighbouring Kolla, near Guesgue, and killed with his own hands; for he was one of the boldest and best hors.e.m.e.n in Abyssinia, and perfectly master of his arms.

"This Polyphemus feast being finished, the horn of hydromel went briskly about. Welled Amlac's eldest sister, whose name was Melectanea, took a particular charge of me, and I began to find the necessity of retiring and going to bed while I was able."

The next day Bruce observed that Fasil's wife still appeared in low spirits; he therefore conversed with her. She said her husband was at Gondar; that it was the custom of the country that the conqueror should marry the wives of his enemies, and in grief she added, "Fasil will be married, therefore, to Michael's wife, Ozoro Esther." Bruce started at this declaration, remembering that he was losing his time, forgetful of a promise he had made that he would return as soon as possible to Gondar. He therefore resolved to depart at once. "In the afternoon," he says, "we distributed our presents among the ladies. Fasil's wife was not forgot; and his sister, the beautiful Melectanea, was covered with beads, handkerchiefs, and ribands of all colours. Fasil's wife, on my first request, gave me a lock of her fine hair from the root, which has ever since, and at this day does, suspend a plummet of an ounce and a half at the index of my three-feet quadrant."