Having determined the latitude and longitude of Cosseir, and also completed a long series of other observations, Bruce embarked on the 5th of April to continue his survey of the Red Sea, concerning the climate of which Captain Tuckey, of the royal navy, who, with most of his officers and men, perished in 1810 in attempting to trace the course of the Niger, thus wrote from Bombay: "It may surprise you to hear me complain of heat after six years broiling between the tropics; but the hottest day I ever felt, either in the East or West Indies, was winter to the coolest one we had in the Red Sea; the whole coast of 'Araby the Blessed,' from Babelmandel to Suez, for forty miles inland, is an arid sand, producing not a single blade of grass, nor affording one drop of fresh water."
Crossing the gulf, Bruce arrived in four days at Tor, a small straggling village at the foot of Mount Sinai. On the 11th of April he again sailed, coasting along the eastern shore, and landing for a short time at Yamboo; and then continuing his course towards the south, he arrived on the 1st of May at the extensive port of Jidda, which is in Arabia Deserta, and about half way between the Isthmus of Suez and the Straits of Babelmandel.
From Yambo to Jidda Bruce slept but little; having been constantly occupied with memoranda which he was desirous to complete. He was, besides, suffering and shaking from his Bengazi ague; and, burned and weatherbeaten, he was in his neglected garb so like a galiongy or Turkish seaman, that the captain of the port was astonished at hearing his servants, as they were conducting his baggage to the custom-house, say that the traveller was an Englishman.
The reader, having proceeded thus far in the history of Bruce's life, will have remarked with what unconquerable resolution he has hitherto proceeded on his journey, fearless of danger, shrinking from no fatigue, exposing himself to the scorching sun, and complaining neither of hunger nor thirst, but his spirit, like the water of a great river, seeming to acquire strength and boldness in its course as he daily approaches his distant goal. But how has it fared with the body, that frail companion of the mind, during this weary journey? On the subject of his health Bruce himself says but little; and it is only casually, in the following remarkable anecdote, that we are presented with a picture of his frame.
After having been insulted as an impostor by one of his countrymen, "I was conducted," says Bruce, "into a large room, where Captain Thornhill was sitting, in a white calico waistcoat, a very high pointed white cotton nightcap, 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 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, 'you 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 passage 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 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 supposed I did not understand, 'here is a poor Englishman, who 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 burying of one at Jidda.' I made as awkward a bow as I could to Captain Thornhill, and said, 'God will return this to your honour some day.' Philip carried me into a courtyard where they used to expose their samples of India goods in large bales. It had a portico along the left-hand side of it, which seemed designed for a stable. To this place I was introduced, and thither the cook brought me my dinner. I fell fast asleep upon the mat while Philip was ordering me another apartment."
Let this sketch of Bruce's jaded appearance be deeply engraven upon the memory of the reader; and, while the impression is fresh, he cannot but acknowledge what steady perseverance and what manly energy Bruce must have possessed, to have determined, in such a state of health, on continuing to explore the Red Sea, in addition to the arduous Abyssinian task which remained still to be performed. But, while he is sleeping on his mat, it is absolutely necessary that we should no longer delay noticing the observations which have been made on his voyage in the Red Sea, etc.
In the year 1805, thirty-four years after Bruce had left Abyssinia, eleven years after his death, and while his travels were still looked upon as romances, Lord Valentia, accompanied by his secretary, Mr. Salt, came from India into the Red Sea, and landed at Masuah, the island which forms the port or harbour of Abyssinia, no traveller having penetrated that country since the days of Bruce. His lordship's object in making this voyage will be best explained in his own words: "During my stay at Calcutta, I had the honour of freely conversing with the Marquis Wellesley on the subject of the Red Sea, and of stating to him my ideas and feelings, in which I had the happiness of finding that he fully concurred. At length I proposed to his excellency that he should order one of the Bombay cruisers to be prepared for a voyage to the Red Sea; and I offered my gratuitous services to endeavour to remove our disgraceful ignorance, by embarking in her, for the purpose of investigating the eastern shore of Africa, and making the necessary inquiries into the present state of Abyssinia and the neighbouring countries."
With these enterprising, enthusiastic, and noble feelings, Lord Valentia, like Bruce, proceeded to the Island of Masuah; but, on his arrival there, not liking to venture into the interior of so dangerous and uncivilized a country, and yet being desirous to publish "Travels to Abyssinia," etc., he desired Mr. Salt to go forward. Salt accordingly entered the country; but, not being able to reach the capital, he returned to Lord Valentia, leaving behind him one Nathaniel Pierce, an English sailor, who had deserted from his majesty's brig the Antelope, having previously, while a boy, ran away from his own friends.
On his return to England, as is well known, Lord Valentia published, in three quarto volumes, his "Travels to India, Ceylon, the Red Sea, Abyssinia, and Egypt;" and in 1810, at his lordship's suggestion, Mr. Canning sent Salt again to Abyssinia with presents, which consisted of "arms ornamented with gold and jewels, satins, cut glass, painted glass, jewellery, a picture of the Virgin Mary, fine British muslins, two pieces of curricle artillery, with the harness complete, one hundred and fifty rounds of ball, and a quantity of powder." With these magnificent presents (which amounted in value to upward of £1400), Mr. Salt again attempted to reach the capital; but, not succeeding, instead of bringing them back, he left them at Chelicut, which is about half way between the Red Sea and Gondar, the capital, to be forwarded to the king. However, Mr. Salt assures us "that an appropriate prayer was recited by the high-priest, in which the English name was frequently introduced, and, on leaving the church, an order was given by the ras that a prayer should be offered up weekly for the health of his majesty, the King of Great Britain. It is scarcely possible to convey," continues Salt, "an adequate idea of the admiration which the ras and his principal chiefs expressed on beholding these splendid presents. The former would often sit for minutes absorbed in silent reflection, and then break out with the exclamation 'Etzub! etzub!' (Wonderful! wonderful!) like a man bewildered with the fresh ideas that were rushing upon his mind, from having witnessed circumstances to which he could have given no previous credit."[22]
Salt, having thus got rid of fourteen hundred pounds' worth of presents (concerning which