RAVEL TO DISCOVER THE SOURCE OF THE NILE, TRAVELS TO DISCOVER THE SOURCE OF THE NILE, V O L. 1. Opus aggredior vpimum ai/tlus, atrox pr. pleafe. I took with me a French renegado, of the name of Ofman, recommended to me by Monfieur Bartheleny de Saizieux, conful of France to that Rate; a gentleman whofe conversation and friendfhip furnifh me ft ill with fume of the moR agreeable reflections that refult from my travels. With Ofman I took ten fpahi, or horfe-foldiers, well armed with firelocks and piftols, excellent horfemen, and, as far as Icould everdifcern upon the few occafions that prefented, as eminent for cowardice, at leaft, as they .were for horfemanfhip. This was not the cafe with Ofman, who was very brave, but he needed a (harp look-out, that he did not often embroil us where there was #ccefs to women or to wine. ■ One of the moft agreeable favours I received was from a lady of the Bey, who furnifhed me with a two-wheeled covered cart, exactly like thofe of the bakers in England. In this I fecured my quadrant and telefcope from the weather, and at times .put likewife fome of the feebleR of my attendants. Befides thefe I had ten fervants, two of whom were Irifh, who having deferted from rhe Spaniih regiments in Oran, and being Britifh born, though flaves, as being Spaniih foldiers, were given to me at parting by the Pey of Algiers. The coaft along which I had failed was "part of Numidia and Africa Proper, and there I met with no ruins. I refol-ved now to diitribute my inland journey through the.kingdom of Algiers and Tunis. In order to compreliLi. 1 the whole, I firft fet out along the river Majerda, through a country perfectly cultivated and inhabited by people under 2 the trie controul of government, this river was the ancient Bag-rada*. After pafTing a triumphal arch of bad tafle at BafiUbab, I came the next day to Thuggaf, perhaps more properly called Tucca, and by the inhabitants Dugga. The reader in this part mould have Doctor Shaw's Work before him, my map of the journey not being yet published ; and, indeed, after Shaw's, it is fcarcely neceffary to thofe who need only an itinerary, as, befides his own obfervations, he had for ba*. fis thofe of San fen. I found at Dugga a large fcene of ruins, among which' one building was eafily diftinguifhablc. It was a large temple of the Corinthian order, all of Parian marble, the columns fluted, the cornice highly ornamented in the very beft ftyle of fculpture. In the tympanum is an eagle flying to heaven, with a human figure upon his back, which, by the many inferiptions that are Rill remaining, feems to be intended for that of Trajan, and the apotheofis of that emperor to be the fubject; the temple having been erected by Adrian to that prince; his benefactor and predeceflbr, I fpent fifteen days upon the architecture of this temple without feeling the fmallefl difguft, or forming a wifh to finifh it; itis,withall its parts,Rill unpublifhedin my collection, Thefe beautiful and magnificent remains of ancient taRe and greatnefs, fo eaflly reached in perfect fafety, by a ride along the Bagrada, full as pleafant and as fafe as along the Thames between • Strabo lib xTii. p. i j 89. It fignifies the liver of Cows, or Kine. P. Mela lib. i. cap, 7. Sri. It, lib. Ti. I. 140,. t Vml Geog. lib. iv. Procop, lib, 11, cap, 5. de JEdif. between London and Oxford, were at Tunis totally unknown. Doctor Shaw has given the fituation of the place, without faying one word about any thing curious it contains. From Dugga I continued the upper road to KefT*, formerly called Sicca Venerea, or Venerea ad siccam, through the pleafant plains inhabited by the Welled Yagoube. I then proceeded to Hydra, the Thunodrunum f of the ancients. This is a frontier place between the two kingdoms of Algiers and Tunis, as Keif is alfo. It is inhabited by a tribe of Arabs, whofe chief is a marabout, or faint ; they are called Welled Sidi Boogannim, the " fons of the father of flocks." These Arabs arc immenfely rich, paying no tribute either to Tunis or Algiers. The pretence for this exemption is a very Angular one. By the inftitution of their founder, they are obliged to live upon lions flefh for their daily food, as far as they can procure it; with this they ilrictly comply, and, in conftderation of the utility of this their vow, they are not taxed, like the other Arabs, with payments to the Rate. , The confcquencc of this life is, that they are excellent and well-armed horfemen, exceedingly bold and undaunted hunters. It is generally imagined, indeed, that thefe confiderations, and that of their fituation on the frontier, have as much influence in procuring them exemption efrom taxes, as the utility of their vow. ■ 7 There * Val. Max. lib. ii. cap. 6. § 15, f Ptol. Geog. lib. ir. There is at Thunodrunum a triumphal arch, which Dr Shaw thinks is more remarkable for its fize than for its taftc or execution ; but the fize is not extraordinary ; on the other hand, both taftc and execution are admirable. It is, with all its parts, in the King's collection, and, taking the whole together, is one of the moft beautiful landfcapes in black and white now exifting. The diftance, as well as the fore-ground, are both from nature, and exceedingly well calculated for fuch reprefentation. v « Before Dr Shaw's travels firft acquired the celebrity they have maintained ever fince, there was a circumftance that very nearly ruined their credit. He had ventured to fay in converfation, that thefe Welled Sidi Boogannim were eaters of lions, and this was confidercd at Oxford, the univerfity where he had ftudicd, as a traveller's licenfe on the part of the Doctor, They took it as a fubverfion of the natural order of things, that a man fliould eat a lion, when it had long paffed as almoft the peculiar province of the lion to eat man. The Doctor flinched under the fagacityjmd fe- uiil+l-f+y*'*-4^} verity of this criticifm ; he could not deny that the Welled $ errrv* • Sidi Boogannim did eat lions, as he had repeatedly faid ; but he had not yet published his travels, and therefore left it out of his narrative, and only hinted at it after in his appendix. &TL- A With all fubmifiion to that learned univerfity, I will not difpute the lion's title to eating men ; but, fince it is not founded upon patent, no confideration will make me utile the merit of Welled Sidi Boogannim, who have turned the „ chace upon the enemy. It is an hiftorical fact; and I will not fuffer the public to be milled by a mifreprefentation Vol. I. d of of it; on the contrary, I do aver, in the face of thefe fantaf-tic prejudices, that I have ate the flefh of lions, that is, part of three lions, in the tents of Welled Sidi Boogannim. The firft was a he-lion, lean, tough, fmelling violently of mufk, and had the taftc which, I imagine, old horfe-fleih would have. The fecond was a lionets, which they faid had that year been barren. She had a confiderable quantity of fat within her ; and, had it not been for the mufky fmell that the flefh had, though in a leffer degree than the former, and for our foolifh prejudices againft it, the meat, when broiled, would not have been very bad. The third was a a lion's whelp, fix or feven months old ; it tailed, upon the whole, the worft of the three. I confefs I have no defire of being again ferved with fuch a morfel; but the Arabs,, a brutilh and ignorant folk, will, J[ fear, notwithftanding, U> the difbelief of the univerfity of Oxford, continue to eat lions., as long as they exift. From Hydra I palled to the ancient Tipafa % another Roman colony, going by the fame name to this day. Here is a moft extenfive fcene of ruins. There is a large temple, and a four-faced triumphal arch of the Corinthian order, in the very beft tafte; both of which are now in the collection of the King. I here croffed the river Myfkianah, which falls into the Bagrada, and continuing through one of the moft beautiful and beft-cultivated countries in the world, I entered the eaftcrn province of Algiers,now called Conftantina, ancient- *jbsiU Geog. lib. iv. p. io6. ly the Mauritania Ccefarienfls, whofe capital, Conftantina, is the ancient metropolis of Syphax. It was called Cirta *, and, after Julius Csefar's conqueft, Cirta Sittianorum, from Caius Sittius who firft took it. It is fituated upon a high, gloomy, tremendous precipice. Part only of its aqueduct remains: the water, which once was carried into the town, now fpills itfelf from the top of the cliff into a chafm, or narrow valley, above four hundred feet below. .The view of it is in the King's collection ; a band of robbers, the figures which adorn it, is a compotition from imagination ; all the reft is perfectly real. The Bey was at this time in his camp, as he was making war With the Hanneifhah, the moft powerful tribe of Arabs in that province. After having refrcihed myfelf in the Bey's palace I fet out to Setcef, the Sitifif of antiquity, the capital of Mauritania Sitifenfis, at fome diftance from which I joined the Bey's army, confiftingof about 12,000 men, with four pieces of cannon. After ftaying a few days with the Bey, and obtaining his letters of recommendation, I proceeded to Taggou-zainah, anciently Diana Veteranorum J, as we learn by an infeription on a triumphal arch of the Corinthian order which I found there. From Taggou-zainah I continued my journey nearly ftraight S. E. and arrived at Mcdrafhcm, a fuperb pile of building, the fepulchre of Syphax, and the other kings of Numidia, and where, as the Arabs believe, were alib depo- d 2 lited * Ptol. Geog. lib. iv. p. 111. f Ttol. Geog. Hb. iv. p. iif< J Vide I tin. Anton. fitcd the treafures of thofe kings. A drawing of this monument is Rill unpublifhed in my collection-. Advancing Hill to the S. F. through broken ground and fome very barren valleys, which produced nothing but game, I came to Jib* bel Aurez, the Aurafius Moils of the middle age. This is not one mountain, but an affemblagc of many of the moft craggy Reeps in Africa. Here I met, to my great aftonifhment, a tribe, who, if I cannot fay they were fair like Englifh, were of a Iliad® lighter than that of the inhabitants of any country to ths fouthward of Britain. Their hair alfo was red, and their eyes blue. They are a favage and independent people ; it required addrefs to approach them with fafety, which, however, I accomplilhed, (the particulars would take too much room for this place), was well received, and at perfect liberty to do whatever I plcafed. This tribe is called Neardie; Each of the tribe, in the middle between their eyes, has a Greek crofs marked with antimony. They are Kabyles* Though living in tribes, they have among the mountains huts, built with mud and ftraw, which they call Dafhkrasv whereas the Arabs live in tents on the plains. I imagine thefe to be a remnant of Vandals. Procopius* mentions a. defeat of an army of this nation here, after a defperatc refinance, a remnant of which may be fuppofed to have maintained themfelves in thefe mountains. They with great plcafure confefled their anccftors had been Chriflians, and feemed to rejoice much more in that relation than in any connection with the Moors, with whom they live in perpetual '* IWep. EclL Vand. lib. K. cap. i tual war: they pay no taxes to the Bey, but live in conftant defiance of him. As this is the Mons Audus of Ptolemy, here too mud be fixed his Lambefa*, or Lambefentium Colonia, which, by a hundred Latin inferiptions remaining on the fpot, it is atteft-cd to have been. It is now called Tezzoute : the ruins of the city are very extenfivc. There are feven of the gates Rill Handing, and great pieces of the walls folidly built ^with fquare mafonry without lime. The buildings remaining are of very different ages, from Adrian to Aurelian,nay even toMaximin. One building only, fupported by columns of the Corinthian order, was in good tafte; what its ufe was I know not. The drawing of this is in the King's collection. It was certainly defigned for fome military purpofe, by the fize of the gates ; I fhould fufpecT a (table for elephants, or a repofitory for catapulta, or other large military machines, though there are no traces left upon the walls indicating either. Upon the key-Rone of the arch of the principal gate there is a baffo-relievo of the ftandard of a legion, and upon it an inscription, Legio tenia Augufta,, which legion, we know from hiftory, was quartered here. Dr Shawf fays, that there is here a neat, round, Corinthian temple, called Cubb el Arroufah, the Cupola or Dome of the Bride or Spoufc. Such a building does exift, but it is by no means of a good tafte, nor of the Corinthian order ; but of a long difproportioned Doric, of the time of Aurelian, and does not merit the attention of any architect. Dr Shaw never *PtoLGcog. lib. iv. p. in. tShaw's Travel*, chap. viii. p. 57.. never was fo far fouth as Jibbel Aurez, fo could only fay this from report. From Jibbel Aurez nothing occurred in the Ryle of architecture that was material. Hydra remained on the left hand. I came to Caffareen, the ancient Colonia Scillitana*, where I fuffcrcd fomcthing both from hunger and from fear. The country was more rugged and broken than any we had yet fecn, and withal lefs fruitful and inhabited. The Moors of thefe parts are a rebellious tribe, called Nemem% lhah, who had Red from their ordinary obligation of attending the Bey, and had declared themfelves on the part of ihe rebel-moors, the IXcnnciihah. My intentions now were to reach Feriana, the Thala f of the ancients, where I expected confiderable fubjects for Rudy ; but in this 1 was difappointcd, and being on the frontier, and in dangerous times, when feveral armies were in the field, I thought it better to Reer my courfe eaft-ward, and avoid the theatre of war. Journeyino eaft, I came to Spaitla j, and again got into the kingdom of Tunis. Spaitla is a corruption of SufTetula ||, which was probably its ancient name before it became a Roman colony; fo called from Suffetcs, a magiftrature in all the countries dependent upon Carthage. Spaitla has many inferiptions, and' very extenfivc and elegant remains. There arc three temples, two of them Corinthian, and one of the * Shavfs Travel?, cap. v. p. n 9. f Sal. Bd. Jug. j 94. L, Flor. lib. iii. cap. I. t Shaw's Travels, chap. v. p. 118. j| Itin. Anton, p. 3. the Com pofite order; a great pan of them is entire. Abeautiful and perfect: capital of the Compofitc order, the only perfect one that now exifts, is defigned, in all its parts, in a very large fize ; and, with the detail of the rcR of the ruin, is a precious monument of what that order was, now in the collection of the King. Doctor Shaw, Rruck with the magnificence of Spaitla, has attempted fomething like the three temples, in a ilile jnuch like what one would expect: from an ordinary carpenter, or mafon* I hope I have done them more juftice, and L recommend the Rudy of the Compofne capital, as of the Corinthian capital at Dugga, to thofe who really with to know the tafte with which thefe two orders were executed in the time of the Antonines,. The Welled Omran, alawlefs, plundering tribe, inquieted mc much in the eight days I ft aid at Spaitla. It was a fair match between coward and coward. With my company, I was inclofcd in a fquare in which the three temples Rood, where there yet remained a precinct of high walls. Thefe plunderers would have come in to me , but were afraid of my fire-armsand I would have run away from them, had I not been afraid of meeting their horfe in the plain. I was almofl: ftarvcd to death, when I was relieved by the arrival of Welled Haifan, and a friendly tribe of Dreeda, that came to my affiftance, and brought me, at once, both fafcty and provifion, From Spaitla I went to Gilma, or Oppidum Chilma-nenfe. There is here a large extent of rubbifh and ftones, but no diflinct trace of any building whatever. 4 Eroj*> From Gilma I patted to Muchtar, corruptly now fo call" ed. Its ancient name is Tucca Terebinthina * Dr Shawf fays its modern name is Sbeeba, but no fuch name is known here. I might have paiTed more directly from Spaitla fouth-ward, but a large chain of mountains, to whofe inhabitants I had no recommendation, made me prefer the fafer and plainer road by Gilma. At Tucca Terebinthina are two triumphal arches, the largeft.of which I fuppofe equal in tafte, execution, and mafs, to any thing now exifting in the world. The letter is more fimple, but very elegant. They are both,, with all the particulars of their parts, not yet engraved, but Rill in my collection. From Muchtar, or Tucca Terebinthina, we came to Kifterf, which Dr Shaw conjectures to have been the Colonia Afluras of the ancients, by this it lhould feem he had not been there ; for there is an inscription upon a triumphal arch of very good tafte, now ftanding, and many others to be met. with up and down, which confirms beyond doubt his conjecture to be a juft one. There is, befides this, a fmall iquarc temple, upon which are carved feveral inftruments of facrifice, which arc very curious, but the execution of thefe is much inferior to the dedgn. It Rands on the declivity of a hill, above a large fertile plain, Rill called the Plain of Surfe, which is probably a corruption of its ancient name Afluras. From KifTcr I came to Mufti, where there is a triumphal arch of very good taftc, but perfectly in ruins ; the i merit * Itin. Anton, p. J, | Shaw's Travels, cap. v. p. 115. % Cel. GvOg. Antique, lib. iv. cap. 4. and c^p. 5. p. 118. merit of its feveral parts only could be collected from the fragments which lie ftrewcd upon the ground. Prom Mufti * I proceeded north-eaftward to Tubcrfokc, thence again to Dugga, and down the Bagrada to Tunis. My third, or, which may be called my middle journey through Tunis, was by Zowan, a high mountain, where is a large aqueduct- which formerly carried its water to Carthage. Thence I came to Jelloula, a village lying below high mountains on the weft ; thefe are the Montcs VaiTaleti of Ptolemy J, as the town itfelf is the Oppidum Ufalitanum of Pliny. I fell here again into the ancient road at Gilma ; and, not fatisficd with what I had fecn of the beauties of Spaitla, I palfed there five days more, correcting and revi-fing what I had already committed to paper. Independent of the treafurc 1 found in the elegance of its buildings, the town itfelf is fituated in the moft beautiful fpot in Barbary, furrouiidcd thick with juniper-trees, and watered by a plea-fant ltream that finks there under the earth, and appears no more. Here I left my former road at Caftareen, and proceeding directly S. k. came to rcriana, the road that I had abandoned before from prudential motives, f criana, as has been before obferved, is the ancient 1 hala, taken and deftroyed by Metellus in his purfuit of Jugurtha. I had formed, I know not from what reafon, fanguinc expectations of ele- vol. 1. e gant * Itin. Anton, p. 2. t Ptol. Geo£. lib. iv. p. 110. xxxi/ I NT RODUGTIO N; gant remains here, but in this I was difappointed ; I found nothing remarkable but the baths of very warm water5* without the town ; in thefe there was a number of fifh,. above four inches in length, not unlike gudgeons,. Upon trying the heat by the thermometer,! remember to hava been much furpi ifed that they could have cxifled, or even net been boiled, by continuing long in the heat of this medium. As I marked the degrees with a pencil while I was myfelf naked in the water, the leaf was wetted accidentally, fo that I miffed the precife degree I meant to have recorded, and do not pretend to fup ply it from memory. The bath is at the head of the fountain,, and the flream runs off to a confider-able diflance. I think there were about five or fix dozen of thefe fifh in the pool.- I was told likewife, that they went down into the flream to a certain diflance in the day, and returned to the pool, or warmer! and deepefl water,, at night. From Feriana I proceeded S. E.'to Gafsa, the ancient Capfaf; and thence to Tozer, formerly Tifurus ||. I then turned nearly N. E. and entered a large lake of water called the Lake of Marks, becaufe in the paffage of it there is a row of large trunks of palm-trees let up to guide travellers in the road which croffes it. Doctor Shaw has fettled very dillinctly the geography of this place, and thofe abous it. It is the Palus Tritonidis }, as he juflly obferves ; thia was the moft barren and unpleafant part of my journey in * Tins fountain IS called El Tarmid. Nub. Geog. p. 86. t Sa*> Sell. § 94. H Itin. Anton, p. 4. t ShawV Travels, cap. v. p. in Africa; barren not only from the nature of its foil, but by its having no remains of antiquity in the whole courfe of it. From this I came to Gabs, or Tacape*, after paiTing El Hammah, the baths which were the Aquas Tacapitanas of antiquity, where the fmall river Triton, by the moifture which it furnilhes, moR agreeably and fuddenly changes the defert fcene, and covers the adjacent fields with all kinds of flowers and verdure. I was now arrived upon the lcfTer Syrtis, and continued along the fea-coaft northward to Infhilla, without having made any addition to my obfervations. I turned again to the N. W. and came to El Gemme j, where there is a very Jarge and fpacious amphitheatre, perfect as to the deflation of time, had not Mahomet Bey blown up four arches of it from the foundation, that it might not ferve as a for-trefs to the rebel Arabs. The fections, elevations, and plans, with the whole detail of its parts, are in the King's collection. I have Rill remaining, but not finifhed, the lower or fub-terraneous plan of the building, an entrance to which I forced open in my journey along the coafl to Tripoli. This was made fo as to be filled with water by means of a fluice and aqueduct, which are Rill entire. The water rofe up in the arena, through a large fquarc-hole faced with hewn-Ronc in the middle, when there was occafion for water-games or naumachia. Doctor Shaw f imagines this was e i intended •* Itin. Anton, p. 4. | Id. Ibid. f Shaw's Travels, p. 117. cap. 5. intended to contain the pillar that fupported the velum, which covered the fpeetators from the influence of the fun. It might have fcrved for both purpofes, but it fecms to be too large for the latter, though I confefs the more I have confidercd the fize and conftruction of thefe amphitheatres, the lefs I have been able to form an idea concerning this velum, or the manner in which it fcrved the people, how it was fecured, and how it was removed. This was the laR ancient building I vifited in the kingdom of funis, and I believe I may confidently fay, there is not, either in the territories of Algiers or Tunis, a fragment of good taRe of which I have not brought a drawing to Britain. I continued along the coaft toSufa, through a fine country planted with olive trees, and came again to funis, not only without difagrccablc accident, but without any interruption from ficknefs or other caufe. I then took leave of the Bey, and, with the acknowledgments ufual on fuch occafions, again fet out from Tunis, on a very ferious journey indeed, over the defert to 1 ripoli, the firft part of which to Gabs was the fame road by which I had fo lately returned. From Gabs 1 proceeded to the ifland of Gerba, the Mcninx * Infula, or ifland of the Lotophagi. Doctor Shaw fays, the fruit he calls the Lotus is very frequent all over that coaft. I wifh he had faid what was this Lotus. To fay it is the fruit the moft common on that coaft is no description, for there is there no fort of fruit whatever; • Bach. Chan, lib, i. cap, 25. Shaw's Travels, cap. iv, p. nj. whatever; no bufh, no tree, nor verdure of any kind, excepting the fhort grafs that borders thefe countries before you enter the moving Tabids of the defcrt. Doctor Shaw never was at Gerba, and has taken this particular from fome unfaithful Rory-teller. The Wargumma and Noile, two great tribes of Arabs, are mailers of thefe deferts. Sidi Ifmain, whofe grandfather, the Bey of Tunis, had been dethroned and Rrangled by the Algerines, and who was himfelf then prifoner at Algiers, in great repute for valour, and in great intimacy with me, did often ufe to fay, that he accounted his having palfed that defert on horieback as the *hardieft of all his undertakings. About four days journey from Tripoli I met the Emir Hadje conducting the caravan of pilgrims from Fez and Sus in Morocco, all acrofs Africa to Mecca, that is, from the Weftcrn Ocean, to the weftern banks of the Red Sea in the kingdom of Sennaar. Fie was a middle-aged man, uncle to the prefent emperor, of a very uncomely, ft up id kind of countenance. His caravan confided of about 3000 men, and, as his people faid, from 12,000 to 14,000 camels, part loaded with merchandife, part with fkins of water, flour, and other kinds of food, for the maintenance of the hadjee?; they were a fcurvy, diforderly, unarmed pack, and when my horfemen, tho' but fifteen in number, came up with them in the grey of the morning, rhey fhewed great figns of trepidation, and were already flying in confufion. When informed who rhey were, ^heir fears ceafed, and, after the ufual manner of cowards, they became extremely info-lent. 3. At. At Tripoli I met the Hon. Mr Frazer of Lovat, his Majefty*s conful in that Ration, from whom I received every fort of kindnefs, comfort, and afliftance, which I very much needed after fo rude a journey, made with fuch diligence that two of my horfes died fome days after. I had hopes of rinding fomcthing at Lebeda, formerly Leptis Magna*, three days journey from Tripoli, where are indeed a great number of buildings, many of which are covered by the fands; but they are of a bad tafte, moftly ill-proportioned Dorics of the time of Aurelian. Seven large columns of granite were Hupped from this for France, • in the reign of Louis XIV. deftined for one of the palaces he was then building. The eighth was broken on the way, and lies now upon the more. Though I was difappointed at Lcbcda, ample amends were made me at Tripoli on my return. From Tripoli I fent an Engliili fervant to Smyrna with my books, drawings, and fupcrnumcrary inftruments, retaining only extracts from fuch authors as might be neceffary for me in the Pentapolis, or other parts of the Cyrenai-cum. I then croffed the Gulf of Sidi a, formerly known by the name of the Syrtis Major, and arrived at Bengazi, the ancient Berenice §, built by Ptolemy Philadelphus. The brother of the Bey of Tripoli commanded here, a young man, as weak in undcrftanding as he was in health. 2 All Itin. Anton, p. .104. § Ttol. Geog. p. 4. All the province was in extreme confufion. Two tribes of Arabs, occupying;the territory to the weft of the town, wii >■ ki ordinary years, and in time of peace, were the fources or its wealth and plenty, had, by the mifmanagement of tho * Bey, entered into deadly quarrel. The tribe that lived moft to the weilward, and which was reputed the Weakeft, had beat the moft numerous that was neareft the town, called' Welled Abid, and driven them within its walls. The inhabitants of Benga/.i had for a year before been labouring under a- fevere famine, and by this accident a-bout four thoufand perfons, of all ages and (exes, were forced in upon them, when • perfectly ■ deftitute of every neceffary. Ten or twelve people were found dead every night in the ftreets, and life was faid in many to be fupported by food that human nature fliudders at the thoughts of. Impatient to fly from thefe Thyeftean feafts, I prevailed upon the Bey to fend me out fome diflance to the fouthward, among the Arabs where famine had been* lefs felt.. I encompassed a great part of the Pentapolis, vifited the ruins of Arfinoe, and,though Iwas much morefeebly recommended than ufual, I happily received neither infult nor injury, finding nothing at Arfinoe nor Barca, 1 continued my journey to Ras iSem, the petrified city, concerning which fo many monftrous lies were told by the Tripoline arnbafTador, Caffem Aga, at the beginning of this century, and all believed in England, though they carried falfchood upon the very face of them*. It was not then the age o$ incredulity * incredulity, wc were faR advancing to the celebrated epoch of the man in the pint-bottle, and from that time to be as abfurdly incredulous as we were then the reverfe, and with the fame degree of reafon. Ras Sem is five long days journey fouth from Bengazi; it has no water, except a fpring very difagreeable to the tafle, that appears to be impregnated with alum, and this has given it the name it bears of Ras Sem, or the Fountain of Poifon, from its bitternefs. Ihe whole remains here con-fiR in the ruins of a tower or fortification, that feems to be a work full as late as the time of the Vandals. How or what ufe they made of this water I cannot pofftbly guefs ; they had no other at the diRance of two days journey. I was not fortunate enough to difcover the petrified men and horfes, the women at the churn, the little children, the cats, the dogs, and the mice, which his Barbarian excellency af-fured Sir Hans Sloane exifted there : Yet, in vindication of his Excellency, I muff fay, that though he propagated, yet he did not invent this falfehood ; the Arabs who conducted me maintained the fame Rories to be true, till I was within two hours of the place, where I found them to be falfe. I faw indeed mice *, as they are called, of a very extraordinary kind, having nothing of petrifaction about them, but agile and active, fo to partake as much of the bird as the bcaR Approaching now the fea-coaR I came to Ptolometa, the ancient Ptolemais the work of Ptolemy Philadelphus, the walls * Jerboa, fee a figure of it in the Appendix. $. Itin. Anton, p. 4. walls and gates of which city are Rill entire. There is a prodigious number of Greek inscriptions, but there remain only a few columns of the portico, and an ionic temple, in the firR manner of executing that order; and therefore, flight as the remains are, they are trcafures in the hiilory of architecture which are worthy to be preferved. Thefe are in the King's collection, with all the parts that could be recovered. Here I met a fmall Greek junk belonging to Lampedo-fa, a little iiland near Crete, which had been unloading corn, and was now ready to fail. At the fame time the Arabs of Ptolometa told me, that the Welled Ali, a powerful tribe that occupy the whole country between that place and Alexandria, were at war among themfelves, and had plundered the caravan of Morocco, of which I have already fpoken, and that the pilgrims compofing it had moflly pe-riflied, having been fcattered in the defert without water ; that a great famine had been at Dcrna, the neighbouring town, to which 1 intended to go; that a plague had followed, and the town, which is divided into upper and lower, was engaged in a civil war. This torrent of ill news was irrefiftible, and was of a kind I did not propofe to wreflle with ; befides, there was nothing, as far as I knew, that merited the rifk. I refolved, therefore, to fly from this inhof-pitable coaft, and fave to the public, at leaft, that knowledge and entertainment 1 had acquired for them. I embarked on board the Greek veffel, very ill accoutred, as we afterwards found, and, though it had plenty of fail, it had not an ounce of ballaft. A number of people, men, women, and children, flying from the calamities which at- Vol. I. f tend tend famine, crowded in unknown to me; but the palTage was Ihort, the vcRel light, and the mailer, as wc fuppofed, well accuilomcd to thefe feas. The contrary of this, however, was the truth, as we learned afterwards, when too late, for he was an abfolutc landfman; proprietor indeed of the veffel, but this had been his fir ft voyage. Wc failed at dawn of day in as favourable and pleafant weather as ever 1 law at fea. It was the beginning of September, and a light and Ready breeze, though not properly fair, promifed a fhort and agreeable voyage ; but it was not long before it turned frefh and cold ; we then had a violent fliowcr of hail, and the clouds were gathering as if for thunder. I obferved that we gained no offing, and hoped, if the weather turned bad, to perfuade the Captain to put into Bengasi, for one inconvenience he prefently difcovered, that they had not provifion on beard for one day. However, the wind became contrary, and blew a violent ftorm, fecming to menace both thunder and rain. The veffel being in her trim with large latine fails, fell violently to leeward, and they fcarce would have weathered the Cape that makes the entrance into the harbour of Bcngazi, which is a very bad one, when all at once it ftruck upon a funken rock, and feemed to be fet down upon it. rl he wind at that inflant feemed providentially to calm ; but I no fooncr ob> ferved the fhip had ftruck than 1 began to think of my own fituation. We were not far from more, but there was an exceeding great fwell at fea. Two boats wrcrc flill towed aflern of them, and had not been hoiftcd in. Roger M'Cor-mack, my Irifli fervant, had been a failor on board the Monarch before he deferted to the Spanifh fervicc. He and the other, who had likcwife been a failcr, prefently unlafb- cd cd the largeR boat, and all three got down into her, followed by a multitude of people whom we could not hinder, and there was, indeed, fomething that bordered on cruelty, in preventing poor people from ufing the fame means that we had done for prcfcrving their lives; yet, unlefs wc had killed them, the prevention was impoflible, and, had wc been inclined to that meafurc, we dared not, as we were upon a Moorifh coaft. The moft that could be done was, to get loofe from the (hip as foon as poftible, and two oars were prepared to row the boat alhore. I had ftript myfelf to a fliort under-waillcoat and linen drawers ; a fdk falh, or girdle, was wrapt round me ; a pencil, fmall pocket-book, and watch, were in the bread-pocket of my waiftcoat; two Moorifh and two Englifh fervants followed me ; the reft, more wife, remained on board. We were not twice the length of the boat from the veffel before a wave very nearly filled the boat. A how) of defpair from thofe that were in her fhewed their helplefs Rate, and that they were confeious of a danger they could not flum. 1 faw the fate of all was to be decided by the very next wave that was rolling in ; and apprehenfive that fome woman, child, or helplefs man would lay hold of me, and entangle my arms or legs and weigh mc down, I cried to my fervants, both in Arabic and Englifh, Wc are all loft; if you can fwim, follow mc ; 1 then let myfelf down in the face of the wave. Whether that, or the next, fdlcd the boat, 1 know not, as I went to leeward to make my diflance as great as poJiblc. 1 was a good, flrong, and practiled fwim-mer, in the flower of life, full of health, trained to excrcife and fatigue of every kind. All this, however, which mijiht r 2 have \ have availed much in deep water, was not fuflkient when I came to the furf. I received a violent blow upon my bread from the eddy wave and reflux, which feemed as given mc by a large branch of a tree, thick cord, or fome elaftic weapon. It threw mc upon my back, made me fwal-low a confiderable quantity of water, and had then almoft fuffocatcd mc. I avoided the next wave, by dipping my head and letting it pafs over, but found myfelf brcathlefs, exceedingly weary and exhaufted. The land, however, was before me, and clofe at hand. A large wave floated me up. I had the profpccT of efcape Rill nearer, and endeavoured to prevent myfelf from going back into the furf. My heart was flrong, but flrength was apparently failing, by being involuntarily twiftcd about, and flruck on the face and breafl by the vio-. lence of the ebbing wave : it now feemed as if nothing remained but to give up the flruggle, and refign to my def-tiny. Before I did this I funk to found if I could touch the ground, and found that I reached the fand with my feet, though the water was Rill rather deeper than my mouth. The fuccefs of this experiment infufed into me the flrength of ten men, and I flrovc manfully, taking advantage of floating only with the influx of the wave, and preferving my flrength for the flruggle againfl the ebb, which, by finking and touching the ground, I now made more eafy. At lad, finding my hands and knees upon the fands, I fixed my nails into it, and obdinatcly refilled being carried back at all', crawling a few feet when the fea had retired. I had perfectly loft my recollection and underdanding, and after creeping fo far as to be out of the reach of the fea, I fup- pole pofc I fainted, for from that time I was totally infenfible 06 any thing that paiTed around me. In the mean time the Arabs, who live two fhort miles from the lfiore, came down in crowds to plunder the veifeL One of the boats was thrown afhore, and they had belonging to them fome others; there was one yet with the wreck, which fcarcely appeared with its gunnel above water. All the people were now taken on more, and thofe only loR who perifhed in the boat. What firft wakened me from this fcmblance of death was a blow with the butt-end of a lance, fhod with iron, upon the juncture of the neck with the back-bone. This produced a violent fenfation of pain ; but it was a mere accident the blow was not with the point, for the fmall, fhort waiflcoat, which had been made at Algiers, the fafh and drawers, all in the Turkifh fafhion, made the Arabs believe that I was a Turk ; and after many blows, kicks, and curfes, they flript me of the little cloathing I had, and left me naked. They ufed the reft in the fame manner, then went to their boats to look for the bodies of thofe that were drowned*. Atter the difcipline I had" received, I had walked, or crawled up among fome white, fandy hillocks, where I fat down and concealed myfelf as much as poiliblc. The weather was then warm, but the evening promifed to be cooler, and it was faft drawing on; there was great danger to be apprehended if I approached the tents where the women were while I was naked, for in this cafe it was very probable I would receive another baftinado fomcthing worfe than the firft. Still 1 was fo confuted that 1 had not recollected I could fpeak to them in their own language, and it now on- ly came into my mind, that by the gibbcrifh, in imitation of Turkilh, which the Arab had uttered to me while he was beating and Rripping me, he took me for a Turk, and to this in all probability the ill-ufage was owing. An old man and a number of young Arabs came up to me where I was fitting. I gave them the falute Salam Attorn I which was only returned by one young man, in a tone as if he wondered at my impudence. The old man then afked me, Whether I was a Turk, and what I had to do there? I replied, I was no Turk, but a poor Chriftian phy-fician, a Dervifh that went about the world feeking to do good for God's fake, was then flying from famine, and going to Greece to get bread. He then afked me if 1 was a Cretan ? I faid, I had never been in Crete, but came from Tunis, and was returning to that town, having loft every thing I had in the fhipwreck of that veffel. I faid this in fo del-pairing a tone, that there was no doubt left with the Arab that the fact was true. A ragged, dirty baracair was immediately thrown over me, and I was ordered up to a tent, in the end of which Rood a long fpear thrufl through it, a mark of fovereignty. I there faw the Shekh of the tribe, who being in peace with the Bey of Bengazi, and alfo with the Shekh of Ptolo-mcta, after many queflions ordered me a plentiful fuppcr, of winch all my fervants partook, none of them having perilled. A multitude of confultations followed on their complaints, of which I freed myfelf in the beR manner I could, alledging the lofs of all my medicines, in order to induce fome of them to feck for the fextant at leaft, but all to no i purpofe, purpofc, fo that, after Raying two days among them, the Shekh rcftorcd tous^all that had been taken from us, and mounting us upon camels, and giving us a conductor, he forwarded us to Bengazi, where wc arrived the fecond day in the evening. Thence 1 fent a compliment to the Shekh, and with it a man from the Bey, intreating that he would ufe all polhble means to ftlh up fome of my cafes, for which I allured him he lhould not mifs a hand fome reward. Promifes and thanks were returned, but I never heard further of my inftrumcnts ; all I recovered was a fdver watch of Ellicot, the work of which had been taken out and broken,fome pencils, and a fmall port-folio, in which were (ketches of Ptolemeta; my pocket-book too was found, but my pencil was loft, being in a common fdver cafe, and with them all the aftronomical obfervations which 1 had made in Barbary. I there loft a fextant, a parallactic in-ftrumcnt,a time-piece, a reflecting telefcope, an achromatic one, with many drawings, a copy of M. de la Caille's cphc-merides down to the year 1775, much to be regretted, as being full of mariufcript marginal notes; a fmall camera ob-fcura, fome guns, piftols,,a blunderbufs, and feveral other articles. I found at Bengazi a fmall French (loop, the mafter of which had been often at Algiers when I was conful there. I had even, as the maftcr remembered, done him fome little fervice, for which, contrary to the cuftom of that fort of people, he was very grateful. He had come there ladca "with corn, and was going up the Archipelago, or towards the Morea, for more. The cargo he had brought was but a mite compared to the nccellitics of the place ; it only relieved xlviii INTRODUCTI ON. lievcd the folders for a time, and many people of all ages and fexes were Rill dying every day. The harbour of Bengazi is full of fLili, and my company caught a great quantity with a fmall net; we like wife procured a multitude with the line, enough to have maintained a larger number of perfons than the family confided of; we got vinegar, pepper, and fome dore of onions ; we had little bread it is true, but Rill our indudry kept us very far from darving. We endeavoured to indrucl thefe wretches, gave them pack-thread, and fome coarfe Looks, by which they might have fubfided with the fmalled attention and trouble ; but they would rather darve in multitudes, driving to pick up lingle grains of corn, that were fcattered upon the beach by the burding of the facks, or the inattention of the mariners, than take the pains to watch one hour at the flowing of the tide for excellent fifh, where, after taking one, they were fure of being matters of multitudes till it was high water. The Captain of the fmall veffel loft no time. Tic had done his bufinefs well, and though he was returning for another cargo, yet he offered me what part of his funds I fhould need with great franknefs. We now failed with a fair wind, and in four or five days cafy weather landed at Canea, a coniiderable fortified place at the wed end of the ifland of Crete. Here I was taken dangeroully ill, occafion-ed by the bathing and extraordinary exertions in the fea of Ptolometa, nor was I in the lead the better from the beating 1 had received, figns of which I bore very long afterwards. From From Canea I failed for Rhodes, and there met my books ; I then proceeded to Caftelroffo, on the coaft of Caramania, and was there credibly informed that there were very magnificent remains of ancient buildings a ihort way from the fhorc, on the oppofuc continent. Caramania is a part of Alia Minor yet unexplored. But my illnefs increafmg, it was impoilible to execute, or take any meafures to fecure protection, or do the bufinefs fafcly, and I was forced to relinquifh this difcovery to fome more fortunate traveller. Mr Peyssonel, French conful at Smyrna, a man not more diftinguilbed for his amiable manners than for his polite tafte in literature, of which he has given feveral elegant fpecimens, furnifhed me with letters for that part of Caramania, or Afia Minor, and there is no doubt but they would have been very efficacious. What increafed the obligation for this kind attention fhewn, was, that I had never fecn Mr Peyffonei; and I am truly mortified, that, fince my arrival in England, 1 have had no opportunity to return my grateful thanks for this kindnefs, which I therefore beg that he will now accept, together with a copy of thefe travels, which I have ordered my trench bookfellcr to forward to him. From CaftelroiTo I continued, without any thing remarkable, till I came to Cyprus; 1 ftaid there but half a day, and arrived at Sidon, where 1 was moft kindly received by Mr Clerambaut, brother-in-law to Mr Peyffonei, and French conful at this place; a man in politencfs, humanity, and every focial quality of the mind, inferior to none I have ever known. With him, and a very flourifliing, well-informed, and induftrious nation, I continued for fome time, then Vol. I. g in in a weak Rate of health, but Rill making partial excur-fions from time to time into the continent of Syria, through Libanus, and Anti Libanus; but as I made thefe without inftruments, and pafled pretty much in the way of the travellers who have defcribed thefe countries before, I leave the hiflory to thofe gentlemen, without fwelling, by entering into particular narratives, this Introduction, already too long. 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 difaftrous fituation, and defiring them to fend me a moveable quadrant or fextant, as near as poRible to two feet radius, more or lefs, a time-keeper, Rop-watch, a reflecting telefcope, and one of Dolland's achromatic ones, as near as poflible to three-feet reflectors, with feveral other articles which I then wanted. I received from Paris and London much about the fame time, and as if it had been dictated by the fame perfon, nearly the fame anfwer, which was this, That everybody was employed in making inftruments for Danifh, Swediih, and other foreign aftronomers ; that all thofe which were completed had been bought up, and without waiting a confiderable, indefinite time, nothing couldbe had that could be depended upon. At the fame time 1 was told, to my great mortification, that no accounts of me had arrived from Africa, unlefs from feveral idle letters, which had been in-duftrioully wrote by a gentleman whofe name i abftain from mentioning, firft, becaufe he is dead, and next, out of refpect to his truly great and worthy relations, 3 lN In thefe letters it was announced, that I was gone with a Ruffian caravan through the CurdiRan, where 1 was to obferve the tranfit of Venus in a place where it was not vi-fible, and that I was to proceed to China, and return by the way of the Eaft Indies :—a (lory which fome of his correfpon-dents, as profligate as himfelf, induftrioufly circulated at the time, and which others, perhaps weaker than wicked, though wicked enough, have affected to believe to this day. I conceived a violent indignation at this, and finding myfelf fo treated in return for fo complete a journey as I had then actually terminated, thought it below me to fa-crifice the beft years of my life to daily pain and danger, when the impreflion it made in the brcafts of my countrymen feemed to be fo weak, fo infinitely unworthy of them or me. One thing only detained me from returning home ; it was my defire of fulfilling my promife to my Sovereign, and of adding the ruins of Palmyra to thofe of Africa, already fecured and out of danger. In my anger I renounced all thoughts of the attempt to difcover the fources of the Nile, and I repeated my orders no more for either quadrant, telefcope, or time-keeper. I had pencils and paper ; and luckily my large camera obfeu-ra, which had efeaped the cataftrephe of Ptolometa, was arrived from Smyrna, and then Handing before me. I therefore began to eaft about, with my ufual care and anxiety, for the means of obtaining feafible and fafe methods of repeating the famous journey to Palmyra. I found it was ncccflary to advance nearer the fcene of action. Mr Abbot, Britilh conful for Tripoli in Syria, kindly invited mc, and G 2 after after him Mr Vernon, his fucccffbr, a very excellent man, to take up my refidence there, From Tripoli there is a trade in kelp carried on to the fait marihes near Palmyra. The Shekh of Cariateen, a town jud upon the edge of the defert, had a contract with the bafha of Tripoli for a quantity of this herb for the ufe of the foap- works. I loll no time in making a friendfhip with this man, but his return amounted to no more than to endeavour to lead me rathly into real danger, where he knew he had not confequence enough to give me a moment's protection. There are two tribes almofl equally powerful who inhabit the deferts round Palmyra ; the one is the Annecy, remarkable for the fined breed of horfes-in the world ; the other is the Mowalli, much better foldiers, but fewer in number, and very little inferior in the excellence of their horfes. The Annecy pofTefs the country towards the S. W. at the back of Libanus, about Bozradown the Hawran, and fouth ward towards the borders of Arabia Petrea and Mount Horeb. The Mowalli inhabit the plains eaft of Damafcus to the Euphrates, and north to near Aleppo. These two tribes were not at war, nor were they at peace ; they were upon what is called ill-terms with each other, which is the mod dangerous time for ilrangers to have any dealings with either. I learned this as a certainty from a friend at HalTia, where a Shekh lives, to whom I was recommended by a letter, as a friend of the bafha of Damafcus. This man maintains his influence, not by a number of forces, but by condantly marrying a relation of one or both of thefe tribes of Arabs, who for that reafon aflid him in maintaining the fecurity of his road, and he has the care 3 of of that part of it by which the couriers pafs from Conftan-tinople into Egypt, belonging to both thefe tribes, who were then at a diftance from each other, and roved in flying fquadrons all round Palmyra, by way of maintaining their right of pafture in places that neither of themchofe at that time to occupy. Thefe, I fuppofe, arc what the Engliih writers call Wild Arabs, for other wife, though they are all wild enough, 1 do not know one wilder than another. This is very certain, thefe young men, compofmg the flying parties 1 fpcak of, are truly wild while at a diftance from their camp and government; andthe ftranger that falls in unn wares with them, and efcapes with his life, may fet himfelf down as a fortunate traveller. Returning fromHaflia I would have gone fouthward to Baalbec, but it was then befieged by Emir Youfef prince of the Drufes, a Pagan nation, living upon mount Libanus. Upon that I returned to Tripoli, in Syria, and after fome ti nc fet out for Aleppo, travelling northward along the plain of Jeune betwixt mount Lebanon and the fea. I visited the ancient r>yblus, and bathed with pleafure in the river Adonis. All here is claflic ground. I faw feveral confiderable ruins of Grecian architecture all very much defaced. Thefe are already publifhed by Mr Drummond, and thcrelore I left them, being never defirous of interfering with the works of others. I passed Latikea, formerly Laodicea ad Mare, and then came to Antioch, and afterwards to Aleppo. The fever and ague, which L had firft caught in my cold bath at Bengazi, had returned upon me with great violence, after palling one one night encamped in the mulberry gardens behind "Si-don. It had returned in very flight paroxyfms feveral times, but laid hold of me with more than ordinary violence on my arrival at Aleppo, where I came juft in time to the houfe of Mr Belville, a French merchant, to whom I was addrelfed for my credit. Never was a more lucky addrefs, never was there a foul fo congenial to my own as was that of Mr Belville : to fay more after this would be praifing myfelf. To him was immediately added Doctor Patrick Ruffel, phyfician to the Britifh factory there. Without the attention and friendihip of the one, and the fkill and anxiety of the other of thefe gentlemen, it is probable my travels would have ended at Aleppo. I recovered flowly. By the report of thefe two gentlemen, though I had yet feen nobody, I became a public care, nor did I ever pafs more agreeable hours than with Mr Thomas the French conful, his family, and the merchants eflablifhed there. From Doctor Ruf-fcl I was fupplied with what I wanted, fome books, and much inflruction. Noboby knew the difeafes of the Eafl fo well; and perhaps my cfcaping the fever at Aleppo was not the only time in which I owed him my life. Being now reflored to health, my firft object was the journey to Palmyra. The Mowalli were encamped at no great diftance from Aleppo. It was without difficulty I found a fure way to explain my wifhes, and to fecure the afliftance of Mahomet Kerf an, the Shekh, but from him I learned, in a manner that I could not doubt, that the way I intended to go down to Palmyra from the north was tedious, trouble-fbme, uncertain, and expenflve, and that he did not wifh me to undertake it at that time. It is quite fuperfluous in thefe cafes cafes toprefs for particular information; an Arab conductor, who proceeds with caution, furely means you well. He told me that he would leave a friend in the houfe of a certain Arab at Hamath *, about half-way to Palmyra, and if in fomething more than a month I came there, and found that Arab, I might rely upon him without fear, and he would conduct: me in fafety to Palmyra. I returned to Tripoli, and at the time appointed fet out for Hamath, found my conductor, and proceeded to Haftta, Coming from Aleppo, I had not palled the lower way again by Antioch. The river which paffes through the plains where they cultivate their beft tobacco, is the Orontes; it was fo fwollen with rain, which had fallen in the mountains, that the ford was no longer vifible. Stopping at two mifer-able huts inhabited by a bafe fet called Turcomans, I afked the mafier of one of them to ihew me the ford, which he very readily undertook to do, and I went, for the length of fome yards, on rough, but very hard and folid ground. The current before me was, however, fo violent, that 1 had more than once a defire to turn back, but, not fufpecting any thing, I continued, when on a fudden man and horfe fell out of their depth into the river. I had a rifled gun flung acrofs my moulder, with a buff belt and fwivel. As long as that held, it fo embarrafled my hands and legs that I could not fvrim, and mufl have funk;. but luckily the fwivel gave way, the gun fell to the bottom of the river, and was pickt up in dry weather by order of - the J The north boundary of the Holy Land. thebafha, at the defire of the French merchants, who kept it for a relict. I and my horfe fwarn fcparately athorc ; at a fmall diRance from thence was a cap bar*, or turnpike, to which, when I came to dry myfelf, the man told me, that the place where I had croffed was the remains of a Rone bridge now entirely carried away ; where I had firft entered was one of the wings of the bridge, from which I had fallen into the fpace the firfl arch occupied, one of the decpeft parts of the river; that the people who had mif-guided me were an infamous fet of banditti, and that I might be thankful on many accounts that I had made fuch an efcape from them, and was now on the oppofite fide. I then prevailed on the caphar-man to ihew my fervants the right ford. From HalTia we proceeded with our conductor to Caria-teen, where there is an immenfe fpring of fine water, which overflows into a large pool. Here, to our great furprife, we found about two thoufand of the Annecy encamped, who were quarrelling with HafTan our old friend, the kelp- merchant. This was nothing to us ; the quarrel between the Mowalli and Annecy had it fcems been made up ; for an old man from each tribe on horfeback accompanied us to Palmyra : the tribes gave us camels for more commodious travelling, and we palfed the defert between Cariateen and Palmyra in a day and two nights, going conftantly without Reeping. Just * It is a port where a party of men are kept tc receive a contribution, for maintaining the fecurity of the roads, from all paffengers. Just before we came in fight of the ruins, we afccnded a hill of white gritty Rone, in a very narrow-winding road, fuch as we call a pafs, and, when arrived at the top, there opened before us the moft aftoniihing, ftupendous fight that perhaps ever appeared to mortal eyes. The whole plain below, which was very excenfivc, was covered fo thick with magnificent buildings as that the one feemed to touch the other, all of fine proportions, all of agreeable forms, all com-pofed of white Rones, which at that diftance appeared like marble. At the end of it flood the palace of the fun, a building worthy to clofe fo magnificent a fcene. It was impoflible for two pcrfons to think of defigning ornaments, or taking meafures, and there feemed the lefs occafion for this as Mr Wood had done this part already. I had no intention to publifh any thing concerning Palmyra ; betides, it would have been a violation of my firft principle not to interfere with the labours of others ; and if this was a rule I inviolably obferved as to ftrangers, every fentimcnt of reafon and gratitude obliged me to pay the lame refpccl to the labours of Mr Wood my friend. I divided Palmyra into fix angular views, always bring-i0 g forward to ihe firft ground an edifice, 01 principal group of columns, that deferred it. The ftate ot the buildings are particularly favourable for this purpofe. The columns are ail uncovered to the very bales, the foil upon which the town is built being hard and fixed ground. Thefe views are all upon large piper; the columns in fome of them are a foot long; the figures in the fore-ground of the temple of the fu i are fome of them near four inches. Vol. I. n Before Before our departure from Palmyra I obferved its latitude with a Hadley's quadrant from reflection. The in-flrumcnt had probably warped in carriage, as the index went unpleafantly, and as it were by flarts, fo that 1 will not pretend to give this for an exact obfervation ; yet, after all the care I could take, I only apprehended that 330 58' for the latitude of Palmyra, would be nearer the truth than any other, Again, that the diflance from the coaft in a ftraight line being 160 miles, and that remarkable mountainous cape on the coaft of Syria, between Byblus and Tripoli, known by the name of Theoprofopon, being nearly due weft, or under the fame parallel with Palmyra, I conceive the longitude of that city to be nearly 370 9/ from the obfervatory of Green-wich. From Palmyra I proceeded to Baalbec, diftant about 130 miles, and arrived the fame day, that Emir Youfef had reduced the town and fettled the government, and was decamping from it on his return home. This was the luckieft moment poflible forme, as I was the Emir's friend, and I obtained liberty to do there what I pleafed, and to this indulgence was added the great convenience of the Emir's abfence, fo that I was not troubled by the observance of any court-ceremony or attendance, or teazed with impertinent queftions, Baalbec is plcafanily fituated in a plain on the weft of Ami Libanus, is finely watered, and abounds in gardens. Jt is about fifty miles from Flailia, and about thirty from the neareft fea-coail, which is the fituation of the ancient Byblus. The interior of the great temple of Baalbec,. fuppofed to be that of the fun, furpaffes any thing at PaL myra,, myra, indeed any fculpture I ever remember to have feen in Rone. All thefe views of Palmyra and Baalbec are now in the King's collection. They are the moil magnificent offering in their line that ever was made by one fubject to his fovercign. Passing by Tyre, from curiofity only, I came to be a mournful witnefs of the truth of that prophecy, That Tyre, the queen of nations, mould be a rock for fifhers to dry their nets on*. Two wretched fifbermcn, with miferablc nets, having jufl given over their occupation with very little fuccefs, I engaged them, at the expence of their nets, to drag in thofe places where they faid mcll-fifh might be caught, in hopes to have brought out one of the famous purplc-fifh. . I did not fucceed, but in this I was, I believe, as lucky as the old filhers had ever been. Ihe purple fifh at Tyre feems to have been only a concealment of their knowledge of cochineal, as, had they depended upon the fifh for their dye, if the whole city of Tyre applied to nothing clfe but fifhing, they would not have coloured twenty yards of cloth in a year. Much fatigued, but fatisfied beyond mea-fure with what I had feen, 1 arrived in perfect health, and in the gaycil humour pofliblc, at the hofpitablc manfion of M, Clerambaut at Sidon. 1 found there letters from Europe, which were in a very difi ercnt ftyle from the laft. From London, my friend Mr Ruffel acquainted me, that he had fent me an excellent reflecting telefcope of two feet focal length, moved by H 2 rack- Eiek. xi ft ip. xxvK ver. 5, rack-work, and the lafi Mr Short ever made, which provcK a very excellent inftrument; alfo an achromatic telelcopc by Dolland, nearly equal to a three-feet reflector, with a foot, or Rand, very artificially compofed of rulers fixed together by fcrews. I think this inftrument might be improved byfhoncning the three principal legs of it. If the legs of its (land were about fix inches Ihortcr, this, without inconvenience,would takeaway the little fhake it has when tiled in the outer air. Perhaps this defect is not in all te-lefcopcs of this conftruction. It is a pleafant inftrument* and for its fize takes very little packing, and is very ma.-iiagcablc I have brought home both thefe inftruments after performing the whole journey, and they are now Ran ding in my library, in the moft perfect order ; which is rather to be wondered at from the accounts in which moft travellers feem to agree, that metal fpeculums, within the tropics, fpot and rult fo much as to be ufelcfs after a few obfci vations-made at or near the zenith. .The fear of this, and the f ra-giliry of glafs of achromatic telcfcopcF, were the occalion. of a considerable expence to me; but from experience I found, that, if a little care be taken, one reflector would be fufiicicnt for a very long voyage. From Paris I received a time-piece and a flop-watch made byM. Lepeaute, dearer than Ellicot's, and refembling his in nothing clfe but the price. The clock was a very near, portable inftrument, made upon very ingenious, fmiple principles, but fome of the parts were fo grofsly neglected in the execution, and fo unequally finiihcd, that it was not tiidkuk ior the meaneft novice in the trade to point out the caufc caufe of its irregularity. It remains with me in (lam quo. It lias been of very little ufe to me, and never will be of much more to any pcrfon elfe. The price is, 1 am lure, ten times more than it ought to be in any light I can confider it. All thefe letters Rill left me in abfolute defpair about obtaining a quadrant, and consequently gave me very little fatisfaction, but in fome meafure confirmed me in my relb-lution already taken, to go from Sidon to Egypt; as I had then feen the greateft part of the good architecture in the world, in all its degrees of perfection down to its decline, I wiflied now only to fee it in its origin, and for this it was neceffary to go to Eg\ pr. Nor den, Tococke, and many others, had given very ingenious accounts of Egyptian architecture in general, of the difpofiti m and fize of their temples, magnificence of their materials, their hieroglyphics, and the various kinds of them, of their gilding, of their painting, and their prefent Rate of prefervation. I thought fomething more might be learnt as to the i11 it proportions of their columns, and the conftruction of their plans. Dendera, the ancient Tentyra, feemed by their accounts to oiler a fair field for this. I had already collected together a great many obfervations on the progrefb of Greek and Roman architecture in different ages, drawn not from books or connected with fyftem, but from the models themfclvcs, which I myfelf had mea-fu-ed. 1 had been long of the opinion, in which I am Rill iunher confirmed, that tafle for ancient architecture, found- Ixii INTRODUCTIO N. ed upon the examples that Italy alone canfurnifh, was not giving ancient architects fair play. What was to be learned from the firft proportions of'their plans and elevations feemed to have remained untouched in Egypt; after having confidered thefe, I propofed to live in retirement on my native patrimony, with a fair flock of unexceptionable materials upon this fubjeet, to ferve for apleafant and ufe-ful amufement inmy old age. I hope flill thefe will not be loft to the public, unlefs the encouragement be in proportion to what my. labours have already had. I now received, however, a letter very unexpectedly by way of Alexandria, which, if it did not overturn, at leaft fliook thefe rcfolutions. The Comte de Buffon, Monf. Guys of Marfeilles, and feveral others well known in the literary world, had ventured to ftate to the mini iter, and through him to the king of France, Louis XV. how very mucli it was to be lamented, that after a man had been found who was likely to fucceed in removing that opprobrium of travellers and geographers, by difcovering the fources of the Nile, one moft unlucky accident, at a moft unlucky time, mould frustrate the moft promifing endeavours. That prince, diftin-gmined for every good quality of the heart, for benevolence, beneficence, and a defire of promoting and protecting learning, ordered a moveable quadrant of his own military academy at Marfeilles, as the nearcft and moft convenient port of embarkation, to be taken down and fent to me at Alexandria. With this I received a letter from Mr RufTcl, which informed mc that aftronomers had begun to cool in the fan-guinc expectations of difcovering the precife quantity of 4 the trie fun's parallax by obfervation of the tranfit of Venus, from fome apprehcnfion that errors of the obfervers would probably be more than the quantity of the equation fought, and that they now ardently wifhed for a journey into A-byflinia, rather than an attempt to fettle a nicety for which the learned had now begun to think the accuracy of our intlruments was not fufticicnt. A letter from my correfpon-dent at Alexandria alfo acquainted me, that the quadrant, , and all other inftruments, were in that city, What followed is the voyage itfelf, the fubiec~t of the prcfent publication. I am happy, by communicating every previous circumftance that occurred to me, to have done all in my power to remove the greateft part of the reafonable doubts and difficulties which might have perplexed the reader's mind, or biafled his judgment in the perufal of the narrative of the journey, and in this I hope I have fucceed • ed. 4 I have now one remaining part of my promife to fulfil, to account for the delay in the publication. It will not be thought furpriftng to any that fball reflect on the diftant, dreary, and defert ways by which all letters were neceffa-rily to pafs, or the civil wars then raging in Abyilinia, the robberies and violences infeparable from a total diflblution of government, fuch as happened in my time, that no accounts for many years, one excepted, ever arrived in Europe. One letter, accompanied by a bill for a fum borrowed from a Greek at Gondar, found its way to Cairo; all the reft had mifcarricd : my friends at home gave me up for dead ; and, as my death muft have happened in circum-ftances difficult to have been proved, my property became as* as it were an "bereditas jaccns, without an owner, abandoned in common to thofe whofe original title extended no further than temporary polTeflion, A number of law-fuits were the inevitable confequence of this upon my return. One carried on with a very expensive obftinacy for the fpace of ten years, by a very opulent and active company, was determined finally in the Houfe of Peers, in the compafs of a very few hours, by the well-known fagacity and penetration of a noble Lord, who, happily for the fubjects of both countries, holds the firit office in the law; and fo judicious was the ientence, that harmony, mutual confidence, and good neighbourhood has ever fince been the confequence of that determination. Other fuirs Rill remained, which unfortunately were not arrived to the degree of maturity to be fo cut off; they are yet depending; patience and attention, it is hop< d, may bring them to an iffue at fome future time No imputation of rafhnels can potlibly fall upon the decree, iincc the a6tion has depended above thirty years. To thefe dif 'grceable avocations, which took up much time, were added others Rill more unfortunate. 1 he re-lentlefa ague caught at Bengazi maintained its ground at times for a {pace of more than fixteen years, though every remedy had been ufed, but in vain; and, what was worft of all, a lingering dillenper had lerioufly threatened the i e of a mo!! near relation, which, afer nine years conftant maun, where evciy duty bound me to attention and attend* i ance, ance, concluded her at laR, in very early life, to her grave *, The love of folitude is the conflant follower of affliction; this again naturally turns an inftructcd mind to iludy. My friends unanimoully affailed me in the part moft acceftible when the fpirits are weak, which is vanity. They repre-fented to me how ignoble it was, after all my dangers and difficulties were over, to be conquered by a misfortune incident to all men, the indulging of which was unreasonable in itfelf, fruitlefs in its confequences, and fo unlike the expectation I had given my country, by the firmnefs and intrepidity of my former character and behaviour. Among thefe, the principal and moft urgent was a gentleman well known to the literary world, in which he holds a rank nearly as diflinguifhed as that to which his virtues entitle him in civil life ; this was the Hon. Daincs Barrington, whofe friendfhip, valuable on every account, had this additional merit, that it had exifted uninterrupted fincc the days we were at fchool. It is to this gentleman's perfuafions, affift-ance, protection, and friendfhip, that the world owes this publication, if indeed there is any merit in it; at leaft, they are certainly indebted to him for the opportunity of judging whether there is any merit in it or not. No great time has patted fmce the work was in hand. The materials collected upon the fpot were very full, and feldom deferred to be fet down beyond the day wherein the events defcribed happened, but oftner, when fpeeches VoL> I. i and * Mrs Brace died in 17 84. and arguments were to be mentioned, they were noted the inftant afterwards ; for, contrary 1 believe to what is often the cafe, I can aflurc the reader thefe fpeeches and conver-fations are abfolutely real, and not the fabrication of after-hours. It will perhaps be faid, this work hath faults; nay, perhaps, great ones too, and this I readily confefs. but 1 muft likewife beg leave to fay, that I know no books of the kind that have not nearly as many, and as great, though perhaps not of the fame kind with mine. To lee diltinctly and accurately, to defcribe plainly, difpaflionately and truly, is all that ought to be expected from one in my fituation, con-flantly furrounded with every fort of difficulty and danger. It may be faid, too, there arc faults in the language ; more pains mould have been taken. Perhaps it may be fo ; yet there has not been wanting a confiderable degree of attention even to this. I have not indeed confined myfeif to a painful and flavifti nicety that would have produced nothing but a difageeable ftiffnefs in the narrative. It will be remembered likewife, that one of the motives of my writing is my own amufement, and I would much rather renounce the Subject altogether than walk in fetters of my own forging. The language is, like the fubject, rude and manly. My paths have not been flowery ones, nor would it have added any credit to the work, or entertainment to the reader, to employ in it a Rile proper only to works of imagination and pleafurc. Thefe trifling faults I willingly leave as food to the malice of critics, who perhaps, haps, were it not for thefe blemiflics, would find no other enjoyment in the pcrufai of the work. It has been faid that parties have been formed againft this work. Whether this is really the cafe I cannot fay, nor have I ever been very anxious in the inquiry. They have been harmlefs adverfaries at leaft, for no bad effects, as far as I know, have ever as yet been the confequences ; neither is it a difquifition that I lhall ever enter into, whether this is owing to the want of will or of power. I rather believe it is to the former, the want of will, for no one is fo perfectly inconfidcrable, as to want the power of doing mifchief. Having now fulfilled my promife to the reader, in giving him the motive and order of my travels, and the reafon why the publication has been delayed, I lhall proceed to the laft article promifed, the giving fome account of the work itfelf. The book is a large one, and expensive by the number of engravings ; this was not at foil intended, but the journey has proved a long one, and matter has increafed as it were infenfibly under my hands. It is now come to fill a great chafm in the hiftory of the univerfe. It is not intended to refemble the generality of modern travels, the agreeable and rational amufement of one vacant day, it is calculated to employ a greater fpacc of time, Those that are the beft acquainted with Diodorus, Herodotus, and fome other Greek hiftorians, will find fome very confiderabie difficulties removed ; and they that are unacquainted with thefe authors, and receive from this work the firft information of the geography, climate, and manners of thefe countries, which are little altered, will have no great 1 % occafion occafion to regret they have not fearched for information in more ancient fources. The work begins with my voyage from Sidon to Alexandria, and up the Nile to the firR cataract. The reader will not expect: that I mould dwell long upon the particular hiftory of Egypt ; every other year has furnifhed us with fome account of it, good or bad ; and the two laft publications of M. Savary and Volney feem to have left the fub-ject thread-bare. This, however, is not the only reafon. After Mr Wood and Mr Dawkins had publifhed their Ruins of Palmyra, the late king of Denmark, at his own ex-pence, fent out a number of men, eminent in their feveral profeflions, to make difcoveries in the eaft, of every kind, with thefe very flattering inftructions, that though they might, and ought, to vifit both Baalbec and Palmyra for their own ftudies and improvement, yet he prohibited them to fo far interfere with what the Englifh travellers had done, as to form any plan of another worklimilar to theirs. This compliment was gratefully received; and, as I was directly to follow this million, Mr Wood defired me to return it, and to abftain as much as pollible from writing on the fame fubjects chofen by M. Niebuhr, at leaft to abftain either from criticifing or differing from him on fuch fubjects. I have therefore paffed llightly over Egypt and Arabia ; perhaps, indeed, 1 have laid enough of both : if any fhall be of another opinion, they may have recourfe to M. Niebuhr's more copious work; he was the only perfon of fix who lived to come home, the reft having died in different parts of Arabia, without having been able to enter Abyflinia, one of the objects of their million. My My leaving Egypt is followed by my furvey of the Ara^ bian gulf as far as the Indian Ocean—Arrival at Mafuah —Some account of the firft peopling of Atbara and Abyflinia —Conjectures concerning language—Eirft ages of the Indian trade—Foundation of the Abyffinian monarchy, and various revolutions till the Jewifh ufurpation about the year 900. Thefe compofe the firft volume. The fccond begins with the reftoration of the line of Solomon, compiled from their own annals, now firft tranflated from the Ethiopic ; the original of which has been lodged in the Britifh Mufeum, to fatisfy the curiofity of the public. The third comprehends my journey from Mafuah to Gondar, and the manners and cuftoms of the Abyflinians, alfo two attempts to arrive at the fountains of the Nile— Defcription of thefe fources, and of every thing relating to that river and its inundation. The fourth contains my return from the fource of the Nile to Gondar—The campaign of Serbraxos, and revolution that followed—My return through Sennaar and Beja, or the Nubian defert, and my arrival at Marfeilles. In overlooking the work I have found one circumftancc, and I think no more, which is not fufliciently clear, and may create a momentary doubt in the reader's mind, although to thofe who have been fufliciently attentive to the narrative, 1 can fcarce think it will do this. The diili-culty is, How did you procure funds to fupport yourfclf, and / Ixx introduction. and ten men, fo long, and fo eafdy, as to enable yon to undervalue the ufeful character of a phylician, and feek neither to draw money nor protection from it ? And how came it, that, contrary to the ufage of other travellers, at Gondar you maintained a character of independence and equality, efpecially at court; inflcad of crouching, living out of fight as much as poffible, in continual fear of prieits, under the patronage, or rather as fcrvant to fome men of power. To this fenfible and well-founded doubt i anfwer with great pleafure and readinefs, as 1 would do to all o-thers of the fame kind, if i could poilibly divine them:—It is nor/at all extraordinary that aRranger like me, and a parcel of vagabonds like thofe that were with me, lhould get them-felves maintained, and find at Gondar a precarious livelihood for a limited time. A mind ever fo little polifhed and iniiructcd has infinite fuperiority over Barbarians, and it is in circumflanccs like thefe that a man fees the great advantages of education. All the Greeks in Gondar were o-riginally criminals and vagabonds ; they neither had, nor pretended to any profeilion, except Pctros the king's chamberlain, who had been a fhoemakcr at Rhodes, which profeilion at his arrival he carefully concealed. Yet thefe were not only maintained, but by degrees, and without pretending to be phyficians, obtained property, commands., and places Hospitality is the virtue of Barbarians, who are hofpi-table in the ratio that they are barbarous, and for obvious reafons this virtue fubfides among polifhed nations in the .fame proportion. If on my arrival in Abyflinia I all umcd 2 a fpirit a■■ fpirit of independence, it was from policy and reflection. I had often thought that the misfortunes which had befallen other travellers in Abyflinia arofe from the bafe eflimation the people in general entertained of their rank, and the value of their perfons. from this idea I rcfolvcd to adopt a contrary behaviour. I was going to a court where there was a king of kings, whofe throne was furrounded by a number of high-minded, proud, hereditary, punctilious nobility. It was impollible, therefore, too much lowlinefs and humility could pleafe there. Mr Murray, the ambaffador at Conftantinople, in the firman obtained from the grand fignior, had qualified mc with the diftinction of Bey-Adze, which means, not an Eng-lifh nobleman (a peer) but a noble Englifhman, and he had added likewife, that 1 was a fervant of the king of Great Britain. All the letters of recommendation, very many and powerful, from Cairo and Jidda, had conftantly echoed this to every part to which they were addrcfTed. They announced that I was not a man, fuch as ordinarily came to them, to live upon their charity, but had ample means of my own, and each profeffed himfelf guarrailtec of that fact, and that they themlelves on all occalions were ready to provide for me, by anfwering my demands. The only requeft of thefe letters was fafety and protection to my perfon. It was mentioned that I vms a phylician, to introduce a conciliatory cirumilance, that I was above prac-tifing for gain. That all I did was from the fear of God, from charity, and the love of mankind. I was a phyfician in the city, a foldier in the field, a courtier every where, (Jemeaning myfelf, as confeious that I was not unworthy" cf.' of being a companion to the firft of their nobility, and the king's llranger and gueft, which is there a character, as it was with eaftern nations of old, to which a certain fort of confuleration is due. It was in vain to compare myfelf with them in any kind of learning, as they have none ; mufic they have as little ; in eating and drinking they were indeed infinitely my fuperiors ; but in one accomplifhment that came naturally into comparifon, which was horfeman-Riip, I ftudioufly eftablifhed my fuperiority. My long refidence among the Arabs had given me more than ordinary facility in managing the horfe ; I had brought my own faddle and bridle with me, and, as the reader will find, bought my horfe of the Baharnagafh in the firft clays of my journey, fuch a one as was neceffary to carry me, and him I trained carefully, and ftudicd from the beginning. The Abyftinians, as the reader will hereafter fee, are the worft horfemen in the world. Their horfes are bad, not equal to our Welfli or our Scotch galloways. Their furniture is worfe. They know not the ufe of fire-arms on horfeback ; they had never feen a double-barrelled gun, nor did they know that its effect: was limited to two difcharges, but that it might have been fired on to infinity. All this gave me an evident fuperiority. To this I may add, that, being in the prime of life, of no ungracious figure, having an accidental knack, which is not a trifle, of putting on the drefs, and fpeaking the language eafily and gracefully, I cultivated with the utmoft affiduity the friendfhip of the fair fex, by the moft modeft, refpectful diftant attendance, and obfequioufhefs in public, 2 abating \ abating juft as much of that in private as fuitcd their humour and inclinations. I foon acquired a great fup-port from thefe at court; jealoufy is not a pailion of the Abyftinians, who are in the contrary extreme, even to indifference. Besides the money I had with mc, I had a credit of L.400 upon Youfef Cabil, governor of Jidda. I had another upon a Turkifh merchant there. I had Rrong and general recommendations, if I lhould want fupplies, upon Metical Aga, firft miniflcr to the flicrrifle of Mecca. This, well managed, was enough; but when I met my countrymen, the captains of the Engliih mips from India, they added additional Rrength to my finances; they would have poured gold upon me to facilitate a journey they fo much defired upon feveral accounts. Captain Thornhill of the Bengal Merchant, and Captain Thomas Price of the Lion, took the conduct of my money-affairs under their direction. Their Sa-raf, or broker, had in his hands all the commerce that produced the revenues of Abyffmia, together with great part of the correfpondence of the eaft ; and, by a lucky accident for me, Captain Price ftaid all winter with the Lion at Jidda ; nay, fo kind and anxious was he as to fend over a fer-vant from Jidda on purpofe, upon a report having been railed that I was flam by the ufurper Socinios, though it was only one of my fervants, and the fervant of Metical Aga, who were murdered by that monfter, as is faid, with his own hand. Twice he fent overfilvcr to mc when I had plenty of gold, and wanted that metal only to apply it in furniture and workmanfhip. I do not pretend to fay but fometimes thefe fupplies failed mc, often by my negligence Vol. I. k in in not applying in proper time, fometimes by the abfencc of merchants, who were all Mahometans, conflantly engaged in bufmefs and in journies, and more especially on the king's retiring to Tigre', after the battle of Limjour, when I was" abandoned during the ufurpation of the unworthy Socinios. Jt was then I had recourfc to Petros and the Greeks, but more for their convenience than my own, and very feldom from neceility. This opulence enabled me to treat upon equal footing, to do favours as well as to receive them. Every mountebank-trick was a great accomplimment there, fuch as making fquibs, crackers, and rockets. There was no ftation in the country to which by thefe accomplifh-ments I might not have pretended, had I been mad enough to have ever directed my thoughts that way; and I am certain, that in vain I might have folicited leave to return, fiad not a melancholy defpondency, the amorpatrue, feizc>d me, and my health fo far declined as apparently to threaten death ; but I was not even then permitted to m leave Abyflinia till under a very folemn oath I.promifed to return. This manner of conducting myfelf had likewife its disadvantages. The reader will fee the times, without their being pointed out to him, in the courfc of the narrative. It had very near occafioned mc to be murdered at Mafuah, but it was the means of preserving me at Gondar, by putting me above being infultcd or queftioned by pricfts, the fatal rock upon which all other European travellers had fplit: It would have occafioned my death at Sennaar, had I not been fo prudent as to difguife and lay alide the independent car-i riage riage in time. Why lhould I not now fpcak as I really think, or why be guilty of ingratitude which my heart disclaims. 1 efcaped by the providence and protection of heaven ; and fo little Rorc do 1 fet upon the advantage of my own experience, that I am fatisfied, were I to attempt the fame journey again, it would not avail me a ft raw, or hinder me from perifhing mifcrably, as others have done, though perhaps a different way, I have only to add, that were it probable, as in my decayed ftate of health it is not, that I lhould live to fee a fe-■cond edition of this work, all well-founded, judicious remarks fuggeftcd lhould be gratefully and carefully attended to; but 1 do folemnly declare to the public in general, that I never will refute or anfwer any cavils, captious, or idle objections, fuch as every new publication feems unavoidably to give birth to, nor ever reply to thofe witti-cifms and criticifms that appear in newfpapers and periodical writings. What I have written I have written. My readers have before them, in the prefent volumes, all that I lhall ever fay, directly or indirectly, upon the fubject; and i do, without one moment's anxiety, trull my defence to an impartial, well-informed, and judicious public. CONTENTS. CONTENTS of the FIRST VOLUME. Dedication. Introduction, Page i book i. the author s journey and voyage from sidon till his arrival at masuah. C II A P. I. HE Author fails from Sidon—Touches at Cyprus—Arrives at Alexandria—Sets out for Rofetto—Embarks on the Nile, and arrives at Cairo, Page I 4 C H A P CHAP. II Author s Reception ot Cairo—Procures Letters from the Bey and the Greek Patriarch—Vifits the Pyramids—Obfervations on their Con/?rucliou9 P. 1$ C II A P. III. JLeaves Cain——Embarks on the Nile for Upper Egypt—Vifits Metra-henny and Mohan nan—Reafons for fuppofwg this the Situation of Memphis, 4.3 CHAP. IV. Leaves Metrahenny—Comes to the Ifland Halouan—Falfe Pyra* mid—Thefe Buildings end—Sugar Canes—Ruins ofAtitinopolis— licception thcre> Go. CHAP. V. Voyage to Upper Fgypt continued—A/hmouneiny Ruins there—Gawa Kibecr Ruins—Mr Norder wiiftaken- — Achmim-~Convent of'Cathodes—Bender a—Magnificent Ruins—Adventure with a Saint • there'y 0 j \ C H A V VI. Arrives at Fur/hout—Adventure of Friar Chrijhphcr—Vifits Thebes ^—Luxor and Camac—Large Ruins at Edfu and Efne—Proceeds on bis Voyage 7 P. 114 CHAP. VII. /ftrives at Sye.ne—Goes to fee the QataraEl—Remarkable Tombs— The Situation of Syene—The Aga propofet a vijd to Deir and 3rim~The Author returns to Kenne% 150 CHAP. VIII. The Author fets out from Kenne—Croffes the Defrt of the Thebaid '—Vifits the Marble Mountains'—Arrives at Qvjfeir on the Red Sea—Tranfaftions there% 160 CHAP. IX. Voyage to Jibbel Zumrud—Returns to Cojfeir—Sails from Coffeir— Jaffatecn I/lands—Arrives at Tor7 * 204 CHAP. X. Sails from Tor—Paffcs the Elanitic Gulf—Sees Raddua—Arrives at Yambo—Incidents- there—Arrives at Jidda, 239; CHAP. XL Occurrences at Jidda—Vift of the Vhdr—Alarm cf the Faclory— Great Civility of the Englifi trading from India—Polygamy— Opinion of Dr Arbuthnot ill founded—Contrary to Rcajhn and Experience—Leaves Jidda, P. 26 j C II A P. XII. Sails J rem Jidda—Konfodah—Ras Heli, Boundary of Arabia Feli>: —Arrives at Lohcia—Proceeds to the Straits of the Indian Ocean ■—Arrives there—Returns by Azab to Loheia, 294 C EI A P. XIIL Sails for Mafuah-—Pajfes a Volcano—Comes to Dahalac—Troubled uoith a Ghrfl—Arrives at Mq/uab% 327 B OOK ■ BOOK II. ACCOUNT OF THE FIRST AGES OF THE INDIAN AND AFRICAN TiHDE-THE FIRST PEOPLING OF abyssinia AND AT- bara-some CONJECTURES CONCERNING THE ORIGIN OF LANGUAGE THERE. CHAP. I. Of the Indian Trade in its earliejl Ages_Settlement of Ethiopia— Troglodytes—Building of the frfl Citiesy P. 36^ CHAP. II. Saba and the South of Africa peopled_Shepherds, their particular Employment and Circumjlances_vlbyjjinia occupied by fcven Stranger Nations\—Specimens of their feveral Languages_Conjeclures concerning thcmy 381 C H A P. III. Origin of Characters or Letters_Ethiopic the frfl Language~—How and why the Hebrew Letter was formed, 411 Vol. t , l CHAP. CHAP. IV, Some Account of the Trade-Winds and Monfoons—Application of this to the Voyage to Ophir a?id Tarfjifh, P. 427 CHAP. V. Fluctuating State of the India Trade—Hurt by military Expeditions of the Perfans—Revives under the Ptolemies—Falls to Decay under the Romans, 447 CHAP. VI. t^ueen of Saba vifits Jerufalem—Abyfftnian Tradition concerning Her —Snppofed Founder of that Monarchy—Abyffinia embracer the Jeivifij Religion—Jcwifh Hierarchy fill retained by the Fat ifha —Some Conjeclures concerning their Copy of the Old Tefiamentt 471 CHAP. VII. Pools in ufe in Abyffinia—Enoch—Abyffinia not converted by the A-poflles—Convcrfon from Judaifm to Chrifiianity by 'Frumcnfuu; 493 CHAP. VIII. War of the Elephant—Firft Appearance of the Small-Pox—Jews perjecute the Chri/lians in Arabia—Defeated by the Abyfiuians— Mahomet pretends a Divine Mifion—Opinion concerning the Koran- - -Revolution under Judiths-Reft'oration of the Line of Solomon from$hoay P. 510 TRAVELS. of the PLATE i n MR. BRUCE'S TRAVELS. VOL. I. CaNJA under Sail, - To face page 43 -Section of ditto, - - - - 44 Harper and Harp of 13 Strings, - - - - 128 Another Harper and Harp of 18 Strings, - - 130 Figure of Shekh el Harb, Tribe Beni Koreifh, - 256 Arab of Loheia, Tribe Beni Koreifh, - - 308 One Sheet of Ethiopia Language, - - - 400 A Table of Hieroglyphics, found at Axum, No. 1. - - 417 Ditto, - - ditto, No. 2. - 418 VOL. III. Plan of the Harbour of Mafuah Obelifk at Axum, - - Abyffmian Crown, &c. &c. Mikeas, VOL. IV. Plan of the firft Battle of Serbraxos, with its Explanation, between 138 and 139 Plan of the fecond ditto, - ditto, between 164 and 165 Plan of the third ditto, - ditto, between 198 and 199 VOL. 1 130 264 691 VOL. V. The three Maps are to be-placed at the end of this Volume. PLANTS. Page Page Papyrus I Gaguedi, two Drawings, 52 Baleffan, two Drawings, 16 Wanzey, 54 Sana, two Drawings, 28 Farek, - - 57 Ergett Dimmo, 34 Kuara, - - 65 Ergett el Krone 35 Walkuffa, 67 Enfete, two Drawings, 36 Wooginoos, or Brucea Antidyfcn- Kol-quall, two Drawings, - 42 terica, - 69 Rack, 44^ Cuffo, or Bankfia Abyffinica, two Gefh el Aube, . 47' Drawings, 74 Kantuffii, 49 Teff, 76 BEASTS. Rhinoceros of Africa, 85 Fennec, - 128 Hysna, - - 107 Afhkoko, - . - " - J39 Jerboa, - - 121 Lynx, - 146 BIRDS. Niffer Werk, J55 Abou Hannes, 172 Niifer Tokoor, *59 Bee Cuckoo, 178 Rachamah, 163 Sheregrig, 182 Abba Gumba, 169 Waalia, - 186 Page Tfaltfalaya, - 188 Ceraftes, • - 198 Binny, - 211 Car.etta, or Tortoife, - 215 Pearls, - 219 TRAVELS to discover THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. BOOK I. the author's travels in egypt—voyage in the red sea, till his arrival at masuah. CHAP. I. Xfhe Author fails from Si Jon—Touches at Cyprus—Arrives at Alexandria—Sets out for Rofetto—Embarks on the Nile—and arrives at Cairo* IT was on Saturday the 15th of June, 1768, I failed in a French veffel from Sidon, once the richeft and moft power-ful city in the world, though now there is not remaining a fhadow of its ancient grandeur. Wc were bound for the ifland of Cyprus ; the weather clear and exceedingly hot, the wind favourable. Vol. L A This This ifland is not in our courfe for Alexandria, but lies to the northward of it; nor had I, for my own part, any curi-ofity to fee it. My mind was intent upon more uncommon, more diftant, and more painful voyages. But the maRer of the veffel had bmfinefs of his own which led him thither; with this I the more readily complied, as we had not yet got certain advice that the plague had ceafed in Egypt, and it Rill wanted fome, days to the Feftival of St John, which is fuppofed to put a period to that cruel diRemper We obferved a number of thin, white clouds, moving with> great rapidity from fouth to north, in direct oppofition to the courfe of the Etefian winds ; thefe were immenfely high. It was evident they came from the mountains of A?-byffinia, where, having discharged their weight of rain, and being prefted by the lower current of heavier, air from the northward, they had mounted to poffefs the vacuum, and returned to rcRore the equilibrium to the northward, whence they were to come back, loaded with vapour from Mount Taurus, to occafion the overflowing of the Nile, by breaking againft the high and rugged mountains of the fouth. Nothing could be more agreeable to me than that fight, and the reafoning upon it. I already, with pleafure, anticipated the time in which I flioujd be a fpectator firft, afterwards hiftorian, of this phenomenon, hitherto a myftery through all ages. I exulted in the meafures I had taken, which I flattered myfelf, from having been digefted with greater consideration than thofe adopted by others, would fecure * The nu&a, or dew, that fulls on St John's night, is fuppofed to have the virtue to Hop ths. ^jRgue. 1 have confidered this in the fxjtieJ,. fecure me from the melancholy cataftrophes that had terminated thefe hitherto-unfuccefsful attempts. On the 16th, at dawn of day, I faw a high hill, which,front its particular form, defcribed by Strabo *, I took for Mount Olympus f. Soon after, the reft of the ifland, which feemed low, appeared in view. We fcarce faw Lcrnica till we anchored before it. It is built of white clay, of the fame colour as the ground, precifely as is the cafe with Damafcus, fo that you cannot, till clofe to it, diftinguilh the houfes from the earth they ftand upon. It is very remarkable that Cyprus was fo long undiscovered:];; fhips had been ufed in the Mediterranean 1700 years before Chrift ; yet, though only a day's failing from the continent of Afia on the north and eaft, and little more from that of Africa on the fouth, it was not known at the buildine Tyre, a little before the Trojan war, that is 500 years after mips had been palling to and fro in the feas around it. It was,at its difcovery, thick covered with wood; and what leads me to believe it was not well known, even fo late as the building of Solomon's Temple, is, that wc do not find that Hiram king of Tyre, juft in its neighbourhood, ever had re-courfe to it for wood, though furely the carriage would have been eafier than to have brought it down from the top of Mount Libanus. A 2 # That * Strabo, lib. xiy, p. 78i. f It is called Marailho. % Newton's Chronol. p. 183. That there was great abundance in it, we know from Eratofthencs*, who tells us it was fo overgrown that it could not be tilled; fo that they firft cut down the timber to be nfed in the furnaces for melting filvcr and copper; that after this they built fleets with it, and when they could not even deftroy it this way, they gave liberty to all ft rangers to cut it down for whatever ufe they plcafed; and not only fo, but they gave them the property of the ground they cleared. Things arc fadly changed now. Wood is one of the wants of moft parts of the ifland, which has not become more healthy by being cleared, as is ordinarily the cafe. At f Cacamo (Acamas) on the weft fide of the ifland, the wood remains thick and impervious as at the firft difcovery. Large flags, and wild boars of a monftrous fize, flicker them-fclvcs unrriolefted in thefe their native woods; and it depended only upon the portion of credulity that I was endowed with, that I did not believe that an elephant bad, net many years ago, been feen alive there. Several families of Greeks declared it to me upon oath ; nor were there wanting pcrfons of that nation at Alexandria, who laboured to confirm the affertion. Had fkeletons of that animal been there,, 1 lhould have thought them antediluvian ones. I know none could have been at Cyprus, unlcfs in the time of Darius Ochus, and I do not remember that there were elephants even with him. In? * Strabo, lib. xiv. p. 684. f Straba, lib. x'w. p. 780. In patting, I would fain have gone aihore to fee if there v were any remains of the celebrated temple of Paphos; but a voyage, fuch as I was then embarked on, Hood in need of vows to Elercules rather than to Venus, and the mailer, fearing to lofe his paffage, determined to proceed. Many medals (fcarce any of them good) are dug up in Cyprus; fdver ones, of very excellent workmanfhip, are found near Paphos, of little value in the eyes of antiquarians, being chiefly of towns of the fize of thofe found at Crete and Rhodes, and all the iflands of the Archipelago. Intaglios there are fome few, part in very excellent Greek ftyle, and generally upon better Rones than ufual in the iilands. I have feen fome heads of Jupiter, remarkable for bufhy hair and beard, that were of the moR exquifite workmanfhip, worthy of any price. All the inhabitants of the ifland arc fubject to fevers, but more efpecially thofe in the neighbourhood of Paphos. We leftLernica the 1,7th of June, about four o'clock in the afternoon. The day had been very cloudy, with a wind at N. E. which frefliened as we got under weigh. Our matter, a feaman of experience upon that coaft, ran before it to the weftward with all the fails he could fet. Trailing to a fign that he faw, which he called a bank, rcfcmbling a dark cloud in the horizon, he gueffed the wind was to*be from that quarter the next day. Accordingly, on the 18th, a little before twelve o'clock, a very frefh and favourable breeze came from the N. W. and we pointed our prow directly, as we thought, upon Alexandria. I The The coaft of Egypt is exceedingly low, and, if the weather is not clear, you often are clofe in with the land before you difcover it. A strong current fcts conftantly to the eaftward; and the way the mafters of veifels pretend to know their approach to the coaft is by a black mud, which they find upon the plummet* at the end of their founding-line, about feven leagues diftant from land. Our mailer pretended at midnight he had found that black fand, and therefore, although the wind was very fair, he chofc to lie to, till morning, as thinking himfelf near the coaft; although his reckoning, as he faid, did not agree with what he inferred from his foundings. As I was exceedingly vexed at being fo difappointed of making the beft of our favourable wind, I rectified my quadrant, and found by the pafTages of two ftars over the meridian, that we were in lat. 320 1' 45", or Seventeen leagues diftant from Alexandria, inftead of feven, and that by difference of our latitude only. From this I inferred that part of the aftertion, that it is the mud of the Nile which is fuppofed to lhew feamen their approach to Egypt, is mere imagination; feeing that the point where we then were was really part of the fea opposite to the defert of Barca, and had no communication whatever with the Nile, 4 On * This Is an old prejudice. See Herodotus, lib. ii. p. 90. feci. 5. On the contrary, the Etefian winds blowing all Summer upon that coaR, from the weftward of north, and a current letting conRantly to the eaRward, it is impoflible that any part of the mud of the Nile can go fo high to the windward of any of the mouths of that river. It is well known, that the action of thefe winds, and the conftancy of that current, has thrown a great quantity of mud, gravel, and fand, into all the ports on the coaR of Syria. All veftiges of old Tyre are defaced ; the ports of Sidon, *Berout, Tripoli, and fLatikea, arc all filled up by the accretion of fand; and, not many days before my leaving Sidon, Mr de Clerambaut, conful of France, llicwed mc the pavements of the old city of Sidon, 7! feet lower than the ground upon which the prefent city Rands, and confidcrably farther back in the gardens nearer to Mount Libanus, Tins every one in the country knows is the effect, of that ■■cafterly current fetting upon the coaR, which, as it acts perpendicularly to the courfe of the Nile when difcharging itfelf, at all or any of its mouths, into the Mediterranean, muR hurry what it is charged with on towards the coaR of Syria, and hinder it from fettling oppofite to, or making thofe additions to the land of Egypt, which J Herodotus has vainly fuppofed. The 20th of June, early in the morning, we had a diftant profpecT of Alexandria riling from the fea. Was not the Rate of * Berytus. \ Laodicea ad marc. % Htrod. lib. ii. p. 90 of that city perfectly known, a traveller in fearch of anti- , (jiiities in architectine would think here was a field for-long Rudy and employment. It is in this point of view the town appears mod to the * advantage. The mixture of old monuments, fuch as the Column of Pompcy, with tire high moorifh towers and Recplcs, raifc our expectations of the confluence of the , ruins we are to find. But the moment we are in the port the illufion ends, and we diftinguifh the immenfe Herculean works of ancient times, now few in number, from the ill-imagined, ill-con-ftructcd, and imperfect buildings, of the feveral barbarous matters of Alexandria in later ages. There arc two ports, the Old and the New. The entrance into the latter is both difficult and dangerous, having a bar before it; it is the leaft of the two, though it is what is called the Great Port, by *Strabo. Here only the European fhips can lie; and, even when here, they arc not in fafety; as numbers of veffels are con-ftantly loft, though at anchor. Above forty were eaft a-fhore and dafhed to pieces in March 1773, when I was on my return home, moftly belonging to Ragufa, and the fmall ports in Provence, while little harm was done to fhips of any nation accuftomcd to the ocean. * Strubo, lib. xvii. r» 92 2. It was curious to obfervc the different procedure of thefe xliffcrent nations upon the fame accident. As foon as the fquall began to become violent, the matters of the Ragufan vcffels, and the French caravaneurs, or vcffels trading in the Mediterranean, after having put out every anchor and cable they had, took to their boats and fled to the nearcft more, leaving the vcffels to their chance in the ttorm. They knew the furniture of their fhips to be too fiimfy to trutt their lives to it. Many of their cables being made of a kind of grafs called Spartum, could not bear the ftrefs of the vcffels or agitation of the waves, but parted with the anchors, and the fhips periihed. On the other hand, the Britifh, Danifli, Swcdifh, and Dutch navigators of the ocean, no fooner faw the ttorm beginning, than they left their houfes, took to their boats, and went all hands on board. Thefe knew the fufliciency of their tackle, and provided they were prefent, to obviate unforefcen accidents, they had no apprehenfion from the weather. They knew that their cables were made of good hemp, that their anchors were heavy and ttrong. Some pointed their yards to the wind, and others lowered them upon deck. Afterwards they walked to and fro on their quarter-deck with perfect compofurc, and bade defiance to the florm. Not one man of thefe ftirred from the fhips, till calm weather, on the morrow, called upon them to all ill their feeble and more unfortunate brethren, whofc fhips were wrecked and lay Scattered on the fliorc. Vol. I. B The The other port is the *Eunoftus of the ancients, and is to the weft ward of the Pharos. It was called alio the Port of Africa; is much larger than the former, and lies immediately under part of the town of Alexandria, it has much deeper water, though a multitude cf lhips have every day, for ages, been throwing a quantity of ballaft into it; and there is no doubt, but in time it will be filled up, and joined to the continent by this means. And poflerity may, probably, following the fyftefn of Herodotus (if it lhould be Rill fafhionablc) call this as they have done the reft of Egypt, the Gift of the Nile. Christian veffcls are not fullered to enter this port; the only reafon is, leaft the Moorijh women lhould be feen taking the air in the evening at open windows; and this has been thought to be of weight enough for Chriftian powers to fubmit to it, and to over-balance the conftant lofs of fhips, property, and men. -j-Alexander, returning to Egypt from the Libyan fide, was ftruck with the beauty and fituation of thefe two ports. J Dinochares, an architect who accompanied him, traced out the plan, and Ptolemy I. built the city. The healthy, though dcfolatc and bare country round it, part of the Dcfert of Libya, was another inducement to prefer this fituation to the unwholefome black mud of Egypt; but it had no water; this Ptolemy was obliged to bring far above * Strabo, lib. xvii. p. 922. f Strabo,lib.xvii. p. 920. QCurt. lib. iv. cap. S, $ Plin. lib. v. cap. 10. p. 2 73. above from the Nile, by a califh, or canal, vulgarly called the Canal of Cleopatra, though it was certainly coeval with the foundation of the city; it has no other name at this day. This circumftance, however, remedied in the beginning, was fatal to the city's magnificence ever after, and the caufe of its being in the Rate it is at this day. The importance of its fituation to trade and commerce, made it a principal object of attention to each party in every war. It was eafily taken, becaufe it had no water ; and, as it could not be kept, it was deflroyed by the conqueror, that the temporary pofleifion of it might not turn to be a fource of advantage to an enemy. We are not, however, to fuppofe, that the country all around it was as bare in the days of profperity as it is now. Population, we fee, produces a fvverd of grafs round ancient cities in the moR defert parts of Africa, which keeps the fand immoveable till the place is no longer inhabited. I apprehend the numerous lakes in Egypt were all contrived as refervoirs to lay up a Rore of water for fup-plying gardens and plantations in the months of the Nile's deci eafe. The great effects of a very little water arc feen along the califh, or canal, in a number of bufhes that it produces, and thick plantations of date-trees, all in a very luxuriant Rate ; and this, no doubt, in the days of the Ptolemies, was extended further, more attended to, and better underRood. v. i. B 2 Pompey's Pompey's pillar, the obelifks, and Subterraneous citterns j are all the antiquities we find now in Alexandria; thefe have been defcribed frequently, ably, and minutely. The foliage and capital of the pillar are what fecm generally to difpleafe ; the fuft is thought to have merited more attention than has been bellowed upon the capital. The whole of the pillar is granite, but the capital is of another Rone; and I lhould fufpecT thofe rudiments of leaves were only intended to fupport firmly leaves of metal* of better workmanfhip ; for the capital itfelf is near nine feet high, and the work, in proportionable leaves of Rone, would be not only very large, but, after being finiflv-ed, liable to injuries. This magnificent monument appears, in tafte, to be the work of that period, between Hadrian and Severus; but, though the former erected feveral large buildings in the eaft, it is obferved of him he never put inferiptions upon them. This has had a Greek infeription, 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, cfpecially finee no ancient hiftory mentions its.cxiftence at an earlier period. I apprehend it to have becn'brought in a block from the "Thebais in Upper Egypt, by the Nile; though fome have imagined *~— ■ >■---—-- ■ • We fee many examples of fuch leaves both at Palmyra and Baalbec. Imagined it was an old obelifk, hewn to that round form. It is nine feet diameter; and were it but 80 feet high, it would require a prodigious obelifk: indeed, that could admit to be hewn to this circumference for fuch a length, fo as perfectly to efface the hieroglyphics that mull have been very deeply cut in the four faces of it. The tomb of Alexander has been talked of as one of the antiquities of this city. Marmol * fays he faw it in the year 1546. It was, according to him, a fmall houfe, in form of a chapel, in the middle of the city, near the church of St Mark, and was called Efcandcr. The thing itfelf is not probable, for all thofe that made themfelves matters of Alexandria, in the earliett times, had too much rcfpecT for Alexander, to have reduced his tomb to fo obfeure a ttatc. It would have been (pared even by he Saracens ; for Mahomet fpeaks of Alexander with great refpect, both as a king and a prophet. The body was pre-ferved in a glafs coffin, in -j- Strabo's time, having been robbed of. the golden one in which it was firft depolited. The Greeks, for the moll part, are better inftructed in the hiftory of thefe places than the Cophts, Turks, or Chrifti-ans ; and, after the Greeks, the Jews. As I was perfectly difguifed, having for many years worn the drefs of the Arabs, I was under no conftraint, but walked through the town in all directions, accompanied by any of thofe •■Marmot, lib. xi. cap. 14. p. 276. torn. 3. f Strabo, lib. xvii. p. 922. thofe different nations I could induce to walk with me ; and, as I conftantly fpokc Arabic, was taken for a * Bedowe by all forts of people ; but, notwithstanding the advantage this freedom gave mc, and of which I daily availed myfelf, I never could hear a word of this monument from either Greek, Jew, Moor, or Chriilian. Alexandria has been often taken fmce the time of Ca> far. It was at lafl dellroycd by the Venetians and Cypriots, upon, or rather after the relcafe of St Lewis, and we may fay of it as of Carthage, Berifoe mina, its very ruins appear no longer. The building of the prcfent gates and walls, which fome have thought to be antique, does not fecm earlier than the lait rcfloration in the 13th century. Some parts of the gate and walls may be of older date; (and probably were thofe of the laR Caliphs before oalidan) but, except thefe, and the pieces of columns which lie horizontally in different parts of the wall, every thing elfe is apparently of very late times, and the work has been huddled together in great haftc. It is in vain then to expect a plan of the city, or try to trace here the Macedonian mantle of Dinocharcs ; the very veftiges of ancient ruins are covered, many yards deep, by rubbifh, the remnant of the devaluations of later times. Cleopatra, were flic to return to life again, would fcarccly know where her palace was fkuated, in this her own capital. There * A pccif.int Arab. There is nothing beautiful or plcafant in the prefcnt Alexandria, but a handfome Rrect of modern houfes, where a very active and intelligent number of merchants live Uj*on the mifcrablc remnants of that trade, which made its glory in the firft times. It is thinly inhabited, and there is a tradition among the natives, that, more than once, it has been in agitation to a-bandon it all together, and retire to Rofetto, or Cairo, but that they have been withheld by the opinion of divers faints from Arabia, who have aflured them, that Mecca being dc-ftroyed, (as it mult be as they think by the Ruffians) Alexandria is then to become the holy place, and that Mahomet's body is to be tranfported thither; when that city is de-ftroyed, the lanciified reliques are to be tranfported to Cai-rouan, in the kingdom of funis: lailly, from Cairouan they are to come to Rofetto, and there to remain till the con-fummation of all things, which is not then to be at a great diftance. Ptolemy places his Alexandria in fat. 30° 31' and in round, numbers in his almageft, lat. 310 north. Our FrofefTor, Mr Greaves, one of whole errands into Egypt was to afcertain the latitude of this place, feems yet, from fome caufe or other, to have failed in it, for though he had a brafs fextant of live feet radius, lie makes the latitude of Alexandria, from a mean of.many obfervations, to be lat 310 4;N. whereas the French aftronomers from the Academy of Sciences have fettled it at 31°! i'ao/' fo between Mr Greaves and the French there is a difference of j' 2ov, which is too much. There is, not any thing, in point of fituation, fituation, that can account for this variance, as in the cafe of Ptolemy ; for the new town of Alexandria is built from call to welt; and as all chriilian travellers necelTarily make their obfervations now on the fame line, there cannot pollibly be any difterence from fituation. Mr NiEBUirR, whether from one or more obfervations he does not lav, makes the latitude to be 31° 12'. From a mean of thirty-three obfervations, taken by the three-feet ■quadrant I have fpoken of, I found it to be 310 11' 16"; So that, taking a medium of thefe three refults, you will have the latitude of Alexandria 310 ii 7 327/, or, in round number, 310 n' 30", nor do I think there pollibly can be 5" difference. By an eclipfe, moreover, of the full fatcllitc of Jupiter, obferved on the 23d day of June 1769, I found its longitude to be 300 1 j7 jOn call, from the meridian of Greenwich. We arrived at Alexandria the 20th of June, and found that the plague had raged in that city and neighbourhood from the beginning of March, and that two days only before our arrival people had begun to open their houfes and communicate with each other; but it was no matter, St John's day was pojl, the miraculous nucta, or dew, had fallen, and every body went about their ordinary bufmefs in fafcty, and without fear. With very great pleafure 1 had received my inltrumcnts at Alexandria. I examined them, and, by the perfect Hate m which they arrived, knew the obligations I was under to to my correfpondcrits and friends. Prepared now for any enterprife, I left with eagcrnefs the thread-bare inquiries into the meagre remains, of this once-famous capital of Egypt. The journey to Rofetto is always performed by land, as the mouth of the branch of the Nile leading to Rofetto, called the Bogaz*, is very ihallow and dangerous to pafs, and often tedious ; befides, nobody willies to be a partner for any time in a voyage with Egyptian failors, if he can pof-fibly avoid it. The journey by land is alio reputed dangerous, and people travel burdened with arms, which they are determined never to ufe. For my part, I placed my fafety, in my difgnife, and my behaviour. Wc had all of us piilols ar our girdles, againft an extremity ; but our lire-arms of a larger fort, of which we had great ftore, were fent with our baggage, and other inftruments, by the Bogaz to Rofetto. I had a fmall lance, called a Jerid, in my hand, my fervants were without any vifible arms. We left Alexandria in the afternoon, and about three miles before arriving at Aboukcer, we met a man, in appearance of fome confequence, going to Alexandria. Vol. I. <: As * Means a narrow or (hallow entrance of a river from the ocean. As wc had no fear of him or his party, we neither courts ed nor avoided them. We paRed near enough, however, to give them the: ufual falute,. Salam Alkum; to which the leader of the troop gave no anfwcr, but faid to one of his fervants, as in contempt, Bedowe! they are peafants, or country Arabs. I was much better plcaled'with this token that we had deceived them, than if they had returned the falute twenty times. Some inconfidera.ble ruins are at Aboukee-r, and fecm to denote, that it was the former fituation of an ancient city. There is here alfo an inlet of the fea ; and the diftance, ibme-thing lefs than four leagues from Alexandria, warrants us to fay that it is Canopus, one of the moft ancient cities in the world; its ruins, notwithstanding the neighbourhood of the branch of the Nile, which goes by that name, have not yet been covered by the increafe of the land of Egvpt. At Medea, which we fuppofe, by its diftance of near feven leagues, to be the ancient Heradium, is the pailage or ferry which terminates the fear of danger from the Arabs of Libya; and it is here *iuppofed the Delta, or Egypt, be*-gins. Dr Shawf is obliged to confefs, that between Alexandria and the Canopic branch of the Nile, few or no vtftiges are feen of the increafe of the land by the inundation of the jsiver; indeed it would have been a wonder if there had. Alexandria, U^rod. p. joS, f Shaw's Travels p. 203, Alexandria, and its environs, are part of the defert of Barca, too high to have ever been overflowed by the Nile, from any part of its lower branches; or elfc there would have been no necefllty for going fo high up as above Rofetto, to get level enough, to bring water down to Alexandria by the canal, Dr Shaw adds,thatthe ground hereabout may have been an ifland ; and fo it may, and fo may almoft any other place in the world; but there is no foit of indication that it was fo, nor vifible means by which it was formed. We faw no vegetable from Alexandria to Medea, excepting fome fcattered roots of Abfmthium ; nor were thefe luxuriant, or promifing to thrive, but though they had not a very itrong fmcll, they were abundantly bitter; and their leaves feemed to have imbibed a quantity of faline particles, with which the foil of the whole defert of Barca is flrongly impregnated. We faw two or three gaze!s, or antelopes, walking one by one, at feveral times, in nothing differing from the fpecies of that animal, in the defert of Barca and Cyrenaicum; and the * jerboa, another inhabitant rof thefe deferts; but from the multitude of holes in the ground, which we faw at the root of almoA every plant of Abfmthium, we were very certain its companion, the f Cerafles, or horned viper, was an inhabitant of that country alfo. C 2 From * Sec a figure of this animal in the Appendix, f See Appendix, From Medea, or the Pafiagc, our road lay through very dry fand; to avoid which, and feek firmer footing, wc were obliged to ride up to the bellies of our horfes in the fea. If the wind blows this quantity of cluft or fand into the Mediterranean, it is no wonder the mouths of the branches of the Nile are choked up. All Fgvpt is like to this part of it, full of deep duft and fand, from the beginning of March till the iirft of the inundation. It is this line powder and fand, raifed and loofen-ed by the heat of the fun, and want of dew, and not being tied faft, as it were, by any root or vegetation, which the Nile carries off with it, and buries in the fea, and which many ignorantly fuppofe comes from Abyflinia, where every river runs in a bed of rock. When you leave the fea, you ftrike off nearly at right angles, and purfue your journev to the eaft ward of north. Here heaps of ftone and trunks of pillars, arc fet up to guide you in your road, through moving lands, which Rand in hillocks in proper directions, and which conducf you fafely to Rofetto, furrounded on one fide by thefe hills of fand, which fecm ready to cover it. Rosetto is upon that branch of the Nile which was called the Bolbuttic Branch, and is about four miles from the fea. It probably obtained its prefent name from the Venetians, or Genoefe, who monopolized the trade of this country, before the Cape of Good Hope was difcovercd; for it is known to the natives by the name of Rafhid, by which is meant the Orthodox. The The rcafon of this I have already explained, it is fome time or other to be a fubititute to Mecca, and to be blclfed with all that holinefs, that the poffeflion of the reliques, of their prophet can give it. Dr Shaw * having always in his mind the ftrcngthening of Herodotus's hypothecs, that Egypt is created by the Nile, fays,, that perhaps this was once a Cape, becaufe Raihid has that meaning. But as Dr Shaw underRood Arabic perfectly well, he mull therefore have known, that Raihid has no fuch ngnificatiori in any of the Oriental Languages. Ras, indeed, is a head land, or cape ; but Railit has no fuch Jig-niiication, and Raihid a very different one, as I have already mentioned. Rashid then, or Rofetto, is a'large, clean, neat town, or village, upon the eaftern fide of the Nile. It is about three miles long, much frequented by fludious and religious Mahometans ; among thefe too are a. confiderable number of merchants, it being the entrepot between Cairo and Alexandria, and vice verfa; here too the merchants have their facfors, who fuperintend and watch over the mcrchandife winch pafles the Bogaz to and from Cairo. 0 There are many gardens, and much verdure, about Ro-„ fetto ; the ground is low, and retains long the moifturc it imbibes from die overflowing of the Nile. Here alfo are many curious plants and flowers, brought from different countries, by Fakirs, and merchants. Without this, Egypt, fubject * Shaw's Travels, p. 20.4* fubjccl: to fuch long inundation, however it may abound in neceflaries, could not boaR of many beautifvd productions of its own gardens, though flowers, trees, and plants, were very much in vogue in this neighbourhood, two hundred years ago, as we find by the obfervations of Profper Alpinus. The Rudy and fearch after every thing ufeful or beautiful, which for fome time had been declining gradually, fell at laR into total contempt and oblivion, under the brutal reign of thefe laft Haves*, the .moft infamous reproach to the name of Sovereign. Rosetto is a favourite halting-place of the ChriRian travellers entering Egypt, and merchants cllablifhcd there. There they draw their breaths, in an imaginary increafe of freedom, between the two great fmks of tyranny, oppref-iion, and injuftice, Alexandria and Cairo. Rosetto has this good reputation, that the people are milder, more traceable, and lefs avaricious, than thofe of the two laR-mentioned capitals ; but i muR fay, that, in my time, I could not difcern much difference. The merchants, who trade at all hours of the day with Chriitians, are indeed more civilized, and lefs infolcnt, than the foldiery and the reft of the common people, which is the cafe every where, as it is for their own intereft; but their ■* The Mamaluke Beys, their prieRs, and moullahs, their foldiers, and people living in the country, are, in point of manners, juR as bad as the others. Rosetto is in lat. 31* 24/ 15" N. ; it is the place where we embark for Cairo, which we accordingly did on June £ ~f cal"es by rough and violent hands, which certainly would have broken fome-thing. Risk waited upon me next day, and let me know from whom the favour came; on which we all thought this was a hint for a pre fent; and accordingly, as I had other bufi-nefs with the Bey, I had prepared a very handfomc one. But I was exceedingly aftoniihed when defiring to know the time when it was to be olfercd ; it not only was refufed, but fome few trifles were fent as a prefent from the fecretary with this mellage : " That, when I had rcpofed, he " would vifit me, deli re to fee me make ufe of thefe inilru-" ments; and, in the mean time, that I might reft confident, u that nobody durft any way moleft me while in Cairo, for " I was tinder the immediate protection of the Bey." He He added alfo, " That if I wanted any thing I lhould fend " my Armenian fervant, Arab Keer, to him, without trou-41 bling myfelf to communicate my neceflities to the French, " or trull my concerns to their Dragomen." Although I had lived for many years in friendfhip and in conftant good underftanding with both Turks and Moors, there was fomcthing more polite and confederate in this than I could account for. I had not feen the Bey, it was not therefore any particular addrefs, or any prepofleflion in my favour, with which thefe people are very apt to be taken at firft fight, that could account for this ; I was an abfolute ftranger; I therefore opened Eyfdf XS^l? to my Mr Bertran. I told him my apprehenfion of too much fair weather in the beginning, which, in thefe climates, generally leads to a ftorm in the end; on which account, I fufpected fome defign; Mr Bertran kindly promifed to found Rilk for mc. At the fame time, he cautioned me equally againft offending him, or trufting myfelf in his hands, as being a man capable of the blackeft defigns, and mcrcilcfs in the execution of them.. It was not long before Rifk's curiofity gave him a fai^ opportunity. He inquired of Bertran as to my knowledge of the Rars ; and my friend* who then faw perfectly the drift of all his conduct, fo prepoflefted him in favour of my fuperior fcience, that he communicated to him in the in-ftant the great expectations he had formed, to be enabled by by me, to forefee the deftiny of the Bey; the fucccfs of the war; and, in particular, whether or not he mould make himfelf maftcr of Mecca ; to conquer which place, he was about to difpatch his Have and fon-in-law,Mahomet Bey A-bouDahab, at the head of an army-conducting the pilgrims. Bertran communicated this to me with great tokens of joy: for my own part, I did not greatly like the profeRion of fortune-telling, where baftinado or impaling might be the reward of being miftaken. But I was told I had moft credulous people to deal with, and that there was nothing for it but efcaping as long as poffible, before the iffue of any of my prophecies arrived, and as foon as I had done my own bufmefs. This was my own idea likewife; I never faw a place I liked worfe, or which afforded lefs pleafurc or inftruction than Cairo, or antiquities which lefs anfwered their defcrip-tions. In a few days I received a letter from Rifle, defiring me to go out to the Convent of St George, about three miles from Cairo, where the Greek patriarch had ordered an apartment for me; that I lhould pretend to the French merchants that it was for the fake of health, and that there 1 ••mould receive the Bey's orders. Providence feemed to teach me the way I was to go. i went accordingly to St George, a very folitary manfion, but .large and quiet, very proper for Rudy, and Rill more for Vol. I. E executing executing a plan which I thought moft neceffary for my; undertaking. During my ftay at Algiers, the Rev. Mr Tonyrr, the.king's chaplain to that factory, was ah lent upon leave. The bigot-ted catholic priefts there neither marry, baptize, nor bury the dead of thofe that are Proteftants. There was a Greek prieft, * Father Chriftopher, who con-ftantly had offered gratuitoufly to perform thefe functions. The civility, humanity, and good character of the man, led me to take him to reticle at my country houfe, where I lived the greateft part of the year ; befides that he was of a chearful difpolition, I had pfactifed much with him both in fpeaking and reading Greek with the accent, not in ufe in our fchools, but without which that language, in the mouth of a ftranger, is perfectly unintelligible all over the Archipelago. UroN my leaving Algiers to go on my voyage to Barbary, being tired of the place, he embarked on board a veffel, and landed at Alexandria, from which foon after he was called to Cairo by the Greek patriarch Mark, and made Archimandrites, which is the fecond dignity in the Greek church under the patriarch. Pie too was well acquainted in the houfe of Ali Bey, where all were Georgian and Greek flaves; and it was at his folicitation that Rifk had dciired the patriarch to furnilh me with an apartment in the Convent of St George, The * Yicl. Introduction. The next day after my arrival I was furprifed by the viflt of my old friend Father Chriftopher ; and, not to detain the reader with ufclcfs circumftanccs, the intelligence of many vifits, which I fhall comprehend in one, was, that there were many Greeks then in Abyflinia, all of them in great power, and fome of them in the firft places of the empire; that they correfponded with the patriarch when oecafion offered, and, at ali times, held him in fuch reflect, that his will, when fignified to them, was of the grcatelt authority, and that obedience was paid to it as to holy writ. Father Christopher took upon him, with the grcatcft readinefs, to manage the letters, and we digeftcd the plan of them; three copie. were made to fend feparate ways, and an admonitory letter to the whole of the Greeks then in Abyflinia, 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 afide their pride and vanity, great fins with which he knew them much infected, and, inftcad of pretending to put themfelves on a footing with mc when I lliould arrive at the court of Abyflinia, they fliould concur, heart and hand, in ferving me; and that, before it could be fuppofed they had received inftruc-tions from mc, they fliould make a declaration before the king, that they were not in condition equal to me, that I was a free citizen of a. powerful notion, and fexvant of a great king; that they were born flaves of the Turk, and, at beft, ranked but as would my fervants; and that, in fact, one of their countrymen was in that Ration then with me. ArTER After having made that declaration publicly, and bond futi, inprcfencc of their prieft,he thereupon declared to them,, that all their pafliins were forgiven. All this the patriarch moft willingly and chearfully peiv formed. I faw him .frequently when I was in Cairo ; and we had already commenced a great friendfhip and intimacy,. In the meanwhile, Rifk fent to mc, one night about nine o'clock, to come to the Bey. I faw him then for the firft. time. He was a much younger man than I'conceived him to be; he was fitting upon a large fofa, covered with crim-fon-cloth of gold ; his turban, his girdle, and the head of. his dagger, all thick covered with fine brilliants; one in his. turban, that fcrved to fupport a fprig of brilliants alio, was among the largeil I had ever feen. He entered abruptly into difcourfc upon the war between:: Rullia and the Turk, and afked mc if I had calculated what, would be the cooiequeuce of that war? I faid, the Turks would be beaten by fea and land wherever they prefented"' themfclves. AGAiN,Whether Conft'antinoplc would'bc burned or taken? —I faid, Neither; but peace would be made, after much bloodihed, wTith little advantage to either party. He clapped bis hands together, and fworc an oath hr Turkifh, then turned to Rifk, who Rood before him, and, faid, That wilf be fad indeed! but truth is truth, and God is merciful. Hs He offered me coffee and fweatmeats, promifed me protection, bade mc fear nothing, but, if any body wrong me, to acquaint him by Rifk. Two or three nights afterwards the Bey fent for me again. It was near eleven o'clock before I got admittai tG> him. I met the janiffary Aga going out from him-, and her of foldiers at the door. As I did not kno\* him fed him without ceremony, which is not ufual for any per-Ibn to do. Whenever lie mounts on horfebaek, as he was then juft going to do* he has abfolute power of life and-death, without appeal, all over Cairo and its neighbourhood. He ftopt me juft at the rhrefliold, and afked one of the Bey's people who I was ? and was anfwered, " It is Hakim Engiefe," the Englilh philofophcr, or phylician. He allied me in Turkifh, in a very polite manner, if I would come and fee him, for he was not well ? I anfwered' him in Arabic, " Yes, whenever he plcafcd, but could not (then flay, as I had received a meffage that the Bey was wait-nig." He replied in Aiabic, " No, no ; go, for God's fake go ; any time will do.for me." The Bey was fitting, leaning forward,, with a wax taper in one hand, and reading a fmall Hip of paper, which beheld clpfe to his face. He feemed to have little light, or weak eyes ; nobody was near him ; his people had been alb difmiffed, or were following the janiflary Aga out. He did not feem to obfcrvc me till I was clofe upon him, and itarted when I laid, " Sala?n^ I told him I came upon his nicflagc. He faid, I thank you, did I fend for you ? and without giving mc leave to reply, went on, " O true, I did fo," and fell to reading his paper again. After this was over, he complained that he had been ill, that he vomited immediately after dinner, though he eat moderately; that his ftomach was not yet fettled, and was afraid fomcthing had been given him to do him mifchief. I felt his pulfc, which was low, ar d weak; but very little feveriih. I dciired he would order his people to look if his meat was drefled in copper properly tinned; I allured him he was in no danger, and infinuated that I thought he had been guilty of fome excels before dinner; at which he fmilcd, and faid to Rilk, who was Handing by, "Afrite ! Afrite" ! he is a devil! he is a devil! I faid, If your ftomach is really uneafy from what you may have ate, warm fome water, and, if you pleafe, put a little green tea into it, and drink it till it makes you vomit gently, and that will give you cafe ; after which you may take a difh of ftrong coffee, and go to bed, or a glafs of fpi.rits, if you have any that are good. He looked furprifed at this propofal, and faid very calmly, " Spirits ! do you know I am a Muftulman.?" But I, Sir, faid I, am none. I tell you what is good for your body, and have nothing to do with your religion, or your foul. He feemed vaftly diverted, and pleafcd with my franknefs, and >only faid, * He (peaks like a man." There was no word of the war, nor of the Rullians that night. I went home def- perately perately tired, and peevifh at being dragged out, on fo fool-ifh an errand. Next, morning, his fecretary Rilk came to me to the convent. The Bey was not yet well; and the idea Rill remained that he had been poifoned. Rilk told me the Bey had great confidence in mc. I aiked him how the water had operated? He faid he had not yet taken any of it, that he did not know how to make it, therefore he was come at the delire of the Bey, to fee how it was made. I immediately fhewed him this, by infufing fome green tea in fome warm water. But this was not all, he modeft-ly infinuatcd that I was to drink it, and fo vomit myfelf, ill order to ihew him how to do with the Bey. I excused myfelf from being patient and phylician at the fame time, and told him, I would vomit him, which would anfwer the fame purpofe o£ inRrucTion; neither was this propofal accepted, The old Greek prieft, Father Chriftopher, coming at the fame time, we both agreed to vomit the Father, who would not confent, but produced a Caloycros, or young monk, ami. wc forced him to take the water whether he would or not. As my favour with the Bey was now eftablifhed by my midnight interviews, I thought of leaving my folitary manfion at die convent.. I deiircd Mr Rilk to procure me peremptory letters of recommendation to Shekh Hainan, to the governor of Syene, Ibrim, and Deir, in Upper Egypt. I procured alfo the fame from the janiftarics, to thefe three laft laR places, as their garrifons are from that body at Cairo, which they call their Port. I had alio letters from Ali Bey, to the Bey of Suez, to the Sherrifle of Mecca, to the Naybc (fo they call the Sovereign) of Mafuah, and to the king of Sennaar, and his minifter for the time being. Having obtained all my letters and difpatches, as well from the patriarch as from the Bey, I let about preparing f _>r my journey. Cairo is fuppofed to be the ancient Babylon*", at leaft part of it. It is in lat. 30 ° 2? 30" north, and in long. 310 \G' ealt, from Greenwich. I cannot aifent to what is faid of it, that it is built in form of a crefcent. You ride round it, gardens and all, in three hours and a quarter, upon an afs, at an ordinary pace, which will be above three miles an hour. Till: Califh f, or Amnis Trajanus, panes through the length of it, and tills the lake called Birket el Hadje, the firft fupply of water the pilgrims get in their tirefome journey to Mecca. On the other fide of the Nile, from Cairo, is Gecza, fo called, as fome Arabian authors fay, from there having been a bridge there ; Gecza fignifics the Tallage. About eleven miles beyond this arc the Pyramids, tailed the Pyramids of Gecza, the defcription of which is in every * Ptol. Geogntph. lib. 4 Cup. 5. t Shnw's travels p. 294, THE SOURCE OF TEIE NILE. 4I every body's hands. Engravings of them had been publinV ed in England, with plans of them upon a large fcale, two years before I came into Egypt, and were fhewn me by Mr Davidfon conful of Nice, whole drawings they were. He it was too that difcovered the fmall chamber above the landing-place, after you afcend through the long gallery of the great Pyramid on your left hand, and he left the ladder by which he afcended, for the fatisfaclron of other travellers. But there is nothing in the chamber further worthy of notice, than its having efcaped difcovery fo many ages. I think it more extraordinary Rill, that, for fuch a time as thefe Pyramids have been known, travellers were content rather to follow the report of the ancients, than to make ufe of their own eyes. Yet it has been a conftant belief, that the Rones compo-fing thefe Pyramids have been brought from the * Libyan mountains, though any one who will take the pains to remove the fand on the fouth fide, will find the folid rock there hewn into Reps. ■ £1 ■ ''' Nj And in the roof of the large chamber, where the Sarcophagus Hands, as alfo in the top of the roof of the gallery, as you go up into that chamber, you fee large fragments Vol. I. F of * Herod, lib. 2. cap. 8. of the rock, affording an uuanfwerable proof, that thofe-Pyramids were once huge rocks, Randing where they now are ; that fome of them, the moft proper from their form, were chofen for the body of the Pyramid, and the others hewn into fteps, to ferve for the fuperftruclure, and the exterior parts of them. G H A P. 27 999990^ CHAP. III. Leaves Cairo—Embarks on the Nile for Upper Egypt—Vifits Meirahenny and Mohannan—Rea/pnsfor fuppofng this the fituation of Memphis. HAVING now provided every thing neceflary, and taken a rather melancholy leave of our very indulgent friends, who had great apprehenfions that we mould never return ; and fearing that our Ray till the very exceflive heats were paft, might involve us in another difficulty, that of miffing the Etefian winds, wc fecured a boat to carry us to Fur-ihout, the refidcnce of Hamam, the Shekh of Upper Egypt. This fort of veffel is called a Canja, and is one of the moft commodious ufed on any river, being fafe, and expeditious at the fame time, though at firft fight it has a ftrong appearance of danger. That on which we embarked was about ioo feet from Rem to item, with two mafts, main and foremaft, and two monftrous Latine fails ; the main-fail yard being about 200 feet in length. The ftructure of this vcfTel is cafily conceived, from the draught, plan, and feclion. It is about 30 feet in the beam, and about 90 feet in keel. The keel is not ftraight, but a portion of a parabola whofc curve is almoft infenfiblc to the eye. But it has this good F 2 died effect in failing, that whereas the bed of the Nile, when the water grows low, is full of fand banks under water, the keel under the Rem, where the curve is greateft, full Rrikes upon thefe banks, and is fail, but the reft of the fhip is afloat; fo that by the help of oars, and aiTiftance of the flream, furling the fails, you get eafdy off; whereas, was the keel ftraight, and the veffel going with the preffure of that im-mcnfe main-fail, you would be fo faft upon the bank as to lie there like a wreck for ever. Tins yard and fail is never lowered. The failors climb and furl it as it Rands. When they fliift the fail, they do it with a thick Rick like a quarter Half, which they call a noboot, put between the lafhing of the yard and the fail; they then twift this flick round till the fail and yard turn over to the fide required. When I fay the yard and fail are never lowered, I mean while wc arc getting up the ftrcam, before the wind; for, otherwife, when the veffel returns, they take out the malt, lay down the yards, and put by their fails, fo that the boat defcends like a wreck broadfi.de forwards ; otherwife, being fo heavy a-loft, were flie to touch with her Item go,-ing down the ftream, fhe could not fail to carry away her mafts, and perhaps be ftaved to pieces. The cabin has a very decent and agreeable dining-room, about twenty feet fquare, with windows that have clofe and latticed fhutters, fo that you may open them at will in the day-time, and enjoy the frelhnefs of the air; but great care muft be taken to keep thefe fhut at night. A certain A certain kind of robber, peculiar to the Nile, is conRantly on the watch to rob boats, in which they fuppofe the crew are off their guard. They generally approach the boat when it is calm, cither fwimming under water, or when it is dark, upon goats fkins; after which, they mount with the utmoft filence, and take away whatever they can lay their hands on. They are not very fond, I am told, of meddling with vef-fels whereon they fee Franks, or Europeans, becaufe by them fome have been wounded with fire-arms. The attempts are generally made when you are at anchor, or under weigh, at night, in very moderate weather; but ofteneft when you are falling down the ftream without mails ; for it requires, flrength, vigour, and ikill, to get aboard a veffel going before a brifk wind ; though indeed they arc abundantly provided with all thefe rcquilites. Behind the dining-room (that is, nearer the ftern,) you have a bed-chamber ten feet long, and a place for putting your books and arms. With the latter we were plentifully fupplied, both with thofe of the ufeful kind, and thofe (fuch as large blunderbuftes,) meant to ftrike terror. We had great abundance of ammunition likewife, both for our defence and fport. With books we were lefs furnifhed, yet our library was chofen, and a very dear one; for, finding how much my baggage was increafed by the acceffion of the large quadrant and its foot, and Dolland's large achromatic telefcope, I began to think it folly to load myfelf more with things to be carried carried on mens Ihoulders through a country full of mountains, which it was very doubtful whether I fliould get liberty to enter, much more be able to induce ravages to carry thefe incumbrances for me. To reduce the bulk as much as poffible, after considering in my mind what were likelieft to be of fervice to me in the countries through which I was palling, and the feveral inquiries I was to make, I fell, with fome remorfe, upon garbling my library, tore out all the leaves which I had marked for my purpofc, deftroyed fome editions of very rare books, rolling up the needful, and tying them by them-felvcs. I thus reduced my library to a more compact form. It was December 12th when I embarked on the Nile at Bulac, on board the Canja already mentioned, the remaining part of which needs no defcription, but will be under-ftood immediately upon infpection. At firft we had the precaution to apply to our friend Rifk concerning our captain Hagi HafTan Abou Cufti, and we obliged him to give his fon Mahomet in fecurity for his behaviour towards us. Our hire to Furfhout was twenty-feven patakas, or about L. 6: 15:0 Sterling. There was nothing fo much we defired as to be at fome diflance from Cairo on our voyage. Bad affairs and extortions always overtake you in this detellable country, at the very time when you are about to leave it. The wind was contrary, fo we were obliged to advance ugainft the flream, by having the boat drawn with a rope. We We were furprifed to fee the alacrity with which two young Moors beftirred themfelves in the boat, they fuppiied the place of mailers, companions, pilots, and learneri to us. Our Rais had not appeared, and I did not augur much good from the alacrity of thefe Moors, fo willing to proceed without him. However, as it was conformable to our own willies, we encouraged and cajoled them all we could. We advanced a few miles to two convents of Cophts, called ■Beireteen*. Here we-flopped"to pafs the night, having had a fine view of the Pyramids of Geeza and Saccara, and being then in fight of a prodigious number of others built of white clay, and flretching far into the defert to the fouthvweft. Two of thefe feemed full as large as thofe that arc called the Pyramids of Geeza. One of them was of a very extraordinary form, it feemed as if it had been intended at firfl to be a very large one, but that the builders heart or means had failed him, and that he had brought it to a very mif-fhapen difproportioned head at lafh We were not a little difpleafed to find, that, in the firft promife of punctuality our Rais had made, he had disappointed us by absenting himfelf from the boat. The fear of a complaint, if we remained near the town, was the rea-fon why his fervants had hurried us away ; but being now out i f. Tbu has been thought to mean the Copveut of Figs,but it only fignifies the TwoConvents. out of reach, as they thought, their behaviour was entirely changed; they fcarce deigned to fpeak to us, but fmoked their pipes, and kept up a convcrfation bordering upon ridicule and infolence. On the fide of the Nile, oppofite to our boat, a little farther to the fouth, was a tribe of Arabs encamped. These are fubjeel: to Cairo, or were then at peace with its government. They are called Howadat, being a part of the Atouni, a large tribe that poileifes the Ifthmus of Suez, and from that go up between the Red Sea and the mountains that bound the eaR part of the Valley of Egypt. They reach to the length of Coifeir, where they border upon another large tribe called Ababde, which extends from thence up into Nubia. Both thefe are what were anciently called Shepherds, and arc now conflantlv at war with each other. The Howadat are the fame that fell in with Mr Irvine* in thefe very mountains, and conducted him fo generouily and fafely to Cairo. Though little acquainted with the manners, and totally ignorant of the language of his conductors, he imagined them to be, and calls them by no other name, than " the Thieves.'" One or two of thefe Rraggled down to my boat to feek tobacco and coffee, when I told them, if a few decent men among * See Mr Irvine's Letters, among them would come on board, I fliould make them partakers of the coffee and tobacco I had. Two of them accepted the invitation, and we prefently became great friends. I remembered, when in Barbary, living with the tribe* of Noile and Wargumma (two numerous and powerful clans of Arabs in the kingdom of Tunis) that the Howadat, or Atouni, the Arabs of the Ifthmus of Suez, were of the fame family and race with one of them. I even had marked this down in my memorandum-book,, but it happened not to be at hand; and I did not really remember whether it was to the Noile or Wargumma they were friends, for thefe two arc rivals, and enemies, fo in a miflake there was danger. I, however, eaft about a little ro difcover this if poflible; and foon, from difcourfe and circumftances that came into my mind, I found it was the Noile to whom thefe people belonged; fo we foon were familiar, and as our converfation tallied fo that we found we were true men, they got up and infilled on fetching one of Their Shekhs. > I told them they might do fo if they pleafed; but they were firft bound to perform me a piece of fervice, to which they willingly and readily offered themfelves. I defired, that, early next morning, they would have a boy and horfe ready to carry a letter to Rilk, Ali Bey's fecretary, and I would give him a piafler upon bringing back the anfwer. This they inftantly engaged to perform, but no fooncr were they gone a-fhore, than, after a fhort council held to-Vql. I. G gether, -ether, one c: one laughing boat-companions Role off on loot, and, before day, I was awakened by the arrival of our Rais Abou Cuili, and his fon Mahomet, . Abou Cuffi was drunks though a Sberrtffe\ a Hagi, and half a Saint befides, who never tailed fermented liquor, as he told me when I hired him,—The fon was terrified out of his wits. He faid he lhould have been impaled, had the meffenger arrived; and, feeing that I fell upon means to keep open a correfpondence with Cairo, he. told me he would not run the rilk of being furety, and of going back to Cairo to an-fwer for his father's faults, leaft, one day or another, upon ; fome complaint of that kind, he might be taken out of his bed and baftinadoed to death, without knowing what his offence was. An altercation eiifued; the father declined flaying upon pretty much the fame reafons, and I was very happy to find . that Rifk had dealt roundly with them, and that I was mailer of the firing upon which I could touch their fears. They then both agreed to go the voyage, for none of them thought it very fafe to flay ; and I was glad to. get men of fome fubftance along with1 me, rather than trull to hired vagabond fervants, which I efteemed the two Moors to be. As the Shekh of the Howadat and I had vowed friendfhip, he offered to carry me to Cofleir by land, without any expence, and inperfect" fafety, thinking me diffident of my boatmen, from what had palled. Ijthankep I thanked him for this friendly offer, which I am per-fuaded 1 might have accepted very fafcly, but I contented myfelf with defiling, that one of the Moor fervants in the boat lhould go to Cairo to fetch Mahomet Abou CunTs fon's cloaths, and agreed that I fliould give five patakas additional hire for the boat, on condition that Mahomet lhould go with us in place of the Moor fervant, and that Abou Cuffi, the father and faint (that never drank fermented liquors) fhould be allowed to fieep himfelf fober, till his fervant the Moor returned from Cairo with his fon's cloaths. In the mean time, I bargained with the Shekh of the Howadat to furnifh me with horfes to go to Metrahenny or Mohannan, where once he faid Mimf had Rood, a large city, the capital of all Egypt. All this was executed with great fuccefs. Early in the morning the Shekh of the Howadat had palled at Miniel, where there is a ferry, the Nile being very deep, and attended me with five horfemen and a fpare horfe for myfelf, at Metrahenny, fouth of Miniel, where there is a great plantation of palm-trees. The 13th, in the morning about eight o'clock, we let out our vaR fails, and parted a very confiderable village called Turra, on the cart; fide of the river, and Shekh At man, a fmall village, confiding of about thirty houfes, on the weft. The mountains which run from the caftle to the eaftward of fouth-caft4 till they are about five miles diftant from the Nile eaft and by north of this ftation, approach again the hanks of the river, running in a direction fc'uth and by G 2 well, wcR, till they end clofe on the banks of the Nile about Turra. The Nile here is about a quarter of a mile broad; and there cannot be the fmalleft doubt, in any perfon difpofed to be convinced,, that this is by very far *the narroweft part of Egypt yet feen.. For it certainly wants of half-a^mile between the foot of the mountain and the Libyan lliore, which cannot be faid of any other part of Egypt we had yet Come to; and it cannot be better defcribed than it.is by f Herodotus ; and " again, oppofite to the Arabian fide, is another " flony mountain of Egypt towards Libya, covered with " fand, where are the Pyramids." As this, and many other circumftances to be repeated" in the fequel, muR naturally awaken the attention of the traveller to look for the ancient city of Memphis here, Heft-our boat at Shekh Atman, accompanied .by the Arabs, point* ing nearly fouth. We entered a large and thick wood of' palm-trees, whole greatefl extenfion feemed to be-fouth by. eafb We. continued in this courfe till we came to one, and then to feveral large villages, all built among the plantation of date-trees,, fo as fcarce to be feen from the fhore. These villages are called Metralienny, a word from the. etymology of which I can derive no information, and leaving the river, we continued due weft to the plantation that/ is called Mohannan, which, as far as I know, has no figni-6cation either. All-. * Herod, lib. ii, p. 99, j Herod, lib. ii. cap, 8, All to the fouth, in this defert, arc vaft numbers of Pyramids ; as far as I could difcern, all of clay, fome fo diftant as to appear juR in the horizon. Having gained the weftern edge of the palm-trees at Mo-hannan, we have a fair view of the Pyramids at Gecza, which lie in a direction nearly S. W, As far as I can compute the diflance, I think about nine miles, and as near as it was pofliblc to judge by ^.ghty Mctrahenny, Gecza, and the center of the three Pyramids, made an Ifofceles triangle, or nearly fo. I asked the Arab what he thought of the diftance ? whether it was fartheft to Gceza, or the Pyramids ? He faid, they were Jowab, Jowab, juft alike, he believed; from Mctrahenny to the Pyramids perhaps might be fartheft, but he would much fooner go it, than along the coaft to Geeza, becaufe he fliould be interrupted by meeting with water. All to the weft and fouth of Mohannan, we faw great mounds and heaps of rubbifh, and califhes that were not of any length, but were lined with flone, covered and choked up in many places with earth. We faw three large granite pillars S. W. of Mohannan, and a piece of a broken cheft or ciftern of granite ; but no obelifks, or ftones with hieroglyphics, and we thought the grcatcft part of the ruins feemed to point that way, or more foutherly. These, our conductor faid, were the ruins of Mirnf, the ancient feat of the Pharaohs kings of Egypt, that there was v. i, g another another Mimf, far down in the Delta, by which he meant-Menonf, below Terrane and Batn el Baccara*.. PrucciviNG now that I could get no further intelligence, I returned with my kind guide, whom I gratified for his-, pains, and we parted content with each other. In the fands I faw a number of hares. He faid, if I would £o with him to a place near Faioume, I lhould kill half a boat-load-of them in-a day, and antelopes likewife, for he knew where to get dogs ; mean-while he invited rne to moot at them there, which I did not choofe; for, parting very quietly among the date-trees, I wilhed not to invite further curiofity. All the people in the date villages feemed to be of a yellower and more fick-like colour, than any I had ever feen;; befides, they had an inanimate, dejected, grave countenance, and feemed rather to avoid, than wifh. any converfation. It was near four o'clock in the afternoon when we re* turned to our boatmen. By the way we met one of our Moors, who told us they had drawn up the boat opportte to the northern point of the palm-trees of Metrahenny. Mr Arab infifted to attend me thither, and, upon his arrival,, I made him fome trifling prefents, and then took my leave. In the evening I received a prefent of dry dates, and fome fugar cane, which does not grow here, but had been brought ■ to. * Sec the Chart of the Nile, to the Shekh by fome of his friends, from fome of the villages up the river.. The learned Dr Pococke, as far as I know, is the firft European traveller that ventured to go out of the beaten path, and look for Memphis, atMetrahenny andMohannan. Dr Shaw, who in judgment, learning, and candour, is equal to Dr Pococke, or any of thofe that have travelled into FIgypt, contends warmly for placing it at Geeza. Mr Ntebuhr, the Danifh traveller, agrees with Dr Pococke. I believe neither Shaw nor Niebuhr were ever at Metra-henny, which Dr Pococke and myfelf vifited; though all of us have been often enough at Geeza, and I. mull con-fefSj-ftrongly as Dr Shaw has urged his arguments, I cannot confider any of the reafons for placing Memphis at Geeza as convincing, and very few of them that do not go to prove juft the contrary in favour of Metrahenny. Bfeore I enter into the argument, I muft premife, that Ptolemy, if he is good for any thing, if he merits the hundredth part .of the pains that have been taken with him by his commentators, muft furely be received as a competent authority in this cafe. . The inquiry is into the pofttion of the old capital of E-gypt, not fourfcore miles from the place where he was writing, and immediately in dependence upon it. And therefore, in dubious' cafes, I fhall have no doubt to refer to him as deferving the greatcft credit. Dr Pococke * lays, that the fituation of Memphis was at Mohannan, or Mctrahenny, becaufe Pliny fays the f Pyramids were between Memphis and the Delta, as they certainly are, if Dr Pococke is right as to the fituation of Memphis. Dr Shaw does not undertake to anfwer this direct evidence, but thinks to avoid its force by alledging a contrary fentiment of the fame Pliny, " that the Pyramids f lay between Memphis and the Arlinoite nome, and confequently, as Dr Shaw thinks, they muft be to the weftward of Meni- Memphis, if fituated at Mctrahenny, was in the middle of the Pyramids, three of them to the N. \V. and above three-fcorc of them to the fouth. When Pliny faid that the Pyramids were between Memphis and the Delta, he meant the three large Pyramids, commonly called the Pyramids of Geeza. But in the laft inftance, when he fpoke of the Pyramids of Saccara, or that great multitude of Pyramids fouthward, he faid they were between Memphis and the Arlinoite nome,; and fo they are, placing Memphis at Mctrahenny. Tor Ptolemy gives Memphis 29° 50' in latitude, and the Arfmoite nome 290 30' and there is 8' of longitude betwixt them. Therefore the Arlinoite nome cannot be to the weft, either of Geeza or Mctrahenny; the Memphitic nome extends * l'ococke, vol. I. cap. v. p. 39, fPlin. lib, 5, cap. 9. t PHn. lib. 36. cap. x». tends to the weftward, to that part of Libya called the Scythian Region ; and fouth of the Memphitic nome is the Ar-finoite nome, which is bounded on the weftward by the fame part of Libya. To prove that the latter opinion of Pliny lhould outweigh the former one, Dr Shaw cites *Diodorus Siculus, who fays Memphis was moft commodioufly fituated in the very key, or inlet of the country, where the river begins to divide itfelf into feveral branches, and forms the Delta. I cannot conceive a greater proof of a man being blinded by attachment to his own opinion, than this quotation. For Memphis was in lat. 290 50', and the point of the Delta was in 300, and this being the latitude of Geeza, it cannot be that of Memphis. That city muft be fought for ten or eleven miles farther fouth. If, as Dr Shaw fuppofes, it was nineteen miles round, and that it was five or fix miles inbreadth, its greatelt breadth would probably be to the river. Then 10 and 6 make 16, which will be the latitude of Mctrahenny, according to f Dr Shaw's method of computation. But then it cannot be faid that Geeza is either in the key or inlet of the country ; all to the weftward of Geeza is plain-, and defert, and no mountain nearer it on the other fide than the caftle of Cairo. Vol. L H Dr * Diud. Sic. p. 45, § 50. f Shaw's T.-avels, p. 2y6. in the latitude quotetL Dr |Shaw* thinks that this is further confirmed by Pliny's faying that Memphis was within fifteen miles of the Delta. Now if this was really the cafe, he fuggefts a plain rcafon, if he relies on ancient meafurck, why Geeza, that is only ten miles, cannot be Memphis. Ir apcrfon, arguing from mcafures, thinks he is intitled to throw away or add, the third part of the quantity that he is contending for, he will not be at a great ftrefs to place thefe ancient cities in what fituation he pleafes. Nor is it fair for Dr Shaw to fuppofe quantities that never did exiR ; for Metrahenny, inRead of | forty, is not quite twenty-feven miles from the Delta; fuch liberties would confound any queflion. The Doctor proceeds by faying, that heaps of ruins $ alone are not proof of any particular place; but the agreeing of the diilances between Memphis and the Delta, which is a fixed and Randing boundary, lying at a determinate diftance from Memphis, muft be a proof beyond all exception ||. If I could have attempted to advife Dr Shaw, or have had an opportunity of doing it, I would have fuggeiled to him, as one who has maintained that all Egypt is the gift of the Nile, not to fay that the point of the Delta is a Handing and determined boundary that cannot alter. The inconiiftency is apparent, and I am of a very contrary opinion. Babylon * Shaw's Travels, cap. 4. p. 29?. f Id, ibid. 299. } W ibid. || Id. ibid. Babylon, or Cairo, as it is now called, is fixed by the Ca-lilh or Amnis Trajanus palling through it, Ptolemy * fays, fo, and DrShaw fays that Gecza was oppofitc to Cairo, or in a line eaft and welt from it, and is the ancient Memphis. Now, if Babylon is lat. 300, and fo is Geeza, they may be oppofite to one another in a line of eaft and weft. But if the latitude of Memphis is 290 50', it cannot be at Geeza, which is oppofite to Babylon, but ten miles farther fouth, in which cafe it cannot be oppofite to Babylon or Cairo* Again, if the point of the Delta be in lat. 300, Babylon, or Cairo, 300, and Geeza be 300, then the point of the Delta cannot be ten miles from Cairo or Babylon, or ten miles from Geeza. It is ten miles from Geeza, and ten miles from Babylon., or Cairo, and therefore the diftances do not agree as Dr Shaw fays they do ; nor can the point of the Delta, as he fays, be a permanent boundary confidently writh his own figures and thofe of Ptolemy, but it muft have been warned away, or gone 10' northward; for Babylon, as he fays, is a certain boundary fixed by the Amnis Trajanus, and,fuppo-fing the Delta had been a fixed boundary, and in lat. 300, then the diftance of fifteen miles would juft have made up the fpace that Pliny fays was between that point and Memphis, if we fuppofe that great city was at Mctrahenny, I shall fay nothing as to his next argument in relation to the diftance of Geeza from the Pyramids ; becaufe, ma- H 2 king * Ptol. Geograph. lib. iv. cap. king the fame fuppofitions, it is juR as much in favour of one as of the other. His next argument is from * Herodotus, who fays, that Memphis lay under the fandy mountain of Libya, and that this mountain is a ftony mountain covered with fand, and is oppofite to the Arabian mountain. Now this furely cannot be called Gecza; for Geeza is under no mountain, and the Arabian mountain fpoken of here is that which comes clofe to the fhore at Turra. Diodorus fays, it was placed in the Rraits or narrow-eft part of Egypt; and this Geeza cannot be fo placed, for, by Dr Shaw's own confeflion, it is at leaft twelve miles from Geeza to the fandy mountain where the Pyramids Hand on the Libyan fide ; and, on the Arabian fide, there is no mountain but that on which the caftle of Cairo Hands, which chain begins there, and runs a confiderable way into the defert, afterwards pointing fouth-weft, till they come fo near to the caftern lhore as to leave no room but for the river at Turra; fo that, if the caufe is to be tried by this point only, I,am very confident that Dr Shaw's candour and love of truth would have made him give up his opinion if he had vilited Turra. The laft authority I Hi all examine as quoted by Dr Shaw, is to mc fo deciiive of the point in queftion, that, were I wri-. ting to thofe only who are acquainted with Egypt, and the navigation of the Nile, I would not rely upon another. Herodotus ♦Herod, lib. ii. p. 141. Ibid. p. 168. Ibid. p. 105. Ibid. p. 103. Edit. Steph. Herodotus * fays, " At the time of the inundation, the Egyptians do not fail from Naucratis to Memphis by the " common channel of the river, that is Cercafora, and the " point of the Delta, but over the plain country, along the ? very fide of the Pyramids," Naucratis was on the well fide of the Nile, about lat. 3o0 30' let us fay about Terrane in my map. They then failed along the plain, out of the courfe of the river, upon the inundation, clofe by the Pyramids, whatever fide they pleafed, till they came to Mctrahenny, the ancient Memphis. The Etefian wind, fair as it could blow, forwarded their courfe whillt in this line. They went directly before the wind, and, if we may fuppofe, accomplished the navigation in a very few hours; having been provided with thofe barks, or canjas, with their powerful fails, which I have already defcribed, and, by means of which, they fhortenod their paflagc greatly, as well as added pleafure to it. But very different was the cafe if the canja was going to Geeza. They had nothing to do with the Pyramids, nor to come within three leagues of the Pyramids; and nothing can be more contrary, both to fact and experience, than that they would lhorten their voyage by failing along the fide of them ; for the wind being at north and north-well as fair as pollible for Geeza, they had nothing to do but to keep as *Hcrocl. lib. ii. 97. p. 12$ J as direct upon it as they could lie. But if,.as Dr Shaw thinks, they made the Pyramids firft, I would wilh to know in what manner they conducted their navigation to come down upon Geeza. Their velTels go only before the wind, and they had a ftrong Ready gale almoR directly in their teeth. They had no current to help them ; for they were in Rill water ; and if they did not take down their large yards and fails, they were fo top-heavy, the wind had fo much purchafe upon them above, that there was no alternative, but, either with fails or without, they muR make for Upper Egypt and there, entering into the firft practicable caliih that was. full, get into the main flream. But their dangers were not ftill over, for, going down with a violent current, and with their Handing rigging up, the moment they touched the banks, their mails and yards would go overboard, and, perhaps, the veffel Have to pieces. Nothing would then remain, but for fafety's fake to ftrike their mails and yards, as they always do when they go down the river ; they muft lie broadfide foremoft, the ftrong wind blowing perpendicular on one fide of the veffel, and the violent current puihing it in a contrary direction on the other-while a man, with a long oar, balances the advantage the wind has of the flream, by the hold it has of the cabin and upper works* This would mod infallibly be the cafe of the voyage from Naucratis, unleis in ftriving to fail by tacking, (a manoeuvre of of which their veffel is not capable) their canja lhould over-fet, and then they muR all perilh. If Memphis was Mctrahenny, I believe mofl people who had leifure would have tried the voyage from Naucratis by the plain. They would have been carried ftraight from north to fouth. But Dr Shaw is exceedingly miftaken, if he thinks there is any way fo expeditious as going up the current of the river. As far as I can guefs, from ten to four o'clock, we feldom went lefs than eight miles in the hour, againR a current that furely ran more than fix. This current kept our veffel Riff, whilR the monftrous fail forced us through with a facility not to be imagined. Dr Shaw, to put Geeza and Memphis perfectly upon a footing, fays*, that there were no traces of the city now to be found, from which he imagines it began to decay foon after the building of Alexandria, that the mounds and ramparts which kept the river from it were in procefs of time neglected, and that Memphis, which he fuppofes was in the old bed of the river about the time of the Ptolemies, was fo far abandoned, that the Nile at lail got in upon it, and overflowing its old ruins, great part of the belt of which had been carried lirR to build the city of Alexandria, that the mud covered the reft, fo that no body knew what was its true fituation. This is the opinion of Dr Pococke, and likewife of M. de Maillet. The opinion of thefe two laft-mentioncd authors, that the ruins and fituation of Memphis are now become obfeure, is Shaw's Travels, cap. 4. is certainly true; the foregoing difpute is a fufRcient evidence of this. But I will not fufTer it to be faid, that, foon after the building of Alexandria, or in the time of the Ptolemies, this was the cafe, becaufe Strabo * fays, that when he was in Egypt, Memphis, next to Alexandria, was the moft magnificent city in Egypt. It was called the Capital f of Egypt, and there was entire a temple of Ofiris; the Apis (or facred ox) was kept and worfhipped there. There was likewife an apartment for the mother of that ox ftill Handing, a temple of Vulcan of great magnificence, a large X circus, or fpace for fighting bulls ; and a great coloflus in the front of the city thrown down; there was alfo a temple of Venus, and a fcrapium; in a very fandy place, where the wind heaps up hills of moving fand very dangerous to travellers, and a number of § fphinxes, (of fome only their heads being vifible) the others covered up to the middle of their body. In the || front of the city were a number of palaces then in ruins, and likewife lakes. Thefe buildings, he fays,ftoodb formerly upon an eminence; they lay along the fide of the hill, ftretching.down to the lakes and the groves, and forty ftadia from the city ; there was a. mountainous height, that had many Pyramids Handing upon it, the fepulchres of the kings, among which there are three remarkable, and two the wonders of the workL This^ * Strabo. lib. vi». , 9j4. -(Id. ibid. % Id. ibid, § Strabo, ibid. || Id, ibid. This is the account of an cye-witnefs, an hiftorian of the firR credit, who mentions Memphis, and this Rate of it, fo late as the reign of Nero ; and therefore I lhall conclude this argument with three obfervations, which, I am very forry to fay, could never have efcaped a man of Dr Shaw's learning and penetration. \Jl, That by this defcription of Strabo, who was in it, it is plain that the city was not deferted in the time of the Ptolemies. idly, That no time, between the building of Alexandria and the time of the Ptolemies, could it be fwallowed up by the river, or its fituation unknown. 3dly, That great part of it having been built upon an eminence on the fide of a hill, efpecially the large and magnificent edifices I have fpoken of, it could not be fituated, as he fays, low in the bed of the river; for, upon the giving way of the Mcmphitic rampart, it would be fwallowed up by it. If it was fwallowed up by the river, it was not Gecza ; and thk accident muft have been fince Strabo's time, which DrShaw will not aver; and it is by much too loofe arguing to fay, firR, that the place was deilroyed by the violent overflowing of the river, and then pretend its fituation to be Geeza, where1 a river never came. The defcent of the hill to where the Pyramids were, and the number of Pyramids that were there around it, of which three are remarkable ; the very fandy fituation, and the Yojl. I. I quantity tffc T R A V IS E 3 T 0 DISC 0 V E «? quantity of loofc flying hillocks that were there (dangerous^ in windy weather to travellers) are very Rrong pictures of the Saccara, the neighbourhood of Mctrahenny and Mohan-nan, but they have not the fmalleft or moft diftant refem- > b'lancc to any part in the neighbourhood of Geeza.. It will be afked, Where are all thofe temples, thie Serapi-iim, the Temple of Vulcan, the Circus, and Temple of Venus?; Are they found near Mctrahenny ? To this I anfwer, Are they found at Geeza I No, but had they been at Geeza, they would have Rill been vifible, as they are at Thebes, Diofpolis, and Syene, becaufe they are fur-rounded with black, earth not moveable by the wind. Vaft quantities of thefe ruins, however, are in every ftreet of; Cairo: every wall, every Bey's ftable, every ciftern for horfes to drink at, preferve part of the magnificent remains that have been brought from Memphis or Mctrahenny.—The reft are covered with the moving lands of the Saccara; as the fphinxes and buildings that had been deferted were in Strabo's time for want of grafs and roots, which always fpread and keep the foil firm in populous inhabited places, the fands of the deferts are let loofe upon them, and have covered them probably fir ever. A man's heart fails him in looking to the fouth and fouth-weft of Mctrahenny. He is loft in the immenfe expanfe of defert, which he fees full of Pyramids before him. Struck with terror from the unufual fecne of vaftnefs opened ail at once upon leaving the palm-trees, he becomes difpirited from the elf eels of fultry climates, Fkom From habits of idlencfs contracted at Cairo, from the ftories he has heard of the bad government and ferocity of the people, from want of language and want of plan, he fhrinks from the attempting any-difcovery in tire moving fands of the Saccara, embraces in fafety and in quiet the reports of others, whom lie thinks have been more inquifi-tive and more adventurous than himfelf. Thus, although he has created no new error of his Own, he is acccRary to the having corroborated and confirmed the ancient errors of others; and, though people travel in the fame numbers as ever, phyfics and geography-continue at a Rand. ' ~ In the morning of the 14th of December, after having made our peace with Abou Cuffi, and received a multitude of apologies and vows of amendment and fidelity for the future, we were drinking coffee preparatory to our leaving Mctrahenny, and.beginning our voyage in carneft, when an Arab arrived from my friend the Howadat, with a letter, and a few dates, not Umounting to a hundred. The Arab was one of his people that had been Tick, and wanted to go to Kenne in Upper Egypt. The Shekh exprcf-fed his defre that I would take him with me this trifle of about two hundred and fifty miles, that I would give him medicines, cure his difeafe, and maintain him all the way. On thefe occalions there is nothing like ready compliance. He had offered to carry mc the fame journey with all my people and baggage without hire ; he conducted me with fafety and great politcncfs to theSaccara; I there- I 2 fore fore anfwered inRantly, " You fliall be very welcome, upon my head be it." Upon this the mifcrable wretch, half naked, laid down a dirty clout containing about ten dates, and the Shekh's fervant that had attended him returned in triumph. I mention this trifling circumRance, to fhew how eflen-tial to humane and civil intercourfe prefents are confidcred to be in the eaiR; whether it be dates, or whether it be diamonds, they are fo much a part of their manners, that, without them an inferior will never be at peace in his own mind, or think that he has a hold of his fuperior for hk favour or protection- I C H A F. CHAP. IV. Leave Mctrahenny—Come to the Ifland Halouan—Falfe Pyramid— Thefe buildings end—Sugar Canes—Ruins of Antinopolis—Reception there*. OUR wind was fair and frelli, rather a little on our beam; when, in great fpirits, we hoiRed our main and fore-fails, leaving the point of Metrahenny, where our reader may think we have too long detained him. Wc faw the Pyramids of Saccara Rill S. W. of us; feveral villages on both Rdes of the river, but very poor and miferable ; part of the ground on the eaR fide had been overflowed, yet was not fown ; a proof of the opprellion and diftrefs the hufbandman fullers in the neighbourhood of Cairo, by the avarice and difagrecmcnt of the different officers of that motely incomprehensible government. After failing about two miles, we faw three men fifh-ing in a very extraordinary manner and fituation. They were on a raft of palm branches, fupported on a float of clay jars, made faft together. The form was like an Ifofceles triangle, or face of a Pyramid ; two men, each provided with a calling net, Rood at the two corners,, and threw their net into the Rream together; the third Rood at the apex of the triangle, or third corner, which was forcmoft, and threw his net the moment the other two drew theirs out 4 of of the water. And this they repeated, in perfect time, and with furprifing regularity. Our Rais thought we wanted to buy fifh; and letting go his main-fail, ordered them on board with a great tone of fuperiority. They were in a moment alongfide of us; and one of them came on board, lafhing his miferable raft to a rqpe at our Rem. In recompence for their trouble, we gave them fome large pieces of tobacco, and this tranfported them fo much, that they brought us a bafket, of feveral different kinds of fifh, all fmall; excepting one laid on the top of the bafket, which was a clear falmon-coloured fifh, fdvered upon its fides, with a fliade of blue upon its back*. It weighed about 10 lib. and was moft excellent, being perfectly firm and white like a perch. There are fome of this kind 70 lib. weight. I examined their nets, they were rather of a fmaller circumference than our calling nets in England ; the weight, as far as I could guefs, rather heavier in proportion than ours, the thread that compofed them being fmaller. I could not fufliciently admire their fuccefs, in a violent flream of deep water, fuch as the Nile ; for the river was at leaft twelve feet deep where they were fiihing, and the current very ftrong. These fifhers offered willingly to take me upon the raft to teach me; but I cannot fay my curiofity went fo far. They faid their fifhing was merely accidental, and in courfe of their trade, which was felling thefe potter earthen jars, which they got near Alhmouncin ; and after having carried the * Named Binvy, See Appendix. the raft with them to Cairo, they untie, fell them at the market, and carry the produce home in money, or in neceffaries upon their back. A very poor ceconomical trade, but fuf-ficcnt, as they faid, from- the carriage of crude materials, the moulding, making, and fending them to market, to Cairo and to different places in the Delta, to afford occupation to two thoufand men; this is nearly four times the number of people employed in the largeft iron foundery in England. But the reader will not underftand, that I warrant this fact from any authority but what I have given him. About two o'clock in the afternoon, we came to the point of an ifland ;, there were feveral villages with date trees on both fides of ,us ; the ground is overflowed by the Nile, and cultivated. The current is very ftrong' here. Wc palled a village called. Regnagie, and another named Zaragara, on the eaft fide of the Nile. We then came to Caphar el Hay-at, or the Toll of the Tailor; a village with great plantations of dates, and the largeft we had yet feen. We palled the night on the S. W. point of the ifland between Caphar el Hayat, and Gizier Azali, the wind failing us about four o'clock. This place is the beginning of the Heraeleotic nome, and its fituation a fuflicient evidence that Mctrahenny was Memphis ; it* name is Halouam This ifland is now divided into a number of fmall ones, by califhes being cut through and through it, and, under different Arabic names, they ftill reach very far up the flream. I landed to fee if there were remains of the olive tree which Strabo Strabo* fays grew here, but without fuccefs. We may imagine, however, that there was fome fuch like thing; becaufe oppofite to one of the divifions into which this large ifland is broken, there is a village called Zeitoon, or the Olive Tree. On the 15th of December, the weather being nearly calm, wc left the north end of the ifland, or Hcraclcotic nome ; our courfe was due fouth, the line of the river; and three miles farther we palled Woodan, and a collection of villages, all going by that name, upon the eaft: to the weft, or right, were fmall iflands, part of the ancient nome of which I have already fpoken. The ground is all cultivated about this village, to the foot of the mountains, which is not above four miles; but it is full eight on the weft, all overflowed and fown. The Nile is here but Ifiallow, and narrow, not exceeding a quarter of a mile broad, and three feet deep ; owing, I fuppofe, to the refinance made by the ifland in the middle of the current, and by a bend it makes, thus intercepting the fand brought down by the flream, The mountains here come down till within two miles of Suf el Woodan, for fo the village is called. We were told there were fome ruins to the weftward of this, but only rub-bifh, neither arch nor column Handing, I fuppofe it is the Aphroditopolis, or the city of Venus, which we are to look for * Strabo, lib. xvii. p. 936. for here, and the nome of that name, all to the eaftward of it. The wind Rill frcfhcning, we paffed by feveral villages on each fide, all furrounded with palm-trees, verdant and pleafant, but conveying an idea of famcnefs and want of variety, fuch as every traveller mult have felt who has failed in the placid, muddy, green-banked rivers in Holland. The Nile, however, is here fully a mile broad, the water deep, and the current Rrong. The wind feemed to be exaf-perated by the refiftance of the Rream, and blew frcfTi and Readily, as indeed it generally does where the current is violent. We pafled Nizelet Embarak, which means the Blcffed Landing-place. Mr Norden * calls it Gicfiret Barrakaed, which he fays is the water'nig-placc of the crof. Was this even1 the proper name here given it, it lhould be tranflated the Bleffed Ifland; but, without underftanding the language, it is in vain to keep a regifter of names. The boatmen, living cither in the Delta, Cairo, or one of the great towns in Upper Egypt, and coming conftantly loaded with merchandife, or ftrangcrs from thefe great places, make fwift paffages by the villages, either down the river with a rapid current, or up with a ftrong, fair, and Heady w lid: And, when the feafon of the Nile's inundation is over, and the wind turns fouth ward, they repair all to the Delta, Vol. I. K the * Norden's travel, vol. P- 19- the river being no longer navigable above, and there they are employed till the next feaft>n. They know little, therefore, and care lefs about the names, or inhabitants of thefe villages, who have each of them barks of their own to carry on their own trade.. There arc fome indeed employed by the Coptic andTurkiih merchants, who are better verfed in the names of villages than others ; but, if they are not, and find you do not underftand the language, they will never confefs ignorance; they will tell you the firR name that Comes uppermoR, fometimes very ridiculous, often very indecent, which we fee afterwards pais into books, and wonder that fuch names were ever given to towns. The reader will obferve this in comparing Mr NordenV voyage and mine, where he will feldom fee the fame village pafs by the fame name. My Rais, Abou Cuffi, when he did not know a village, fometimes tried this with me, But when he faw mc going to write, lie ufed then to tell me the truth, that he did not know the village ; but that fuch was the cuftom of him, and his brethren, to people that did not underRand the language, efpecially if they were priefls, meaning Catholic Monks. We paned 'with- great velocity Nizelet Embarak, Cubabac, Kizelet Omar, Racca Kibeer, then Racca Seguier, and came in fight of Atria, a large village at fome diftance from the Nile; all the valley here is green, the palm-groves beautiful,, ■and the Nile deep, Still Still it is not the profpcct that plcafcs, for the whole ground that is fown to the fandy afcent of the mountains, is but a narrow ftripe of three quarters of a mile broad, and the mountains themfelvcs, which here begin to have a moderate degree of elevation, and which bound this narrow valley, are white, gritty, fandy, and uneven, and perfectly dcRitute of all manner of verdure. At the fmall village of Racca Seguicr there was this remarkable, that it was thick, furrounded with trees of a different nature and figure from palms; what they were I know not, I believe they were pomegranate-trees; I thought, that with my glafs I difcerncd fome reddifli fruit upon them ; and wc had pafled a village called Rhoda, a name they give in Egypt to pomegranates; Saleah is on the oppofite, or eaft-fide of the river. The Nile divides above the village ; it fell very calm, and here we paffed the night of the fifteenth. Our Rais Abou Cufli begged leave to go to Comadrcedy, a fmall village on the welt of the Nile, with a few palm-trees about it; he faid that his wife was there. As I never heard any thing of this till now, I fancied he was going to divert himfelf in the manner he had done the night before he left Cairo; for he had put on his black furtout, or great coat, his fcarlct turban, and a new fcarlct fhaul, both of which he faid he had brought, to do me honour in my voyage. I thanked him much for his confidcration, but afked him why, as he was a ShcrrhTe, he did not wear the green turban of Mahomet ? He anfwered, Poh ! that was a trick K 2 put p it upon Rrangers ; there were many men who wore green turbans, be faid, that, were very great rafcals ; but he wras a jfosritf, which was better than a SherrilFe, and was known as fuch all over the-world, whatever colour of a turban he wore, or whether a turban at all, and he only dreflcd for my honour; would be back early in the morning, and. bring me a fair wind, " Hassan, laid I, I fancy it is much more likely that you st bring me fome' aquavits, if you do not drink it all." He promifed that he would fee and procure fome; for mine wras now at an end. He faid, the Prophet never forbade aquavits, only the drinking of wine ; and the prohibition could not be intended for Egypt, for there was no wine in it. But Bouza, fays he, Bouza I will drink, as long as I can walk from Rem to Hern of a vcfiel, and away he went. I had indeed no doubt he would keep his refolution of drinking whether he returned or not. We kept, as ufual, a very good watch all night, which pafled without disturbance. Next day, the 17th, was exceedingly hazy in the morning, though it, cleared about ten o'clock. It was, however, mlficient to fhew the falfity of the obfervation of the author, who fays that the Nile* emits no fogs, and in courfe of the voyage we often faw other examples of the fallacy of this aflertion. In the afternoon, the people went afhore to moot pigeons; they were very bad, and black, as it was not the feafon of grain. « * HeroJ. lib. ii. cap. 19. grain. I remained arranging my journal, when, with fome furprizc, I faw the Howadat Arab come in, and lit down clofe to mc; however, I was not afraid of any evil intention, having a crooked knife at my girdle, and two piltols lying by me. What's this? How now, friend? faid I; Who fent for you ? He would have killed my hand, faying Fiardtit, I am under your protections he then pulled out a rag from within his girdle, and faid he was going to Mecca, and had taken that with him; that he was afraid my boatmen would rob him, and throw him into the Nile,or get fomebody to rob and murder him by the way; and that one of the Moors, Haffan's fervant, had been feeling for his money the night before, when he thought him afleep. I made him count his fum, which amounted to *j\ fcquin.% and a piece of fdver, value about half-a-crown, which in Syria they call Abou Kelh, Father Dog. It is the Dutch Lion rampant, which the Arabs, who never call a thing by its right name, term a dog.—In fhort, this treafurc amounted to fomcthing more than three guineas; and this he defired mc to keep till wc feparated. Do not you tell them, faid he, and I will throw oif my cloaths and girdle, and leave them on board, while I go to fwim, and when they find.I have nothing upon me they will not hurt mc. But what fecurity, faid I, have you that I do not rob you of this, and get you, thrown into the Nile fome night ? No5 no, fays he, that I know is impoflible. I have never been able to flcep till I fpokc to you ; do with me what you pleafe, and my money too, only keep me out of the hands 2 of. of thofe murderers. " Well, well, faid I, now you have got rid of your money, you are fafe, and you ihall be my fervant ; lye before the door of my dining-room all night, rhey dare not hurt a hair of your head while I am alive." The Pyramids, which had been on our right hand at different diitanccs fmce we pafled the Saccara, terminated here in one of a very lingular conRruction. About two miles from the Nile, between Suf and Woodan, there is a Pyramid, which at firR fight appears all of a piece ; it is of unbaked bricks, and perfectly entire; the inhabitants call it the * Falfc Pyramid. The lower part is a hill exactly ill aped like a Pyramid for a confiderable height. Upon this is continued the fuperftru£ture in proportion till it terminates like a Pyramid above ; and, at a diRance, it would require a good eye to difcern the difference, for the face of the Rone has a great refemblance to clay, of which the Pyramids of the Saccara are compofed. Hassan Abou Cuffi was as good as his word in one re-fpeel:; he came in the night, and had not drunk much fermented liquors ; but he could find no fpirits, he faid, and that, to be lure, was one of the reafons of his return ; I had fat up a great part of the night waiting a feafon for obfer-vation, but it was very cloudy, as all the nights had been fince we left Cairo, The i 8th, about eight oVlock in the morning, we prepared to get on our way ; the wind was calm, and fouth. I afked • —■--—h-— - ;-■——-r~~—" * Dagjour. THE SOURCE OF THE NiLE. ?9 I afked our Rais where his fair wind was which he promi-fed to bring ? He faid, his wife had quarrelled with him all night, and would not give him time to pray; and therefore, fays he with a very droll face, you fliall fee me do all that a Saint can do for you on this occafion. I afked him what that was ? He made another droll face, "Why, it is to draw " the boat by the rope till the wind turns fair"' I commended very much this wife alternative, and immediately the veffel began to move, but very Rowly, the wind being Rill unfavourable. On looking into Mr Norden's voyage, I was Rruck at firR fight with this paragraph*: "We faw this day abundance of " camels, but they did not come near enough for us to moot " them."—I thought with myfelf, to Jhoot camels in Egypt would be very little better than toJboot men, and that it was very lucky for him the camels did not come near, if that was the only thing that prevented him. Upon looking at the note, I fee it is a fmall miRake of the tranflator f, who fays, u that in the original it is Chameaux d'eau, ivater* " camels; but whether they are a particular fpecies of*camels, " or a different kind of animal, he does not know. But *Norden's Travels, vol. ii. p. 17. fl cannot here omit to reclify another fmall miftake of the tranflator, which involves liim in a difference with this Author vfhich he did not mean.-— Mr Norden, in the French, fays, that the matter of his veflel being much frightened^ R avoit perdu la tramontane;" the true meaning of which 18, That he had loft his judgment, wet loft the north wind, as it is traiiihted, which is really nonfenfc. Mordiriti Travel-, vol. ii. p- But this is no fpecies of camel, it is a bird called a Pelican, and the proper name in Arabic, is Jimmel el Bahar, the Camel of the River. The other bird like a partridge, which MrNordens people fhot, and did not know its name, and which was better than a pigeon, is called Gooto, very common in all the defert parts of Africa. I have drawn them of many different colours. That of the Deferts of Tripoli, and Cyrenaicum, is very beautiful; that of Egypt is fpotted white like the Guinea-fowl, but upon a brown ground, not a blue one, as that latter bird is. However, they are all very bad to cat, but they are not of the fame kind with the partridge. Its legs and feet are all covered with feathers, and it has but two toes before. The Arabs imagine it feeds on Rones, but its food is infects. Apter Comadrcedy, the Nile is again divided by another fragment of the ifland, and inclines a little to the weRward. On the caR is the village Sidi Ali el Courani. It has only two palm-trees belonging to it, and on that account hath a defertcd appearance ; but the wheat upon the banks was five inches high, and more advanced than any we had feen. The mountains on the eafl-fide come down to the banks of the Nile, are bare, white, and fandy, and there is on this fide no appearance of villages. The river here is about a quarter of a mile broad, or fomething more. It fliould feem it was the Angyrorum Civitas of Ptolemy, but neither night nor day could I get an inllant for obfervation, on account of thin white clouds, which confufed (for they fcarce can be faid to cover) the heavens continually. We THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. . Si We pafled now a convent of cophts, with a fmall plantation of palms. It is a miferable building, with a dome like to a faint's or marabout's, and Rands quite alone. About four miles from this is the village of Nizelct cl Arab, confiRing of miferable huts. Here begin large plantations of fugar canes, the firR wc had yet feen ; they were then loading boats with thefe to carry them to Cairo. I procured from them as many as I defired. The canes are about an inch and a quarter in diameter, they are cut in round pieces about three inches long, and, after having been flit, they are Reeped in a wooden bowl of water. They give a very a-greeable tafte and flavour to it, and make it the moft re-freining drink in the world, whilft by imbibing the water, the canes become more juicy, and lofe a part of their heavy clammy fweetnefs, which would occafion thirft. I was fur-prized at finding this plant in fuch a Rate of perfection fo far to the northward. We were now f'carcely arrived in lat. 290, and nothing could be more beautiful and perfect: than the canes were. I apprehend they were originally a plant of the old continent, and tranfported to the new, upon its firft difcovery, becaufe here in Egypt they grow from feed. I do not know if they do fo in Brazil, but they have been in all times ■the produce of Egypt. Whether they have been found elfe-where, I have not had an opportunity of being informed, but it is time that fome fkilful perfon, verfed in the hiftory of plants, fliould feparate fome of the capital productions of the old, and new continent, from the adventitious, before, from length of time, that which we now know of their hiftory be loft. Vol. I, L Sugar, Sugar, tobacco, red podded or Cayenne pepper, cotton, fome fpecies of Solanum, Indigo, and a multitude of others, have not as yet their origin well afcertained. Prince Henry of Portugal put his difcoveries to immediate profit, and communicated what he found new in each part in Europe, Ada, Africa, and America, to where it was wanting. It will be foon difficult to afcertain to each quarter of the world the articles that belong to it, and fix-upon "thofe few that are common to all Even wheat, the early produce of Egypt, is not a native of it. It grows under the Line, within the Tropics, and as. far north and fouth as we know. Severe northern winters feem to be neceffary to it, and it vegetates vigoroufly in froR and fnow. But whence it came, and in what fliapcv is yet left to> conjecture. Though the 11 ripe of green wheat was continued alE along the Nile, it was interrupted for about half a mile on. each fide of the coptilh convent. Thefe poor wretches-know, that though they may fow, yet, from the violence of the Arabs* they mall never reap, and therefore leave the ground defolate. On the fide oppofite to Smcnt, the ftripc begins again, and continues from Sment to Mcy-Moom, about two mites* and from Mey-Moom to Shenuiab, one mile further. In this, final! flripe, not above a quarter of a mile broad, befides. wheat, clover is fown, which they call Berfmc. I don't think it equals what I have feen in England, but it is fbwn and cultivated in the fame manner. Immediately Immediately behind this narrow Rripe, the white mountains appear again, fquare and flat on the top like tables. They fecm to be laid upon the furface of the earth, not in-ferted into it, for the feveral flrata that arc divided lye as level as it is poflible to place them with a rule; they are of no confiderable height. We next pafled Bourn, a village on the wcfl-fide of the Nile, two miles fouth of Shcnuiah ; and, a little further, Beni Ali, where we fee for a minute the mountains on the right or weft-fide of the Nile, running in a line nearly fouth, and very high. About five miles from Boufh is the village of Maniarcilh on the eaft-fide of the river, and here the mountains on that fide end, Boush is about two miles and a quarter from the river. Beni Ali is a large village, and its neighbour, Zcytoom, Rill larger, both on the weftern fhorc. I fuppofe this laR was part of the Heraclcotic nome, where * Strabo fays the olive-tree grew, and no where elfe in Egypt, but we faw no appearance of the great works once faid to have been in that nome. A little farther fouth is Baiad, where was an engagement between Huffein Bey, and Ali Bey then in exile, in which the former was defeated, and the latter reilorcd to the government of Cairo. From Maniareifli to Beni Sltef is two miles and a half, and oppofite to this the mountains appear again of confiderable height, about twelve miles diftant. Although BeniSucf L 2 is * Strabo, lib-xvii. p. 936. is no better, built than any other towr or village that we h&cE pafled, yet it interells by its extent; it is the moil cbnfiderable' place we had yet feen fince our leaving Cairo. It has a cachcfF' and a mofquc, with three large ftceples, and is a market-town. The country all around is well cultivated, and Teems to be of the utmoflfertiliry; the inhabitants are better cloatlicd, and feemingly lefs miferable, and opprefled, than thofe. wc had left behind in the places nearer Cairo. The Nile is very fhallow at Beni Suef, and the current ftrong. Wc touched feveral times in the middle of the flream, and came to an anchor at Baha, about a quarter of a mile above Beni Suef, where we palTed the night. We were told to keep good watch here all night, that there were troops of robbers on the calf-fide of the water who had lately plundered fome boats, and that the cachcfF cither dared not, or would not giye them any afliilance. We did indeed keep ftricT watch, but faw no robbers, and were no other way molcfted. The i 8th we had fine weather, and. a fair wind. Still I thought the villages were beggarly, and the conftant groves of palm-trees fo perfectly verdant, did not compenfatc for the penury of fown land, the narrownefs of the valley, and barrennefs of the mountains.. We palled Manfura,Gadami, Magaga, Malatiah, and other fmall villages, fome of them not confuting of fifteen houfes. Then follow Gundiah and Kcrm on the weft-fide of the river. river, with a large plantation of dates, and four miles further Sharuni. All the way from Boulh there appeared no mountains on the weft fide, but large plantations of dates, which extended from Gundiah four miles. From this to Abou Azeezc, frequent plantations of fugar canes were now cutting. All about Kafoor is fandy and barren on both fides of the river. Etfa is on the weft fide of the Nile, which here again makes an illand. All the houfes have now receptacles for pigeons on their tops, from which is derived a confidcrable profit. They arc made of earthen pots one above the other, occupying the upper ftory, and giving the walls of the turrets a lighter and more ornamented appearance. We arrived in the evening at Zoh'ora, about a mile fouth of Etfa. It confiils of three plantations of dates, and is five miles from Miniet, and there we pafled the night of the 18th of December.. There was nothing remarkable till wc came to Barkaras; a village on the fide of a hill, planted with thick groves of palm-trees. The wind was fo high wc fcarccly could carry our fails ; the current was ftrong at Shekh Temine, and the violence with which we went through the water was terrible. My Rais told me we fliould have flackened our fails, if it had not been, that, feeing me curious about the conftruciron of the veffel and her parts, and as we were in no danger of ftrik-ing, though the water was low, he wanted to flicw me what Rie could do. I thanked, I thanked him for his kindncfs. We had all along pre-fcrved flriet friendlhip. Never fear the banks, faid I; for I know if there is one in the way, you have nothing to do but to bid him begone, and he will hurry to one fide directly. " I have had paifcngcrs, fays he, who would believe " that, and more than that, when I told them ; but there is " no occaiion I fee to wafte much time with you in fpeak-*' ing of miracles." " You are miflakcn, Rais, I replied, very much miftaken; " I love to hear modern miracles vailly, there is always fome " amufement in them."—" Aboard your Chriflian fhips, fays " he, you always have a prayer at twelve o'clock, and drink " a glafs of brandy; fince you wont be a Turk like me, I " wifh at leaft you would be a Chriflian."—Very fairly put, faid I, Italian, let your veffel keep her wind if there is no danger, and I mail take care to lay in a flock for the whole voyage at the firft town in which wc can purchafe it. We palled by a number of villages on the weflern fhore, the eaftern feeming to be perfectly unpeopled: firft, Fcfhne, a conliderable place ; then *Miniet, or the ancient Phyla:, a large town which had been fortified towards the water, at leaft there were fome guns there. A rebel bey had taken pofieilion of it, and it was ufual to flop here, the river being both narrow and rapid ; but the Rais was in great fpirits, and refolved to hold his wind, as I had defircd him, and nobody made us any fignal from fliore. We * Signifies the Narrow PafF.ige, and is meant what Phyla is in Latin. We came to a village called Rhoda, whence we faw the magnificent ruins of the ancient city of Antinous, built by Adrian. Unluckily I knew nothing of thefe ruins when L left Cairo, and had taken no pains to provide myfelf with letters of recommendation as I could eafily have done. Perhaps I might have found it difficult to avail myfelf of them, and it was, upon the whole, better as it was. I asked the Rais what fort of people they were ? He faid that the town was compofed of very bad Turks, very bad Moors, and very bad Chriflians; that feveral devils had been feen among them lately, who had been difcovered by being better and quieter than any of the rell.—The Nubian geographer informs us, that it was from this town Pharaoh brought his magicians, to compare their powers with thofe of Mofes; an anecdote worthy that great hiflorian. T told the Rais,. that I mull,, of ncccffity, go afhorc, and afked him, if the people of this place had no regard for faints ? that I imagined, if he would put on his red turban as he did at Comadrcedy for my honour, it would then appear that he was a faint, as he before faid he was known to be all the world over. He did not feem to be fond of the expedition ; but hauling in his main-fail, and with his fore-fail full, Rood S. S. E. directly under the Ruins.. In a fhort time wc arrived at the landing-place; the banks arc low, and we brought up in a kind of bight or fmall bay, where there was a ltake, fo our velTel touched very little, or rather iwung clear. Aboo Corn's fon Mahomet, and the Arab, went on fliorc,, under pretence of buying fome proviiion, and to fee how the ■ 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 mean time, partly with my naked eye and partly with my glafs, I obferved the ruins fo attentively as to be perfectly in love with them. These columns of the angle of the portico were Ran ding fronting to the north, part of the tympanum, cornice, frize, and architrave, all entire, and very much ornamented; thick trees hid what was behind. The columns were of the largeft fize and fluted; the capitals Corinthian, and in all appearance entire. They were of white Parian marble probably, but had loft the extreme whitenefs, or poliih, of the Antinous at Rome, and were changed to the colour of the fighting gladiator, or rather to a brighter yellow. I faw indiftinclly, alio, a triumphal arch, or gate of the town, in the very fame Rylc ; and fome blocks of very white Alining ilone, which feemed to be alabafter, but for what employed I do not know. No pcrfon had yet ftirrcd, when all on a fudden we heard the noife of Mahomet and the Moor in ftrong difpute. Upon this the Rais flopping off his coat, leaped afhore, and flipped off the rope from the flake, and another of the Moors ftuek a ftrong perch or pole into the river, and twilled the rope round it. We were in a bight, or calm place, fo that the flream did not move the boat. Mahomet and the Moor came prefently in fight; the people had taken Mahomet's turban from him, and they were apparently on the very worft terms. Mahomet cried pic ; yellow, very frefh ; fky-bluc (that is, near the blue of an eaftern iky, feveral fhades lighter than ours ; green of different (hades; thefe are all the colours prefcrved. I could difcover no veftiges of common houfes in Dendera more than in any other of the great towns in Egypt. I fuppofe the common houfes of the ancients, in thefe warm countries, were conftrucTcd of very flight materials, after they left their caves in the mountains. There was indeed no need for any other. Not knowing the regularity of the Nile's inundation, they never could be perfectly fecure in their own minds againfl the deluge ; and this flight ftructurc of private buildings fecms to be the reafon fo few ruins xire found in the many cities once built in Egypt. If there ever were any other buildings, they muft be now covered with the white fand from the mountains, for the whole plain to the foot of thefe is o erflowed, and in cultivation. It was no part, either of my plan or inclination, to enter into the detail of this extraordinary architecture. Quantity, and folidity, are two principal circumftanccs that are feen there, with a vengeance. It ftrikes and impofes on you, at firft fight, but the im-prcflions arc like thofe made by the fize of mountains, which the mind does not retain for any confidcrable time after feeing them ; I think, a very ready hand might fpend fix months, from morning to night, before he could copy the hieroglyphics in the inlide of the temple. They are, however, in feveral combinations, which have not appear, d Vol. I. O in in the collection of hieroglyphics. I wonder that, being, in the neighbourhood, as we are, of Lycopolis, wc never fee.a wolf as an hieroglyphic ; and nothing, indeed, but what has fome affinity to water; yet the wolf is upon all the medals, from which I apprehend that the woiiliip of the wolf-was but a modern fupcrftition. Dendera Hands on the c-dge of a fmall, but fruitful plain; the \vheat was thirteen inches high, now at Chriftmas; their harvcR is in the end of March. The valley is not above five miles wide, from mountain to mountain. Here we firR faw the Doom-tree in great profufion growing among the palms, from which it Scarcely is diftingnifhable at a diftance. It is the * f alma Thebaica Cuciofera. Its Rone is like that of a peach covered with a black bitter pulp, which rcfembles a walnut overripe. A little before we came to Dendera we faw the firR crocodile, and afterwards hundreds, lying upon every ifland, like large flocks of cattle, yet the inhabitants of Dendera drive their bcafls of every kind into the river, and they Rand there for hours. The girls and women too, that come to fetch water in jars, Rand up to their knees in the water for a confidcrablc time; and if wc guefs by what happens, their danger is full as little as their fear, for none of them, that ever I heard of, had been bit by a crocodile. However, if the Dcndcrites were as keen and expert hunters of Crocodiles, as fome t hiflorians tell us they were formerly, there is furely no part in the Kile where they would have be.ter fport than here, immediately before their own city. Having 1 Thcophtaft. Hill. Plan. lib. iii. cap. 8—lib. iv. cap. 2. f Strabo lib. vii. p. 941*. Having made forne little acknowledgment to thofe who had conducted me through the ruins in great fafety, I returned to the Canja, or rather to my tent, which I placed in the firA firm ground. I faw, at fome diftance, a well-dreiled man, with a white turban, and yellow fhawl covering it, and a number of ill-looking people about him. As I thought this was fome quarrel among the natives, I took no notice of it, but went to my tent, in order to rectify my quadrant for obfervation. As foon as our Rais faw me enter my tent, he came with expreflions of very great indignation. " What Signifies it, faid he, that you are a friend to the Bey, have letters to every body, and are at the door of Furfhout, if yet here is a man that wull take your boat away from you?" " Softly, foftly, 1 anfwered, HaiTan, he may be in the right. If Ali Bey, Shekh Hamam, or any body want a boat for public fervice, I muft yield mine. Let us hear." Shekh Hamam and Ali Bey! fays he; why it is a fool, an idiot, and an afs ; a fellow that goes begging about, and fays he is a faint; but he is a natural fool, full as much knave as fool however; he is a thief, I know him to be a thief." If he is a faint, faid I, Hagi Flaftan, as you are another, known to be fo all the world over, I don't fee why I fliould interfere; faint againft faint is a fair battle."—" It is the Cadi, replies he, and no one clfe." " Come away with mc, faid I, HaiTan, ami let us fee this cadi; if it is the cadi, it is not the fool, it may be the knave." O 2 Wjj He was fitting upon the ground on a carpet, moving his' head backwards and forwards, and faying prayers with-beads in his hand. I had no good opinion of him from his-firft appearance, but faid, Salam alicum, boldy; this feemed to offend him, as he looked at me with great contempt, and gave me no anfwer, though he appeared a little disconcerted by my confidence. * Are you the Cafr\ faid he, to whom that boat belongs IT "No, Sir, faid I, it belongs to Hagi HaiTan." " Do you think, fays he, I call Hagi HaiTan, who is a Sher-" rifle, Coj)-r *' That depends upon the mcafure of your prudence, faid " I, of which as yet I have no proof that can enable mc to ** judge or decide.*1 " Are you the Chrijllan that was at the ruins in the morn-" ing ? fays he." jl " I was at the ruins in the morning, replied I, and / am " a Chr'iJVuin. Ali Bey calls that denomination of people " Nassarani* that is the Arabic of Cairo and ConRantihopIe,. " and 1 underiland no other." " I am, faid he, going to Girgc, and this holy faint is with " me, and there is no boat but your's bound that way, for " which reafon I have promifed to take him with me," By THE SOURCE OF T PI E NILE, rc,9 By this time the faint had got into the boat, and fat forward ; he was an ill-favoured, low, fick-like man, and feemed to be almoR blind. You lhould not make rafh promifes, faid I to the cadi, for this one you made you never can perform ; I am not going to Girge. Ali Bey, ivbofe fave you are, gave me this boat, but told me, I was not to ihip either faints or cadics. There is my boat, go a-board if you dare; and you, Hagi HafTkn, let me fee you lift an oar, or loofe a fail, either for the cadi or the faint, if I am not with them. I went to my tent, and the Rais followed me. " Flagi " Haflan, faid I, there is a proverb in my country, It is bet-u ter 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 abandon his journey to Girge? after-" wards leave me to fettle with the cadi for his voyage thi-" then" " He will take it with ali his heart, he will kifs your hand * for half-a-crown, fays HaiTan." " Let him have half-a-crown from me, faid I, and deflre Xi him to go about his bufinefs, and intimate that I give him u it in charity, at fame time expect compliance with the " condition." In the interim, a Chriflian Copht came into the tent: ** Sir, faid he, you don't know what you are doing ; the cadi " is a great man, give him his prefent, and have done with u him." "WllEF " When he behaves better, it will be.time enough for that, " faid I?—If you arc a friend of his, ad vile him to be quiet, " before an order comes from Cairo by a Serach, and car-" ries him thither. Your countryman Rilk would not give " me the advice you do ?" Risk! fays he;Do you know Rifk? Is not that Rifk's writing, laid I, fhewing him a letter from the Bey? Wallah ! (by God) it is, fays he, and away he went without fpeaking a word farther. The faint had taken his half-crown, and had gone away finging, it being now near dark.—The cadi went away, and the mob difperfed, and we directed a Moor to cry, That all people fliould, in the night-time, keep away from the tent, or they would be fired at; a Rone or two were afterwards thrown, but did not reach us. I finished my obfervation, and afcertained the latitude of Dendera, then packed up my inftruments, and fent them on board. Mr Nor den fcems greatly to have miftaken the pofition of this town, which, confpicuous and celebrated as it is hy ancient authors, and juftly a principal point of attention to modern travellers, he does not fo much as defcribe; and, in his map, he places Dendera twenty or thirty miles to the fouthward of Badjoura; whereas it is about nine miles to the northward. For Badjoura is in lat. 26° 3', and Dendera is hi 2O0 io'. It It is a great pity, that he who had a taftc for this very remarkable kind of architecture, fliould have palfed it, both in going up and coming down ; as it is, beyond comparifon, a place that would have given more fatisfaction than all Upper Egypt. While wc were ftriking our tent, a great mob came down,. but without the cadi. As I ordered all my people to take their arms in their hands, they kept at a very confidcrable diftance ; but the fool, or faint, got into the boat with a yellow flag in his hand, and fat down at the foot of the main-maft, faying, with an idiot finite,That we fliould fire, for he was out of the reach of the fliot; fome ftones were thrown, but did not reach us.. I ordered two of my fervants with large brafs fhip-blun« derbuffes, very bright and glittering, to get upon the top of the cabbin. I then pointed a wide-mouthed Swedifh blun-derbufs from one of the windows, and cried out, Have a care ;—the next Rone that is thrown I fire my cannon amonglt you, which will fweep away 300 of you inftantly from the face of the earth ; though I believe there were not, above two hundred then prefent.. I ordered Hagi Haflan to eaft off his cord immediately, and, as foon as the blunderbufs - appeared, away ran every one of them, and, before they could collect themfclvcs to return, our veffel was in the middle of the flream. The wind was fair, though not very frefh, on which we fet both our fails, and made great way. TW The faint, who had been tinging all the time we were clifputing, began now to ihcw fome apprehenfions for his .own fafety : He aiked Hagi Harlan, if this was the way to Girge ? and had for anfwer, " Yes, it is the fool's way to * Girge." We carried him about a mile, or more, up the river ; then a convenient landing-place offering, I afked him whether he got my money, or not, laR night ? He faid, he had for yeiterday, but he had got none for to-day.—" Now, the next thing I have to aik you, faid I, is, Will you go afhore of your own accord, or will you be thrown into the Nile ? He anfwered with great confidence, Do you know, that, at my word, I can fix your boat to the bottom of the Nile, and make it grow a tree there for ever ?" * Aye, fays Hagi Haf-fan, and make oranges and lemons grow on it likewife, can't you ? You arc a cheat." " Come, Sirs, faid I, lofe no time, put him out." I thought he had been blind and weak; and the boat was not within three feet of the fhore, when placing one foot upon the gunnel, he leaped clean upon land. We flacked our veffel down the Rream a few yards, filling our fails, and ftretching away. Upon feeing this, our faint fell into a defperate paflion, curfing, blafphcming, and Ramping with his feet, at every word crying " Shar Ullah !" i. c. may God fend, and do jullice. Our people began to taunt and gibe him, afking him if he would have a pipe of tobacco to warm him, as the morning was very cold; but I bade them be content. It was curious to fee him, as far as we could difcern, fometimes fitting down, fometimes jumping and fkipping about, and waving his flag, then running about about a hundred yards, as if it were after us; but always returning, though at a flower pace. None of the reR followed. He was indeed apparently the tool of that rafcal the cadi, and, after his defigns were frustrated, nobody cared what became of him. He was left in the lurch, as thofe of his character generally arc, after ferv-ing the purpofe of knaves* gyn i . ■■ ■=--1—i—i- , Vol. I. P CHAP. CHAP. VI, Arrive at Furjbout—Adventure of Friar Chrifopher—Vift Thebes-Luxor and Carnac—Large Ruins at Edfu and Ffne Proceed on our Voyage. W T^' arr^vec^ naPP^y at Eurfhout that fame forenoon, and W went to the convent of Italian Friars, who, like thofe of Achmim, are of the order of the reformed Francifcans, of whofe miffton I fTiall fpeak at large in the fequel. We were received more kindly here than at Achmim; hut Padre Antonio, fuperior of that laR convent, upon which this of Furfhout alfo depends, following us, our good reception fuffered a fmall abatement. In fhort, the good Friars would not let us buy meat, becaufe they faid it would be a fame and reproach to them; and they would not give us any, for fear that fliould be a reproach to them likewife, if it was told in Europe they lived well. Atter fome time I took the liberty of providing for myfelf, to which they fubmitted with chriRian patience. Yet thefe convents were founded exprefsly with a view, and from a ncceRity of providing for travellers between Egypt and Ethiopia, and we were ftrictly intitled to that entertainment, tainment. Indeed there is very little ufe for this inRitu-tion in Upper Egypt, as long as rich Arabs are there, much more charitable and humane to Rrangcr Chriftians than the Monks. Furshout is in a large and cultivated plain. It is nine miles over to the foot of the mountains, all fown with wheat. There are, likewife, plantions of fugar canes. The town, as they faid, contains above 10,000 people, but I have no doubt this computation is rather exaggerated. We waited upon the Shekh Hamam; who was a big, tall, handfome man ; I apprehend not far from iixty. He was drelTed in a large fox-fkin peliffe over the reft of his cloaths, and had a yellow India fhawl wrapt about his head, like a turban. He received mc with great politenefs and condefenfion, made me lit down by him, and aiked me more about Cairo than about Europe. The Rais had told him our adventure with the faint, at which he laughed very heartily, faying, I was a wife man. and a man of conduct. To me he only faid, " they are bad people at Dendera ;" to which I anfwered, " there were very few places in the world in which there were not fome bad." Fie replied, " Your obfervation is true, hut there they are all bad; reft yourfelvcs however here, it is a quiet place ; though there are Rill fome even in this place not quite fo good as they ought to be." The Shekh was a man of immenfe riches, and, little by little, had united in his own perfon, all the feparate diftricts P 2 of of Upper Egypt, each of which formerly had its particular prince. But his intereil was great at Conftantinople, where he applied directly for what he wanted, infomuch as to give a jealoufy to the Beys of Cairo. He had in farm from the Grand Signior almoft the whole country, between Siout and Syene, or Affouan. I believe this is the Shekh of Upper Egypt, whom Mr Irvine fpeaks of fo gratefully. He was betrayed, and murdered fome time after, by one of the Beys whom he had protected in hit own country. While we were at Furfhout, there happened a very extraordinary phenomenon. It rained the whole night, and till about nine o'clock next morning; and the people began to be very apprehenlivc leaft the whole town lhould be deftroyed. It is a perfect prodigy to.fee rain here; and the prophets faid it portended a diffolution of government, which was juftly verified foon afterwards, and at that time indeed wras extremely probable.. Furshout is in lat 260 3' 30" ; above that, to the fouth-ward, on the fame plain, is another large village, belonging to Shekh Ifmael, a nephew of Shekh Hamam. It is a large town, built with clay like Furfhout, and furrounded with groves of palm trees, and very large plantations of fugar-canes. Here they make fugar. Shekh Ismael was a very pleafant and agreeable man, but in bad health, having a violent afthma, and fometimes plcuretic complaints, to be removed by bleeding only. He had given thefe friars a houfe for a convent in Badjoura ; but as they had not yet taken poRcflion of it, he defired me to come and Ray there. Friar Friar Christopher, whom I undcrftood to have been a Milanefe barber, was his phyfician, but he had not the fci-ence of an Engliih barber in furgcry. He could not bleed, but with a fort of inftrument refembling that which is ufed in cupping, only that it had but a fingle lancet; with this he had been lucky enough as yet to efcapc laming his patients. This bleeding inftrument they call the Tabange, or the Piftol, as they do the cupping inftrument likewife. I never could help fhuddcring at feeing the confidence with which this man placed a fmall brafs box upon all forts of arms, and drew the trigger for the point to go where fortune pleafed. Shekh Ismael was very fond of this furgcon, and the furgeon of his patron ; all would have gone well, had not friar Chriftopher aimed likewife at being an Aftronomcr. A-bovc all he gloried in being a violent enemy to the Copcrni-can fyilem, which unluckily he had miftaken for a hcrefy in the church ; and partly from his own flight ideas and flock of knowledge, partly from fome Milanefe almanacs he had got, he attempted, the weather being cloudy, to foretel the time when the moon was to change, it being that of the month Ramadan, when the Mahometans* lent, or falling,, was to begin. It happened that the badjoura people, and their Shekh Ifmael, were upon indiifercnt terms with Hamam, and his men of Furftiout, and being deftrous to get a triumph over their neighbours by the help of their friar Chriftopher, they continued to cat, drink, and .fmoke, two days after the conjunction. The . The moon had been feen the fecond night, by a Fakir*, in the defert, who had fent word to Shekh Hamam, and he had begun his faR. But Ifmael, afTured by friar Chriftopher that it was impofllblc, had continued eating. The people of Furfhout, meeting their neighbours fing-ing and dancing, and with pipes of tobacco in their mouths, all cried out with aRonifhmcnt, and afked," Whether they had u abjured their religion or not?"—From words they came to blows; feven or eight were wounded on each fide, luckily none of them mortally.—Hamam next day came to inquire at his nephew Shekh Ifmael, what had been the occafion of all this, and to confult what was to be done, for the two villages had declared one another infidels. I was then with my fervants in Badjoura, in great quiet and tranquillity, under the protection, and very much in the confidence of Ifmael; but hearing the hooping, and noife in the Rreets, I had barricadoed my outer-doors. A high wall furrounded the houfe and court-yard, and there I kept quiet, fatisfied with being in perfect, fafety. In the interim, I heard it was a quarrel about the keeping of Ramadan, and, as I had provifions,water, and employment enough in the houfe, I rcfolved to Ray at home till they fought it out; being very little intcrefted which of them fliould be victorious.—About noon, I was fent for to Ifmael's houfe, and found his uncle Hamam with him. He * a poor faint. He told mc, there were feveral wounded in a quarrel a-bout the Ramadan, and recommended them to my care. " About Ramadan, faid I! what, your principal faR ! have " you not fettled that yet lv—Without anfwering mc as to this, he afked, " When docs the moon change ?" As I knew nothing of friar ChriRophcr's operations, I anfwered, in hours, minutes, and feconds, as I found them in the ephe-merides. "Look you there, fays Hamam, this is fine work!" and, directing his difcourfe to me, " When fliall we fee it ?" Sir, faid I, that is impoflible for me to tell, as it depends on the Rate of the heavens; but, if the Iky is clear, you mult fee her to-night; if you had looked for her, probably you would have feen her laR night low in the horizon, thin like a thread; flie is now three days old.—He ftarted at this, then told mc friar Chriftopher's operation, and the confcquenccs of it. Ismael was afhamed, curfed him, and threatned revenge. It was too late to retract, the moon appeared, and fpoke for herfelf; and the unfortunate friar was difgraccd, and banifhed from Badjoura. Luckily the pleurctic Ritch came again, and I was called to bleed him, which I did with a lancet ; but he was fo terrified at its brightnefs, at the ceremony of the towel and the bafon, and at my preparation, that it did not pleafe him, and therefore he was obliged to he reconciled to Chriftopher and his tabange.—Badjoura is in lat. 260 37 16"; and is Rotated on the weflern fhorc of the Nile, as Furfhout is likewife, We We left Furfliout the 7th of January 1769, early in the morning. We had not hired our boat farther than Furfliout ; but the good terms which fubfifted between me and the faint, my Rais, made an accommodation very eafy to carry us farther. He now agreed for L. 4 to carry us to Syene and down again ; but, if he behaved well, he expected a trifling premium. " And, if you behave ill, Kalian, u faid I, what do you think you deferve ?"—" To be hanged, " faid he, I deferve, and defire no better." Our wind at firR was but fcant. The Rais faid, that he thought his boat did not go as it ufed to do, and that it was growing into a tree, tire wind, however, frefhened up towards noon, and cafed him of his fears. We palled a large town called How, on the weft fide of the Nile. About four o'clock in the afternoon we arrived at El Gourni, a fmall village, a quarter of a mile diftant from the Nile. It has in it a temple of old Egyptian architecture. I think that this, and the two adjoining heaps of ruins, which are at the fame diflance from the Nile, probably might have been part of the ancient Thebes. Shaamy andTaamy are two coloflal flames in a fitting poflure covered with hieroglyphics. The fouthmoft is of one flonc, and perfectly entire. The northmoft is a good deal more mutilated. It was probably broken byCambyfes; and they have fincc endeavoured to repair it. The oilier has a very remarkable head-drefs, which can be compared to nothing but a tyc-wig, fuch as worn in the prefent day. Thefe two, fituatcd in a very fertile fpot belonging to Thebes, were apparently the Nilomcters of that town, as the marks which the water has left upon the bales fufliciently 2 fliew. mew. The bafes of both of them are bare, and uncovered, to the bottom of the plinth, or loweR member of their pe-deftal; fo that there is not the eighth of an inch of the loweft part of them covered with mud, though they Rand in the middle of a plain, and have Rood there certainly a-bove 3000 years ; lince which time, if the fanciful rife of the land of Egypt by the Nile had been true, the earth lhould have been raffed fo as fully to conceal half of them both. These Ratues are covered with infcriptions of Greek and Latin; the import of which fecms to be, that there were certain travellers, or particular people, who heard Mcmnon's Ratue utter the found it was faid to do, upon being Rruck with the rays of the fun. It may be very reafonably expected, that I fliould here fay fomething of the building and fall of the firR Thebes ; but as this would carry me to very early ages, and interrupt for a long time my voyage upon the Nile ; as this is, befides, connected with the hiftory of feveral nations which I am about to dcfcribe, and more proper for the work of an hiftorian, than the curfory defcriptions of a traveller, I lhall defer faying any thing upon the fubject, till I come to treat of it in the firft of thefe characters, and more efpccially till I fhall fpcak of the origin of theJhtpb*rd$\ and the calamities brought upon Egypt by that powerful nation, a people often mentioned by different writers, but whole hiftory hitherto has been but imperfectly known. Nothing remains of the ancient Thebes but four prodigious temples, all of them in appearance more ancient, but neither fo entire, nor fo magnificent, as thofe of Dendera. Vol. I. The The temples at Mcdinet Tabu are the moR elegant of thefe. The hieroglyphics are cut to the depth of half-a-foot, in fome places, but we have Rill the fame figures, or rather a lefs variety, than at Dendera. The hieroglyphics arc of four forts; firR, fuch as have only the contour marked, and, as it were, fcratched only in the Rone. The fccond are hollowed; and in the middle of that fpace rifes the figure in relief, fo that the prominent part of the figure is equal to the flat, unwrought furf ace of the Rone, and feems to have a frame round it, deligned to defend the hieroglyphic from mutilation. The third fort is in relief, or baffo relievo, as it is called, where the figure is left bare and expofed, without being funk in, or defended, by any compartment cut round it in the Rone. The fourth arc thofe mentioned in the beginning of this description, the outlines of the figure being cut very deep in the Rone* All the hieroglyphics, but the laR mentioned, which do not admit it, are painted red, blue, and green, as at Dendera, and with no.other colours. Notwithstanding ail this variety in the manner of ecuting the hieroglyphical figures^ and the prodigious multitude which I have feen in the feveral buildings, I never could make the number of different hieroglyphics amount to more than five hundred and fourteen, and of thefe there were certainly many, which were not really different, but from the ill execution of the fculpturc only appeared fo. From this I conclude, certainly, that it can be no entire language which hieroglyphic i are meant to contain, for no language language could be comprehended in five hundred words, and it is probable that thefe hieroglyphics are not alphabetical or Jingle letters only; for five hundred letters would make tjo large an alphabet. The Chinefe indeed have many more letters in ufe, but have no alphabet, but who is it that under-Jlands the Chinefe ? There are three different characters which, I obferve, have been in ufe at the fame time in Egypt, Hieroglyphics, the Mummy character, and the Ethiopic. Thefe are all three found, as I have feen, on the fame mummy, and therefore were certainly ufed at the fame time. The laR only I believe was a language. The mountains immediately above or behind Thebes, are hollowed out into numberlcfs caverns, the firR habitations of the Ethiopian colony which built the city. I imagine they continued long in thefe habitations, for I do not think the temples were ever intended but for public and folemn ufes, and. in none of thefe ancient cities did I ever fee a wall or foundation, or any thing like a private houfe ; all arc temples and tombs, if temples and tombs m thofe times were not the fame thing. But veftiges of houfes there are none, whatever * Diodo-rus Siculus may fay, building with Rone was too expcnfive for individuals ; the houfes probably were all of clay, thatched with palm branches, as they arc at this day. This is one rea-fon why fo few ruins of the immenfe number of cities we hear of remain. Qji Thebes, * Diod. Sic. lib. I. Thebes, according to Homer, had a hundred gates. Wc cannot, however, difcover yet the foundation of any wall that it had; and as for the horfemen and chariots it is faid to have fent out, all the Thebaid fown with wheat would not' have maintained cm-half o£ them. Thebes, at leafl tile ruins of the temples, called Mcdinet Tabu, are built in a long Rretch of about a mile broad, moil parfimonioufly chofen at the fandy foot of the mountains. The Horti* Pennies, or hanging gardens, were furely formed upon the fides of thefe hills, then fupplied with water by mechanical devices. The utmoft is done to fpare the plain, and with great reafon; for all the fpace of ground this ancient city has had to maintain its myriads of horfes and men, is a plain of three quarters off a mile broad, between the town and the river, upon which plain the water rifes to the height of four, and five feet, as we may judge by the marks on the Ratues Shaamy and Taamy. All this pretended populoumcfs of ancient Thebes I therefore believe fabulous. , It is a circumRance very remarkable, in building the firft' temples, that, where the fide-walls are folid, that is, nor Rap-ported by pillars, fome of thefe have their angles and faces perpendicular, others inclined in a very confiderable angle to the horizon. Thofe temples, whofc walls are inclined, you may judge-by the many hieroglyphics and ornaments, are of the firft ages, or the greateft antiquity. From which, I am difpofed to think, that fingular conftruction was a remnant * Plin. lib. 26. cap. 14. riant of the partiality of the builders for their firR domi~ dies; an imitation of the Rope*, or inclination of the fides of mountains, and that this inclination of flat furfaces to each other in building, gave afterwards the firR idea of Pyramids f. A number of robbers, who much refcmblc our gypficSi live in the holes of the mountains above Thebes. They are all out-laws, punifhed with death if clfewherc found. Ofman Bey, an ancient governor of Girge, unable to f uffer any longer the diforders committed by thefe people, ordered a quantify of: dried faggots to be brought together, and, with his foldicrs, took pofleflion of the face of the mountain, where the greatefl number of thefe wretches were: He then ordered all their caves to be filled with this dry brufhwood, to which he fet lire, fo that moR of them were deflroyed; but they have fmce recruited their numbers, with* out changing their manners.. About half a mile north of El Gourni, are the magnify cent, flupendous fepulchres, of Thebes. The mountains of the Thebaid come clofe behind the town ; they are not run in. upon one another like ridges, but Rand infuriated upon their bafes ; fo that you can get round each of them. A hundred of thefe, it is faid, are excavated into fcpulchral, and a variety.of other apartments. I went through feven of them with a great deal of fatigue. It is a folitary place ; and * See Norden's views of the Temples at El'iu- and Edfu. Vol. ii. plate 6. p. 80. f This inclined figure of the fides, is frequently found in the fmall boxes within the mummy:chcu's. . and my guides, either from a natural impatience and diflaftc that thefe people have at fuch employments, or, that their fears of the banditti that live in the caverns of the moun* tains were real, importuned mc to return to the boat, even before I had begun my fearch, or got into the mountains where are the many large apartments of which I was in queR In the firR one of thefe I entered is the prodigious far-cophagus, fome fay of Menes, others of Ofimandyas; pof-libly of neither. It is fixteen feet high, ten long, and fix broad, of one piece of red-granite ; and, as fuch, is, I fuppofe, the fincR vafe in the world. Its cover is Rill upon it, (broken on one fide,) and it has a figure in relief on the outfide. It is not probably the tomb of Ofimandyas, becaufe, Diodo-rus * fays, that it was ten Radia from the tomb of the kings; whereas this is one among them. There have been fome ornaments at the outer-pillars, or outer-entry, which have been broken and thrown down. Thence you defcend through an inclined paRage, I fuppofe, about twenty feet broad; I fpeak only by guefs, for I did not meafurc. The fide-walls, as well as the roof of this paf-fagc, are covered with a coat of Rucco, of a finer and more equal grain, or furface, than any I ever faw in Europe. I found my black-lead pencil little more worn by it than by writing upon paper. Upon * Diod. Sic. lib, I, Upon the left-hand fide is the crocodile feizing upon the apis, and plunging him into the water. On the right-hand is the * fcarabams thebaicus, or the thebaic beetle, the firft animal that is feen alive after the Nile retires from the land; and therefore thought to be an emblem of the refurrection. My own conjecTure is, that the apis was the emblem of the arable land of Egypt; the crocodile, the typhon, or cacodsc-mon, the type of an over-abundant Nile; that the fcarabxus was the land which had been overflowed, and from which the water had foon retired, and has nothing to do with the rcfurrecTion or immortality, neither of which at that time were in contemplation. Farther forward on the right-hand of the entry, the pannels, or compartments, were Rill formed in Rucco, but, in place of figures in relief, they were painted in frcfco, I dare fay this was the cafe on the left-hand of the paflage, as well as the right. But the firft difcovery was fo unexpected, and I had flattered myfelf that I fliould be fo far mafter of my own time, as to fee the whole at my leifure, that I was rivetted, as It were, to the fpot by the firft fight of thefe paintings, and I could proceed no further. In one panned were feveral mufical inftruments ftrowed upon the ground, chiefly of the hautboy kind, with a mouthpiece of reed. There were alfo fome fimple pipes or flutes. With them were feveral jars apparently of potter-ware, which, having their mouths covered with parchment or fkin, * Sec the figure of this Infect in Paul Lucas. fkin, and being braced on their fides like a drum, were probably the inRrument called the tabor, or * tabret, beat upon by the hands, coupled in earlieR ages with the harp, and prefcrved Rill in AbyRinia, though its companion, the laR-mentioned inRrument, is no longer known there. In three following pannels were painted, in frefco, three harps, which merited the utmoR attention, whether wc con-fidcr the elegance of thefe inRruments in their form, and the detail of their parts as they are here clearly exprefled, or confine ourfelves to the reflection that necellarily follows, to how great perfection mufic muft have arrived, before an artift could have produced fo complete an inRrument as either of thefe. As the firR harp feemed to be the moR perfect, and leaft fpoiled, I immediately attached myfelf to this, and defircd my clerk to take upon him the charge of the fecond. In this way, by fketching exactly, and loofely, I hoped to have made myfelf maRer of all the paintings in that cave, perhaps to have extended my refearches to others, though, in the fequel, I found myfelf miferably deceived. My firR drawing was that of a man playing upon a harp; he was Randing, and the inRrument being broad, and flat at the bale, probably for that purpofe, fupportcd itfelf ealily with a very little inclination upon his arm; his head is elofe fhaved, his eye-brows black, without beard or muf- tach >es. * Gen. xxxi, 27. Ifa. chap. xxx. ver. 32. tachocs. He has on him a loofe fTiirt, like what they wear at this day in Nubia (only it is not blue) with loofe Reeves, and arms and neck bare. It feemed to be thick mullin, or cotton cloth, and long-ways through it is a crimfon Rripe about one-eighth of an inch broad; a proof, if this is Egyptian manufacture, that they underftood at that time how to dye cotton, crimfon, an art found out in Britain only a very few years ago. If this is the fabric of India, Rill it proves the antiquity of the commerce between the two countries, and the introduction of Indian manufactures into Egypt, It reached down to his ancle; his feet are without fan-dais ; he fcems to be a corpulent man, of about fixty years of age, and of a complexion rather dark for an Egyptian. To guefs by the detail of the figure, the painter feems to have had the fame degree of merit with a good fign-painter in Europe, at this day.—If we allow this harper's Rature to be five feet ten inches, then we may compute the harp, in its extreme length, to be fome thing lefs than fix feet and a half. This inftrument is of a much more advantageous form than the triangular Grecian harp. It has thirteen ftrings, but wants the forepiece of the frame oppofite to the longeft flring. The back part is the founding-board, compofed of four thin pieces of wood, joined together in form of a cone, that is, growing wider towards the bottom ; fo that, as the length of the firing increafes, the fquare of the correfpond-ing fpace in the founding-board, in which the found was to undulate, always increafes in proportion. The whole principles, on which this harp is conftructcd, arc rational and Vol, I. R ingenious, ingenious, and the ornamented parts are executed in the very beR manner. The bottom and fides of the frame feem to be fmeercd, and: inlaid, probably with ivory, tortoife-ihell, and mother-of-pearl, the ordinary produce of the neighbouring feas and defeats. It would be even now impoflible, either to con-Rruct or to finilh a harp of any form with more tafte and elegance. Befides the proportions of its outward form, we muft obferve likewife how near it approached to a perfect inftrument, for it wanted only two ftrings of having two complete octaves; that thefe were purpofely omitted, not" from defect of tafte or fcience, muR appear beyond contradiction, when we confider the harp that follows.. I had no fooner fmifhed the harp which I had taken in hand, than I went to my afliftant, to fee what progrefs he had made in the drawing in which he was engaged.. I found, to my very great furprife, that this harp differed ellcntially, in form and diilribution of its parts, from the one I had drawn, without having loft any of its elegance; on the contrary, that it was fmifhed with full more attention than the other. It feemed to be fmeered with the fame materials, ivory and tortoife-fhcll, but the ftrings were differently dif-poled, the ends of the three longeft, where* they joined to the founding-board below, were defaced by a hole dug in the walk Several of the ftrings in different parts had been fcraped as with a knife, for the reR^it was very perfect. It had eighteen Rrings. A man, who feemed to be Rill older than the former, but in habit perfectly the fame, bare-footed,, dofe ftuved, and of the fame complexion with him, flood . at 1/ /W>/iWiJ /J,;.'/:"/t>v o'./io/'insvn x- to. piaying with both his hands near the middle of the harp, in a manner feemingly lefs agitated than in the other. I went back to my firR harp, verified, and examined my drawing in all its parts; it is with great pleafure I now give a figure of this fecond harp to the reader, it was miflaid among a multitude of other papers, at the time when I was folicitcd to communicate the former drawing to a gentleman then writing the HiRory of Mufic, which he has already fubmitted to the public ; it is very lately and unexpectedly this lafl harp has been found; I am only forry this accident lias deprived the public of Dr Burney's remarks upon it. I hope he will yet favour us with them, and therefore abftain from anticipating his reflections, as I confider this as his pro-vince; I never knew any one fo capable of affording the public, new, and at the fame time juR lights on this fubject. There Rill remained a third harp of ten ftrings, its precife form I do not well remember, for I had feen it but once when I firft entered the cave, and was now preparing to copy that likewife. I do not recollect that there was any man playing upon this one, I think it was rather refting upon a wall, with fome kind of drapery upon one end of it, and was the fmalleft of the three. But I am not at all fo certain of particulars concerning this, as to venture any defcription of it; what I have faid of the other two may be ubfolutely depended upon. I look upon thefe harps then as the Theban harps in ufe in the time of Sefoilris, who did not rebuild, but decorate ancient Thebes; I confider them as affording an in- R 2 conteftible conteftible proof, were they the only monuments remaining, that every art necelfary to the conftruction, ornament, and ufe of. this inftrument, was in the higheft perfection, and if fo, all the others muft have probably attained to the fame degree. AVe fee in particular the ancients then pofrefTed;an art relative to architecture, that of hewing the harder! ftones with the greateft cafe, of which we arc at this day utterly ignorant and incapable. We have no inRrument that could do it, no compofition that could make tools of temper fuf-ficient to. cut bafs reliefs in granite or porphyry fo readily ; and our ignorance in this is the more completely fhewn, in that we have all the reaibns to believe, the cutting inRrument with winch they did thefe furprifmg feats was com-poled of brafs; a metal of which, after a thoufand expert ments, no tool has ever been made that could ferve the purpofe of a common knife, though we are at the fame time certain, it was of brafs the ancients made their razors; These harps, in my opinion, overturn all the accounts hitherto given of the earlieft Rate of mufic and mufical inftruments in-the eaft ; and are altogether in their form, ornaments, and compafs, an inconteftible proof,ftronger than a thoufand Greek quotations, that geometry, drawing, mechanics, and mufic, were at the greateft perfection when this inRrument was made, and that the period from which we date the invention of thefe arts, was only the beginning of the a^ra of their reftoration. This was the fentiment of Solomon^ writer who lived at the time when this harp waspainted. " Is there (fays Solomon) any thing whereof it may be faid, " See* " See, this is new! it hath been already of old time which " was before us*." We find, in thefe very countries, how a later calamity, of the fame public nature, the conqucR of the Saracen::, occa^ fioncd a limilar downfal of literature, by the burning the Alexandrian library under the fanatical caliph Omar. We fee how foon after, they flourifhed, planted by the fame hands, that before had rooted them out. The effects of a revolution occafioned, at the period I am now fpcaking of, by the univcrfal inundation of the Shepherd^ , were the deRruction of Thebes, the ruin of architecture, and the downfal of aftronomy in Egypt. Still a remnant was left in the colonies and. correfpondents of Thebes, though fallen. Ezekielf celebrates Tyre as being, from her beginning, famous for the tabret and harp, and it is probably to Tyre the taftc for mufic fled from the. contempt and perfecution of the barbarous Shepherds ; who, though a numerous nation, to this day never have yet poffeffed any fpecics of mufic,or any kind of mufical inftruments capable.: of improvement., Although it is a curious fubject for reflection, it mould not furprife us to find here the harp, in fuch variety of form. Old Thebes, as we prefently lhall fee, had been deftroyed, and was foon after decorated and adorned, but not rebuilt by Sefoftris. It was fome time between the reign of Menes, the firft king of the Thcbaid, and the firR general war of the • Ecclcs. chap, i. ycr. 10. f Ezek. chap, xxviii. ver, 13. the Shepherds, that thefe decorations and paintings were made. This gives it a prodigious antiquity ; but fuppofing it was a favourite inftrument, confequently well underflood at the building of Tyre * in the year 1320 before Chrill, and Scfollris had lived in the time of Solomon, as Sir Ifaac New-toni magines; Riii there were 320 years lince that inftrument had already attained to great perfection, a fufRcient time to have varied it into every form. Upon feeing the preparations I was making to proceed farther in my refearches, my conductors loft all fort of fub-ordination. They were afraid my intention was to fit in this cave all night, (as it really was,) and to vifit the others next morning. With great clamour and marks of difcon-tent, they daflied their torches againft the largeft harp, and made the beft 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 poflibility of doing more. I offered them money, much beyond the utmoft of their expectations ; but the fear of the Troglodytes, above Medinct Tabu, had fallen upon them ; and feeing at laR this was real, I was not myfelf without appreheniions, for they were banditti, and outlaws, and no reparation was to be expected, whatever they fliould do to hurt us. Vert * Nay, prior to this, the harp is mentioned as a common inftrument in Abraham's time 1370 years before Chrifc, Gen. chap, xsxii. ver. 27. Very much vexed, I mounted my horfe to return to the boat. The road lay through a very narrow valley, the fides of which were covered with bare loofe Hones. I had no fooner got down to the bottom, than 1 heard a greal deal of loud fpeaking on both fides of the valley ; and, in an in-Rant, a number of large Rones were rolled down upon me, which, though I heard in motion, I could not fee, on account of the darknefs; this increafed my terror. Finding, by the impatience of the horfe, that feveral of thefe Rones had come near him, and that it probably was the noife of his feet which guided thofe that threw them, I difmounted, and ordered the Moor to get on horfeback; which he did, and in a moment galloped out of danger. This, if I had been wife, I certainly might have done before him, but my mind was occupied by the paintings. Never-thelefs, I was refolvcd upon revenge before leaving thefe banditti, and lillened till I heard voices, on the right fide of the hill. I accordingly levelled my gun as near as poRIble, by the ear, and fired one barrel among them. A moment's filence enfued, and then a loud howl, which feemed to have come from thirty or forty perfons. I took my fcrvant's blunderbufs, and difcharged it where I heard the howl, and a violent confufion of tongues followed, but no more Rones. As I found this was the time to efcape, I kept along the dark fide of the hill, as expeditioufly as poilihlc, till I came to the mouth of the plain, when wc reloaded our firelocks, expecting fome interruption before we reached the boat; and then we made the beR of our way to the uiver* We. We found our Rais full of fears for us. He had been told, that, as foon as day light lhould appear, the whole Troglodytes were to come down to the river, in order to plunder and deRroy our boat. This night expedition at the mountains was but partial, the general attack was referved for next day. Upon holding council, we were unanimous in opinion, as indeed we had been during the whole courfe of this voyage. We thought, fince our enemy had left us to-night, it would be our fault if they found us in the morning. Therefore, without noife, we eaft off our rope that fattened us, and let ourfclves over to the other fide. About twelve at night a gentle breeze began to blow,.which wafted us up to Luxor, where there was a governor, for whom I had letters. From being convinced by the fight of Thebes, which had not the appearance of ever having had walls, that the fable of the hundred gates, mentioned by Homer, was mere invention, I was led to conjecture what could be the origin of that fable. That the old inhabitants of Thebes lived in caves in the mountains, is, I think, without doubt, and that the hundred mountains I have fpoken of, excavated, and adorned, were the greateft wonders at that time, lecms equally probable. Now, the name of thefe to this day is Becban el Melukc, the ports or gates of the kings, and hence, perhaps, -come the hundred gates of Thebes upon wluch the Greeks have dwelt fo much. Homer never faw Thebes, it was de-molifhed before the days of any profane writer, either in profe or verfe. What he added to its hiftory muft have been from imagination. 2 Art All that is faid of Thebes, by poets or hiflorians, after the days of Homer, is meant of Diofpolis; which was built by the Greeks long after Thebes was deftroycd, as its name teftifies; though Diodorus *fays it was built by Bufiris. It was on the eaR fide of the Nile, whereas ancient Thebes was on the weR, though both are confidcrcd as one city; and f Strabo fays, that the river f runs through the middle of Thebes, by which he means between old Thebes and Diofpolis, or Luxor and Mcdinet Tabu. While in the boat, I could not help regretting the time I had fpent in the morning, in looking for the place in the narrow valley where the mark of the famous golden circle was vifible, which Nordcn fays he faw, but I could difcern no traces of it any where, and indeed it docs not follow that the mark left was that of a circle. This magnificent inftrument was probably fixed perpendicular to the horizon in the plane of the meridian; fo that the appearance of the place where it flood, would very probably not partake of the circular form at all, or any prccife fhapc whereby to know it. Befides, as I have before faid, it was not among thefe tombs or excavated mountains, but ten ftades from them, fo the veftiges of this famous inftrument § could not be found here. Indeed, being omitted in the latcft edition of Nordcn, it would feem that traveller himfelf was not perfectly well allured of its exiftence. Vol. I. S We * Oiod. Sic. Bib. lib. i. p. 42. §d. f Strabo, lib. 1 7. p. 943. f Nah. ch. 3. ver. 8, & 9. § A fimilar inftrument, creeled by Eratolllicnes at Alexandria, cut of copper, was ufed by Hipparchus and Ptolemy.—Aim. lib. i. cap. if. 3- cap. 2. Vide his remarks on Mr Greave's P) ramidographia, p. 134. We were well received by the governor of Luxor, who* was alio a believer in judicial aftrology. Having made him a fmall prefent, he furnifhed us with provifions, and, among feveral other articles, fome brown fugar; and as we had feen limes and lemons in great perfection at Thebes, wc were refolved to refrefh ourfelves with fome punch, in remembrance of Old England. But, after what had happened the night before, none of ourpeople chofe to run the rilk of meeting the Troglodytes. Wc therefore procured a fervant of the governor s of the town, to mount upon his goat- ' fkin filled with wind, and float down the ftream from Luxor to El Gournie, to bring us a fupply of thefe, which he foon after did. He informed us, that the people in the caves had, early in the morning, made a defcent upon the townfmen, with a view to plunder our boat;. that feveral of them had been wounded the night before, and they threatened to purfuc us to Syenc. The fervant did all he could to frighten them,, ' by faying that his mailer's intention was to pafs over with troops, and exterminate them, as Ofman Bey of Girge had before done, and we were to affift him with our fire-arms.— After this we heard no more of them. Luxor, and Carnac, which is a mile and a quarter below it, are by far the largeft and moft magnificent fcenes of ruins in Egypt, much more cxtciuive and ftupendous than thofe of Thebes and Dendera put together. There arc two obelifks here of great beauty, and in good prefervation, they are lefs than thofe at Rome, but not at all mutilated. The pavement, which is made to receive die the. fhadow, is to this day fo horizontal, that it might Rill be ufed in obfcrvation. The top of the obelifk is femicircu-lar, an experiment, I fuppofe, made at the inftance of the obferver, by varying the lhape of the point of the obelifk, to get rid of the penumbra. At Carnac we faw the remains of two vaft rows of fphinxes, one on the right-hand, the other on the left, (their heads were rncftly broken) and, a little lower, a number of termini as it fliould feem. They were compofed of bafaltes, with a dog or lion's head, of Egyptian fculpture. They Rood in lines likewife, as if to condud or ferve as an avenue to fome principal building. They had been covered with earth, till very lately a * Venetian phylician and antiquary bought one of them at a very confiderable price, as he faid, for the king of Sardinia. This has caufed feveral others to be uncovered, though no jpurchafer hath yet offered. Upon the outflde of the walls at Carnac and Luxor there feems to be an hiftorical engraving inilead of hieroglyphics; this we had not met with before. It is a reprefentation of men, horfes, chariots, and battles; fome of the attitudes are freely and well drawn, they are rudely fcratched upon the furfacc of the Rone, as fome of the hieroglyphics at Thebes are. The weapons the men make ufe of are fhort javelins, fuch as are common at this day among the inhabitants of S 2 Egypt, * Signior Donati, Egvpt, only they have feathered wings like arrows. There is alfo diftinguifhed among the reft, the figure of a man on horfeback, with a lion fighting furioufly by him, and Dio-dorus * fays, Ofimandyas was fo reprefented at Thebes. This, whole compofition merits great attention. I have faid, that Luxor is Diofpolis, and fliould think, that that place, and Carnac together, made thejovis Civitas Magna of Ptolemy, though there is a phyfician, feeking no harm, but doing good ; bound by a vow, for a certain time, to wander through deferts, from fear of God, and that they fliould not have it in their power to do mc harm. The old man muttered fome thing to his fons in a dialect I did not then underRand ; it was that of the Shepherds of Suakcm. As that was the firR word he fpoke, which I did not comprehend, I took no notice, but mixed fome lime-water in a large Venetian bottle that was given me when at Cairo full of liqueur, and which would hold about four quarts; and a little after I had done this the whole hut was filled with people. There were priefti and monks of their religion, and the heads of families, fo that the houfe 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 themfelvcs, and their children, accurfed, if ever they lifted their hands againR me in the Tell, or Field in the defert% or on the river; or, in cafe that I, or mine fliould fly to * t; is kind of oath was rn uf: amo^ the Arabs, or Shepherds, early as the time of Abrahaiv, Gen, XXI. 22, 23. XXti. 2?. to them for refuge, if they did not protect us at the rifk of their lives, their families, and their fortunes, or, as they emphatically expreffed it, to the death of the lail male child among them. Medicines and advice being given on my part, faith and protection pledged on theirs, two bufliels of wheat and feven fhecp were carried down to the boat, nor could, wc decline their kindnefs, as refufinga prefent in that country (however it is underftood in ours,) is juft as great an affront, as coming into the prefence of a fuperior without a prefent at all. I told them, however, that I was going up among Turks who were obliged to maintain mc, the confequence therefore will be, to fave their own, that they will take your fheep, and make my dinner of them ; you and I are Arabs, and know what Turks are. They all muttered curfes between their teeth at the name of Turk, and we agreed they fliould keep the fheep till I came back, provided they fliould be then at liberty to add as many more. This was all underftood between us, and we parted perfectly content with one another. But our Rais was very far from being fatisfied, having heard fomething of the feven fheep ; and as we were to be next day at Syene, where he knew we were to get meat enough, he reckoned that they would have been his property. To flifle all caufc of difcontent, however, I told him he was to take no notice of my viiit to Shekh Ammer, and that I would make him a-mends when I returned, CHAP. CHAP. VIL Arrives at Syene—Goes to fee the Cataracl—Remarkable Tombs—-the fituation of Syene—The Aga propofes a Vift to Dcir and Ibrim—The Author returns to Kenne, WE failed on the 20th, with the wind favouring us, till about an hour before fun-rife, and about nine o'clock came to an anchor on the fouth end of the palm groves, and north end of the town of Syene, nearly oppofite to an ifland in which there is a fmall hand fome Egyptian temple, pretty entire. It is the temple of * Cnuphis, where formerly was the Nilometer. Adjoining to the palm trees was a very good comfortable houfe, belonging to Huffein Schourbatchie, the man that ufed to be fent from that place to Cairo, to receive the pay of the janiffaries in garrifon at Syene, upon whom too I had credit for a very fmall fum. The reafons of a credit in fuch a place are three: FirR, in cafe of ficknefs, or purchafe of any antiquities : Secondly, that you give the people an idea (a very ufeful one) that you carry no money about with you: Thirdly, that your money * Strabo, lib. xvii. p. 944. money changes its value, and is not even current beyond Efne', Hussein was not at home, but was gone fomewherc upon bufmefs, but I had hopes to find him in the courfe of the day. Hofpitality is never refufed, in thefe countries, upon the flightcit pretence. Having therefore letters to him, and hearing his houfe was empty, we fent our people and baggage to it. I was not well arrived before a janiffary came, in long Tur-kifh cloaths, without arms, and a white wand in his hand, to tell me that Syene was a garrifon town, and that the Aga was at the caltle ready to give me audience, I returned him for anfwer, that I was very fcnfible it was my firR duty, as a flranger,to wait upon the Aga in agarrifoned town of which he had the command, but, being bearer of the Grand Signior s Firman, having letters from the bey of Cairo, and from the Port of Janiffaries to him in particular, and, at prefent being indifpofed and fatigued, I hoped he would indulge me till the arrival of my landlord; in which interim I fhould take a little rell, change my cloaths, and he more in the fituation in which I would wifh to pay my re-fpect-s to him. I received immediately an anfwer by two janiffaries, who-infilled to fee me, and were accordingly introduced while I was lying down to reft. They faid that Mahomet Aga had. received my menage, that the reafon of fending to me was. not not either to hurry or difturb me; but the earlier to know in what he could be of fervice to me; that he had«particular Liter from the Bey of Cairo, in confequence of which, he had difpatched orders to receive me at Efne, but as I had not waited on the CachcfF there, he had not been apprifed. Atter giving coffee to thefe very civil melTengcrs, and taking two hours reft, our landlord the Schourbatchie arrived ; and, about four o'clock in the afternoon, wc went to the Aga. The fort is built of clay, with fome fmall guns mounted on it; it is of flrength fuflicient to keep people of the country in awe. I found the Aga fitting in a fmall kioofk, or clofet, upon a Rone-bench covered with carpets. As I was in no fear of him, I was refolved to walk according to my privileges; and, as the mcaneft Turk would do before the greateft man in England, I fat down upon a cufhion below him, after laying my hand on my brcaft, and faying in an audible voice, with great marks of refpect, however, Sahim alicuml to which he anfwered, without any of the ufual difficulty, Alicumfalaw! Peace be between us is the falutation ; There is peace between us is the return. Aeter fitting down about two minutes, I again got up, and Rood in the middle of the room before him, faying, I am bearer of ahatefherriffe, or royal mandate, to you, Mahomet Aga ! and took the firman out of my bofom, and preiented it to him. Upon this he flood upright, and all the reft of the people, before fitting with him likewife; he bowed his head 4 upon upon the carpet, then put the firman to his forehead, opened it, and pretended to read it; but he knew well the contents, and I believe, befides, he could neither read nor write any language. I then gave him the other letters from Cairo, which he ordered his fecretary to read in his car. All this ceremony being fmifhed, he called for a pipe, and coffee. I refufed the firft, as never tiling it; but I drank a dim of coffee, and told him, that I was bearer of a confidential meffage from Ali Bey of Cairo, and wifhed to deliver it to him without witneflcs, whenever he plcafcd. The room was accordingly cleared without delay, excepting his fecretary, who was alfo going away, when I pulled him back by the cloaths, faying, " Stay, if you pleafe, we fhall need you " to write the anfwer." We were no fooncr left alone, than I told the Aga, that, being a ilrangcr, and not knowing the difpofition of his people, or what footing they were on together, and being defired to addrefs myfelf only to him by the Bey, and our mutual friends at Cairo, 1 wifhed to put it in his power (as he pleated or not) to have witneffes of delivering the fmall prefent I had brought him from Cairo. The Aga feemed veryfcnfible of this delicacy; and particularly defired me to take no notice to my landlord, the Schour-batchic, of any thing 1 had brought him. All this being over, and a confidence eflabliflied with government, I fent his prefent by his own fervant that night, under pretence of defiring horfes to go to the cataract next day. 'Ihe meffage wras returned, that the horfes were to be ready by fix o'clock next morning. On the a ill, the Aga fent me His own horfe, with mules and affes for my fen ants, to go to the cataract. Vol. I. U We We paRed out at the fouth gate of the town, into the firR fmall fandy plain, Avery little to our left, there are a number of tomb-Rones with infcriptions in the Cufic character, which travellers erroneouily have called unknown language, and letters, although it was the only letter and language known to Mahomet, and the moR learned of his feet in the firR ages. The Cufic characters feem to be all written in capitals, which one might learn to read much more eafily than the modern Arabic, and they more refemble the Samaritan. We read there—Abdullah el Hejazi el Anfari—Mahomet Ab-del Shems clTaiefy el Anfari. The firft of thefe, Abdullah el Hejazi, is Abdullah born in Arabia Petrea. The other is, Mahomet the Have of the fun, born in Taief. Now, both of thefe are called Jn/ari, which many writer®, upon Arabian hiftory, think, means, born in Medina; becaufe, when Mahomet fled from Mecca, the night of the hegira, the people of Medina received him willingly, and thenceforward got the name of * Anfari, or Helpers. But this honourable name was extended afterwards to all thofe who fought under Mahomet in his wars, and after, even to thofe who had been: born in his lifetime. These of whole tombs we arc now fpcaking, were of the army of Haled Ibn el Waalid, whom Mahomet named, Saif Ullah,the ' Sword of God,' and who, in the califat of Omar, took and deftroyed Syene, after loling great part of his army before * This word, improperly ufed and fpelled by M. de Volney, lias nothing to do vvkli. thefe Anfaris, before it. It was afterwards rebuilt by the Shepherds of Bcja, then ChriRians, and again taken in the time of Salidan, and, with the reft of Egypt, ever jlncc hath belonged to Cairo. It was conquered by, or rather furrendcred to, Selim Emperor of the Turks, in 1516, who planted two advanced pofts (Deir and Ibrim) beyond the cataract in Nubia, with fmall garri-fons of janilfaries likewife, where they continue to this day. Their pay is ifTued from Cairo; fometimes they marry each others daughters, rarely marry the women of the country, and the fon, or nephew, or neareft relation of each de-ceafed, fucceeds as janiffary in room of his father. They have loft their native language, and have indeed nothing of the Turk in them, but a propenfity to violence, rapine, and injuftice ; to which they have joined the perfidy of the Arab, which, as I have faid, they fometimes inherit from their mother. An Aga commands thefe troops in the caftlc. They have about two hundred horfemen armed with firelocks ; with which, by the help of the Ababde, encamped at Shekh Ammer, they keep the Bifhareen, and all thefe numerous tribes of Arabs, that inhabit the Defert of Scnnaar, in tolerable order. The inhabitants, merchants, and common people of the town, are commanded by a cachelf. There is neither hutter nor milk at Syene (the latter comes from Lower Egypt) the fame may be faid of fowls. Dates do not ripen at Syene, thofe that are fold at Cairo come from Ibrim and Dongola. There are good iilh in the Nile, and they are ealily caught, efpecially at the cataract, or in broken water ; there arc only two kinds of large ones which I have happened to fee, the U 2 binny binny and the boulti. The binny I have defcribed in its proper place. After palling the tomb-Rones without the gate, we come to a plain about live miles long, bordered on the left by a hill of no confiderable height, and fandy like the plain, upon which are feen fome ruins, more modern than thoic Egyptian buildings wc have defcribed. They feem indeed to be a mixture of all kinds and ages, The diflance from the gate of the town to Termini, or Marada, the fin all villages on the cataract, is exactly fix Englifh miles. After the defcription already given of this cataract in fome authors, a traveller has reafon to be fur-prifed, when arrived on its banks, to find that vellels fail up the cataract, and confequcntly the fall cannot be fo violent as to deprive people of their hearing * The bed of the river, occupied by the water, was not then half a mile broad, it is divided into a number of fmall channels, by large blocks of granite, from thirty to forty feet high. The current, confined for a long courfe between the rocky mountains of Nubia, tries to expand itfelf with great violence. Finding, in every part before it, oppofition from the rocks of granite, and forced back by thefe, it meets the oppofite currents. The chafing of the water againR thefe huge obflacles, the meeting of the contrary currents one with another, creates fuch a violent ebullition, and makes' * Cicero de Somuio Scipronis. At, THE SOURCE OF THE NT I L E. ir57 makes fuch a noife and difturbed appearance, that. ii. fflta the mind with confufion rather than with terror. We faw the miferable Kcnnoufs (who inhabit the banks of the river up mto Nubia, to above the ■ fecond cataract) to procure their daily food, lying behind rocks* with lines in their hands, and catching fifh ; they did not feem to be either dexterous or fuccefsful in the fport. They are not black, but of the darkeft brown ; are not woolly-headed, but have hair. They arc fmall, light, agile people, and feem to be more than half-llarvcd. 1 made a lign that I wanted to fpeak with one of them ; but feeing me furrounded with a number of horfe and fire-arms, they did not choofe to truR themfelvcs. 1 left my people behind with my firelock, and went alone to fee if 1 could engage them in a convcrfation. At firR they walked off; finding 1. perfiRcd in following them, they ran at full fpeed, and hid themfelves among the rocks. Pliny* fays, that, in his time, the city of Syene was fitu> ated fo directly under the tropic of Cancer, that there was a well, into which the fun fhone fo perpendicular, that it was enlightened by its rays down to the bottom. Strabo f had faid the fame. The ignorance, or negligence, in the Geodefique meafure in this obfervation, is extraordinary ; Egypt had been meafured yearly, from early ages, and the diftance between Syene and Alexandria fliould have been known to an ell. From this inaccuracy, I do very much fufpecl the other meafure Eratolllicnes is faid to have nude, by which he fixed the fun's parallax at io feconds and a v. i. u half, * Pliny, lib. ii. cap. 73. f Strabo, lib. xvii. p. 944, half, was not really made by him, but was fome old Chal-daic, or Egyptian obfervation, made by more inRructed aRro-nomers which he had fallen upon. The Arabs call it AlTouan, which they fay fignifies enlightened; in allufion,I fuppofe, to the circumRance of the well, enlightened within by the fun's being Rationary over it in Tune; in the language of Beja its name fignifies a circle, or portion of a circle. Syene, among other things, is famous for the firR attempt made by Greek aRronomers to afcertain the meafure of the circumference of the earth. Eratoflhenes, born at Cyrene a-bout 276 years before ChriR, was invited from Athens to A-lexandria by Ptolemy Evergetes, who made him keeper of the Royal Library in that city. In this experiment two portions were aflumed, that Alexandria and Syene were exactly 5000 Rades diftant from each other, and that they were prccifcly under the fame meridian. Again, it was verified by the experiment of the well, that, in the fummer folftice at mid-day, when the fun was in the tropic of Cancer, in its greateft northern declination, the well* at that inRant was totally and equally illuminated ; and that no Ryle, or gnomon, erected on a perfect: plane, did caR, or project, any manner of lhadow for 150 Rades round, from which it was juftly concluded, that the fun, on that day, was fo exactly vertical to Syene, that the center of its difk immediately corresponded to the center of the bottom of the well. Thefe preliminaries being fixed, Eratofthcnes fet about his obfervation thus:— On * Strabo, lib. ii. p. 133, On the day of the fummer folftice, at the moment the fun was ftationary in the meridian of Syene, he placed a llylc perpendicularly in the bottom of a half- concave fphere, which he expofed in open air to the fun at Alexandria. Now, if that Ryle had eaft no made at Alexandria, it would have been precifely in the fame circumftancc with a ftyle in the well in Syene; and the reafon of its not calling the fhade would have been, that the fun was directly vertical to it. But he found, on the contrary, this ftyle at Alexandria did call afhadow; and by meafuring the diftance of the top of this fhadow from the foot of the ftyle, he found, that, when the fun call no Ihadow at Syene, by being in the zenith, at Alexandria he projected a fhadow; which fhewed he was diftant from the vertical point, or zenith, 7 j °r=7° 12', which was 1 oth of the circumference of the whole heavens, or of a great circle... Tins being fettled, the conclufion was, that Alexandria and Syene muft be diftant from each other by the 50th part of the circumference of the whole earth. Now 5000 Rades was the diftance already afTumed between Alexandria and the well of Syene ; and all that was to be done was to repeat 5000 ftades fifty.times, or multiply 5000 ftades by 50, and the anfwer was 250,000 ftades, which was the total of the earth's circumference. This, admitting the French contents of the Egyptian Radium to be juft, will amount to 11,403 leagues for the circumference of the earth (ought; and as our prefent account fixes it to be 9000, the error will be 2403 leagues m excefs, or more than one-fourth of the whole fum required. This Tins obfervation furely therefore is not worth recording, unlefs to fhew the infuRicicncy or imperfection of the method ; it cannot deferve the encomiums * that have been bellowed upon it, if judice has been done to Eratoft Irenes* geodcfiquc meafures, which I do not, by any manner of means, warrant to be the cafe, becaufe the meafure of his arch of the meridian feems to have been conducted with a much greater degree of fuccefs and prcciiion than that of his bafe. On the 22d, 23d, and 24th of January, being at Syene, in a houfe immediately eaR of the fmall ifland in the Nile (where the temple of Cmiphis is Rill ftanding,vcry little injured, and which f Strabo, who was himfelf there, fays was in the ancient town, and near the well built for the obfervation of the folftice) with a three-foot brafs quadrant, made by Lang-lois, and defcribed by ;|; Monfieur de la Lande, by a mean of three obfervations of the fun in the meridian, I concluded the latitude of Syene to be 24° o' 45" north. And, as the latitude of Alexandria, by a medium of many obfervations made by the French academicians, and more recently by Mr Niebuhr and myfelf, is beyond poftibility of contradiction 31° n; 33", the arch of the meridian contained between Syene and Alexandria, muft be 70 io^S", or 1' 12" lefs than Eratolllicnes made it. And this is a wonderful precifion, if wc confider the imperfection of his inftrument, in the probable fhortnefs of his radius, and difficulty (almofl * Speclacle de la Nature, f Strabo, Ub. 17. p. 944. J I/hiftoire d'uftronomie, de M. dc la Lande, vol. 1. lib. 2. (almoR infurmountable) in diflinguifliing the divifion of the penumbra. There certainly is one error very apparent, in meafuring the bafe betwixt Syene and Alexandria ; that is, they were not (as fuppofed) under the fame meridian; for though, to my very great concern afterwards, I had no opportunity of fixing the longitude at this firR vifit to Syene, as I had done the latitude, yet on my return, in the year 1772, from an eclipfe of the firR fatellite of Jupiter, I found its longitude to be 330 30'; and the longitude of Alexandria, being 300 16' 7", there is 3° 14' that Syene is to the eaitward of the meridian of Alexandria, or fo far from their being under the fame meridian as fuppofed, It is impoffible to fix the time of the building of Syene ; upon the moR critical examination of its hieroglyphics and proportions, I lhould imagine it to have been founded fome time after Thebes, but before Dendera, Luxor, or Carnac. It would be no lefs curious to know, whether the well, which Eratofthenes made ufe of for one of the terms of the geodefique bafe, and his arch of rhe meridian, between Alexandria and Syene, wras coeval with the building of that city, or whether it was made for the experiment. I ihould be inclined to think the former was the cafe ; and the placing this city firft, then the well under the tropic, wrcre with a view of afcertaining the length of the folar year. In fhort, this point, fo material to be fettled, was the conftant object of attention of the firft aftronomers, and this was the ufe of the dial of Ofimandyas; this inquiry was the occafion of the number of obelifks raifed in every ancient city in Egypt. Vol. L X Wc We cannot miftake this, if we obfcrve how anxioully they have varied the figure of the top, or point of each obelifk; fometimes it is a very fharp one; fometimes a portion of a circle, to try to get rid of the great impediment that perplexed them, the penumbra. The projection of the pavements, conRantly to the northward, fo diligently levelled, and made into exact planes by-large flabs of granite, moR artificially joined, have been fo fubilantially fecured, that they might ferve for the obfervation to this day; and it is probable, the pofition of this city and the well were coeval, the remit, of■■'intention, and both the works of thefe firft aftronomers, immediately after the building of Thebes. If this was the cafe, we may conclude, that the fact of the fun illuminating the bottom of the well in Eratofthcnes's time was a fuppofed one, from the uniform tradition, that once it had been fo, the periodical change of the quantity of the angle, made by. the equator and ecliptic, not being then known, and therefore that the quantity of the ecleiiial arch, comprehended between Alexandria and Syene, might be as erroneous from another caufe, as the bafe hud been by afluming a wrong diftance on the earth, in place of one exactly meafured. There is at Axum an obelifk erected by Ptolemy Everge-tes, the very prince who was patron to Eratofthencs, without hieroglyphics, directly facing the fouth, with its top firft cut into a narrow neck, then fpread out like a fan in a femicircular form, with a pavement curioufly levelled to receive the made, and make the Reparation of the true fhadow from the penumbra as diftinct as poflible. This This was probably intended for verifying the experiment of Erato ithenes with a larger radius, for, by this obelifk, we niuft not imagine Ptolemy intended to obferve the obliquity of the ecliptic at Axum. Though it was true, that Axum, by its fituation, was a very proper place, the fun pafting over that city and obelifk twice a-year, yet it was equally true, that, from another circumllance, which he might have been acquainted with, at lefs expence of time than building the obeli Ik would have cofl him, that he himfelf could not make any ufe of the fun's being twice vertical to Axum ; for the fun is vertical at Axum about the 25th of April, and again about the 20th of AuguR ; and, at both thefe feafons, the heaven is fo ovcrcaR with clouds, and the rain fo continual, efpecially at mid-day, that it would be a wonder indeed, if Ptolemy had once feen the fun •during the months he Raid there. Though Syene, by its fituation mould be healthy, the general complaint is a weaknefs and forenefs in the eyes ; and this not a temporary one only, but generally ending in blindnefs of one, or both eyes ; you fcarce ever fee a pcrfon in the ftrcct that fees with both eyes. They fay it is owing to the hot wind from the defert ; and this I apprehend to be true, by the violent forenefs and inflammation we were troubled with in our return home, through the great Defert, to Syene. We had now fmifhed every thing we had to do at Syene, and prepared to defcend the Nile. After having been quiet* and well ufed fo long, we did not expecl any altercation at parting; we thought wc had contented every body, and wc were perfectly content with them. But, unluckily for us, X 2 our our landlord, the Schourbatchie, upon whom I had my credit, and who had difiinguifhed himfelf by being very fer-viceablc and obliging to us,, happened to be the proprietor of a boat, for which, at that time, he had little employment; nothing would fatisfy him but my hiring that boat, in-Read of returning in that which brought us up* This could by no means be done, without breaking faith with our Rais, Abou Cum, which I was refolved not to do on any account whatever, as the man had behaved honeRly and well in every refpect. The janifTaries took the part of their brother againR the Rranger, and threatened to cut Abou Cufli to pieces, and throw him to the crocodiles. On the other part, he was very far from being terrified. He told them roundly, that he was a fervant of Ali Bey, that, if they attempted to take his fare from him, their pay lhould be Hopped at Cairo, till they furrendered the guilty perfon to do him juftice. He laughed moR unaffectedly atr the notion of cutting him to pieces ; and declared, that, if lie was to complain of the ufage he met when he went down CO* Lower Egypt, there would not be a janiifary from Syene who would not be in much greater danger of croeodiles than he. I went in the evening to the Aga, and complained of my landlord's behaviour. I told him pofitivcly, but with great lhew of refpect, I would rather go down the Nile upon a raft, than fet my foot in any other boat but the one that brought me up. I begged him to be cautious how he proceeded, as it would be my fcry, and not hisy that would go to to the Bey. This grave and rcfolute appearance had the effect-. The Schourbatchie was fent for, and reprimanded, as were all thofe that fided with him; while privately, to calm all animofities againR my Rais, I promifed him a piece of green cloth, which was his wifh; and fo heartily were we reconciled, that, the next day, he made his fervants help Abou Cuffi to put our haggage on board the boat. The Aga hinted to me, in conversation, that he wondered at my departure, as he heard my intention was to go to Ibrim and Deir. I told him, thofe garrifons had a bad name; that a Danifli gentleman, fome years ago, going up thither, with orders from the government of Cairo,, was plundered, and very nearly aflafiinated, by Ibrahim, CachefF of Deir. He looked furprifed, fhook his head, and feemed not to give me credit; but I perfified, in the terms of Mr Norden's * Narrative ; and told him, the brother of the Aga of Syene was along with him at the time. "Will any perfon, faid'he, tell me, that a man who is in my hands once a month, who has not an ounce of bread but what I furnifh- him from this garrifon, and whofc pay would be ftopt (as your Rais truly faid) on the firR complaint tranfmitted to Cairo, could af-faflinate a man with Ali Bey's orders, and my brother along with him ? Why, what do you think he is ? I fliall fend a fervant to the CachefF of Deir to-morrow, who lhall bring him down by the beard, if he refufes to come willingly." I faid,. ** Then times were very much changed for the better ; it was not always fo, there was not always at Cairo a fovcreign like * Vide Mr Norden's Voyage up the Nile. like Ali Bey, nor at Syene a man of his prudence, and capacity in commanding; but having no bufinefs at Deir and Ibrim, I lhould not rilk finding them in another h 1-mour, exercifing other powers than thofe he allowed theta to have." The 26th we embarked at the north end of the town, in the very fpot where I again took boat above three years afterwards. Wc now no longer enjoyed the advantage of our prodigious main-fail; not only our yards were lowered, but our malts were taken out; and we floated down the current, making the figure of a wreck. The current, pufh-ing againfl one of our fides, the wind directly contrary, prefling us on the other, we went down broad fide foremof; but fo Readily, as fcarce to be fcnfible the veffel was in motion. In the evening I ftopt at Shekh Ammer, and faw my patient Nimmer, Shekh of the Ababde. I found him greatly better, and as thankful as ever; I renewed my prescriptions, and he his oflers of fervice. I was vifitcd, however, with a pretty fmart degree of fever by hunting crocodiles on the Nile as I went down, without any pofiibility of getting near them. On the 31R of January wc arrived at Negadc, the fourth iettlementof the francifcan friars in Upper Egypt,for the pretended million of Ethiopia. I found it to be in lat. 25° 53' 3°". It is a fmall neat village, covered with palm-trees, and mofily inhabited by Cophts,none of whom the friars have yet converted, nor ever will, unlcls by ftnali penlions, pennons, which they give to the pooreR of them, to be decoy-ducks to the reft. Opposite to Negade, on the other fide of the river about three miles, is Cus, a large town, the Appollonis Civitas Parva of the ancients. There are no antiquities at this place; but the caravan, which was to carry the corn for Mecca, acrofs the defert to Cofleir, was to affemble there. I found they were not near ready ; and that the Arabs Atouni had threatened they would be in their way, and would not fuf-fer them to pafs, at any rate, and that the guard commanded to cfcort them acrofs the defert, would come from Fur--fliout, and therefore I lhould have early warning, It was the 2d of February I returned to Badjoura, and took up my quarters in the houfe formerly afligned me,, greatly to the joy of Shekh Ifmael, who, though he was in the main reconciled to his friend, friar Chriftopher,. had not yet forgot the wounding of the five men by his mifcalculating rarnadan ; and was not without fears that the fame inadvertence might, fome day or other, be fatal to > him, in his pleurify and afthma, or, what is ftill more likely, by the operation of the tahange. As I was now about to launch inro that part of my expedition, in which I was to have no further intercoufc with Europe I fet myfelf to work to examine all my obfervations, and put my journal in fuch forwardnefs by explanations, where needful, that the labours and pains I had hitherto been at, might not be totally loft to the public, if I lhould perilh in the journey I had undertaken, which, every day,, 2~ from from all information I could procure, appeared to be more and more defpcrate. Having fmifhed thefe, at IcaR fo far as to make them intelligible to others, I conveyed them to my friends MefTrs Julian and Rofa at Cairo, to remain in their cuRody till I lhould return, or news come that I was otherwife difpofed of, *B5 CHAP. CHAP. VIII. The Author fcts out from Kenne—Croffes the Defert of the Thebaid—Py* fits the Marble Mountains—Arrives at Offeiry on the Red Sea— TranfacTions there. IT was Thurfday, die 16th of February 1769, we heard the caravan was ready to fet out from Kenne, the Came Emporium of antiquity. From Kenne our road was firR EaR, [for half an hour, to the foot of the hills, which here bound the cultivated land; then S. E. when, at 11 o'clock in the forenoon, We paffed a very dirty fmall village called SherafTa. All the way from Kenne, clofe on our left, were defert hills, on which not the IcaR verdure grew, but a few plants of a large fpecics of Solanum, called Burrumbuc. At half pad two we came to a well, called Bir Ambar, the well of fpiccs, and a dirty village of the fame name, belong- . ing to the A/aizy, a poor inconfiderable tribe of Arabs, They live tyy letting out their cattle for hire to the caravans that go to Coheir, and attending themfclvcs, when neceflary. It got its name, I fuppofe, from its having formerly been a Ration of the caravans from the Red Sea, loaded with this kind of merchandife from India. The houfes of the Azaizy arc of a very particular conRfuction, if they can be called Vol. L V houfes, houfes. They are all made of potter-clay, in one piece, in ihape of a bee-hive; the largeR is not above ten feet high, and the greateR diameter fix. There are no veRiges here of any canal, mentioned to have been cut between the Nile and the Red Sea. The cultivated land here is not above half a mile in extent from the river, but the inundation of the Nile reaches much higher, nor has it left behind it any appearance of foil. After paiTing Bir Ambar, we pitched our tent about four o'clock at Gabba*, a fhort mile from Cuft, on the borders of the defert—here we palled the night. On the 17th, at eight o'clock in the morning, having mounted my fervants all on horfeback, and taken the charge of our own camels, (for there was a confufion in our caravan not to be defcribed, and our guards we knew were but a fet of thieves) we advanced flowly into the defert. There were about two hundred men on horfeback, armed with firelocks ; all. of them lions, if you believed their word or appearance ; but wc were credibly informed, that fifty of the Arabs, at firft fight,, would have made thefe heroes fly without, any bloodihed. I had not gone two miles before I was joined by the Howadat Arab, whom I had brought with me in the boat from Cairo. He offered me his fervice with great profef-iions of gratitude, and told me, that he hoped I would again take charge of his money, as I had before done from Cairo-It / ....... • ■ ■ — *■ h no town, but fame fand and a few buflies, fo called. It was now for the firR time he told me his name, which was Mahomet Abdel Gin, " the Slave of the Devil, or the " Spirit.1' There is a large tribe of that name, many of which come to Cairo from the kingdom of Sennaar ; but he had been born among the Howadat, oppofite to Mctrahenny, where I found him. Our road was all the way in an open plain, bounded by hillocks of fand, and fine gravel, perfectly hard, and not perceptibly above the level of the plain country of Egypt. About twelve miles diftant there is a ridge of mountains of no confiderable height, perhaps the moft barren in the world. Between thefe our road lay through plains, never three miles broad, but without trees, fhrubs, or herbs. There are not even the traces of any living creature, neither ferpcnt nor lizard, antelope nor oftrich, the ufual inhabitants of the moft dreary deferts. There is no fort of water on the fur-face, brackifh or fweet. Even the birds feem to avoid the place as peftilential, not having feen one of any kind fo much as flying over. The fun was burning hot, and, upon rubbing two flicks together, in half a minute they both took fire, and flamed ; a mark how near the country was reduced to a general conflagration! At half pad three, we pitched our tent near fome draw-wells, which, upon tailing, we found bitterer than foot. We had, indeed, other water carried by the camels in fkins. This well-water had only one needful quality, it was cold, and therefore very comfortable for refrefhing us outwardly. This unpleafant ftation is called Legeta; here we were obliged to pafs the night, and all next day, to wait the arrival Y 2 of of the "caravans of Cus, Efne, and part of thofe of Kcnnc*, and Ebanont. While at the wells of Legeta, my Arab, Abdel Gin, came to me witji his money, which had increafed now to nineteen feqnins and a half. "What! faid I, Mahomet,, are you never fafc among your countrymen, neither by fea nor land?" u Oh, no, replied Mahomet; the difference, when we were on board the boat, was, we had three thieves only ; but, when ajfcmbled here, wc lhall have above three thoufand.—But I have an advice to give you."—"And my ears," faid I, " Mahomet, are always open to advice, efpe-cially in ftrange countries."—" Thefe people," continued Mahomet, " are all afraid of the Atouni Arabs ; and, when attacked, they will run away, and leave you in the hands of thefe Atouni, who will carry off your baggage. Therefore, 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 affair, but go afidc, and let me manage. I will anfwer with my life, though all the caravan fliould be ftripped ftark-naked, and you loaded with gold, not one article belonging to you fliall be touched." I questioned him very particularly a-bout this intimation, as it was an affair of much confequence, and I was fo well fatislied, that I refblved to conform ftrictly to it.. In the evening came twenty Turks from Caramania, which is that part of Alia Minor immediately on the fide of the Mediterranean oppofite to the coaft of Egypt; all of them neatly and cleanly dreffed like Turks, all on camels, armed with fwords, a pair of piftols at their girdle, and a fhort neat gun; their arms were in very good order, with their flints and and ammunition Rowed in cartridge-boxes, in a very foldier-like manner. A few of thefe fpokc Arabic, and my Greek fervant, Michael, interpreted for the reft. Flaving been informed, that the large tent belonged to an Englifhman, they came into it without ceremony. They told me, that they were a number of neighbours and companions, who had fet out together to go to Mecca, to the Hadjc ; and not knowing the language, or cuftoms of the people, they had been but indifferently ufed fince they landed at Alexandria, particularly fomewhere (as I gueffed) about Achmim ; that one of the Owam, or fwimming thieves, had been on board of them-in the night, and had carried oil a fmall portmanteau with about 200 fcquins in gold; that, though a complaint had been made to the Bey of Girge, yet no fatisfaction had been obtained; and that now they had heard an Englifhman was here, whom they reckoned their countryman, they had come to propofe, that we lhould make a common caufe to defend each other againft all enemies.—What they meancd by am,-tryman was this :— There is in Afia Minor, fomewhere between Anatolia and Caramania, a diftricT which they call Caz Dagli, corruptly Caz Dangli, and this the Turks believe was the country from which the Englifh firft drew their origin ; and on this account they never fail to claim kindred with the lingliih wherever they meet, efpecially if they Rand in need of their alliftance.. I told them the arrangement I had taken with the A-rab. At firft, they thought it was too much confidence to place in him, but I convinced them, that it was greatly di-minifhing our rilk, and, let the worft come to the worft, v. L y 1 was.. •I was well fatisfied that, armed as we were, on foot, we were more than fufRcient to beat the Atouni, after they had defeated the clownifh caravan of Egypt, from whofe courage we certainly had nothing to expect. I cannot conceal the fecret pleafure I had in finding the character of my country fo firmly eftablifhed among nations fo diftant, enemies to our religion, and Rrangers to our government. Turks from Mount Taurus, and Arabs from the defert of Libya, thought themfelves unlafe among their own countrymen, but trullcd their lives and their little fortunes implicitly to the direction and word of an Englifhman whom they had never before feen. These Turks feemed to be above the middling rank of people; each of them had his little cloak bag very neatly packed up; and they gave me to underftand that there was money in it. Thefe they placed in my fervants tent, and chained them all together, round the middle pillar of it; for it was eafy to fee the Arabs of the caravan had thofe packages in view, from the firft moment of the Turk's arrival. We ftaid all the iSth at Legeta, waiting for the junction of the caravans, and departed the 19th at fix o'clock in the morning. Our journey, all that day, was through a plain, never lefs than a mile broad, and never broader than three; the hills, on our right and left, were higher than the former, and of a brownifh calcined colour, like the Rones on the fides of Mount Veluvius, but without any herb or tree ;upon them. % At At half paft ten, we palTed a mountain of green and red marble, and at twelve we entered a plain called Hamra, where we firR obferved the fand red, with a purple calf, of the colour of porphyry, and this is the fignification of FJam-ra, the name of the valley. Idifmounted here, to examine of what the rocks were compofed ; and found, with the greateft pleafure, that here began the quarries of porphyry, without the mixture of any other Rone ; but it was imperfect", brittle, and foft. I had not been engaged in this purfuit an hour, before we were alarmed with a report that the A-touni had attacked the rear of the caravan ; wc were at the head of it. The Turks and my fervants were all drawn together, at the foot of the mountain, and polled as advan-tageoufly as poflible. Rut it foon appeared that they were fome thieves only, who had attempted to fteal fome loads of corn from camels that were weak, or fallen lame, perhaps in intelligence with thofe of our own caravans. All the reft of the afternoon, wc faw mountains of a perfectly purple colour, all of them porphyry ; nor has Ptolemy f much erred in the pofition of them. About four o?clock, we pitched our tent at a place called Main el Mafa-rek. The colour of the valley El Hamra continued to this-Ration; and it was very lingular to obfervc, that the ants, or pifmires, the only living creatures I had yet obferved, were all of a beautiful red colour like the fand. The 20th, at fix oclock in the morning, we left Main el Mafarek, f Ptol. Alitiag. lib. 4. Goo^raplj. pag. ic.;. Mafarek, and, at ten, came to the month of the defiles. At eleven we began to defcend, having had a very imperceptible afcent from Kenne all the way. We were now indemnified for the famenefs of our natural productions yefterday; for, on each lide of the plain, we found different forts of marble, twelve kinds of which I felcctcd, and took with me. ■ At noon, we came to a plain planted with acacia-trees, at equal diftances; fingle trees spreading broader than ufual, as if on purpofe to proportion the refrefhment they gave to the number of travellers who Rood in need of it. This is a Ration of the Atouni Arabs after rain. From our leaving Legeta, we had no water that, nor the following day. On the right-hand fide of this plain wc found porphyry and granite, of very beautiful kinds. All the way, on both fides of the valley, this day, the mountains were of porphyry, and a very few of Rone. At a quarter pad four, we encamped at Koraim, a fmall plain, perfectly barren, confining of fine gravel, land, and Hones, with a few acacia-trees, intcrfperfed throughout. The 2iR,we departed early in the morning from Koraim, and, at ten o'clock, we pafled feveral defiles,perpetually alarmed by a report, that the Arabs were approaching; none of whom we ever law. We then proceeded through feveral defiles, into a long plain that turns to the call, then north-call, and north, fo as to make a portion of a circle. At the end of this plain we came to a mountain, the greateft cR part of which was of the marble, vcrdc antko, as it is Called in Rome, but by far the moR beautiful of the kind I had ever feen. Having pafTcd this, we had mountains on both fides of us, but particularly on our right. The only ones that I myfelf examined were of a kind of granite, with reddifh veins throughout, with triangular and fquare black fpots. Thefe mountains continued to Mefag el Terfowcy, where we encamped at twelve o'clock; we were obliged to bring our water from about five miles to the fouth-eaft. This water docs not appear to be from fprings, it lies in cavities and grottos in the rock, of which there arc twelve in number, whether hollowed by nature or art, or partly by both, is more than I can folvc. Great and abundant rains fall here in February. The clouds, breaking on the tops of thefe mountains, in their way to Abyflinia, fill thefe ciRcrns with large fupplies, which the impending rocks fecurc from evaporation. It was the firft frefh water wc tailed fmce wc left the Nile; and the only water of any kind fince we left Legeta. But fuch had been the foreiight of our caravan, that very few rcfortcd thither, having all laid in abundant Rore from the Nile ; and fome of them a quantity Sufficient to fcrve them till their return. This was not our cafe. We had water, it is true, from the Nile; but wc never thought we could have too much, as long as there wTas room in our watcr-fkins to hold more; I therefore went early with my camel-drivers, expecting to have feen fome antelopes, which every night come to drink from the well, haying no opportunity to do it throughout the day. Vol. I. Z I had I had not concealed myfelf half an hour, above a narrow path leading to the principal cave, before I faw, firR one antelope walking very ftatcly alone ; then four others, clofe-ly following him. Although I was wholly hid as long as I lay Rill, he feemed to have difcerned me from, the inRant that I faw him. I fliould have thought it had been the fmell that had discovered mc, had not I ufed the precaution of carrying a piece of burnt turf along with mc, and left one with my horfe likewife; perhaps it was this unufual fmell that terrified him. Whatever was the caufe, he advanced apparently in fear, and feemed to be trufted with the care of the flock, as the others teRified no apprehen-fion, but were rather fporting or fighting with each other. Still he advanced flower, and with greater caution ; but, being perfectly within reach, I did not think proper any longer to rifk the whole from a defire to acquire a greater number. I fliot him fojuftly, that, giving one leap five or fix. feet high, he fell dead upon his head. I fired at the others, retiring all in a croud; killed one likewife,and lamed another, who fled among the mountains, where darknefs protected him. Wc were perfectly content with our acquifi-tion, and the nature of the place did not prompt us to look after the wounded. We continued at the well to afftft our companions who came in want of water, a duty with which ncccllity binds us all to comply. We returned near midnight with our game and our water. Wc found our tents all lighted, which, at that time of night, was unufual. I thought, however, it was on account of my abfencc, and to guide me the furer home. We were however furprifed,whcn, coming within a moderate diftance of our tent, we heard the word called for; I anfwered immc- cUatcly, d lately, Charlotte; and, upon our arrival, wc perceived the Turks were parading round the tents in arms, and foon after our Howadat Arab came to us, and with him a mef-fenger from Sidi Halfan, defiring me to come inftantly to his tent, while my fervants advifed me firR to hear what they had to fay to me in mine* I soon, therefore, perceived that all was not well, and I returned my compliments to HafFan, adding, that, if he had any thing to fay to me fo late, he would do well to come, or fend, as it was paft my hour of vifiting in the defert, especially as I had not eat, and was tired with having the charge of the water. I gave orders to my fervants to put out all the extraordinary lights, as that feemed to be a mark of fear; but forbade any one to fleep, excepting thofe who had the charge of our beafts, and had been fetching the water. I found that, while our people had been afleep, two per* Tons had got into the tent and attempted to Ileal one of the portmanteaus; but, as they were chained together, and the tent-pole in the middle, the noife had awakened my fervants, who had feized one of the men; and that the Turks had intended inftantly to have difpatched him with their knives, and with great difficulty had been prevented by my fervants, according to my conflant orders, for I wiflicd to avoid all extremities, upon fuch occafions, when pofliblc. They had indeed leave to deal with their Hicks as freely as their prudence fuggefted to them; and they had gone, in this cafe, fully beyond the ordinary limits of djferction, efpccially Abdel Gin, who was the firft to fei/c the robber. In fhort, they had dealt fo liberally with their Ricks, that Z 2 the the thief was only known to be living by his groans, and they had thrown him at a fmall diftance, for any perfon to own him that pleafcd. It appeared, that he was a fervant of Sidi HaiTan, an Egyptian Have, or fervant to Shekh Hamam, who conducted or commanded the caravan, if there was any conducl or command in it. There were with me ten fervants, all completely armed, twenty-five Turks, who feemed worthy to be depended up. on, and four janiffaries, who had joined us from Cairo, fo that there were of us forty men perfectly armed, befides attendants on the cattle. As we had people with us who knew the wells, and alfo a friend who was acquainted with the Atouni, nothing, even in a defert, could rcafonably a-larm us. With great difficulty we pulled down an old acacia-trec^ and procured fome old-dried camels dung, with which we roaftcd our two antelopes : very ill-roafted they wrcre ; and execrable meat, though they had been ever fo well dreffed, and had had the beft fauce of Chriftcndom. However, we were in the defert, and every thing was acceptable. We had fome fpirits, which fmifhed our repaft that night: it was exceedingly cold, and we fat thick about the fire. Five men with firelocks, and a number of Arabs with lances, having come towards us, and being challenged by the centinel for not giving the word, were then defired to Hand, or they would be fired upon. They all cried out, SaLm yll'tcum ! and I intimated that any three of them might come forward, but defired them to keep away the Arabs. Three of them accordingly came, and then two more. They delivered delivered a menage from Sidi HafTan, that my people had killed a man; they defired that the murderer might be delivered to them, and that I lhould come to his tent, and fee juflice done. " 1 told them, that none of my people, however pro-" voked, would put a man to death in my abfence, unlefs " in defence of their own lives ; that, if I had been there, I " lhould certainly have ordered them to fire upon a thief f catched in the act, of Rcaling within my tent; but, fincc " he was dead, I was fatisfied as to him, only expected that " Sidi FlafTan would give me up his companion, who had " fled ; that, as it was near morning, I fliould meet him " when the caravan decamped, and hear what he had to fay " in his defence. In the mean time I forbade any pcrfon " to come near my tent, or quarters, on any pretence whatever, till-day light." Away they went murmuring, but what they faid I did not underRand. We heard no more of them, and none^of us flcpt. All of us, however, repeated our vows of fianding by each other; and we fincc found, that we had Rood in the way of a common practice, of ftrip-piiig thefe poor Rrangers, the Turks, who come every year this road to Mecca. At dawn of day, the caravan was all in motion. They had got intelligence, that two days before, about 300 Atouni had watered at Terfowey; and, indeed, there were marks, of great refort at the well, where we filled the water. We had agreed not to load one of our camels, but let tire caravan go on before us, and meet the Atouni firR ; that I only lhould go on horfeback, about two hundred yards into the plain from tjlg tent, and all the reft follow me on foot with arms in their hands.. I-lvs.3a.m Hassan, too, was mounted on horfeback, with about a hundred of his myrmidons, and a number of Arabs on foot. He fent me word that I was to advance, with only two fervants ; but I returned for anfwer, that I had no intention to advance at all; that if he had any bufinefs, he mould fay fo, and that I would meet him one to one, or three to fix, juft as he pleafed. He fent me again word, that he wanted to communicate the intelligence he had of the Atouni, to put me on my guard. I returned for anfwer, that I was already upon my guard, againR all thieves, and did not make any diftinction, if people were thieves thcmfelves, or encouraged others to be fo, or whether they were Atouni or Ababde. He then fent mc a meffage, that it was a cold morning, and wifhed I would give him a difh of coffee, and keep thofe Rrangers away. I therefore defired one of my fervants to bring the coffee-pot, and directing my people to fit down, I rode up to him, and difmounted, as he did alfo, when twenty or thirty of his vagabonds came, and fat down likewife. He faid he was exceedingly furprifed, after fending to me laft night, that I did not come to him ; that the whole camp was in murmur at beating the man, and that it was all that he could do to hinder his foldicrs from falling upon us, and extirpating us all at once ; that I did wrong to protect thofe Turks, who carried always money to Mecca for merchandife, and defrauded them of their dues. My fervant having juft poured out a dim of cofTee to give him, I faid, Stay, Sir, till we know whether wc are in peace. Sidi Haffan, if that is the way of levying dues upon the Turks, to fend thieves to rob them in my tent, you fliould advifc me firR of it, and then we fliould have fettled the bufinefs. With regard to your preventing people from murdering murdering me, it is a boaft fo ridiculous that I laugh at it. Thofe pale-faced fellows who are about you muffled up in burnoofes for fear of cold in the morning, are they capable to look janilfarics in the face like mine ? Speak lowly, and in Arabic, when you talk at this rate, or perhaps it will not be in my power to return you the compliment you did me laR night, or hinder them from killing you on the fpot. Were ever fuch words fpoken! faid a man behind; tell me, mailer, are you a king ? If Sidi Haflan, anfwered I, is your ma-Rer, and you fpeak to mc on this occafion, you are a wretch ; get out of my fight; I fwear I will not drink a difh of coffee while you are here, and will mount my horfe directly, I then rofe, and the fervant took back the cofFee-pot; upon which HafTan ordered his fervant out of his pre-fence, faying, " No, no; give me the coffee if we are in peace;'* and he drank it accordingly. Now, fays he, paR is paft; the Atouni are to meet us at the * mouth of Bcder; your people are better armed than mine, are Turks, and ufed to fighting. I would wifh you to go foremofl, and we will take charge of your camels, though my people have 4000 of their own, and they have enough to do to take charge of the corn.. ** And I," faid I, " if I wanted water or provifion, would go to meet the Atouni, who would ufe me well. Why, you don't know to whom you are fpeaking, nor that the Atouni are Arabs of Ali Bey, and that I am his man of confidence, going to the Sherriffe of Mecca? The Atouni will not hurt us ; but, as you fay, you are comaiander of the caravan, we have all' *The Arabs call thefe narrow pafles in the mountains Fum, as the Hebrews did Pi, the month. Fum el Bcder, is the mouth of Bcder; Fum el Teifowcy, the mouth or paffage of Ter-fowey > Piha Hhiroth, the mouth of the valley cut through with ravines. all fworn we will not fire a Riot, till wc fee you heartily engaged; and then we will do our beR to hinder the Arabs from Healing the Sherriffc of Mecca's corn, for bis fake only." They all cried out El Fedtahi El Fedtah! fo 1 faid the prayer of peace as a proxy; for none of the Turks would come near him. Oppo^tte to where we were encamped is Terfowcy, a large mountain, partly green-marble, partly granite, with a red blufh upon a grey ground, with fquare oblong fpots. About forty yards within the narrow valley, which fepa-ratcs this mountain from its neighbour, we faw a part of the f'uft or fhaft of a monRrous obeliik of marble, very nearly fquare, broken at the end, and towards the top. It was nearly thirty feet long, and nineteen feet .in the face; about two feet of the bottom were perfectly infulated, and one whole fide feparatcd from the mountain. The gully had been widened and levelled, and the road made quite up to underneath the block. We faw likewife, throughout the plain, fmall pieces of jafper, having green, white, and red fpots, called in Italy, " Diafpo Sanguinco." All the mountains on both fides of the plain feemed to be of the fame fort, whether they really were fo or not, I will not fay, having had no time to examine them. The 22d, at half paR one in the morning, we fet out full of terror about the Atouni. Wc continued in a direction nearly eaR, till at three we came to the defiles ; but it was fo dark, that it was impofliblc to difcern of what the country on each fide confifted. At day-break, wc found our- felvcs THE SOURCE OF TFIE NILE. tss fHves at the bottom of a mountain of granite, bare like the former. We faw quantities of fmall pieces of various forts of granite, and porphyry fcattered over the plain, which had been carried down by a torrent, probably from quarries of ancient ages; thefe were white, mixed with black fpots ; red, with green veins, and black fpots. After this, all the mountains on the right hand were of red marble in prodigious abundance, but of no great beauty. They continued, as the granite did, for feveral miles along the road, while the oppofite fide was all of dead-grccn, fuppofed fcrpentine marble. It was one of the moft extraordinary fights I ever faw. The former mountains were of confiderable height, without a tree, or Ihrub, or blade of grafs upon them ; but thefe now before us had all the appearance, the one of having been fprinklcd over with Havannah, the other with Brazil fnuff. I wondered, that, as the red is ncareft the fea, and the fhips going down the Abyflinian coaft obferve this appearance within lat. 260, writers have not imagined this was called the Red Sea upon that account, rather than for the many weak reafons they have relied upon. About eight o'clock wc began to ■deRcndfmartly, and, half an hour after, entered into another defile like thofe before defcribed, having mountains of green marble on every fide of us. At nine, on our left, we faw the higheft mountain we had yet pafled. Wc found it, upon examination,to be com-pofed of fcrpentine marble; and, thro' about one-third of the thicknefs,ran a large vein of jafper, green, fpotted with red. Its exceeding hardnefs was fuch as not to yield to the blow,; Vol. I. A a of of a hammer; but the works of old times were more apparent in it, than in any mountain we had feen. Duels, or channels, for carrying water tranfverfely, were obferved evidently to terminate in this quarry of jafper: a proof that water was one of the means ufed in cutting thefe hard Rones. About ten o'clock, defcending very rapidly, with green marble and jafper on each fide of us, but no other green thing whatever, wc had the firR profpedt of the Red Sea, and, at a quarter paft eleven, wc arrived at Colfeir. It has been a wonder with all travellers, and with myfelf among the reft, where the ancients procured that prodigious quantity of fine marble, with which all their buildings abound. That wonder, however, among many others, now ceafes, after having pafled, in four days, more granite, porphyry, marble, and jafper, than would build Rome, Athens, Corinth, Syracufc, Memphis, Alexandria, and half a dozen fuch cities, it fecrncd to be very viiible, that thofe openings in the hills, which I call Defiles, were not natural, but artificial; and that whole mountains had been cut out at thefe places, to prefcrve a Rope towards the Nile as gentle as poflible: this, I fuppofe, might be a defcent of about one foot in fifty at. moft; fo that, from the mountains to the Nile, thofe heavy carriages muft have moved with as little draught as poflible, and, at the fame time, been fufliciently impeded by friction, fo as not to run amain, or acquire an increafed velocity, againft which, alio, there mutt have been other provifions contrived. As I made another cxcurfion to thefe marfcle mountains from Cofleir, I will, once for all, here fet down what I obferved concerning their natural appearance. This The porphyry flicws itfelf by a fine purple fand, without any glofs or glitter on it, and is exceedingly agreeable to the eye. It is mixed with the native white fand, and fixed gravel of the plains. Green unvariegated marble, is generally feen in the fame mountain with the porphyry. Where the two veins meet, the marble is for fome inches brittle, but the porphyry of the fame hardnefs as in other places. The granite is covered with fand, and looks like Rone of a dirty, brown colour. But this is only the change and impref-fion the fun and weather have made upon it; for, upon breaking it, you fee it is grey granite, with black fpots, with a red-dim eaft, or blufli over it. This red fcems to fade and fuf-fcr from the outward air, but, upon working or polifliing the furface, this colour again appears. It is in greater quantity than the porphyry, and nearer the Red Sea. Fom-pey's pillar feems to have been from this quarry. Next to the granite, but never, as I obferved, joined with it in the fame mountain, is the red marble. It is covered with fand of the fame colour, and looks as if the whole mountain were fpread over with brick duft. There is alfo a red marble with white veins, which I have often feen at Rome, but not in principal fubjects^ I have alfo feen it in Britain. The common green (called Serpentine) looks as if covered over with Brazil fnufF. Joined with this green, I faw two famples of that beautiful marble they call Ifabella; one of them with a yellowhh eaft, which we call Quaker-colour ; the other with a blueifh, which is commonly termed Dove-colour. Thefe two feem to divide the refpectuve mountains with the fcrpentine. In this green, likewife, it was we faw the vein of jafper; but whether it was abfolute* A a 2 ly ly the fame with this which is the bloody jafper, or blood-Rone, is what we had not time to fettle. I should firR have made mention of the vcrde antico, the dark green with white irregular fpots, becaufe it is of the greateft value, and ncareft the Nile. This is produced in the mountains of the plain green,, or fcrpentine, as is the jafper, and is not difeoverablc by the duft, or any particular colour upon it. Firft, there is a blue lleaky Rone, exceedingly even and fmooth in the grain, folid, and without fparks or colour. When broken, it is fomcthing lighter than a flatc, and more beautiful than moft marble; it is like the lava of volcanoes, when polifhcd After lifting this, we come to the beds of vcrde antico ; and here the quarrying is very obvious, for it has been uncovered in patches, not above twenty feet fquare. Then, in another part, the green Rone has been removed, and another pit of it wrought. I saw, in feveral places in the plain, fmall pieces of A-frican marble Scattered about, but no rocks or mountains of it. I fuppofe it is found in the heart of fome other coloured marble, and in ftrata, like the jafper and vcrde antico, and, I fufpectjin the mountains of Ifabella marble, efpe-cially of the yellowcll fort of it, but this is mere conjecture. This prodigious ftorc of marble is placed upon a ridge, whence there is a defeent to the eaft or weft, either to the Nile or Red Sea. The level, ground and hard-fixed gravel are proper for the heavicft carriages, and will eafily and fmoothly convey any weight whatever to its place of embarkation on the Nile ; fo that another wonder ceafed, how the ancients tranfported thofe vaft blocks to Thebes, Memphis, and Alexandria.. cosseir. Cosseir is a fmall mud-wallcd village, built upon the fliorc, among hillocks of floating fand. It is defended by a fquare fort of hewn Rone, with fquare towers in the angles, which have in them three fmall cannon of iron, and one of brafs, all in very bad condition ; of no other ufe but to terrify the Arabs, and hinder them from plundering the town when full of corn, going to Mecca in time of famine. The walls are not high ; nor was it neceffary, if the great guns were in order. But as this is not the cafe, the ramparts are heightened by clay, or by mud-walls, to fcrcen the foldiers from the fire-arms of the Arabs, that might otherwife command thcin from the fandy hills in the neighbourhood. There are feveral wells of brackifh water on the N. W. of the caRlc, which, for experiment's fake, I made drinkable, by filtering it through fand ; but the water in ufe is brought from Terfowey, a good day's journey off. The port, if we may call it fo, is on the fouth-eail of the town. It is nothing but a rock which runs out about four hundred yards into the fea, and defends the veflels, which ride to the weft of it, from the north and north-call winds,, as the houfes of the town cover them from the north-weft. There is a large inclofurc with a high mud-wall, and., within, every merchant has a fhop or magazine for his corn and merchandife: little of this laft is imported, unlefs coarfe India goods, for the confumption of Upper Egypt itfelf, fincc the trade to Dongola and Sennaar has been interrupted. L had I ii a d orders from Shekh Hamam to lodge in the cattle* Inn a few hours before my arrival, Huflein bey Abou Kerfh landed from Mecca, and Jidda, and he had taken up the apartments which were deftined for me. He was one of thofe Beys whom Ali Bey had defeated, and driven from Cairo. He was called Abou Kerjb^ i. c. Father Belly, from being immoderately fat ; his adverlity had brought him a little into fliapes. My fervants, who had gone before, thinking that a friend of the Bey in power was better than an enemy outlawed, and banifhed by him, had inadvertently put fome of my baggage into the cattle juft when this potentate was taking poilcflion. Swords were immediately drawn, death and deftruction threatened to my poor fervants, who fled and hid themfelves till I arrived. Upon their complaint, I told them they had acted improperly; that a fovereign was afovereign all the world over; and it was not my bufinefs to make a difference, whether he was in power or not. I eafily procured a houfe, and lent a janiffary of the four that had joined us from Cairo, with my compliments to the Bey, defiring rellitution of my baggage, and that he would excufe the ignorance of my fervants, who did not know that he was at Cofleir ; but only, having the firman of the Grand Signior, and letters from the Bey and Port of janiffaries of Cairo, they pre-fumcd that I had a right to lodge there, if lie had not taken up the quarters. It happened, that an intimate friend of mine, Mahomet Topal, captain of one of ihe large Cairo fhips, trading to Arabia, was a companion of this Huflein Bey, and had carried him to fee Captain Thornhill, and fome of our Englifh 2 captains captains at Jidda, who, as their very laudable cuRom is, always fhcw fuch people fome civilities. FIc queftioncd the janiflary about me, who told him I was Englilh; that I had the protection I had mentioned, and that, from kindnefs and charity, I had furnifhed the ftrangcr Turks with water, and provifion at my own expence, when crofling the defert. He profefted himfelf exceedingly afhamed at the behaviour of his fervants, who had drawn their fabres upon mine, and had cut my carpet and fome cords. After which, of his own accord, he ordered his kaya, or next in command, to remove from the lodging he occupied, and inllcad. of fending back my baggage by my fervant, he directed it to be carried into the apartment from which the kaya had removed. This I abfolutcly refufed, and fent word, I underftood he Was to be there for a few days only; and as I might Ray for a longer time, I fliould only defire to fucceed him after his departure, in order to put my baggage in fafety from the Arabs ; but for the prefent they were in no danger, as long as he was in the town. I told him, I would pay my refpects to him in the evening, when the weather cooled. I did fo, and, contrary to his expectations, brought Him a fmall prefent.. Great intercourfe of civility palled; my fellow-travellers, the Turks, were all feated there, and lie gave me, repeatedly, very honourable teftimonials of my charity, generofity, and kindnefs to them... . Thesc Turks, finding thcmfelvcs in a fituation to be heard, had not omitted the opportunity of complaining to Huflein Bey of the attempt of the Arab to rob them in the defert. The Bey afked mc, If it happened in my tent? I faid, It was in that of my fervants.- "What is the reafon, fays- fays he, that, when you Englifh people know fo well what good government is, you did not order his head to be Rruck off, when you had him in your hands, before the door of the tent?"—" Sir," faid I, " 1 know well what good government is ; but being a ftranger, and a Chriflian, I have no fort of title to exercife the power of life and death in this country; only in this one cafe, when a man attempts my life, then I think I am warranted to defend myfelf, whatever may be the confequence to him. My men took him in the faft, and they had my orders, in fuch cafes, to beat the offenders fo that they fliould not Real thefe two months again : They did fo ; that was punifli-mcnt enough in cold blood."—u But my blood," fays he, " never cools with regard to fuch rafcals as thefe : Go (and he called one of his attendants) tell HaiTan, the head of the caravan, from me, that unlefs he hangs that Arab before fun-rife to-morrow, I will carry him in irons to Furfhout* Upon this menage I took my leave ; faying only, " Huf-fein Bey, take my advice ; procure a veffel and fend thefe Turks over to Mecca before you leave this town, or, be af-fured they will all be made rcfponfible for the death of this Arab; will be flripped naked, and perhaps murdered, as foon as your back is turned." It was all I could do to get them protected thus far. This meafure was already provided for, and the poor Turks joyfully embarked next morning. The thief was not at all moleRed : he was fent out of the way, under pretence that he had fled. Cossmtt has been miRaken by different authors. Mr I-Iucr, Bifliop of Avranches, fays, It is the Myos Hormos of antiquity; others, the Philotcras Tortus of Ptolemy. The The fact is, that neither one nor other is the port, both being confiderably farther to the northward. Nay, more, the prefent town of CofTeir was no ancient port at all; old Cofleir was live or fix miles to the northward. There can be no fort of doubt, thai it was the Forms Albus, or the White Harbour; for we find the ilecp defcent from Tcrfowey, and the marble mountains, called, to this day, the Accaba, which, in Arabic, fignifies a deep afcent or defcent, is placed here by Ptolemy with the fame name, though in Greek that name has no Signification. Again, Ptolemy places *Aias Mons, or the mountain Aias, juft over Cofleir, and this mountain, by the fame name, is found there at this day. And, upon this mountain, and the one next it, (both over the port) are two very remarkable chalky clilfs ; which, being confpicuous and feen far at fea, have given the name of the White Port, which Cofleir bore in all antiquity. I found, by many meridian altitudes of the fun, taken at the callle, that CofTeir is in lat. 260 yy 51" north; and, by three obfervations of Jupiter's fatellitcs, I found its longitude to be 340 4/ 15" eaft of the meridian of Greenwich. The caravan from Syene arrived'at this time, efcorted by four hundred Ababde, all upon camels, each armed with two fhort javelins. The manner of their riding was very whim-fical ; they had two fmall faddlcs on each camel, and fat back to back, which might be, in their practice; convenient enough; but 1 am fure, that, if they had been to fight with us, every ball would have killed two of them, what tBdn advantage would have been, I know not. Vol. I. B b The * Ptolem. Gfcograph. lib. 4, p. 103. The whole town was in terror at the influx of fo many barbarians, who knew no law whatever. They brought a thoufand camels loaded with wheat to tranfport to Mecca. Every body fhut their doors, and I among the refl, whilfl the Bey fent to me to remove into the caftle. But I had no fear, and refolved to make an experiment, after hearing thefe were people of Nimmer, whether I could truft them in the defert or not. However, I fent all my inllruments, my money, and the befl of my baggage, my medicines and memorandums, into a chamber in the caftle: after the door was locked, and the key brought to me, the Bey ordered to nail up pieces of wood acrofs it, and fet a centinel to watch it all day, and two in the night. I was next morning down at the port looking for fliells in the fea, when a fervant of mine came to me in apparent fright and hurry. He told me the Ababde had found out that Abdel Gh% my Arab, was an Atouni, their enemy, and that they had cither cut his throat, or were about to do it; but, by the fury with which they feized him, in his light, he could not believe they would fparc him a minute. He very providently brought me a horfe, upon which I mounted immediately, feeing there was no time to be loft; and in the filhing-drefs, in which I was, with a red turban a-bout my head, 1 galloped as hard as the horfe could carry mc through the town. If I was alarmed myfelf, I did not fail to alarm many others. They all thought it was fomething behind, not any thing before me, that occafioned this fpeed. I only told my fervant at palling, to fend two of my people on horfeback after me, and that the Bey would lend them horfes. I was not got above a mile into the fands, when I began to reflect on the folly of the undertaking. I was going into the defert among a band of ravages, whofe only trade was robbery and murder, where, in all probability, I fliould be as ill treated as the man I was attempting to favc. But, feeing a crowd of people about half a mile before mcv and thinking they might be at that time murdering that poor, honefl, and fimple fellow, all confideration of my own fafety for the time vaniftied. Upon my coming near them, fix or eight of them fur-rounded me on horfeback, and began to gabble in their own language. I was not very fond of my fituation. It would have coR them nothing to have thrufl a lance through my back, and taken the horfe away; and, after Gripping mc, to have buried me in a hillock of fand, if they were fo kind as give themfelves that laR trouble. However, I picked up courage, and putting on the beft appearance I could, faid to them Readily,without trepidation," What men are thefe before f* The anfwer, after fome paufe, was, they arc men; and they looked very queerly, as if they meant to aik each other, What fort of a fpark is this? " Are thofe before us Ababde, faid I; are they from Shekh Ammer ?" One of them nodded, and grunted fullenly, rather than faid " Aye, Ababde from Shekh Ammer." " Then Salam Alicum! faid 1, we arc brethren. How docs the Nimmer? Who commands you here ? Where is Ibrahim ? At the mention of Nimmer, and Ibrahim, their countenance changed, not to any thing fweeter or gentler than before, but to a look of great furprife. They had not returned my falutation,/vy«v be between us; but one of them afked< B b. z. a me who I was ?—" Tell me firR, faid T, who that is you have before ?"—" It is an Arab, our enemy, fays he, guilty of our blood."—" He is, replied I, my fervant. He is a Howadat Arab, his tribe lives in peace at the gates of Cairo, in the fame manner your's at Shekh Ammer does at thofe of Af-fouan." " I alk you, Where is Ibrahim your Shckh's fon ?"— " Ibrahim, fays he, is at our head, he commands us here. But who are you ?"—" Come with mc, and fhew me Ibrahim., faid I, and I will mew you who I am." I passed by thefe, and by another party of them. They had thrown a hair rope about the neck of Abdel Gin, who was almoft Rranglcd already, and cried out moft miferably, for me not to leave him. 1 went directly to the black tent which I faw had a long fpear thruft up in the end of it, and met at the door Ibrahim and his brother, and feven or -eight Ababde. He did not recollect me, but 1 difmounted clofe to the tent-door, and had fearce taken hold of the pillar of the tent, and faid Fiafduc*,rwhen Ibrahim, and his brother both knew me. " What! faid they, arc you Tagoube our phyfician, and our friend ?"—" Let me alk you, replied I, if you arc the Ababde of Shekh Ammer, that curfed your-felves, and your children, if you ever lifted a hand againft mc, or mine, in the defert, or in the plowed field : If you have repented of that oath, or fworn falfcly on purpofe to deceive me, here I am come to you in the defert? " What is the matter, fays Ibrahim, we are the Ababde of Shekh Ammer, there arc no other, and wc ftill fay, Curfed be he, whether * That is, lam under your protection, tkcr our father, or children, that lifts his hand againR yon, in the defert, or in the plowed field." " Then, faid I, you 2 re all accurfed in the defert, and in the field, for a number of your people are going to murder my fervant. They took him indeed from my houfe in the town, perhaps that is not included in your curfe, as it is neither in the defert nor the plowed field?—I was very angry. " Whew ! fays Ibrahim with a kind of whiffle, that is downright nonfenfe. Who arc thofe of my people that have authority to murder, and take prifoners while I am here ? I-Icrc one of you, get upon Yagoube's horfe, and bring that man to me." Then turning to me, he defired I would go into the tent and fit down : " For God renounce mc and mine, (fays he), if it is " as you fay, and one of them hath touched the hair of his " head, if ever he drinks of the Nile again." A number of people who had feen mc at Shekh Ammer, now came all around me ; fome with complaints of fick-nefs, fome with compliments; more with impertinent quef-tions, that had no relation to either. At laR came in the culprit Abdel Gin, with forty or fifty of the Ababde who had gathered round him, but no rope about his neck. There began a violent altercation between Ibrahim, and his men, in their own language. All that I could guefs was, that the men had the worft of it; for every one prefent faid fome thing harfh to them, as difapproving the action. I heard the name of HaiTan SidiFIaffan often in the dif-pute. I began to fufpect fomething, and defired in Arabic to know what that Sidi HaiTan was, fo often mentioned in 4ifcourfe, and then, the whole fecrct came out. The The reader will remember, that this Arab, Abdel Gin, was the pcrlbn that feized the fervant of HaiTan, the Captain of the Caravan, when he was attempting to Real the Turk's portmanteau out of my tent; that my people had beat him till he lay upon the ground like dead, and that Huflein. Bey, at the complaint of the Caramaniots, had ordered him to be hanged. Now, in order to revenge this, HaiTan had told the Ababde that Abdel Gin was an Atouni fpy, that he had detected him in the Caravan, and that he was come to learn the number of the Ababde, in order to bring his companions to furprife them. He did not fay one word that he was my fervant, nor that I was at Cofleir; fo the people thought they had a very meritorious facrifice to make, in. the perfon of poor Abdel Gin. All pafled now in kindnefs, frelli medicines were afked for the Nimmer, great thankfulnefs, and profellions, for what they had received, and a prodigious quantity of meat on wooden platters very excellently dreflcd, and moft agreeably diluted with frelh water, from the eoldeft rock of Tcr-fowey, was fet before mc.. In the mean time, two of my fervants, attended by three of Huflein Bey, came in great anxiety to know what was the matterf and, as neither they nor the Arabs chofe much each others company, I fent them with a fhort account of the whole to the Bey ; and foon after took my leave, carrying Abdel Gin along with me, who had been clothed by Ibrahim from head to foot. We were accompanied by two Ababde, in cafe of accident, I cannot I cannot help here accufmg myfelf of what, doubtlcfs, may be well reputed a very great fin. I was fo enraged at the traitorous part which Haflan had acted, that, at parting, I could not help faying to Ibrahim, " Now, Shekh, I have done every thing you have defired, without ever expecting fee, or reward; the only thing I now alk you, and it is probably the laR, is, that you revenge me upon this Halfan, who is every day in your power." Upon this, he gave me his hand, faying, " He lhall not die in his bed, or I lhall never fee old age." We now returned all in great fpirits to ColTeir, and I obferved that my unexpected connection with the Ababde had given mc an influence in that place, that put me above all fear of perfonal danger, efpccially as they had feen in the defert, that the Atouni were my friends alfo, as reclaiming this Arab fhewed they really wrerc. The Bey infilled on my fupping with him. At his defire I told him the whole Rory, at which he feemed to be much fur-prifed, faying, feveral times, "Meiiullah! Menullah! Muck-toub!" It is God's doing, it is God's doing, it was written fo. And, when I had fmifhed, he faid to me, " I will not leave this traitor with you to trouble you further; I will oblige him, as it is his duty, to attend me to Furfliout." This he accordingly did; and, to my very great furprife, though he might be allured I had complained of him to Shekh Hamam, meeting me the next day, when they were all ready to depart, and were drinking coffee with the Bey, he gave me a flip of paper, and defired mc, by that direction, to buy him a fabre, which might be procured in Mecca, ft feems it is the manufacture of Perfia, and, though I do not underRand 3 in in the leaft, the import of the terms, I give it to the reader that he may know by what description he is to buy an excellent fabrc. It is called Suggaro Tabannc Harelannc A-gemmi,yor Sidi Hajari of Far/boat. Although pretty much ufed to ftiilc my rcfentmcnt Upon impertinences of this kind, I could not, after the trick he had played me with the Ababde, carry it indifferently ; I threw the billet before the Bey, faying to Haflan, " A fword of that value would be ufelefs and mifcmployed in the hand of a coward and a traitor, fuch as furcly you muft be fen-fible 1 know you to be." He looked to the Bey as if appealing to him, from the incivility of the obfervation ; but the Bey, without fcruple, anfwered, at an cafy fail. The Continent, to the leeward of us, belonged to our friends the Ababde. There was great plenty of fhell-fiih to be picked up on every fhoal. I had loaded the veflel with four fkins of frefh water, equal to four hogfheads, with cords, and buoys fixed to the end of each of them, fo that, if wc had been shipwrecked near land, as rubbing two Ricks together made us fire, I was not afraid of receiving fuccour, before we were driven to the laR extremity, provided we did not perifh in the fea, of which I was not very apprehenfivc. On the 15th, about nine o'clock, I faw a large high rock, like a pillar, rifmg out of the fea. At firR, I took it for a part of the Continent; but, as we advanced nearer it, the fun being very clear, and the fea calm, 1 took an obfervation, and as our fituation was lat. 25° 6', and the ifland a-bout a league dillant, to the S. S. W. of us, I concluded its latitude to be pretty exactly 250 3' North. This ifland is 4 about about three miles from tlie fhore, of an oval -form, riling in the middle. It fecms to me to he or' granite ; and is called, in the language of the country, Jibbel Sibergct, which has been tranflated the Mountain of Emeralds. Sibergct, however, is a word in the language of the Shepherds, who, I doubt, never in their lives faw an emerald ; and though the Arabic tranllation.is Jibbel Ziwirud, and that word has been transferred to the emerald, a very fine Rone, oftener feen fincc the difcovery of the new world, yet I very much doubt, that either Sibergct or Zumrud ever meant Emerald in-old times. My reafon is this, that we found, both here and in the Continent, fplintcrs, and pieces of green pellucid chryflaline fubftance ; yet, though green, they were ■veiny, clouded, and not at all fo hard as rock-cryftal; a mineral production certainly, but a little harder than glafs, and this, I apprehend; was what the Shepherds, or people of beja, called Sibergct,. the Latins Smaragdusy and the Moors Zumrud.. The i6th, at day-break in the morning, I took the Arab of Cofteir with me, who knew the place. We landed on a point perfectly defert; at firft, fandy like CofTeir, afterwards, where the foil was fixed, producing fome few plants of rue or abfmthium. We advanced above three miles farther in a perfectly defert country, with only a few acacia-trees Scattered here and there, and came to the foot of the mountains. I afked my guide the name of that place; he faid it was Saiel. They are never at a lofs for a name, and thofe who do not underRand the language, always believe them. This would have been the cafe in the prefent conjuncture. He knew not the name of the place, and perhaps it had no name, but he called it Saiel, which fignifies a male acacia-tree ; merely becaufe he faw an acacia growing there; and,, with THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. :2tiy with equal reafon, he might have called every mile Saiel, from the Gulf of Suez to the line. We fee this ahufe in the old Itineraries, efpecially in the *Antonine, from fuch a town to fuch a town, fo many miles; and what is the next flation ? (d Jbggira) ten miles. This el feggera |, the Latin readers take to be the name of a town, as Harduin, and all commentators on the claflics, have done. But fo far from Seggcra fignifying a town, it imports juR the contrary, that there is no town there, but the traveller mull be obliged to take up his quarters under a tree that night, for fuch is the meaning of Seggcra as a Ration, and fo likewife of Saiel. At the foot of the mountain, or about feven yards up from the bafe of it, are live pits or lltafts, none of them four feet in diameter, called the Zumrurf Wdls, from which the ancients are faid to have drawn the emeralds. We were not provided with materials, and little endowed with inclination, to defcend into any one of them, where the air was probably bad. I picked up the nozzels, and fome fragments of lamps, like thofe of which we find millions in Italy : and fome worn fragments, but very fmall ones, of that brittle green chryilal, which is the fibcrget and bilu'r of Ethiopia, perhaps the zumrud, the fmaragdus defcribed by I'liny, but by no means the emerald, known frnce the difcovery of the new world, whole full character abfolute* •Itin. Anton. aCatth. p. 4. t Sadie next fhge from Syene is called-Hicrsi Sycumiuos,afycamore-tree, Ptol. lib, 4. p. roS, ly defeats its pretention, the true Peruvian emerald being equal in hardnefs to the ruby. Pliny* reckons up twelve kind of emeralds, and names them all by the country where they are found. Many have thought the fmaragdus to be but a liner kind of jafper. Pomet allures us it is a mineral, formed in iron, and fays he had one to which iron-ore was Ricking. If this was the cafe, the fineR emeralds lhould not come from Peru, where, as far as ever has been yet difcovered, there is no iron. With regard to the Oriental emeralds, which they fay come from the EaR Indies, they are now fufliciently known, and the value of each Rone pretty well afcertained; but all our induftry and avarice have not yet difcovered a mine of emeralds there, as far as I have heard. That there were emeralds in the Eaft Indies, upon the firft difcovery of it by the Cape, there is no fort of doubt; that there came emeralds from that quarter in the time of the Romans, feems to admit of as little; but few antique emeralds have ever been feen ; and fo greatly in eftecm, and rare were they in thofe times, that it was made a crime for any artift to engrave upon an emerald f. It is very natural to fuppofe, that fome people of the EaR had a communication and trade with the new world, before we attempted to ihare it with them ; and that the emeralds, they had brought from that quarter, were thofe which came afterwards * Plin. lib. xxxvii. cap. 5. f LittO, afterwards into Europe, and were called the Oriental, till they were confounded with the * Peruvian, by the quantity of that kind brought into the EaR Indies, by the Jews and Moors, after the difcovery of the new Continent. But what invincibly proves, that the ancients and we arc not agreed as to the fame Rone, is, that f Theophraflus fays, that in the Egyptian commentaries he faw mention made of an emerald four cubits, (fix feet long,) which was fent as a prefent to one of their kings ; and in one of the temples of Jupiter in Egypt he faw an obelifk 60 feet high, made of four emeralds : and Roderick of Toledo informs us, that, when the Saracens took that city, Tarik, their chief, had a table of an emerald 365 cubits, or 547^- feet long. The Moorifli hiRories of the invafion of Spain are full of fuch emeralds. Having fatisfied my curiofity as to thefe mountains, without having feen a living creature, I returned to my boat, where I found all well, and an excellent dinner of fifh prepared. Thefe were of three kinds, called Biflcr, Surrum-bac, and Nhoude el Benaat. The firR of thefe feems to be of the OyRer-kind, but the fhells are both equally curved and hollow, and open with a hinge on the fide like a muf-fel. It has a large beard, like an oyfter, which is not eatable, but which lhould be ilript off. We found fome of thefe two feet long, but the largeft I believe ever feen compofes the baptifmal font in the chinch of Notre Dame in Paris%. The fecond is the Concha Veneris, with large projecting Vol. I. D d points * Tavemicr vol. ii. Voyag. f Theophraflus Tli^hitaH, $ Clamps, points like fingers. The third, called the Breafls of the Virgin, is a beautiful ihell, perfectly pyramidal, generally a-bout four inches in height, and beautifully variegated with mother-of-pearl, and green. All thefe filhes have a peppery tafte, but arc not therefore reckoned the lefs whole-fome, and they are fo much the more convenient, that they carry that ingredient of fpice along with them for fauce, withr which travellers, like me, very feldom burden themfelves. Besides a number of very fine fhells, wc picked up feveral branches of coral, coralines, yuffer*, and many other articles of natural hiftory. We were abundantly provided, with every thing; the weather was fair; and we never doubted it was to continue, fo we were in great fpirits, and only regreted that we had not, once for all, taken leave of CofTeir, and flood over for Jidda. In this difpofition wc failed about three o'clock in the afternoon, and the wind flattered us fo much, that next day, the 17th, about eleven o'clock, we found ourfelves a-bout two leagues a-ftern of a fmall illand, known to the Pilot by the name of Jibbel Macouar, This ifland is at leaft four miles from the fhore, and is a high land, fo that it may be feen, I fuppofe, eight leagues at fea, but is generally confounded with the Continent. I computed myfelf to be about 4' of the meridian diftant when I made the obfervation, and take its latitude to be about 240 21 on.the centre of the ifland. The It b a Keratophyte, growing at the bottom of the fea. i THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. 211 The land here, after running from Jibbel Sibergct to Macouar, in a direction nearly N. W. and S. E. turns round in fhape of a large promontory, and changes its direction to N. E. and S. W. and ends in a fmall bay or inlet; fo that, by fanciful people, it has been thought to refemble the nofe of a man, and is called by the Arabs, Ras el Anf, the Cape of the Nofe. The mountains, within land, are of a dufky burnt colour ; broken into points, as if interfectcd by torrents. The coaRing vefTcls from Mafuah and Suakem which are bound to Jidda, in the ftrength of the Summer monfoon, Rand clofe in fhore down the coaR of Abyflinia, where they find a gentle Ready eaR wind blowing all night, and a weft wind very often during the day, if they are near enough the fhore, for which purpofe their veflels are built. Besides this, the violent North-Eaft monfoon raking in the direction of the Gulf, blows the water out of the Straits of Babelmandeb into the Indian Ocean, where, being accumulated, it preffes itfelf backwards; and, unable to find way in the middle of the Channel, creeps up among the fhallows on each coaft of the Red Sea. Flowcvcr long the voyage from Mafuah to Jibbel Macouar may feem, yet thefe gentle winds and favourable currents, if I may fo call thofe in the fea, foon ran us down the length of that mountain. A large veflel, however, docs not dare to try this, whilft ^conRantly among fhoals, and clofe on a lee-ihore; but thofe jewed together, and yielding without damage to the ftrefs, Aide over the banks of white coral, and even fometimes the .rocks. Arrived at this ifland, they fet their prow towards D d 2 the the oppofite fhorc, and crofs the Channel in one night, to^ the coaR of Arabia, being nearly before the wind. The track of this extraordinary navigation is marked upon* the map, and it is fo well verified, that no fhip-maRer need doubt it. About three o'clock in the afternoon, with a favourable wind and fine weather, we continued along the coaft, with an eafy fail. Wc faw no appearance of any inhabitants; the mountains were broken and pointed, as before taking the direction of the coaft; advancing and receding as the fhore itfelf did. This coaft is a very bold one, nor was there in any of the iflands we had feen, flioals or anchoring places, unlcfs upon the rock itfelf; fo that, when we landed, we could run our boltfprit home over the land. This ifland, Jibbel Macouar, has breakers running off from it at all points; but, though we hauled clofe to thefe, wc had no foundings. We then went betwixt it and the •fmall ifland, that lies S. S. E. from it about three miles, and tried for foundings to the leeward, but wc had none, although almoft touching the land. About fun-fet, I faw a fmall fandy ifland, which we left about a league to the weftward of us. It had no lhrubs, nor trees, nor height, that could diilinguifh it. My defign was to pufh on to the river Erat, which is represented in the charts as very large and deep, coming from the Continent; though, confldering by its latitude that it is above the tropical rains, (for it is laid dow n J Vide the track of this Navigation laid down on the Chart. THE SOURCE OF THE NFEE. 213- down about lat. 21° 25'), I never did believe that any fuch river exiRed. In fact, wc know no river, north of the fources of the Nile, that does not fall into the Nile. Nay, I may fay, that not one river, in all Abyflinia, empties itfelf into the Reel Sea. The tropical rains arc bounded, and finifh,in lat. 16°, and there is no river, from the mountains, that falls into the defert of Nubia; nor do we know of any river which is tributary to the Nile, but what has its rife under the tropical rains. It would be a very fingular circumRance, then, that the Frat fliould rife in one of the dryeR places in the globe, that it fliould be a river at leaft equal to the Nile ; and fliould maintain itfelf full in all feafons, which the Nile does not; laft of all, in a country where water is fo fcarce and precious, that it lhould not have a town or fettlement upon it, either ancient or modern, nor that it fliould be re-forted to by any encampment of Arabs, who might crofs over and traffic with Jidda, which place is immediately oppofite. On the 18th, at day-break, I was alarmed at feeing no land, as I had no fort of confidence in the ikill of my. pilot, however fure I was of my latitude. About an hour after fun-fct, I obferved a high rugged rock, which the pilot told me, upon inquiry, was Jibbel, (viz. a Rock), and this was all the fatisfaction I could get. We bore down upon it with a. wind, feant enough; and, about four, we came to an anchor. As we had no name for that ifland, and I did not know that any traveller had been there before me, 1 ufed the privilege by giving it my own, in memory of having been there. The fouth of this ifland feems to be high and rocky* rocky, the north is low and ends in a tail, or Hoping bank, but is exceedingly Reep to, and at the length of your bark any way from it, you have no foundings. All this morning fince before day, our pilot had begged us to go no farther. He faid the wind had changed ; that, by infallible figns he had feen to the fouthward, he was confident (without any chance of being miilaken) that in twenty-four hours we lhould have a ftorm, which would put us in danger of fhipwreck; that Frat, which I wanted to fee, was immediately oppofite to Jidda, fo that either a country, or Englifh boat would run me over in a night and a day, when I might procure people who had connections in the country, fo as to be under no apprehenfion of any accident; but that, in the prefent track 1 was going, every man that I mould meet was my enemy. Although not very fufceptiblc of fear, my cars were never fhut againR ■reafon, and to what the pilot Rated, I added in my own bread, that we might be blown out to fea, and want both water and proviiion. Wc, therefore, dined as quickly as poRible, and encouraged one another all wc could. A little pafter fix the wind came eailerly, and changeable, with a thick haze over the land. This cleared about nine in the evening, and one of the fincfl and fteadieft gales that ever blew, carried us fwiftly on, directly for Colleir. The fky was full of dappled clouds, fo that, though I, feveral times, tried to catch a liar in the meridian, I was always fruRrated, The wind became frefher, but Rill very fair. The 19th, at day-break, wc faw the land ftrctching all the way northward, and, foon after, diitinctly difcerncd Jibbel Jibbel Siberget upon our lee-bow. We had feen it indeed before, but had taken it for the main-land. After pamng fuch an agreeable night, we could not be quiet, and laughed at our pilot about his perfect knowledge of the weather. The fellow fhook his head, and faid, he had been miRaken before now, and was always glad when it happened fo ; but Rill we were not arrived at Cofleir, though he hoped and believed we lhould get there in fafety.. In a very little time the vane on the mail-head began to turn, firR north, then eaR, then fouth, and back again to all the points in the compafs; the iky was quite dark, with thick rain to the fouthward of us; then followed a moR violent clap of thunder, but no lightning; and back again came the wind fair at fouth-eaft. We all looked rather down-cafl at each other, and a general lilence followed. This, however, I faw availed us nothing, we were in the fcrapc, and were to endeavour to get out of it the befl way we could. The veflel went at a prodigious rate. The fail that was made of mat happened to be new, and, filled with a ftrong wind, weighed prodigioufly.. What made this worfe, was, the mafis were placed a little forward. The firft thing I afked, was, if the pilot could not lower his main-fail ? But that we found impofliblc, the yard being fixed to the maft-head* The next ftep was to reef it, by hauling it in part up like a curtain: this our pilot defired us not to attempt; for it would endanger our foundering. Notwithftanding which, I defired my fervant to help mc with the haulyards; and to hold them in his hand, only giving them a turn round the bench. This increafing the veflel's weight above and before, as ihe already had too much prcflurc, made her give 3- two two pitches, the one after the other, fo that I thought fhe was buried under the waves, and a confiderable deal of water came in upon us. I am fully fatisfied, had ihe not been in good order, very buoyant, and in her trim, flic would have gone to the bottom, as the wind continued to blow a hurricane. I began now to throw off my upper coat and trowfers, that I might endeavour to make fhore, if the veflel fliould founder, whilft the fervants feemed to have given themfclvcs up, and made no preparation. The pilot kept in clofe by the land, to fee if no bight, or inlet, offered to bring up in ; but wc were going with fuch violence, that I was fatif-llcd wc fliould ovcrfet if wc attempted this. Every ten minutes we ran over the white coral banks, which we broke in pieces with the grating of a file, upon iron, and, what was the moft terrible of all, a large wave followed higher than our ftcrn, curling over it, and feemed to be the inftrument deftincd by Providence to bury us in the abyfs. Our pilot began apparently to lofe his underftanding with fright. I begged him to be Ready, perfuading him to take a glafs of fpirits, and defired him not to difpute or doubt any thing that I fliould do or order, for that I had feen much more terrible nights in the ocean; I affurcd him, that all harm done to his veflel fliould be repaired when we fliould get to Cofleir, or even a new one bought for him, if his own was much damaged. He anfwered me nothing, but that Mahomet was the prophet of God.—Let him prophecy, faid I, as long as he pleafcs, but what I order you is to keep Ready to the helm; mind the vane on the top of the mafl, and fleer flraight before the wind, for I am refolved to cut i that THE SOURCE OF TFIE NILE. ±I? that main fail to pieces, and prevent the mad from going a-way, and your veflel from finking to the bottom. I got no an-f ,/cr to this which I could hear, the wind was fo high, except ibme thing about the mercy and the merit of Sidi Ali el Cenowi. I now became violer'ly singly. " D—n Cidi Ali zl Gtnowi, faid I, you heaft, cannot yoU give 1112 a rational anfwer? Stand to your helm, look at tne vane; keep the veffel ftraight before the wind, or, by vhe great G—d who fits in heaven, (another kind of oath than by Sidi Ali el Genoivi)% I will fhoot you dead the frfl yaw the fhip gives, or the firR time that you leave the fleerage where you are flanding." He anfwered only, hlaloom, i c. very well.—All this was fooner done than faid ; I got the main-fail in my arm:, and, with a large knife, cut it all to ihreds, which ea'cd the ve in a contrary direction, and hinders them from coming over, or circulating towards the Egyptian fide. From this it happens, that the weft, or Abyflinian fide, is full of deep water, interfperfed with funken rocks, unmafk-cd, or uncovered with fand, with which they would other-wife become iflands. Thefe are naked and bare all round, and fharp like points of fpears; while on the eaft-fide there are rocks,indeed,as in the oiher,but being between the fouth-eaft monfoon, which drives the fand into its coaft, and the x north-weft north-wcfl; monfoon which repels it, and keeps it in there, every rock on the Arabian Chore becomes an ifland, and every two or three iflands become a harbour. Upon the ends of the principal of thefe harbours large heaps of Rones have been piled up, to fervc as fignals, or marks, how to enter ; and it is in thefe that the large vcffels from Cairo to Jidda, equal in fize to our 74 gun fhips, (but from the cifterns of mafon-work built within for holding water, I fuppofe double their weight) after navigating their portion of the channel in the day, come fafely and quietly to, at four o'clock in the afternoon, and in thefe little harbours pafs the night, to fail into the channel again, next morning at fun-rife. Therefore, though in the track of my voyage to Tor, I am feen running from the wefl fide of Jibbel Zeit a W. N. W. courfe (for I had no place for a compafs) into the harbour of Tor, I do not mean to do fo bad a fervice to humanity as to perfuade large fhips to follow my track. There arc two ways of inftrucTing men ufefully, in things abfo-lutcly unknown to them. The firR is, to teach them what they can do Rifely. The next is, to teach them what they cannot do at all, or, warranted by a prefling occafion, attempt with more or lefs danger, which fliould be explained and placed before their eyes, for without this laR no man knows the extent of his own powers. With this view, I will venture, without fear of contradiction, to fay, that my courfe from Cofleir, or even from Jibbel Siberget, to Tor, is impoflible to a great fhip. My voyage, painful, full of care, and dangerous as it was, is not to be accounted a furety for the lives of thoufands. It may be regarded as a foundation for furveys hereafter to be made by perfons more capable, and better 3 protected; 2*2 2 TRAVELS TO DISC OVER? protected; and in this cafe will; I hope, he found a valuahLe fragment, becaufe, whatever have been my confeientious.. fears of running fervants, who work, for pay, into danger of ' lofmg their lives by peril of the fea, yet I can fafely fay, that never did the face ofman, or fear-of danger to myfelf, deter mc from verifying with my eyes, what my own hands have put upon paper. In the days of the Ptolemies, and, as I fhall mew, long before, the weR coaR of the Red Sea, where the dcepeft water, and moR dangerous rocks are, was the track which the Indian and African fhips chofe, when loaded with the richcfl merchandife that ever veffels fmce carried. The Ptolemies built a number of large cities on this coaR ; nor do we hear that mips were obliged to abandon that track, from the dif-afters that befel them in the navigation. On the contrary,., they avoided the coaft of Arabia ; and one reafon, among others, is plain why they lhould;—they were loaded with the moft valuable commodities, gold, ivory, gums, and precious Rones ; room for ftowage on board therefore was very valuable. Part of this trade, when at its greateft perfection, was ; carried on fn velTels with oars. We know from the prophet Ezekiel*, 700 years before Chrift, or 300 after Solomon had finifhed his trade with Africa and India, that they did not always make ufe of fails in the track of the monfoons; and confequently a great number of menniuft have been neceffary - 1-—--—-1-~ *Ezek. chap.xxYJi. 6th and .29th verfest- fary for fo tedious a voyage. A number of men being neceffary, a quantity of water was equally fo; and this muft have taken up a great deal of ftowage. Now, no where on the coaft of AbyfTmia could they want water two days; and fcarce any where, on the coaft of Arabia, could they be fure of it once in fifteen, and from this the weftern coaft was called Ber el Ajam*, corruptly Azamia, the country of water, in oppofition to the eaftern fhore, called Ber el Arab, where there was none. A deliberate furvey became abfolutcly neceffary, and as in proportion to the danger of the coaft pilots became more fkilful, when once they had obtained more complete knowledge of the rocks and dangers, they preferred the boldeft fhore, becaufe they could ftand on all night, and provide themfelves with water every day. Whereas, on the Arabian fide, they could not fail but half the day, would be obliged to lie to all night, and to load themfelves with water, equal to half their cargo. I now ftiall undertake to point out to large fhips, the way by which they can fafely enter the Gulf of Suez, fo as that they may be competent judges of their own courfe, in cafe of accident, without implicitly furrendcrhig themfelves, and property, into the hands of pilots. In the firft place, then, I am very confident, that, taking their departure from Jibbel el Ourcc, fhips may fafely ftand on * Ajan, in the language of Shepherds, fignifies rain-water* on all night mid-channel, until they are in the latitude of Yambo. The Red Sea maybe divided into four parts, of which the Channel occupies two, till about lat. 260, or nearly that of CofTeir. On the weR fide it is deep water, with many rocks, as I have already faid. On the eaR fide, that quarter is occupied by iflands, that is, fand gathered about the rocks, the caufes whereof I have before mentioned; between which there are channels of very deep water, and harbours, that protect the largefl fhips in any winds. But among thefe, from Mocha down to Suez, you mufl fail with a pilot, and during part of the day only.. To a perfon ufcd to more civilized countries, it appears no great hardfhip to fail with a pilot, if you can get one, and in the Red Sea there are plenty; but thefe are creatures without any fort of fcien.ce, who decide upon a manoeuvre in a moment, without forethought, or any warning given. Such pilots often, in a large fhip deeply loaded, with every fail out which flic can carry, in a very in ft ant cry out to let go your anchors, and bring you to, all Handing, in the face of a rock, or fand. Were not our feamen's vigour, and celerity in execution, infinitely beyond the fkill and forefight of thofe pilots, I believe very few fhips, coming the inward paflage among the iflands, would ever reach the port in fafety; If you are, however, going to Suez, without the confent of the Sherriffe of Mecca, that is, not intending to fell your cargo at Jidda, or pay your cuflom there, then you fliould take take in your water at Mocha; or, if any reafon fliould hinder you from touching that fhore, a few hours will carry you to Azab, or Saba, on the Abyflinian coaft, whofc latitude I found to be 13° 5' north. It is not a port, but a very tolerable road, where you have very fafc riding, under the flicker of a low defert ifland called Crab Ifland, with a few rocks at the end of it. .But it muft be remembered, the people are Gdla, the moft treacherous and villanous wretches upon the earth. They arc Shepherds, who fometimes are on the coaft in great numbers, or in the back of the hills chat run clofe along the fhore, or in miferable villages compofed of huts, that run nearly in an eaft and weft direction from Azab to Raheeta, the largeft of all their villages. You will there, at Azab, get plenty of water, fheep, and goats, as alfo fome myrrh and incenfe, if you are in the proper feafon, or will flay for it. I again repeat it, that no confidence is to be had in the people. Thofe of Mocha, who even arc abfolutely neceffary to them in their commercial tranfactions, cannot truft them without furety or hoftages. And it was but a few years before I was there, the furgeon and mate of the Elgin Eaft-ln-n, between Migdol and that fea. It will be neccflary to explain thefe names. Badeah, Dr Shaw interprets, the Valley of the. Miracle, but this is forcing an etymology, for there was yet no miracle wrought, nor was there ever any in the valley. But Badeah, means barren, bare, and uninhabited; fuch as we may imagine a valley between ftony mountains, a defert valley. Jibbel Attakah, he tranilates alfo, the Mountain of Deliverance. But fo far were the Ifraelites from being delivered on their arrival at this mountain, that they were then in the greatcll dillrcfs and danger. Attakah, means, however, to arrive or come up with, either becaufe there they arrived within fight of the Red Sea; or, as I am rather inclined to think, this place took its name from the arrival of Pharaoh, or his coming in fight of the Ifraelites, when encamped between Migdol and the Red Sea, Pi ha in roth is the mouth of the valley, opening to the Rat country and the fea, as I have already faid, fuch are called Mouths; in the Arabic, Fum; as I have obferved in my journey to Cofleir, where the opening of the valley is called Fum el Bcder, the mouth of Bcder; Fum el Terfowey, the mouth of Terfowey. Hhoreth, the flat country along the Red Sea, is fo called from Hhor, a narrow valley where torrents run, occafioned by fudden irregular fhowers. Such wc have already defcribed on the eaR fide of the mountains, bordering upon that narrow flat country along the Red Sea, where temporary fhowers fall in great abundance, while none of them touch the welt fide pf the mountains or valley of Egypt. Egypt. Pihahiroth then is the mouth of the valley Badeah-; which opens to Ilhoreth, the narrow ftrlpe of land where fhowers fall. Baal-Zethon, the God of the watch-tower, was, probably, fome idol's temple, which ferved for a fignal-hnufc upon the Cape which forms the north entrance of the bay op-polite to Jibbel Attakah, where there is Hill a mofquc, or faint's tomb. It was probably a light-houfe, for the direction of fhips going to the bottom of the Gulf, to prevent miftaking it for another foul bay, under the high land, where there is alfo a tomb of a faint called Abou Dcrage. . The laR rebuke God gave to Pharaoh, by flaying all the firfl-born, feems to have made a ftrong impreffion upon the Egyptians. Scripture fays, that the people were now urgent with the Ifraelites to be gone, for they faid, " We be all dead men And we need not doubt, it was in order to keep up in their hearts a motive of refentment, ftrong c-nough to make them purfue the Ifraelites, that God eaufed the Ifraelites to borrow, and take away the jewels of the Egyptians; without fome new caufe of anger, the late terrible chaftifement might have deterred them. While, therefore, they journeyed eaftward towards the defert, the Egyptians had no motive to attack them, becaufe they went with permifTion there to facrifice, and were on their return to reftore them their moveables. But when the Ifraelites were obferved turning to the fouth, among the mountains, they Vol. I. G g were • Exod. ch. xii. 33, were then fuppofed to flee without a view of returning, becaufe they had left the way of the defert; and therefore Pharaoh, that he might induce the Egyptians to follow them, tells them that the Ifraelites were now entangled a-mong the mountains, and the wildcrnefs behind them, which was really the cafe, when they encamped at Pihahiroth, before, or fouth of Baal-Zephori, between Migdol and the fea. Here, then, before Migdol, the fea was divided, and they paifed over dry fhod to the wildcrnefs of Shur, which was immediately oppofite to them; a fpace fome-thing lefs than four leagues, and fo eafily accomplifhcd in one night, without any miraculous interposition. Three days they were without water, which would bring them to Korondel, where is a fpring of brackifh, or bitter water, to this day, which probably were the waters ofMarah *, The natives Rill call this part of the fea Bahar Kolzum, or the Sea of Dcftruction ; and jufl oppofite to Pihahiroth is a bay, where the North Cape is called Ras Mufa, or the Cape of Mofes, even now. Thefe are the reafons why I believe the paffage of the Ifraelites to have been in this direction. There is about fourteen fathom of water in the channel, and about nine in the fides, and good anchorage every where; the fartheft fide is a low fandy coaft, and a very eafy landing-place. The draught of the bottom of the Gulf given by Doctor Pococke is very erroneous, in every part of it. It was propofed to Mr Niebuhr, when in Egypt, to inquire, upon the fpot, Whether there were not fome ridges of * Such is the tradition among ihe Natives. of rocks, where the water was mallow, fo that an army at particular times might pafs over ? Secondly, Whether the Etefian winds, which blow Rrongly all Summer from the north weR, could not blow fo violently againR the fea, as to keep it back on a heap,fo that the Ifraelites might havepafled without a miracle ? And a copy of thefe queries was left for mc, to join my inquiries likewife. But I muft confefs, however learned the gentlemen were who propofed thefe doubts, I did not think they merited any attention to folvc them. This pall age is told us, by fcripture, to be a miraculous one; and, if fo, we have nothing to do with natural caufes. If wc do not believe Mofcs, we need not believe the tranfaction at all, feeing that it is from his authority alone wc derive it. If we believe in God that he made the fea, we muft believe he could divide it when he fees proper reafon, and of that he muft be the only judge. It is no greater miracle to divide the Red; Sea, than to divide the river of Jordan. If the Etefian wind blowing from the north-weft in fum-mcr, could heap up the fea as a wall, on the right, or to the fouth, of fifty feet high, ftill the difliculty would remain, of building the wall on the left hand, or to the north. Befides, water ftanding in that pofition for a day, muft have loft the nature of fluid. Whence came that cohefion of particles, that hindered that walhto efcape at the fides ? This is as great a miracle as that of Mofes. If the Etefian winds had done this once, they muft have repeated it many a time before and fmce, from the fame caufes. Yet, * Dio- G g 2 dorus * Uiod. Sic. Lib. 3, v. 122. thorns Siculus fays, the Troglodytes, the indigenous inhabitants of that very fpot, had a tradition from father to fon, from their very earlier! and remoteft ages that once this divillon of the fea did happen there, and that after leaving its bottom fometimes dry, the fea again came back, and covered it with great fury. The words of this author are of the moft remarkable kind. Wc cannot think this hear hen is writing in favour of revelation. He knew not Mb'fd s, nor fays a word about Pharaoh, and his hoft; but reco rds the miracle of the drvhion of the fea, in words nearly as ftrong as thofe of Moles, from the mouths of unbiailcd, un-deiigning Pagans. Were all thefe difficulties furmounted, what could we do with the pillar of lire ? The anfwer is, We fliould not* believe it. Why then believe the palfage at all? We have no authority for the one, but what is for the other; it is altogether contrary to the ordinary nature of tilings, and if not a miracle, it muft be a fable. The caufe of the feveral names of the Red Sea, is a fub-jecT of more liberal inquiry. I am of opinion, that it certainly derived its name from Kdom, long and early its powerful mailer, that word fignifying Red in Hebrew. It formerly wrent by the name of Sea of Edom, or Idumca; fmce, by that of the Red Sea. It has been obferved, indeed, that not only the Arabian Gulf, but part of the Indian Ocean *, went by this name, though * Dionyfii Periegefis, v. 38. ct Comment. Eullatliii in cundein. Strabo, lib. XT*, p. 765. Agsthexaai OeojgrapJiia., Lib. ii. cap. n. THE SOURCE OF TFIE NILE. 237 though far di(Iant from Idumca. This is true, but when we confider, as we fhall do in the courfe of this hiftory, that the mailers of that fea were Rill the Edomitcs, who went from the one fea directly in the fame voyage to the other, we (hall not difpute the propriety of extending the name to part of the Indian Ocean alfo. As for what fanciful people* have faid of any rednefs in the fea itfelf, or colour in the bottom, the reader may allure himfelf all this is fiction, the Red Sea being in colour nothing different from the Indian, or any other Ocean. There is greater difficulty in affigning a reafon for the Hebrew name, Yam Suph; properly fo called, fay learned authors, from the quantity of weeds in it. But I mull confers, in contradiction to this, that I never in my life, (and I have feen the whole extent of it) faw a weed of any fort in it; and, indeed, upon the flighteft confidcration, it will occur to any one, that a narrow gulf, under the immediate influence of monfoons, blowing from contrary points fix months each year, would have too much agitation to produce fuch vegetables, feldom found, but in ftagnant waters, and fcldomer, if ever, found in fait ones. My opinion then is, that it is from the f large trees, or plants of white coral, fprcad every where over the bottom of the Red Sea, perfectly in imitation of plants on land, that the fea has obtained this name. If not, I fairly confefs T have not any other conjecture to make. No * Jerome Lobo, the tfteateft liar of the Jefuits, ch. iv. p, 46. EnglHh tianflation. f I faw one of thefe, which, from a root nearly centra), threw out ramifications in a nearly circular form, nieafuring twenty-fix feet diameter every way. No fea, or fhores, I believe, in the world, abound more in fubjects of Natural Hiftory than the Red Sea. 1 fuppoie I have drawings and fubjects of this kind, equal in bulk to the journal of the whole voyage itfelf. But the vaft ex-pence in engraving, as well as other comiderations, will probably hinder for ever the perfection of this work in this particular. CHAP. C H A P. ^X. Sailfrom Tor—Pafs the Elanitic Gulf-—See Raddaa—Arrive at Tambo —Incidents there—Arrive at Jidda. /^VUR Rais, having difpatched his bufinefs, was eager to V_>/ depart; and, accordingly, on the i ith of April, at daybreak, we Rood out of the harbour of Tor. At firR, wc were becalmed in, at the point of the Bay fouth of Tor town, but the wind frefhening about eight o'clock, wc Rood through the channels of the firR four fhoals, and then between a fmaller one. We made the mouth of a fmall Bay, formed by Cape Mahomet, and a low fandy point to the eaR-ward of it. Our veiled feemed to be a capital one for failing, and I did every thing in my power to keep our Rais in good humour. About half a mile from the fandy point, wc Rruck upon a coral bank, which, though it was not of any great confidence or folidity, did not fail to make our mall nod. As I was looking out forward when the vefTel touched, and the Rais by me, I cried out in Arabic, " Get out of the way you dog !" the Rais, thinking my difcourfe directed to him, feemed very much furprifed, and afked, " what I meant ?" I "Why " Why did you not tell mc, faid I, when I hired you, that all the rocks in the lea would get out of the way of your veffel ? This ill-mannered fellow here did not how fa duty; he was Rccping I fuppofe, and has given us a hearty jolt,. and 1 was abuimg him for it, till you mould chaltife him fonte other way." He ihook his head, and laid, " Well! you do not believe, but God knows the truth ; well now where is the rock? Why.he is gone." However, very prudently, he anchored foon afterwards, though we had received no damage. At night, by an obfervation of two Rars in the meridian, I concluded the latitude of Cape Mahomet to be 270 54', N.. It mull be underRood 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 fandy country, called the Defert of Sin, to the eaRward, and end in this Cape, which is the high land obferved at fea; but the lower part, or fouthcrmoR extreme of the Cape, runs a-bout three leagues off from the high land, and is fo low, that it cannot be feen from deck above three leagues. It was called, by the ancients, Pharan Promontorium ; not becaufe there was a light-houfe * upon the end of it, (though this may have perhaps been the cafe, and a very neccllary and proper fituation it is) but from the Egyptian and Arabic word Earek f, which lignifies to divide, as being the point, or high land that divides the Gulf of Suez from the Elanitic Gulh I went * Anciently called Pharos. ■j-Thc Koran is, therefore, called El Farkati, or the Divider, or Diftlngutflier between truO . faith apd hcrcfy. i went amore here to gather fliclls, and Riot a fmall animal among the rocks, called Daman Ifrael, or Ifrael's Lamb; I do not know why, for it has no rcfcmblancc to the flicep kind. I take it to be the faphan of the Hebrew Scripture, which we tranilate by the coney. I have given a drawing, and defcription of it. in its proper place *. I fhot, likewife, feveral dozens of gooto, the IcaR beautiful of the kind I had feen, being very fmall, and coloured like the back of a partridge, but very indifferent food. The i 2th, wc failed from Cape Mahomet, juR as the fun appeared. We palfed the ifland of Tyrone, in the mouth of the Elanitic Gulf, which divides it near equally into two ; or, rather the north-weR fide is narrowefl. The direction of the Gulf is nearly north and fouth. I judge it to be about fix leagues over. Many of the Cairo iTiips are loR in miRaking the entry of the Elanitic for that of the Heroo-politic Gulf, or Gulf of Suez ; for, from the ifland of Tyrone, which is not above two leagues from the Main, there runs a Rring of iflands, which feem to make a femicircular bar acrofs the entry from the point, where a fliip, going with a fouth wind, would take its departure ; and this range of iflands ends in a fhoal with funken rocks, which reaches near five leagues from the Main. It is probable, that, upon thefe iflands, the fleet of Rehoboam perifhed, when failing for the expedition of Ophirf. Vol.L Hh I take * See the article Aflikoko in the Appendix. t 2 Chron. chap. xx. ver. 37th. I take Tyrone to be the ifland of Safpirene of Ptolemy, though this geographer has erred a little, both in its latitude and longitude. We paiTed the fecond of thefe iflands, called SenafTer, about three leagues to the northward, fleering with a frefh gale at fouth-eafl, upon a triangular ifland that has three pointed eminences upon its fouth-fide. We pafled another fmall ifland which has no name, about the fame diflance as the former; and ranged along three black rocks, the fouth-wefl of the ifland, called Sufange el Bahar, or the Sea* Spungc. As our veflel made fome water, and the wind had been very flrong all the afternoon, the Rais wanted to bring up to the leeward of this ifland, or between this, and a cape of land called RasSelab; but, not being able to find foundings here, he fet fail again, doubled the point, and came to anchor under the fouth cape of a fine bay, which is a Ration of the Emir Hadjc, called Kalaat el Mollah, the Cafllc, or Station of Water. We had failed this day about twenty-one leagues; and, as wc had very fair and fine weather, and were under no xort of concern whatever, I could not neglect attending to the difpofition of thefe iflands, in a very fplendid map lately publifhed. They arc carried too far into the Gulf. The 13th, the Rais having, in the night, remedied what was faulty in his veffel, fet fail about feven o'clock in the morning. We pafled a conical hill on the land, called Abou Jubbe, where is the fepulchre of a faint of that name. The mountains here arc at a confiderable diflance ; and noshing can be more defolatc and bare than the coafl. In the the afternoon, wc came to an anchor at a place called Kcl-la Clarega, after having palled an ifland called Jibbel Nu-man, about a league from the fhore. By the fide of this fhoal wc caught a quantity of good fifh, and a great number alfo very beautiful, and perfectly unknown, but which, when roaftcd, fhrank away to nothing except fkin, and when boiled, diffolvcd into a kind of blucifh glue. On the 14th, the wind was variable till near ten o'clock, after which it became a little fair. At twelve it was as favourable as we could wifli; it blew however but faintly. We pafled firft by one ifland lurrounded by breakers, and then by three more, and anchored clofe to the fhore, at a place called Jibbel Shekh, or the Mountain of the Saint. Here I refolved to take a walk on fhore to ftrctch my limbs, and fee if I could procure any game, to afford us fome variety of food. I had my gun loaded with ball, when a valt flock of gooto got up before mc, not five hundred yards from the fhore. As they lighted very near me, I lay down among the bent grafs, to draw the charge, and load with fmall fhot. While I was doing,this, I faw two antelopes, which, by their manner of walking and feeding, did not feem to be frightened. I returned mv balls into the gun, and refolved to be clofe among the bent, till they fliould appear before me. I had been quiet for fome minutes, when I heard behind mc fomething like a perfon breathing, on which I turned about, and, not without great furprife, and fome little fear, faw a man, Handing juft over me. I flartcd up, while the man, who had a little flick only in his hand, ran two or three flcps backwards, and then Rood. He was almofl peril h 2 fectly fecTly naked: he had half a yard of coarfe rag only wrapt round his middle, and a crooked knife Ruck in it. I afked him who he was ? He faid he was an Arab belonging to Shekh Abd el Macaber. I then defired to know where his mafler was ? He replied, he was at the hill a little above, with camels that were going to Yambo. He then, in his turn, afked who I was ? I told him I was an Abyflinian Have of the Shcrriffc of Mecca, was going to Cairo by fea, but wifh-cd much to fpeak to his mafler, if he would go and bring him. The favage went away with great willingnefs, and he no fooner difappeared, than I fet out as quickly as pofli-ble to the boat, and wc got her hauled out beyond tire fhoals, where we pafled the night. We faw afterwards dif-tincTly about fifty men, and three or four camels ; the men made feveral flgns to us, but wc were perfectly content with the diflance that was between us, and fought no more to kill antelopes in the neighbourhood of Sidi Abd cl Macaber. I would not have it imagined, that my cafe was abfo-lutelydefperate, even if I had been known as a Chriflian, and fallen into the hands of thefe Arabs, of Arabia Deferta, or Arabia Petrea, fuppofed to be the moR barbarous people in the world, as indeed they probably are. Hofpkality, and attention to one's word, feem in thefe countries to be in proportion to the degree in which the people are favage. A very eafy method is known, and followed with conftant fuccefs, by all the Chriftians trading to the Red Sea from Suez to Jidda, to favc themfelves if thrown on the coaft of Arabia. Any man of confideration from any tribe among the Arabs, comes to Cairo, gives his name and defignation to the Christian failor, and receives a very fmall prefent, which is repeated peatcd annually if he performs fo often the voyage. And for this the Arab promifcs the Chriflian his protection, mould he ever be fo unfortunate as to be fliipwrccked on their coaft. The Turks are very bad feamen, and lofe many fhips, the greateft part of the crew are therefore Chriftians; when a veflel ftrikes, or is afhore, the Turks are all maflacred if they cannot make their way good by force ; but the Chriftians prefent themfelves to the Arab, crying Fiarduc, which means, * we are under immediate protection/ If they are afked, who is their Gaffeer, or Arab, with whom they are in friendfhip ? They anfwer, Mahomet Abdelcader is our Gaffeer, or any other. If he is not there, you are told he is abfent fo many days journey off, or any diftance. This acquaintance or neighbour, then helps you, to fave what you have from the wreck, and one of them with his lance draws a circle, large cnougli to hold you and yours. He then flicks his lance in the fand, bids you abide within that circle, and goes and brings your Gaffeer, with what camels you want, and this Gaffeer is obliged, by rules known only to themfelves, to carry you for nothing, or very little, wherc-ever you go, and to f urnifh you with provifions all the way. Within that circle you are as fafe on the defert coaft of Arabia, as in a citadel; there is no example or exception to the contrary that has ever yet been known. There are many Arabs, who, from fituation, near dangerous fhoals or places, where fhips often pcrifh (as between Ras Mahomet and Ras Sclah, *Dar el Hamra, and fome others) have perhaps fifty or * See the Map. or a hundred ChriRians, who have been fo protected: So that when this Arab marries a daughter, he gives perhaps his revenue from foitr or rive protected ChriRians, as part of his daughters portion. I had, at that very time, a Gaf-eer, called Ibn Talil, an Arab of Harb tribe, and I mould have been detained perhaps three days till he came from near Medina, and carried me (had I been fhipwrecked) to Yambo, where I was going. On the 15th we came to an anchor at El Har*, where we faw high, craggy, and broken mountains, called the Mountains of Ruddua. Thefe abound with fprings of water ; all fort of Arabian and African fruits grow here in perfection, and every kind of vegetable that they will take the pains to cultivate. It is the paradife of the people of Yambo ; thofe of any fubftance have country houfes there ; but, flrangc to tell, they Ray there but for a fhort time, and prefer the bare, dry, and burning fands about Yambo, to one of the fineft climates, and moft verdant pleafant countries, that exifts in the world. The people of the place have told me, that water freezes there in winter, and that there are fome of the inhabitants who have red hair, and blue eyes, a thing fcarcely ever feen but in the coldeit mountains in the EaR. The 16th, about ten o'clock, we pafled a mofque, or Shckh's tomb on the main land, on our left hand, called Kubbet Yambo, and before eleven we anchored in the mouth of * El Har figniiks extreme heat. cf the port in deep water. Yambo, corruptly called Imbo, is an ancient city, now dwindled to a paultry village. Ptolemy calls it Iambia Vicus, or the village Yambia; a proof it was of no great importance in his time. But after the conqucft of Egypt under Sultan Selim, it became a valuable Ration, for fupplying their conquefls in Arabia, with warlike ftores, from Suez, and for the importation of wheat from Egypt to their garrifons, and the holy places of Mecca and Medina. On this account, a large caftle was built there by Sinan Ba-fha ; for the ancient Yambo of Ptolemy is not that which is called fo at this day. It is fix miles farther fouth; and is called Yambo el Nachel, or, Yambo among the palm-trees,' a great quantity of ground being there covered with this fort of plantation. Yambo, in the language of the country, iignilics a fountain or fpring, a very copious one of excellent water being found there among the date trees, and it is one of the Rations of the Emir Hadjc in going to, and coming from Mecca. The advantage of the port, however, which the other has not, and the protection of the caftle, have carried trading vcffels to the modern Yambo, where there is no water, but what is brought from pools dug on purpofc to receive the rain when it falls. There arc two hundred janiflarics in the caftle, the def-cendents of thofe brought thither by Sinan Bafha; who have fucceeded their fathers, in the way I have obferved they did at Syene, and, indeed, in all the conquefls in Arabia, and Egypt. The inhabitants of Yambo arc dcfervedly reck- 4 oncd oncd * the mofl barbarous of any upon the Red Sea, and the janiflarics keep pace with them, in every kind of malice and violence. We did not go alhore all that day, becaufe we had heard a number of ihots, and had received intelligence from fhore, that the janiflarics and town's people, for a week, had been fighting together; I was very unwilling to interfere, wifhing that they might have all leifure to extirpate one another, if pofliblc ; and my Rais feemed mofl heartily to join me in my willies. In the evening, the captain of the port came on board, and brought two janiflarics with him, whom, with fome difficulty, I fullered to enter the veflel. Their firft demand was gun-powder, which I pofltively refufed. I then afked them how many were killed in the eight days they had been engaged ? They anfwered, with fome indifference, not many, about a hundred every day, or a few lefs or more, chiefly Arabs. We heard afterwards, when we came on more, one only had been wounded, and that a foldier, by a fall from his horfe. They infilled upon bringing the veffel into the port; but I told them, on the contrary, that having no bufinefs at Yambo, and being by no means under the guns of their caftle, I was at liberty to put to fea without coming afhorc at ali; therefore, if they did not leave us, as the wind was favourable, I would fail, and, by force, carry them to Jidda. The janiflaries began to talk, as their cuftom is, in a very bJuftcring and warlike tone; but I, who knew my intereft at Jidda, and the force in my own hand; that my veflel * Vide Irvine's letters* veflel was afloat, and could be under weigh in an inflant, never was lefs difpofed to be bullied, than at that moment. They aiked me a thoufand queflions, whether I was a Ma-maluke, whether I was a Turk, or whether I was an Arab, and why I did not give them fpirits and tobacco ? To all which I anfwered, only, that they fliould know to-morrow who I was ; then I ordered the Emir Bahar, the captain of the port, to carry them alhore at his peril, or I would take their arms from them, and confine them on board all night. The Rais gave the captain of the port a private hint, to take care what they did, for they might lofe their lives ; and that private caution, under flood in a different way perhaps than was meant, had effort upon the foldiers, to make them withdraw immediately. When they went away, I begged the Emir Bahar to make my compliments to his mailers, Haflan and Huflein, Agas, to know what time 1 mould wait upon them to-morrow ; and defired him, in the mean time, to keep his foldiers afliorc, as I was not difpofed to be troubled with their infolence. Soon after they went, we heard a great firing, and faw lights all over the town ; and the Rais prOpofed to me to flip immediately, and fet fail, from which meafure I was not at all avcrfe. But, as he laid, we had a better anchoring place under the mofquc of the Shekh, and, befides, that there we would be in a place of fafety,by reafon of the ho-Jinefs of the faint, and that at our own choice might even put to fea in a moment, or flay till to-morrow, as we were in no fort of doubt of being able to repel, force by force, if attacked, we got under weigh for a few hundred yards, Vol. I. I i and and dropt our anchor under the flirine of one of the greateft faints in the world. At night the firing had abated, the lights diminifhed, and the captain of the port again came on board. He was furprifed at milling us at our former anchoring place, and Rill more fo, when, on our hearing the noifc of his oars, wc hailed, and forbade him to advance any nearer, till he lhould tell us how many he had on board, or whether he had foldiers or not, otherwife wc fliould fire upon them: to this he anfwered, that there were only himfelf, his boy, and three officers, fervants to the Aga. I replied, that three Rrangers were too many at that time of the night, but, fincc they were come from the Aga, they might advance. All our people were fitting together armed on the forepart of the veil el; I foon divined they intended us no harm, for they gave us the falute Salam Alicuml before they were within ten yards of us. 1 anfwered with great complacency ; we handed them on board, and fet them down upon deck. The three officers were genteel young men, of a fickly appearance, drefled in the fafhion of the country, in long burnoofes loofely hanging about them, Rrip-■d with red and white ; they wore a turban of red, green, and white, with ten thoufand taffels and fringes hanging down to the fmall of their backs. They had in their hand, each, a Riort javelin, the fliaft not above four feet and a half long, with an iron head about nine inches, and two >r three iron hooks below the fliaft, which was bound round with brafs-wire, in feveral places, and fliod with iron at the farther end. They, They allied me where I came from ? I faid, from Conftan-tinople, laR from Cairo; but begged they would put no more queflions to me, as I was not at liberty to anfwer them. They faid they had orders from their mailers to bid mc welcome, if I was the perfon that had been recommended to them by the Sherriffe, and was Ali Bey's phyfician at Cairo. I faid, if Metical Aga had advifed them of that, then I was the man. They replied he had, and were come to bid me welcome, and attend mc on more to their matters, whenever I pleafed. I begged them to carry my humble rcfpecTs to their mailers ; and told them, though I did not doubt of their protection in any fhape, yet I could not think it confift-cnt with ordinary prudence, to rilk myfelf at ten o'clock at night, in a town fo full of diforder as Yambo appeared to have been for fome time, and where fo little regard was paid to difcipline or command, as to fight with one another. Thcy faid that was true, and I might do as I pleafed; but the firing that I had heard did not proceed from fighting, but from their rejoicing upon making peace. In fhort, we found, that, upon fome difcufhon, the gar-rifon and townfmen had been fighting for feveral days, in which difordcrs the greateR part of the ammunition in the town had been expended, but it had fmce been agreed on by the old men of both parties, that no body had been to blame on either fide, but the whole wrong was the work of a Camel. A camel, therefore, was fcized, and brought without the town, and there a number on both fides having met, they upbraided the camel with every thing that had been either faid or done. The camel had killed men, he had threatened to fet the town on fire ; the camel had threatened to burn the Aga's houfe, and the caflle; he had curfed the I i 2 Grand Grand Signior, and the SherriiTc of Mecca, the fovcreigns of the two parties ; and, the only thing the poor animal was interefted in, he had threatened to deRroy the wheat that was going to Mecca. After having fpent great part of the afternoon in upbraiding the camel, whole meafure of iniquity, it feems, was near full, each man thrult him through with a lance, devoting him Diis mambus 'iff Diris, by a kind of prayer, and with a thoufand curfes upon his head. After which, every man retired, fully fatished as to the wrongs he hadreceived from the camel. The reader will cafily obferve in this, fome traces of the? *azazcl, or fcape-goat of the Jews, which was turned out into the wildcrnefs, loaded with the fins of the people. Next morning I went to the palace, as we call it, in which were fome very handfome apartments. There was a guard of janillaries at the door, who, being warriors, lately come from the bloody battle with the camel, did not fail to fhew marks of infolcnce, which they wifhed to be miftaken for courage. The two Agas were fitting on a high bench upon Perfian carpets; and about forty well-dreffcdand well-looking mcny (many of them old) fitting on carpets upon the floor, in ai femi-circle round them* They behaved with great polite-nefs and attention, and afked no queftions but general ones;;, as, How the fea agreed with me? If there was plenty at Cairo?, till. *Levit. chap-xvi. ver.j, till! was going away, when the youngeft of the Agas inquired, with a feeming degree of diffidence, Whether Mahomet Bey Abou Dahab, was ready to march? As I knew well what this qucftion meant, I anfwered, I know not if he is ready, he has made great preparations. The other Aga faid, I hope you will be a meflenger of peace ? 1 anfwered, I intreat you to alii me no qucftions; 1 hope, by the grace of God, all will go well. Every perfon prefent applauded the fpeech; agreed to refpect. my fecrerf as they fuppofed 1 had one, and they all were inclined to believe, that I was a man in the confidence of Ali Bey, and that his hoftile dcligns-againR Mecca were laid afide: this was jufl what I wjfhcd them to fuppofe; for it fecured mc againR ilUufage all the time I chofc to Ray there ; and of this I had a proof in the inflant, for a very good houfe was provided for me by the Aga, and a man of his fent to fhew. me to it. I wondered the Rais had not come home with me; whor in about half an hour after I had got into my houfe, came' and told me, that, when the captain of the boat came on> board the firR time with the two foldiers, he had put a note, which they call tijkera, into his hand, prefling him into the Sherriffe's fervice, to carry wheat to Jidda, and, with the wheat, a number of poor pilgrims that were going to Mecca at the ShcrriflVs expence. finding us, however, out of the-harbour, and, fufpecting from our manners and carriage towards the janillaries, that we were people who knew what we had to truft to, he had taken the two foldiers a-fhorc* with him, who were by no means fond of their reception, or inclined to Ray in fuch company; and, indeed, our dreiles and appearances in the boat were fully as likely to make Rrangers believe we fliould rob them, as theirs were to im- 2 ■ prefs. prcfs us with an appreheniion that they would rob us. The Rais laid alfo, that, after my audience, the Aga had called upon him, and taken away the tijkera, telling him he was free, and to obey nobody but me; and fent mc one of his fervants to fit at the door, with orders to admit nobody but whom I pleafed, and that I might not be troubled with the people of Yambo. EIitherto all was well; but it had been with me an obfervation, which had conRantly held good, that too profper-ous beginnings in thefe countries always ended in ill at the laft. I was therefore refolved to ufe my profperity with great temperance and caution, make myfelf as flrong, and ufe my flrength as little, as it was poflible for me to do. There was a man of confiderable weight in Aleppo, named * Sidi Ali Taraboloufli, who was a great friend of Dr Ruflel, our phyfician, through whom I became acquainted with him. He was an intimate friend and acquaintance of the cadi of Medina, and had given mc a letter to hiirf, recommending me, in a very particular manner, to his protection and fervices. I inquired about this perfon, and was told he was in town, directing the diflribution of the corn to be fent to his capital. Upon my inquiry, the news were carried to him as foon almofl as his name was uttered; on Which, being deflrous of knowing what fort of man I was, about eight o'clock in the evening he fent me a meffage, and, immediately after, I received a vifit from him. I was * Native of Tripoli: it is Turkifln I was putting my telefcopcs and time-keeper in order, and had forbid admittance to any one ; but this was fo holy and fo dignified a pcrfon, that all doors were open to him. He obferved me working about the great telefcopc and quadrant in my lnirt, for it was hot beyond conception upon the fmalleR exertion. Without making any apology for the intrufion at all, he broke out into exclamation, how lucky he was! and, without regarding me, he went from telefcopc to clock, from clock to quadrant, and from that to the thermometer, crying, ylh tibe, ah tibe! This is fine, this is fine! He fcarcely looked upon me, or feemed to think I was worth his attention, but touched every thing fo carefully, and handled fo properly the brafs cover of the alidade, which inclofcd the horfe-hair with the plummet, that he feemed to be a man more than ordinarily vcrfed in the ufe of aftro-nomical inftruments. In fhort, not to repeat ufelefs matter to the reader, I found he had ftudicd at Conftantinoplc, underftood the principles of geometry very tolerably, was mailer of Euclid fo far as it regarded plain trigonometry; the demonftrations of which he rattled off fo rapidly, that it was impomble to follow, or to underftand him. Fie knew nothing of fphcrics, and all his aftronomy refolved itfelf at. laft into maxims of judicial aftrology, firft and fecond houfes; of the planets and afeendancics, very much in the ftyle of common almanacks^ He defired that my door might be open to him at all times, efpecially when I.made obfervations ; he alfo knew perfectly the divifion of our clocks, and begged he might count time for me. All this was eafily granted, and 1 had from him, what was moft ufeful, a hiftory of the fituation of. the government of the place, by which I learned, that that the two young men (the governors) were flaves of the Shcrrifle of Mecca; that it was impoflible for any one, the mofl: intimate with them, to tell which of the two was mod bafe or profligate; that they would have robbed us all of the lafl farthing, if they had not been rellraincd by fear; and that there was a foreigner, or a frank, very lately going to India, who had difappearcd, but, as he believed, had been privately put to death in priloil, for he had never after been heard of. Though I cannot fay I reliflied this account, yet I put on the very befl face poflible, " Here, in a garrifon town, faid I, with very worthlefs foldiers, they might do what they pleafed with fix or feven Rrangers, but I do not fear them ; I now tell them, and the people of Yambo, all and each of them, they had better be in their bed fick of the plague, than touch a hair of my dog, if I had one." " And fo, fays he they know, therefoie refl and rejoice, and flay as long with us as you can." " As fhort time as poflible, faid I, Sidi Mahomet ; although 1 do not fear wicked people, I don't love them fo much as to flay long with them." He then afked mc a favour, that I would allow my Rais to carry a quantity of wheat for him to Jidda ; which 1 willingly permitted, upon condition, that he would order but one man to go along with it; on which he declared folcmn-!y, i hat none but one lhould go, and that I might throw him even into the ftfy if he behaved improperly. However, afterwards he fent three ; and one who deferved often to be thrown into the fa, as he had permitted. " Now friend, faid 1, 1 have done every thing that you have defi-reu, though favours lhould have begun With you upon your your own principle, as I am the flranger. Now, what I have to alk you is this,—Do you know the Shekh of Bcder Hu^ nein ? Know him! fays he, I am married to his filler, a daughter of Harb ; he is of the tribe of Harb." " Harb be it then (faid I) your trouble will be the lefs; then you are to fend a camel to your brother-in-law, who will procure me the largeft, and moft perfect, plant pofftble of the Balfam of Mecca. He is not to break the ftem, nor even the branches, but to pack it entire, with fruit and flower, if pofRble, and wrap it in a mat." He looked cunning, fhrugged up his flioulders, drew up his mouth, and putting his finger to his nofe, faid, " Enough, I know all about this, you fhall find what fort of a man I am, I am no fool, as you mall fee," I received this the third day at dinner, but the flower (if there had been any) was rubbed off. The fruit was in feveral ftages, and in great perfection. The drawing, and defcription from this * plant, will, I hope, for ever obviate all difficulty about its hiftory. He fent mc, likewife, a quart bottle of the pure balfam, as it had flowed that year from the tree, with which I have verified what the old botanifts in their writings have faid of it, in its feveral ftages. Lie told me alfo the circumftances I have related in my defcription of the balfam, as to the gathering and preparing of the feveral kinds of it, and a curious anecdote as to its origin. He faid the plant was no part of the creation of God in the fix days, but that, in the laft of three very bloody battles, which Mahomet fought with the noble Arabs of Harb, and his kinf- Vol. L K k men * See the article Baleflan in the Appendix, men the Beni Koreifh, then Pagans at Beder Hunein, that Mahomet prayed to God, and a grove of balfam-trees grew up from the blood of the Rain upon the field of battle; and, that with the balfam that flowed from them lie touched the wounds even of thofe that were dead, and all thofe pre-deftined to be good Mujfulmcn afterwards, immediately came to life. " I hope, faid I, friend, that the other things you told mc of it, are fully as true as this, for they will other-wife laugh at me in England." " No, no, fays he, not half fo true, nor a quarter fo true, there is nothing in the world fo certain as this." But his looks, and his laughing very heartily, fhewed me plainly he knew better, as indeed moll of lhem do. In the evening, before we departed, about nine o'clock, I had an unexpected vifit from the youngeft of the two Agas; who, after many pretended complaints of ficknefs, and injunctions of fecrccy, at laR mod fly requciteel me to give him fome fow poifon, that might kill his brother, without fufpicion, and after fome time fliould clapfe. I told him, fuch propofals were not to be made to a man like me ; that all the gold, and all the filvcr in the world, would not engage me to poifon the poorefl vagrant in the flreet, fuppo-fmg it never was to be fufpecfed, or known but to my own heart. All he faid, was, " Then your manners are not the fame as ours."—I anfwered, dryly, " Mine, I thank God, ;ire not," and fp we parted. Yamdo, or at lcafl the prefent town of that name, I found, by many obfervations of the fun and liars, to be in latitude 240 3' 35" north, and in long. 38° 16' 30" call from the meridian of Greenwich. The barometer, at its highefl, on the 23d of of April, was 270 8', and, the lowefl on the 27th, was 26011'( The thermometer, on the 24th of April, at two o'clock in the afternoon, Rood at 91°, and the lowed was 66° in the morning of the 26th of fame month. Yambo is reputed very unwholcfomc, but there were no epidemical difeafes when I was there. The many delays of loading the wheat, the defire of doubling the quantity I had permitted, in which both the Rais and my friend the cadi confpired for their mutual intereft, detained mc at Yambo all the 27th of April, very much a-gainft my inclination. For I was not a little uncafy at thinking among what banditti I lived, whole daily with was to rob and murder me, from which they were reflraincd by fear only; and this, a fit of drunkennefs, or a piece of bad news, fuch as a report of Ali Bey's death, might remove in a moment. Indeed we were allowed to want nothing. A fheep, fome bad beer, and fome very good wheat-bread, were delivered to us every day from the Aga, which, with dates and honey, and a variety of prefents from thofe that I attended as a phyfician, made us pafs our time comfortably enough; wc went frequently in the boats to fifh at fea, and, as I had brought with mc three fizgigs of different fizes, with the proper lines, I feldom returned without killing four or five dolphins. The fport with the line was likewife excellent. We caught a number of beautiful fifh from the very houfe where we lodged, and fome few good ones. Wre had 'vinegar in plenty at Yambo; onions, and feveral other greens, from Raddua ; and, being all cooks, wc lived well. K k 2 On On the 28th of April, in the morning, I failed with a cai> go of wheat that did not belong to me, and three paftengers, inRcad of one, for whom only I had undertaken. The wind was fair, and I faw one advantage of allowing the Rais to load, was, that he was determined to carry fail to make a-mends for the delay. There was a tumbling, difagreeable fwell, and the wind feemed dying away. One of our paf-fengers was very fick. At his requeft, we anchored at Djar, a round fmall port, whofe entrance is at the north-eaft.. It is about three fathoms deep throughout, unlefs juft upon the fouth fide, and perfectly flickered from every wind. We faw here, for the firft time, feveral plants of rack tree, growing confidcrably within the fea-mark, in fome places with two feet of water upon the trunk. I found the latitude of Djar to be 230 36' 9" north. The mountains of Beder Hu-nein were S. S. W., of us. The 29th, at five o'clock in the morning, we failed from Djar. At eight, we pafled a fmall cape called * Ras el Him-ma; and the wind turning flill more frefh, we pafled a kind of harbour called Maibced, where there is an anchoring place named ElHorma. The fun was in the meridian when we palled this ; and I found, by obfervation, El Horma was in lat. 230 o' 30" north. At ten we pafled a mountain on land called Soub; at two, the fmall port of Muftura, under 9 mountain whofe name is Hajoub; at half paft four we came to an anchor at a place called Harar. The wind had been contrary all the night, being fouth-eaft, and rather frefh; * Cape Fevers frelh; we thought, too, we perceived a current fctting ftrong-ly to the weftward. On the 30th we failed at eight in the morning, but the wind was unfavourable, and we made little way. We were furrouncled with a great many marks, fome of which feemed to be large. Though I had no line but upon the fmall fizgigs for dolphins, I could not refrain from attempting one of the largeft, for they were fobold, that fome of them, we thought, intended to leap on board. I ftruck one of the moft forward of them, juft at the joining of the neck ; but as we were not practifed enough in laying our line, ib as to run out without hitching, he leaped above two feet out of the water, then plunged down with prodigious violence, and our line taking hold of fomething Handing in the way, the cord mapped afunder, and away went the mark. All the others difappeared in an inftant; but the Rais faid, as foon as they fmellcd the blood, they would not leave the wounded one, till they had torn him to pieces. I was truly lorry for the lofs of my tackle, as the two others were really liker harpoons, and not fo manageable. But the Rais, whom I had ftudied to keep in very good humour, and had befriended in every thing, was an old harpooner in the Indian Ocean, and he pulled out from his hold a compleat apparatus. He not only had a fmall harpoon like my firft, but better conftrucled. He had, likewife, feveral hooks with long chains and lines, and a wheel with a long hair line to it, like a fmall windlafs, to which he equally fixed the line of the harpoon, and thofe of the hooks. This was a compliment he faw I took very kindly, and did not doubt it. would be rewarded in the proper time. The wind frefliening and turning fairer, at noon wc brought to, within fight of Rabac, and at one o'clock anchored there. Rabac is a fmall port in lat. 22° 35' 30" north. The entry is E. N. E. and is about a quarter of a mile broad. The port extends itfelf to the eaR, and is about two miles long. The mountains are about three leagues to the north, and the town of Rabac about four miles north by eafl from the entrance to the harbour. Wc remained all day, the firR of May, in the port, making a drawing of the harbour. The night of our anchoring there, the Emir Hadje of the pilgrims from Mecca encamped about three miles off. Wc heard his evening gun. The paffengers that had been fick, now infifled upon going to fee the Hadje ; but as I knew the confequence would be, that a number of fanatic wild people would be down upon us, I told him plainly, if he went from the boat, he lhould not again be received ; and that we would haul out of the port, and anchor in the ofling; this kept him with us. But all next day he was in very bad humour, repeating frequently, to himfelf, that he deferved all this for embarking with infidels. The people came down to us from Rabac with water melons, and fkins full of water. All fhips may be fup-plied here plentifully from wells near the town ; the water is not bad. The country is level, and fecmingly uncultivated, but has not fo defert a look as about Yambo. I fliould fufpeel: by its appearance, and the freihnefs of its water, that it rained rained at times in the mountains here, for we were now confidcrably within the tropic, which paffes very near Ras el Himma, whereas Rabac is half a degree to the fouth-ward. On the 2d, at five o'clock in the morning, we failed from Rabac, with a very little wind, fcarcely making two knots an hour. At half paR nine, Dencb bore eaR and by fouth from us. This place is known by a few palm-trees. The port is fmall, and very indifferent, at leaft for fix months of the year, becaufe it lies open to the fouth, and there is a prodigious fvvell here. At one o'clock we pafTcd an ifland called Hammel, a-bout a mile off; at the fame time, another ifland, El Me-mifk, bore eaft of us, about three miles, where there is good anchorage. At three and three quarters, wc palled an ifland called Gawad, a mile and a quarter fouth-eaft of us. The main bore likewife fouth-eaft, diftant fomething more than a league. We here changed our courfe from fouth to W. S. W. and at four o'clock came to an anchor at the fmall ifland of Lajack. The 3d, we failed at half paft four in the morning, our courfe W. S. W. but it fell calm ; after having made about a league, we found ourfelves off Ras Hateba, or the Woody Cape, which bore due eaft of us. After doubling the cape, 4 the the wind frefhening, at four o'clock in the afternoon we anchored in the port of Jidda, clofe upon the key, where the officers of the cuftom-houfe immediately took poffeflion of our baggage. CHAP, SOURCE OF THE NILE. 265 CHAP. XI. Occurrences at Jidda—Vift of the Vizir—Alarm of the Factory—Great Civility of the Englifh trading from India—Polygamy—Opinion of T)r Arbuthnot ill-founded—Contrary to Reafon and Experience_ Leave Jidda, TH E port of Jidda is a very extenfive one, confuting of numberlcfs fhoals, fmall iflands, and funken rocks, with channels, however, between them, and deep water. You are very fafe in Jidda harbour, whatever wind blows, as there arc numberlcfs fhoals which prevent the water from ever being put into any general motion; and you may moor head and Rem, with twenty anchors out if you pleafe. But the danger of being loR, I conceive, lies in the going in and coming out of the harbour. Indeed the obfervation is here verified, the more dangerous the port, the abler the pi* lots, and no accidents ever happen. There is a draught of the harbour of Jidda handed about among the Englifh for many.years, very inaccurately, and very ill laid down, from what authority I know not, often condemned, but never corrected; as alfo a pretended chart of the upper part of the Gulf, from Jidda to Mocha, full of foundings. As I was fome months at Jidda, kindly enter- Vol. L L 1 taincd, tained, and had abundance of time, Captain Thornhill, and fome other of the gentlemen trading thither, wilhed me to make a furvcy of the harbour, and promifed mc the afliilance of their officers, boats, and crews. 1 very willingly undertook it to oblige them. , finding afterwards, however, that one of their number, Captain Newland, had undertaken it, and that he would be hurt by my interfering, as he was in fome manner advanced in the work, I gave up all further thoughts of the plan. He was a man of real ingenuity and capacity, as well as very humane, well beha-haved, and one to whom I had been indebted for every fort of attention. God forgive thofe who have taken upon them, very lately, to ingraft a number of new foundings upon that miferable bundle of errors, that Chart of the upper part of the Gulf from Jidda to Mocha, which has been toffed about the Red Sea thefe twenty years and upwards. One of thefe, fmcc my return to Europe, has been fent to mc new dreffed like a bride, with all its original and mortal fins upon its head. I would beg leave to be under-Rood, that there is not in theAvorld a man more averfc than I am to give offence even to a child. It is not in the fpirit of criticifm I fpeak this. In any other cafe, I would not have made any obfervations at all. But, where the lives and properties of fo many arc at Rake yearly, it is a fpecics of treafon to conceal one's fentimcnts, if the piiblifhing of them can any way contribute-to fafety, whatever offence it may give to unreafonahlc individuals. Of all the vcffels in Jidda, two only had their log lines properly divided, and yet all were fo fond of their fupgofed accuracy accuracy, as to aver they had kept their courfe within five leagues, between India and Babelmandeb. Yet they had made no eRimation of the currents without the * Babs, nor the different very ftrong ones foon after paffing Socotra ; their half-minute glaffes upon a medium ran 57"; they had made no obfervation on the tides or currents in the Red Sea, either in the channel or in the inward paffage ; yet there is delineated in this map a courfe of Captain Ncwland's, which he kept in the middle of the channel, full of fharp angles and fhort ftrctches; you would think every yard was mcafurcd and founded. To the fpurious catalogue of foundings found in the old chart above mentioned, there is added a double proportion of new, from what authority is not known; fo that from Mocha, to lat. 170 you have as it were foundings every mile, or even lefs. No one can eaft his eyes on the upper part of the map, but muft think the Red Sea one of the moR frequented places in the world. Yet I will aver, without fear of being contradicted, that it is a charactcriftic of the Red Sea, fcarcc to have foundings in any part of the channel, and often on both fides, whilft afhore foundings are hardly found a boat-length from the main. To this I will add, that there is fcarce one ifland upon which I ever was, where the boltfprit was not over the land, while there were no foundings by a line heaved over the ftern. I muft then proteft againft making thefe old moft erroneous maps a foundation for new ones, as they can be of no ufe, but muft be of L 1 2 detriment. # This is a common Tailor's phrafe for the Straits of Babclmandcb. detriment. Many good fcamcn of knowledge and enter— prife have been in that fea, within thefe few years. Let them-luy, candidly, what were their inftruments, what their difficulties were, where they had doubts, where they fucceed-ed, and where they were difappointcd ? Were thefe acknowledged by one, they would be fpeedily taken up by others,. and rectified by the help of mathematicians and good ob— fervers on fhore. Mr Nieruiir has contributed much, but we fliould reform.' the map on both fides ; though there is a great deal done;, yet much remains Rill to do. I hope that my friend Mr Dalrymple, when he can afford time, will give us a foundation more proper to build upon, than that old rotten one,-however changed in form, and fuppofed to have been improved, if he really has a numher of obfervations by him that can be relied on, otherwife it is but continuing the\ dclufion and the danger.. If fhips of war afterwards, that keep the channel, flialli come, manned with Rout and able fcamcn, and expert young-officers, provided with lines, glaffes, good compafles, and a number of boats, then we fhall know thefe foundings, at leaft in part. And then alfo we fliall know the truth of what I now advance, viz. that fhips like thofe employed hitherto in trading from India (manned and provided as the beft of them are) were incapahle, aniidft unknown tides and currents, and going before a monfoon, whether fouth-ern or northern, of knowing within three leagues where any one of them had ever dropt his founding line, unlefs he was clofe on board fome ifland, fhoal, remarkable point, or in a harbour. 2 Till: Till that time, I would advifc every man failing in the Red Sea, efpecially in the channel, where the pilots know no more than he, to trull to his own hands for fafety in the minute of danger, to heave the lead at leaft every hour, keep a good look-out, and fhortcn fail in a frefh wind, or in the night-time, and to confider all maps of the channel of the Arabian Gulf, yet made, as matters of mere curiofity, and not fit to truft a man's life to. Any captain in the India fervice, who had run over from Jidda into the mouth of the river Frat, and the neighbouring port Kilfit, which might every year be done for L. 10 Sterling extra cxpenccs, would do more meritorious fervice to the navigation of that fea, than all the foundings that were ever yet made from Jibbel Zekir to the ifland of Sheduan. From Yambo to Jidda I had flcpt little, making my memoranda as full upon the fpot as poflible. I had, befides, an aguifh difordcr, which very much troubled me, and in drefs and cleanlincfs was fo like a Galiongy (or Turkifh fca-man) that the * Emir Bahar wras aftonifhed at hearing my fervants fay I was an Englifhman, at the time they carried away all my baggage and inftruments to the cuftom-houfe. He fent his fervant, however, with me to the Bengal-houfe, who promifed me, in broken Englilh, all the way, a very magnificent reception from my countrymen. Upon his naming all the captains for my choice, I defired to be carried to a Scotchman, a relation of my own, who was then accidentally leaning over the rail of the flair-cafe, leading up to * Captain of the port, to his apartment. I falutcd him by his name ; he fell into a violent rage, calling me villain, thief, cheat, and renegado rafcal; and declared, if I offered to proceed a Rep further, he would throw me over ftairs. I went away without reply, his cur-fes and abufe followed mc long afterwards. The fervant, my conductor, fere wed his mouth, and flirugged up his Ihouklcrs. " Never fear, fays he, I will carry you to the beft of them all? We went up an oppofite ftair-cafe, whilft I thought within myfelf, if thofe arc their India manners, I fliall keep my name and fituation to myfelf while I am at Jidda. I Hood in no need of them, as I had credit for iooo fequins and more, if I fliould want it, upon Youfef Cabil, Vizir or Governor of Jidda. I was conducted into a large room, where Captain Thorn-hill was fitting, in a white callico waiftcoat, a very high-pointed white cotton night-cap, with a large tumbler of water before him, feemingly very deep in thought. The Emir Bahar's fervant brought me forward by the hand, a little within the door; but I was not dciirous of advancing much farther, for fear of the falutation of being thrown down Rairs again. He looked very Readily, but not ftcrn-ly, at me ; and defired the fervant to go away and lliut the door. " Sir, lays he, are you an Englifhman ?"—I bowed.— " You furely arc lick, you fliould be in your bed, have you been long fick f—I faid, " long Sir," and bowed.—" Are you wanting a paffage to India ?"—I again bowed.—" Well, fays he, you look to be a man in dillrefs ; if you have a fecret, I Riall refpect. it till you pleafe to tell it me, but if you want apaflagc to India, apply to no one butThornhill of the Bengal merchant. Perhaps you are afraid of fomebody, if fo, afk for Mr Greig, my lieutenant, he will carry you on board my fhip directly, directly, where you will be fafe."---" Sir, faid I, I hope you will find me an honeR man, I have no enemy that I know, cither in Jidda or elfewhcre, nor do I owe any man any thing."—" I am furc, fays he, I am doing wrong, in keeping a poor man Randing, who ought to be in his hed. Here! Philip! Philip!"—Philip appeared. " Boy," fays he, in Portu-gucfc, which, as I imagine, he fuppofed I did not underRand, " here is a poor Englifhman, that fliould be either in his bed or his grave ; carry him to the cook, tell him to give him as much broth and mutton as he can cat; the fc/lozv feems to have been ftarved, but I would rather have the feeding of ten to India, than the burying of one at Jidda." Philip de la Cruz was the fon of a Portuguefe lady, whom Captain Thornhill had married; a boy of great talents, and excellent difpofition, who carried mc with great willingncfs to the cook. I made as aukward a bow as I could to Capt. Thornhill, and faid, " God will return this to your honour fome day." Philip carried mc into a court-yard, where they ufed to expofe the famples of their India goods in large hales. It had a portico along the left-hand fide of it, which feemed defigned for a ftable. To this place I was introduced, and thither the cook brought me my dinner. Several of the Englifh from the vcffels, lafcars, 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 d-n them if they fliould like to fall into my hands. I fell faff afleep upon the mat, while Philip was ordering me another apartment. In the mean time, fome of my people had followed the baggage to the CuRom-houfe,, and fome of them Raid on board the boat, to prevent the 3". pilfering. pilfering of what was left. The keys had remained with me, and the Vizir had gone to fleep, as is ufual, about midday. As foon as he awaked, being greedy of his prey, he fell immediately to my baggage, wondering that fuch a quantity of it, and that boxes in fuch a curious form, fliould belong to a mean man like mc; he was therefore full of hopes, that a fine opportunity for pillage was now at hand-He afked for the keysof the trunks, my fervant faid, they were with me, but he would go inftantly and bring them. That, however, was too long to flay; no delay could pofti-bly be granted. Accuftomed to pilfer, they did not force the locks, but, very artift like, took off the hinges at the back, and in that manner opened the lids, without opening the locks. The firft thing that prefentcd itfelf to the Vizir's fight, was the firman of the Grand Signior, magnificently written and titled, and the infcription powdered with gold dull, and wrapped in green taffeta. After this was a white fattin bag, addrcfled to the Khan of Tartary, with wdiich Mr Peyffonei, French conful of Smyrna, had favoured me, and which I had not delivered, as the Khan was then prifoncr at Rhodes. The next was a green and gold fdk bag, with letters directed to the Sherrifte of Mecca ; and then came a plain criinfon-fattin bag, with letters addreifed to Metical Aga, fword-bearer (or Selictar, as it is called) of the Sherrifle, or his great miniflcr and favourite. He then found a letter from All bey to himfelf, written with all the fuperiority of a Prince to a nave. In this letter the Bey told him plainly, that he heard the governments of Jidda, Mecca, and other States of the Sher-riffe, were disorderly, and that merchants, coming about their THE SOURCE OF THE KILE. 27l their lawful bufinefs, were plundered, terrified, and detained. He therefore intimated to him, that if any fuch thing happened to me, he fliould not write or complain, but he would fend and punifh the affront at the very gates of Mecca. This was very unpleafant language to the Vizir, becaufe it was now publicly known, that Mahomet Bey Abou Dahab was preparing next year to march againR Mecca, for fome offence the Bey had taken at the SherrifTe. There was alfo another letter to him from Ibrahim Sikakecn, chief of the merchants at Cairo, ordering him to furnifh me with a thoufand fequins for my prefent ufe, and, if more were needed, to take my bill. These contents of the trunk were fo unexpected, that Ca-bil the Vizir thought he had gone too far, and called my fervant in a violent hurry, upbraiding him, for not telling who I was. The fervant defended himfelf, by faying, that neither he, nor his people about him, would fo much as regard a word that he fpokc; and the cadi of Medina's principal fervant, who had come with the wheat, told the Vizir plainly to his face, that he had given him warning enough, if his pride would have fuffcred him to hear it. All was now wrong, my fervant was ordered to nail up the hinges, but he declared it would be the laR action of his life; that nobody opened baggage that way, but witli intention of ftealing, when the keys could be got; and, as there were many rich tilings in the trunk, intended as prefents to the SherriiTe, and Metical Aga, which might have been taken out, by the hinges being forced oR before he came, he wallied his hands of the whole procedure, but Vol. i. Mm knew knew his mafter would complain, and loudly too, and would be heard both at Cairo and Jidda. The Vizir took his refo-lution in a moment like a man. He nailed up the baggage, ordered his horfe to be brought, and attended by a number of naked blackguards (whom they call foldiers) he came down to the Bengal houfe, on which the whole factory took alarm. About twenty-fix years before, the Englifh traders from India to Jidda, fourteen in number, were all murdered, fitting at dinner, by a mutiny of thefe wild people. The houfe has, ever iince, lain in ruins, having been pulled down and forbidden to be rebuilt. Great inquiry was made after the Englifh nobleman, whom nobody had feen; but it was faid that one of his fervants was there in the Bengal houfe ; I was fitting drinking coffee on the mat, when the Vizir s horfe came, and the whole court was filled. One of the clerks of the cuftom-houfe afked mc where my mafler was ? I faid, " In heaven." The Emir Bahar's fervant now brought' forward the Vizir to me, who had not difmounted himfelf. He repeated the fame queftion, where my mafler was ?—I told him, I did not know the purport of his queflion, that I was the perfon to whom the baggage belonged, which he had taken to the cuflom-houfe, and that it was in my favour the Grand Signior and Bey had written. He feemed very much furprifed, and afked me how I could appear in fuch a drefs? —u You cannot alk that ferioufly, faid I; I believe no prudent man would drefs better, confidering the voyage I have made. But, befides, you did not leave it in my power, as as every article, but what I have on me, has been thefe four hours at the cuftom-houfe, waiting your pleafurc." We then went all up to our kind landlord, Captain Thornhill, to whom I made my excufe, on acount of the ill ufagc I had firft met with from my own relation. He laughed very heartily at the narrative, and from that time wc lived in the greateft friendfhip and confidence. All was made up, even with Youfef Cabil; and all heads were employed to get the ftrongeft letters poflible to the Nay be of Mafuah, the king of Abyffinia, Michael Suhul the minifter, and the king of Sennaar. Metical Aga, great friend and protcclor of the Englifh at Jidda, and in effect, we may {ay,fold to them, for the great prcfents and profits he received, was himfelf originally an Abyflinian Have, was the man of confidence, and directed the fale of the king's, and Michael's gold, ivory, civet, and fuch precious commodities, that are paid to them in kind; he furnifhed Michael, likewife, with returns in fire-arms; and this had enabled Michael to fubduc Abyffinia, murder the king his mafler, and feat another on his throne. On the other hand, the Naybc of Mafuah, whofe ifland belonged to the Grand Signior, and was an appendage of the government of the Bafha of Jidda, had endeavoured to withdraw himfelf from his allegiance, and letup for independency. He paid no tribute, nor could the Bafha, who had no troops, force him, as he was on the Abyf-finian fide of the Red Sea. Metical Aga, however, and the Bafha, at laft agreed; the latter ceded to the former the ifland and territory of Mafuah, for a fixed fum annually; M m 2 and and Metical Aga appointed Michael, governor of Tigre, receiver of his rents. The Naybe no fooner found that he was to account to Michael, than he was glad to pay his tribute, and give prefents to the bargain; for Tigre was the province from which he drew his fuRcnance, and Michael could have over-run his whole territory in eight days, which once, as we fhall fee hereafter, belonged to AbyRi-nia. McticaPs power being then univcrfally acknowledged and known, the next thing was to get him to make ufe of it in my favour. We knew of how little avail the ordinary futile recommendations of letters were. We were veteran travellers^ and knew the Ryle of the Eaft too well, to be duped by letters of mere civility. There is no people on the earth more perfectly polite in their correfpondence with one another, than are thofe of the EaR; but their civility means little more than the Rime fort of exprcflions do in Europe, to ftiew you that the writer is a well-bred man. But this would by no means do in a journey fo long, fo dangerous, and fo fcrious as mine. We, therefore, fet about procuring effective letters, letters of bufinefs and engagement, between man and man; and we all endeavoured to make Metical Aga a very good man, but no great head-piece, comprehend this perfectly. My letters from Ali Bey opened the affair to him, and firR commanded his attention. A very handfome prefent of piftols, which I brought him, inclined him in my favour, becaufe, as I was bearer of letters from his fuperior, I might have declined bcRowing any prefent upon him. Tiijs The Englifh gentlemen joined their influence, powerful enough, to have accomplifhed a much greater end, as every one of thefe have feparate friends for their own affairs, and all of them were defirous to befriend me. Added to thefe was a friend of mine, whom I had known at Aleppo, Ali Zimzimiah, /. e, * keeper of the holy well at Mecca,' a poR of great dignity and honour. This man was a mathematician, and an aftronomer, according to their degree of knowledge in that fciencc. All the letters were written in a Rylc fuch as I could have defired, but this did not fufficc in the mind of a very friendly and worthy man, who had taken an attachment to me fince my firR arrival. This was Captain Thomas Price, of the Lion of Bombay. He firR propofed to Metical Aga, to fend a man of his own with mc, together with the letters, and I do firmly believe, under Providence, it was to this laR meafure I owed my life. With this Captain Thornhill heartily concurred, and an Abyflinian, called Mahomet Gibbcrti, was appointed to go with particular letters befides thofe I carried myfelf, and to be an eye-witnefs of my reception there. There was fome time neceffary for this man to make ready, and a confiderable part of the Arabian Gulf Hill remained for mc to explore. I prepared, therefore, to let out from Jidda, after having made a confiderable flay in it. Of all the new things I yet had feen, what moR aflonifh-ed me was the manner in which trade was carried on at this place. Nine fhips were there from India; fome of them worth, I fuppofe, L, 200,000. One merchant, a Turk, living at*. at Mecca, thirty hours journey off, where no Chriflian dares go, whiift the whole Continent is open to the Turk for cfcape, offers to purchafe the cargoes of four out of nine of thefe liiips himfelf; another, of the fame eafl, comes and fays, he will buy none, unlefs he has them all. The fam-ples are fhewn, and the cargoes of the whole nine fhips arc carried into the wildeR part of Arabia, by men with whom one would not wifh to truft himfelf alone in the field. This is not all, two India brokers come into the room to fettle the price. One on the part of the India captain, the other on that of the buyer the Turk, They are neither Mahometans nor ChriRians, but have credit with both. They fit down on the carpet, and take an India fhawl, which they carry on their fhouldcr, like a napkin, and fprcad it over their hands. They talk, in the mean time, indifferent convcrfation, of the arrival of fhips from India, or of the news of the day, as if they were employed in no ferious bufinefs whatever. After about twenty minutes fpent in handling each others fingers below the fhawl, the bargain is concluded, fay for nine fhips, without one word ever having been fpoken on the fubject, or pen or ink ufed in any fhape whatever. There never was one fntlancc of a difpute happening in thefefaks. But this is not yet all, the money is to be paid. A private Moor, who has nothing to fupport him but his cha-racTcr, becomes rcfponfible for the payment of thefe cargoes ; his name was Ibrahim Saraf when I was there, /. c. Ibrahim the Broker. This man delivers a number of coarfe hempen bags, full of what is fuppofed to be money. He marks the contents upon the bag, and puts his fcal upon the firing that tics the mouth of it. This is received for what is marked upon it, without any one ever having open* ed THE SOURCE OF THE KILE, 279 ed one of the bags, and, in India, it is current for the value marked upon it, as long as the bag lafts. Jidda is very unwholefome, as is, indeed, all the eaft coaft of the Red Sea. Immediately without the gate of that town, to the caftward, is a defert plain filled with the huts of the Bcdoweens, or country Arabs, built of long bundles of fpartum, or bent grafs, put together like fafcines. Thefe Bcdoweens fupply Jidda with milk and butter. There is no Rirririg out of town, even for a walk, unlefs for about half a mile, in the fouth fide by the fea, where there is a number of ftinking pools of ftagnant water, which contributes to make the town very unwholefome. Jidda, befides being in the moft unwholefome part of Arabia, is, at the fame time, in the moft barren and defert fituation. This, and many other inconveniencies, under which it labours, would, probably, have occafioned its being abandoned altogether, were it not for its vicinity to Mecca, and the great and hidden influx of wealth from the India trade, which, once a-ycar, arrives in this part, but does not continue, paffing on, as through a turnpike, to Mecca; whence it is difperfed all over the eaft. Very little advantage however accrues to Jidda. The cuftoms are all immediately fent to a needy fovereign, and a hungry fet of relations, dependents and minifters at Mecca. The gold is returned in bags and boxes, and paffes on as rapidly to the fhips as the goods do to the market, and leaves as little profit behind. In the mean time, provifions rife to a prodigious price, and this falls upon the townfmen, while all the profit of the traffic is in the hands of Rrangers ; moft of whom, after the market is over, (which does not laft fix weeks) weeks) retire to Yemen, and other neighbouring countries, which abound in every fort of provifion. Upon this is founded the obfervation, that of all Mahometan countries none are fo monogam as thofe of Jidda, and no where are there fo many unmarried women, - altho' this is the country of their prophet, and the permifTion of marrying four wives was allowed in this diftrict in the firR inRance, and afterwards communicated to all the tribes. But Mahomet, in his permifiion of plurality "of wives, feems conRantly to have been on his guard, againft fuffer-ing that, which was intended for the welfare of his people, from operating in a different manner. He did not permit a man to marry two, three, or four wives, unlcfs he could maintain them. He was interefted for the rights and rank of thefe women ; and the man fo marrying was obliged to fhew before the Cadi, or fome equivalent officer, or judge, that it was in his power to fupport them, according to their birth. It was not fo with concubines, with women who were purchafed, or who were taken in war. Every man enjoyed thefe at his plcafure, and their peril, that is, whether he was able to maintain them or not. From this great fcarcity of provifions, which is the remit of an extraordinary concourfe to a place almoft defti-tute of the neceffaries of life, few inhabitants of Jidda can avail themfelves of the privilege granted him by Mahomet. He therefore cannot marry more than one wife, becaufe he cannot maintain more, and from this caufc arifes the want of people, and the large number of unmarried women. When When in Arabia Felix, where every fort of provifion is exceedingly cheap, where the fruits of the ground, the general food for man, are produced fpontaneoufly, the fupport-ing of a number of wives coRs no more than fo many flavcs or fervants ; their food is the fame, and a blue cotton fhirt, a habit common to them all, is not more chargeable for the one than the other. The confequence is, that celibacy in women is prevented, and the number of people is increafed in a fourfold ratio by polygamy, to what it is in thofe that are monogamous, I know there arc authors fond of fyRcm, enemies to free inquiry, and blinded by prejudice, who contend that polygamy, without diRinction of circumllances, is detrimental to the population of a country. The learned Dr Arbuthnot, in a paper addrcflcd to the Royal Society*, has maintained this Rrange doctrine, in a Rill ftranger manner. He lays it down, as his firR pofition, that in femine mafculino of our firR parent Adam, there was impreffed an original ncccflity of procreating, ever after, an equal number of males and females. The manner he pioves this, has received great incenfe from the vulgar, as containing un unanfwer-able argument. He ihews, by the eafting of three dice, that the chances are almofl infinite, that an equal number of males and females lhould not be born in any year; and he pretends to prove, that every year in twenty, as taken from the bills of mortality, the fame number of males and females have conftantly been produced, or at leaft a greater proportion of men than of women, to make up for the ha- Vol. I. N n vock *wPhilofoph. Tranfafl. Vol. 27. p. 186. vock occafioned by war, murder, drunkennefs, and all fpe-cics of violence to which women are not fubjecT. I need not fay, that this, at leaft, fufliciently fhews the weaknefs of the argument. For, if the equal proportion had been in femine mafculhio of our firR parent, the confequence muft have been, that male and female would have been invariably born, from the creation to the end of all things. And it is a fuppofttion very unworthy of the wifdom of God, that, at the creation of man, he could make an allowance for any deviation that was to happen, from crimes, againR the commiihon of which his politive precepts ram Weak as this is, it is not the weakeft part of this artificial argument, which, like the web of a fpider too finely woven, whatever part you touch it on, the whole falls to pieces.. , After taking it for granted, that he has proved the equality of the two fexes in number, from the bills of mortality in London, he next fuppofes, as a confequence, that all the world is in the fame predicament; that is, that an equal number of males and females is produced every where.. Why Dr Arbuthnot, an eminent phyfician (which furcly implies an informed naturalift) fliould imagine that this inference would hold, is what I am not able to account for. He lhould know, let us fay, in the countries of the call, that fruits, flowers, trees, birds, fifh, every blade of grafs, is commonly (different, and that man, in his appearance, diet, ex-ercifc, plcafure, government, and religion, is as widely different ; why he fliould found the ifliic of an Aliatic, however, upon the bills of mortality in London, is to the full as abfurd as to aflert, that they do not wear either beard or whilkcrs in Syria, becaufe that is not the cafe in London. I am I am well aware, that it maybe urged by thofe who permit themfelves to fay every thing, becaufe they are not at pains to confider any thing, that the courfe of my argument will lead to a defence of polygamy in general, the fuppofed doctrine of the Thelypthora * Such reflections as thefe, unlefs introduced for merriment, are below my animadver-fion; all I lhall fay on that topic is, that they who find encouragement to polygamy in MrMadan's book, the Thelypthora, have read it with a much more acute perception than perhaps I have done; and I lhall be very much miftaken, if polygamy increafes in England upon the principles laid UL>lu:,uion of Dr Mi'.d.tn's, littk undtrflood. as it would feem. Dr Arbuthnot'sargument fairer play*, than to tranfport myfelf thither; and, in the fame fpot where the necelTity was impofed of male and female being produced in equal numbers, inquire how that cafe Rands now. The pretence that climates and times may have changed, the proportion cannot be admitted, fince it has been taken for granted, that it exifls in the bills of mortality in London, and governs them to this day; and, fince it was founded on neceflity, which muR be eternal. Now, from a diligent inquiry into the fouth, and fcrip-ture-part of Mefopotamia, Armenia, and Syria, from Mouful (or Nineveh) to Aleppo and Antioch, I find the proportion to be fully two women bom to one man. There is indeed a fraction over, but not a confiderable one. From Latikea, Laodicea ad mare, down the coaR of Syria to Sidon, the number is very nearly three, or two and three-fourths to one man. Through the Holy Land, the country called Horan, in the Iflhmus of Suez, and the parts of the Delta, unfrequented by Rrangers, it is fomcthing lefs than three. But, from Suez to the Rraits of Babelmandeb, which contains the three Arabias, the portion is fully four women to one man, which, I have reafon to believe, holds as far as the Line, and 30° beyond it.. The Imam of Sana* was not an old man when I was in Arabia Felix in 1769; but he had 88 children then alive, of whom 14 only were fons.—The prieft of the Nile had 70 and 4 odd * Sovereign of Arabia Felix, whofe capualgis t odd children; of whom, as I remember, above 50 were daughters. It may be objected, that Dr Arbuthnot, in quoting the bills of mortality for twenty years, gave moft unexceptionable grounds for his opinion, and that my fmgle ailertion of what happens in a foreign country, without further foundation, cannot be admitted as equivalent tcftimony; and I am ready to admit this objection, as bills of mortality there are none in any of thefe countries. I fhall therefore fay in what manner I attained the knowledge which I have juft mentioned. Whenever I went into a town, village, or inhabited place, dwelt long in a mountain, or travelled jour-nies with any fet of people, I always made it my bufinefs to inquire how many children they had, or their fathers, their next neighbours, or acquaintance. This not being a captious queftion, or what any one would fcruple to anfwer, there was no intereft to deceive ; and if it had been poflible, that two or three ljad been fo wrong-headed among, the whole, it would have been of little confequence. I then afked my landlord at Sidon, (fuppofe him a weaver,) how many children he has had ? He tells mc how many fons, and how many daughters. The next I alk is a fmith, a tailor, a filk-gatherer, the Cadi of the place, a cowherd, a hunter, a fifher, in fhort every man that is not a ftranger, from whom I can get proper information. I fay, therefore, that a medium of both fexes ariling from three or four hundred families indifcriminately taken, fliall be the proportion in which one differs from the other; and this, I am confident, will give the refult to be three women to to one man in 500 out of the 900 under every meridian of the globe. Without giving Mahomet all the credit for abilities that fome have done, we may furcly fuppofe him to know what happened in his own family, where he muR have feen this great difproportion of four women born to one man; and from the obvious confequences, we are not to wonder that one of his firR cares, when a legiflator, was to rectify it, as it ftruck at the very root of his empire, power, and religion. With this view, he enacted, or rather revived, the law which gave liberty to every individual to marry four wives, each of whom was to be equal in rank and honour, without any preference but what the predilection of the hulband gave her. By this he fecured cn.il rights to each woman, and procured a means of doing a-way that reproach, of dying without ijfue, to which the minds of the whole fex have always been fenfible, whatever their religion was, or from whatever part of the world they came. Many, who are not converfant with Arabian hiftory, have imagined, that this permillion of a plurality of wives was given in favour of men, and have taxed one of the moft political, neceffary meafures, of that legiflator, arifmgfrom motives merely civil, with a tendency to encourage lewdnefs, from which it was very far diftant. But, if they had con-fidered that the Mahometan law allows divorce without any caufe ajjigued, and that, every day at the pleafurc of the man; belides,that it permits hini as many concubines as he can maintain, buy with money, take in war, or gain by the ordinary means of addrefs and folicitations,—they will think fuch fuch a man was before fufliciently provided, and that there was not the leaft reafon for allowing him to marry four wives at a time, when he was already at liberty to marry a new one every day. DrArbuthnot lays it down as a felf-cvidcnt pofition,. that four women will have more children by four men, than the fame four women would have by one. This afTer-tion may very well be difputed, but ftill it is not in point. For the queftion with regard to Arabia, and to a great part of the world befides, is, Whether or not four women and one man, married, or cohabiting at difcretion, lhall produce more children, than four women and one man who is debarred from cohabiting with any but one of the four, the others dying unmarried without the knowledge of man ? or, in other words, Which fhall have moft children, one man and one woman, or one man and four women? This queftion.I think needs no difcuilion. Let us now confider, if there is any further reafon why England fliould not be brought as an example, which Ara^ bia, or the Eafl in general, are to follow. Women in England are commonly capable of child-bearing at fourteen, let the other term be forty-eight, when they bear no more ; thirty-four years, therefore, an Englifh woman bears children. At the age of fourteen or fifteen they are objects of our love ; they arc endeared hy bearing us children after that time, and none 1 hope will pretend, that, at forty-eight and fifty, an Englifh woman is not an agreeable companion. Perhaps the lalt years, to thinking minds, are fully more agreeable than the firR. We grow old toge- ther„ ther, we have a near profpect of dying together; nothing can prefent a more agreeable picture of focial life, than monogamy in England. The Arab, on the other hand, if fhe begins to bear children at eleven, feldom or never has a child after twenty. The time then of her child-bearing is nine years, and four women, taken altogether, have then the term of thirty-Jix. So that the Englifh woman that bears children for thirty-four years, has only two years lefs than the term enjoyed by the four wives whom Mahomet has allowed; and if it be granted an Englifh wife may bear at fifty, the terms arc equal. But there are other grievous differences. An Arabian girl, at eleven years old, by her youth and beauty, is the object of man's deiife ; being an infant, however, in underftanding, flic is not a rational companion for him. A man marries there, fay at twenty, and before he is thirty, his wife, improved as a companion, ceafes to be an object of his dc-fircs, and a mother of children; fo that all the beft, and moft vigorous of his days, arc fpent with a woman he cannot love, and with her he would be deftined to live fortv, or forty-five years, without comfort to himfelf by increafe of family, or utility to the public The reafons, then, againft polygamy, which fubfift in England, do not by any means fubfift in Arabia ; and that being the cafe, it would be unworthy of the wifdom of God, and an unevennefs in his ways, which wc fhall never fee, to fubject two nations, under fuch different circumflanccs, abfolutcly to the fame obfervances. I consider I consider the prophecy concerning Ifhmacl, and his descendants the Arabs, as one of the moR extraordinary that we meet with in the Old Teftament. It was alfo one of the earlieR made, and proceeded upon grounds of private reparation. Hagar had not finned, though Ihe had fled from Sarah with Ifhmacl her fon into the wildernefs. In that defert there were then no inhabitants, and though Ifh-mael's * fucceflion was incompatible with God's promife to Abraham and Ins fon Ifaac, yet neither Hagar nor he having finned, juflice required a reparation for the hcrirage which lie had loR. God gave him that very wildernefs which before was the property of no man, in which Ifhmacl was to erect a kingdom under the moR improbable circumftances poflible to be imagined. His | hand was to be againR every man, and every man's hand againfl him. By his fword he was to live, and pitch his tent in the fact of his brethren. Never has prophecy been fo completely fulfilled. It fub-fiflcd from the earlieR ages; it was verified before the time of Mofes; in the time of David and Solomon ; it fubfiflcd in the time of Alexander and that ofAuguftus Casfar ; it fubfift-cd in the time of Jufiinian,—all very diftant, unconnected periods; and I appeal to the evidence of mankind, if, without apparent fupport or ncccflity, but what it has derived from God's promife only, it is not in full vigour at this very day. This prophecy alone, in the truth of which all forts of Vol. I. O o religions * Gen. xv. 18 f Gen. xvi. 14. religions agree, is therefore of itfelf a fufncient proof, with*-out other, of the Divine authority of the fcripture, Mahomet prohibited all pork and wine ; two articles which muft have been, before, very little ufed in Arabia., Grapes, here, grow in the mountains of Yemen, but never arrive at maturity enough for wine. They bring them down for this purpofe to Loheia, and there the heat of the climate turns the wine four before they can clear it of its faeces, fo as to make it drinkable ; and we know that, before the appearance of Mahomet, Arabia was never a wine country. As for fwine, I never heard of them in the peninfula of Arabia, (unlefs perhaps wild in the woods about Sana,) and it was from early times inhabited by Jews before the com* ing of Mahomet. The only people therefore that ate fwine's fleflx mull have been ChriRians, and they were a fecT of little account. Many of thefe, moreover, do nor eat pork vet, but all of them were oppreffed and defpifed every-where, and there was no inducement for any other people to imitate them. Mahomet then prohibiting only what was merely neu*-tral, or indifferent to the Arabs, indulged them in that to which he knew they were prone. At the feveral converfations I had with the Englifh mer-. chants at Jidda, they complained grievoufly of the manner in which they were oppreffed by the fherriife of Mecca and his officers. The duties and fees were increafcd every voyage; their privileges all taken away, and amioll deftructrve meafure introduced of forcing them to give prefents, which was only an in ducenient to opprcfs, that the gift might be the 4, greater. greater. I afked them if I mould obtain from the Bey of Cairo permilfion for their fhips to come down to Suez, whither there were merchants in India who would venture to undertake that voyage ? Captain Thornhill promifed, for his part, that the very feafon after fuch permiflion fhd'.-Id arrive in India, he would difpatch his fhip the Bengal Merchant, under command of his mate Captain Greig, to whofe capacity and worth all his countrymen bore very ready teftimony, and of which I myfelf had formed a very good opinion, from the feveral converfations we had together. This fcheme was concerted between me and Captain Thornhill only; and tho' it muR be confefled it had the appearance of an airy one, (fince it was not to be attempted, till I had returned through Abyflinia and Nubia, againR which there were many thoufand chances,) it was executed, notwithftanding, in the very manner in which it had been planned, as will be after Rated. The kindnefs and attention of my countrymen did not leave me as long as I was on fhore. They all did mc the honour to attend mc to the water edge. If others have experienced pride and preiumption, from gentlemen of the EaR-Indies, I was moR happily exempted from even the appearance of it at Jidda. Happy it would have been for me, if I had been more neglected. All the quay of Jidda was lined with people to fee the EnglWh falute, and along with my veffel there parted, at the fame time, one bound to Mafuah, which carried Mahomet Abdel cader, Governor of Dahalac, over to his government. O o 1 Dahalac Dahalac* is a large ifland, depending upon Mafuah, bitt which has a feparate firman, or commifllon, renewed every two years. This man was a Moor, a fervant of the Naybc of Mafuah, and he had been at Jidda to procure his firman from Metical Aga, while Mahomet Gibberti was to come with me, and was to bring it to the Naybc. This Abd el cader no fooncr was arrived at Mafuah, than, following the turn of his country for lying, he fpread a report, that a great man, or prince, whom he left at Jidda, was coming fpecdily to Mafuah ; that he had brought great prefents to the SherrifTe and Metical Aga; that, in return, he had received a large fum uiguh/fvom the Sherrifre's Vizir, Youfef Cabil; befides as much as he pleafed from the Englifh, who had done nothing but feaft and regale him for the feveral months he had been at Jidda; and that, when he departed, as this great man was now going to viftt the Imam in Arabia Felix, all the Englifh fhips hoifted their colours, and fired their cannon from morning to night, for three days fucceRively, which was two days after he had failed, and therefore what he could not pollibly have feen. The confequence of all this was, the Naybe of Mafuah expected that a man with immenfe treafures was coming to put himfelf into bis bands. I look therefore upon the danger I efcaped there as fuperior to all thofe put together, that I have ever been expofed to : of fuch material and bad confequence is the moR contemptible of all weapons, the tongue of a liar and a fool 1 Jidda * The ifland gi the Shepherds. Jidda is in lat. 28° o' 1" north, and in long. 390 i6/45'/ eafl of the meridian of Greenwich. Our weather there had few changes. The general wind was north-weft, or more northerly. This blowing along the direction of the Gulf brought a great deal of damp along with it; and this damp increafes as the feafon advances. Once in twelve or fourteen days, perhaps, wc had a fouth wind, which was always dry. The higheft degree of the barometer at Jidda, on the 5 th of June, wind north, was 160 6', and the loweft on the 18th of fame month, wind north-weft, was 250 7'. The higheft degree of the thermometer was 970 on the 12th of July, wind north, the loweft was 780 wind north. CHAP, CHAP. XIL- 8 ails from Jidda—Konfodah—Ras Heli boundary of Arabia Felix**** Arrives at Lohcia—Proceeds to the Straits of the Indian Ocean—Arrives there-Returns by Azab to Loheia. T T was on the 8th of July 1769 I failed from the harbour JL of Jidda on board the fame veftel as before, and I fullered the Rais to take a fmall loading for his own account, upon condition that he was to carry no paflengers. The wind was fair, and wc failed through the Englifh Rcet at their anchors. As they had all honoured me with their regret at parting, and accompanied me to the fhore, the Rais was fur-prifed to fee the refpect paid to his little veflel as it palled under their huge Rerns, every one hoifting his colours, and faluting it with eleven guns, except the fhip belonging to my Scotch friend, who fhewed his colours, indeed, but did not fire a gun, only Randing upon* deck, cried with the trumpet, " Captain-wifhes Mr Bruce a good voyage.'* I Rood upon deck, took my trumpet, and anfwered, " Mr Bruce willies Captain--a fpcedy and perfect return of his underftanding;" a wifh, poor man, that has not yet been accomplifhed, and very much to my regret, it does not appear probable that ever it will. That night having palf1 ed ed a cluRer of fhoals, called the Shoals of Sana, wc anchored in a fmall bay; Merfa Gedan, about twelve leagues from the harbour of Jidda. The 9th of July, we pafTed another fmall road called Goofs, and at a quarter paR nine, Raghwan, eaR north-caft two miles, and, at a quarter paR ten, the fmall Port of Sodi, bearing eaR north-caft, at the fame diftance. At one and three quarters we paffed Markat, two miles diftant north-eaft by eaft; and a rock called Numan, two miles diftant to the fouth-weft. After this the mountain of Somma, and, at a quarter paft fix, we anchored in a fmall unfafe harbour, called Merfa Brahim, of which we had feen a very rough and incorrect defign in the hands of the gentlemen at Jidda, I have endeavoured, with that draught before me, to correct it fo far that it may now be depended upon. The 10th, we failed, at five o'clock in the morning, with little wind, our courfe fouth and by weft; I fuppofe we were then going fomething lefs than two knots an hour. At half after feven we pafled the ifland Abeled, and two other fmall mountains that bore about a league fouth-weft and by weft of us. The wind freshened as it approached midday, fo that at one o'clock we went full three knots an hour, being obliged to change our courfe according to the lying of the iflands. It came to be about fouth fouth-eaft in the end of the day. At a quarter after one, we paffed Ras el Afkar, meaning the Cape of the Soldiers, or of the Army. Here we faw fome trees, and, at a confiderable diftance within the Main, mountains to the north-eaft of us. At two o'clock we paffed in 3 the the middle channel, between five fandy iflands, all covered) with kelp, three on the eafl or right hand, and two on thc> well. They are called Ginnan elAbiad, or the White Garden::,, I fuppofe from the green herb growing upon the white fand; At half after two, with the fame wind, we palled 'an ifland bearing'eaR from us, the Main about a league diftant. At three we pafled clofe to an ifland bearing fouth-weft of us, about a mile -off.. It is of a moderate height, and is called Jikbd Sum-hie.. At half pad four our courfe was. fouth-eaft and by fouth; we palled two iflands to the fouth-eaft of us, at two miles, and a fmaller, weft fouthrweft a quarter of a mile diftant. From this to the Main will be, about five miles, or fomething more. At fifty minutes after, four, came up to an ifland which reached to Konfodah. We faw to the weft, and weft fouth-weft. of us, .different fmall iflands, not more than half a mile diftant, Wc heaved ther line, and had no foundings at thirty-two fathom, yet, if any where, I thought there we were to find fhoal water. At five o'clock, our courfe being fouth-eaft and by fouth, we palled an iiland a quarter of a mile to the. weft-of us, and afterwards a number of others in a row ; and, at half pail eight, we arrived at an anchoring-place, but which cannot be called a harbour, named Merfa Hadou. The nth, we left Merfa Hadou at four o'clock in the morning. Being calm, we made little way; our courfe, was fouth fouth-eaft, which changed to a little more eafU erly. At fix, we tacked to ftand in for Konfodah harbour, which is very remarkable for a high mountain behind it, whofe top is terminated by a pyramid or cone of very regu-1 lar proportion. There was no wind to carry us in; we hoifted out the boat which I had bought at Jidda for my 2 plcafure plcafure and fafety, intending it to be a prefent to my Rais at parting, as he very well knew. At a quarter pail: eight, we were towed to our anchorage in the harbour of Konfodah. Konfodah means the town of the hedge-hog*. It is afmall village, confuting of about two hundred miferable houfes, built with green wood, and covered with mats, made of the doom, or palm-tree; lying on a bay, or rather a fhallow bafon, in a defert wafte or plain. Behind the town are fmall hillocks of white fand. Nothing grows on fhore excepting kelp, but it is exceedingly beautiful, and very luxuriant; farther in, there arc gardens. Fifh is in perfect plenty; butter and milk in great abundance; even the defert looks frefher than other deferts, which made me imagine that rain fell fometimes here, and this the Emir told me was the cafe. Although I made a draught of the port, it is not worth the publifhing. For though in all probability it was once deep, fafe, and convenient, yet there is nothing now but a kind of road, under fhelter of a point, or ridge of land, which rounds out into the fea, and ends in a Cape, called Ras Mo--zeffa. Behind the town there is another fmall Cape, upon which there arc three guns mounted, but with what intention it was not poflible to guefs, The Emir Ferhan, governor of the town, was an Abyfli-nian Have, who invited me on fhore, and we dined together Vol. I. P p on * Or Porcupine. on very excellent provifion, dreffed according to their cuf-tom. He faid the country near the fhore was defert, but a little within land, or where the roots and gravel had fixed the fand, the foil produced every thing, efpecially if they had any fhowers of rain. It was fo long fince I had heard mention of a ihowcr of rain, that I could not help laughing, and he feemed to think that he had faid fomething wrong, and begged fo politely to know what I laughed at, that I was obliged to confefs. " The reafon, faid I, Sir, is an ab-furd one. What paffed in my mind at that time was, that I had travelled about two thoufand miles, and above twelve months, and had neither feen nor heard of a flower of rain till now, and though you will perceive by my convcrfation that I underRand your language well, for a ftrangcr, yet I declare to you, the moment you fpokc it, had you afked, what was the Arabic for a fhower of rain, I could not have told you. I declare to you, upon my word, it was that which I laughed at, and upon no other account whatever." " You are going, fays he, to countries where you will have rain and wind, fufliciently cold, and where the water in the mountains is harder than the dry land, and people Rand upon it *. We have only the remnant of their fhowers, and it is to that we owe our greateft happi-nefs." I was very much pleafed with his convcrfation. He feemed to be near fifty years of age, was exceedingly well dreffed, had neither gun nor piftol about him, not even a knife, * Yemen, or the high land of Arabia Felix, where water freczes? knife, nor an Aral) fervant armed, though they were all well dreflcd ; but he had in his court-yard about threefcore of the fincfl horfes I had for a long time feen. Wc dined juft oppofite to them, in a fmall faloon Rrowed with India, carpets ; the walls were covered with white tiles, which I fuppofe he had got from India; yet his houfe, without, was a very common one, diftinguiflied only from the reft in the village by its fize. He feemed to have a more rational knowledge of things, and fpokc more elegantly than any man I had convcrfed with in Arabia. He faid he had loft the only feven fons he had, in one month, by the fmall-pox : And when I attempted to go away, he wiihcd I would ftay with him fome time, and faid, that I had better take up my lodgings in his houfe, than go on board the boat that night, where I was not perfectly in fafety. On my fecming furprifed at this, he told me, that laft year, a velTcl from Mafcattc, on the Indian Ocean, had quarrelled with his people ; that they had fought on the ihorc, and feveral of the crew had been killed; that they had obftinately cruized in the neighbourhood, in hopes of reprifals, till, by the change of the monfoon, they had loft their pallagc home, and fo were neccf-farily confined to the Red Sea for fix months afterwards; he added, they had four guns, which they called patarerocs, and that they would certain!}' cut us off, as they could not mifs to fall in with us. This was the very worft news that I had ever heard, as to what might happen at fea. Before this, we thought all flrangcrs were our friends, and only feared the natives of the coaft for enemies ; now, upon a bare defencelefs fhore, we found ourfclvcs likely to be a prey to both natives and Rrangers. Pp 2 Our Our Rais, above all, was feized with a panic ; his country was juR adjoining to Mafcatte upon the Indian Ocean, and they were generally at war. He faid he knew well who they were, that there was no country kept in better order than Mafcatte ; but that thefe were a fet of pirates, belonging to the Baharcen ; that their veffels were Rout, full of men, who carried inccnfe to Jidda, and up as far as Mada-gafcar; that they feared no man, and loved no man, only were true to their employers for the time. He imagined (I fuppofe it was but imagination,) that he had feen a veflel in the morning, (a lug-fail veflel, as the pirate was defcribed to be,) and it was with difficulty we could prevail on the Rais not to fail back to Jidda. I took my leave of the Emir to return to my tent, to hold a confultation what was to be done. Konfodah is in the lat. 190 f North. It is one of the moR unwholefome parts on the Red Sea,proviflon is very dear and bad, and the water, (contrary to what the Emir had told me) execrable. Goats flefh is the only meat, and that very dear and lean. The anchorage, from the caflle, .bears north-weft a quarter of a mile diftant, from ten to feven fathoms, in fand and mud. On the 14th, our Rais, more afraid of dying by a fever than by the hands of the pirates, confented willingly to put to fea. The Emir's good dinners had not extended to the boat's crew, and they had been upon fhort commons. The Rais's fever had returned fincc he left Jidda, and I gave him fome dofes of bark, after which he foon recovered. But he was always complaining of hunger, which the black flefh of an old goat, the Emir had given us, did not fatisfy. We Wc failed at fix o'clock in the morning, having firR, by way of precaution, thrown all our ballaft over-board, that we might run into fhoal water upon the appearance of the enemy. We kept a good look-out toward the horizon all around us, efpecially when wc failed in the morning. I obferved wc became all fearlefs, and bold, about noon; but towards night the panic again feized us, like children that arc afraid of ghoRs; though at that time wc might have been fure that all Rranger veiTels were at anchor. We had little wind, and paffed between various rocks to the weftward, continuing our courfe S. S. E. nearly, fomc-what more cafterly, and about three miles diftant from the ftiorc. At four o'clock, noon, we palled Jibbel Sabeia, a fandy ifland, larger than the others, but no higher. To this ifland the Arabs of Ras Heli fend their wives and children in time of war; none of the reft are inhabited. At live we pafled Ras Heli, which is the boundary between Yemen, or Arabia Felix, and the * Hcjaz, or province of Mecca, the firft belonging to the Imam, or king of Sana, the other to the Shcrriife lately fpoken of. I desired my Rais to anchor this night clofe under the Cape, as it was perfectly calm and clear, and, by taking a mean of five obfervations of the paflage of fo many liars, the moft proper for the purpofe, over the meridian, I determined the latitude of Ras Heli, and confccjucntly the boundary of the * Arabia Defertn, the two Rates, Hcjaz and Yemen, or Arabia Felix and Arabia Dcfcrta, to be 18" 36' north. The mountains reach here nearer to the fea. Wc anchored a mile from the fhore in 15 fathoms, the banks were fand and coral; from this the coaR is better inhabited. The principal Arabs to which the country belongs are Co-truflii, Sebahi, Helali, Mauchlota, and Menjahi. Thefe are not Arabs by origin, but came from the oppofite coaR near Azab, and were Shepherds, who were Rubborn enemies to Mahomet, but at laR converted ; they arc black, and woolly-headed. The mountains and fmall iflands on the coaR, farther inland to the eaftward, are in pofTeflion of the Habib. Thefe arc white in colour, rebellious, or independent Arabs, who pay no fort of obedience to the Imam, or the Sherriffe of Mecca, but occasionally plunder the towns on the coafh All the fandy defert at the foot of the mountains is called Tchanu, which extends to Mocha. But in the maps it is marked as a feparatc country from Arabia Felix, whereas it is but the low part, or fea-coaft of it, and is not a feparatc jurifdietion. It is called Tenia, in fcripture, and derives its name from Taami in Arabic, Which fignifies the fea-coaft. '[here is little water here, as it never rains; there is alfo no animal but the gazel or antelope, and but a few of them. There arc few birds, and thofe which may be found are general ly mute. The 15th, wc failed with little wind, coafting along the ftiorc, fometimes at two miles diftance, and often lefs. The mountains now feemed high. I founded feveral times, and found no ground at thirty fathoms, within a mile of the fhore. Inorc. Wc pafTcd feveral ports or harbours; firR Merfa Amec, where there is good anchorage in eleven fathom of water, a mile and a half from the fhore; at eight o'clock, No-houde, with an iRand of the fame name; at ten, a harbour and village called Dahaban. As the fky was quite overcaft, I could get no obfervation, though I watched very attentively. Dahaban is a large village, where there is both water and provilion, but I did not fee its harbour. It bore E. N. E. of us about three miles diftant. At three quarters pall eleven wc came up to a high rock, called Kotumbal, and I lay to, for obfervation. It is of a dark-brown, approaching to red ; is about two miles from the Arabian fliore, and produces nothing. I found its latitude to be 170 north. A fmall rock ftands up at one end of the bafe of the mountain. We came to an anchor in the port of Sibt, where I went afhorc under pretence of feeking provifions, but in reality to fee the country, and obferve what fort of people the inhabitants were. The mountains from Kotumbal ran in an even chain along the coaft, at no great diftance, but of fuch a height, that as yet we had feen nothing like them. Sibt is too mean, and too fmall to be called a village, even in Arabia. It confifts of about fifteen or twenty miferable huts, built of ftraw; around it there is a plantation of doom-trees, of the leaves of which they make mats and fails,, which is the whole manufacture of the place. Our Rais made many purchafes here. The CotruJbt\ the inhabitants of this village, feem to be as brutifh a people as any in the world. They are perfectly lean, but mufcu-lar, and apparently ftrong; they wear all their own haiiy r which. which they divide upon the crown of their head. It is black and bufhy, and, although fufliciently long, feems to partake of the woolly quality of the Negro. Their head is bound round with a cord or fillet of the doom leaf, like the ancient diadem. The women are generally ill-favoured, and go naked like the men. Thofe that are married have, for the moR part, a rag about then middle, fome of them not that. Girls of all ages go quite naked, but feem not to be confeious of any impropriety in their appearance. Their lips, cyc-brows, and foreheads above the eye-brow, are all marked with Ribium, or antimony, the common ornament of lavages throughout the world. They feemed to be perfectly on an equality with the men, walked, fat, and fmoked with them, contrary to the practice of all women among the Turks and Arabs. We found no provifions at Sibt, and the water very bad. We returned on board our veifel at fun-fct, and anchored in eleven fathom, little lefs than a mile from the fhore. About eight o'clock, two girls, not fifteen, fwam off from the fhore, and came on board. They wanted Ribium for their cyc-brows. As they had laboured fo hard for it, I gave them a fmall quantity, which they tied in a rag about their neck. I had killed three marks this day ; one of them, very large, was lying on deck. I afked them if they were not afraid of that fifh ? They faid, they knew it, but it would not hurt them, and defired us to eat it, for it was good, and made men ftrong. There appeared no fymptoms of jealoufy among them. The harbour of Sibt is of a femi-circular form, fcrccncd between N. N. E. and S. S. W. but to the fouth, and fouth weft, it is cxpofed, and therefore is good only in fummer. 4 The The i6th, at five in the morning, we failed from the port of Sibt, but, the wind being contrary, were obliged to fleer to the W. S. W. and it was not till nine o'clock we could re fume our true courfe, which was fouth-eaft. At half paft four in the afternoon the main bore feven miles eaft, when we paffed an ifland a quarter of a mile in length, called Jibbel Foran, the Mountain of Mice. It is of a rocky quality, with fome trees on the fouth end, thence it rifes infenlibly, and ends in a precipice on the north. At fix, we paffed the ifland * Dercge, low and covered with grafs, but round like a fliield, which is the reafon of its name. At half paft fix Ras Tarfa bore E. S. E. of us, diftant about two miles ; and at three quarters after fix we pafled feveral other iflands, the largeft of which is called Saraffer. It is covered with grafs, has fmall trees upon it, and, probably, therefore water, but is uninhabited. At nine in the evening we anchored before Djczan. Djezan is in lat. i6° 45' north, fituatcd on a cape, which forms one fide of a large bay. It is built, as are all the towns on the coaft, with ftraw and mud. It was once a very confiderable place for trade, but fince coffee hath been fo much in demand, of which they have none, that commerce is moved to Lohcia and H xieida. It is an usurpation from the territory of the Imam, by a Shcrriffe of the family of Beni HaiTan, called Bvoarijh. The inhabitants are all SherriiTes, in other terms, troublefome, ignorant fanatics. Djezan is one of the towns moft fubjeci to fevers. The Vol. I. Qj\ Faren- * Dor.j.t', ;rom that worj in Hebrew. Farcnteit *, or worm, is very frequent here. They have great abundance of excellent fifh, and fruit in plenty, which is brought from the mountains, whence alfo they are fup-plied with very good water, The 17th, in the evening, we failed from Djezan; in the night we paffed feveral fmall villages called Ducime, which I found to be in lat. 160 12' 5" north. In the morning, being three miles diftant from the fhore, we paffed Cape Cof-ferah, which forms the north fide of a large Gulf. The mountains here are at no great diftance, but they are not high. The whole country feems perfectly bare and defert, without inhabitants. It is reported to be the moft unwholefome part of Arabia Felix. On the 18th, at feven in the morning, we firft difcovered the mountains, under which lies the town of Loheia. Thefe mountains bore north north-eaft of us, when anchored in three-fathom water, about five miles from the fhore. The hay is fo fhallow, and the tide being at ebb, wc could get no nearer; the town bore eaft north-caft of us. Loheia is built upon the fouth-weft fide of a pcninfula, furrounded every where, but on the eaft, by the fea. In the middle of this neck there is a fmall mountain which ferves for a for-trefs, and there arc towers with cannon, which reach acrofs on each fide of the hill to the fhore. Beyond this is a plain,, where the Arabs intending to attack the town, generally aiTemble. The ground upon which Loheia Rands is black earth, * It ngnifies Pharaoh's worm, earth, and feems to have been formed by the retiring of the fea. At Loheia we had a very uneafy fenfation, a kind of prickling came into our legs, which were bare, occafioned by the fait cmuvia, or Reams, from the earth, which all about the town, and further to the fouth, is Rrongly impregnated with that mineral. Fish, and butcher meat, and indeed all forts of provi-fion, are plentiful and reafonable at Loheia, but the water is bad. It is found in the fand at the foot of the mountains, down the fides of which it has fallen in the time of the rain, and is brought to the town in fkins upon camels. There is alfo plenty of fruit brought from the mountains by the Bedowe, who live in the fkirts of the town, and fupply it with milk, firewood, and fruit, chiefly grapes and bananas. The government of the Imam is much more gentle than any Moorifh government in Arabia or Africa; the people too are of gentler manners, the men, from early ages, being accuftomed to trade. The women at Loheia arc as folicitous to pleafe as thofe of the moft poliflicd nations in Europe; and, though very retired, whether married or unmarried, they are not lefs careful of their drefs and pcrfons. At home they wear nothing but a long fhift of fine cotton-cloth, fuitablc to their quality. They dye their feet and hands with * henna, not only for ornament, but as an aftringent, to keep them dry from fweat: they wear their own hair, which is plaited, and falls in long tails behind. Q^q ^ The • Uguftrum JEgyptiacum Latifolium, The Arabians confider long and ftraight hair as beautiful. The Abyflinians prefer the iliort and curled. The Arabians perfume themfelves and their ihifts with a com-pofition of mufk, ambergreafe, incenfe, and benjoin, which they mix with the fharp horny nails that are at the extremity of the nfh furrumbac; but why this ingredient is added I know not, as the fmell of it, when burnt, does not at all differ from that of horn. They put all thefe ingredients into a kind of cenfer on charcoal, and Rand over the fmoke of it. The fmell is very agreeable; but, in Europe, it would be a very expenfive article of luxury. The Arab women are not black, there are even fome ex+ ceedingly fair. They are more corpulent than the men, but are not much efteemed.—The Abyifmian girls, who are bought for money, are greatly preferred ; among other reafons, becaufe their time of bearing children is longer; few Arabian women have children after the age of twenty. At Loheia we received a letter from Miahomet Gibberti, . telling us, that it would yet be ten days before he could join us, and defiring us to be ready by that time. This hutf-ried us extremely, for we were much afraid we lhould not have time to fee the remaining part of the Arabian Gulf, to where it joins with the Indian Ocean.. On the 27th, in the evening, we parted from Loheia, but were obliged to tow the boat out. About nine, we anchored between an ifland called Ormook, and the land; about eleven wc fet fail with a.wind;at north-caft, and pafTcd a clufter of iflands on our left. The The 28th, at five o'clock in the morning, wc faw the fmall ifland of Rafab; at a quarter after fix we pafled between it and a large ifland called Camaran, where there is a Turkifh garrifon and town, and plenty of good water. At twelve we pafled a low round ifland, which feemed to coniift of white fand. The weather being cloudy, I could get no obfervation. At one o'clock, wc were off Cape Ifrael. As the weather was fair, and the wind due north and Ready, though little of it, my Rais faid that wc had better ftretch over to Azab, than run along the coaft in the direction we were now going, becaufe, fomewhere between Ho-deida and Cape Nummel, there was foul ground, with which he lhould not like to engage in the night. Nothing could he more agreeable to me. For, though I knew the people of Azab were not to be truftcd, yet there were two things I thought I might accomplifli, by being on my guard. The one was, to learn what thofe ruins were that I had heard fo much fpoken of in Egypt and at Jidda, and which are fuppofed to have been works of the Queen of Sheba, whofe country this was. The other was, to obtain the myrrh and frankincenfe-tree, which grow upon that coaft only, but neither of which had as yet been defcribed by any author. At four o'clock wc pafled a dangerous fhoal, which is the one I fuppofe our Rais was afraid of If fo, he could not have adopted a worfe meafure, than by ftretching over from Cape Ifrael to Azab in the night; for, had the wind come wefterly, as it foon after did, we fliould have probably been on the bank ; as it was, we palled it Something lefs than a mile, the wind was north, and wc were going at a great rate. At fun-fet wc faw Jibbel Zekir, with three fmall iflands^. 'mantis, on the north fide of it. At twelve at night the wind failing, we found ourfelves about a league from the weft end of Jibbel Zekir, but it then began to blow freih from the weft; fo that the Rais begged liberty to abandon the voyage to Azab, and to keep our firR intended one to Mocha. For my part, I had no defire at all to land at Mocha. Mr Niebuhr had already been there before us ; and I was fure every ufeful obfervation had been made as to the country, for he had Raid there a very confiderable time, and was ill ufed. We kept our courfe, however, upon Mocha town. The 29th, about two o'clock in the morning, wc palled frx iflands, called Jibbel el Ouree; and having but indifferent wind, we anchored about nine off the point of the fhoal, which lies immediately eaft of the north fort of Mocha. The town of Mocha makes an agreeable appearance from the fea. Behind it there is a grove of palm-trees, that do not feem to have the beauty of thofe in Egypt, probably owing to their being expofed to the violent fouth-weftcrs that blow here, and make it very uneafy riding for vcffels ; there is, however, very feldom any damage done. The port is formed by two points of land, which make a femi-circle. Upon each of the points is a fmall fort; the town is in the middle, and if attacked by an enemy, thefe two forts are fo detached that they might be made of more ufe to annoy the town, than they could ever be to defend the harbour. The ground for anchorage is of the very beft kind, fand without, coral, which laft chafes the cables all over the Red Sea. On the 30th, at feven o'clock in the morning, with a gentle but Ready wind at we A, we failed for the mouth of the Indian Indian Ocean. Our Rais became more lively and bolder as he approached his own coaft, and offered to carry mc for nothing, if I would go home with him to Sheher, but I had already enough upon my hand. It is, however, a voyage fome man of knowledge and cntcrprife fliould attempt, as the country and the manners of the people are very little known. But this far is certain, that there all the precious gums grow ; all the drugs of the galenicalfebool, the frankincenfc, myrrh, benjoin, dragons-blood, and a multitude of others, the natural hiftory of which no one has yet given us. The coaft of Arabia, all along from Mocha to the Straits, is a bold coaft, clofe to which you may run without danger night or day. We continued our courfe within a mile of the ftiore, where in fome places there appeared to be fmall woods, in others a flat bare country, bounded with mountains at a confiderable diftance. Our wind frefhened as we advanced. About four in the afternoon we faw the mountain which forms one of the Capes of the Straits of Babel-mandeb, in fliape refembling a gunner's quoin. About fix o'clock, for what reafon I did not know, our Rais infift-ed upon anchoring for the night behind a fmall point.. I thought, at firft, it had been for pilots.. The 31ft, at nine in the morning, we came to an anchor above Jibbel Raban, or Pilots Ifland, juft under the Cape which, on the Arabian fide, forms the north entrance of the Straits. We now faw a fmall veffel enter a round harbour, divided from us by the Cape. The Rais faid he had a de-fign to have anchored there laft night; but as it was trouble-fome to get out in the morning by the wefterty wind, he intended to run over to Perim ifland to pafs the night, 3 and and give us an opportunity to make what obfervations WC pleafed in quiet. We caught here a prodigious quantity of the fineR fiffi that I had ever before feen, but the filly Rais greatly troubled our enjoyment, by telling us, that many of the fifh in that part were poifonous. Several of our people took the alarm, and abftained; the rule I made ufe of in choofing mine, was to take all thofe that were likeft the fifh of our own northern feas, nor had I ever any reafon to complain. At noon, I made an obfervation of the fun, juR under the Cape of the Arabian fhore, with a Hadlcy's quadrant, and found it to be in lat. 120 38' 30", but by many paffages of the ftars, obferved by my large aflronomical quadrant in the ifland of Perim, all deductions made, I found the true latitude of the Cape fliould be rather 120 39' 20" north, Pertm is a low ifland, its harbour good, fronting the Abyflinian fhore. It is a barren, bare rock, producing, on fome parts of it, plants of abfynthium, or rue, in others kelp, that did not feem to thrive ; it was at this time perfectly feorched by the heat of the fun, and had only a very faint appearance of having ever vegetated. The ifland itfelf is about five miles in length, perhaps more, and about two miles in breadth. It becomes narrower at both ends. Ever fincc we anchored at the Cape, it had begun to blow ftrongly from the welt, which gave our Rais great apprehenfion, as, he faid, the wind fometimes continued in that point for fifteen days together. This alarmed mc not a little, leaft, by miffing Mahomet Gibberti, we mould lofe our voyage. We had rice and butter, honey and flour, 2 The The fea afforded us plenty of fifh, and I had no doubt but hunger would get the better of our fears of being poifon-cd : with water we were likewife pretty well fupplicd, but all this was rendered ufelefs by our being deprived of lire. In fhort, though we could have killed twenty turtles a-day, all we could get to make lire of, were the rotten dry roots of the rue that we pulled from the clefts of the rock, which, with much ado, ferved to make lire for boiling our coffee. The iftof Auguft wc ate drammock, made with cold water and raw Hour, mixed with butter and honey, but we Toon found this would not do, though I never was hungry, in my life, with fo much good provifion about me ; for, befides the articles already fpoken of, we had two fkins of wine from Loheia, and a fmall jar of brandy, which I had kept exprefsly for a feat!, to drink the King's health on arriving in his dominions, the Indian Ocean. I therefore pro-pofed, that, leaving the Rais on board, myfelf and two men lhould crofs over to the fouth fide, to try if wc could get any wood in the kingdom of Adel. This, however, did not pleafe my companions. Wc were much nearer the Arabian ihorc, and the Rais had obferved feveral people on land, who feemed to be fiihcrs. If the Abyflinian fhore was bad by its being defert, the danger of the Arabian fide was, that we lhould fall into the hands of thieves. But the fear of wanting, even colfee, was fo prevalent, and the repetition of the drammock dofe fo difguiting, that we refolved to take a boat in the evening, with two men armed, and fpeak to the people we had feen. Here again the Rais's heart failed him. He faid -the inhabitants on that coaft had fire-arms as well as wc, Vol. I. R r and and they could bring a million together, if they wanted them, in a moment; therefore we fliould forfake Perim ifland for the time, and, without hoifting in the boat, till we faw further, run with the veflel clofe to the Arabian fhore. There, it was conceived, armed as we were, with ammunition in plenty, we lhould be able to defend our-felvcs, if thofe we had feen were pirates, of which I had not any fufpicion, as they had been eight hours in our fight, without having made one movement nearer us; but I was, the only perfon on board that was of that opinion. Upon attempting to get our veflel out, we found the1 wind Rrong againR us ; fo that we were obliged, with great difficulty and danger, to tow her round the wefl point, at the expcnce of many hard knocks, which ihe got by the way. During this operation, the wind had calmed confi-derably; my quadrant, and every thing was on board; all our arms, new charged and primed, were laid, covered with a cloth, in the cabbin, when we found happily that the wind became due eaft, and with the wind our refolution changed. We were but twenty leagues to Mocha, and not a-bove twenty-fix from Azab, and wc thought it better, rather to get on our return to Loheia, than to ftay and live upon drammock, or fight with the pirates for firewood. About fix o'clock, we were under weigh. The wind being perfectly fair, we carried as much fail as our veflel would bear, indeed, till her mails nodded again. But before we begin the account of our return, it will be neceflary to lay fomething of thefe famous Straits, the communication between the Red Sea and Indian Ocean. 4 Tins This entrance begins to lliew itfelf, or take a fhape between two capes; the one on the continent of Africa, the other on the peninfula of Arabia. That on the African fide is a high land, or cape, formed by a chain of mountains, which run out in a point far into the fea. The Portuguefe, or Venetians, the firR ChriRian traders in thofe parts, have called it Gardefui, which lias no fignification in any language. But, in that of the country where it is fituated, it is called Gardefan, and means the Straits of Burial, the reafon of which will be feen afterwards. The oppofite cape is Fartack, on the eaR coaR of Arabia Felix, and the diftance between them, in a line drawn acrofs from one to another, not above fifty leagues. The breadth between thefe two lands diminilhes gradually for about 150 leagues, till at laft it ends in the Straits, whofe breadth does not feem to me to be above fix leagues. After getting within the Straits, the channel is divided into two, by the ifland of Perim, otherwife called Mebun. The inmoft and northern channel, or that towards the Arabian fhore, is two leagues broad at moft, and from twelve to feventeen fathom of water. The other entry is three leagues broad, with deep water, from twenty to thirty fathom. From this, the coaft on both fides runs nearly in a north-weft direction, widening as it advances, and the Indian Ocean grows ftraiter. The coaft upon the left hand is part of the kingdom of Adel, and, on the right, that of Arabia Felix. The paflagc on the Arabian fhore, though the narroweft and fhal-loweft of the two, is that moft frequently failed through, and efpccially in the night; becaufe, if you do not round the fouth-point of the ifland, as near as poflible, in attempting to enter the broad one, but are going large with the R r 2 wind wind favourable, you fall in with a great: number of low* fmall iflands, where there is danger. At ten oVlock, wiilithe wind fair, our courfe almoft north-eaft,. we palled three rocky iilands about a mile on our left. On the ad, at fun-rife, we faw land a-head, which wc took to be the Main, but, upon nearer approach, and the day becoming clearer, we found two low iilands to the leeward ; one of which we fetched with great dillieulty. We found, there the (lock of an old acacia-tree, and two or three bundles of wreck, or rotten Ricks, which wc gathered with great care j and all of us agreed, we would cat brcakfaft, dinner, and fupper hot, in (lead of the cold repaft we had made upon the drammock in the Straits. . We now made feveral large fires ; one took the charge of the coffee, another boiled the rice; wc killed four turtles, made ready a dolphin ; got beer, wine, and brandy, and drank the King's health in earned, which our regimen would not allow us to do in the Straits of Babelmandeb. While this good chear was preparing, I faw wTith my glafs, firR one man running along the coaR weftward, who did not flop ; about a quarter of an hour after, another upon a camel, walking at the ordinary pace, who difmounted juft oppofite to us, and, as I thought, kneeled down to lay his prayers upon the fand. We had launched our boat immediately upon feeing the trunk of the tree on the ifland; fo we were ready, and I ordered two of the men to row me on fhore, which they did. It is a bay of but ordinary depth, with ftraggling trees, and fome flat ground along the coaft. Immediately behind is a row of mountains of a brownifh or black colour. The man remained motionlcfs, fitting on the ground, till the boat THE bOURCE Of THE NILE. 3I; boat was afliorc, when I jumped out upon the fand, being armed with a fhort double-barrelled gun, a pair of piitols, and a crooked knife. As foon as the lavage faw me afhore, he made the belt of his way to his camel, and got upon his back, but did not offer to go away*. I sat down on. the ground, after taking the white turban off my head, and waving it feveral times in token of peace, and feeing .that lie did not flir, I advanced to him a-bout a hundred yards. .Still he flood, and after again waving to him with my hands, as inviting him to approach, I made a fign as if I was returning to the fhore. Upon feeing this, he advanced feveral paces, and flopt. I then laid my gun down upon the land, thinking that had frightened him, and walked up as near him as he would fuiler mc ; that is, till I faw he was preparing to go away. I then waved my turban, and cried, Salam, Salum. He flaid till I was within ten yards of him. He was quite naked, was black, anc! had a fillet upon his head, cither of a black or.bluc rag, and bracelets of white beads upon both his arms, He appeared as undetermined what to do. 1 fpokc as diilinclly to him as I could, Salam Allcum.—He anfwered fomcubing like Salam, but what it was I know not. I am, faid I, a flranger from India, who came lafl from Tajoura in the hay of Zeyla, in the kingdom of Adel. He nodded his head, and faid fomething in an unknown language, in which I heard the repetition of Tajoura and Adel. I told him I wanted water, and made a fign of drinking. He pointed up the coaft to the eaflward, and faid, Rahceda, then made a fign of drinking, and faid Tybe. I now found that he underftood me^ and afked him where Azab was ? he pointed to a mountain julL juft before him, and faid, Eh owah Azab Tybe, Rill with a reprcfentation of drinking. I debated with myfelf, whether I lhould not take this favage prifoner. He had three fhort javelins in his hand, and was mounted upon a camel. I was on foot, and above the ancles in fand, with only two piftols, which, whether they would terrify him to furrendcr or not, I did not know; I lhould, otherwife, have been obliged to have fliot him, and this I did not intend. After having invited him as cour-teoufly as I could, to the boat, I walked towards it myfelf, and, in the way, took up my firelock, which was lying hid among the fand. I faw he did not follow me a ftep, but when I had taken the gun from the ground, he fet off at a trot as faft as he could, to the weftward, and we prefently loft him among the trees. I returned to the boat, and then to dinner on the ifland, which wc named Traitor's Ifland, from, the fufpicious behaviour of that only man we had feen near it. This excurfion loft me the time of making my obfervation; all the ufe I made of it was to gather fome flicks and camel's dung, which I heaped up, and made the men carry to the boat, to ferve us for firing, if we lhould be detained. The wind was very fair, and we got under weigh by two o'clock. About four we palled a rocky ifland with breakers on its fouth end, we left it about a mile to the windward of us. The Rais called it Crab-ifland. About five o'clock we came to an anchor clofe to a cape of no height, in a fmall bay, in three fathom of water, and leaving a fmall ifland juft on our Hern. We had not anchored here above ten minutes, before THE SOURCE OF HE NILE. pg before an old man and a boy came down to us. As they had no arms, I went afhore, and bought a fkin of water. The old man had a very thievifh appearance, was quite naked, and laughed or fmiled at every word he faid. He fpoke Arabic, but very badly ; told me there was great plenty of every thing in the country whither he would carry me. He faid, moreover, that there was a king there, and a people that loved Rrangers. The murder of the boat's crew of the Elgin Eaft-India-man, in that very fpot where he was then fitting and praif-ing his countrymen, came prefently into my mind. I found my hand involuntarily take hold of my piflol, and I was, for the only time in my life, Rrongly tempted to commit murder. I thought I faw in the looks of that old vagrant, one of thofe who had butchered fo many Englifhmcn in cold blood. From his readinefs to come down, and being fo near the place, it was next to impoflible that he was not one of the party. A little reflection, however, faved his life and I afked him if he could fell us a fheep, when he laid they were coming. Thefe words put me on my guard, as I did not know how many people might accompany them, I therefore defired him to bring me the water to the boat, which the boy accordingly did, and wc paid him, in cohol, or Ribium, to his wifhes. Immediately upon this I ordered them to put the boat afloat, demanding, ali the time, where were the fheep I A few minutes afterwards, four Rout young men came down, dragging after them two lean goats, which the old man maii;- maintained to me were ihecp. Each man had three light javelins in his hand, and they began to wrangle exceedingly about the animals, whether they were fheep or goats, though they did not feem to underfland one word of our language, but the words fieep and goat in Arabic. In five minutes after, their number increafed toeleven, and I thought it was then full time for me to go on board, for every one of them feemed, by Iris difcourfc and gciturcs, to be violently agitated, but what they faid I could not comprehend. I drew to the fhore, and then put myfelf on board as foon as poflible. They feemed to keep at a certain diftance, crying out Belled, belled! and pointing to the land, invited me to come afhore ; the old hypocrite alone feemed to have no fear, but followed me clofe to the boat. I then refolved to have a free difcourfe with him. " There is no need, faid I to the old man, to fend for thirteen men to bring two goats. Wc bought the water from people that had no lances, and we can do without the fheep, though wc could not wrant the water, therefore, every man that has a lance in his hand let him go away from me, or I will fire upon him." They feemed to take no fort of notice of this, and came rather nearer. " You old-grey headed traitor, faid I, do you think I don't know what you want, by inviting me on fhore; let all thofe about you with arms go home about their bufinefs, or I will in a minute blow them all ofTthe face of the earth. He then jumped up, with rather more agility than his age feemed to promife, and went to where the others were fitting in a clufter, and after a little convcrfation the whole of them retired. The The old fellow and the boy now came down without fear to the boat, when I gave them tobacco, fome beads, and antimony, and did every thing to gain the father's confidence. But he Rill fmilcd and laughed, and I faw clearly he had taken his refolution. The whole burden of his fong was, to per-fuade me to come on Riore, and he mentioned every inducement, and all the kindnefs that he would fliew me. " It is fit, you old rogue, faid I, that, now your life is in my hands, you lhould know how much better men there arc in the world than you. They were my countrymen, eleven or twelve of whom you murdered about three years ago, in the very place where you arc now fitting, and though I could have killed the fame number to-day, without any danger to myfelf, I have not only let them go away, but have bought and fold with you, and givenyou prefents, when, according to your own law, I fhould have killed both you and your fon. Now do not imagine, knowing what I know, that ever you lhall decoy me afhore ; but if you will bring me a branch of the myrrh tree, and of the incenfe tree tomorrow, I will give you two fonduclis for each of them." He faid, he would do it that night. " The fooner the better, faid I, for it is now becoming dark." Upon this he fent away his boy, who in lefs than a quarter of an hour came back with a branch in his hand. Icould not contain my joy, I ordered the boat to be drawn upon the fhore, and went out to receive it; but, to my great difappointment, I found that it was a branch of Acacia, or Sunt, which we had every where met with in Egypt, Syria, and Arabia. I told him, this was of no ufe, repeating the word Gerar, Said, Sunt. He anfwered Eh owah Saiel; but being afked for the myrrh (mour), he faid it was far up Vol. I. S f in in the mountains, but would bring it to me if I would go to the town. Providence, however, had dealt more kindly with us in the moment than we expected. For, upon going afhorc out of eagernefs to get the myrrh, I faw, not a quarter of a mile from us, fitting among the trees, at leaft thirty men, armed with javelins, who all got up the moment they faw mc landed. I called to the boatmen to fet the boat afloat, which they immediately did, and I got quickly on board, near up to the middle in water; but as I went by the old man, I gave him fo violent a blow upon the face with the thorny branch in my hand, that it felled him to the ground. The boy fled, and we rowed off; but before wc took leave of thefe traitors, we gave them a dif-charge of three blunderbufles loaded with piftol-fliot, in the direction where, in all probability, they were lying to fee the boat go off. I directed the Rais to Hand out towards Crab-ifland, and there being a gentle breeze from the fhore, carrying an eafy fail, we flood over upon Mocha town, to avoid fome rocks or iflands, which lie faid were to the weftward. While lying at Crab-illand, 1 obferved two ftars pafs the meridian, and by them I concluded the latitude of that ifland to be if 2' 45" North. The wind continuing moderate, but more to the fouth-ward, at three o'clock in the morning of the 3d, we pafled Jibbel el Ouree, then Jibbel Zckir; and having a fleady gale, with fair and moderate weather, palling to the weftward of the ifland Rafab, between that and fome other iflands to the north-eaft, where the wind turned contrary, we arrived at Loheia, the 6th, in the morning, being the third third day from the time we quitted Azab. Wc found every thing well on our arrival at Loheia ; but no word of Mahomet Gibberti, and I began now to be uncafy. The rains in Abyffinia were to ceafe the 6th of next month, September, and then was the proper time for our journey to Gondar. The only money in the country of the * Imam, is a fmall piece lefs than a fixpencc, and by this the value of all the different denominations of foreign coin is afcertaincd. It has four names, Commeih, Lou-bia, Muchfota, and Harf, but the firR two of thefe arc moft commonly ufed. This money is very bafe adulterated filvcr, if indeed there is any in it. It lias the appearance of pewter ; on the one fide is written Oimafi, the name of the Imam; on the o-ther, Emir cl Moumeneen, Prince of the Faithful, or True Believers ; a title, firft taken by Omar after the death of Abou Beer; and fince, borne by all the legitimate Caliphs. There are likewife Half-commefhes, and thefe are the fmalleft fpecie current in Yemen. i venetian sequin,------qol i fonducli,........80 i barbary sequin, ----- 80 i pataka, or imperial dollar, /{-0 When the Indian merchants or vcffels arc here, the fon-ducli is raifed three commefhes more, though all fpecie is S f 2 fcarce * Arabia Felix, or Yemen. fcarce in the Imam's country, notwithftanding the quantity continually brought hither for coffee, in fdver patakas, that is, dollars, which is the coin in which purchafes of any amount are paid. When they are to be changed into com-mcflics, the changer or broker gives you but 39 inilead of 40, fo he gains 21 per cent, for all money he changes, that is, by giving bad coin for good. The long meafure in Yemen is the peck of Stamboul, as they call it; but, upon meafuring it with a flandard of a Stamboul peck, upon a brafs rod made on purpofe, I found it 26£ inches, which is neither the Stamboulinc peek, the Hendaizy peek, nor the el Bellcdy peck. The peek of Stamboul is 23} inches, fo this of Loheia is a diflinct. peek, which may be called *Yemani. The weights of Loheia are the rotolo, which are of two forts, one of 140 drachms, and ufed in felling fine, the other 160 drachms, for ordinary and coarfer goods. This laft is divided into 16 ounces, each ounce into 10 drachms ; 100 of thefe rotolos are a kantar, or quintal. The quintal of Yemen, carried to Cairo or Jidda, is 113 rotolo, becaufe the rotolo of thefe places is 144 drachms. Their weights appear to be of Italian origin, and were probably brought hither when the Venetians carried on this trade. There is another weight, called faranzala, which I take to be the native one of the country. It is equal to 20 rotolo, of 160 drachms each.. The * That is, the Peek of Arabia Felix, or Yem-in. The cuftoms, which at Mocha arc three per cent, upon India goods, are five here, when brought directly from India; but all goods whatever, brought from Jidda by merchants, whether Turks or natives, pay feven per cent, at Loheia. Loheia is in lat. 1 f \o' 52" north, and in long. 420 58' 15" eaft of the meridian of Greenwich.—The barometer, at its higheft on the 7th day of Auguft, was 26° 9', and its loweft 26° 1', on the 30th of July.—The thermometer, when at its higheft, was 990 on the 30th of the fame month, wind north-caft ; and its loweft was 81° on the 9th of Auguft, wind fouth by eaft. On the 31ft of Auguft, at four o'clock in the morning, I faw a comet for the firft time. The head of it was fcarce-ly vifiblc in the telefcope, that is, its precife form, which was a pale indiftincfl luminous body, whofe edges were not at all defined. Its tail extended full 200. It feemed to be a very thin vapour, for through it I diftinguifhed feveral ftars of the fifth magnitude, which feemed to be increafed in fize. The end of its tail had loft all its fiery colour, and was very thin and white. I could diftinguifh no nucleus, nor any part that feemed redder or deeper than the reft;. for all was a dim-ill-dcflned fpot. At 4hrs- 1' 24", on the morning of the 31ft, it was diftant 200 40' from Rigel; its tail extended to three ftars in Eridanus. The ift of September Mahomet Gibberti arrived, bringing with him the firman for the Naybe of Mafuah, and letters from Metical Aga to *Ras Michael. He alfo brought a letter * Governor of the Province of Tigre in Abyflinia, a letter to me, and another to Achmet, the Naybc's nephew, and future fucceflbr, from Sidi Ali Zimzimia, that is, 4 the keeper of Ilhmaers well at Mecca, called Zim%im? In this letter, Sidi Ali defires me to put little truft in the Naybc, but to keep no fecret from Achmet his nephew, who would certainly be my friend CHAP. CHAP. XIII. Sails for Mafuah—Paffes a Volcano—Comes to Dahalac—Troubled with a Gho/l—Arrives at Mafuah, AL L being prepared for our departure, we failed from Loheia on the 3d of September 1769, but the wind failing, we were obliged to warp the veflel out upon her anchors. The harbour of Loheia, which is by much the largeft in the Red Sea, is now fo mallow, and choked up, that, unlefs by a narrow canal through which we enter and go out, there is no where three fathom of water, and in many places not half that depth. This is the cafe with all the harbours on the eaft-coaft of the Red Sea, while thofe on the weft are deep, without any banks or bars before them, which is probably owing, as I have already faid, to the violence of the north-weft winds, the only conftanr ftrong winds to be met with in this Gulf. Thefe occasion ftrong currents to fet in upon the eaft-coaft, and heap up the fand and gravel which is blown in from Arabia. All next day, the 4th, we were employed at warping out: our veflel againR a contrary wind. The 5th, at three quarters paft live in the morning, we got under fan .villi little wind. wind. At half paR nine, Loheia bore eaR north-caft about four leagues diftant; and here we came in fight of feveral fmall, barren, and uninhabited iilands,' Booarifh bore fouth-weft two miles oft'; Zebid one mile and a half diftant, call and by north ; Amar, the fmalleft of all, one mile fouth; and Ormook, fouth-eaft by eaft two miles. The Arabs of the mountain, who had attempted to furprife Loheia in the fpring, now prepared for another attack againft it, and had advanced within three days journey. This obliged the Emir to draw together all his troops from the neighbourhood ; all the camels were employed to lay in an extraordinary ftock of water. Our Rais, who was a Rrangcr, and without connections in this place, found himfelf under great difficulties to provide water enough for the voyage, for we had but a fcanty provifion left, and though our boat was no more than fixty feet long, we had about forty people on board of her. I had indeed hired the veflel for myfelf, but gave the Rais leave to take fome known people paflengcrs on board, as it was very dangerous to make enemies in the place to which I was going, by fruftrating any perfon of his voyage home, even though I paid for the boat, and ftill as dangerous to take a perfon unknown, whofe end in the voyage might be to defeat my dcfigns. We were refolved, therefore, to bear away for an ifland to the northward, where they faid the water was both good, and in plenty. In the courfe of this day, we pafled feveral fmall iflands, and, in the evening, anchored in feven fathom and a half of water, near a fhoal diftant four leagues from Loheia. Wc ' bearing fpears and fhields. We need not go far to pro-' duce an example that will confirm this. The fubjects and neighbours of Semiramis had brought fpices by land, into Affyria. The Ifhmaelitcs and Midianitcs, the merchants and carriers of gold from Ethiopia, and more immediately from Paleltine, met in her dominions ; and there was, for a time, the mart of the Eaft India trade, but, by* an. abfurd expedition with an army into India, in hopes to enrich J enrich herfelf all at once, Ihe effectually ruined that commerce, and her kingdom fell immediately afterwards. Whoever reads the hiftory of the moft ancient nations, will find the origin of wealth and power to have rifen in the eaft; then to have gradually advanced weftward, fpreading itfelf at the fame time north and fouth. They will find the riches and population of thofe nations decay in proportion as this trade forfakes them ; which cannot but fuggeft to a good underftanding, this truth conftantly to be found in the difpofttion of all things in this univerfe, that God makes ufe of the final left means and caufes to operate the greateft and moft powerful effects. In his hand a pepper-corn is the foundation of the power, glory, and riches of India; he makes an acorn, and by it communicates power and riches to nations divided from India by thoufands of leagues of fea. Let us purfue our confideration of Egypt. Scfoftris, before the time we have been juft fpeaking of, palled with a fleet of large fhips from the Arabian Gulf into the Indian Ocean; he conquered part of India, and opened to Egypt the commerce of that country by fea. I enter not into the credibility of the number of his fleet, as there is fcarcc any thing credible left us about the fhipping and navigation of the ancients, or, at leaft, that is not full of difficulties and contradictions; my bufinefs is with the expedition, not with the number of the fhips. It would appear he revived, rather than firft difcovered, this way of carrying on the trade to the Eaft Indies, which, though it was at times intermitted, (perhaps forgot by the Princes who were contending for the fovercigntv of the continent of Afia), was, nevertheless, kfs, perpetually kept up by the trading nations themfelves, from the ports of India and Africa, and on the Red Sea from Edom. The pilots from thefe ports alone, of all the world, had a fecret confined to their own knowledge, upon which the fuccefs of thefe voyages depended. This was the phenomena of the trade-winds * and monfoons, which the pilots of Sefoftris knew; and which thofe of Ncarchus feem to have taught him only in part, in his voyage afterwards, and of which we arc to fpeak in the fequel. HiRory fays further of Sefoftris, that the Egyptians confidered him as their greateft benefactor, for having laid open to them the trade both of India and Arabia, for having overturned the dominion of the Shepherd kings; and, laftly, for having rc-ftored to the Egyptian individuals each their own lands, which had been wrcfted-from them by the violent hands of the Ethiopian Shepherds, during the firft ufurpation of thefe princes. In memory of his having happily accomplifhcd thefe events, Sefoftris is faid to have built a fhip of cedar of a hundred and twenty yards in length, the outfide of which he covered with plates of gold, and the infide with plates of filver, and this he dedicated in the temple of I lis. I will not enter into the defence of the probability of his reafons for having built a fhip of this fize, and for fuch a purpofe, as one of ten yards would have fufliciently anfwered. The Vol. I. 3 A ufe TJiefe are far from being fynonymous tcrms; as we fliall fee afterwards. ufe it was made for, was apparently to ferve for a hieroglyphic, of what he had accomplifhed, viz. that he had laid open the gold and filver trade from the mines in Ethiopia, and had navigated the ocean in lhips made of wood, which were the only ones, he thereby infinuated, that could be employed in that trade. The Egyptian fhips, at that time, were all made of the reed papyrus % covered with fkins or leather, a conftrucTion which no people could venture to> prefent to the ocean. There is much to be learned from a proper underRand-ing of thefe laR benefits conferred by SefoRris upon his Egyptian fubjects. When we underftand thefe, which is very eafy to any that have travelled in the countries wc are fpeaking of, (for nations and caufes have changed very little in diefe countries to this day), it will not be diRicult to Rnd afolution of this problem, What was the commerce that, progrellively, laid the foundation of all that immenfe grandeur of the calf ; what polifhcd them, and cloathed them with filk, fcarlct, and gold; and what carried the arts and fcicnccs among them, to a pitch, perhaps, never yet furpaf-fed, and this fome thoufands of years before the nations in Europe had any other habitation than their native woods, or eloathing than the fkins of beafts, wild and domeftic, or government,, but that firft, innate one, which nature had given to the ftrongeft? Let us inquire what was the connection Sefoftris brought about between Egypt and India; what was that commerce 3 of Sec theraittcl* papyrus 111 the Appcudb, of Ethiopia and Arabia, by which he enriched Egypt, and what was their connection with the peninfula of India ; who were thofe kings who bore fo oppofite an office, as to be at the fame time Shepherds; and who were thofe Shepherds, near, and powerful enough to wrcft the property of their lands from four million of inhabitants. To explain this, it will be ncccfTary to enter into fome dc^ tail, without which no perfon dipping into the ancient or modern hiRory of this part of Africa, can have any precifc idea of it, nor of the different nations inhabiting the peninfula, the fource of whofe wealth confiftcd entirely in the early, but well-eRablifhed commerce between Africa and India. What will make this fubject of more eafy explanation is, that the ancient employment and occupations of thefe people in the firR ages, were Rill the fame that fubfift at this day. The people have altered a little by colonies of Rrangers being introduced among them, but their manners and employments are the fame as they originally wrere. What does not relate to the ancient hiRory of thefe people, I fhall only mention in the courfe of my travels whenpafs-ing through, or fojourning amongft them. Providence had created the inhabitants of the peninfula of India under many disadvantages in point of climate. The high and wholefome part of the country was covered with barren and rugged mountains ; and, at different times of the year, violent rains fell in large currents down the fides of thefe, which overflowed all the fertile land below; and thefe rains were no fooner over, than they were rue-ceeded by a fcorching fun, the effect of which upon the human body, was to render it feeble, enervated, and incapable 3 A 2 of of the efforts neceffary for agriculture. In this Rat country, large rivers, that fcarce had declivity enough to runr crept Rowly along, through meadows of fat black earth, ftagnating in many places as they went, rolling an abundance of decayed vegetables, and- filling the whole air with exhalations of the moR corrupt and putrid kind. Even rice, the general food of man, the fafeft and moR friendly to the inhabitants of that country, could not grow but by laying under water the places where it was fown, and thereby rendering them, for feveral months, abfolutely improper for man's dwelling. Providence had done this, but, never failing in its wifdom, had made to the natives a great deal more than a fufficient amends.. Their bodies were unfit for the fatigues of agriculture, nor was the land proper for common cultivation. But this country produced fpices of great variety, efpecially a fmall berry cailcd Pepper, fuppofed, of all others, and with reafon, to be the greateft friend to the health of man. This grew fpontaneoully, and was gathered without toil. It was, at once, a.perfecT remedy for the inclemencies and difeafes of the country, as well as the fource of its riches, from the demand of foreigners. This fpecies of fpicc is no where known but in India, though equally ufeful in every putrid region, where, unhappily, thefe difeafes reign. Providence has not, as in India* placed remedies fo near them; thus wifely providing for the welfare of mankind in general, by, the dependency it has forced one man to have upon another. In India, and fimilar climates, this fpice is not ufed in fmall quantities, but in fuch, as to be nearly equal o that of bread. TH dance, without care, which may be confidcred as almoft e-qual to fdk, in many of its qualities, and fuperior to it in fome, afforded a variety ftill cheaper for more general ufe. Every tree without culture produced them fruit of the moft excellent kind; every tree afforded them fhadc, under which, with a very light and portable loom of cane, they could pafs their lives delightfully in a calm and rational enjoyment, by the gentle exercife of weaving, at once providing for the health of their bodies, the neceftities of their families, and the riches of their country. But however plentifully their fpices grew, in whatever quantity the Indians confumed them, and however generally they wore their own manufactures, the fuperabun-dance of both was fuch, as naturally led them to look out for articles againft which they might barter their fuperftui-ties. This became neceffary to fupply the wants of thofe things that had been with-held from them, for wife ends, or which, from wantonnefs, luxury, or flender neceflity, they had created in their own imaginations. Ear to the weftward of them, but part of the fame com-tincnt, connected by a long defert, and dangerous coaft, was the peninfula of Arabia, which produced no fpices, tho* the neccllities of its climate fubjected its inhabitants to the lame difeafes as thofe in India, In fact, the country and climate climate were exactly fimilar, and, confequently, the plentiful ufe of thefe- warm productions was as neceffary there, as in India, the country where they grew. It is true, Arabia was not abandoned wholly to the inclemency of its climate, as it produced myrrh and frankin-cenfe, which, when ufed as perfumes or fumigations, were powerful antifeptics of their kind, but adminiRercd rather as preventatives, than to remove the diforder when it once prevailed. Thefe were kept up at a price, of which, at this day, wc have no conception, but which never diminifhed from any circumflancc, under which the country where they grew, laboured. The filk and cotton of India were white and colourlefs, liable to foil, and without any variety; but Arabia produced gum and dyes of various colours, which were highly agreeable to the taRe of the Afiatics. We find the facred fcrip-tures fpeak of the party-coloured garment as the mark of the grcatefl honour % Solomon, in his proverbs, too, fays, that he decked his bed with coverings of tapeRry of Egypt f. But Egypt had neither filk nor cotton manufactory, no, nor even wool. Solomon's coverings, though he had them from Egypt, were therefore an article of baiter with India. Balm, or Balfam;[:, was a commodity produced in Arabia, fbkl at a very high price, which it kept up till within thefe few * Gen, xxxvii. 3 and 2 Sam. xiii. 18. f Prov. vii. 16. $ Vide Appendix, where this tree is defcribed. few centuries in the eaR; when the Venetians carried on the India trade by Alexandria, this Balfam then fold for its weight in gold ; it grows in the fame place, and, I believe, nearly in the fame quantity as ever, but, for very obvious reafons*, it is now of little value. The bafis of trade, or a connection between thefe two countries, was laid, then, from the beginning, by the hand of Providence. The wants and neccftities of the one found a fupply, or balance from the other. Heaven had placed them not far diRant, could the palTage be made by fea; but violent, Ready, and unconquerable winds prefented themfelves to make that paffage of the ocean impolfiblc, and we are not to doubt, but, for a very confiderable time, this was, the reafon why the commerce of India was dilTufed through the continent, by land only,, and from this arofe the riches of Semiramis. But, however precious the merchandife of Arabia was, it was neither in quantity, nor quality, capable of balancing the imports from India. Perhaps they might have paid for as much as was ufed in the pcninfula of Arabia itfelf, but, beyond this there was a vaR continent called Africa, capable of confuming many hundred fold more than Arabia ; which lying under the fame parallel with India, part of it Rill fartlicr fouth, the difeafes of the climate, and the wants of its numerous inhabitants, were, in many parts of it, the fame as thofe of Arabia and India ; befides which there was the i * The. qpaaatky of fimilar cliusa brought from the New World, the Red Sea, and divers communications to the northward, Neither their luxuries nor neceflarics were the fame as thofe of Europe. And indeed Europe, at this time, was probably inhabited by fhepherds, hunters, and rimers, who had no luxury at all, or fuch as could not be fupplied from India; they lived in woods and marfhes, witli the animals which made their fport, food, and cloathing. The inhabitants of Africa then, this vail Continent, were to be fupplied with the necefTaries, as well as the luxuries of life, but they had neither the articles Arabia wanted, nor thofe required in India, at lealt, for a time they thought fo; and fo long they were not a trading people. It is a tradition among the Abyilinians, which they fay they have had from time immemorial, and which is equally received among the Jews and ChriRians, that almoft immediately after the flood, Cufh, grandfon of Noah, with his family, paffing through Atbara from the low country of Egypt, then without inhabitants, came to the ridge of mountains which Rill feparates the flat country of Atbara from the more mountainous high-land of Abyllinia. By cafting his eye upon the map, the reader will fee a chain of mountains, beginning at the Ifthmus of Suez, that runs all along like a wall, about forty miles from the Red Sea, till it divides in lat. 130, into two branches. The one goes along the northern frontiers of Abyllinia, crones the Nile, and then proceeds weftward, through Africa towards the Atlantic Ocean. The other branch goes fbuthward, and then THE SOURCE OF THE N I h E. 'm then eaft, taking the form of the Arabian Gulf; after which, it continues fouthward all along the Indian Ocean, in the fame manner as it did in the beginning all along, the Red Sea, that is parallel to the coaft. Their tradition fays, that, terrified with the late dreadful event the flood, ftill recent in their minds, and appre-henfive of being again involved in a fimilar calamity, they chofe for their habitation caves in the fides of thefe mountains, rather than truft themfelves again on the plain. It is more than probable, that, foon after their arrival, meeting here with the tropical rains, which, for duration, ftill exceed the days that occafioned the flood, and obferving, that going through Atbara, that part of Nubia between the Nile and Allaboras, afterwards called Mcroe, from a dry climate at firft, they had after fallen in with rains, and as thofe rains incrcafed in proportion to their advancing fouthward, they chofe to flop at the firft mountains, where the country was fertile and plcafant, rather than proceed farther at the rilk of involving themfelves, perhaps in a land of floods, that might prove as fatal to their pofterity as that of Noah had been to their anccflors. This is a conjecture from probability, only mentioned for illullration, for the motives that guided them cannot certainly be known; but it is an undoubted fact, that here the Cufhites, with unparalleled indullry, and with inftruments utterly unknown to us, formed for themfelves commodious, yet wonderful habitations in the heart of mountains of granite and marble, which remain entire in great numbers to this day, and promife to do fo till the confummation of all things. This original kind of dwellings foon ex- Vol. I. 3 B tended tended themfelves through the neighbouring mountains, As the Cufhites grew populous, they occupied thofe that were next them, fpreading the induRry and arts which they cultivated, as well to the eaftern as to the weftern ocean, but, content with their firR choice, they never defcended from their caves, nor chofe to refide at a diRance on the plain. It is very lingular that St Jerome does not know where to look for this family, or defcendents of Cufli; though they are as plainly pointed out, and as often alluded to by fcripture, as any nation in the Old Tellamcnt. They are defcribed, moreover, by the particular circumftances of their country, which have never varied, to be in the very place where I now fix them, and where, ever fmce, they have remained, and Rill do to this prefent hour, in the fame montains, and the fame houfes of Rone they formed for themfelves in the beginning. And yet Bochart *, profcf-fedly treating this fubject., as it were indullrioufly, involves it in more than Egyptian darknefs. I rather refer the reader to his work, to judge for himfelf, than, quoting it by extracts, communicate the confuiion of his ideas to my narrative. The Abyflinian tradition further fays, they built the city of Axum fome time early in the days of Abraham. Soon after this, they pufhed their colony down to Atbara, where we know from Herodotus *, they early and fuccefsfully purfued their lludies, from which, Jofephus faysj, they were called Meroetcs, or inhabitants of the iiland of Me roe. The * Btfch. lib. 4. caji. 3. f Herod, lib.. 2, cup. 29. t J^Tcph. anticjuit, Jud. The prodigious fragments of coloffal Ratues of the dog-ftar, Rill to be feen at Axum, fufliciently fliew what a material object of their attention they confidered him to be; and Seir, which in the language of the Troglodytes, and in that of the low country of Meroe, exactly correfponding to it, fignifies a inftructs us in the reafon why this province was called Sire, and the large river wiiicn bounds it, Sifts* I apprehend the reafon why, without forfaiting their ancient domiciles in the moiuitains, they chofe this fituation for another city, Meroe, was owing to an imperfection they had difcovered (both in Sire and in their caves below it) to refult from their climate. They were within the tropical rains ; and, confequently, were impeded and interrupted in the neceffary obfervations of the heavenly bodies, and the progrefs of allronomy which they fo warmly cultivated. They mull have feen, 1 ikewife, a necefiity of build inj. Meroe farther from them than perhaps they wifhed, for the fame reafon they built Axum in the high country of Abyffinia in order to avoid the 11 y (a phenomenon of which 1 lhall afterwards fpeak) which purfued them everywhere within the limits of the rains, and which mult have given an abfolutc law in thofe firR times to the regulations of the Cufhitc fettlemcnts. They therefore went the length of lat. i6°, where I faw the ruins fuppofed to he thofe of Meroe0, and caves in the mountains immediately above that fituation, which I cannot doubt were the temporary habitation of the builders of that firR feminary of learning, 7 B i It * At Geni in my return through the defcrt. It is probable that, immediately upon their fuccefs at Meroe, they loR no time in Rretching on to Thebes. We know that it was a colony of Ethiopians, and probably from Meroe, but whether directly, or not, we are not certain. A very fhort time might have palled between the two cflablifh-ments, for we find above Thebes, as there are above Meroe, a vaft number of caves,which the colony made provifionally, upon its firR arrival, and which are very near the top of the mountain, all inhabited to this day. Hence we may infer, that their ancient apprchenfions of a deluge had not left them whilR, they faw the whole land of Egypt could be overflowed every year without rain falling upon it; that they did not abfolutely, as yet, trufl to the Aability of towns like thofe of Sire and Meroe, placed upon columns or Rones, one laid upon the other, or otherwife, that they found their excavations in the mountains were fmifhed with lefs trouble, and more comfortable when complete, than the houfes that were built. It was not long before they affumed a greater degree of courage. CHAP, CHAP. II. Saba and the South of Africa peopled—Shepherds, their particular Em* ployment and Circumfances—Abyffinia occupied by feven franger Nations—Specimens of their feveral Languages—Conjeclures concerning them. WHILE thefe improvements were going on fo profper-oully in the central and northern territory of the defcendents of Cufh, their brethren to the fouth were not idle, they had extended themfelves along the mountains that run parallel to the Arabian Gulf; which was in all times called Saba, or Azabo, both which fignify South, not becaufe Saba was fouth of Jerufalem, but becaufe it was on the fouth coaR of the Arabian Gulf, and, from Arabia and Egypt, was the firR land to the fouthward which bounded the African Continent, then richer, more important, and better known, than the reft of the world. By that ac-quifition, they enjoyed all the perfumes and aromatics in the eaft, myrrh, and frankincenfe, and caftia; all which grow fpontaneoully in that ftripe of ground, from the Bay of Bilur weft of Azab, to Cape Gardcfan, and then fouthward up in the Indian Ocean, to near the coaft of Melinda, where there is cinnamon, but of an inferior kind. 3 Arabia. Arabia probably had not then fet itfelf up as a rival to this fide of the Red Sea, nor had it introduced from Abyllinia the myrrh and frankincenfe, as it did afterwards, for there is no doubt that the principal mart, and growth of thefe gums, were always near Saba. Upon the confumption increafing, they, however, were tranfplanted thence into Arabia, where the myrrh has not fucceeded. The Troglodyte extended himfelf ftill farther fouth. As an aftronomer, he was to difengage himfelf from the tropical rains and cloudy fkies that hindered his correfpon-dent obfervations with his countrymen at Meroe and Thebes. As he advanced within the fouthern tropic, he, however, ftill found rains, and made his houfes fuch as the fears of a deluge had inftructcd him to do. He found there folid and high mountains, in a fine climate; but, luckier than his countrymen to the northward, he found gold and iilvcr in large quantities, which determined his occupation, and made the riches and confequence of his country. In thefe mountains, called the Mountains of Sofala, large quantities of both metals wrcre difcovered in their pure unmixed ft ate, lying in globules without alloy, or any neceflity of preparation or fcparation. The balance of trade, fo long againft the Arabian and African continents, turned now in their favour from the immenfe influx of thefe precious metals, found in the mountains of Sofala, juft on the verge of the fouthern tropical rains. Com and fifver had been fixed upon in India as proper returns for their manufactures and produce. It is impofti- ^ ble ble to fay whether it was from their hardnefs or beauty, or what other reafon governed the mind of man in making, this flandard of barter. The hiftory of the particular tran-factions of thofe times is loft, if, indeed, there ever was fuch hiftory, and, therefore, all further inquiries are in vain. The choice, it feems, was a proper one, fince it has continued unaltered fo many ages in India, and has been univerfally adopted by all nations pretty much in the proportion or value as in India, into which continent gold and filver, from this very early period, began to flow, have continued fo to do to this day, and in all probability will do to the end of time. What has become of that immenfe quantity of bullion, how it is confumed, or where it is depoiitcd, and which way, if ever it returns, are doubts which I never yet found a perfon that could fatisfactorily folve. The Cufhite then inhabited the mountains, whilft the northern colonies advanced from Meroe to Thebes, bufy and intent upon the improvement of architecture, and building of towns, which they began to fubftitute for their caves; they thus became traders, farmers, artificers of all kinds,, and even practical aftronomers, from having a meridian night and day free from clouds, for fuch was that of the Thebaid. As this was impoffible to their brethren, and lix months continual rain confined them to thefe caves, we cannot doubt but that their fedentary life made- them ufc-ful in reducing the many obfervations daily made by thofe of their countrymen who lived under a purer fky. Letters too, at leaft one fort of them, and arithmetical characters, wc arc told, were invented by this middle part of the Cufhitcs. while trade and aftronomy, the natural hiftory of the winds 1 and. and feafons, were what neccfTariJy employed the part of the colony eftablifhcd at Sofala moR to the fouthward. The very nature of the Cufhites commerce, the collecting of gold, the gathering and preparing his fpices, necef-farily fixed him perpetually at home ; but his profit lay in the difperfing of thefe fpices through the continent, other-wife his mines, and the trade produced by the poffeflion of them, were to him of little avail. A carrier was abfolutcly neceffary to the Cufhite, and Providence had provided him one in a nation which were his neighbours. Thefe were in moll refpects different, as they had long hair, European features, very dufky and dark complexion, but nothing like the black-moor or negro; they lived in plains, having moveable huts or habitations, attended their numerous cattle, and wandered from the nccci-litics and particular circumRanccs of their country. Thefe people were in the Hebrew called Phut, and, in all other languages, Shepherds; they are fo Rill, for they Rill cxiR; they fubfift by the fame occupation, never had another, and therefore cannot be miftaken; they arc called Balous, Bagla, Belowee, Bcrbcri, Barabra, Zilla and Habab * which all fignify but one thing, namely that of Shepherd. From their place of habitation, the territory has been called Bar-harla by the Greeks and Romans, from Berber, in the origi-al fignifying fiepherd. The authors that fpeak of the Shepherds feem to know little of thofe of the Thebaid, and ftill lefs * It is very probable, fome of thefe words fignificd different degrees among them, as w-c mail fee in the fcquel. lefs of thofe of Ethiopia, whilft they fall immediately upon the fhepherds of the Delta, that they may get the fooner rid of them, and thruR them into Aflyria, PalefTine, and Arabia. They never fay what their origin was ; how they came to be fo powerful; what was their occupation ; or, properly, the land they inhabited; or what is become of them now, though they feem inclined to think the race extinct. The whole employment of the fhepherds had been the difperfing of the Arabian and African goods all over the continent; they had, by that employment, rifen to be a great people : as that trade increafed, their quantity of cattle increafed alfo, and confequently their numbers, and the extent of their territory. Upon looking at the map, the reader will fee a chain of mountains which I have defcribed, and which run in a high ridge nearly Rraight north, a^ong the Indian Ocean, in a direction parallel to the coall, where they end at Cape Gardefan. They then take the direction of the coaft, and run weft from Cape Gardefan to the Straits of Babclmandeb, inclofing the frankincenfe and myrrh country, which extends confiderably to the weft of Azab. From Babclmandeb they run northward, parallel to the Red Sea, till they end in the fandy plain at the Illhnius of Suez, a name probably derived from Suah, Shepherds, Although this ftripe of land along the Indian Ocean, and afterwards along tho Red Sea, was neccflary to the fhepherds, becaufe they carried their mcrchandifc to the ports there, and thence to Thebes and Memphis upon the Nile, yet the principal feat of their refidence and power was that Vol. I. 3 C flat and feafons, were what ncccfTarily employed the part of the colony eflabliihcd at Sofala moR to the fouthward. The very nature of the Cufhitcs commerce, the collecting of gold, the gathering and preparing his fpices, necef-farily lixed him perpetually at home; but his profit lay in the difperfing of thefe fpices through the continent, other-wife his mines, and the trade produced by the pofleflion of them, were to him of little avail, A carrier was abfolutcly neceffary to the Cufhite, and Providence had provided him one in a nation which were his neighbours. Thefe were in moR refpects different, as they had long hair, European features, very dufky and dark complexion, but nothing like the black-moor or negro; they lived in plains, having moveable huts or habitations, attended their numerous cattle, and wandered from the neccf-litics and particular circumflanccs of their country. Thefe people were in the Hebrew called Phut, and, in all other languages, Shepherds; they are fo Rill, for they Rill cxift; they fubfiR by the fame occupation, never had another, and therefore cannot be miRakcn; they are called Balous, Bagla, Belowec, Berberi, Barabra, Zilla and Habab * which all fignify but one thing, namely that of Shepherd. From their place of habitation, the territory has been called Bar* harla by the Greeks and Romans, from Berber, in the origi-al fignifying ficpherd. The authors that fpeak of the Shepherds feem to know little of thofe of the Thebaid, and Rill lefs * It is very probable, fome of thefe words fignificd different degrees among them, as Vf* fhall fee in the fequel. lefs of thofe of Ethiopia, whilft they fall immediately upon the fhepherds of the Delta, that they may get the fooncr rid of them, and thruft them into Affyria, Paleftinc, and Arabia. They never fay what their origin was; how they came to be fo powerful; what was their occupation ; or, properly, the land they inhabited; or what is become of them now, though they feem inclined to think the race extinct. The whole employment of the fhepherds had been the difperfmg of the Arabian and African goods all over the continent; they had, by that employment, rifen to be a great people: as that trade increafed, their quantity of cattle increafed alfo, and confequently their numbers, and the extent of their territory. Upon looking at the map, the reader will fee a chain of mountains which I have defcribed, and which run in a high ridge nearly ftraight north, along the Indian Ocean, in a direction parallel to the coaft, where they end at Cape Gardefan. They then take the direction of the coaft, and run well from Cape Gardefan to the Straits of Babclmandeb, inclofing the frankincenfe and myrrh country, which extends conliderably to the weft of Azab. from Babclmandeb they run northward, parallel to the Red Sea, till they end in the fandy plain at the Iflhmus of Suez, a name probably derived from Suah, Shepherds. Although this ftripe of land along the Indian Ocean, and afterwards along the Red Sea, was neceffary to the fhepherds, becaufe they carried their mcrchandifc to the ports there, and thence to Thebes and Memphis upon the Nile, yet the principal feat of their refidence and power was that Vol. I. .3 C flat flat part of Africa between the northern tropic and the mountains of Abyflinia. This is divided into various districts; it reaches from Mafuah along the fea-coaft to Suakem, then turns weftward, and continues in that direction, having the Nile on the fouth, the tropic on the north, to the deferts of Selima, and the confines of Libya on the weft. This large extent of country is called Be/a. The next is that diftrict * in form of a fhield, as Meroe is faid to have been ; this name was given it by Cambyfes. It is between the Nile and Aftaboras, and is now called Atbara. Between the river Mareb, the ancient Aftufafpes on the eaft, and Atbara on the weft, is the fmall plain territory of Derkin, another diftrict of the fhepherds. All that range of mountains running eaft and weft, inclofing Derkin and Atbara on the fouth, and which begins the mountainous country of Abyffinia, is inhabited by the negro woolly-headed Cufhite, or Shangalla, living as formerly in caves, who, from having been the moft cultivated and inftrucTed people in the world* have, by a ftrange reverfe of fortune, relapfed into brutal ignorance, and are hunted by their neighbours like wild beafts in thofe forefts, where they ufed to reign in the utmoft luxury, liberty, and fplendour. But the noble ft, and moft warlike of all the fliepherds,were thofe that inhabited the mountains of the Habab, a confiderable ridge reaching from the neighbourhood of Mafuah to Suakcm, and who ftill dwell there.. In the ancient language: of this country, So, or Saab, fignified fhephcrd, or fhepherds; though we do not know any particular rank or degrees among them, yet we may fuppofe thefe called fimplyJljephcnh were the common fort that attended the JDacLSic. lib, i. oap. the flocks, Another denomination, part of them bore, was Hycfos, founded by us Agfos, which fignifies armed fhepherdsi or fuch as wore harnefs, which may be fuppofed the iol-dicrs, or armed force of that nation. The third we fee mentioned is Ag-ag, which is thought to be the nobles or chiefs of thofe armed fhepherds, whence came their ntle King of Kings *. The plural of this is Agagi, or, as it is written in the Ethiopic, Agaazi. This term has very much puzzled both Scaliger and Lu-dolf; for, finding in the Abyffmian books that they are called Agaazi, they torment themfelves about finding the etymology of that word. They imagine them to be Arabs from near the Red Sea, and Mr Ludolf f thinks the term fignifies banifhed men. Scaliger, too, has various gucflcs about them nearly to the fame import. All this, however, is without foundation; the people affert themfelves at this day to be Agaazi, that is, a race of Shepherds inhabiting the mountains of the Habab, and have by degrees extended themfelves through the whole province of Tigre, whofe capital is called Axum, from Ag and Suah, the metropolis, or principal city of the fhepherds that wore arms. Nothing was more oppofite than the manners and life of the Cufhite, and his carrier the fhephcrd. The firR, though he had forfaken his caves, and now lived in cities which he had built, was nccefTarily confined at home by his commerce, amafting gold, arranging the invoices of his 3 C 2 fpices, * This was the name of the king of Amalck; he was an Arab fhephcrd, flaio by Samuel, i Sam. xv. 33. •J-Ludolf lib. 1 cap. 4, fpices, hunting in the feafon to provide himfelf with ivory,., and food throughout the winter. His mountains, and the cities he built afterwards, were lituatcd uponaloomy, black, earth, fo that as foon as the tropical rains began to fall, a wonderful phenomenon deprived him of his cattle. Large (warms of flics appeared wherever that loomy earth was, which made him abfolutely dependent in this refpect. upon the fhepherd, but this alfecTed the fhepherd alfo. This- infect, is called Zlmb; it has not been defcribed by any natural!!!. It is in lize very little larger than a bee, of a thicker proportion, and his wings, which are broader than thofe of a bee, placed feparate like thofe of a fly ; they are of pure gauze, without colour or fpot upon them ; the head is large, the upper jaw or lip is fharp, and has at the end of it a ftrong-pointcd hair of about a quarter of an inch long ; the lower jaw has two of thefe pointed hairs, and this pencil of hairs, when joined together, makes a re-fillencc to the finger nearly equal to that of a ftrong hog's briillc. Its legs are ferratcd in the infide, and the whole covered with brown hair or down. As foon as this plague appears, and their buzzing is heard, all the cattle for-fake their food, and run wildly about the plain, till they die, worn out with fatigue, fright, and hunger. No remedy remains, but to leave the black earth, and haften down to the funds of Atbara, and there they remain while the rains fail, this cruel enemy never daring to purfue them farther. What enables the fhepherd to perform the long and toilfomc journies acrofs Africa is the camel, emphatically called by the Arabs, the fhip of the dfert. He feems to have been created for this very trade, endued with parts and qualities qualities adapted to the oflice he is employed to difcharge. The dricR thiftle, and the bare ft thorn, is all the food this ufeful quadruped requires, and even thefe, to favc time, he eats while advancing on his journey, without Hopping, or occafioning a moment of delay. As it is his lot to crofs immenfe deferts, where no water is found, and countries not even moiftcned by the dew of heaven, he is endued with the power at one watering-place to lay in a llore, with which he fupplies himfelf for thirty days to tome. To contain this enormous quantity of fluid, Nature has formed large cifterns within him, from which, once filled, he draws at pleafure the quantity he wants, and pours it into his ftomach with the fame ell eel as if he then drew it from a fpring, and with this he travels, patiently and vigoroufly, all day long, carrying a prodigious load upon him, through countries infected with poifonous winds, and glowing with parching and never-cooling lands. Though his fize is immenfe, as is his ltrcngth, and his body covered with a thick, fkin, defended with ftrong hair, yet flill he is not capable to fuftain the violent punctures the fly makes with his pointed probofcis. He muft lofc no rime in re moving to the fands of Atbara ; for, when once attacked by this fly, his body, head, and legs break out into large holies, which fwell, break, and putrify, to the certain deft ruction of the creature. Even the elephant and rhinoceros, who, by reafon of their enormous bulk, and the vaft quantity of food and-water they daily need, cannot ihift to defert and di y places as the feafpn may require* are obliged to roll themfelves in mud and mire, which, when dry, coats them over like armour, and enables them to ftand their ground againil this winged aifaflin; yet I have found fome of thefe tubcrculcs 2. trjtohu upon almoR every elephant and rhinoceros that I have Ren, and attribute them to this caufe. All the inhabitants of the fea-coafl of Melinda, down to Cape Gardefan, to Saba, and the fouth coaR of the Red Sea, arc obliged to put themfelves in motion, and remove to the next fand in the beginning of the rainy feafon, to prevent all theirftockof cattlefrombcingdcftroyed. This is not a partial e-migration ; the inhabitants of all the countries from the mountains of Abyflinia northward, to the confluence of the Nile and Aflaboras, are oncca-ycar obliged to change their a-bode, and feek protection in the fands of Beja; nor is there any alternative, or means of avoiding this, though a hoflile band was in their way, capable of fpoiling them of half their fubftance; and this is now actually the cafe, as we lhall fee when we come to fpeak of Sennaar. Of all thofe that have written upon thefe countries, the prophet lfaiah alone has given an account of this animal, and the manner of its operation. Ifa. vii. ch. 18. and 19. ver. *' And it lhall come to pais, in that day, that the Lord mall ** hifs for the fly that is in the uttermofl part of the rivers of " Egypt,"—" And they fliall come, and fliall reft all of them " in the defolate vallics*, and in the holes of the rocks, and M upon all thorns, and upon all bullies." The mountains that I have already fpoken of, as running through the country of the Shepherds, divide the feafons by * That is, they fliall cut off from the cattle their ufual retreat to the defert, by taking pofllflion #f thofe places, and meeting them there where ordinarily they never come, and which therefore •re the refuge of the cattle. by a line drawn along their fummit, fo exactly, that, while trie eaRern fide, towards the Red Sea, is deluged with rain for the fix months that conftitutc our winter in Europe, the weftern fide towards Atbara enjoys a perpetual fun, and active vegetation. Again, the fix months, when it is our fum~ mer in Europe, Atbara, or the weftern fide of thefe mountains, is conftantly covered with clouds and rain, while, for the fame time, the fhepherd on the eaftcrn fide, towards the Red Sea, feeds his flocks in the moft exuberant foliage and luxuriant verdure, enjoying the fair weather, free from the fly or any other moleftation. Thefe great advantages have very naturally occafioned thefe countries of Atbara and Beja to be the principal refidence of the fhepherd and his cattle, and have entailed upon him the neceflity of a perpetual change of places. Yet fo little is this inconvenience, fo fhort the peregrination, that, from the rain on the weft fide, a man, in the fpace of four hours, will change to the oppofite feafon, and find himfelf in fun-fhinc to the eaft-ward. When Carthage was built, the carriage of this commercial city fell into the hands of Lchabim, or Lubim, the Libyan peafants, and became a great acccflion to the trade, power, and number of the fhepherds. In countries to which there was no accefs by fhipping, the end of navigation was nearly anfwered by the immenfe increafe of camels; and this trade, we find, was carried on in the very carlicft ages on the Arabian fide, by the Ifhmaelite merchants trading to Paleftinc and Syria, from the fouth end of the pcninfula, with camels. This we learn particularly from Geneiis, they brought myrrh and fpices, or pepper^ and fold them for 4 fdver; « River; they had alfo balm, or balfam, but this it feems, in thofe days, they brought from Gilead. We arc forry, in reading this curious anecdote preferved to us in fcripture, to find, in thofe early ages of the India trade, that another fpecies of commerce was clofely connected with it, which modern philanthropy has branded as the difgrace of human nature. It is plain, from the paffage, the commerce of felling men was then univerfally ellabliih-ed. Jofeph* is bought as readily, and fold as currently immediately after, as any ox or camel could be at this day. Three nations, Javan, Tubal, and Mefhechf, arc mentioned as having their principal trade at Tyre in the felling of men; and, as late as St John's time;];, this is mentioned as a principal part of the trade of Babylon; notwithftanding which, no prohibition from God, or cenfure from the prophets, have ever ftigmatized it either as irreligious or immoral \ on the contrary, it is always fpoken of as favourably as any fpecies of commerce whatever. For this, and many other reafons which I could mention, I cannot think, that pur-chafing Raves is, in itfelf, either cruel or unnatural. To purchafe any living creature to abufe it afterwards, is certainly both hale and criminal; and the crime becomes Rill of a deeper dye, when our fellow-creatures come to be the fuflcrers. But, although this is an abufe which accidentally follow the trade, it is no ncccflary part of the trade itfelf; and, it is againfl this abufe the wii'dom of the legiflature lhould be direct ed, not againR the trade itfelf. On * Gen. chap, xxxvii. ver. £g, 28. -i Ezek. chap, xxvii. ver. 13. j Rev. chap. xviiLvcr. 1 3. On the eaftern fide of the peninfula of Africa, many thousand flaves are fold to Afia, petfe&ly in the fame manner as thofe on the wefl fide are fent to the Well Indies; but no one, that ever I heard, has as yet opened his mouth againR the fale of Africans to the Eaft Indies ; and yet there is an aggravation in this laft fale of flaves that fliould touch us much more than the other, where no fuch additional grievance can be pretended. The flaves fold into Afia are moft of them ChriRians ; they are fold to Mahometans, and, with their liberty, they are certainly deprived of their religion like-wife. But the treatment of the Afiatics being much more humane than what the Africans, fold to the Weft Indies, meet with, no clamour has yet been raifed againR this commerce in Afia, becaufe its only bad confequence is^ apoftacy ; a proof to me that religion has no part in the prefent difpute, or, as I have faid, it is the abufe that accidentally follows the purchaiing of flaves, not the trade itfelf, that fliould be conftdered as the grievance. It is plain from all hiftory, that two abominable practices, the one the eating of men, the other of facrificing them to the devil, prevailed all over Africa. The India trade, as we have feen in very early ages, firft eftabliihed the buying and felling of flaves ; fince that time, the eating of men, or facrificing them, has fo greatly decreafed on the eaftern fide of the peninfula, that now we fcarcely hear of an inftance of either of thefe that can be properly vouched. On the weftern part, towards the Atlantic Ocean, where the fale of flaves began a confiderable time later, after the difcovery of America and the Weft Indies, both of thefe horrid practices are, as it were, general, though, I am told, lefs fo to the northward fince that event. Vol. L 3 D Them There is Rill alive a man of the name of Matthews, who was prefent at one of thofe bloody banquets, on the weft of Africa, to the northward of Senega. It is probable the continuation of the ftave-trade would have abolifhed thefe, in time, on the weft fide alfo. Many other reafons could be alledged, did my plan permit it. But I lhall content myfelf at prefent, with faying, that I very much fear that a relaxation and effeminacy of manners, rather than genuine ten-dernefs of heart, has been the caufe of this violent paroxyfm of philanthropy, and of fome other meafures adopted of late to the difcouragement of difeipline, which I do not doubt will foon be felt to contribute their mite to the decay both of trade and navigation that will neccffarily follow. The Ethiopian fhepherds at firft carried on the trade on their own fide of the Red Sea ; they carried theirlndia commodities to Thebes, likewife to the different black nations to the fouth-weft; in return, they brought back gold, probably at a cheaper rate, becaufe certainly by a lhorter carriage than by that from Ophir. Thebes became exceedingly rich and proud, though, by the moft extenfive area that ever was alTigned to it, it never could be either large or populous. Thebes is not mentioned in fcripture by that name ; it was deftroyed before the days of Mofcs by Salatis prince of the Agaazi, or Ethiopian fhepherds: at this day it has aflumed a name very like the ancient one. The firft fignification of its name, Mcdinct Tabu, I thought was, the Town of our Father. This, hiftory fays, was given it by Sefoftris in honour of his father ; in the ancient language, its name was Amnion No. The next that prefented itfelf was Theba, which was the Hebrew name name for the Ark when Noah was ordered to build it— Thou lhalt " make thee an Ark (Theba) of gopher-wood*." The figure of the temples in Thebes do not feem to be far removed from the idea given us of the Ark, The third conjecture is, that being the firR city built and fepportcd on pillars, and, on different and feparate pieces of ltone, it got its name from the architects firR exprcffion of approbation or furprife, Tabu, that it flood infulatcd and alone, and this feems to me to be the moR conformable both to the Hebrew and Ethiopic. The fhepherds, for the moft part, friends and allies of the ^ Egyptians, or Cufhite, at times were enemies to them. Wc need not, at this time of day, feck the caufe; there are many very apparent, from oppofite manners, and, above all, the difference in the dietctique regimen. The Egyptians worshipped the cow, the Shepherds killed and ate her. The Shepherds were Sabeans, worshipping the hoft of heaven— the fun, moon, and ftars. Immediately upon the building of Thebes and the perfection of feulpture, idolatry and the grolfeft materialifm greatly corrupted the more pure and fpeculative religion of the- Sabeans. Soon after the building of Thebes, we fee that Rachel, Abraham's wife, had idols f ; we need feck no other probable caufe of the devaf-ration that followed, than diiference of religion. Thebes was deftroyed by Salatis, who overturned the firft Dynafty of Cufhite, or Egyptian kings, begun by Mc-nes, in what is called the feeond age of the world, and 3D2 founded Gen. vu 14. f Gen. xxxv. 4. founded the firR DynaRy of the Shepherds, who behaved very cruelly, and wrefted the lands from their firR owners; and it was this Dynafty that Sefoftris deftroyed, after calling Thebes by his father's name, Ammon No, making thofe decorations that we have feen of the harp in the fepulchres on the weft, and building Diofpolis on the oppofite fide of the river. The fecond conqucft of Egypt by the Shepherds was that under Sabaco, by whom it has been imagined Thebes was deftroyed, in the reign of Hezekiah king of judah, who is faid to have made peace with So * king of Egypt, as the tranflator has called him, miftaking So for the name of the king, whereas it only denoted his quality of fhepherd; From this it is plain, all that the fcripture mentions a-bout Ammon No, applies to Diofpolis on the other fide of the river. Ammon No and Diofpolis, though they were on different fides of the river, were confidered as one city, thro' which the Nile flowed, dividing it into two parts. This is plain from profane hiftory, as well as from the prophet Nahum f, who defcribes it very exactly, if in place of the word fa was fubftituted river, as it ought to be. There was a third invafion of the Shepherds after the building of Memphis, where a % king of Egypt % is faid to have inclofed two hundred and forty thoufand of them in a city called Abaris; they furrendered upon capitulation, and were banifhed the country into the land of Canaan. That two hundred and forty thoufand men mould be inclofed * 2 Kings, xvii. 4. f Nahum, chap. iii. 8, $ MifphragmuthonV. § Manethon, Apud. Jofephum Apion, lib. i.p. 4C0,. inclofed in one city, fo as to bear a fiege, feems to me extremely improbable; but be it fo, all that it can mean is, that Memphis, built in Lower Egypt near the Delta, had war with the Shepherds of the Ifthmus of Suez, or the districts near them, as thofe of Thebes had before with the Shepherds of the Thebaid. But, however much has been written upon j the fubject, the total expulfion of the Shepherds at any one time by any King of Egypt, or at any one place, muft be fabulous, as they have remained in their ancient feats, and do remain to this day ; perhaps in not fo great a number as when the India trade was carried on by the Arabian Gulf, yet ftill in greater numbers than any other nation of the Continent. The mountains which the Agaazi inhabit, are calledHabab^, from which it comes, that they themfelves have got that name. Habab, in their language, and in Arabic like-wife, fignifies a Jerpent, and this I fuppofe explains that hif-torical fable in the book of Axum, which fays, a ferpent conquered the province of Tigre, and reigned there. It may be afked, Is there no other people that inhabit. Abyffinia, but thefe two nations, the Cufhites and the Shepherds ? Are there no other nations, whiter or fairer than them, living to the fouthward of the Agaazi ? Whence did thefe come? At what time, and by what name are they called ? To this I anfwer, That there arc various nations which agree with this defcription, who have each a particular name, and who are all known by that of Habefl), in Latin Convaice, fignifying a number of diftinct. people meeting accidental! y in one place. The word has been greatly mifun-derftood, and mifapplied, both by Scaliger and Ludolf, and 3, a num- .a number of others ; but nothing is more confonant to the hiftory of the country than the tranftation I have given it, nor will the word itfelf bear any other. The Chronicle of Axum, the moft ancient rcpolitory of the antiquities of that country, a book efteenicd, 1 lhall not fay how properly, as the firft in authority after the holy fcripturcs, fays, that between the creation of the world and the birth of our Saviour there wrcre 5500 years *; that A-byftinia had never been inhabited till 1808 years before Chrift * ; and 200 years after that, which was in the 1600, it was laid wade by a Hood, the face of the country much changed and deformed, fo that it was denominated at that time Oure Midrc, or, the country laid -wajlc, or, as it is called in fcripture itfelf, a land which the waters or floods had fpoiled f ; that ahout the 1400 year before Chrift it was taken pofleflion of by a variety of people fpeaking different languages, who, as they were in friendfhip with the Agaazi, or Shepherds, pollefling the high country of Tigre, came and fat down befidc them in a peaceable manner, each occupying the lands that; were before him. This fettlement is what the Chronicle of Axum calls Angaba, the entry and e-ftablifhment of thefe nations, which flnifhed the peopling of Abyflinia Tradition further fays, that they came from Paleftinc. All this feems to me to wear the face of truth. Some time after the year 1500, we know there happened a flood which occafioned * Ei&ftt years lefs than the Greeks and other followers of the Septuagint. f liuiuh, chap, xviii. ver. 2. occafioned great devaluation. Paufanius fays, that this flood happened in Ethiopia in the reign of Cecrops; and, ajboui the 1490 before ChriR, the Ifraelites entered the land of promife, under Caleb and' Jofiiua. Wc are not to wonder at the great imprefllon that invafion made upon the minds of the inhabitants of Paleftinc. We fee by the hiftory of the harlot, that the different nations had been long informed by propheeies,.eurrent and credited among themfelves, that they were to be extirpated before the face of the Ifraelites, who for fome time had been hovering about their frontiers. But now when Jofhua had palled the Jordan, after having mi-raculoufly dried up the river* before his army had invaded Canaan, and.had taken and deftroyed Jericho, a panic feized the whole people of Syria and Paleftine. These petty ftates, many in number, and who had all different languages, feeing a conqueror with an immenfe army already in poReftion of part of their country, and who did not conduct himfelf according to the laws of o-ther conquerors, but put the vanquished under faws and harrows of iron, and deftroyed the men, women, and children, and fometimes even the cattle, by the fword, no longer could think of waiting the arrival of fuch an enemy, but fought for fafety by fpeedy flight or emigration. The Shepherds in Abyflinia and Atbara were the moft natural refuge thefe fugitives could feek ; commerce muft have long made them acquainted with each others manners, and they v. i. 3 d muft I Jofhua, hi. lC. muft have been already entitled to the rights of hofpitality by having often pafled through each other's country. Puocopius* mentions that two pillars were Handing in his time on the coaft of Mauritania, oppofite to Gibraltar, upon which were inferiptions in the Phoenician tongue ; " Wc are " Canaanites, Hying from the face of Jofhua, the fon of Nun, " the robberA character they naturally gave him from the ferocity and violence of his manners. Now, if what thefe inferiptions contain is true, it is much more credible, that the different nations, emigrating at that time, lhould leek their fafety near hand among their friends, rather than go to an immenfc diftance to Mauritania, to rifle a precarious reception among ftrangcrs, and perhaps that country not yet inhabited. Upon viewing the feveral countries in which thefe nations have their fettlements, it feems evident they were made by mutual confent, and in peace ; they are not fepa-rated from each other by chains of mountains, or large and rapid rivers, but generally by fmall brooks, dry the greateft part of the year j by hillocks, or fmall mounds of earth, or imaginary lines traced to the top of fome mountain at a diftance ; thefe boundaries have never been dif-putcd or altered, but remain upon the old tradition to this day. Thefe have all different languages, as we fee from fcripture all the petty ftates of Palcftine had, but they have no letters, or written character, but the Gcez, the character of * Procop. de bdlo vind. lib. 2. cap. 10. * A Moorifh author, Ibn el Raqnique, fays, this infcripiiorj was on a flcne on a mown tain zt Carthage* Marmol. lib. 1. cap. 25. <^/W: O^Trt: HtWCDYn: IWi:: (Dfl ftVTH: JS«i1a: fttf*£nn ©ft. 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I do not, however, mean to fay of them, more than of the Galla, that this was any part of thofe nations who fled from Palcftine on the mvqfion of Jofhua. For they are now, and ever were, Jews,, and have traditions of their own as to their origin, and what reduced them to the prefent. ftatc of fcparation, as we lhall fee hereafter, when I come to fpeak of the tranflation of the holy fcripture. In order to gratify fuch as are curious in the ftudy and hiftory of language, I, with great pains and difficulty, got the whole book of the Canticles tranflatcd into each of thefe languages, by priefts efteemed the moft verfant in the language of each nation. As this barbarous polyglot is of too large a fize to print, I have contented myfelf witli copying fix verfes of the firft chapter in each language; but the whole book is at the fervice of any perfon of learning that will bellow his time in ftudy in g it, and, for this purpofe, I left it in the Britifh Mufeum, under the direction of Sir. Jofeph Banks, and the Bifhop of Carliflc. These Convenes, as we have obferved, were called Habejh, a number of diftinct. nations meeting in one place. Scripture has given them a name, which, though it has been ill tranllated, is precifcly Convene,ho\\\in the Ethiopie and Hebrew. Our Englifh tranflation calls them the mingled people** whereas it lhould be the feparatc nations, who, though met and fettled together, did not mingle, which is ftrictly Convents. The Jerem. chap. xiii. ver- 23.—id. xxv. 24.—Ezek. chap. xxx. ver. 5. Thc inhabitants then who pofTeffed Abymniaj from its fouthern boundary to the tropic of Cancer, or frontiers of ligypt, were the Culhites, or polilhed people, living in towns, firft Troglodytes, having their habitations in caves. The next were the Shepherds ; after thefe were the nations who, as we apprehend, came from Paleftinc—Amharat Agow of Damot, Agow of Tchera, and Gafat, Interpreters, much lefs acquainted with the hifforical circumftances of thefe countries than the prophets, have,, either from ignorance or inattention, occafioned an obfeu-rity which otherwife did not arife from the text. All thefe people are alluded to in fcripture by defcription s that cannot be miltaken. If they have occafioned doubts or difficulties, they are all to be laid at the door of the tranflators, chiefly the Septuagint. When Mofes returned with his wife Zipporah, daughter of the fovereign of the Shepherds of Midlan, carriers of the India trade from Saba into Palcftine, and eftablifhed near their principal mart Edom, in Idumca or Arabia, Aaron, and Miriam his filler, quarrelled with Mofes, becaufe he had married one who was, as the tranflator fays, an Ethiopian*. There is no fenfe in this caufe ; Mofes was a fugitive when he married Zipporah; flic was a noble-woman, daughter of the priefl of Midian, head of a people. She likewife, as it would feem, was a jewrcfs f, and more attentive, at that time, to the prcfervation of the precepts of the law, than Mofes was himfelf; no exception, then, could lie againfl Zipporah, as flie was furely, in every view, Mofcs's fuperior. But if the tranflator had rendered it, * Numb, chars xii. ver. i. f Foud. chap, iwver. 2 it, that Aaron and Miriam had quarrelled with Mofes, becaufe he had married a negro, or black-moor, the reproach was evident; whatever intriniic merit Zipporah might have been, found to have pollened afterwards, Ihe muft have appeared before the people, at firft light, as a Jlrange woman, or Gentile, whom it was prohibited tomarry. Befides, the innate deformity of the complexion, negroes were, at all times, rather coveted for companions of men of luxury or pleafure, than fought after for wives of ibber Icgiilators, and governors of a people. The next inftance I lhall give is, Zerah of Gerar*, who came out to fight Afa king of Ifrael with an army of a million of men, and three hundred chariots, whilft both the quarrel and the dccifion arc rcprefented as immediate. Gerar was a fmall diftrict, producing only the Acacia or gum-arabic trees, from which it had its name; it had no water but what came from a few wells, part of which had been dug by Abraham f, after much fir ifc with the people of the country, who fought to deprive him of them, as of a trcafure. Abraham and his brother Lot returning from Egypt, thcfi gh poor fhepherds, could not fubfift there for want of foot:, and water, and they leparated accordingly, by confentj. Now * 5 Chron, chap. xlv. ver. 9. \ Cen chap. 2-1. ver. 30. \ fj^n. chap. ij. ver. 6. and 9. Now it muff be confeifed, as it is not pretended there: was any .miracle here, that there is not a more unlikely tale in all Herodotus, than this mull be allowed to be upon the footing of the tranilatiom The tranllator calls &erah an Ethiopian, which mould cither mean he dwelt in Arabia, as he really did, and this gave him no advantage, or clfc that he was a. flranger, who originally came from the country above Egypt; and, either way, it would have been impomblc, during his whole life-time, to have collect* ed a million of men, one of the greateft armies that ever flood upon the face of the earth, nor could he have, fed them though they had ate the whole trees that grew in his country, nor could he have given every hundredth man one drink of water in a day from all the wells he had in his country. Here, then, is an obvious triumph for infidelity, becaufe, as I have faid, no liipernatural means are pretended. But had it been tranflated, that Zerah was a.Hack-moor, & CuJIjite-ncgro, and prince of the Cufhites, that were carriers in the lllhmus, an Ethiopian fhepherd, then the wonder ceafed. Twenty camels, employed to carry couriers upon them, might have procured that number of men to meet in a fhort fpace of time, and, as Zerah was the aggrefJor, he had time to choofe when he. mould attack his enemy ; every one of thefe fhepherds carrying with them their provifion of flour and water, as is their invariable cuflom, might havd fought with Afa at Ccrar, without eating a loaf of Zcrah's bread, or drinking a pint of his water. The next pafTage I mail mention is the following: "The "labour of Egypt, and merchandife of Ethiopia, and of the 2. ** Sabeans, " Sabeans, men of ftature, mail come over unto thee, and " they lhall be thine*." Here the feveral nations are diftinct.-ly and feparatciy mentioned in their places, but the whole meaning of the pafTagc would have been loft, had not the fituation of thefe nations been perfectly known ; or, had not the Sabeans been mentioned feparately, for both the Sabeans and the Cufhite were certainly Ethiopians. Now, the meaning of the verfe is, that the fruit of the agriculture of Egypt, which is wheat, the commodities of the negro, gold, fdver, ivory, and perfumes, would be brought by the Sabcan fhepherds, their carriers, a nation of great power, which mould join themfelves with you. Again, Ezekiel fays,f "And they fliall know that I am " the Lord, when I have fet a fire in Egypt, and when afl " her helpers fliall be deftroyed."—" In that day fhall mcf. " fengers go forth from me in fhips, to make the carelefs *' Ethiopians afraid." Now, Nebuchadnezzar was to deftroy Egypt J, from the frontiers of Paleftinc, to the mountains above Atbara, where the Cufhite dwelt. Between this and Egypt is a great defert; the country beyond it, and on both fides, was pofleiled by half a million of men. The Cufhite, or negro merchant, was fecure under thefe circumftanccs from any infuit by land, but they were open to the fea, and had no defender, and mellcngcrs, therefore, in fhips or a fleet had eafy accefs to them, to alarm and keep them at home, that they did not fall into danger by marching into Egypt againfl Nebuchadnezzar, or interrupting the fervice upon which God had lent him. But this docs not appear from tranfla- 4 ting * Ifa. chap. xlv. ver. 14. f Eztk. chap. xxx. ver. S. a#d y. J Eztk. chap. xxix. ver. ic. 'ting Cum, Ethiopian; the neareft Ethiopian to Nebuchadnez* zar, the mofl powerful and capable of oppofing him, were* the Ethiopian fhepherds of the Thcbaid, and thefe were not acceflible to fhips; and the fhepherds, fo polled near to the fcene of dcftrucTion to be committed by Nebuchadnezzar, were enemies to the Cufhites living in towns, and they had repeatedly themfelves deftroyed them, and therefore had no temptation to be other than fpectators. In feveral other places, the fame prophet fpeaks of Cufli as the commercial nation, fympathifing with their countrymen dwelling in the towns in Egypt, independent of the fhepherds, who were really their enemies, both in civil and religious matters. " And the fword fliall come upon Egypt, u and great pain fliall be in Ethiopia, when the flain fliall *' fall in Egypt*." Now Ethiopia, as I have before faid, that is, the low country of the fhepherds, neareft Egypt, had no common caufe with the Cufhites that lived in towns there; it was their countrymen, the Cufhites in Ethiopia, who mourned for thofe that fell in Egypt, who were merchants, traders, and dwelt in cities like themfelves. I shall mention but one inftance more: " Can the Ethi-,c opian change his Ikin, or the leopard his fpots ?f" Here Cufli is rendered Ethiopian, and many Ethiopians being white, it does not appear why they mould be fixed upon, or •chofen for the queftion more than other people. But had h been tranflated Negro, or Black-moor, the queftion Vol. I. 3 F would. * E*»k. clir.p. nxx, ver. 4. i" Jcrcm. chn.p. xiii. vtr. 23. would have been very eafily underftood, Can the negro* change his lkin, or the leopard his fpots ? Jeremiah * fpeaks of the chiefs of the mingled people that dwell in the deferts. And Ezekielf alfo mentions them independent of all the others, whether Shepherds, or Cu^-fhites, or Libyans their neighbours, by the name of the Mingled People. Ifaiah J calls them " a nation fcattered " and peeled; apeople terrible from their beginninghitherto; *' a nation meted out and trodden down, whofe land the ri-" vers have fpoiled if! which is a fuflicient defcription of them, as having been expelled their own country, and fettled in one that had fuffered greatly by a deluge a fhort time before. * Jerem. chap. xxv. ver. 24. f Ezek. chap. xxx. ver. 5. t Ifa. chap..xviii, ver. 2» C H A V, CHAP. iii. Origin of Characters or Letters—Ethiopic the firfl Language—How and why the Hebrew Letter was formed. TH E reader will obferve what I have already laid concerning the language of Habefh, or the Mingled Nations, that they have not characters of their own ; but when written, which is very feldom, it mull be by ufmg the Geez alphabet. Kircher, however, fays, there are two characters to be found in Abyffinia; one he calls the Sacred Old Syrian, the other the Vulgar, or Common Geez character, of which we are now fpeaking. But this is certainly a miflake ; there never was, that I know, but two original characters which obtained in Egypt. The firft was the Geez, the fecond the Saitic, and both thefe were the oldcll characters in the world, and both derived from hieroglyphics. Although it is impofTible to avoid faying fomething here of the origin of languages, the reader mull not expect that I fliould go very deep into the fafhionable opinions concerning them, or believe that all the old deities of the 3 F 2 Pagan Pagan nations were the patriarchs of the Old Teftament; With all refpect to Sanclumiatho>and his followers, I can no more believe that Ofiris, the firft king of Egypt, was a real pcrfonagc, and that Tot was his fecretary, than I can. believe Saturn to be the patriarch Abraham, and Rachel and Leah, Venus and Minerva. I will not fatigue the reader with a detail of ufeiefs reafons ; if Ofiris is a real pcrfonagc, if he was king of Egypt, and Tot his fecretary,, they furely travelled to very good purpofe,* as all the people of Europe and Afia feem to be agreed, that in perfon they firfl communicated letters and the art of writing to them, but at very different, and very diflant periods. Thebes was built by a colony of 'Ethiopians from Sire,, the city of Seir, or the Dog Star. Diodorus Siculus fays,, ■that the Greeks, by putting O before Siris, had made the word unintelligible to the Egyptians : Siris, then, was Ofiris ; but he was not the Sun, no more than he was Abraham, nor was he a real pcrfonagc. lie was Syrius, or the dog-flar, defigned under the figure of a dog, becaufe of the warning he gave to Atbara, where the fir 11 obfervations were made at his heliacal riling, or his difengaging himfelf from the rays of the fun, fo as to be vifible to the naked eye. He was the Latrator Anubis, and his firft appearance was figuratively compared to the barking of a dog, by the warning it gave to prepare for the approaching inundation. I believe, therefore, this was the firft hieroglyphic; and that His, Ofiris, and Tot, were all after inventions relating to it; and, in faying this, I am Co far warranted, becaufe there is, not in Axum (once a large city) any other hieroglyphic but of the dog-flar, as far as I can judge from the huge fragments of figures of this animal, remains of which; in different rent poftures, are {till diftinctly to be feen upon the pedef-tals everywhere among the ruins. It is not to be doubted, that hieroglyphics then, but not aflronomy, were invented at Thebes, where the theory of the dog ftar was particularly inveftigated, becaufe connected with their rural year. Ptolemy* has preferved us an obfervation of an helaical riling of Sirius on the 4th day after the fummer folftice, which anfwers to the 2250 year before Chrift ; and there arc great reafons to believe the Thcbans were good practical aftronomers long before that periodf; early, as it may be thought, this gives to Thebes a much greater antiquity than does the chronicle of Axum juft cited.. As fuch obfervations were to be of fervice for ever, they became more valuable and ufeful in proportion to their priority. The moft ancient of them would be of ufe to the aftronomers of this day, for Sir Ifaac Newton appeals to thefe of Chiron the Centaur. Equations may indeed be difcovered in a number of centuries, which, by reafon of the fmallnefs of their quantities, may very probably have e-fcaped the moft attentive and fcrupulous care of two or three generations; and many alterations in the ftarry firmament, old ftars being nearly extinguilhed, and new e-merging, would appear from a comparative ftate of the v. i. 3 f heavens. 1 # Uranologion. P. Perau. t BanbriJgc, Ann. canicuL heavens made for a feries of ages. And a Theban Herfihel* would have given us the hiftory of planets he then obferved, which, after appearing for ages, are now vifiblc no more, or have taken a different form. The dial, or gold circle of Ofimandyas, mews what an immenfe progrefs they had made in aflronomy in fo little time. This, too, is a proof of an early fall and revival of the arts in Egypt, for the knowledge and ufe of Armillu; had been loft with the deftruction of Thebes, and were not again difcovered, that is, revived, till the reign of Ptolemy Soter, 300 years before the Chriflian aira. I confider that immenfe quantity of hieroglyphics, with which the walls of the temples, and faces of the obelifks, are covered, as containing fo many aitronomical obfervations. I look upon thefe as the cphemcrides of fome thoufand years, and that fufficiently accounts for their number. Their date and accuracy were indifputable; they were exhibited in the moft public places, to be confulted as occafion required; and, by the deepnefs of the engraving, and hardnefs of the materials, and the thicknefs and folidity of the block itfelf upon which they were carved, they bade defiance at once to violence and time, I know that moft of the learned writers are of fentiments very different from mine in thefe refpects. They look for 4 J myfteries * An aftronomer greatly above my pnufc. myfterics and hidden meanings, moral and philofophical treadles, as the fubjects of thefe hieroglyphics. A fceptre, they fay, is the hieroglyphic of a king. But where do wc meet a fceptre upon an antique Egyptian monument ? or who told us this was an emblem of royalty among the E-gyptians at the time of the firft invention of this figurative writing? Again, the fcrpent with the tail in its mouth denotes the eternity of God, that he is without beginning and without end. This is a Chriflian truth, and a Chriflian belief, but no where to be found in the polytheifm of the inventors of hieroglyphics. Was Cronos or Ouranus without beginning and without end? Was this the cafe with Ofiris and Toty whofe fathers and mothers births and marriages are known ? If this was a truth, independent of revelation, and imprinted from the beginning in the minds of men; if it was deftincd to be an eternal truth, which muft have appeared by every man finding.it in his own brcaft, from the beginning, how unneccfUiry muft the trouble have been to write a common known truth like this, at the expence of fix weeks labour, upon a table of porphyry or granite.. It is not with philofophy as with aftronomy; the older the obfervations, the more ufe they are of to pofterity. A lecture of an Egyptian prieil upon divinity, morality, or natural hiftory, would not pay the trouble, at this day, of engraving it upon flone ; and one of the reafons thatl think no fuch fubjects were ever treated in hieroglyphics is, that in all thofe I ever had an opportunity of feeing, and very few people have feen more, I have conflantly found the lame figures repeated*which obvioufly,and without difpute, alhute to the hiftory of the Nile, and its different periods of increafe^ the mode of meafuring t, rue Etefian winds; in fhort,. fuch i observations obfervations as we every day fee in an almanack, in which we cannot fuppofe, that forfaking the obvious import, where the good they did was evident, they mould afcribe different meanings to the hieroglyphic, to which no key has been left, and therefore their future inutility mull have been forefeen. I shall content myfelf in this wide field, to fix upon one famous hicroglyphical pcrfonage, which is Tot, the fecretary of Ofiris, whofe function I fhail endeavour to explain ; if I fail, I am in good company; 1 give it only as my opinion, and fubmit it chearfully to the correction of others. The word Tot is Ethiopic, and there can be little doubt it means the dog-flar. ft was the name given to the firfl month of the Egyptian year. The meaning of the name, in the language of the province of Sire, is an idol, compofed of different heterogeneous pieces ; it is found having this fignifica-tion in many of their books. Thus a naked man is not a Tot, but the body of a naked man, with a dog's head, an afs's head, or a ferpent inilcad of a head, is a Tot. According to the import of that word, it is, 1 fuppofe, an almanack, or lection of the phenomena in the heavens which arc to happen in the limited time it is made tocom-prehend,whenexpofedfor the information of thepublic; and the more extcnlive its ufe is intended to be, the greater number of emblems, or figns of obfervation, it is charged with. Besides many other emblems or figures, the common Tot, 1 think, has in his hand a crofs with a handle, as it is .called Crux Ajifata, which has occafioned great fpeculation among the decypherers. This crofs, fixed to a circle, is fuppofed to denote the four demnts, and to be the fymbol of the .2 influence a Tab j, k of ////':/tor/Ar/*///rs\ pound at AxrMr/71. influence the fun has over them. Jamblichus* records, that this crofs, in the hand of Tot, is the name of the divine Being that travels through the world. Sozomcn f thinks it means the life to come, the fame with the ineffable image of eternity, Others, flrangc difference! fay it is the phallus, or human genitals, while a later % writer maintains it to be the mariner's compafs. My opinion, on the contrary is, that, as this figure was expofed to the public for the reafon I have mentioned, the Crux Anfata in his hand was nothing clfe but a monogram of his own name o TO, and TT fignifying TOT, or as we write Almanack upon a collection publifhed for the fame purpofe. The changing of thefe emblems, and the multitude of them, produced the neccflity of contracting their fize, and this again a confequential alteration in the original forms ; and a flile, or fmall portable inftrument, became all that was neceffary for finifhing thefe fmall Tots, inftcad of a large graver or carving tool, employed in making the large ones. But men, at lafl, were fo much ufed to the alteration, as to know it better than under its primitive form, and the engraving became what we may call the firfl elements, or root, in preference to the original. The reader will fee, that, in my hillory of the civil wars in Abyflinia, the king, forced by rebellion to retire to the province of Tigre, and being at Axum, found a ftone covered with hieroglyphics, which, by the many inquiries I made Vol. 1. 3 G after * Jamblich. de My ft feci. 8. cap. 5. f Sozomen, Eccles. II; fl. lib. 7. cap. 1 \ Herw. thcolog. Ethnica. p. 11, after inferiptions, and fome converfations I had had with him, he guelfed was of the kind which I wanted. Full of rhat princely goodnefs and condefcenfion that he ever honoured mc with, throughout my whole Hay, he brought it with him when he returned from Tigre, and was reftorcd to his throne at Gondar. It feems to me to be one of thofe private Tots, or portable almanacks, of the moll curious kind. The length of the whole Hone is fourteen inches, and fix inches broad, upon a bafe three inches high, projecting from the block itfelf, and covered with hieroglyphics. A naked figure of a man, near fix inches, Hands upon two crocodiles, their heads turned different ways. In each of his hands he holds two fer-pents, and a fcorpion, all by the tail, and in the right hand hangs a noofe, in which is fufpended a ram or goat. On the left hand he holds a lion by the tail. The figure is in great relief; and the head of it with that kind of cap or ornament which is generally painted upon the head of the figure called Ills, but this figure is that of a man. On each fide of the whole-length figure, and above it, upon the face of the flone where it projects, arc marked a number of hieroglyphics of all kinds. Over this is a very rem ark able reprefent:ation ; it is an old head, with very flrong features, and a large bufhy beard, and upon it a high cap ribbed or ih-iped. This 1 take to be the Cnuph, or Animus Mundi, though Apuleus, with very little probability, fays this was made in the likenefs of no creature whatever. Hie back of the none is divided, into eight compartments*, from the top * I ap] rchend this is owing to the circumflances of the climate, in the four months, the time ■i' i'.o iauadaiion, the luavins were fo covered as to afford no obfervations to be recoided. JV"2 A TABLE- OF HUJllOGIsYPHK S, FOUND AT AXUM 1771 Avkiv'/M'/i>//''< 7. f>i/ a'/i', ■/•'//.*wA-f i top to the bottom, and thefe arc fdlcd with hieroglyphics in the lad Itagc, before they took the entire refemblance of letters. Many are perfectly formed; the Crux Anfata appears in one of the compartments, and Tot in another. Upon the edge, juit above where it is broken, is 1119, fo fair and perfect, in form, that it might ferve as an example of caligraphy, even in the prefent times ; 45 and 19, and fome other arithmetical figures, are found up and down among the hieroglyphics. Tins I fuppofe was what formerly the Egyptians called a book, or almanack ; a collection of thefe was probably hung up in fome confpicuous place, to inform the public of the Hate of the heavens, and feafons, and difeafes, to be expected in the courfe of them, as is the cafe in the Englifh almanacks at this day. Hermes is laid to have compofed 36,535 books, probably of this fort, or they might contain the correfpondent agronomical obfervations made in a certain time at Meroe, Ophir, Axum, or Thebes, communicated to be hung up for the ufe of the neighbouring cities. Porphyry * gives a particular account of the Egyptian almanacks, " What is comprifed in the Egyptian almanacks, fays he, contains but a fmall part of the Hermaic inilitutions; all that relates to the riling and letting of the moon and planets, and of the ftars and their influence, and alfo fome advice upon difeafes." It is very remarkable, that, befides my Tot here defcribed, there arc five or fix, precifely the fame in all reJbeets, al- 3 G 2 ready * Porpyliry Epift. ad Aoeboncm, ready in the Britifh Mufeum; one of them, the largeflof the whole, is made of fycamorc, the others are of metal. There is another, I am told, in Lord Shelburn's collection; this I never had an opportunity of feeing; but a very principal attention feems to have been paid to make all of them light and portable, and it would feem that by thefe having been formed fo exactly fimilar, they were the Tots intendr ed to be expofed in different cities or places, and were neither more nor lefs than Egyptian almanacks. Whether letters were known to Noah before the floods is no where faid from any authority, and the inquiry into it is therefore ufelefs. It is difficult, in my opinion, to imagine, that any fociety,cngaged in different occupations,could fubfift long without them. There feems to be lefs doubt, that they were invented, foon after the difperfion, long before Mofes, and in common ufe among the Gentiles of his time* It feems alfo probable, that the firll alphabet was Ethio-pic, firft founded on hieroglyphics, and afterwards modelled into more current, and lefs laborious figures, for the fake of applying them to the expedition of bufinefs. Mr Fourmont is fo much of this opinion, that he fays it is evident the three firfl letters of the Ethiopic alphabet are hieroglyphics yet, and that the Beta refembles the door of a houfe or temple. But, with great fubmifllon, the doors of houfes and temples, when firfl built, were fquare at the top, for arches were not known. The Beta was taken from the doors of the firfl Troglodytes in the mountains, which were rounded, and gave the hint for turning the arch, when, architecture advanced nearer to perfection. Others » Others arc for giving to letters a divine original: they fay they were taught to Abraham by God himfelf; but this is no where vouched; though it cannot be denied, that it appears from fcripture there were two forts of characters known to Mofes, when God fpoke to him on Mount Sinai. The firft two tables, we are told, were wrote by the finger of God, in what character is not faid, but Mofes received them to read to the people, fo he furely underftood them. But, when he had broken thefe two tables, and had another meeting with God on the mount on the fubject of the law, God directs him fpccially not to write in the Egyptian character or hieroglyphics, but in the current hand ufed by the Ethiopian merchants, like the letters upon a fignet; that is, he mould" not write in hieroglyphics by a pielure, reprefenting the thing, for that the law forbids; and the bad confequenccs of this were evident; but he mould write the law in the current hand, by characters representing founds, (though nothing elfe in heaven or on earth,) or by the letters that the ilhmaelitcs, Cufhites, and India trading nations had long ufed in bufinefs for figning their invoices, engagements, &c and this was the meaning of being like the letters of a fgnet. Hence, it is very clear, God did not invent letters, nor did Mofes, who underitood both characters before the promulgation of the law upon Mount Sinai, having learned them in Egypt, and during his long flay among the Cufhites, and Shepherds in Arabia Pctrea. Hence it mould appear alfo, that the facred character of the Egyptian was confidered as profane, and forbid to the Hebrews, and that the common Ethiopic was the Hebrew facred character, in which the copy of the law was firft wrote. The,text is very clear and explicit: " And the (tones fhall M he " be with the names of the children of Ifrael, twelve, u according to their names, like the engravings of afgaet; every " one with his name, lhall they be according to the twelve " tribes V Which is plainly, You fliall not write in the way ufed till this day, for it leads the people hr.o idolatry; you fhall not type Judah by a lion, Zebulun by aJhip, lifachar by an afs couching between two burdens ; but, inllcad of writing by pictures, you fhall take the other known hand, the merchants writing, which fignifies founds, wot things; write the names Judah, Zebulun, IiTachar, in the letters, fuch as the merchants ufe upon their figncts. And, on Aaron's brcail-plate of pure gold, was to be written, in the fame alphabet, like the engravings of a fignet, holiness to the lord]. Tji ese figncts, of the remoter! antiquity in the Eaft, are worn lllll upon every man's hand to this day, having the name of the perfon that wears them, or fome fentence upon it always religious. The Greeks, after the Egyptians, continued the other method, and defcribed figures upon their fignet; the ufe of both has been alwavs common in Britain. We find afterwards, that, in place of flonc or gold, for greater convenience Mofes wrote in a book, "And it came " to pais, when Mofes had made an end of writing the u words of this law in a book, until they were fmifhed — Although, then, Mofes certainly did not invent either, or any character, it is probable that he made two, perhaps more, alterations in the Ethiopic alphabet as it then flood, 4 with • K.voJ, chap, xxviii. ver. 21, f Exod. chap, xxviii. ver. 36. J Dent. chap. xxxi. ver. 24. with a view to increafe the difference ftill more between the writing then in ufe among the nations, and what he intended to be peculiar to the Jews. The firft was altering the direction, and writing from right to left, whereas, the Ethiopian was, and is to this day, written from left to right, as was the hieroglyphical alphabet *. The fecond was taking away the points, which, from all times, muft have ex-iflcd and been, as it were, a part of the Ethiopic letters invented with them, and I do not fee how it is poffible it ever could have been read without them; fo that, which way foevcr the difpute may turn concerning the antiquity of the application of the Maforctic points, the invention was no new one, but did exift as early as language was written.. And I apprehend, that thefe alterations were very rapidly adopted after the writing of the law, and applied to the new character as it then flood; becaufe, not long after, Mofes was ordered to fubmit the law itfelf to the people, which would have been perfectly ufelcfs, had not reading and the character been familiar to them at that time. It appears to mc alfo, that the Ethiopic words were always fcparated, and could not run together, or be joined as the Hebrew, and that the running the words together into one muft have been matter of choice in the Hebrew, to increafe the di (Terence in writing the two language*, as the contrary had been practifed in the Ethiopian language.. Though there is really little refemblance between the Ethiopic and the Hebrew letters, and not much more between that * Vu!c the hieroglyphics on ihe drawing of ihe ficj:c j that and the Samaritan, yet I have a very great fufpicion the languages were once much nearer a-kin than this difa-greement of their alphabet promifes, and, for this reafon, that a very great number of words are found throughout the Old Teflament that have really no root, nor can be derived from any Hebrew origin, and yet all have, in the Ethiopic, a plain, clear, unequivocal origin, to and from which they can be traced without force or difficulty. I shall now finifli what I have to fay upon this fubject, by obferving, that the Ethiopic alphabet confifls of twenty-fix letters, each of thefe, by a virgula, or point annexed, varying in found, fo as to become, in effect, forty-two di-flinct letters. But I mull further add, that at firft they had but twenty-five of thefe original letters, the Latin P being wanting, fo that they were obliged tofubftitutc another letter in the place of it. Paulus, for example, they called Taulus, Oulus, or Caulus. Petros they pronounced Ketros. At laft they fubftituted T, and added this to the end of their alphabet, giving it the force of P, though it was really a repetition of a character, rather than invention. Befides thefe there are twenty others of the nature of dipththongs, but I fliould fuppofe fome of thefe arc not of the fame antiquity with the letters of the alphabet, but have been invented in later times by the feribes for convenience. The reader will underfland, that, fpcaking of the Ethiopic at prefent, I mean only the Geez language, the language •of the Shepherds, and of the books. None of the other many languages fpoken in Abyllinia have characters for writing. But when the Amharic became fubftituted, in common ufe and convcrfation, to the Geez, after the reflo- -2 ration ration of the Royal family, from their long banifhment in Shoa, feven new characters were neceffarily added to anfwer the pronunciation of this new language, but no book was ever yet written in any other language except Geez. On the contrary, there is an old law in this country, handed down by tradition only, that whoever lhould attempt to traniiatc the holy fcripture into Amharic, or any other language, his throat fliould be cut after the manner in which they kill fheep, his family fold to llavery, and his houfe razed to the ground ; and, whether the fear of this law was true or feigned, it was a great obflacle to me in getting thofe tranilacions of the Song of Solomon made which I intend for fpecimens of the different languages of thofe diilinct nations. The Geez is exceedingly harm and unharmonious. It is full of thefe two letters, D and T, on which an accent is put that nearly rcfemblcs Hammering. Confidcring the fmall extent of fea that divides this country from Arabia, we arc not to wonder that it has great affinity to the Arabic. It is not difficult to be acquired by thofe who underllancl any o-thcr of the oriental languages ; and, for a reafon I have given fome time ago, that the roots of many Hebrew words are only to be found here, I think it abfolutely neceffary to all thofe that would obtain a critical fkill in that language. Wemmers, a Carmelite, has wrote a fmall Ethiopic dictionary in thin quarto, which, as far as it goes, has confiderable merit; and I am told there arc others of the fame kind extant, written chiefly by Catholic priefts* But by far the mofl copious, diftinct, and befl-digefled work, is that of Job Lu- Vol. I. 3 IT " dotf, dolf, a German of great learning in the E;Ulern "angtiagi-s*^ and who has publiiiied a grammar and *liclionary .of the ; Geez in folio. This read with attention is more than fuf-licient to make any perfon of very moderate genius a great proficient in the Ethiopic language. He has likewife written a fhort effay towards a dictionary and grammar of the Am-baric, which* confidermg the ver) fmall help he had, fhews his furprifmg talents and capacity. Much, however, remains ftill to do ; and it is indeed fcarcely poflible to bring this to any tolerable degree of forwardnefs for want of books, unlefs a man of genius, while in the country itfelf, were to give his time and application to it: It is not much more difficult than the former, and lefs connected, with the Hebrew or Arabic, but has a more harmonious pronunciation. r^eakmiL^i^.....j.i-.-u^-.ji--^ffi . G HAT. C H A P. IV. Some Account of the Trade Winds and Moufoons^-Applicatich of this to the Voyage to Ophir and Tarfinfl^ TV IT is a matter of real affliction, which mews the vanity of all human attainments, that the preceding pages have been employed in defcribing, and, as it were, drawing from oblivion, the hiftory of thofe very nations that firft conveyed to the world, not the elements of literature only, but all forts of learning, arts, and fciences in their full detail and perfection. We fee that -thefe had taken deep root, and were not eafily extirpated. The firft great and fatal blow they received was from the deftrucf ion of Thebes, and its monarchy, by the firfl: invafion of the Shepherds under Sa-latis, which {hook them to the very foundation. The next was in the conqueft of the Thebaid under Sabaco and his Shepherds. The third was when the empire of Lower Egypt (1 do not think of the Thebaid) was transferred to Memphis, and that city taken, as writers fay, by the Shepherds of Abaris only, or of the'Delta, though it is fcarcely probable, that, in fo favourite a caufe as the deflruction of cities, the whole Shepherds did not lend their aftiitance. 3 II .2 These These were the calamities, we may fuppofe, under which the arts in Egypt fell ; for, as to the foreign conquefls of Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonians, they affected cities and the pcrfons of individuals only. They were temporary, never intended to have lafling confequenccs ; their beginning and end were prophefied at the fame time. That of the AfTyrians was a plundering expedition only, as we are told by fcripture itfelf, intended to lafl but forty years *, half the life ofman, given, for a particular purpofe,for the indemnification of the king Nebuchadnezzar, for the hardfhips he fuflained at the fiege of Tyre, where the obftinacy of the inhabitants, in deflroying their wealth, deprived the conqueror of his expected booty. The Babylonians were a people the mofl polifhed r\fter the Egyptians. Egypt under them fufTered by rapacity, but not by ignorance, as it did in all the conquefls of the Shepherds. Aiter Thebes was deftroyed by the firft Shepherds, commerce, and it is probable the arts with it, fled for a time from Egypt, and centered in Edom, a city and territory, tho' we know little of its hiftory, at that period the richeft in the world. David, in the very neighbourhood of Tyre and Sidon, calls Edom the ftrong city ; " Who will bring me into the "ftrong city? Who will lead me into Edom f ?" David, from an old quarrel, and probably from the recent in-ftigations of the Tyrians his friends, invaded Edom deftroyed the city, and difperfed the people. He was the great military power then upon the continent; Tyre and Edom were rivals ; and his conqueft of that lafl great * r.'i.k. chap. xxix. ver. 11. f Pfalm. ch;tp. Ix. ver. 9, and Pfal. cviii. ver. to. * % 1 Sam. chap. viii. ver. 14. 1 Kings chap. x'. ver, 15^ 16. great and trading ttatc, which lie united to his empire, would yet have loll him the trade he fought to cultivate, by the very means he ufed to obtain it, had not Tyre been in a capacity to fucceed to Edom, and to collect its mariners and artificers, feattered abroad by the conquett. David took pofTeffion of two ports, Eloth and Ezion-ga-bcr *, from which he carried on the trade to Ophir and Tar* fhifh, to a very great extent, to the day of his death. We are ftruck witli aftonifhmcnt when we reflect upon the fum that Prince received in fo fhort a time from thefe mines of Ophir. For what is faid to be given by King Davidf and his Princes for the building of the Temple of Jerufalem, exceeds in value eight hundred millions of our money, if the talent there fpoken of is a Hebrew talent j, and not a weight of the fame denomination, the value of which was lefs, and peculiarly referred for and ufed in the traffic of thefe precious metals, gold and fdver. It was, probably, an African or Indian weight, proper to the fame mines, whence was gotten the gold appropriated to fine commodities only, as is the cafe with our ounce Troy different from the Averdu-poife. Solomon, who fuccceded David in his kingdom, was his fucceflbr likewife in the friendfhip of Hiram king of Tyre, Solomon * i Kings, chap. ix. ver. 26. 2 Chron. chap. viii. ver. 17. f ) Chron. chap. xxii. ver, 1 ir, 16. Chap. xxix. ver. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.—Three thoufand Hebrew ta!e:its of gold, reduced to fur money, amount to twenty-one millions and fix hundred thoufand pounds Sterling. "J; The value of a Hebrew talent appears from Exodus, chap, xxxviii. ver. 25, 26. For 603,550 perfons being taxed at half a (hekel each, they muft have paid in the whole 301,775 r now that fum is faid to amount to 100 talents, 1775 fhekels only ; deduct the two latter fums, and there will remain 300,000, which, divided by 108, will leave 30c0 fhekell for each, of thefe talents. Solomon villted Eloth and Ezion-gabcr* in perfon, and fortified them. He collected a number of pilots, fhipwrights, and mariners, difperfed by his father's conqueft of Edom, moll of whom had taken refuge in Tyre and Sidon, the commercial Hates in the Mediterranean. Hiram fupplied 'him with failors in abundance ; but the failors fo furnifhed from Tyre were not capable of performing the fervice which Solomon required, without the direction of pilots and mariners tiled to the navigation of the Arabian Gulf and Indian Ocean. Such were thofe mariners who formerly lived in Edom, whom Solomon had now collected in Eloth and Ezion-gabcr. Tuts laft-mentioncd navigation was very different in all refpects from that of the Mediterranean, which, in refpect to the former, might be compared to a pond, every fkle be-ig confined with mores little diflant the one from the o-ther ; even that fmall extent of fea was fo full of iflands, that there was much greater art required in the pilot to a-void land than to reach it. It was, befides, fubject to variable winds, being to the northward of jo'of latitude, the limits to which Providence hath confined thofe winds all o-ver the globe ; whereas the navigation of the Indian Ocean was governed by laws more convenient and regular, though altogether different from thofe that obtained in the Mcdi-rerrancan. Before 1 proceed, it will be neccflary to explain .this phenomenon. It is known to all thofe who are ever fo little verfant in the hiftory of Egypt, that the wind from the north prevails in i Chron. chip. viii. ver 47. ah that valley all the fummer months, ami is called the E* ttfis?tm>injb; it 1 weeps the valley from north to fouth, that" being the direction of Egypt, and of the Nile, which runs rh rough the midft of it, rfhe two chains of mountains, which confine Egypt on the caff and on the weft, conftram the wind to take this preeife direction. It is natural to fuppofe the fame would be the cafe in the Arabian Gulf, had that narrow fea been in a unvenou p$-railed to the land of Egypt, or due north and fouth. Tl;, Arabian Gulf, however, or what we call the Red Sea, lies from nearly north-well to fouth-call, from Suez to Mocha. It then turns nearly call and weft till it joins the Indian O-ccan at the Straits of Babelmandeb, as we have already faid, and may be further feen by con inking the map. Now, the Etefian winds, which arc dike north in Egypt, here take the direction of the Gulf, and blow in that direction fteadilv all the feafon, while it continues north in the valley of Egypt; that is, from April to October the wind Mows north-well up the Arabian Gulf towards the Straits'; and, from November till March, directly contrary, down the Arabian Gulf, from the Straits of Babelmandeb to Suez and the Iflh* mus. 'Itn-sE winds are by fome corruptly called the tradv-uDimh; but this name given to them is a very erroneous one, and apt to confound narratives, and make them unintelligible, A trade-wind is a wind which, all the year through, blows, and has ever blown, from the fame point of the horizon; fuch is the fouth-weit, fouth of the Line, in the Indian and Paeiiic Ocean. On the contrary, thefe winds, of which we have now fpoken, are called monfoons; each year they blow au fix fix months from the northward, and the other fix months from the fouthward, in the Arabian Gulf: While in the Indian Ocean, without the Straits of Babelmandeb, they blow juft the contrary at the fame feafons; that is, in fummer from the fouthward, and in winter from the northward, fubject to a fmall inflexion to the call and to the well. The reader will obfervc, then, that, a vciTel failing from Suez or the Elanitic Gulf, in any of the fummer months, will find a Heady wind at north-well, which will carry it in the direction of the Gulf to Mocha. At Mocha, the coaft is call and weft to the Straits of Babelmandeb, fo that the veffel from Mocha will have variable winds for a fhort fpace, but moftly weflerly, and thefe will carry her on to the Straits. She is then done with the monfoon in the Gulf, which was from the north, and, being in the Indian Ocean, is taken up by the monfoon which blows in the fummer months there, and is directly contrary to what obtains in the Gulf. This is a fouth-wefter, which carries the veflel with a flowing fail to any part in India, without delay or impediment. The fame happens upon her return home. She fails in the winter months by the monfoon proper to that fea, that is, with a north-call, which carries her through the Straits of Babelmandeb. She finds, within the Gulf, a wind at .fouth-eaft, directly contrary to what was in the ocean; but then her courfe is contrary likewife, fo that a fouth-callcr, anfwering to the direction of the Gulf, carries her directly to Suez, or the Elanitic Gulf, to whichever way fhc pro-pofes going. Hitherto all is plain, firnple, and cafy to be 4 underftood; tinderflood; and this was the reafon why, in the earlier! ages, the India trade was carried on without difficulty. Many doubts, however, have arifen about a port called Ophir, whence the immenfe quantities of gold and filver came, which were neceffary at this time, when provifion was making for building the Temple of Jerufalem. In what part of the world this Ophir was has not been yet agreed. Connected with this voyage, too, was one to Tarfhifh, which fulfers the fame difficulties; one and the fame fleet performed them both in the fame feafon. In order to come to a certainty where this Ophir was, it will be necelfary to examine what fcripture fays of it, and to keep prccifely to every thing like defcription which we can find there, without indulging our fancy farther. Firfl, then, the trade to Ophir was carried on from the Elanitic Gulf through the Indian Ocean. Secondly, The returns were gold, fdver, and ivory, but efpecially filver*. Thirdly, The time of the going and coming of the fleet was precifely three years f, at no period more nor lefs. Now, if Solomon's fleet failed from the Elanitic Gulf to the Indian Ocean, this voyage of neceffity muft have been made by monfoons, for no other winds reign in that ocean. And, what certainly fhews this was the cafe, is the precife term of three years, in which the fleet went and came between Ophir and Ezion-gaber. For it is plain, fo as to fu-perfede the neceflity of proof or argument, that, had this Vol. I. 3 I voyage * i Kings, chap. x. ver. 22. f 1 Kings, chap, x. ver. 22. 2 Chron. chap. ix. ver. 21. voyage been made with variable winds, no limited term of years ever could have been obferved in its going and returning. The fleet might have returned from Ophir in two years, in three, four, or five years ; but, with variable winds, the return precifely in three years was not poflible, whatever part of the globe Ophir might be fituated in. Neither Spain nor Peru could be Ophir; part of thefe voyages muft have been made by variable winds, and the return confequently uncertain. The iiland of Ceylon, in the Eaft Indies, could not be Ophir; the voyage thither is indeed made by monfoons, but we have fhewed that a year is all that can be fpcnt in a voyage to the Eaft Indies ; befides, Ceylon has neither gold nor iilver, though it has ivory. St. Domingo has neither gold, nor filver, nor ivory. When the Tyrians difcovered Spain, they found a profufion of filver in huge mafles, but this they brought to Tyre by the Mediterranean, and then fent it to the Red Sea over land to anfwer the returns from India. Tarlhifh, too, is not found to be a port in any of thefe voyages, fo that part of the defcription fails, nor were there ever elephants bred in Spain. These mines of Ophir were probably what furnifhed the Eaft with gold in the earlicft times ; great traces of excavation mull, therefore, have appeared ; yet in none of the places jit1! mentioned are there great remains of any mines tha have -been wrought. The ancient traces of filver-mines in ^pain are not to be found, and there never were any of gold. John Dos Santos % a Dominican friar, fays, that on the * YkL Voyage of Dos Santos, pubKfhcd by Lc Grande. the coaft of Africa, in the kingdom of Sofala, the main, land oppofite to Madagafcar, there are mines of gold and filver, than which none can be more abundant, efpecially in filver. They bear the traces of having been wrought from the earlicft ages. They were actually open and working when the Portuguefe conquered that part of the pe-ninfula, and were probably given up fince the difcovery of the new world, rather from political than any other reafons. John Dos Santos fays, that he landed at Sofala in the year 1586 ; that he failed up the great river Cuama as far as Tcte, where, always defirous to be in the neighbourhood of gold, his Order had placed their convent. Thence he penetrated for above two hundred leagues into the country, and faw the gold mines then working, at a mountain called A-fura *. At a confiderable diftance from thefe are the filver mines of Chicoua; at both places there is great appearance of ancient excavations; and at both places the houfes of the kings are built with mud and ftraw, whilft there are large remains of malTy buildings of ilone and lime. It is a tradition which generally obtains in that country, that thefe works belonged to the Queen of Saba, and were built at the time, and for the purpofe of the trade on the Red Sea: this tradition is common to all the Cafrs in that country. Eupolcmus, an ancient author quoted by Eufebius +, fpeaking of David, fays, that he built mips at Eloth, a city in Arabia, and thence fent miners, or, as he 3 I 2 calls * -See the map of this voyage. f Apud Eufcb, Prccp. Evang. lib. 9. calls them, metal-men, to Orphi, or Ophir, an ifland in the Red Sea. Now, by the Red Sea, he underflands the Indian Ocean *; and by Orphi, he probably meant the ifland of Madagafcar; or Orphi (or Ophir) might have been the name of the Contincnt,inflead of Sofala, that is, Sofala where the mines are might have been the main-land of Orphi. The kings of the ifles are often mentioned in this voyage ; Socotra, Madagafcar, the Commorras, and many other fmall iflands thereabout, are probably thofe the fcripture calls the JJlesl All, then, at lafl reduces itfelf to the finding a place, either Sofala, or any other place adjoining to it, which avowedly can furnifh gold, filver, and ivory in quantity, has large tokens of ancient excavations, and is at the fame time under fuch reflrictions from monfoons, that three years are abfolutely neceffary to perform the voyage, that it needs no more, and cannot be done in lefs, and this is Ophir. Let us now try thefe mines of Dos Santos by the laws of the monfoons, which we have already laid down in describing the voyage to India. The fleet, or fhip, for Sofala, parting in June from Ezion-gaber, would run down before the northern monfoon to Mocha. Here, not the monfoon, but the direction of the Gulf changes, and the violence of the louth-weflers, which then reign in the Indian Ocean, make themfelves at times felt even in Mocha Roads. The veffel therefore comes to an anchor in the harbour of Mocha, and here fhe waits for moderate weather and a fair wind, which * Dionyfii Periegefis, ver. 38. and Comment. Euflathii in eundem. Strabo, lib. 16. p. 765. Agathemeri Geographia, lib. 2, cap. u. which carries her out of the Straits of Babelmandeb, through the few leagues where the wind is variable. If her courfe was now to the Eafl Indies, that is eaft-north-eaft, or norrh-eaft and by north, fhc would find a flrong fouth-weft wind that would carry her to any part of India, as foon as fhe cleared Cape Gardefan, to which lire was bound. But matters are widely different if flic is bound for Sofala ; her courfe is nearly fouth-weft, and fhc meets at Cape Gardefan a ftrong fouth-wefter that blows directly in her teeth. Being obliged to return into the gulf, Ihe miftakes this for a trade-wind, becaufe fhe is not able to make her voyage to Mocha but by the fummer monfoon, which carries her no farther than the Straits of Babelmandeb, and then leaves her in the face of a contrary wind, a ftrong current to the northward, and violent fwell. The attempting this voyage with fails, in thefe circum-ftailces, was abfolutely impoflible, as their vcffels went only before the wind : if it was performed at all, it muft have been by oars*, and great havock and lofs of men muft have been the confequence of the feveral trials. This is not conjecture only ; the prophet Ezekicl defcribes the very fact. Speaking of the Tyrian voyages probably of this very one he fays, " Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters " (the ocean): the eafl wind hath broken thee in the midft of the fcasf." In fhort, the eaft, that is the north-caft wind, was the very monfoon that was to carry them to Sofala, yet having no fails, being upon a lec-fhore, a very bold 3 coaft, * Ezck. chap, xxvii. ver, 6. f Ezek. chap, xxyii. ver. 26. coaft, and great fwell, it was abfolutely impoflible with oars to fave themfelves from deftruction. At laft philofophy and obfervation, together with the unwearied perfeverance of man bent upon his own views and intcreft, removed thefe difficulties, and ihewed the mariners of the ArabianGulf, that thefe periodical winds, which, in the beginning, they looked upon as invincible barriers to the trading to Sofala, when once underftood, were the very means of performing this voyage fafely and expcditioufly. Tin: velfel trading to Sofala failed, as I have faid, from the bottom of the Arabian Gulf in fummer, with the monfoon at north, which carried her to Mocha. There the monfoon failed her by the change of the direction of the Gulf. The fouth-weft winds, which blow without Cape Gardefan in the Indian Ocean, forced themfelves round the Cape fo as to be felt in the road of Mocha, and make it uneafy riding there. But thefe foon changed, the weather became moderate, and the veflel, I fuppofe in the month of Auguft, was fafe at anchor under Cape Gardefan, where was the port which, many years afterwards, was called Promontorium Aromatum. Here the fhip was obliged to flay all November, becaufe all thefe fummer months the wind fouth of the Cape was a ftrong fouth-wefter, as hath been before faid, directly in the teeth of the voyage to Sofala. But this time was not loft ; part of the goods bought to be ready for the return was ivory, frankincenfe, and myrrh; and the lhip was then at the principal mart for thefe. I suppose in November the veflel failed with the wind at north-caft, with which flic would foon have made her voy- i age. t age: But ofF the coaft of Melinda, in the beginning of December, fhe there met an anomalous monfoon at fouth-weft, in our days firft obferved by Dr Hal ley, which cut off her voyage to Sofala, and obliged her to put in to the fmall harbour of Mocha, near Melinda, but nearer ftill to Tarfhifh, which we find here by accident, and which we think a ftrong corroboration that we are right as to the reft of the voyage. In the Annals of Abyflinia, we fee that Amda Sion, making war upon that coaft in the 14th century, in a lift of the rebellious Moorifh vaffals, mentions the Chief of Tar-ihifh as one of them, in the very fituation where we have now placed him. Solomon's veffel, then, was obliged to flay at Tarfhifh till the month of April of the fecond year. In May, the wind fet in at north-caft, and probably carried her that fame month to Sofala. All the time flic fpent at Tarfhifh was not loft, for part of her cargo was to be brought from that place, and fhe probably bought, bcfpoke, or left it there. From May of the fecond year, to the end of that monfoon in October, the veffel could not flir; the wind was north-call. But this time, far from being loft, was ncceflary to the traders for getting in their cargo, which we fhall fuppofe was ready for them. The fhip fails, on her return, in the month of November of the fecond year, with the monfoon fouth-weft, which in a very few weeks would have carried her into the Arabian Gulf. But off Mocha, near Melinda and Tarfhifh, fhe met the north-eaft monfoon, and was obliged to go into that port and ftay there till the end of that monfoon ; after which a fouth-wefter came to her relief in May of the third year. With With the May monfoon ihe ran to Mocha within the Straits, and was there confined by the fummer monfoon blowing up the Arabian Gulf from Suez, and meeting her. Here fhe lay till that monfoon, which in fummer blows northerly from Suez, changed to a fouth-eaft one in October or November, and that very eafily brought her up into the Elanitic Gulf, the middle or end of December of the third year. She had no need of more time to complete her voyage, and it was not poffible fhe could do it in lefs. In fhort, fhe changed the monfoon fix times, which is thirty-fix months, or three years exactly; and there is not another combination of monfoons over the globe, as far as I know, capable to effect the fame. The reader will pleafe to confult the map, and keep it before him, which will remove any difficulties he may have. It is for his inflruction this map has been made, not for that of the learned prelate * to whom it is inferibed, much more capable of giving additional lights, than in need of receiving any information I can give, even on this fubject. The celebrated Montefquieu conjectures, that Ophir was really on the coaft of Africa; and the conjecture of that great man merits more attention than the aflcrtions of ordinary people. He is too fagacious, and too enlightened, either to doubt of the reality of the voyage itfelf, or to feek for Ophir and Tarfliifh in China. Uninformed, however, of the particular direction of the monfoons upon the coaft, firft very flightly fpoken of by Eudoxus, and lately obferved and de- lienated _* Dr Douglas, Bimor of Carliflc. lineated by Dr Halley, he was daggered upon confidering that the whole diftance, which employed a veflel in Solomon's time for three years, was a thoufand leagues, fcarce-ly more than the work of a month. He, therefore, fuppofes, that the reafon of delay was owing to the imperfection of the vellels, and goes into very ingenious calculations, rea-fonings, and conclufions thereupon. He conjectures, therefore, that the fhips employed by Solomon were what lie calls junks* of the Red Sea, made of papyrus, and covered with hides or leather, Pliny f had faid, that one of thefe junks of the Red Sea was twenty days on a voyage, which a Greek or Roman veflel would have performed in feven ; and Strabo % had faid the fame thing before him. Tins relative flownefs, or fwiftnefs, will not folve the difficulty. For, if thefe junks || were the vellels employed to Ophir, the long voyage, much more they would have been employed on the fhort one, to and from India ; now they performed this within a year, which was all a Roman or Greek veflel could do, therefore this was not the caufe. Thofe employed by Solomon were Tyrian and klumean vcffels, the bell fhips and failers of their age. \V hoc ver has feen the prodigious fweil, the violent currents, and ftrong fouth-wefters beyond the Straits of Babelmandeb, will not need any argument to perfuade him, that no veflel made of papyrus, or leather, could live an hour upon that fea. The Vol. 1. 3 K junks,. * Vide L'Efprit c!cs Loix, liv. xxi. cap. 6. p. 476. f Plin. lib. vi. cap. 22. j Sirabo, lib. xy„-|] 1 kr.ow there are contrary opinions, and the junks might have been vuiiuus. Vide fkdm, - junks, indeed, were light and convenient boats, made to crofs the narrow gulf between the Sabeans and Homerites, or Cufhites, at Azab upon the Red Sea, and carry provifions from Arabia Felix to the more defert coaft of Azab. I have hinted, that the names of places fumeiently demonflrate the great lofs of men that happened to the traders to Sofala before the knowledge of the monfoons, and the introduction of the ufe of fails. I shall now confider how far the thing is confirmed by the names of places in the language of the country, fuch as they have retained among them to the prefent day. There are three Mochas mentioned in this voyage, fitu-ated in countries very diflimilar to, and diftant from, each other. The firft is in Arabia Defcrta, in lat. 300 nearly, not far from the bottom of the Gulf of Suez. The fecond is in lat. 1.3*, a fmall diflance from the Straits of Babelmandeb. The third Mocha is in lat. 30 fouth, near Tarflrifh, on the coaft of Melinda. Now, the meaning of Mocjia, in the Ethiopic, isprifon; and is particularly given to thefe three places, becaufe, in any of them, a fhip is forced to flay or be detained for months, till the changing of the monfoon fets her at liberty to purine her voyage. At Mocha, near the bottom of the Gulf of Suez, a veflel, wanting to proceed fouthward to Babelmandeb, is kept here in prifon all winter, till the fummer monfoon fets her at liberty. At Mocha, in Arabia Felix, the fame happens to any veflel wanting to proceed to Suez in the fummer months; fhe may come up from the Straits of Babelmandeb to Mocha Road by the accidental direction of the head of the Gulf; but, in the month of May, the iiorth-wefl wind obliges her to put into Mocha, 2 and and there to flay till the fouth-eafter relieves her in November. After yon double Gardefan, the fummer monfoon, at north-eaft, is carrying your vefTel full fail to Sofala, when the anomalous monfoon takes her off the coaft of Melinda, and forces her into Tarfhifh, where fhe is imprifoncd for fix months in the Mocha there. So that this word is very emphatically applied to thofe places where fhips arc neceflarily detained by the change of monfoons, and proves the truth, of what I have faid. The Iaft Cape on the Abyflinian fhore, before you rim>. into the Straits, is Cape Defan, called by the Pomigucfc, , Cape Dafiti This has no meaning in any language ; the Abyftinians, on whofe fide it is, call it Cape Defan, the Cape of Burial. It was probably there where the eaft wind drove afhore the bodies of fuch as had been fhipwrecked in the voyage. The point of .the fame coaft, which ftrctches out into the Gulf, before you arrive at Babelmandeb, was, by the Romans, called Promontorkim Aromatum, and lince, by the Portugucfe, Cape Gardefuu But the name given it by the Abyflinians and failors on the Gulf is, Cape Gardefan, the Straits of Burial. , Still nearer the Straits is a fmall port in the kingdom of Adel, called Mete, i. e. Death, or, he or they arc dead. And more to the weftward, in the fame kingdom, is Mount Felix, corruptly fo called by the Portuguefe. The Latins call it Elephas Mons, the Mountain of the Elephant; and the natives, Jibbel Feel, which has the fame fignification. The For-uiguefe, who did not know that Jibbel Feel was Elephas Mons, being milled by the found, have called it Jibbel FeHx9 the Happy Mountain, a name to which it has no fort of title, 3 -K 2 T&Bii The Straits by which we enter the Arabian Gulf are by the Portuguefe called Babelmandeb, which is nonfcnfe. The name by which it goes among the natives is Babcl-mandel , the Gate or Port of Affliction. And near it Ptolemy * places a town he calls, in the Greek, Mandacth, which appears to me to be only a corruption of Mandcb. The Promontory that makes the fouth fide of the Straits, and the city thereupon, is Dira\ which means the blades, or Hell, by Ptolemy f called a»pjj. This, too, is a tranflation of the ancient name, becaufe Awpn (or Dirac) has no flgnification in the Greek. A duller of iflands you meet in the canal, after palling Mocha, is called Jibbel Zekir, or, the Iilands of Prayer for the remembrance of the dead. And ftill, in the fame courfe up the Gulf, others are called Sebaat Gzier, Praife or Glory be to God, as we may fuppofe, for the return from this dangerous navigation. All the coaft to the eafl ward, to where Gardefan ftretches out into the ocean, is the territory of Saba, which imme-morially has been the mart of frankincenfe, myrrh, and balfam. Behind Saba, upon the Indian Ocean, is the Regk CtnnamQMferarVfh.tvz a confiderable quantity of that wild cinnamon grows, which the Italian druggifts call cantl/a. Inland near to Azab, as I have before obferved, are large ruins, fome of them of fmall Hones and lime adhering ftrong-ly together. There is efpecially an aqueduct, which brought formerlv a large quantity of water from a fountain in the mountains, which mull have greatly contributed to the beauty, * Pto . GeO£. lib. 4. cap. 7. | iJ. ibid. beauty, health, and pleafure of Saba. This is built with large many blocks of marble, brought from the neighbouring mountains, placed upon one another without lime or cement, but joined with thick cramps, or bars of brafs. There are likewife a number of wells, not lix feet wide, com-pofed of pieces of marble hewn to parts of a circle, and joined with the fame bars of brafs alfo. This is exceedingly furprifing, for Agatharcidcs * tells us, that the Alileans and Calfandrins, in the fouthern parts of Arabia, (juft oppofite to Azab), had among them gold in fuch plenty, that they would give double the weight of gold for iron, triple its weight for brafs, and ten times its weight for filver; that, in digging the earth, they found pieces of gold as big as olive-ftones, but others much larger. This feems to me extraordinary, if brafs was at fuch a price in Arabia, that it could be here employed in the mean-eft and moft common ufes. However this be, the inhabitants of the Continent,and of the peninfula of Arabia oppofite to it, of ail denominations agree, that this was the royal feat of the Queen of Saba, famous in ecclefiaftical hiftory for her journey to Jerufalem ; that thefe works belonged to her, and were erected at the place of her rciidence; that all the gold, filver, and perfumes came from her kingdom of Sofala, which was Ophir, and which reached from thence to Azab, upon the benders of the Red Sea, along the coaft of the Indian Ocean. It will very pollibly be thought, that this is the place in which I lhould mention the journey that the Queen of Saba made into Paleftinc; but as the dignity of the expedition it- 4 fetf, Agath. p. 60, felf, and the place it holds in Jcwifli antiquities, merits that it lhould be treated in a place by itfelf, fo the connection that it is fuppofed to have with the foundation of the monarchy of Abyflinia, the country whofe hiftory I am going to write, makes this particularly proper for the. fake of connection ; and I fhall, therefore, continue the hiftory of the trade of the Arabian Gulf to a period in which I can re-fume the narrative of this expedition without occafioning any interruption to either. 3»« CHAP; CHAP. V. Elucluating State of the India Trade—Hurt by Military Expeditions ofthe Perfans—Revives under the Ptolemies—Falls to Decay under the Romans* THE profperous days of the commerce with tHe Elanitic Gulf feemed to be at this time nearly paft ; yet, after the revolt of the ten tribes, Edom remaining to the houfe of David, they ftill carried on a fort of trade from the Elanitic Gulf, though attended with many1 difficulties. This continued till the reign of Jehofaphat * ; but, on Jchoram's ■fuececding that prince, the Edomites -\ revolted and chofe a king of their own, and were never after fubjeer, to the kings of Judah till the reign of Uzziah J, who conquered Eloth, fortified it, and having peopled it with a colony of his own, revived the old traffic. This fubfifted till the reign of Ahaz, when Rezin king of Damafcus took Eloth ||, and •expelled the Jews, planting in their ftead a colony of Ssri- ans. * i Kings, chap. xxii. ver. 4S. 2 Chron. chap. xx. ver. 36. f 2 Kings, chap. viii. ver. 22. 1 Chron. chap. xxi. ver. 10. .j; 2 Kin»«, chap. xiv. ver. 22. 2 Chron. chap. 26. ver. ii. J| 2 Kings, chap. xvi. ver. 6. ans. But he did not long enjoy this good fortune, for the year after, Rezin * was conquered by Tilgath-pilefer; and one of the fruits of this victory was the taking of Eloth^ which never after returned to the Jews, or was of any profit to Jerufalcmv The repeated wars and conquer! to which the cities on the Elanitic Gulf had been fubject., the extirpation of the Edomites, all the great events that immediately followed one another, of courfe diflurbcd the ufual channel of trade by the Red Sea, whofe ports were now confequcntly become unfafe by being in pofTeuion of ftrangers, robbers, and foldiers ; it changed, therefore, to a place nearer the center of police and good government, than fortified and frontier towns could be fuppofed to be. The Indian and African merchants, by convention,, met in AfTyria, as they had done in Semiramis's time ; the one by the Pcrfian Gulf and Euphrates, the other through Arabia. AfTyria, therefore, became the mart of the India trade in the Eafl. The conquefls of Nabopollafcr, and his fon Nebuchadnezzar, had brought a prodigious quantity of bullion, both filver and gold, to Babylon his capital. For he had plun-drcd Tyref, and robbed Solomon's Temple j of all the gold that had.been brought from Ophir; and he had, befides, conr quered Egypt and laid it walte, and cut off the communica* tion. of trade in all thefe places, by almoft extirpating the people. * 2 Kings, chap. xvi. ver. 6. f*j Ezek. chap, xxvi, ver, 7. $2 King?, chap, xxiv ver. 13. and 2 Chron. chap, xxxvj. ver'-7? people. Immenfe riches flowed to him, therefore, on all fides, and it was a circumilance particularly favourable to merchants in that country, that it was governed by written laws that fcreened their properties from any remarkable violence or injuftice. I suppose the phrafein fcripture, "The law of the Medes and Perfians, which altereth not*,'' mull mean only written laws, by which thofe countries were governed, without being left to the difcretion of the judge, as all the Eaft was, and as it actually now is. In this fituation the country was at the birth of Cyrus, who, having taken Babylon f and flain BellliazzerJ, became mailer of the whole trade and riches of the Ealt. Whatever character writers give of this great Prince, his conduct, with regard to the commerce of the country, fhews him to have been a weak one: For, not content with the prodigious profperity to which his dominions had arrived, by the mif-fortune of other nations, and perhaps by the good faith kept by his fubjects to merchants, enforced by thofe written laws, he undertook the moft abfurd and difaftrous project of molefting the traders themfelves, and invading India, that all at once he might render himfelf matter of their riches. He executed this fcheme juft as abfurdly as he formed it; for, knowing that large caravans of merchants came into Perlia and AfTyria from India, through the Aria-na, (the defert coaft that runs all along the Indian Ocean to Vol. I. 3 L the * Dan. chap. vi. ver. 8. and Either, chap. i. ver. 19. Hid chap, vi. ver, 5. Dan. chap. v. ver. 30. f Eara, chap. v.ver. 14 the Perfian Gulf, almoil entirely deftitute of water, and very nearly as much fo of provifions, both which caravans always carry with them), he attempted to enter India by the very fame road with a large army, the very fame way his predccclfor Semiramis had projected 1300 years before; and as her army had perifhed, io did his to a man, without ha-ing ever had it in his power to take one pepper-corn by force from any part of India. The fame fortune attended his fon and fuccellbr Cam-byfes, who, obferving the quantity of gold brought from E-thiopia into Egypt, refolved to march to the i'ource, and at once make himfelf mailer of thofe trcafurcs by rapine, which he thought came too flowly through the medium of commerce. Cambyses's expedition into Africa is too well known for me to dwell upon it in this place. It hath obtained a celebrity by the abfurdity of the project, by the enormous cruelty* and havock that attended the courfe of it, and by the great and very jufl punifhment that clofed it in the end. It was one of thofe many monllrous extravagancies which made up the life of the greateil madman that ever difgraeed the annals of antiquity. The bafefl mind is perhaps the moll capable t)f avarice ; and when this pafuon has taken poIlcHion of the human heart, it is ftrong enough to excite us to undertakings as great as any of thofe dictated by the noblcit of our virtues. Cambyses, amidft the commimon of the moft horrid cx-cefles during the conqueft of Egypt, was informed that, from the fouth of that country, there waseonftantly brought a quantity a quantity of pure gold, independent of what came from the top of the Arabic Gulf, which was now carried into AlTyria, and circulated in the trade of his country. This fupply of gold belonged properly and exclufivcly to Egypt; and a very lucrative, though not very extenfive commerce, was, by its means, carried on with India. Ele found out that the people, poffefling thefe treafures, were called Mac-robii, which fignifies long livers; and that they poilefted a country divided from him by lakes, mountains, and deferts. But what Hill aii'ectcd him moft was, that in his way were a multitude of warlike Shepherds, with whom the reader is already fufliciently acquainted. Cai.ibyser, to flatter, and makepeace with them, fell fu-riouily upon all the gods and temples in Egypt; he murdered the facred ox, the apis, dellroyed Memphis, and all the public buildings wherever he went. This was a gratification to the Shepherds, being equally enemies to thofe that worfliipped beafts, or lived in cities. After this introduction, he concluded peace with them in the mod folemn manner, each nation vowing eternal amity with the other. Notwithstanding which, no fooner was he arrived at Thebes (in Egypt) than he detached a large army to plunder the Temple of Jupiter Ammon, the greateft object of the worfhip Of thefe fhepherds; which army utterly perifhed without a man remaining, covered, as I fuppofe, by the moving lands. He then began his march againil the Macrobii, keeping clofe to the Nile. The country there being too high to receive any benefit from the inundation of the river, produced no corn, fo that part of his army died for want of proviiion. Another Another detachment of his army proceeded to the country of the Shepherds, who, indeed, fumiihed him witli food ; but, exafperated at the facrilegc he had committed againR their god, they conducted his troops through places where they could procure no water. After fullering all this lofs, he was not yet arrived beyond 24°, the parallel of Syene. From hence he difpatched ambafladors, or fpies, to difcover the country before him, finding he could no longer rely upon the Shepherds. Thefe found it full of black warlike people, of great fize, and prodigious llrcngth of body; active, and continually excrcifed in hunting the lion, the elephant* and other monflrous beafts which live in thefe forefts. The inhabitants fo abounded with gold, that the moft common utcnfils and inltruments were made of that mctalj whilit, at the fame time, they were utter ftrangers to bread of any kind whatever; and, not only fo, but their country was, by its nature, incapable of producing any fort of grain from which bread could be made. They fubliiled upon raw flefh alone, dried in the fun, efpecially that of the rhinoceros, the elephant, and girafla, which they had flain in hunting. On fuch food they have ever fince lived, and live to this day, and on fuch food I myfelf have lived with them; yet ftill it appears ftrange, that people confined to this diet, without variety or change, mould have it for their characteriftic that they were long livers. They were not at all alarmed at the arrival of Cambyfcs's ambafladors. On the contrary, they treated them as an inferior fpecies of men. Upon afking them about their diet, and. and hearing it was upon bread, they called it dung, I fuppofe as having the appearance of that bread which I have feen the miferable Agows, their neighbours, make from feeds of baflard rye, which they collect in their lields under the burning rays of the fun. They laughed at Cam-byfes's requifition of fubmitting to him, and did not con* ceal their contempt of his idea of bringing an army thither. They treated ironically his hopes of conquefl, even fuppo-fing all difficulties of the defert overcome, and his army ready to enter their country, and counfeled him to return while he was well, at leaft for a time, till he fliould produce a man of his army that could bend the bow that they then fent him ; in which cafe, he might continue to advance, and have hope of conquefl.—The reafon of their re* ference to the bow will be feen afterwards. I mention thefe circumftances of the quantity of gold, the hunting of elephants, their living upon the raw flefh, and, above all, the circumftances of the bow, as things which I myfelf can tcflify to have met with among this very people. It is, indeed, highly iatisfactory in travelling, to be able to explain truths which, from a want of knowledge of the country alone, have been treated as falfehoods, and placed to the difcrcdit of hiftorians. The Perfians were all famous archers. The mortification, therefore, they experienced, by receiving the bow they could not bend, was a very fenfible one, though the narrative of the quantity of gold the meffengers had feen made x much greater impreffion upon Cambyfes. To procure this this treafure was, however, impracticable, as he had no provilion, nor was there any in the way of his march. His army, therefore, wafted daily by death and difperfion ; and lie had the mortification to be obliged to retreat into Egypt, after part of his troops had been reduced to the neccffity of eating each other ;. Darius, king of Perfia, attempted to open this trade in a much more worthy and liberal manner, as he fent mips down the river Indus into the ocean, whence they entered the Red Sea. It is probable, in this voyage, he acquired all the knowledge neceffary for eftablifhing this trade in Perfia; for he muft have paffed through the Pcrfian Gulf, and along the whole eaftern coaft of Arabia ; he muft have feen the marts of perfumes and fpices that were at the mouth of the Red Sea, and the manner of bartering for gold and filver, as he was ncceflarily in thofe trading places which were upon the very fame coaft from which the bullion was brought. I do not know, then, why M. de Montefquieu t has treated this expedition of Darius fo con-tcmptuouily, as it appears to have been executed without great trouble or expencc, and terminated without lofs or hardfhip ; the ftrongeft proof that it was at firft wifely planed. The prince himfelf was famous for his love of learning, which we find by his anxiety to be admitted among the Magi, and the fenfe he had of that honour, in caufmg it to be engraved upon his tomb. The * Lucan lib. x. ver. 280. f Vide Montefq. liv. 21. chap 8- The expedition of Alexander into India was, of all events, that which moll threatened the deftrucTton of the commerce of the Continent, or the difperfmg it into different channels throughout the Eall: Firft, by the deftruclion of Tyre, which muft have, for a time, annihilated the trade by the Arabian Gulf; then by his march through Egypt into the country of the Shepherds, and his intended further progrefs into Ethio pia to the head of the Nile. If wc may judge of what we hear of him in that part of his expedition, we fliould be apt not to believe, as others arc fond of doing, that he had fchemcs of commerce mingled with thofe of conquefls. His anxiety about his own birth at the Temple of Jupiter Ammon, this firft queftion that he afked of the prieft, " Where the Nile had its fource," feemed to denote a mind bufied about other objects; for clfc he was then in the very place for information, being in the temple of that horned god *, the deity of the Shepherds, the African carriers of the Indian produce ; a temple which, though in the midft of land, and deftitute of gold or filver, poffeffed more and better information concerning the trade of India and Africa, than could be found in any other place on the Continent. Yet we do not hear of one queftion being made, or one arrangement taken, relative to opening the India trade with Thebes, or with Alexandria, which he built afterwards. After having viewed the main ocean to the fouth, he ordered Nearchus with his fleet to coaft along the Periian Gulf, accompanied by part of the army on land for their mutual alliltance, as there were a great many hardfhips i which * Lucan, lib. 9. ver. 515. which followed the march of the army by land, and much difficulty and danger attended the fhipping as they were failing in unknown feas again!! the monfoons. Nearchus himfelf informed the king at Babylon of his fuccefsful voyage, who gave him orders to continue it into the Red Sea, which he happily accomplilhed to the bottom of the Arabian Gulf. We are told it was his intention to carry on the India trade by the Gulf of Perfia, for which reafon he broke down all the cataracts and dams which the Pcrfians had built over the rivers communicating with the Euphrates. No ufe, however, feems to have been made of his knowledge of Arabia and Ethiopia, which makes me imagine this expedition of Alexander's fleet was not an idea of his own. It is, indeed, faid, that when Alexander came into India, the fouthern or Indian Ocean was perfectly unknown ; but I am rather inclined to believe from this circumilance, that this voyage was made from fome memorials remaining concerning the voyage of Darius. The fact and circumftances of Darius's voyage are come down to us, and, by thefe very fame means, it muft be probable they reached Alexander, who I do not believe ever intended to carry on the India trade at Babylon. To render it impoflible, indeed, he could not have done three things more effectual than he did, when he deftroyed Tyre, and difperfed its inhabitants, perfecuted the Orites, or land-carriers, in the Ariana, and built Alexandria upon the Mediterranean ; which lail Hep fixed the Indian trade in that city, and would have kept it there eternally, had the Cape of Good Hope never been difcovered. The The Ptolemies, the wifeft princes that ever fat upon the throne of Egypt, applied with the utmoft care and attention to cultivate the trade of India, to keep up perfect, and friendly underftanding with every country that fupplied any branch of it, and, inftead of difturbing it either in Afia, Arabia, or Ethiopia, as their predcceiTors had done, they ufed their utmoft efforts to encourage it in all quarters. Ptolemy I. was then reigning in Alexandria, the foundation of whofe greatnefs he not only laid, but lived to fee it arrive at the greateft perfection. It was his conftant faying, that the true glory of a king was not in being rich himfelf, but making his fubjects fo. He, therefore, opened his ports to all trading nations, encouraged ftrangers of every language, protected caravans, and a free navigation by fea, by which, in a few years, he made Alexandria the great ftore-houfe of merchandize, from India, Arabia, and Ethiopia. He did ftill further to infure the duration of his kingdom, at the fame time that he fhewed the utmoft dif-intcrcftcdnefs for the future happinefs of his people. He educated his fon, Ptolemy Philadelphia, with the utmoft care, and the happy genius of that prince had anfwered his father's utmoft expectations; and, when he arrived at the age of governing, the father, worn out by the fatigue of long wars, furrendered the kingdom to his fon. Ptolemy had been a foldier from his infancy, and con-fequently kept up a proper military force, that made him every where refpected in thefe warlike and unfettlcd times. He had a fleet of two hundred fhips of war conftantly ready in the port of Alexandria, the only part for which he had apprehenfions. All behind him was wifely governed, whilft Vol. L 3 m it it enjoyed a mofl floiirifhing trade, to the profperity of: winch peace is necellary. He died in peace and old age, after having merited the glorious name of Soter, or Saviour of the kingdom, which he himfelf had founded, the greateft part of which differed from him in language, colour, habit,. and religion. , It is with aftonifhment we fee how thoroughly he had eftablifhed the trade of India, Ethiopia, and Arabia, and what progrefs he had already made towards uniting it with that of Europe, by apaflage in-Athenaeus*, who mentions a feftival and entertainment given by his fon, Ptolemy Philadelphia, to the people of Alexandria at his accellion, while his father was alive, but had juft given up his crown. There was in this proceftion a great number of Indian women, befides of other countries ; and by Indians we may underftand, not only the Afiatic Indians, but the Abyffini-ans, and the inhabitants of the higher part of Africa, as all thefe countries were comprehended under the common appellation of India. Thefe were in the habit of flaves, and each led, or was followed by, a camel loaded with ihcenfe of Shcher, and cinnamon, befides other aromatics. After thefe came a number of Ethiopian blacks carrying the teeth of 600 elephants. Another troop had a prodigious quantity of ebony ; and again others loaded with that fineft gold, which is not dug from the mine, but wafficd from the mountains by the tropical rains in fmall pieces, or pellets, which * Athcn. Hb. 5. which the natives and traders at this day call Tibbar. Next came a pack of 24,000 Indian dogs, all Afiatics, from the pcninfula of India, followed by a prodigious number of foreign animals, both beafts and birds, paroquets, and other birds of Ethiopia, carried in cages ; 130 Ethiopian Iheep, 300 Arabian, and 20 from the Ille Nubia*; 26 Indian buffaloes, white as fnow, and eight from Ethiopia; three brown bears, and a white one, which lafl mull have been from the north of Europe; 14 leopards, 16 panthers, four lynxes, one giraf-fa, and a rhinoceros of Ethiopia, When we reflect upon this prodigious mixture of animals, all foealily procured at one time, without preparation, we may imagine, that the quantity of merchandises, for common demand, which accompanied them, mull have been in the proper proportion. The current of trade ran towards Alexandria with the greateft impetuofity, all the articles of luxury of the F^aft were to be found there. Gold and filver, which were fent formerly to Tyre, came now down to the Ifthmus (for Tyre was no more) by a much fhortcr carriage, thence to Memphis, whence it was fent down the Nile to Alexandria. The gold from the weft and fouth parts of the Continent reached the fame port with much lefs time and rifk, as there was now no Red Sea to pais ; and here was found the merchan-dife of Arabia and India in the greateft prof ufion. 3 M 2 To • This Is probably from Atbara, or the old name of the iiland of Meroe, which had received that lait name only as late as Cambyfes. To facilitate the communication with Arabia, Ptolemy built a town on the coafl of the Red Sea, in the country of the Shepherds, and called it Berenice*, after his mother. This was intended as a place of neceffary refrefhment for all the traders up and down the Gulf, whether of India or Ethiopia ; hence the cargoes of merchants, who were afraid of lofing the monfoons, or had loll them, were carried by the inhabitants of the country, in three days, to the Nile, and there embarked for Alexandria. To make the communication between the Nile and the Red Sea ftill more commodious, this prince tried an attempt (which had twice before mifcarried with very great lofs) to bring a canal f from the Red Sea to the Nile, which he actually accomplifhcd, joining it to the Pemfiac, or Eaftern branch of the Nile. Locks and fluiccs moreover are mentioned as having been employed even in thofe early days by Ptolemy, but very trifling ones could be needed, for the difference of level is there but very fmall. This noble canal, one hundred yards broad, was not of that ufe to trade which was expected; merchants were weary of the length of time confirmed in going to the very bottom of the Gulf, and afterwards with this inland navigation of the canal, and that of the Nile, to Alexandria. It was therefore much more expeditious to unload at Berenice, and, after three days journey, fend their merchandife directly down to Alexandria. Thus the canal was difufed, the goods pafled from Berenice to the Nile by land, and that road continues open for the fame purpofc to this day. It * Plin. lib. 6. cap.. 23. f Strabo, lib. 17. p. 932. It mould appear, that Ptolemy had employed the vehels of India and the Red Sea, to carry on his commerce with the peninfula, and that the manner of trading directly to India with his own fhips, was either not known or forgotten. He therefore fent two ambafladors, or mcftcngers, Megaflhcnes and Denis, to obfervc and report what was the Hate of India fince the death of Alexander. Thefe two performed their voyage fafely and fpcedily. The account they gave of India, if it was ftrictly a true one, was, in all refpecTs, perfectly calculated to animate people to the further profecution of that trade. In the mean time, in order to procure more convenience for velTels trading on the Red Sea, he refolved to attempt the penetrating into that part of Ethiopia which lies on that fea, and, as hiilorians imagine, with an intention to plunder the inhabitants of their riches. It mull not, however, be fuppofed, that Ptolemy was not enough acquainted with the productions of a country fo near to Egypt, as to know this part of it had neither gold nor filver, whilft it was full of forefls likewife ; for it was that part of Ethiopia called Barbaria, at this day Barabra, inhabited by fhepherds wandering with their cattle about the neighbouring mountains according as the rains fall. Another more probable conjecture was, that he wanted, by bringing about a change of manners in thefe people, to make them ufeful to him in a matter that was of the higheft importance,. Ptolemy, like his father, had a very powerful fleet and army, he but was inferior to many of the princes, his rivals, in elephants, of which great ufe was then made in war. Thefe Ethiopians were hunters, and killed them for their fubfiftcnce. Ptolemy, however, wifhed to have them taken 4 alive, alive, being numerous, and hoped both to furnifh himfelf, and difpofe of them as an article of trade, to his neighbours. There is fomething indeed ridiculous in the manner in which lie executed this expedition. Aware "of the difticulty of fubfifling in that country, he chofe only a hundred Grc k horfemen, whom he covered with coats of monftrous appearance and fize, which left nothing vifible but the eyes of the rider. Their horfes too were difguifed by huge trappings, which took from them all proportion andfhapc. In this manner they entered this part of Ethiopia, fpreading terror every where by their appearance, to which their flrength and courage bore a Uriel: proportion whenever they came to acTion. But neither force nor intreaty could gain any thing upon thefe Shepherds, or ever make them change or forfake the food they had been fo long accuflomed to; and all the fruit Ptolemy reaped from this expedition, was to build a city, by the fea-fide, in the fouth-eall corner of this country, which he called Ptolcmais lire-ron, or Ptolcmais in the country of wild beails. I iiave already obferved, but fliall again repeat it, that the reafon why fhips, in going up and down the Red Sea, kept always upon the Ethiopian fhore, and why the greateft number of cities were always built upon that fide is, that water is much more abundant on the Ethiopian fide than the Arabian, and it was therefore of the greateft con-Icq uence to trade to have that coaft fully difcovered and civilized. Indeed it is more than probable, that nothing further was intended by the expedition of the hundred Greeks, juft now mentioned, than to gain fuilieient intelligence how this might be done mofl perfectly. 2 Pro- Ptolemy Evergetes, fon and fuccclTor of Ptolemy Phila-delphus, availed himfelf of this difcovery. Having provided himfelf amply with neccilarics for his army, and ordered a fleet to coaft along befide him, up the Red Sea, he penetrated quite through the country of the Shepherds into that of the Ethiopian Troglodytes, who are black and woolly-headed, and inhabit the low country quite to the mountains of Abyllinia. Nay \ he even afcended thofe mountains, forced the inhabitants to fubmiliion, built a large temple at Axum, the capital of Sire, and raifed a great many obelifks, feveral of which are Handing to this day. Afterwards proceeding to the fouth-eaft, he defcended into the cinnamon and myrrh country, behind Cape Gardefan, (the Cape that terminates the Red Sea, and the Indian Ocean) from this, crolTcd over to Arabia, to the Homerites, being the fame people with the Abyflinians, only on the Arabian more. Fie then conquered feyeral of the Arabian princes, who firfl refilled him, and had it in his power to have put an end to the trade of India there, had he not been as great a politician as he was a warrior. He ufed his victory, therefore, in no other manner, than to exhort and oblige thefe princes to protect trade, encourage flrangers, and, bv every means, provide for the furety of neutral intcrcourfc, by making rigorous examples of robbers by fea and land. The reigns of the latter Ptolemies were calculated to bring this commerce to a decline, had it not been for-two great events, the fall of Carthage, deftroyed by Scipio, and that of Corinth, by the conful Mummius, The importance of thefe * Mon, Aduli. thefe events to Alexandria feems to have fuftained the pro-fperity of Egypt, even againft the ravages committed in the war between Ptolemy the VL and VII. Alexandria was then befieged, and not only deprived of its riches, but reduced to the utmoft want of neceffaries, and the horrid behaviour of Ptolemy VII. (had it continued) would have foon rendered that city defolate. The confequence of fuch a conduct, however, made a ftrong impreffion on the prince himfelf, who, at once recalling his unjuft edicts, by which he had banifhed all foreign merchants from Alexandria, became on a fudden wholly addicted to commerce, the encou-ragerof arts and fciences, and the protector of ftrangcrs. The impolitic conduct in the beginning of his reign, however, had affected trade even in India. For the ftory prefcrved by Pofidonius, and very improperly criticifed by Strabo, feems to import little lefs. One day, the troops polled on the Arabian Gulf found a fhip abandoned to the waves, on board of which was one Indian only, half dead with hunger and thirft, whom they brought to the king. This Indian declared he failed from his own country, and, having loft his courfe and fpent all his provifions, he was carried to the place where he was found,without knowing where he was, and after having furvived the reft of his companions ; he concluded an imperfect narrative, by offering to be a guide to any perfon his majefty would fend to India. His propofals were accordingly accepted, and Eudoxus was named by the king to accompany him. Strabo * indeed laughs at this * Strabo, lib. ii. p. pt. this flory. However, we mull fay, he has not feized the mofl ridiculous parts of it. We are told that the king ordered the Indian to be taught Greek, and waited with patience till he had learned that language. Surely, before any perfon could thus inftrucT him, the mafler muft have had fome language in common with his fcholar,or he had better have taught Eu-doxus the Indian language, as it would have been as ea-fy, and of much more ufe in the voyage he was to undertake. Befides, is it poflible to believe, after the many years the Egyptians traded backwards and forwards to India, that there was not a man in Alexandria who could interpret for him to the king, when fuch a number of Egyptians went every year to India to trade, and flayed there for months each time ? Could Ptolemy Philadelphia, at his father's fefli-val, find 600 Indian female flaves, all at once, in Alexandria; and, after the trade had lafled fo much longer, were the people from India dccrcafcd, or would their language be lefs tinderflood ? The king's wifdom, moreover, did not fhew itfelf greatly, when he was going to trufl a fhip with his fubjects to fo fkilful a pilot as this Indian, who, in the firfl voyage, had loft himfelf and all his companions. India, however, and the Indian fcas, were as well known in Egypt as they are now ; and the magnificence and fhew which attended Eudoxus's cmbaffy feems to prove, that whatever truth there is in the Indian being found, Eudoxus* 1 errand muff have been to remove the bad effects that the king's extortions and robberies, committed upon all ftrangcrs in the beginning of his reign, had made upon the trading nations. Eudoxus returned, but after the death of Ptole- Vojl. I. 3 N my, my. The neceflity, however, of this voyage appeared Hill great enough to make Cleopatra his widow project a fecond to the fame place, and greater preparations were made than for the former one. But Eudoxus, trying experiments probably about the courfes of the trade-winds, loft his paffagc, and was thrown upon the coaft of Ethiopia ; where, having landed, and made himfelf agreeable to the natives, he brought home to Egypt a particular defcription of that country and its produce, . which furnifhed all the difcovery neceffary to inftruct the Btolemies in every thing that related to the ancient trade of Arabia. In the courfe of the voyage, Eudoxus difcovered the part of the prow of a veflel which had been broken off7 by a ftorm. The figure of a horfe made it an object of inquiry ; and fome of the failors on board, who had been employed in European voyages, immediately knew this wreck to be part of one of thofe veflels ufed to trade on the weftern ocean. Eudoxus * inftantly perceived all the importance of the difcovery, which amounted to nothing lefs, than that there was a paffage round Africa from the Indian to the Atlantic Ocean. Full of this thought, he returned to Egypt, and, having fhewn the prow of his veflel to European fliip-mafters, they all declared that this had been part of a vef-fel which had belonged to Cadiz, in Spain.. This difcovery, great as it was, was to none of more im portance than to Eudoxus; for, fome time after, falling under the difpleafurc of Ptolemy Lathyrus, Vlllth of that name, * Plirj, Nat.,Hifh lib. 2. cap. 6jj name, and being in danger of his life, he fled and embarked on the Red Sea, failed round the peninfula of Africa, crolfed the Atlantic Ocean, and came fafely to Cadiz. The fpirit of inquiry, and defire of travelling, fprcad itfelf inftantly through FIgypt, upon this voyage of Eudoxus; and different travellers pufhed their difcoveries into the heart of the country, where fome of the nations arc reported to have been fo ignorant as not to know the ufe of lire: ignorance almoft incredible, had we not an inftance of it in our own times. It was in the reign of Ptolemy IX. that A-gatharcides * drew up his defcription of the Red Sea. The reigns of the other Ptolemies ending in the XHIthof that name, though full of great events, have nothing material to our prefent fubject Their conflant expencc and profulion mull have occafioned a great confumption of trading articles, and very little elfe was wanting; or, if there had, it mull have arrived at its height in the reign of the celebrated Cleopatra; whofe magnificence, beauty, and great talents, made her a wonder, greater than any in her capital. In her time, all nations flocked, as well for curiolity as trade, to Alexandria; Arabs, Ethiopians, Troglodytes, Jews, and Medes ; and all were received and protected by this princefs, who fpoke to each of them in his own languagef. The difcovery of Spain, and the poiremon of the mines of Attica from which they drew their filver, and the revo- 3 N 2 lutioii * Dodwcli's Diflcitat. vol. I. Scrip. Grrcc. Min. Id. Ox. 1698. 8vo. if- Plut. Vita. Ant. p. 913. tcni. 1. part 2. Lubcc. 1624. lution that happened in Egypt itfelf, feemed to have fupci> feded the communication with the Coaft of Africa ; for, in Strabo's time, few of the ports of the Indian Ocean, even thofe neareft the Red Sea, were known. I fliould, indeed, fuppofe, that the trade to India by Egypt decreafed from the very time of the conquefl by Crcfar. The mines the Romans had'atjthe fource of the river Betis*, in Spain, did not produce them above L. 15,000 a-year; this was not a fuflicient capital for carrying on the trade to India, and therefore the immenfe riches of the Romans feem to have been derived from the greatnefs of the prices, not from the extent of the trade. In fact, -f, we are told that ico per cent, was a profit in common trade upon the Indian commodities. Egypt now, and all its neighbourhood, began to wear a face of war, to which it had been a ftranger for fo many ages. The north of Africa was in conftant troubles, after the firft ruin of Carthage ; fo that we may imagine the trade to India began again, on that fide, to be carried on pretty much in the. fame manner it had been before the days of Alexander. But ir had enlarged itfelf very much on the Perfian fide, and found an eafy, fhort inlet, into the north of Europe, which then furnifhed them a market and confuniption of fpices. I must confefs, notwithstanding, if it is true what Strabo fays he heard himfelf in Egypt, that the Romans employed one hundred and twenty vellels in the Indian trade;];, it muft at that time have loft very little of its vigour. We muft, however, imagine, that great part of this was for the accountr * Strabo, lib. 3. f Plin. lib. vi. cap. 23. % Strabo, lib. 2. p. %\ account, and with the funds of foreign merchants. The Jews in Alexandria, until the reign of Ptolemy Phifcon, had carried on a very extenfive part of the India trade. All Syria was mercantile ; and lead, iron, and copper, fupplied, in fome manner, the deficiency of gold and filver, which never again was in fuch abundance till after the difcovery of America. But the ancient trade to India, by the Arabian Gulf and Africa, carried on by the medium of thefe two metals, remained at home undiminifhed with the Ethiopians, defended by large extenfive deferts, and happy with the enjoyment of riches and fecurity, till a frefh difcovery again introduced to them both partners and mailers in their trade. One of the reafons that makes me imagine the Indian trade was not flourifhing, or in great efleem, immediately upon the Roman conquefl of Egypt, is, that AuguHus, very foon after, attempted to conquer Arabia. He fent Elius Gallus, with an army from Egypt into Arabia, who found there a number of effeminate, timid people, fcarcely to be driven to fclf-defencc by violence, and ignorant of every thing that related to war. Elius, however, found that they overmatched him in cunning, and the perfect knowledge of the country, which their conftant employment as carriers had taught them. His guides led him round from hardship to hardihip, till Ins army almoll perimed with hunger and thirll, without feeing any of thofe riches his mafler had. fent him to take poffeffion o.f. 3 Thus Thus was the Arabian expedition of Auguftus conceived with the fame views as thofe of Semiramis, Cyrus, and Cam-byfes, defervedly as unhappy in its ilTue as thefe tirfl had been. That the African trade, moreover, was loft, appears from Strabo *, and his reafoning upon the voyage of Eudoxus, which he treats as a fable. But his reafoning proves jufl the contrary, and this voyage was one foundation for opening this trade again, and making this coall more perfectly known. This likewife appears clear from Ptolemy j*, who, fpeaking of a promontory or cape oppofite to Madagafcar, on the coaft of Africa, fays it was inhabited by anthropophagi, or man-eaters, and that all beyond 8° fouth was unknown, and that this cape extended to and joined the continent of India f. * Strabo, lib, ii. p. 98. f Ptol. lib. iv. cap. 9. p. 115. J Ptul. lib. vii. cap. 5. i CHAP. CHAP. VI. %uecn of Saba vifits Jerufalem—Abyffinian Tradition concerning Her~~ Suppofed Founder of that Monarchy—Abyffinia embraces the Jewifi Religion—Jewijh Hierarchy fill retained by the Falafa—Some Conjectures concerning their Copy of the Old Ttftament. IT is now that I am to fulfil my promife to the reader, of giving him fome account of the vifit made by the Queen of Sheba*, as we erroneoufly call her, and the confequences of that vifit; the foundation of an Ethiopian monarchy, and the continuation of the fceptre in the tribe of Judah, down to this day. If I am obliged to go back in point of time, it is, that I may preferve both the account of the trade of the Arabian Gulf, and of this Jewifh kingdom, diftine! and unbroken. We are not to wonder, if the prodigious hurry and flow ®f bufinefs, and the immenfely valuable tranfactions they had with each other, had greatly familiarifed theTyrians and *lt (hould properly be Saba, Az.xb, or Azaba, all fjgiiifying Scute. and Jews, with their correfpondents the Cufhites and Shepherds on the coafl of Africa. This had gone fo far, as very naturally to have created a defire in the queen of Azab, the fovereign of that country, to go herfelf and fee the application of fuch immenfe treafures that had been exported from her country for a fcries of years, and the prince who fo magnificently employed them. There can be no doubt of this expedition, as Pagan, Arab, Moor, Abyffinian, and all the countries round, vouch it pretty much in the terms of fcripture. Many* have thought this queen was an Arab. But Saba was a feparate flate, and the Sabeans a diflincT people from the Ethiopians and the Arabs, and have continued fo till very lately. Wc know, from hiftory, that it was a cuftom among thefe Sabeans, to have women for their fovercigns in preference to men, a cuflom which flill fubfifls among their defcendents. " Medis levibufque Sabeeis, Inderal Los fx us Regular unique jubarmis, Barbaric? \, pars magna jacet. Cl audi an. Her name, the Arabs fay, was Belkis; the Abyflinians, Maqued'a. Our Saviour calls her S^ueen of the South, without mentioning any other name, but gives his fanclion to the truth of the voyage. " The Queen of the South (or Saba, * Such as Juftln, Cyprian, EpiphaniuS, Cyril. f By this is meant the country between the tropic and mountains of Abyfiin!*; *M country of Shepherds, from Berber, Shepherd. rt or Azab) fhall rife up in the judgment with this genera-" tion, and fhall condemn it; for flie came from the utter-" moft parts of the earth to hear the wifdom of Solomon ; w and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here No other particulars, however, are mentioned about her in fcripture; and it is not probable our Saviour would fay fhe came from the uttermoft parts of the earth, if fhe had been an Arab, and had near 500 of the Continent behind her. The gold, the myrrh, caflia, and frankincenfe, were all the produce of her own country; and the many reafons Pineda f gives to fhew fhc was an Arab, more than convince me that fhc was an Ethiopian or Cufhite fhepherd. A strong objection to her being an Arab, is, that the Sabean Arabs, or Plomerites, the people that lived oppofite to Azab on the Arabian more, had kings inftcad of queens, which latter the Shepherds had, and ftill have. Moreover, the kings of the Homerites were never feen abroad, and were ftoned to death if they appeared in public; fubjcels of this ftamp would not very readily luffer their queen to go to Jerufalem, even fuppofing they had a queen, which they , had not, Whether flic was a Jewcfs or a Pagan is uncertain ; Sa-baifm was the religion of all the Eaft. it was the conftant attendant and ftumbling-bfock of the Jews; but confidering the multitude of that people then trading from Jerufalem, and the long time it continued, it is not improbable fhe Was Vol. I. 3 O a Jewcfs, * M'ritth. chap. xii. ver, 42. Luke xi. 31. f Pin. de reb. Solomon, lib. iv. cap. 14th.— Jofcphus thicks (he was an Ethiopian, fo do Origen, Auguftin, and St Anfehno. a Jewcfs. " And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame " of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, fhc came " to prove him with hard queflions*." Our Saviour, moreover, fpeaks of her with praife, pointing her out as an example to the Jews j\ And,, in her thankfgiving before Solomon, fhe alludes to God* s bkjjitig on the/tWof Ifrael for evcr|, which is by no means the language of a Pagan, but of a perfon fkilled in the ancient hiilory of the Jews, She likewife appears to have been a perfon of learning, and that fort of learning which was then almoft peculiar to Paleftinc, not to Ethiopia. For wc fee that one of the rcar-fons of her coming, was to examine whether Solomon was really the learned man he was faid to be. She came to try him in allegories, or parables, in which Nathan had. in--•ftrucTed Solomon.. The learning of the Eafl, and of the neighbouring kings that correfponded with each other, cfpccially in Palefline and Syria, coniiiled chiefly in thefe : " And Joafh king of " Ifrael fent to Amaziah king of Judah, faying, The thiflle " that was in Lebanon fent to the Cedar that was in Leba-" non, faying, Give thy daughter to my fon to wife: and " there paffed by a wild heart that was in Lebanon, and " trode down the thiille."—" Thou fayefl, Lo> thou, hall " fmitten- * i Kings, chap. x. ver i. and 2 Chron. chap. ix. ver. i, ■f Matt. chap. xii. ver. 43. and Luke, chap xi. vti. 31. % 1 Kings, chap. x. ver. vj. and 2 Chroo. chap. ix. ver 8, tt fmittcn the Edomites, and thine heart liftcth thcc up to " boaft: abide now at home, why moulded thou meddle " to thine hurt, that thou fhouldeft fall, even thou, and Ju-" dab with thee *V The annals of Abyflinia, being very full upon this point, have taken a middle opinion, and by no means an improbable one. They fay fire was a Pagan when fhe left Azab, but being full of admiration at the fight of Solomon's works, fhe was converted to Judaifm in Jerufalem, and bore him a fon, whom flie called Menilek, and who was their firft king. However ftrongly they aflert this, and however dangerous it would be to doubt it in Abyllinia, I will not here aver it for truth, nor much lefs ftill will I pofitivcly contradict it, as fcripture has faid nothing about it. I fuppofe, whether true or not, in the circumftances fhe was, whilft Solomon alfo, fo far from being very nice in his choice, was particularly addicted to Idumeans f, and other ft range women, he could not more naturally engage himfelf in any amour than in one with the queen of Saba, with whom he had fo long entertained the moft lucrative connections, and moft perfect friendfhip, and who, on her part, by fo long a journey, had furcly made fuflicicnt advances. The Abyfllnians, both Jews and Chriftians, believe the xlvth pfalm to be a prophecy of this queen's voyage to Jerufalem ; that fhe was attended by a daughter of Hiram's from Tyre to Jerufalem, and that the laft part contains a decla- 3 O 2 ration * 2 Chron. chap. xxy. ver. i8. 19. f i Kings, chap. xl. ver. 1. ration of her having a fon by Solomon, who was to be king over a nation of Gentiles. To Saba, or Azab, then, fhe returned with her fon Menilek, whom, after keeping him fome years, lfie fent back to his father to be inllructcd. Solomon did not neglect his charge, and he was anointed and crowned king of Ethiopia, in the temple of Jerufalem, and at his inauguration took the name of David. After this he returned to Azab, and brought with him a colony of Jews, among whom were many doctors of the law of Mofes, particularly one of each tribe, to make judges in his kingdom,from whom the prefent Umbarcs (or Supreme judges, three of whom always attend the king) arc faid and believed to be defccndecl. With thefe came alfo Azarias, the fon of Zadok the pried, and brought with him a Hebrew tranf-cript of the law, which was delivered into his cuftody, as he bore the title of Nebrit, or High Pried; and this charge, though the book itfelf was burnt with the church of Axum in the Moorim war of Adel, is ftill continued, as it is faid, in the lineage of Azarias, who are Nebrits, or keepers of the church of Axum, at this day. All Abyflinia was thereupon converted, and the government of the church and Hate modelled according to what was then in ufe at Jerufalem. Bv the lafl act of the queen of Saba's reign, flic fettled the mode of fucceflion in her country for the future. Eirif, flic enacted, that the crown fliould be hereditary in the family of Solomon for ever. Secondly, that, after her, no woman mould be capable of wearing that crown or being queen, but that it fliould defcend to the heir THE SOURCE OF T EI E NILE, 477 heir male, however diftant, in exclufion of all heirs female whatever, however near; and that thefe two articles mould be confidcred as the fundamental laws of the kingdom, never to be altered or abolifhed. And, laftly, That the heirs male of the royal houfe, lhould always be fent prifoncrs to a high mountain, where they were to continue till their death, or till the fucceflion fliould open to them. What was the reafon of this laft regulation is not known, it being peculiar to Abyflinia, but the cuftom of having women for fovereigns, which was a very old one, prevailed among the neighbouring fhepherds in the laft century, as we lhall fee in the courfe of this hiftory, and, for what we know, prevails to this day. It obtained in Nubia till Augustus's time, when Petreius, his lieutenant in Egypt, fubducd her country, and took the queen Candace prifoner. It endured alfo after Tiberius, as we learn from St Philip's bap-tifmg the eunuch*fervant of queen Candace, who muft have been fucceflbr to the former; for flic, when taken prifoner by Petreius, is reprefentcd as an infirm woman, having but one eye i% Candace indeed was the name of all the fovereigns, in the fame manner Casfar was of the Roman emperors. As for the laft fevcrc part, the ptmifhmcnt of the princes, it was probably intended to prevent fome diforders among he princes of her houfe, that flic had obferved frequently to happen in the houfe of David | at Jerufalem. The * Acls, chap. viii. ver. 27 and 38. f This fhews the falfchood of the remark Strabo nukes, that it was a cuftom in Merce, if their fovcreign was any way mutilated, for the fubjeifts to imitate the iniperfcclion. In this cafe, Candace's fubjeets would have all lolt an eye. Sttabo, lib. 17. p. 777, 778. t. 2 Sam. chap. xvi. ver. 22. 1 Kings, chap. it. ver..13, The queen of Saba having made thefe laws irrevocable to all her poflerity, died, after a long reign of forty years, in 986 before Chrift, placing her fon Mcnilck upon the throne, whofe poflerity, the annals of Abyflinia would teach us to believe, have ever fincc reigned. So far we muft indeed bear witnefs to them, that this is no new doctrine, but has been ftedfaftly and uniformly maintained from their earlier! account of time; firft, when Jews, then in later days after they had embraced chriifianity. We may further add, that the teftimony of all the neighbouring nations is with them upon this fubject, whether they be friends or enemies. They only differ in name of the queen, or in giving her two names. This difference, at fuch a diftance of time, fliould not break fcorcs, especially as wc fhall fee that the queens in the prefent day have fometimes three or four names, and all the kings three, whence has arifen a very great con-fttfion in their hiftory. And as for her being an Arab, the objection is ftill eafter got over. For all the inhabitants of Arabia Felix, efpecially thofe of the coaft oppofite to Saba, were reputed Abyflins, and their country part of Abyflinia, from the earlieft ages, to the Mahometan conquefl and after. They were her fubjects; firft, Sabean Pagans like hcrfclf, then converted (as the tradition fays) to Judaifm, during the time of the building of the temple, and continuing Jews from that time to the year 622 after Chrift, when they became Mahometans. I sn ali. therefore now give a lift of their kings of the race of Solomon, defcended from the queen of Saba, whofe device is a lion paflant, proper upon a field gules, and their 1 motto, motto, " Mo Anbafa am Nizilet Solomon am Negade Jude which fignifies, * the lion of the race of Solomon and tribe of Judah hath overcome.* The Portuguefe miffionaries, in place of a lion palfant, which is really the king's bearing, have given him, in fome of their publications, a lion rampant, purpofe-ly, as is fuppofed, to put a crofs into the paw of this Jewifh lion; but he is now returned to the lion palfant, that he was in the time of Solomon, without any fymbol either of religion or peace in his paws. LIST LIST of the KINGS of ABYSSINIA, FROM MAQUEDA, QUEEN OF SABA, TO THE NATIVITY. Years. Year Menilck, or David I. reigned 4 Katzina reigned, - - 9 Hendedya, or Zagd ur, - 1 Wazeha, 1 Aw id a, 11 Hazer, - - 2 Aufyi, - - 3 Kalas, 6 Sawe, 31 Solaya, 16 Gcfaya, - 15 Falaya, - 26 Katar, - - 15 Aglcbu, 3 JVIouta, 20 Afifcna, - 1 Bahas, - - 9 Brus, 29 Kawida, 2 Mohcfa, 1 Kanaza, - 10 Bazen, - - 16 Menilek fuccccdcd to the throne in the 986th year before Chrift; and this number of years mull be cxhaufted in the reign of thefe twenty-two kings, when each reign, in that cafe, will amount to more than forty-four years, which is impolTiblc. The reign of the twenty-one kings of Ifrael, at a medium, is a little more than twenty-two years at an average, and that is thought abundantly high. And, even upon that footing of comparifon, there will be wanting a great deal more than half the number of years between Menilek and Bazen, fo that this account is apparently falfc. But I have another very material objection to it, as well as the 4 preceding preceding one, which is, that there is not one name in the whole lift that has an Ethiopic root or derivation. The reader will give what credit he plcafes to this very ancient lift. For my part, I content myfelf with difproving nothing but what is impoftible, or contrary to the authority of fcripture, or my own private knowledge. There are other lifts ftill, which I have feen, all of no better authority than this. I lhall only obfervc, upon this laft, that there is a king in it, about nine years before our Saviour's nativity, that did mc the honour of ufing my name two thoufand years before it came into Britain, fpelled in the fame manner that name anciently was, before folly, and the love of novelty, wantonly corrupted it. The Greeks, to divert the king, had told him this circum-flance, and he was exceedingly entertained at it. Some* times, when he had feen either Michael, or Fafd * or any of the great ones do me any favour, or fpeak handfomcly of me, he would fay gravely, that he was to fummon the council to inquire into my pedigree, whether I was defcended of the heirs-male of that Brus who was king nine years before the nativity; that I was likely to be a dangerous perfon, and it was time I lhould be fent to Wcchnd, unlefs I chofe to lofe my leg or arm, if I was found, by the judges, related to him by the heirs-male. To which I anfwered, that however he made a jeft of this, one of my prcdeeeirors was certainly a king, though not of Abyflinia, not nine years before, but 1200 after our redemption ; that the arms of my Vol. I. 3 P family What immediately follows will he hereafter explained in the Narrative, family were a lion like his; hut, however creditable his ma-jelly's apprehenlions as to Abyllinia might be to me, I could venture to allure him, the only connections I had the honour ever to have had with him, were by the bars-female. At other times, when I was exceedingly low-fpirited, and defpairing of ever again feeing Britain, he, who well knew the caufe, ufed to fay to the Scrach Maffery, " Prepare " the Sendick and Nagareet; let the judges be called, and " the houfehold troops appear under arms, for Brus is to be u buried : he is an Ozoro of the line of Solomon, and, for " any thing I know, may be heir to the crown. Bring like-" wife plenty of brandy, for they all get drunk at burials in " his country." Thefe were days of fun-ihine, when fuch jells palled ; there were cloudy ones enough that followed, which much more than compenfated the very tranfitory enjoyment of thefe.. Although the years laid down in the book of Axum do not precifely agree with our account, yet they are fo near, that we cannot doubt that the revolt of the ten tribes, and deftruction of Rehoboam's licet which followed, occafioned the removal of Menilck's capital to Tigre*. But, whatever was the caufe, Menilek did remove his court from Azab to a place near Axum, at this day called Adega Dald, the Houfe of David; and, at no great diflance, is another called A%abo, from his ancient metropolis, where there are old remains of * The temple which the Queen of Saba had feen built, and fo richly ornamented, was plundered dve th year of Rehoboam, by Sefac, which is 13 years before Menilek died. So this ••ould not but have difgufted him with the trade of his ancient habitation at Saba. 1 of building of Hone and lime, a certain proof that Axum was then fallen, elfe he would have naturally gone thither immediately upon forfaking bis mother's capital of Azab. That country, round by Cape Gardefan, and fouth to-wards Sofala, along the Indian Ocean, was long governed by an officer called Bahamagajh, the meaning of which is, King of the Sea, or Sea Coaft. Another officer of the fame title was governor of Yemen, or Arabia Felix, which, from the carlieft times, belonged to Abyllinia, down to the Mahometan conqucft. The king himfelf was called Nagafi, or Na-jafhi, fo were the governors of feveral provinces, efpecially Gojam; and great confufion has rifen from the multitude of thefe kings. We find, for example, fometimes three upon the throne at one time, which is exceedingly improbable in any country. Wc arc, therefore, to fuppofe, that one of thefe only is king, and two of them are the Najafhi, or Na^ gafh, we have juft defcribed; for, as the regulation of the queen of Saba banifhed the heirs-male to the mountain! wc cannot conceive how three brothers could be upon the throne at the fame time, as this law fubfifts to the prefent day. This, although it is one, is not the only reafon of the confufion^ as I fhall mention another in the fequel. As we are about to take our leave of the Jewilli religion and government in the line of Solomon, it is here the prosper place that I lhould add what wc have to fay of the Fa*-lafha, of whom we have already had occafion to fpeak, when we gave a fpecimen of their language, among thofe of the ftrangcr nations, whom we imagine to have come originally from Paleftine. I did not fpare my utmoft pains in inquiring into the hiftory of this curious people, and li- .3 P 2 ved ved' in friendship with feveral efteemcd the moft knowing and learned among them, and I am perfuaded, as far as the} . knew, they told me the truth. Tub account they give of themfelves, which is fupported only by tradition among them, is, that they came with Menilek from Jerufalem, fo that they agree perfectly-with the Abyffinians in the flory of the queen- of Saba, who* they fay, was a Jewefs, and her nation Jews before the time of Solomon ; that fhe lived at Saba, or Azaba, the myrrh and frank*, incenfe country upon the Arabian, Gulf. They fay further, that fhe went to Jerufalem, under protection of Hiram king of Tyre, whofe daughter is. faid* in the■ xlvth Tfaim to have attended her thither; that fhe went not in mips, nor through Arabia, for fear of the Ifhmaelites, but from Azab round by Mafuah and, Suakcm, and was efcorted by the Shepherds, her own fubjects, to Jerufalem, and-back again, making ufe of her own country vehicle, the camel, and that hcr's was a white one, of prodigious llze andexquifite beau<-ty. They agree alfo, in every particular, with the Abyfiinians, about the remaining part of the ilory,thc birth andinaugura*. tion of Menilek, who was their firfl king; alfo the coming of Azarias, and twelve elders from the twelve tribes, and o-thcr doctors of the Law, whofe poflerity they deny to have ever apoflatifed to Ghriflianity, as the Abyilinians pretend they did at the convcrfion. They fay* that, when the trade of the Red Sea fell into the hands of flrangers, and all communication was fliut up between them and Jerufalem, the cities were abandoned, and the inhabitants relinquished the coaft; that they were the inhabitants of thefe cities, by trade trade moflly brick and tile-makers, potters, thatchcrs of houfes, and fuch like mechanics, employed in them; and finding the low country of Dembea afforded materials for exercifing thefe trades, they carried the article of pottery in that province to a degree of perfection -fearedy to be imagined. Being very induflrious, thefe people multiplied exceedingly, and were very powerful at the time of the convcrfion to Christianity, or, as they term it, the Apoftacy under Abix> ha and Atzbeha. At this time they declared a prince of the tribe of Judah, and of the race of Solomon and Menilek, to be their fovcreign. The name of this prince was Phineas, who rcfufed to abandon the religion of his forefathers, and from him their fovereigns are lineally defcended ; fo they have flill a prince of the houfe of Judah, although the At byilinians, by way of reproach, have called this family Bet Ifrael, intimating, that they were rebels, and revolted from the family.of Solomon and tribe of Judah, and there is little doubt, but that fome of the fuceefFors of Azarias adhe*-red to their ancient faith alfo. Although there was no bloodihed upon difference of religion,- yet, each having a diftinct. king with the fame pretenfions, many battles were fought from motives of ambition, andrividlhip of Ibvereiga power. About the year 960, an attempt was made by this family to mount the throne of Abyllinia, as we fliall fee hereafter, when the princes of the houfe of Solomon were nearly extirpated upon the rock Damo. This, it is probable, produced more animolity and bloodihed. At lafl the power of the Falafha was fo much weakened, that they were obliged to Leave leave the flat country of Dembea, having no cavalry to maintain themfelves there, and to take poffcllion of the rugged, and almofl inaccefTible rocks, in that high ridge called the Mountains of Samen. One of thefe, which nature feems to have formed for a fortrefs, they chofe for their metropolis, and it was ever after called the Jews Rock, A great overthrow, which they received in the year 1600* brought them to the very brink of ruin. In that battle Gideon and Judith, their king and queen, were flaiii. They have fince adopted a more peaceable and dutiful behaviour, pay taxes, and are fuffered to enjoy their own government. Their king and queen's name was again Gideon and Judith, when I was in Abyflinia, and thefe names feem to be preferred for thofe of the Royal family. At that time they were fuppofed to amount to 100,000 effective men. Something like this, the fober and mofl knowing Abyf-finians are obliged to allow to be truth; but the circum-fiances of the converfion from Judaifm arc probably not all before us. The only copy of the Old Teflament, which they have, is in Geez, the fame made ufe of by the Abyflinian Chrif-tians, who are the only fcribes, and fell thefe copies to the Jews ; and, it is very fingular that no controverfy, or dif-pute about the text, has ever yet arifen between the profef-fors of the two religions. They have no kerikctib, or various readings; they never heard of talmud, targum, or cabala: Neither have they any fringes * or ribband upon their garments, nor is there, as far as I could learn, one fcribe among them. • 3 I asked * Numb. chap. xv. ver. 39, Dent. chap. 22. yer. 12. I asked them, being from Judea, whence they got that language which they fpoke, whether it was one of the languages of the nations which they had learned on the coaft of the Red Sea. They apprehended, but it was mere conjecture, that the language which they fpoke was that of thofe nations they had found on the Red Sea, after their leaving Judea and fettling there ; and the reafon they gave was certainly a pertinent one; that they came into Abyffinia, fpeaking FIcbrew, with the advantage of having books in that language; but they had now forgot their Hebrew*, and it was therefore not probable they mould retain any other language in which they had no books, and which they never had learned to exprefs by letters. I asked them, fince they came from Jerufalem, how it happened they had not Hebrew, or Samaritan copies of the law, at lead the Pentateuch or Octatcuch. They faid they were in pofTcffion of both when they came from Jerufalem; but their fleet being dcilroyed, in the reign of Rehoboam, and communication becoming very uncertain by the Syrian wars, they were, from necellity, obliged to have the fcriptures tranflated, or make ufe of the copies in the hands of the Shepherds, who, according to them, before Solomon's time, were all Jews. I asked them where the Shepherds got their copy, becaufe, notwithstanding the invafion of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar, who was the foreign obftacle the Ion gelt in their way, * We fee this happened to them in a much fliorter time during the captivity, when they forgot their Hebrew, and fpoke Chaldaec ever after. way, the Ifhmaclitc Arabs had acccfs through Arabia to jerufalem and Syria, and carried on a great trade thither by land. They profelfed very candidly they could not give a fatisfacTory anfwer to that, as the time was very diftant, and war had deftroyed all the memorials of thefe tranfac-tions. I afked if they really ever had any memorials of their own country, or history of any other. They anfwered, with fome hefrtation, they had no reafon to fay they e-ver had any; if they had, they were all deftroyed in the war with Gragne. This is all that I could ever learn from this people, and it required great patience and prudence in making the interrogations, and feparating truth from falfe-hood ; for many of them, (as is invariably the cafe with barbarians) if they once divine the reafon of your inquiry, will fay whatever they think will pleafe you. They deny the fceptre has ever departed from Judah, as they have a prince of that houfe reigning, and undcrftand the prophecy of the gathering of the Gentiles at the coming of Shiloh, is to be fulfilled on the appearance of the MefTiah, who is not yet come, when ail the inhabitants of the world are to be Jews. But I mull confefs they'did not give an explanation of this either clearly or readily, or feem to have ever confidercd it before. They were not at all heated by the fubject, nor intereftcd, as far as I could difcern, in the difference between us, nor fond of talking upon their religion at all, though very ready at all quotations, when a perfon was prefent who fpoke Arnharic, with the barbarous accent that they do; and this makes mc conceive that their nnceftors were not in Ealeilme, or prefent in thofe difputes pr t ran fa el ions that attended the death of our Saviour, and Jvave fubfifted ever after. They pretend that the book of ,2 Enoch Enoch was the firfl book of fcripture they ever received. They knew nothing of that of Seth, but place Job immediately after Enoch, fo that they have no idea of the time in which Job lived, but faid they believed it to be foon after the flood ; and they look upon the book bearing his name to be the performance of that prophet. Many difficulties occur from this account of the Falafha ; for, though they fay they came from Jerufalem in the time of Solomon, and from different tribes, yet there is but one language amongft them all, and that is not Hebrew or Samaritan, neither of which they read or underRand ; nor is their anfwer to this objection Satisfactory, for very obvious reafons. Ludolf, the mofl learned man that has writ upon the fubjecT, fays, that it is apparent the Ethiopic Old Teflament, at leaft the Pentateuch, was copied from the Scptuagint, becaufe of the many Grccifms to be found in it; and the names of birds and precious ftones, and fome other paffa-ges that appear literally to be tranflated from the Greek. He imagines alfo, that the prefent Abyflinian verfion is the work of Frumcntius their firfl bifhop, when Abyffinia was converted to Chriftianity under Abrcha and Atzbeha, about the year 333 after Chrift, or a few years later. Although I brought with mc all the Abyflinian books of the Old Teflament, (if it is a tranflation) I have not yet had time to make the comparifon here alluded to, but have left them, for the curiofity of the public, dcpofited in the Britifh Mufeum, hoping that fome man of learning or curiofity would do this for me. In the mean time I mult obferve, Vol. I, 3 that that it is much more natural to fuppofe that the Greeks, comparing the copies together, expunged the words or paffages they found differing from the Septuagint, and replaced them from thence, as this would not offend the Jews, who very well knew that thofe who tranflated the Septuagint veriion were all Jews themfelves, Now, as the Abyflinian copy of the Holy Scriptures, in Mr Ludolf's opinion, was tranflated by Frumentius above 330 after Chrift, and the Septuagint veriion, in the days of Philadelphus, or Ftolemy II. above 160 years before Chrift, it will follow, that, if the prefent Jews ufe the copy tranHated by Frumentius, and, if that was taken from the Septuagint, the jews mull have been above 400 years without any books whatfoever at the time of the converfion by Erumcntius : So they mull have had ail the Jewifh law, winch is in perfect vigour and force among them, all their Lcvitical obfervanecs, their purifications, atonements, abftinences, and iacrilices, all depending upon their memory, without writing, at ieail for that long fpacc of 400 years. Tins, though not abfolutcly impofTible, is furely very nearly fo. Wc know, that, at Jerufalem itfelf, the feat of Jewifh law and learning, idolatry happening to prevail, during the fhort reigns of only four kings, the law, in that interval, became fo perfectly forgotten and unknown, that a copy of it being accidentally found and read by Jofiah, that prince, upon his firit learning its contents, was fo a-flonifhcd at the deviations from it, that he apprehended the immediate deilruction of the whole city and people. To this I lhall only add, that whoever confiders the ftiif-necked-nefs, flubbornnefs, and obftinacy, which were ever the cha- 1 rafters racTers of this Jcwifh nation, they will not Cafily believe that they did ever willingly " receive the Old Tcltament from a " people who were the avowed champions of the New" They have, indeed, no knowledge of the New Teflament but from convcrfation; and do not curfe it, but treat it as a folly where it fuppofes the Mefliah come, who, they feem to think, is to be a temporal prince, prophet, prieft, and conqueror. Still, it is not probable that a Jew would receive the law and the prophets from a Chriflian, Without abfolutc ne-ccflity, though they might very well receive fuch a copy from a brother Jew, which all the Abyfhnians were, when this tranflation was made. Nor would this, as I fay, hinder them from following a copy really made by Jews from the text itfelf, fuch as the Septuagint actually was. But, 1 confefs, great difficulties occur on every fide, and I defpair of having them folvcd, unlefs by an able, deliberate analyfis of the Specimen of the Falafha language which I have prefcrved, in which I carneflly requefl the concurrence of the learned. A book of the length of the Canticles contains words enough to judge upon the queftion, Whence the Falafha came, and what is the probable caufe they had not a tranflation in their own tongue, linec a vcrfion became neceffary ? I have lefs doubt that Frumentius tranflated the New Teflament, as he muft have had afliflancc from thofe of his own communion in Egypt; and this is a further reafon why I believe that, at his coming, he found the Old Teflament already tranflated into the Ethiopic language and character, becaufe Bagla, or Geez, was an unknown letter, and 3 Qjz the the language unknown, not only to him, but likewjfe to every province in Abyflinia, except Tigre ; fo that it would have cofl him no more pains to teach the nation the Greek character and Greek language, than to have tranflated the New Teflament into Ethiopic, ufmg-thc Geez character, which v/as equally unknown, unlefs in Tigre. The faving of time and labour would have been very material to him; he would have ufed the whole fcriptures, as received in his own church, and the Greek letter and language would have been juft as cafdy attained in Amhara as the Geez ; and thofe people, even of the province of Tigre, that had not yet learned to read, would have written the Greek character as cafdy as their own. 1 do not know that fo early there was any Arabic tranflation of the Old Tcftamcnt; if there was, the fame reafons would have militated for his preferring this; and ftill he had but the New Teflament to undertake. But having found the books of the Old Teflament already tranflated into Geez, this altered the cafe ; and he, very properly, continued the gofpel in that language and letter alfo, that it might be a tcftimony for the Christians, and againft the Jews, as it was intended. CHAP.' t CHAR VII. Books in Ufe in Abyfinia—Enoch—AbyJJinia not converted by the Apo-fics—Converfon from Judaifm to Chrifianity by Frumentius. THE Abymnians have the whole fcriptures entire as wc have, and count the fame number of books ; but they divide them in another manner, at leail in private hands, few of them, from extreme poverty, being able to pur-chafe the whole, either of the hiftorical or prophetical books of the Old Teflament. The fame may be faid of the New, for copies containing the whole of it arc very fcarcc. Indeed no where, unlcfs in churches, do you fee more than the Gofpels, or the Acts of the ApolUes, in one perfon's pof-feflion, and it muff not be an ordinary man that poflefles-even thefe. Many books of the Old Teflament are forgot, fo that it is the fame trouble to procure them, even in churches, for the purpofe of copying, as to confult old records long covered with dull and rubbifh. The Revelation of St John is a piece of favourite reading among them. Its title is, the Vifon of John A-hou Kcdamfst which feems to me to be a corruption of Apoca- lypfis. hp/is. At the lame time, wc can hardly imagine that Frumentius, a Creek and a man of letters, fliould make fo 11 range a miftake. There is no fuch thing as diftindlions between canonical and apocryphal books. Bell and the Dragon, and the Acts of the Apoilies, are read with equal devotion, and, for the moll part, I am afraid, with equal, edification ; and it is in the fpirit. of truth, and not of ridicule, that I fay St George and his Dragon, from idle legends only, are objects of veneration, nearly as great as any el" the heroes in the Old Teltamcnt, or faints in the New. The Song of Solomon is a favourite piece of reading among the old priclls, but forbidden to the young ones, to the deacons, laymen, and women. 1'he Abyilinians believe, that this fong was made by Solomon in praife of Pharaoh's daughter; and do not think, as fome .of our divines are difpafed to do, that there is in it any myitery or allegory refpecting Chrift and die church. It may be afked, Why did I choofe to have this book tranflated, feeing that it was to be attended with this particular difficulty? To this I anfwer, The choice was not mine, nor did I at once know all the difficulty. The firft I pitched upon was the book of Ruth, as being the fhortcft; but the fubiecl did not pleafe the fcribes and pneils who were to copy for me, and I found it would not do. They then chofe the Song of Solomon, and engaged to go through with it; and 1 recommended it to twoor three young fcribes, who completed the copy by themfelves and their friends. 1 was obliged to procure licence for thefe fcribes whom I employed in tranllating it into the different languages; but it was a permiilion of courfe, and met with no real, though fome pretended difficulty. A nethew A nephew of Abba Salama*",'the Acab Saat, a young man of no common genius, afked leave from his uncle before he began the tranflation ; to which Salama anfwered, alluding to an old law, That, if he attempted fuch a thing, he lhould be killed as they do fheep; but, if I would give him the money, he would permit it. I mould not have taken any notice of this; but fome of the young men having told it to Ras Michael f, who perfectly guelfed the matter, he called upon the feribe, and afked what his uncle had faid to him, who told him very plainly, that, if he began the tranflation, his throat lhould be cut like that of a fheep. One day Michael afked Abba Salama, whether that was true ; he anfwered in the affirmative, and feemed difpofed to be talkative, " Then," faid the Ras to the young man, " your uncle de-" clarcs, if you write the book for Yagoube, he fliall cut " your throat like a fheep ; and I fay to you, I fwcar by St " Michael, I will put you to death like an afs if you don't " write it; confider with yourfelf which of the rifks you'll *' run, and come to me in-eight days, and make your choice." But, before the eighth day, he brought mc the book, very well pleafed at having an excufe for receiving the price of the copy. Abba Salama complained of this at another time when I was prefent, and the name &$ frahk was invidioufly mentioned; but he only got aflern look and word from the Ras: " Hold your tongue, Sir, you don't know what you fay ; you 44 don't know that you are a fool, Sir, but I do; if you talk *' much you will publifli it to all the world,1' After * I fliall have occafion to fpeak much of this JJfieft in the fequel. He was a moft inveterate; and dangerous enemy to alt Europeans, the principal tcclcfiaftical officer in the king's hovic fThen Prime Minifter, concerning,whom much is to be faid hereafter. After the New Teflament they place the conftitutions of the Apofllcs, which they call Synnodos, which, as far as the cafes or doctrines apply, we may fay is the written law of the country. Thefe were tranflated out of the Arabic. They have next a general liturgy, or book of common prayer, befides feveral others peculiar to certain feftivals, under whofe names they go. The next is a very large voluminous book, called Hahnanout Abou, chiefly a collection from the works of different Greek fathers, treating of, or explaining feveral hereiics, or difputed points of faith, in the ancient Greek Church. Tranflations of the works of St Atha-nafius, St Bazil, St John Chryfoftome, and St Cyril, are likewife current among them. The two lafl I never faw ; and only fragments of St Athanafius ; but they arc certainly extant. The next is the Synaxar, or the Flos Sanctorum, in which the miracles and lives, or lies of their faints, are at large recorded, in four monllrous volumes in folio, fluffed full of fables of the mofl incredible kind. They have a faint that wrellled with the devil in fliape of a ferpent nine miles long, threw him from a mountain, and killed him. Another faint who converted the devil, who turned monk, and lived in great holinefs for forty years after his convcrfion, doing penance for having tempted our Saviour upon the mountain : what became of him after they do not fay. Again, another faint, that never ate nor drank from his mother's womb, went to Jerufalem, and faid mafs every day at the holy fcpulchre, and came home at night in the fhapc of a flork. The lafl I fhall mention was a faint, who, being very fick, and his flomach in diforder, took a longing for partridges ; he called upon a brace of them to come to him, i and and immediately two roafled partridges cameflying, and relied upon his plate, to be devoured. Thefe flories are cir* cumflantially told and vouched by unexceptionable people, and were a grievous ilumbling-block to the Jefuits, who could not pretend their own miracles were either better e-flablifhed, or more worthy of belief. There are other books of lefs fize and confequence, particularly the Organon Denghel, or the Virgin Mary's Mufi-cal Inftrument, compofed by Abba George about the year 1440, much valued for the purity of its language, though he himfelf was an Armenian. The lafl of this Ethiopic library is the book of Enoch *. Upon hearing this book firfl mentioned, many literati in Europe had a wonderful defirc to fee it, thinking that, no doubt, many fecrcts and unknown hiflories might be drawn from it. Upon this fome impoftor, getting an Ethiopic book into his hands, wrote for the title, The Prophecies of Enoch, upon the front page of it. M. Picrifc f no fooner heard of it than he purchafed it of \ the impoftor for a confiderable fum of money : being placed afterwards in Cardinal Mazarine's library, where Mr Ludolf had accefs to it, he found it was a Gnoftic book upon myftcries in heaven and earth, but which mentioned not a word of Enoch, or his prophecy, from beginning to end ; and, from this difappointment, he takes upon him to deny the exiftencc of any fuch book any where elfc. This, however, is a miftakc ; for, as a public return for the many obligations I had received from every rank of that mofl Vol. I. 3 R humane, * Vid. Origen contra Celfum, lib. 5. Tertull. de Idolol. C. 4. Drus in fuo Enoch. Bangius in Ctjelo Orieruis Exercit. I. quxft. 5. and 6. \ GajTecd in vita Pieriic, lib. 5. humane, polite, and fcientific nation, and more efpccially from the fovereign Louis XV. 1 gave to his cabinet a part of every thing curious I had collected abroad ; which was received with that degree of consideration and attention that cannot fail to determine every traveller of a liberal mind to follow my example. Amongst the articles I configned to the library at Paris,, was a very beautiful and magnificent copy of the prophecies of Enoch, in large quarto; another is amonglt the books of fcripture which I brought home, Handing immediately before the book of Job, which is its proper place in the A-bylfmian canon; and a third copy I have prefented to the Bodleian library at Oxford, by the hands of Dr Douglas the Bi-fliop of Carliile. The more ancient hiftory of that book is well known. The church at firft looked upon it as apocryphal ; and as it v/as quoted in the book of Judc, the fame fufpicion fell upon that book alio. For this reafon, the council of Nice threw the cpiltle of Jude out of the canon, but the council of Trent arguing better, replaced the apo-ftle in the canon as before. Here we may obferve by the way, that Judc's appealing to the apocryphal books did by no means import, that either he believed or warranted the truth of them. But it was an argument, a fortiori, which our Saviour himfelf often makes ufe of, and amounts to no more than this, You, fays he ro the Jews, deny certain facts, which mull be from prejudice, becaufe you have them allowed in your own books, and believe them there. And a very ftrong and fair way of arguing it is, but this is by no means any allowance that they arc true. In the fame manner, You, fays Judc, do not be- 2 lieve licve the coming of Chrift and a latter judgment; yet your ancient Enoch, whom you fuppofe was the feventh from A-dam, tells you this plainly, and info many words, long ago. And indeed the quotation is, word for word the fame, in the fecond chapter of the book. All that is material to fay further concerning the book of Enoch is, that it is a Gnoftic book, containing the age of the Emims, Anakims, and Egregores, fuppofed defcen-dents of the fons of God, when they fell in love with the daughters of men, and had fons who were giants. Thefe giants do not feem to have been fo charitable to the fons and daughters of men, as their fathers had been. For, full, they began to eat all the beafts of the earth, they then fell upon the birds and fifhcs, and ate them alfo ; their hunger being not yet fatistlcd, they ate all the corn, all men's labour, all the trees and bullies, and, not content yet, they fell to eating the men themfelves. The men (like our modern failors with the ravages) were not afraid of dying, but very much fo of being eaten after death. At length they cry to God. againft the wrongs the giants had done them, and God fends a flood which drowns both them and the giants. Such is the reparation which this ingenious author has thought proper to attribute to Providence, in anfwer to the firft, and the bed-founded complaints that were made to him by man. 1 think this exhaulls about four or five of the full chapters. It is not the fourth part of the book ; hut my curiofity led me no further. The cataftrophc of the giants, and the juilice of the cataftrophc, had fully farisfied me. 3 R 2 I CANNOT I cannot but recollect, that when it was known in England that I had prefented this book to the library of the King of France, without flaying a few days, to give me time to reach London, when our learned countrymen might have had an opportunity of perilling at leifure another copy of this book, Doctor Woide let out for Paris, with letters from the Secretary of State to Lord Stormont, Ambaffador at that court, defi-ring him to afllfl the doctor in procuring accefs to my prefent, by pcrmiflion from his Mofl Chriflian Majefly. This he accordingly obtained, and a tranflation of the work was brought over; but, I know not why, it has no where appeared. I fancy Dr Woide was not much more pleafed with the conduct of the giants than I was. I shall conclude with one particular, which is a curious one : The Synaxar (what the Catholics call their Flos Sanctorum, or the lives and miracles of their faints), giving the hiftory of the Abyflinian conversion to Chriflianity in the year 333, fays, that when Frumentius and (Edefius were in-* troduced to the king, who was a minor, they found him reading the Tfalms of David. This book, or that of Enoch, does by no means prove that they were at that time Jews. For thefe two were in as great authority among the Pagans, who profe fled Sabaifm, the firfl religion of the Eafl, and efpecially of the Shepherds, as among the Jews. Thefe being continued alfo in the fame letter and character among the Abyflinians from the beginning, convinces me that there has not been any other writing in this country, or the fouth of Arabia, fince that which rofe from the Hieroglyphics. 4 Th* The Abyflinian hiftory begins now to rid itfelf of part of that confufion which is almoft a conftant attendant upon the very few annals yet prefervcd of barbarous nations in very ancient times. It is certain, from their hiftory, that Bazen was contemporary with Auguflus, that he reigned fixteen years, and that the birth of our Saviour fell on the 8th year of that prince, fo that the 8th year of Bazen was the firft of Chrift. Amha Yasous, prince of Shoa, a province to which the fmall remains of the line of Solomon fled upon a cata-ftrophe, I fliall have occafion to mention, gave me the following lift of the kings of Abyflinia fince the time of which we arc now fpcaking. From him I procured all the books of the Annals of Abyflinia, which have ferved me to com-pofe this hiftory, excepting two, one given mc by the King, the other the Chronicle of Axum, by Ras Michael Governor of Tigre. SHOA SIIOA LIST OF PRINCES. Bazen, Araad, Tzenaf Segued, Saladoba, Garima Asferi, Alamida, Saraada, Tezhana, Tzion, Caleb, 522, Sargai, Guebra Mafcal, Bagamai, Conilantine, Jan Segued, Bazzer, Tzion Hcgea, Azbeha, Moal Gcnha, Armaha, Saif Araad, Jan Asfeha, Agedar, Jan Segued, Abreha and Atzbeha, 333, Fere Sanai, As f eh a, Aderaaz, Arpbad and Amzi, Aizor, Del Naad, 960 *„ This lift is kept in the monaftcry of DcbraLibanos in Shoa; the Abyfiinians receive it without any fort of doubt, though to me it feems very exceptionable: If it were genuine, it would put this monarchy in a very refpeiStablc light in point of antiquity. Gre-At confufion has arifen in thefe old lifts, from their kings having always two, and fometimes three names. The * The length of thefe princes reigns are fo great as to become incredible; but, as we have nothing further of their hiftory but their Dames, we have no data upon which to reform them. The firfl is their chrillcncd name, their fecond a nick, or bye-name, and the third they take upon their inauguration. There is, likewife, another caufe of miilake, which is, when two names occur, one of a king, the other the quality of a king only, thefe are fet down as two brothers. For example, Atzbeha is the blefed, or the faint; and 1 very much fufpect, therefore, that Atzbeha and Abreha, faid to be two brothers, only mean Abraham the bleffed, or the faint; becaufe, in that prince's time, the country was converted to Chriitianity; Caleb* and Elefbaas, were long thought to be contemporary princes, till it was found out, by infpecting the ancient authors of thofe times, that this was only the name or quality of blefed, or faint, given to Caleb, in confequence of his expedition into Arabia againfl Phineas king of the Jews, and perfecutor of. the Chriflians. There arc four very intcrefting events, in the courfe of the reign of thefe princes. The firfl and greateft we have already mentioned, the birth of Chrill in the 8th year of Bazen. The fecond is the converfion of Abyflinia to Chrifti-anity, in the reign of Abreha and Atzbeha, in the year of Chrill 333, according to our account. The third the war with the Jews under Caleb. The fourth, the maifacrc of the princes on the mountain of Damo. The time and circumilan-ces of all thefe arc well known, and I fhalLrelate them in their turn with the brevity becoming a hiflorian. Some ccclcfiaftical* writers, rather from attachment to particular fyftems, than from any conviction that the opinion they * Caleb el Atfbcha, which has been made Elefbaas throwing away the t. f Surius Tom. 5. d. 24. Oct. Card. Uaronins. Tom. 7, Annul. A. C $?2, N. 23, they efpoufe is truth, would perfuade us, that the convcrfiom of Abyflinia to Christianity happened at the beginning of this period, that is, foon after the reign of Bazen ; others, that Saint Matthias, or Saint Bartholomew, or fome others of the Apofties, after their million to teach the nations, firfl preached here the faith of Chrift, and converted this people to it. It is alfo faid, that the eunuch baptized by Philip, upon his return to Candace, became the Apoftle of that nation, which, from his preaching, believed in Chrift and his gofpel. All thefe might pafs for dreams not worthy of examination, if they were not invented for particular purpofes. Till the deatli of Chrift, who lived feveral years after Bazen, very few Jews had been converted even in Judea. We have no account in fcripture that induces us to believe, that the Apofties went to any great diftance from each other immediately after the crucifixion. Nay, we know pofi-tively, they did not, but lived in community together for a confiderable time. Befides, it is not probable, if the Abyf-iinians were converted by any of the Apofties, that, for the fpace of 300 years, they mould remain without bifhops, and without church-government, in the neighbourhood of many ftates, where churches were already formed, without calling to their aflillancc fome members of thefe churches, who might, at leaft, inform them of the purport of the councils held, and canons made by them, during that fpace of 300 years; for this was abfolutely neceffary to prefervc orthodoxy, and the communion between this, and the churches of that time. And it mould be obferved, that if, in Philip's time, the Chriflian religion had not penetrated (as we fee in effect it had not) into the court of Candace, fo much nearer Egypt, it did not furely reach fo early into the more more diftant mountainous country of Abyflinia; and if the Ethiopia, where Candace reigned, was the fame as Abyflinia, the flory of the queen of Saba muft be given up as a falfe-hood; for, in that cafe, there would be a woman fitting upon the throne of that country 500 years after ihe was excluded by a folcmn deliberate fundamental law of the land. But it is known, from credible writers, engaged in no controvcrfy, that this Candace reigned npon the Nile in Atbara, much nearer Egypt. Her capital alfo was taken in the time of Augullus, a few years before the Converfion, by Philip; and we lhall have occafion often to mention her fuc-ceflbrs and her kingdom, as cxifting in the reign of the Abyf-iinian kings, long after the Mahometan conquefl; they cx-iftcd when I pafled through Atbara, and do undoubtedly exifi there to this day. What puts an end to all this argument is a matter of fact, which is, that the Abyftinians continued Jews and Pagans, and were found to be fo above 300 years after the time of the Apofties. Initcad, therefore, of taking the firft of this lift (Bazen) for the prince under whom Abyllinia was converted from Judaifm, as authors have advanced, in conformity to the Abyflinian annals, we fhall fix upon the 13th (Abreha and Atzbeha, whom we believe to be bin one prince) and, before wc enter into the narrative of that remarkable event, we fliall obferve, that, from Bazen to Abreha, being 341 years inclufive, the eighth of Bazen be-in OF VOLUME FIRST. 4J?