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and two on the left, continued open, whence a quantity of lymph oozed continually. It was alfo with the utmost difficulty we could get out the rag, by cutting it to fhreds with fciffars. The tale is both unpleasant and irkfome. Two foles which remained from our fandals, the upper leathers of which had gone to pieces in the fand near Gooz, were tied with a cotton cloth very adroitly by the Bifhareen. But it feemed impoffible that I could walk further, even with this affittance, and therefore we determined to throw away the quadrant, telescopes, and timekeeper, and fave our lives, by riding the camels alternately. But Providence had already decreed that we should not terminate this dangerous journey by our own ordinary forefight and contrivance, but owe it entirely to his vifible fupport and interpofition.

"On the 27th, at half past five in the morning we attempted to raise our camels at Saffieha by every method that we could devife, but all in vain, only one of them could get upon his legs, and that one did not stand-two minutes till he kneeled down, and could never be raised afterwards. This the Arabs all declared to be the effects of cold; and yet Fahrenheit's thermometer, an hour before day, flood at 42 deg. Every way we turned ourselves, death now flared us in the face. We had neither time nor ftrength to wafte, nor provi. fions to fupport us. We then took the finall fkins that had contained our water, and filled them as far as we thought a man could carry them with eafe; but after all thefe fhifts, there was not enough to ferve us three days, at which I had estimated our journey to Syene, which still however was uncertain. Finding, therefore, the camels would not rife, we killed two of them, and took for much flesh as might ferve for the deficiency of bread, and, from the ftomach of each of the camels, got about four gallons of water, which the Bifhareen Arab managed with great dexterity. It is known to people converfant with natural hiftory, that the camel has within him refervoirs in which he can preferve drink for any number of days he is used to.

In thofe caraof long courfe, which come from the Niger across the defert of Selima, it is

vans,

faid that each camel, by drinking, lays in a store of water that will support him for forty days, I will by no means be a voucher of this account, which carries with it an air of exaggeration ; but fourteen or fixteen days, it is well known, an ordinary camel will live, though he hath no fresh supply of water. When he chews the cud, or when he eats, you conftantly fee him throw, from this repofitory, mouthfuls of water to dilute his food; and nature has contrived this veffel with fuch properties, that the water within it never putrifies, nor turns unwholefome. It was indeed vapid, and of a bluish cast, but had neither tafte nor smell.

"The fmall remains of our miserable ftock of black bread and dirty water, the only fupport we had hitherto lived on amidft the burning fands, and our fpirits likewife, were exhaufted by an uncertainty of our journey's end. We were furrounded among thofe terrible and unufual phænomena of nature which Providence, in mercy to the weaknefs of his creatures, has concealed far from their fight in deferts almost inacceffible to them. Nothing but death was before our eyes.

"On the 28th, at half past seven in the morning we left Waadi el Arab, and entered into a narrow defile, with rugged, but not high mountains on each fide. About twelve o'clock we came to a few trees in the bed of a torrent. Ill as I was, after refreshing myself with my laft bread and water, I fet out in the afternoon to gain a rifing ground, that I might fee, if poffible, what was to the weftward; for the mountains feemed now rocky and high like thofe of the Kennoufs near Syene. I arrived, with great difficulty and pain, on the top of a moderate hill, but was exceedingly disappointed at not feeing the river to the weftward; however, the vicinity of the Nile was very evident, by the high, uniform mountains that confine its torrent when it comes out of Nubia. The evening was ftill, fo that fitting down and covering my eyes with my hands, not to be diverted by external objects, 1 liftened and heard diftinctly the noise of waters, which I fuppofed to be the cataract, but it feemed to the fouthward of us, as if we had paffed it. I was, how

ever, fully fatisfied that it was the Nile.

"On the 29th, at feven o'clock in the morning, we left Abou Seielat; about nine, we saw the palm-trees at Affouan, and a quarter before ten arrived in a grove of palm-trees on the north of that city.”

Our travellers providentially met with a kind reception at Affouan." It was agreed we should not ftay here, but load and depart immediately; this was done in an inftant; five camels easily carried the loads, with a man upon them besides; and there were three more camels, upon which we rode by turns. -We made a brisk retreat from Saffieha to Syene, which is about forty miles. At a little paft four in the afternoon we entered the town again, without any accident whatever, or with out having feen one man in our jour ney.

Here then we were to close our travels through the defert, by difcharging the debts contracted in it. We had now got our credit and letters, which furnished us with money. I began by recompenfing Idris Welled Hamran, the Hybeer, for his faithful fervices. The next thing was to keep our faith with our prifoner. I had made Idris chufe him a good camel, cloathed him anew, and gave him dreffes for his two wives, with a load of dora. I then dispatched him with the aga's protection, wondering what men we were, who, without compulfion or fubterfuge, kept our words fo exactly. Though rich beyond his hopes, and fo very lately our enemy, the poor fellow, with tears in his eyes, declared, if I would permit him, he would only go back and deliver up what I had given him to his family, and return to me at Syene, and follow me as my fervant wherever I should go.

"It was the 11th of December when we left Syene; we cannot fay failed, for our maft being down, we went with the current and the oars, when the wind vas against us. In our voyage down the Nile we had but very indifferent weather, clear throughout the day, exceedingly cold in the night and morning; but, being better cloathed, better fed than in the defert, and under cover, we were not fo fenfible of it, though

the thermometer fhewed the fame degrees. Above all, we had a good decent provifion of brandy on board, part of which I had procured from the aga part from the fchourbatchie my landlord, neither of whom knew the other had given me any, and both of them pretended to each other, and to the world, that they never tafted fermented liquors of any kind, nor kept them in their custody."

In this chapter, which finishes the fourth volume, our author arrives at Cairo-defcribes his tranfactions with the bey of that place; and, in conclufion, lands fafely at Marseilles.

The fifth volume contains the quinteffence of the author's discoveries, and the chief fruit of his labours. We fhall first notice the three maps; one of the countries he traverfed from the mouth of the Nile to its fource, with the Red Sea, and the border of Arabia. Poncet's wider track is also laid down. The fecond gives a view of the fource of the Nile; and the third illustrates his ingenious hypothesis of Solomon's traffic.

The general map might ferve to confirm Mr. D'Anville's geographical reputation, if it wanted confirmation. Indeed, upon furveying the two maps, we perceive that, for every useful purpofe, D'Anville's is abundantly accu

rate.

In Abyffinia the French geographer is nearly as particular, and the courfe of the Nile is nearly the fame. Its fource is indeed confiderably more to the north in D'Anville; and he does not give it a visible course through the lake of Dembea; in which circumftance we will venture to believe that he is right, leaving the latter to be determined by future inquiry. What muft ftrike every reader, and will not readily be forgiven by any, is the want of an analyfis, or memorial, affigning the authority according to which places are laid down. The places named as of importance in the text, do not all appear in the maps: this inaccuracy may perhaps be placed to the account of the engraver; but one thing is evident, all the pofitions, those which the author vifited and those which he did not, are not equally certain. Now, upon what authority do the latter reft? The mountains, for inftance, where D'Anville

and

and Mr. Bruce place the Garamantica vallis, are feen in Mr. Bruce to run in a tiff, ftraight line along latitude 11 deg. without that variety and curvature which generally occurs in nature: in D'Anville they do not differ from the general analogy of ridges, and do not proceed fo far eastward. An explanation of this, and any other variations that may occur on comparison with former maps, will furely be required before a preference can be given to this.

The appendix, beades the maps, prefents us with eighteen drawings of plants, fix of mammalia, eight of birds, and five of miscellaneous zoology.. These engravings have a neat appear ance, but are profeffedly not feientific, though the parts of fructification are feen in fome of the plants. Mr. Bruce is of opinion that drawings are more valuable for not being made by pro1 felled botanists, as if an uninftructed eye was capable of making the most accurate obfervations.

For the first engraving the author, though he has omitted the parts of fructification, may expect the thanks of the whole literary world. Its interefting fubject is the Egyptian papyrus; and the confideration that fo kilful a botanist as fir Jofeph Banks, as we are affured, had no idea of what this plant was before the author gave him a pecimen, will greatly enhance its value.

We have next two figures of the balfam. In the difficulty of affigning the ancient names to their proper fub ject, we are afraid to rely upon our author's hiftorical deduction. Different vegetables will yield a balfam or fubftance of a peculiar confiftence. According to his account, three productions of this tree were efteemed by the ancients; 1. opobalfamum, the greenith liquor in the kernel of the fruit; 2. carpo-balfamum, or the expreffed liquor of the fruit: (this diftinction is not very clear; we suppose fruit, in the fecond cafe, means the outfide pulp, as in the peach, &c.); 3. xylo-balfamum, or the expreffion or decoction of the red twigs. In the next page but one opobalfamum is faid to be the liquor that flows from the wounded tree. Other balfams from the new world

1

have depreciated the price of this in modern times.

The three next species seem to be of the family mimofa; whether new or not does not appear. The kol-quall feems to be a well-characterised spurge, probably, as Mr. Bruce's friends obferved to him, the euph. offic. in which cafe the drawing is fuperfluous. We have alfo a drawing of the kantuffa, or troublesome thorn*. The brucea antidyfenterica is too interefting to be palled over. We are forry to be informed that it has not borne feed in our botanic gardens. As its trivial name implies, it cured the author of a dan gerous difeafe. The part he took was the bark of the root, in the quantity of an heaped tea-spoonful every day. It produced a violent drought at first; in fix or feven days the author pronounced himfelf well. Its virtues are well known in Sennaar; and it were to be wifhed that they could be ascertained by European experience. Mr. Bruce fays it is a plain, fimple bitter, without any aromatic or refinous tafte.

The Bankfia Abyffinica has likewife its medicinal virtues; they are thus described:

"The cuffo is one of the most beautiful trees, as alfo one of the moft ufeful. It is an inhabitant of the high country of Abyffinia, and indigenous there; I never faw it in the Kolla, nor in Arabia, 'nor in any other part of Afia or Africa. It is an inftance of the wifdom of Providence that this tree does not extend beyond the limits of the difeafe of which it was intended to be the medicine or cure.

"The Abyffinians of both fexes, and at all ages, are troubled with a terrible difeafe, which custom, however, has enabled them to bear with a kind of indifference. Every individual, once a month, evacuates a large quantity of worms; these are not the tape worm, or those that trouble children, but they are the fort of worm called Afcarides; and the method of promoting thefe evacuations is by infusing a handful of dry cuffo flowers in about two English quarts of bouza, or the beer they make from teff; after

*For the whole of this article, fee Natural History, p. 401.

bas

has been steeped all night, the next morning it is fit for ufe. During the time the patient is taking the cuffo, he makes a point of being invifible to all his friends, and continues at home from morning till night. Such too was the cuftom of the Egyptians upon taking a particular medicine. It is alledged that the want of this drug is the reafon why the Abyffinians do not travel, or if they do, moft of them are fhortlived."

The teff, one of the cerealia, which chiefly supplies this country with bread, clofes the vegetable lift. The bread is made by moistening the teff flour with water; the mafs is placed at fome distance from a fire, till it ferments; it is then baked in cakes two feet in diameter. The raw flefh is wrapped up in this bread, with falt and Cayenne pepper. At a feaft many of these cakes are placed one upon another, the whiteft uppermost; different fets of people dine, one after another, and each, when he has done, wipes his fingers on the bread he is to leave for his fucceffor." The bouza or beer, is faid to be made of teff bread, toasted and digested in warm water till it ferments.

The article rhinoceros is too long for our limits. Mr. Bruce is of opi-, nion that the behemoth of fcripture is the elephant, and the unicorn the rhi

noceros

*

Although the extracts we have made from the volumes of Mr. Bruce, are very copious, fome concluding opinion on its merits will probably be expected by the reader. Molt of the monthly vehicles of criticifin began, without reading the work, to beltow on it the highest eulogiums;-"independent of the difcovery whofe honours it claims, át teems with obfervations equally interesting to fcience and commerce, enriches, furprifes, invigorates the natural historian, the philofopher, and the man of poetic fancy, and abounds with novel entertainment for every class of readers." On investigation, however, innumerable inconfiftencies were difcovered, but few beauties. For ourselves, we have been more folicitous to extract entertainment and information than to point out errors and contradictions. * For the next article of confequence, the Hyana, fee p. 492.

The hardships and uncommon difficulties of this traveller-with the frequent lofs of his papers, &c. which must have left much to memory-will furely apologize for many of the faults.

Refpecting the fituation of the fource of the Nile, we gave, in a former number, the opinion of a critic whom we confidered as not under the influence of intereft, and who read the whole before he decided on a part.

"This extraordinary work," fays he, "will doubtlefs procure its author a very confpicuous rank in the republic of letters; though, from the various nature of the work itself, we cannot eafily afcertain what that rank will be. To the learned reader, the historical and geographical travels of Mr. Bruce will naturally recal the work of Herodotus, part of which is written concerning the fame countries, and which is divided into nearly the fame number of books; but a writer who disdains, as much as Mr. Bruce, the graces of elegant compofition (which, perhaps, he would not have found it a very eafy matter to attain), forms an unworthy parallel with the ancient historian, whofe harmonious and captivating diction deferved and perpetuated, for his aine books, the names of the nine mules. Inftead of confufion, exaggeration, inconfiftency, and fometimes contradiction, had Mr. Bruce fet an example of perfpicuity, accuracy, and energy of defcription, his literary and military talents, his difcoveries and his battles, his philofophy and his horfemanship, his piety and his raillery, and above all, his relating to his countrymen a long feries of tranfactions in a distant land, in which he himself bore fo confiderable a part, would bring to mind the celebrated Athenian, who travelled through nearly the fame extent of barbarous and unknown country, fighting and difcourfing alternately; who entered, like Mr. Bruce, into the fervice of an unfortunate prince; and who, in his return home, was exposed to the fame dangers, and delivered by fimilar addrefs: the compofition of Xenophon, fo interefting and fo perfuahve, infures credit to his report, perhaps, when it is falfe; and the narration of Mr. Bruce, fo harsh, so exaggerated, and fo repulfive, makes us doubt the reality

of

of his adventures, even perhaps when they are true. Befides these lines of difcrimination between the ancient and the modern traveller, the latter often appears in the character of a phyfician, which, as far as we know, the former never once affumed; and this circumftance, there is reafon to fufpect, may fuggeft to the malignity of criticifm, that Mr. Bruce is not the Xenophon, but the Ctefias of his age. Yet Ctefias, lying phyfician as he was called, had his partizans and his admirers. We too admire the boldness, the perfeverance, the dexterity, and the fagacity, of the hiftorian of Abyffinia; we lament that, with all his variety of accomplishments, he poffeffed not the talent of writing a more agreeable book: but the man, we fancy, is greatly fuperior to the work; his faults are faults of careleffness, not of incapacity; nor does he appear deficient in learning, but wanting in diligence."

REFLECTIONS ON THE REVOLU

TION IN FRANCE, AND ON THE
PROCEEDINGS OF CERTAIN SO-
CIETIES IN LONDON RELATIVE
TO THAT EVENT. BY THE RIGHT
HONOURABLE EDMUND BURKE.
55. DODSLEY. 1790.

THESE Reflections, the author informs us, had their origin in a correfpondence between him and a very young gentleman at Paris, who defired his opinion upon the important tranfactions which then, and ever fince, have fo much occupied the attention of all

men.

Mr. Burke begins with a defcription of the Conftitutional and Revolution Societies; from which he takes away much of their popularity.

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Whether the books fo charitably cit culated, were ever as charitably read, is more than I know. Poffibly feveral of them have been exported to France; and, like goods not in request here, may with you have found a market. I have heard much talk of the lights to be drawn from books that are fent from hence. What improvements they have had in their paffage (as it is said some liquors are meliorated by croffing the fea) I cannot tell: but I never heard a man of common judgment, or the leaft degree of information, fpeak a word in praife of the greater part of the publications circulated by that fociety; nor have their proceedings been accounted, except by fome of themselves, as of any ferious confequence.

"Your National Affembly feems to entertain much the fame opinion that I do of this poor charitable club. As a nation, you reserved the whole stock of your eloquent acknowledgments for the Revolution Society; when their fellows in the Conftitutional were, in equity, entitled to fome fhare. Since you have felected the Revolution Society as the great object of your national thanks and praifes, you will think me excufeable in making its late conduct the fubject of my obfervations. The National Affembly of France has given importance to these gentlemen by adopting them; and they return the favour, by acting as a fort of fub-committee in England for extending the principles of the National Affembly. Henceforward we muft confider them as a kind of privileged perfons; as no inconfiderable members in the diplomatic body. This is one among the revolutions which have given fplendour to obfcurity, and distinction to undifcerned merit. Until very lately I do not recollect to have heard of this club. I am quite fure that it never occupied a moment of my thoughts; nor, I believe, thofe of any perfon out of their own fet. I find, upon enquiry, that on the anniversary of the Revolution in 1688, a club of diffenters, but of what

"The firft, calling itself the Conftitutional Society, or Society for Conftitutional Information, or by fome fuch title, is, I believe, of feven or eight years ftanding. The inftitution of this fociety appears to be of a charitable, and fo far of a laudable nature: it was intended for the circulation, at the ex-denomination I know not, have long had pence of the members, of many books, which few others would be at the expence of buying; and which might lie on the hands of the bookfellers, to the great loss of an useful body of men.

the cuftom of hearing a fermon in one of their churches; and that afterwards they spent the day cheerfully, as other clubs do, at the tavern. But I never heard that any public meafure, or poli

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