Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 2.djvu/38

 hence to Sheikh Amner, the encampment of a tribe of Arabs, whose dominion extended almost to the coast of the Red Sea, he was fortunate enough to acquire the friendship of the Sheikh, or head of the race, by curing him of a dangerous disorder. This secured him the means of prosecuting his journey in a peaceable manner. Under the protection of this tribe, he soon reached Cossier, a fort on the Red Sea, having previously, however, sent all his journals and drawings, hitherto completed, to the care of some friends at Cairo. Bruce sailed from Cosseir on the 5th of April, and for several mouths he employed himself in making geographical observations upon the coasts of this important sea. Ou the 19th of September, after having for the first time determined the latitude and longitude of many places, which have since been found wonderfully correct, he landed at Massuah, the port of Abyssinia. Here he encountered great danger and difficulty, from the savage character of the Naybe, or governor of Massuah, who, not regarding the letters carried by Bruce from the Bey of Cairo, had very nearly taken his life. By the kindness of Achmet, a nephew of the Naybe, whom Bruce rescued from a deadly sickness, he was enabled to surmount the obstacles presented against him in this place, and on the 15th November began to penetrate the country of Abyssinia. In crossing the hill of Tarenta, a mountainous ridge, which skirts the shore, the traveller encountered hardships under which any ordinary spirit would have sunk. Advancing by Dixan, Adowa, and Axum, he found himself greatly indebted for safety and accommodation to the letters which he carried for the Greeks, who formed the civilized class amongst that rude people. It was in the neighbourhood of Axum that he saw the unfortunate sight (the slicing of steaks from the rump of a live cow), which was the chief cause of his being afterwards generally discredited in his own country. On the 14th of February, after a journey of ninety-five days from Massuah, he reached Gondar, the capital of Abyssinia, a town containing about ten thousand families. The king and his chief minister Ras Michael, to both of whom Bruce had letters of introduction, were now absent with the army, putting down a rebellion which had been raised by Fasil, a turbulent governor of a province. But Bruce was favourably received by one Ayto Aylo, a Greek, and chamberlain of the palace. It happened that the favourite child of Ras Michael was at this time ill with the small pox at the country palace of Koscam. Ozoro Esther, the beautiful young wife of Ras Michael, and the mother of this child, watched over the sickbed with intense anxiety. Bruce, by the good offices of Ayto Aylo, was introduced to the distracted mother as a skilful physician; and after some preliminary civilities, he undertook to cure the child, in which task he very soon succeeded. Having thus at once made favour in a very high quarter, he waited patiently for two or three weeks, when the king and Ras Michael, having gained a victory, returned to Gondar, and Bruce was then presented to them. Ras Michael, at the first interview, acknowledged the powerful nature of Bruce's recommendations, but explained to him, that owing to the present convulsed state of the country, it would be difficult to afford him all the protection that might be wished. It appeared to Michael, that the best way of ensuring personal safety and respect for him throughout the country, would be to give him a high office in the king's household. Bruce consented, from the conviction that in becoming Baalomaal, and commander of the Koccob horse, he was doing his best towards facilitating his journey. While acting in the capacity of Baalomaal, which seems to have been somewhat like the British office of Lord of the bed-chamber, he secured the king's favour and admiration, by the common school-boy trick of shooting a small candle through a dense substance. He was now appointed to be governor of a large Mahometan province, which lay on the way he designed to take in returning home: this duty, however, he could perform by deputy. In May, the