The Life and Adventures of Bruce, the African TravellerHead, Francis Bond, Sir
History
The Life and Adventures of Bruce, the African Traveller
Head, Francis Bond, Sir
Bruce, James, 1730-1794; Ethiopia -- Description and travel
"Nevertheless, when the King of France, our brother, who professes our
religion and our law, having been induced thereto by some advances of
friendship on our part such as are proper, sent an ambassador to us; I
understand that you caused to arrest him at Sennaar; and also another,
by name Murat, the Syrian, whom likewise you did put in prison, though
he was sent to that ambassador on our part; and, by thus doing, you have
violated the law of nations; as ambassadors of kings ought to be at
liberty to go wherever they will; and it is a general obligation to
treat them with honour, and not to molest or detain them; nor should
they be subject to pay customs, or any sort of presents. We could very
soon repay you in kind, if we were inclined to revenge the insult you
have offered to the man Murat, sent on our part. _The Nile would be
sufficient to punish you, since God hath put into our power his
fountain, his outlet, and his increase, and that we can dispose of the
same to do you harm_: for the present, we demand of and exhort you to
desist from any future vexations towards our envoys, and not disturb us
by detaining those who shall be sent towards you; but you shall let
them pass, and continue their route without delay, coming and going
wherever they will, freely for their own advantage, whether they are our
subjects or Frenchmen; and whatever you shall do to or for them, we
shall regard as done to or for ourselves!"
The address is, "To the basha, princes, and lords governing the town of
great Cairo, may God favour them with his goodness."
The king, who had invited M. du Roulé into his country, was shortly
afterward assassinated while he was hunting; and the reign of his
successor was a series of petty wars and commotions.
Several years afterward the Abyssinians resolved to invade Sennaar; but
their army, which is said to have amounted to eighteen thousand men,
either perished by the sword or by thirst, or were made prisoners. All
the sacred reliques, which the Abyssinian troops carry with them to
ensure victory, were conveyed in triumph to Sennaar, and with great
difficulty the king escaped to his palace at Gondar.
About the year 1735, some misfortune having happened to the Christians
at Smyrna, they flocked to Cairo: finding themselves very badly received
there, several sailed up the Red Sea on their way to India, and, missing
the monsoon, and being destitute of money and necessaries, a few of them
ventured to land at Masuah. They were silversmiths; and as the King of
Abyssinia happened at the moment of their landing to be much in want of
European workmen to assist him in adorning his palace, these men were
ordered to come to Gondar, where they remained for some time in the
king's service, and afterward gained a moderate livelihood by
ornamenting saddles, &c.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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