Their Bishareen prisoner, however, seemed not to be affected in the
least, either by fatigue or the hot winds, and by his ingenuity in
contriving a bandage for Bruce’s feet probably saved the traveller’s
life. Here and there upon the sands, the bodies of men who had been
murdered, and of camels which had perished for want, met their eyes; and
suggested the thought that their own carcasses might shortly increase
the number. Two of their camels, which kneeled down and refused to rise,
they killed, preserving their flesh for food, and taking the water out
of their stomachs, as a precious addition to their stock. One of the
party had lost an eye, and others, more fortunate, perhaps, dropped down
dead by the brink of the well where they had been quenching their
thirst. Still they pushed forward, and at length Bruce announced to his
followers that they were approaching Assuan. “A cry of joy,” says he,
“followed this annunciation. Christians, Moors, and Turks, all burst
into floods of tears, kissing and embracing one another, and thanking
God for his mercy in this deliverance; and unanimously, in token of
their gratitude and acknowledgments of my constant attention to them in
the whole of this long journey, saluting me with the name of Abou Ferege
(Father Foresight), the only reward it was in their power to give.”
About nine o’clock next morning they beheld the palm-trees of Assuan,
and shortly afterward arrived in a small grove in the environs of the
city. The waters of the Nile being now before them, no consideration of
prudence, no fears of the consequences which might possibly ensue, could
check Bruce’s companions from running at once to the stream to drink.
The traveller himself sat down among the trees, and fell asleep,
overcome by heat and fatigue. However, when his arrival was made known
to the Aga of Assuan, he was received and entertained with distinguished
hospitality, and furnished with dromedaries to go in search of the
baggage which he had been compelled to abandon in the desert. He then
paid and discharged his guide; and to the Bishareen, who had faithfully
served him from the day in which he took him prisoner, and was now
become particularly attached to his person, he gave the privilege of
choosing the best of his camels; and having, as he had promised, clothed
him completely, and presented him with dresses for his wives, and a
camel-load of dora, dismissed him. The Arab, whom almost unexampled
misery had reduced to a robber, was so far overcome by his generous
treatment, that he expressed his desires, with tears in his eyes, to
enter Bruce’s service, and follow him over the world, having first
returned into the desert, and provided for the subsistence of his
family. This, however, could not be, and they parted, the Arab to his
desert, and Bruce to his home.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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