Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile, Volume 3 (of 5): In the years 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772 and 1773Bruce, James
History
Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile, Volume 3 (of 5): In the years 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772 and 1773
Bruce, James
Egypt -- Description and travel; Ethiopia -- Description and travel; Ethiopia -- History; Natural history -- Ethiopia; Nile River
I happened to be upon a very steep part of the hill full of bushes; and
one of the servants, dressed in the Arabian fashion, in a burnoose,
and turban striped white and green, led my horse, for fear of his
slipping, till it got into the path leading to the Shum’s door. I heard
the fellow exclaiming in Arabic, as he led the horse, “Good Lord! to
see you here! Good God! to see you here!”--“I asked him who he was
speaking of, and what reason he had to wonder to see me there.”--“What!
do you not know me!” “I said I did not.”--“Why, replied he, I was
several times with you at Jidda. I saw you often with Capt. Price and
Capt. Scott, with the Moor Yasine, and Mahomet Gibberti. I was the
man that brought your letters from Metical Aga at Mecca, and was to
come over with you to Masuah, if you had gone directly there, and had
not proceeded to Yemen or Arabia Felix. I was on board the Lion, with
the Indian nokeda (so they call the captain of a country ship) when
your little vessel, all covered with sail, passed with such briskness
through the English ships, which all fired their cannon; and everybody
said, there is a poor man making great haste to be assassinated among
those wild people in Habesh; and so we all thought. He concluded,
Drink! no force! Englishman! very good! G--d damn, drink!” We had just
arrived, while my friend was uttering these exclamations, at the place
where the Shum and the rest were standing. The man continued repeating
the same words, crying as loud as he could, with an air of triumph,
while I was reflecting how shameful it was for us to make these
profligate expressions by frequent repetition, so easily acquired by
strangers that knew nothing else of our language.
The Shum, and all about him, were in equal astonishment at seeing the
man, to all appearance, in a passion, bawling out words they did not
understand; but he, holding a horn in his hand, began louder than
before, drink! very good! Englishman! shaking the horn in the Shum his
master’s face. Mahomet of Alata was a very grave, composed man; “I do
declare, says he, Ali is become mad: Does anybody know what he says or
means?”--“That I do, said I, and will tell you bye-and-bye; he is an
old acquaintance of mine, and is speaking English; let us make a hasty
meal, however, with any thing you have to give us.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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