Bruce, James

Bruce, James, 'the Abyssinian,' was born at Kinnaird House, Stirlingshire, December 14, 1730. From Harrow he passed, in the winter of 1747, to the university of Edinburgh, with the intention of studying law; but changing his views, he went to London, and having, in February 1754, married the daughter of a wine-merchant's widow, became a partner in the business. His wife dying within a year, he made a tour on the Continent, and on his father's death in 1758 he succeeded to the estate of Kinnaird. In 1761 he retired from the wine-trade, and in 1763 was appointed consul-general at Algiers. He remained there about two years, studying the oriental languages, and acquiring the rudiments of surgery. He then went to Aleppo, where he took further instructions in the medical art, being resolved to travel in the character of a physician. In June 1768, he proceeded to Alexandria, and from Cairo set out on his famous journey to Abyssinia, which forms an epoch in the annals of discovery. Sailing up the Nile to Syene, he crossed the desert to Cosseir, and arrived at Jeddah in April 1769. After various detentions, he reached Gondar, the capital of Abyssinia, in February 1770; and on November 14 of that year, succeeded in reaching the sources of the Abawi, then considered the main stream of the Nile. This accomplishment of the chief object of his journey filled him with the greatest exultation. He remained about two years in Abyssinia, and returning by way of Sennaar and the desert of Assouan, after great hardship reached Alexandria, whence he embarked (March 1773) for Marseilles. In France he spent a considerable time visiting Buffon and other distinguished men, and in 1774 he returned to Scotland. His long-expected Travels to Discover the Sources of the Nile, in the Years 1768-73, were published in 1790, in five large quarto vols., with plates and charts. The work contained such curious accounts of the manners and habits of the people of Abyssinia that it startled the belief of many, and some of them were set down as fabrications. Among other doubters were De Tott in France, and Dr Johnson in England. Modern travellers, including Pearce, Burekhardt, Belzoni, and others, have, however, testified to his general accuracy. Bruce died April 27, 1794, at Kinnaird, of a fall down-stairs.