own camels, (for there was a confufion in their caravan not to be described, and the guards they knew were but a fet of thieves) they advanced flowly into the defert. There were about two hundred men on horfeback, armed with firelocks; all of them lions, if you believed their word or appearance; but our travellers were credibly informed, that fifty of the Arabs, at first fight, would have made these heroes fly without any bloodfhed.

Our travellers road was all the way in an open plain, bounded by hillocks of fand, and fine gravel, perfectly hard, and not perceptibly above the level of the plain country of Egypt. About twelve miles diftant, there is a ridge of mountains of no confiderable height, perhaps the most barren in the world. Between thefe their road lay through plains, near three miles broad, but without trees, fhrubs, or herbs. There are not even the traces of any living creature, neither ferpent nor lizard, antelope nor oftrich, the ufual inhabitants of the moft dreary deferts. There is no fort of water on the furface, brackish or fweet., Even the birds feem to avoid the place as peftilential, not one being feen of any kind fo much as flying over. The fun was burning hot, and, upon rubbing two sticks together, in half a minute, they both took fire, and flamed; a mark how near the country was reduced to a general conflagration!

At half past three, they pitched their tent near fome draw-wells, which, upon tafting, they found bitterer than foot. They had, indeed, other water carried by the camels in fkins. This wellwater had only one needful quality, it was cold, and therefore very comfortable for refreshing them outwardly. This unpleasant Ration is called Le geta; here they were obliged to pafs the night, and all next day, to wait the arrival of the caravan of Cus, Efné, and part of thofe of Kenné and Eba.

nout.

In the evening came twenty Turks from Caramania, which is that part of Afia Minor immediately on the fide of the Mediterranean oppofite to the coaft of Egypt.

Having been informed, that the large tent belonged to an Englishman, they came into it without ceremony. They

told Mr. Bruce, that they were a number of neighbours and companions, who had fet out together to go to Mecca, to the Hadje; and not knowing the language, or customs of the people, they had been but indifferently used fince they landed at Alexandria, particularly fomewhere about Achmim; that one of the Owam, or fwimming thieves, had been on board of them in the night, and had carried off a small portmanteau with about two hundred fequins in gold; that, though a complaint had been made to the bey of Girge, yet no fatisfaction had been obtained; and that now they had heard an Englishman was here, whom they reckoned their countryman, they had come to propose, that they should make a common caufe to defend each other against all enemies. What they meaned by countryman was this :-There is in Afia Minor, fomewhere between Anatolia and Caramania, a district which they call Caz Dagli, and this the Turks believe was the country from which the English firft drew their origin, and on this account they never fail to claim kindred with the English whereever they meet, efpecially if they stand in need of their affistance,

Mr. Bruce fays, he cannot conceal the fecret pleasure he had in finding the character of his country fo firmly eftablished among nations fo diftant, enemies to our religion, and ftrangers to our government. Turks from Mount Taurus, and Arabs from the defert of Libya, thought themselves unsafe among their own countrymen, but trusted their lives and their little fortunes implicitly to the direction and word of an Englishman whom they had never before seen,

After waiting at Legeta, for the junction of the caravans, they departed on the 19th, from that place; and afterwards coafting along the shore of the Red Sea, crofled over to Tor, on the Arabian coaft, within fight of Mount Horeb and Sinai, When arrived at Coffeir, Mr. Bruce determined to visit the island of Emeralds, about which he had heard much; and after failing in a boat, about one day and night, they reached this famous mountain, whofe latitude Mr. Bruce concluded to be 25 deg. 3 min. N. But, on inves tigation, this boafted emerald appears Kk 2

to

to be only a green foffil, little harder than glafs, perhaps of volcanic origin, and really glafs.

From Tor, Mr. Bruce goes fouth ward to Jidda, coafting along the fhore, and fometimes landing. The plant of the balfam of Mecca he procured in this part of his voyage, with a bottle of the true balfam, whofe properties he found to resemble thofe defcribed by the ancient phyficians and botanists.

The port of Jidda is very extenfive, confifting of numberlefs fhoals, finall iflands, and funken rocks with channels however between them, and deep

water.

Of all the new things Mr. Bruce had yet feen, the manner in which trade was carried on at this place aftonifhed him most. Nine fhips were there from India; fome of them worth perhaps two hundred thousand pounds. One merchant, a Turk, living at Mecca, thirty hours journey off, where no Chriftian dares go, whilst the whole Continent is open to the Turk for efcape, offers to purchase the cargoes of four out of nine of these ships himself; another, of the fame caft, comes and fays, he will buy none, unless he has them all, The famples are fhewn, and the cargoes of the whole nine hips are earried into the wildest part of Arabia, by men with whom one would not with to truft ourselves alone in the field. This is not all; two Indian brokers come into the room to fettle the price. One on the part of the Indian captain, the other on that of the buyer, the Turk. They are neither Mahometans nor Chriftians, but have credit with both. They fit down on the carpet, and take an India fhawl, which they carry on their fhoulder, like a napkin, and spread it over their hands. They talk, in the mean time, on different fubjects, of the arrival of fhips from India, or of the news of the day, as if they were employed in no ferious bufinefs whatever. After about twenty minutes fpent in handling each others fingers below the fhawl, the bargain is concluded, fay for nine fhips, without one word ever having been spoken on the fubject, or pen or ink used in any fhape whatever. There never was one inftance of a dispute happening in these fales,

Matters are to be carried still further, and the money is to be paid. A pri. vate Moor, who has nothing to fupport him but his character, becomes refponfible for the payment of these cargoes; his name was Ibrahim Saraf when Mr. Bruce was there, i. e. Ibrahim, the broker. This man delivers a number of coarfe hempen bags, full of what is supposed to be money. He marks the contents upon the bag, and puts his feal upon the fting that ties the mouth of it. This is received for what is marked upon it, without any one ever having opened one of the bags, and, in India, it is current for the value marked upon it, as long as the bag lafts.

Though Jidda is the country of their prophet, yet no where are there fo many unmarried women, and the permiflion of marrying four wives was allowed in this district in the first inftance, and afterwards communicated to all the tribes. But Mahomet, in his permiffion of plurality of wives, feems conftantly to have been on his guard, against fuffering that, which was intended for the welfare of his people, from operating in a different, manner. He did not permit a man to marry two, three, or four wives, unless he could maintain them. He was interested for the rights and rank of these women; and the man fo marrying was obliged to fhew before the cadi, or fome equiva lent officer, or judge, that it was in his power to fupport them, according to their birth. It was not fo with concubines, with women who were purchafed, or who were taken in war. Every man enjoyed thefe at his pleasure, and their peril; that is, whether he was able to maintain them or not, From this great fcarcity of provifions, which is the refult of an extraordinary concourfe to a place almost deftitute of the neceffaries of life, few inhabitants of Jidda can avail themselves of the privi lege granted them by Mahomet. therefore cannot marry more than one wife, because he cannot maintain more ; and from this caufe arifes the want of people, and the large number of unmarried women.

He

On the 8th of July 1769, Mr. Bruce failed from the harbour of Jidda on board the fame veffel as before, and fuffered the Rais to take a small loading

for

for his own account, upon condition that he was to carry no paffengers. The wind was fair, and they failed through the English fleet at their anchors. As they had all honoured our traveller with their regret at parting, and accompanied him to the shore, the Rais was furprised to fee the refpect paid to his little veffel as it paffed under their huge fterns, every one hoifting his colours, and faluting it with eleven guns.

On the 19th of September, at five in the afternoon, they came to an anchor in the harbour of Mafuah, having been feventeen days on their paffage, including the day they first went on board, though this voyage, with a favourable wind, is generally made in three days; it often has, indeed, been failed in lefs. Yet this must not be wholly attributed to the weather, as they spent much time in furveying the inlands.

:

Whoever peruses the hiftory of the moft ancient nations, will find the origin of wealth and power to have rifen in the east, and to have gradually advanced weftward, fpreading itself at the fame time north and fouth. They will find the riches and population of those nations decay in proportion as this trade forfakes them which cannot but fuggeft to every fenfible being, this certain truth, that God makes ufe of the fmalleft means and caufes to operate the greatest and most powerful effects. Sefoftris paffed with a fleet of large fhips from the Arabian gulf into the Indian ocean; he fubdued part of India, and opened to Egypt the commerce of that country by fea. It would appear he revived, rather than firft difcovered, this way of carrying on the trade to the Eaft Indies, which, though it was at times intermitted, was, nevertheless, perpetually kept up by the trading nations themselves, from the ports of India and Africa, and on the Red Sea from Edom.

to the Egyptian individuals each their own lands, which had been wrested from them by the violent hands of the Ethiopian fhepherds, during the first ufurpation of thefe princes. In memory of his having happily accomplished thefe events, Sefoftris is faid to have built a fhip of cedar of a hundred and twenty yards in length, the outfide of which he covered with plates of gold, and the infide with plates of filver, and this he dedicated in the temple to Ifis.

The inhabitants of the peninfula of India laboured under many disadvan tages in point of climate. The high and wholefome part of the country was covered with barren and rugged mountains; and, at different times of the year, violent rains fell in large currents down the fides of thefe, which overflowed all the fertile land below; and thefe rains were no fooner over, than they were fucceeded by a scorching fun, the effect of which upon the hu man body was to render it feeble, enervated, and incapable of the efforts neceffary for agriculture. In this flat country, large rivers, that scarce had declivity enough to run, crept flowly along, through meadows of fat black earth, ftagnating in many places as they went, rolling an abundance of decayed vegetables, and filling the whole air with exhalations of the most corrupt and putrid kind. Yet they had plenty of cloathing adapted by Providence to their climate; fpices to preferve their health; and every tree without culture produced them fruit of the most excellent kind; every tree afforded them fhade, under which they could pass their lives delightfully in a calm and rational enjoyment, by the gentle exercife of weaving, at once providing for the health of their bodies, the neceffities of their families, and the riches of their country. But however plentifully their fpices grew, in whatever quantity the Indians confumed them, and however generally they wore their own manufactures, the fuperabundance of both was fuch, as naturally led them to look out for articles against which they might barter their fuperfluities.

The filk and cotton of India were white and colourless, liable to foil, and without any variety; but Arabia pro

duced

duced gums and dyes of various colours, which were highly agreeable to the taste of the Afiatics. The bafis of trade, between India and Arabia, was thus laid from the beginning by the hand of Providence. The wants and neceffities of the one found a supply, or balance from the other.

In India they fixed on gold and filver as proper returns for their manufactures and produce. It is not eafy to fay, whether it was from their hardness or beauty, or what other reafon governed the mind of man in making this ftandard of barter. The hiftory of the particular tranfactions of thofe times is loft, if indeed there ever was fuch hiftory, and, therefore, all further enquiries are in vain.

Mr. Bruce next proceeds to speak of the origin of characters or letters. [To be continued.]

BENYOWSKY'S TRAVELS. CONTINUED FROM P. 177.

THE great rigour which the articles relative to the exiles exhibited, induced our traveller to turn his whole attention to fchemes of enlargement; and the first advance to this object was made by forming a regular and orderly union and affociation among the exiles themfelves, at the head of which the count himfelf was placed, at his own infance, by general confent. The count had afterwards the good fortune to be appointed mafter of languages to the children of the governor.

"I found the younger part of the family affembled in the hall. I gave them the copies, and caufed them to spell the words. The youngest of the three daughters, whofe name was Aphanafia, who was fixteen years of age, propofed many questions concerning my thoughts in my prefent fituation. Her questions convinced me that her father had given them fome information concerning my birth and misfortunes. I therefore gave them an account of my adventures, at which my fcholars appeared to be highly affected, but the youngest wept very much. She was a beautiful girl, and her fenfibility created much emotion in my mind-but, alas, I was an exile,

"The governor's lady took occafion, fome time after, to inform me, that the was the daughter of a Swedish colonel, exiled into Siberia; that her mother had changed her religion, and that he had married Mr. Nilow, at that time lieutenant-colonel, a worthy man, but greatly addicted to drinking, the excess of which rendered him brutal and infupportable; that the enjoyed no pleafure excepting that of feeing her family grow up around her, though at the prefent inftant, after having fuffered the mortification of feeing her two eldest daughters married to two officers who were addicted to gluttony and drinking in the moft difgufting excefs, the could not but lament the fate of the youngest, who was intended by her father to be married to a certain kuzma, one of the most difagreeable perfons in the universe. She therefore intreated me to endeavour to gain the confidence of the governor, and to use my utmost exertions to change this refolution. My reply to this good mother was, that I would do my belt, and that at all times she should find me obedient to her commands."

Some time after, our adventurer deferred a game at chefs with a merchant, for a large fum, till the afternoon, being obliged to attend his little house at the governor's in the morning. “When I entered the hall, I was surprised to find Mifs Aphanafia absent, and still more to hear that he was ill in bed, but being defirous of taking her leffon, fhe had asked leave for me to come to her, which her mother had granted. I was accordingly introduced into her chamber, where this amiable girl difclofed the fentiments of her heart with fuch openness and fimplicity, that the Ruffian language at that moment appeared to be the most mufical in the univerfe."

Our adventurer was foon afterwards waited upon by fome principal inhabitants, who propofed to establish him in a school upon profitable terms, which he accepted. In the mean time, by his great skill at chefs, he accumulated a confiderable fum of money. A merchant of Kamchatka, who had loft a large fum to Benyowfky, and had received fome intimation from the treachery

treachery of one of the exiles of their intentions to escape, endeavoured to poifon him by a prefent of a loaf of fugar; but our traveller difcovering the poifon, before they had drank fufficient for the merchant's purpofe, he complained to the governor; who, doubting the truth of the relation, confented to a plan devifed by Benyowfky in order to establish the fact. It was, to remove the loaf of fugar to the governor's houfe; to fend for the merchant, and a few of his friends; to propofe tea, and to intimate that the fugar came as a prefent from one of the exiles.

"In the midst of their dialogue, the governor propofed tea, which was accepted by the whole company, and he continued his difcourfe with Cafarinow, [the merchant] by asking if he was not in the habit of taking tea feveral times in the course of the day, to which he anfwered in the affirmative. In the mean time the table was fet out, and the governor, looking at the fugar-loaf upon the table, expreffed, his furprife at the generofity of the exiles who arrived laft, and obferved that he had received, as a new-year's gift from me, two fugar-loaves, part of which he had now the pleasure of offering to the company. At these words, Cafarinow turned pale, and upon the governor's enquiry whether he was ill, he replied he was, and begged leave to retire. The chancellor replied, that his illness would go off after a couple of dishes of tea. He continued, however, to make his excules, but at last the cup of tea being poured out, was prefented to him, and the governor infifted on his drinking it. At this crisis, the unhappy wretch no longer doubted but that he was difcovered; and, throwing himself at the feet of the governor, declared, that he had poifoned the fugar, with the intention of delivering fociety from fuch a monfter as myself."

Our adventurer had agreed, with the chancellor and Mr. Hettman, to referve one tenth of his winnings at chefs, as a prefent to the governor's family. When it had amounted to a confiderable fum, the governor informed his daughter of their good fortune. They all expreffed their thanks; "but Mifs Aphanafia added, that the hoped, from the good

nefs, of Mr. Chancellor and Mr. Hettman, that they would intereft themselves in my favour, and obtain the abolition of the fentence of my exile, and the neceffary grace, in order that I might be employed in fome charge under government, that her fincere defire of feeing me happy, and of partaking in my happinefs, might be accomplished. At thefe words, the governor flew into a rage, and loaded me with invectives, but the chancellor and hettinan remonftrated strongly against the injustice of blaming me for the fentiments of his daughter. They obferved, it was not impothble but that I might in future poffefs a charge under government, and in that cafe the governor could not de better to infure the happiness of his family. Their arguments at length had fome effect on the governor, who became calm, and addreffed them in thefe words: Gentlemen, you are witnefs to the declaration just now made by my daughter, of which I should be much afhamed; but, fince you find it excufable, I pardon her, and undertake to employ my credit in mitigating the fentence of exile against Benyowlky. I therefore requeft that you will fign an act which I fhall propofe to you, which, according to the laws of the czar Peter, difcharges every exile from his fen

tence.'

"This fpeech of the governor was received like an oracle, and the chancellor invited the governor immediately to call a meeting the following day, to carry his refolution into effect. The hettman made hafte to engage Madame Nilow to join them, in order to confirm the governor in this ftep, who beholding his family at his feet, and the chancellor and the hettman urging every entreaty, confented at laft, and complimented me with my liberty."

The firft ufe the count made of his freedom was, to propofe a plan to the governor and council, for the cultivation of grain in a certain part of the country, by employing the exiles. This he did with a view of facilitating their escape; a plan for which had been for a long time in contemplation, and was now purfued with additional vigour. He had now another inftance of the eafinefs of evading laws; fince, according to the conftitutions of Peter, every exile

who