NATURAL HISTORY, 



819 



" tiot a partial emigration ; the in- 

 " habitants of all the countries, 

 *' from the mountains of Abyssinia, 

 *' northward, to the confluence of 

 " the Nile and Astaboras, are 

 " once a-year obliged to change 

 *' their abode, and seek protection 

 *' in the sands of Beja ; nor is there 

 " any alternative, or means of 

 " avoiding this, though a hostile 

 " band was in their way, capable of 

 " spoiling them of half their sub- 

 " stance. 



" OF all that have written upon 

 " these countries, the prophet 

 " Isaiah alone has given an account 

 *' of this animal, and the manner of 

 *' its operation. — ' And it shall 

 come to pass, in that day, that 

 the Lord shall hiss for the fly 

 that is in the uttermost jiart of the 

 rivers of Egypt. — And they shall 

 come, and shall rest all of them 

 " in the desolate Tallies, and in the 



" holes of the rocks, and upon all 

 " thorns, and upon all bushes.' — 

 " Isaiah, ch. 17, v. 18, J 9." 



By the expression of resting in 

 the desolate vallies, &c. INlr. Bruce 

 understands the prophet to mean, 

 " that they shall cut oil' from the 

 " cattle their usual retreat to the 

 " desert, by taking possession of 

 *' those places, and meeting thorn 

 " where ordinarily they never 

 " come, and which, therefore, are 

 *' the refuse of the cattle. 



" Providence," says Mr. Bruce, 

 " from the beginning, it would 

 *' seem, had fixed its habitation to 

 *'one species of soil, being a black, 

 *' fat earth, extraordinary fruitful 

 " as it was, it seems from the first 

 *' to have given a law to the settle- 

 *' mcnt of the country. It prohi- 

 " bitcd absolutely those inhabitants 

 " of the fat earth, called Mazaga, 

 '' domiciled iu caves and mountains, 



" from enjoying the help or labour 

 " of any beasts of carriage. It de- 

 " prived them of their flesh and milk 

 " for food, and gave rise to another 

 " nation, whose manners were just 

 " the reverse of the first. These 

 " v^ere the shepherds, leading s 

 " wandering life, and preserving 

 " these immense herds of cattle, bjr 

 " conducting them into thesandsbe- 

 " yoiid the limits of the black earth, 

 " and bringing them back again 

 '• when the danger from the insedl 

 " was over. 



" We cannot read the history of 

 " the plagues which God brought 

 " upon Pharaoh by the hands of 

 " Moses, without stopping a mo- 

 " ment to conbidcr a singularity, a 

 " very principal one, which attend- 

 " ed this plague of the fly. It was 

 '* not till this time, .and by means of 

 " this insect, that God said he would 

 " separate his people from the 

 " Eayptians. And it would seem 

 '• that then a law was given to 

 " them that fixed the limits of their 

 " habitation. It is well known, as 

 " I have repeatedly said, that the 

 " land of Goshen, or Geshen, the 

 " possession of the Israclitts, was a 

 " land of pasture, which was not 

 " tilled or sown, because it was not 

 '' ovcrllowed by the Nile. But the 

 '' land overflowed ])y the Nile was 

 " the black earth of the valley of 

 " Egypt, and it was here that God. 

 " confined the flies ; for, he says, 

 " it shall be a sign of this separa- 

 " tion of the people, which he had 

 " then made, that not one fly 

 " should be seen in the sand, or 

 " pasture ground, the land of Go- 

 " shen, and this kind of soil has 

 " ever since been the refuge of all 

 " cattle emigrating from the black 

 " earth, to the lower part of At- 

 " bara. Isaiah, indeed, says, that 



a G 2 ' *« th« 



