MEMOIR OF BRUCE. 75 



place between the rebels and the king's troops, 

 which ended in the defeat of the former and the 

 restoration of tranquillity. 



The horrid barbarities which Bruce had witnessed, 

 and the numberless executions of the rebels, whose 

 putrid carcases, thrown on the streets to be devoured 

 by hysenas, corrupted the atmosphere, determined 

 him to leave that wretched country without delay. 

 With the utmost reluctance he obtained permission 

 of the king to depart, having received from his 

 majesty, in consideration of his services, a gold 

 chain, consisting of one hundred and eighty-four 

 links. Bidding adieu to Gondar, he commenced 

 his journey homeward, which he had resolved to 

 complete, not by Massuah and the Red Sea, but 

 through the deserts of Nubia to Syene on the 

 frontier of Egypt. 



He set out, on the 26th of December, 1771? with 

 a small escort ; and after encountering a number of 

 adventures, and running some risk of assassination 

 from the fierce and avaricious habits of the natives, 

 he arrived on the 29th of April at Sennaar, the 

 capital of Nubia. The country through which he had 

 passed was in many parts well wooded and highly 

 picturesque ; but the climate was almost intolerable 

 from the heat, the thermometer standing sometimes 

 at 120 in the shade. " The banks of the Nile about 

 Sennaar (Bruce says) resemble the pleasantest parts 

 of Holland in the summer season ; but soon after, 

 when the rains cease, and the sun exerts his utmost 

 influence, the dora begins to ripen, the leaves to 



