MEMOIR OF BRUCE. 77 



and had the appearance of wings ; the hole which 

 pierced them was distended by the weight, so as 

 easily to admit of three fingers. On her ankles she 

 wore shackles of gold, larger than the fetters of a 

 criminal. The rest of the princesses were orna- 

 mented much in the same way, except that some 

 had rings through the gristle of the nose, and 

 chains fastening the outside of each nostril to the 

 ears. Bruce gratified their curiosity by cupping 

 some of them, until the apartment overflowed with 

 the effusion of royal blood. The colour of his skin, 

 which they insisted upon examining, excited their 

 dislike, as they ascribed it to sickness or disease. 



After a detention of four months at Sennaar, 

 during which his funds were so completely ex- 

 hausted that he was obliged to part with his gold 

 chain until only six of the one hundred and eighty- 

 four links were left, Bruce again set forward (Sep- 

 tember 8th), crossed the great sandy desert of 

 Nubia, and arrived on the 29th of November in a 

 state of great exhaustion at Syene. He had been 

 obliged to leave his baggage and papers behind at 

 Soffiena; but having obtained fresh dromedaries 

 from the Aga of Syene, he retraced his steps forty 

 miles into the wilderness, and had the indescribable 

 satisfaction to recover the whole of his drawings 

 and portmanteaus. 



From the point he had now reached, all his dangers 

 may be considered at an end. The journey to 

 Cairo (where he arrived January 10th, 1773) down 

 the Nile, was comparatively safe and easy. His 



