SALT. 
97 
scrutinize any deficiencies, if they really exist. It 
can only be added, that if, from some absurd and 
inconceivable caprice, Mr Bruce has really feign- 
ed these voyages, he has at least not made them 
the vehicle of any erroneous information as to the 
countries or their inhabitants. This was indeed 
precluded by his choosing a theatre, where he was 
checked by other travellers of good authority* 
He appears, in fact, to have at all events used the 
best materials that were to be had at the time ; 
and his descriptions of the places are good, whe- 
ther he visited them or not. I am far from insi- 
nuating that such forgeries are not highly culpa- 
ble, under any modification ; but they certainly 
hold a very different place from those of Psalma- 
nazar or Bamberger, w^ho, having chosen for their 
theme regions where neither they themselves, nor 
any one else, had ever travelled, described coun- 
tries and scenes which never existed. 
Lord Valentia having occasion, in 1805, to 
make a voyage in the Red Sea, Mr Salt, a very 
well informed and intelligent gentleman, attached 
to his suite, determined to undertake a journey 
into Abyssinia, which, since the time of Bruce, 
had remained entirely unexplored by Europeans. 
Mr Salt was sent also on a mission in 1809 ; and 
as, on both occasions, he went nearly over the same 
ground, we shall incorporate together tlie infor- 
VOL. 11. G 
