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 hyasnas, 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 Bed 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 w ; ell wooded and highly 
picturesque ; but the climate was almost intolerable 
from the heat, the thermometer standing sometimes 
at 120° in the shade. “ The hanks of the Nile about 
Sennaar (Bruce says) resemble the pleasantest parts 
of Holland in the summer season ; hut soon after, 
when the rains cease, and the sun exerts his utmost 
influence, the dora begins to ripen, the leaves to 
