$,;<? B R U 
him as- dead, took Conic meaCures to poifiefs themfelves of 
Jl.i.s property, which they hud nearly iucceeded in, when 
he returned home. Soon afterwards he tuok an effectual 
method of difv.ppoitjting any future hopes, by a fecond 
marriage ; the confequence of which was one if not more 
children. 101790 he publilhed his Travels j a new edi¬ 
tion of which w as negotiating with a bookfeller at. the 
time of his death, which happened at Kinnaird, in April, 
1794, oecationed by a fall down his ftqircafe, in which he 
d;flocated his breafl-bone. 
The following account of Mr. Bruce is extradled from 
a late traveller, Mr. Lettice, who vifited him in the au¬ 
tumn of the year 1792. 
“Linlithgow, Sept. 25, 1792. 
“ It was impoffble to be within two miles of Kinnaird, 
and to quit the neighbourhood without wifhing to offer 
our refpeds to the Abydinian traveller, and requeuing 
permiflion to infped his mufeum. The latter point being 
obtained, fortunately gave us an opportunity of feeing 
Mr. Bruce himfelf, who received us with flattering marks 
of attention. When we had taken fome refrefliment, he 
was obliging enough to accompany us to his mufeunr, and 
to di:ed Iris librarian’s fearch for fuch objects as he 
thought likely to interell our curiofity ; upon many of them 
he himfelf commented in a very agreeable manner, relat¬ 
ing at the fame time feveral little incidents and anecdotes 
conneded with the occafions of procuring them, which 
enhanced both our entertainment and information. This 
repofitory occupies a large room, and its valuable furni¬ 
ture is arranged in a number of neat glazed cabinets, each 
having a cupboard below it, beautifully painted with the 
figure of fome curious objed of natural hiftory, delcribed 
by Mr. Bruce in his African tour; many of them found; 
on the coafls of the Red Sea and the Nile. This mufeum 
confifts, as you will imagine, not folely of articles from 
the animal, vegetable, and mineral, kingdoms, of curious 
petrifadions, lufus naturae, &c. but has many rare fpeci- 
piens of art, diflinguifhed by their Angularity, or exqui- 
fite workmanfhip ; and lafily, a collection of Abyfliniar) 
and Arabian munuferipts. 
“ As, after a curfory lurvey of fome thoufand articles, 
without an opportunity of making notes whilft the objects 
are before the eye, it is impoflible to be fure that the molt 
curious may not have efcaped the memory, I find little 
inclination to fpecify thofe which mine may have retained. 
If I mention, among the petrifadions, a horfe’s knee agat- 
ized, or fpeak of (tones more curioufly reticulated than 
perhaps moll other colledions can exhibit, ic is with the 
mortification of having forgotten many things more wor¬ 
thy of curiofity. Ores of every defeription you will na¬ 
turally anticipate. The variety and (plendour of the fea- 
fliells, not to mention the novelty of many of them, are 
fcarcely to be equalled elfewhere. Among the reptile 
kind, none perhaps more defervedly claimed our notice 
than the ferpent coufulted in divination ; but of that Mr. 
Bruce has particularly treated in his book. Among the 
artificial curiofities which were (hewn 11s, was a drinking- 
cup, or goblet, with four heads, embofled round the out- 
fide ; an antique from Rhodes; and a model of it execu¬ 
ted at 'Glafgow, in a manner highly creditable to the (kill 
of the Britilh artift. Any thing relative to the Nile, the 
firfj. objed of the Abydinian traveller, was fure to attach 
every fpedator; and Mr. Bruce himfelf feemed not un¬ 
pleasantly interelted in difplaying his invention to meafure 
the rife and fall of that river; a brazen bar with a gradu¬ 
ated fcale ingenioufly converted to that purpofe from fome 
cramps ufed in the arches of Egyptian cifierns : nor did 
he, perhaps, with lefs feeling, call our attention to the 
fiilt of a fpear marked by bullets difeharged at himfelf, 
but fortunately miffing aim, in an encounter with a defpe- 
rate banditti of afiaffins and robbers. Had Horace him¬ 
felf been at our elbow, and, viva voce, founded in our 
ears, Nil admirari propc res ejl una , Numici, &c. it had been 
jmpofiible not to have felt a paroxylm of admiration when, 
next, wc beheld two cups made from the horns of the 
C E, 
very bullock who roared through them no founds of wel¬ 
come to the bloody banquet furnilhed from his own living 
flelh to the royal epicures of Gondar ; two cups turned 
by tlie delicate hand of one of his Abyffinian majdty’s 
daughters, and prelented by herfelf to Mr. Bruce, as a 
memorial of his entertainment and reception at that polite 
court. Lafi of all we were favoured with the infpedtion 
of the cabinet of manuferipts, written upon parchment of 
goat-(kins, and manufactured by the piiefts of thofe coun¬ 
tries. From the account v hich Mr. Bruce lias given of 
the low ftate of religion and fcience in Arabia, it is but 
too probable that the priefthood, a channel through w hich 
all the literature of Europe (nice the revival of letters lias 
firfl been derived to our enlightened quarter of the globe, 
has in Abyffnia contributed little elfe to the extenfion of 
knowledge than the material fubftance of books. Mr. 
Bruce mentioned to us, that thirty different languages 
were fpoken in the camp of one of the caravans in which 
lie had occafionally travelled on the continent of Africa ; 
and that it was his defire to have procured a tranflation of 
the Song of Solomon (from the Arabic, I believe), into 
them all. This was executed for him in ten of them, 
beautifully written in Ethiopic characters, and each in a 
different coloured ink, to prevent a confufion of tongues, 
which, in this inftance, had certainly not been miraculous. 
To fpare the ears of the unlearned, and perhaps, at fome 
moments, his own recollection, he calls thefe languages, 
with fome humour, the red, blue, green, or yellow, lan¬ 
guages, &c. according to the colour of its character. Up¬ 
on Mr. Bruce’s fhewing thefe manuferipts ?o a lady difiin- 
guifhed for the vivacity of her remark, and informing her 
that the word kifs, which occurs in Solomon’s fong, is to be 
met with, expreffng the fame idea, in fome paflages of his 
rainbow of languages, (he pleafantly obferved to him—■ 
“ I always told you, Mr. Bruce, that kiffng is the fame 
all the world over.” Before we departed, Mr. Bruce 
obligingly accompanied 11s to an inclofure in his paik to 
(hew us his Abyffinian fheep. They are entirely white, 
except their heads, which are black. Their tails are large ; 
and, indeed, the animal is larger than our common fheep. 
They are extremely tame, and often very frolickfome. 
The three or four remaining in Mr. Bruce’s polfefiion are 
unfortunately all males. One of them bred with a fhe- 
goat, but the offspring died. 
“ Except a month or two in fitmmer, which Mr. Bruce 
pafles upon an eflate in the Highlands, he fpends the red 
of the year chiefly at Kinnaird, divided betwixt his mu¬ 
feum, his books, and his rural improvements, in elegant 
retirement and lettered converfation. This latter efiate 
has defeended to him from ancertors of his name, who 
have fucceflively polfeffed it upwards of 380 years. He 
has rebuilt the family manfion fince his return from hi-s 
travels. In what we faw of it, good tafte and convenience 
equally prevailed. The park appears to be well wood¬ 
ed and pleafant; and his fituation commands fome of 
the fined views of the Forth. His mufeum, every ar¬ 
ticle of which, by affociation of ideas, muff recal fome 
incident, fome feene, fome objeCt, new or drange, in his 
travels, cannot but be to him a fund of perpetual enter¬ 
tainment and delight, which, through the liberality of his 
character, as a man of leasning, and a citizen of the world, 
he freely communicates to all who can have any preten- 
fions to approach him. As every thing is intereding that’ 
relates to extraordinary men, you will not be difpleafed 
with a trait or two of the Abydinian traveller’s perfon. 
His figure is above the common fize ; his limbs athletic, 
but well proportioned; his complexion fanguine ; his 
countenance manly and good-humoured, and his manners 
eafy and polite. The whole outward man is fuch as an¬ 
nounces a character well calculated to contend with the 
difficuliies and trying occafions which fo extraordinary a 
journey was fure to throw in his way. That his internal 
character, the features of his underdanding and his heart, 
correfpond with thefe outward lineaments, you who have 
read his work cannot be at any lofs to know.” 
BRUCE'A, 
