1807.] 
and to the gratification of the author, as 
the perpetual theme Of his own applause. 
The first mstance that occurs, was 
observed by the late Dr. Rotherham, in 
the Edinburgh evening Courant (26th 
July, 1790), soon after the publication 
of the former editién. Mr. Bruce ar- 
rived at Farshout, a village upon the 
Nile, on the 26th of December, 1768, 
and on the 7th of January, early in the 
morning, he left that place on his voyage 
up to Syene. During that interval, Is- 
mael, Shekh of the neighbouring village 
of Badjoura, was persuaded by the cal- 
culation of Friar Christopher, his sur- 
geon, that the new moon in the month of 
Ramadan had not yet arrived, after it had 
been seen on the second night, by a Fakir 
on the desert. The people of Farshout 
immediately began their fast. On their 
meeting with the people of Badjoura 
singing, dancing, and smoaking their 
pipes, the two villages came to blows, in 
which seven or eight men were wounded 
upon each side. Mr, Bruce, who was 
then at Badjoura, shut up during the tu- 
mult, was sent for at noon by Shekh Is- 
mael, to take care of the wounded; and 
was asked, ‘* When the moon changed ?” 
to which he answered, in hours, minutes, 
and seconds, as he found them in the 
Ephemeris. To the second question, 
*¢ When they should see it?” he replied, 
‘f That is impossible for me to tell, as it 
depends upon the state of the heavens: 
but if the sky is clear, you must see her 
to-night; if you had looked for her, pro-. 
bably you would have seen her last night 
low im the horizon; thin, like a thread; 
she ws now three days old.” First edition, 
vol. I. p..119. Accordingly, the noon 
appeared, and spoke for herseif; the un- 
fortunate friar was disgraced, and ba- 
nished from Badjoura: but the Shekh, on 
the recurrence of a pleuretic stitch, was 
so terrified at the lancet, &c. when bled 
by Mr. Bruce, that, before the return of 
the latter to Badjoura, on the 2d of. Fe- 
bruary, he was again reconciled to his’ 
former surgeon. 
Dr. Rotherham’s objection was “ the 
impossibility of the whole story, either of , 
the moon’s being seen by the Fakir, or of 
its being three days old when the Shekh 
asked Mr. Bruce about it,” and for this 
plain reason, ‘‘ that the moon changed 
at Farshout and Badjoura on January 8, 
1769, about three quarters after four in 
the morning, being the day atter Mr, 
Bruce’s departure from thence.” In the 
Ephemeris itself, from which Mr. Bruce 
answered in hours, minutes, and secands, 
On the Credit due to Bruce’s Travels. 
4.47 
we find Nouvelle Line le 7 (Janvier 
1769), a 14 heurs 47'; (Ephem. par M. 
de la Caille), that is, about three quar- 
ters after two in the morning, on the 8th 
of January, The editor has silently en- 
deavoured to obviate the objection, by 
observing, that “‘ the dates are a,good 
deal confused, by the author’s having 
given them from memory; that if the 
date of.the 7th (his departure from Far- 
shout) be accurate, which is not likely, 
he would not have known the issue, of 
the adventure till his return to Badjoura 
on the 2d of February; but as he had 
observations of longitude at Negade, 
Jan. 11, and at Badjoura, Jan. 27 and 
$1, he must have returned thither sooner 
than he writes.” Vol. If. p. 27.—His 
observations at Negade on the 11th, and 
his return to Badjoura on or before the 
27th, never could have enabled hin to 
have witnessed the battle, and the new 
moon at Badjoura on the 8th of January, 
But the author himself, in order to evade 
the objection, endeavours to soften the 
adventure in the second edition, where 
the passages in italics are altered thus: 
** The new moon had already been seen, 
at was sad, by a Fakir in the desert ;” 
and to the second question, “ Wher 
should we have seen it 2 he answers inde- 
finitely, not “ if the sky be clear, &c. 
that very night, &c.” but, “ certainly 
(on) the third day; whether the Fakir 
saw it sooner, depends on the confidence 
you have in him.’’ By these indefinite 
expressions, he endeavours to evade the 
objection, that the moon could neither 
have been seen by the Fakir, nor have 
been three days old before his depar- 
ture from Farshout; but his former as- 
sertions remain unaltered, that he wite 
nessed, or heard the tumult concerning 
Ramadan, and that the moon appeared, - 
that third night, and spoke for herself. 
The supposed contusion of dates is 
productive, however, of another more se- 
rious objection, when properly explain- 
ed. The author, according to his Travels, 
arrived on the 25th of December, 1768, 
at Dendera, the ancient Téntyra, which 
he places, as he says, from observation, 
in latitude 26° 10’; and he blames Nor- 
den severely for mistaking its relative po- 
sition as situated twenty or thirty miles 
to the southward, instead of nine miles 
to the northward of Badjoura. Farshout, 
which he reached on the 26th, he has 
placed accordingly in 26° 3’ 30’, and 
Badjoura in 26° 3’ 16".. Leaving Far- 
shout on the 7th of January, he passed a 
large town called How, at noon, and ar- 
rived 
