It is curious, instructive, and amusing to observe how admirably Bruce works his way, by invariably bending before the difficulties which assail him. He is bold and daring among the brave, resolute before tyrants, a physician to his friends, a magician before the rabble, and before the gentler sex (in these latitudes we should offend them were we to call them fair) he is on his knee, and respectfully kisses their hands, whether it be their custom or no.
After passing the small island of Kurgos, where Bruce saw the first ruins he had met with since those of Axum in Abyssinia, he travelled for five days, when he reached the ferry on the great river Tacazzé, Atbara, or Astaboras, which was about a quarter of a mile broad, and exceedingly deep. It was as clear as Bruce had seen it in Abyssinia, but its banks had lost their beauty, as it here flowed through a parched, desert, barren country; still its waters came from Abyssinia, a country yet fresh and dear in Bruce's recollection. "I reflected," he says, "with much satisfaction, upon the many circumstances the sight of this river recalled to my mind; but still the greatest was, that the scenes of these were now far distant, and that I was by so much more advanced towards home."
On the 26th, leaving the Nile about a mile on their left, they reached Goos, a very small village, which is, nevertheless, the capital of Barbar. Bruce and all his party here suffered from a disease in their eyes, caused by the simoom and the fine sand blowing across the desert. An unexpected misfortune now happened to Idris, who was arrested for debt and carried to prison: "however," says Bruce, "as we were upon the very edge of the desert, and to see no other inhabited place till we should reach Egypt, I was not displeased to have it in my power to lay him under one other obligation before we trusted our lives in his hands, which we were immediately to do. I therefore paid his debt, and reconciled him with his creditors."
Bruce and his party having received all the assurances possible from Idris that he would live and die in their service, boldly committed themselves to the desert. The party consisted of Ismael the Turk, two Greek servants besides Georgis, who was almost blind and useless, two Barbarins, that took care of the camels, Idris, and a young man, a relation of his; in all nine persons, eight only of whom were effective. They were all well armed with blunderbusses, swords, pistols, and double-barrelled guns, except Idris and his lad, who had lances, the only arms they could use. Five or six naked wretches of the Tucorory joined the party at the watering-place, much against Bruce's will; for he knew that he should probably be reduced to the painful necessity of seeing them die of thirst before his eyes.
On the 9th of November, at noon, they left Goos for the sakia or watering-place, which is near a little village called Hassa. At half past three in the afternoon they came to the Nile, to lay in a store of water. They here filled four skins, which might contain altogether about a hogshead and a half. Their food consisted of twenty-two large goats' skins stuffed with a powder of bread made at Goos, on purpose for such expeditions. It required a whole day to fill the skins, and soak them well in the water, in order to make an experiment, which was of the greatest consequence, whether they were water-tight.
"While the camels were loading," says Bruce, "I bathed, with infinite pleasure, for a long half hour in the Nile, and thus took leave of my old acquaintance, very doubtful if we should ever meet again." They now left the river, and slowly entering what may not unjustly be termed the gate of the great desert of Nubia (that valley of the shadow of death), they came to a bare spot of cemented gravel, of a very disagreeable whitish colour, mixed with small pieces of white marble, and pebbles like alabaster. At half past eight they stopped on a sandy plain without trees: they now found that the camels were too heavily laden, but they comforted themselves with the reflection that this would be remedied by the daily consumption of the provisions. The next day, after travelling six hours with great diligence, their misfortunes began, from a trifling circumstance which had not been attended to. Their shoes, which had long required repair, had now become absolutely useless; their feet were much inflamed by the burning sand, and the skin rubbed off in different places. Close before them was Hambily, a small rock, which being, nevertheless, too large to be covered by the moving sands, is of the utmost importance to the caravans as a landmark.
On the 14th, early in the morning, they continued their journey, and, after travelling about twenty-one miles, alighted among some acacia-trees, at a place called Waadi el Halbout. "We were here," says Bruce, "at once surprised and terrified by a sight, surely one of the most magnificent in the world. In that vast expanse of desert, from W. to N.W. of us, we saw a number of prodigious pillars of sand at different distances, at times moving with great celerity, at others stalking on with a majestic slowness; at intervals we thought they were coming in a very few minutes to overwhelm us; and small quantities of sand did actually, more than once, reach us. Again they would retreat so as to be almost out of sight, their tops reaching to the very clouds. There the tops often separated from their bodies; and these, once disjoined, dispersed in the air, and did not appear more. Sometimes they were broken near the middle, as if struck with a large cannon-shot. About noon they began to advance with considerable swiftness upon us, the wind being very strong at north. Eleven of them ranged alongside of us about the distance of three miles. The greatest diameter of the largest appeared to me at that distance as if it would measure ten feet. They retired from us with a wind at S.E., leaving an impression upon my mind to which I can give no name, though surely one ingredient in it was fear, with a considerable deal of wonder and astonishment. It was in vain to think of flying; the swiftest horse or fastest sailing ship could be of no use to carry us out of this danger, and the full persuasion of this riveted me as if to the spot where I stood, and let the camels gain on me so much in my state of lameness, that it was with some difficulty I could overtake them.
"This stupendous sight caused Idris to repeat his prayers, or rather incantations; for, except the names of God and Mohammed, all the rest of his words were mere gibberish and nonsense. Ismael, the Turk, violently abused him for not praying in the words of the Koran, maintaining, with great apparent wisdom, that nothing else could stop these moving sands."
They this day proceeded very slowly, their feet being sore and greatly swelled. "The whole of our company," says Bruce, "were much disheartened (except Idris), and imagined that they were advancing into whirlwinds of moving sand, from which they should never be able to extricate themselves; but, before four o'clock in the afternoon, these phantoms of the plain had all of them fallen to the ground and disappeared." In the evening they came to Waadi Dimokea, where they passed the night much disheartened; and their fear was not diminished on awaking in the morning, by finding that one side was perfectly buried in the sand that the wind had blown over them in the night.
From this day, subordination, though not entirely extinct, was rapidly declining; all was discontent, murmuring, and fear. The water had greatly diminished, and that terrible death by thirst began to stare them in the face, owing, in a great measure, to their own imprudence. Ismael, who had been left sentinel over the skins of water, had slept so soundly that a Tucorory had opened one of the skins that had not been touched, in order to serve himself out of it at his own discretion; hearing somebody stir, however, and fearing detection, he withdrew as speedily as possible, without tying up the mouth of the girba, which was found in the morning with scarce a quart of water in it.