James Bruce (December 14, 1730 – April 27, 1794) was a Scottish traveller and travel writer who spent more than a dozen years in North Africa and Abyssinia (Ethiopia) where he traced the Blue Nile. December 14 is the 348th day of the year (349th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Events Pope Clement XII elected September 17 - Change of emperor of the Ottoman Empire from Ahmed III (1703-1730) to Mahmud I (1730-1754) Anna Ivanova (Anna I of Russia) became czarina Births April 16 - Henry Clinton, British general (d. ... April 27 is the 117th day of the year (118th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 248 days remaining. ... 1794 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Motto: (Latin for No one provokes me with impunity)1 Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow Official language(s) English, Gaelic, Scots 2 Government Constitutional monarchy  - Queen of the UK Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister of the UK Tony Blair MP  - First Minister Jack McConnell MSP Unification... A traveller (American English traveler) is a person or an object travelling between two or more locations. ... Travel writing is a literary genre related to the essay and to the guidebook. ...  Northern Africa (UN subregion)  geographic, including above North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent. ... The Blue Nile Blue Nile Falls in Ethiopia The Blue Nile is a river originating at Lake Tana in Ethiopia. ...

A portrait of James Bruce

Image File history File links James_Bruce. ...

Youth

Bruce was born at the family seat of Kinnaird, Perthshire, and educated at Harrow School and Edinburgh University, and began to study for the bar; but his marriage to the daughter of a wine merchant resulted in his entering that business. His wife died in October 1754, within nine months of marriage, and Bruce thereafter travelled in Portugal and Spain. The examination of oriental manuscripts at the Escurial led him to the study of Arabic and Geez and determined his future career. In 1758 his father's death placed him in possession of the estate of Kinnaird. Perthshire (Siorrachd Pheairt in Gaelic) was a county in central Scotland, which extended from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, Rannoch Moor and Ben Lui in the west, and Aberfoyle in the south. ... Harrow School, normally just known as Harrow, is one of the worlds most famous schools. ... The University of Edinburgh was founded in 1583 as a renowned centre for teaching in Edinburgh, Scotland. ... A manuscript (Latin manu scriptus, written by hand), strictly speaking, is any written document that is put down by hand, in contrast to being printed or reproduced some other way. ... Escurial is a village in Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain. ... The Arabic language ( ), or simply Arabic ( ), is the largest member of the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family (classification: South Central Semitic) and is closely related to Hebrew, Amharic and Aramaic. ... The Geez language (or Giiz language) is an ancient language that developed in the Ethiopian Highlands of the Horn of Africa as the language of the peasantry. ... 1758 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ...

To North Africa

On the outbreak of war with Spain in 1762 he submitted to the British government a plan for an attack on Ferrol. His suggestion was not adopted, but it led to his selection by the 2nd Earl of Halifax for the post of British consul at Algiers, with a commission to study the ancient ruins in that country, in which interest had been excited by the descriptions sent home by Thomas Shaw (1694–1751), who was consular chaplain at Algiers. Having spent six months in Italy studying antiquities, Bruce reached Algiers in March 1763. The whole of his time was taken up with his consular duties at the piratical court of the dey, and he was kept without the assistance promised. But in August 1765, a successor in the consulate having arrived, Bruce began his exploration of the Roman ruins in Barbary. Having examined many ruins in eastern Algeria, he travelled by land from Tunis to Tripoli, and at Ptolemeta took passage for Candia; but was shipwrecked near Bengazi and had to swim ashore. He eventually reached Crete, and sailing thence to Sidon, travelled through Syria, visiting Palmyra and Baalbek. Throughout his journeyings in Barbary and the Levant, Bruce made careful drawings of the many ruins he examined. He also acquired a sufficient knowledge of medicine to enable him to pass in the East as a physician. 1762 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Ferrol can refer to: EUROPE Ferrol, Spain City and Naval Station in North Western Spain, European Union Note: Place of birth of both Francisco Franco (1892) the Spanish dictator and Pablo Iglesias (1850) founder of PSOE and UGT. ASIA Ferrol, Romblon Small Town in the Philippines Note: The Philippines got... George Montague-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax (6 October 1716 - 8 June 1771) was a British statesman of the Georgian era. ... Nickname: al-Bahjah Location of Algiers within Algeria Algiers 944 A.D. Area    - City 273 km² Population    - City (2003) around 2. ... Thomas Shaw, Baron Shaw of Dunfermline (1850 - 28 June 1937) was a Scottish politician and judge. ... 1763 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... 1765 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... For other meanings, see Barbary Coast (disambiguation). ... Tripoli (Arabic: طرابلس Tarābulus) is the capital city of Libya. ... Candia is a town located in Rockingham County, New Hampshire. ... Benghazi (Arabic بنغازي, transliterated BanġāzÄ«) is a seaport in Libya, Africa. ... Crete (Greek: Κρήτη Kríti; Turkish: Girit) is the largest of the Greek islands and the fifth largest in the Mediterranean Sea. ... , Sidon or Saida, (Arabic صيدا á¹¢aydā) is the third-largest city in Lebanon. ... A general view of the site Palmyra was in the ancient times an important city of central Syria, located in an oasis 215 km northeast of Damascus and 120 km southwest of the Euphrates. ... Overview of Baalbek in the late 19th century Baalbek (Arabic: ‎) is a town in the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon, altitude 3,850 ft (1,170 m), situated east of the Litani River. ... The Levant Levant is an imprecise geographical term historically referring to a large area in the Middle East south of the Taurus Mountains, bounded by the Mediterranean Sea on the west, and by the northern Arabian Desert and Upper Mesopotamia to the east. ...

The Nile & Ethiopia

In June 1768 he arrived at Alexandria, having resolved to endeavour to discover the source of the Nile, which he believed to rise in Ethiopia. At Cairo he gained the support of the Mameluke ruler, Ali Bey; after visiting Thebes (where here entered the tomb of Ramesses III, KV11) he crossed the desert to Kosseir, where he embarked in the dress of a Turkish sailor. He reached Jidda in May 1769, and after a stay in Arabia he recrossed the Red Sea and landed at Massawa, then in possession of the Turks, on September 19. He reached Gondar, then the capital of Ethiopia, on February 14, 1770, where he was well received by the nəgusä nägäst Tekle Haymanot II, by Ras Mikael Sehul, the real ruler of the country, by Ozoro Esther, wife of the Ras, and by the Ethiopians generally. His fine presence (he was 6 ft. 4 in.. high), his knowledge of Geez, his excellence in sports, his courage, resource and self-esteem, all told in his favor among a people who were in general distrustful of all foreigners. He stayed in Ethiopia for two years, gaining knowledge which enabled him subsequently to present a perfect picture of Ethiopian life. On November 14, 1770 he reached Lake Tana, the long-sought source of the Blue Nile. Though admitting that the White Nile was the larger stream, Bruce claimed that the Blue Nile was the Nile of the ancients and that he was thus the discoverer of its source. The Jesuit missionary Pedro Paez is widely regarded by historians as having been the first European to reach the site; Bruce, however, disputed his claim and suggested that the relevant passage in Paez's memoirs had been fabricated by Athanasius Kircher. 1768 was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Alexandria Modern Alexandria. ... The Nile (Arabic: ‎, translit: , Ancient Egyptian iteru) is a major north-flowing river in Africa, generally regarded as the longest river on Earth, though some sources claim the Amazon in South America is longer. ... Cairos location in Egypt Coordinates: Governor Dr. Abdul Azim Wazir Area    - City 210 km²  - Metro 1,492 km² Population    - City (2005) 7,438,376  - Density 35,420/km²  - Urban 10,834,495  - Metro 15,200,000 Time zone EET (UTC+2) EEST (UTC+3) Cairo (Arabic: ‎ translit: ), It comes... An Ottoman Mamluk, from 1810 Mamluks (or Mameluks) (the Arabic word usually translates as owned, singular: مملوك plural: مماليك) comprised slave soldiers used by the Muslim Caliphs and the Ottoman Empire, and who on more than one occasion seized power for... Ali Bey Al-Kabir (1728 - May 8, 1773) was a Mamluk Egypt in 1760-1772. ... For the ancient capital of Boeotia, see Thebes, Greece. ... Osirid statues of Ramses III at his temple at Medinet Habu. ... Located in the main valley of the Valley of the Kings, tomb KV11 was originally started by Setnakhte, but abandoned when it broken into another tomb (KV10), then restarted and extended by Ramesses III. Categories: Ancient Egypt stubs | Valley of the Kings ... Jeddah (also Jedda, Jiddah, or Juddah) is a city in in western Saudi Arabia, on the Red Sea. ... 1769 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... The Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula is a mainly desert peninsula in Southwest Asia at the junction of Africa and Asia and an important part of the greater Middle East. ... Location of the Red Sea Image:Red Seaimage. ... Massawa in the 19th century Massawa or Mitsiwa (15° 36′ 33″ N 39° 26′ 43″ E) is a port on the Red Sea coast of Eritrea. ... September 19 is the 262nd day of the year (263rd in leap years). ... Gondar (less commonly spelled Gonder) was the old imperial capital of Ethiopia and the historic Begemder province, now part of the Amhara region. ... February 14 is the 45th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1770 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... The Emperor (Geez ንጉሠ ነገሥት, , King of Kings) of Ethiopia was the hereditary ruler of Ethiopia until the abolition of the monarchy in 1975. ... Tekle Haymanot II (1754 - 7 September 1777) was negus negusti (18 October 1769 - 13 April 1777) of Ethiopia, and a member of the Solomonid dynasty. ... Mikael Sehul (Tigrigna Mikael the Astute; his name at birth was Blatta Mikael; c. ... November 14 is the 318th day of the year (319th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 47 days remaining until the end of the year. ... 1770 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Lake Tana from space, April 1991 Lake Tana (also spelled Tana; older spellings include Tsana and Dambea) is the source of the Blue Nile and is the largest lake in Ethiopia. ... The Blue Nile Blue Nile Falls in Ethiopia The Blue Nile is a river originating at Lake Tana in Ethiopia. ... The White Nile is a river of Africa, one of the two main tributaries of the Nile, the other being the Blue Nile. ... The Society of Jesus (Latin: Societas Iesu), commonly known as the Jesuits, is a Roman Catholic religious order. ... Pedro Páez was a Jesuit missionary in Africa. ... Athanasius Kircher (sometimes spelt Kirchner) (May 2, 1601?–27 November 1680) was a 17th century German Jesuit scholar who published around 40 works, most notably in the fields of oriental studies, geology and medicine. ...

The Return

Setting out from Gondar in December 1771, Bruce made his way, in spite of enormous difficulties, by Sennar to Nubia, being the first to trace the Blue Nile to its confluence with the White Nile. On November 29, 1772 he reached Aswan, presently returning to the desert to recover his journals and his baggage, which had been abandoned in consequence of the death of all his camels. Cairo was reached in January 1773, and in March Bruce arrived in France, where he was welcomed by Buffon and other savants. He came to London in 1774, but, offended by the incredulity with which his story was received, retired to his home at Kinnaird. It was not until 1790 that, urged by his friend Daines Barrington, he published his Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile, In the Years 1768, 1769,1770, 1771, 1772 and 1773, but was assailed by other travellers as being unworthy of credence. The substantial accuracy of his Abyssinian travels has since been demonstrated, and it is considered that he made a real addition to the geographical knowledge of his day. 1771 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Sennar is also an alternate spelling of Shinar, in a Biblical context. ... Today Nubia is the region in the south of Egypt, along the Nile and in northern Sudan, but in ancient times it was an independent kingdom. ... November 29 is the 333rd (in leap years the 334th) day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Catherine IIs soldiers in the Russo-Turkish War, by Alexandre Benois. ... Aswan (Arabic: أسوان Aswān) (, population 200,000) is a city in the south of Egypt, the capital of the Aswan Governorate. ... 1773 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, by François-Hubert Drouais (1727-1775). ... London (pronounced ) is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom. ... Chesma Column in Tsarskoe Selo, commemorating the end of the Russo-Turkish War. ... 1790 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Daines Barrington (1727 - March 14, 1800) was an English lawyer, antiquary and naturalist. ... The Scottish traveller and travel writer James Bruce (1730 – 1794) and his sensational stories were received with incredulity upon his return to London in 1774 after more than a dozen years of travel in North Africa and Abyssinia (Ethiopia) where he traced the Blue Nile. ...

Trivia

• Places named for Bruce
  • Bruce Trail
  • Bruce Peninsula
  • Bruce Peninsula National Park
  • Bruce County

• Several of Bruce's drawings were presented to King George III and are in the royal collection at Windsor Castle.

• Bruce was the first to ever use the word "Wonderland" thus predating Lewis Carroll.

The Bruce Trail is a hiking (and multi-use) trail in southern and central Ontario, Canada. ... Map of Southern Ontario showing Bruce Peninsula in red. ... Located at the tip of the Bruce peninsula (which almost cuts off Georgian Bay from Lake Huron), on the Niagara Escarpment of Ontario, Canada, Bruce Peninsula National Park offers many opportunities for hiking, camping, bird watching and many other outdoor activities. ... Bruce County is a county in western Canada, and includes the Bruce Peninsula. ... George III (George William Frederick) (4 June 1738–29 January 1820) was King of Great Britain, and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until 1 January 1801, and thereafter King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death. ... Windsor Castle: The Round Tower or keep dominating the castle, as seen from the River Thames. ...

Biographies

• Major (afterwards Sir Francis) Head, editor of an abridgment of the Travels, wrote the well-informed Life of Bruce (London, 1830).

• The best 19th Century account of Bruce's travels is contained in Sir R. Lambert Playfair's Travels in the Footsteps of Bruce (London, 1877), in which a selection of his drawings was published for the first time.

Sir Francis Bond Head, 1837 Sir Francis Bond Head, 1st Baronet KCH PC (1 January 1793 – 20 July 1875), known as Galloping Head, was Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada during the rebellion of 1837. ...

References

Wikisource has an original article from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica about:

Bruce, James

• Bruce, James, Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile, In the Years 1768, 1769,1770, 1771, 1772 and 1773. Five Volumes, G.G.J. and J. Robinson, London, 1790.
• Bruce, James, Travels. Abridged edition. Horizon Press, New York, 1964.

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.