TRAVELS
TO DISCOVER THE
SOURCE OF THE NILE,
In the Years 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772, and 1773.
IN FIVE VOLUMES.
BY JAMES BRUCE OF KINNAIRD, ESQ. F. R. S.
VOL. I.
| Opus aggredior opimum casibus, atrox prœliis, discors seditionibus, | |
| Ipsâ etiam pace sœvum. | Tacit. Lib. iv. Ann. |
EDINBURGH:
PRINTED BY J. RUTHVEN,
FOR G. G. J. AND J. ROBINSON, PATERNOSTER-ROW,
LONDON.
M.DCC.XC.
TO THE
KING.
SIR,
The study and knowledge of the Globe, forvery natural and obvious reasons, seem, inall ages, to have been the principal and favouritepursuit of great Princes; perhaps they were,at certain periods, the very sources of that greatness.
But as Pride, Ambition, and an immoderatethirst of Conquest, were the motives of these researches,no real advantage could possibly accrue tomankind in general, from inquiries proceeding uponsuch deformed and noxious principles.
In later times, which have been accounted moreenlightened, still a worse motive succeeded to that ofambition; Avarice led the way in all expeditions, crueltyand oppression followed: to discover and to destroyseemed to mean the same thing; and, what wasstill more extraordinary, the innocent sufferer wasstiled the Barbarian; while the bloody, lawless invader,flattered himself with the name of Christian.
With Your Majesty‘s reign, which, on manyaccounts, will for ever be a glorious æra in the annalsof Britain, began the emancipation of discoveryfrom the imputation of cruelty and crimes.
It was a golden age, which united humanity andscience, exempted men of liberal minds and education,employed in the noblest of all occupations, thatof exploring the distant parts of the Globe, from beingany longer degraded, and rated as little betterthan the Buccaneer, or pirate, because they had, tillthen, in manners been nearly similar.
It is well known, that an uncertainty had stillremained concerning the form, quantity, and consistenceof the earth; and this, in spite of all their abilitiesand improvement, met philosophers in many materialinvestigations and delicate calculations. Universalbenevolence, a distinguishing quality of YourMajesty, led You to take upon Yourself the directionof the mode, and furnishing the means of removingthese doubts and difficulties for the common benefitof mankind, who were all alike interested inthem.
By Your Majesty‘s command, for these great purposes,Your fleets penetrated into unknown seas,fraught with subjects, equal, if not superior, in courage,science, and preparation, to any that ever before hadnavigated the ocean.
But they possessed other advantages, in which,beyond all comparison, they excelled former discoverers.In place of hearts confused with fantastic notionsof honour and emulation, which constantly ledto bloodshed, theirs were filled with the most beneficentprinciples, w