Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile, In the Years 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772, and 1773

Author: [AFRICA] [NILE] BRUCE, James

Title: Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile, In the Years 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772, and 1773

Publication: Edinburgh: J. Ruthven for G. G. J. and J. Robinson, 1790

Edition: First Edition

James Bruce of Kinnaird (1730-1794) spent five years attempting to locate the source of the Nile. He successfully located Lake Tana, the source of the Blue Nile and claimed he was the first European to do so. While that claim was false (Pedro Paez, a Jesuit missionary, had reached Lake Tana in 1618), he was the first to successfully follow the Blue Nile to its confluence with the White Nile. On his return to Britain, Bruce was mocked for exaggerating stories of his travels.

This account, when finally published, "rang[ed] from striking adventure stories, reported dialogues, and Shandean asides boasting of his success with African women throuhg a pedantic history of ancient Ethiopia...to vivid sketches of contemporary Abyssinian life, politics, and natural history.

1 illustration(Shekel Harb page 266) and 1 map missing (end of volume 6)

Please see pictures for condition. Please ask any question if required.

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