s of Herodotus. The Mountains of the Moon figure largely on the
Old World maps, but Bruce decided to rediscover these for himself.
Herodotus had said the Nile turned west and became the Niger, others
said it turned east and somehow joined the Tigris and Euphrates. Indeed,
such was the uncertainty regarding its source that to discover the
source of the Nile seemed equivalent to performing the impossible.

James Bruce, athletic, daring, standing six feet four, seemed at the
age of twenty-four made for a life of travel and adventure. His business
took him to Spain and Portugal. He studied Arabic and the ancient
language of Abyssinia. He came under the notice of Pitt, and was made
consul of Algiers. The idea of the undiscovered sources of the Nile
took strong hold of Bruce's imagination.

"It was at this moment," he says, "that I resolved that this great
discovery should either be achieved by me or remain--as it has done
for three thousand years--a defiance to all travellers."

A violent dispute with the old bey of Algiers ended Bruce's consulate,
and in 1765, the spirit of adventure strong upon him, he sailed along
the North African coast, landed at Tunis, and made his way to Tripoli.
On the frontier he found a tribe of Arabs set apart to destroy the
lions which beset the neighbourhood. These people not only killed but
ate the lions, and they prevailed on Bruce to share their repast. But
one meal was enough for the young explorer.

In burning heat across the desert sands he passed on. Once a great
caravan arrived, journeying from Fez to Mecca, consisting of three
thousand men with camels laden with merchandise. But this religious
pilgrimage was plundered in the desert soon after. Arrived at Bengazi,
Bruce found a terrible famine raging, so he embarked on a little Greek
ship bound for Crete. It was crowded with Arabs; the captain was
ignorant; a violent storm arose and, close to Bengazi, the ship struck
upon a rock. Lowering a boat, Bruce and a number of Arabs sprang in
and tried to row ashore. But wave after wave broke over them, and at
last they had to swim for their lives. The surf was breaking on the
shore, and Bruce was washed up breathless and exhausted. Arabs
flocking down to plunder the wreck, found Bruce, and with blows and
kicks stripped him of all his clothes and left him naked on the barren
shore. At last an old Arab came along, threw a dirty rag over him,
and led him to a tent, whence he reached Bengazi once