ON THIS DAY

November 14, 1770

EXPLORER James Bruce “discovered” the source of the Nile. It was the shorter Blue Nile tributary and it would be another 88 years before the source of the longer White Nile was confirmed. The Scot probably wasn’t the first explorer to arrive there as it is thought two other Europeans had previously identified the spot. But Bruce’s remarkable exploration remains the stuff of adventure novels.

Born in Stirlingshire in 1730, Bruce was educated at Harrow school and Edinburgh University. After studying law he became a wine merchant, travelling widely as he mastered Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese and Ge’ez, the language of Ethiopia. On his father’s death in 1758 he became Laird of Kinnaird, and the discovery of coal on the family estates made him extremely wealthy.

He was able to devote his time to discovery, with a particular interest in ancient Rome and Africa. Determined to establish the source of the world’s longest river, Bruce focused on the Blue Nile, which joins the White Nile at Khartoum.

Arriving in Alexandria in 1788, he had travelled through Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia, where he remained for two years. At 6ft 4in he was an imposing man whose courage, sporting prowess and linguistic skills saw him held in high regard by his hosts.

He traced the river through Lake Tana and to the springs of Gish Abay, which he declared the source. He drank from half a coconut with a toast to “His Majesty King George III and a long line of princes”.

He then decided to follow the river to the sea, a trip no less adventurous which saw him held hostage and battle with robbers.

On his travels he collected copies of the Book of Enoch, an apocryphal Jewish religious book of which only fragments had previously survived. He gave one copy to the King of France and a second to the Bodleian Library in Oxford.

The seasoned traveller died in 1794... after falling down stairs at his home.

Question: On this day in 1973, Captain Mark Phillips married whom?

Last week I asked: Which Marxist revolutionary, who once led the Red Army, was born November 7, 1879? LEON TROTSKY