Savannah morning news., 1885-01-25
COL. BURNABY's CAREER.
An Account of His ride to Khiva.'

An account OF His ''Rlde to kh1Va.'
Col. Frederick BuInaby, who was killed
at the battle at Abu Klea Wells and who
made the famous "Ride to Khiva," of
which he wrote so graphically, was born
in Bedford, England, March 3, 1S42. He
was the son of the late Rev. 6. Burnaby
and his mother was a sister of Harry
VillebOis, of Marham House, Norfolk.
Young Burnaby received the earlier pOr-
tiOn OF his education at Harrow School.
and subsequently studied in Germany.
He developed a great fOundness for
athletic and military exercises when
quite young. He was admitted into the
Royal Horse Guards, Blues, in the fall of
1859. His health showed signs OF falling
soon afterward and his physician recon-
mended travel, WhereupOn he made ar
rangements for long absence from homo
and visited various parts of Europe and
Central and South America.
1t was in the spring of 1915 that Capt.
Burnaby made up his mind to undertake
a trip to Khlya, in Central Asia. His in
centIVe to go was a newspaper paragraph
to the effect that the Russian Government
at st. Petersburg had given an order that
no foreigner was to be allowed to travel
in Russian Asia, and that an Englishman
who had attempted a journey in that
direction had been turned back by the
authorities. In explaining the impulse
that melted him to make the trip, Capt
Burnably wrote: 'I have, unfortunately
for my own interests, from my earliest
childhood had what my old nurse used to
call a most 'cOntradictOTiOus' spirit, and
upon reading that paragraph il suddenly
occurred to me, why not 20 to Central
Asia ?" The YentuTesOme Captain was
quite familiar with the Russian and
Arabic languages, and he was as much at
| home on a camel, on a sledge, or in a
balloon as in a railway carriage or a
steamer. He therefore felt that he was
unusually well equipped for such a
! journey. The arbitrary exclusion of for
| eigners from Central Asia aroused in his
mind a suspicion that there was some
thing behind the scenes-sOmethjng that
/ Russia desired to hide from the eyes of
1 Europe.
/ After spending several weeks in read
/ ing books of travel in Central Asia, Capt.
/ Burnaby left London Nov. 80, 1879, to
/ start on his journey. a troopers hOld-all
/ with its accompanying knife, fork and
! spoon, and thermometer. barometer and
/ pocket seXtant completed mis- lit. His
money, in gold coin, was strapped in a
/ belt around his waist, aud his baggage,
/ including gun, sleeping sack, saddle bags,
/ etc, weighed only eighty-fve pounds. He
/ had offers of company, but he preferred tC
:
! plucky traveller was comparatively easy
! for the first few hundred miles. He got
| by several prohibited Russian stations by
means OF his mastery knowledge of the
/ language or in consequence of the inabil-
! ity of the inspectors to read his passport.
/ The cOmmandant at KaZala, near the
mouth of the Syr Darla, allowed him tC
proceed, assuming that he would 90 di.
| rectly to the fort OF Petro- ro-AleXandrOvsk
(
followed this course he would not have
been allowed to pass the fort
| Suspecting as much, he made
detOur, crossed the Oxus into
Khanate, and thereby found his way
safely to st. Petersburg. He had intended
to proceed directly from st. Petersburg II
| BOkhara, but his progress was frequently
arrested, and his plans had to be frequently
/ changed. but he made his way to KhiVa
He had not been there long, however
when he was informed by a Russian
! officer that a telegram from the British
War Office summoning him back Il
European Russia was awaiting him a
a Russian fort within few hours jour
ney of the town. That telegram had beer
forwarded 900 miles by the Russian au
thOritieS, who were evidently anxious Il
get him out of Central Asia. A LOndOl
paper made this recall of Burnaby tn,
subject of spirited discussion and Virtu
ally charged that the Duke OF Cambridg,
was instigated by the Russian Govern
ment to summon Capt. Burnaby back be
fore he could inform himself regardin.
the condition of affairs in Russian Asia
Capt. Burnaby rode on hoTsebacl
through Turkey in Asia and all the way
from Seutari to Khoi in Persia in th
winter OF 1867, and returned to Con
stantinOple by way of Ardahan, Kars
Batoum, and Trebizond. His account O
his travels as given in his book, "a Rid
to khlva," is very entertaining. The
Captain was military correspondent o
the London Times with the army of Dor
Carlos in Spain. He was member OF tht
Aeronautic Society of Great Britain, anC
he made 19 balloon ascensiOns, in severa
of which he alone managed the balloon
Besides his ''Ride to Khiva" he was tht
author of "On Horseback Through ASH
Minor"