New-York tribune., 1885-02-22
COLONEL FRED. BURN ABLY.
REColLECTIoNs OF HIS CAREER

conld be tranquil Thirstlng for adventure, he was
condemned to homo service. and he lost no oppoi-
tunity during his leaves of absence OF seeh'ns
what might be least accessible. AS oincer III 'ho
Blues. one of the crack regiments IN the uuaros'
he was a fav0rte in society. WIN l'rso ii''ino
he had never found the opportunity oil spending It,
for his habits were sunpie anu ITO was 0''i :"
search of the impossible
first knew him in ST. Petersburg, WHITTIER he
mad come agam to improve himself somewhat III
the Russian language tall. heavy man, WHO
should have been and who had been IN WY d"
athlete, with black hair and droopihs o'.1n
mustache. We frequently dlned togethor "U WV
Hotel de France where he told me OF MS auVen'"'
IN Spain in South America and Central Africa anu
of his attempts in balloonng. lie had 'hauo ''o"
nineteen or twenty ascents and was afterward one
of the irst to cross from England to france. TIC
was one of the best storY-tellers that nave eVor
k,own and his stories had that great charm that,
while concerned exclusively with his perSohal
adventures he allowed himself to sink out OF sight
and concentrated the interest on the other charac
ters He never put himself forward or magh'neu
himself except as the hero OF some most aos"iu
and ridiculous mishap. He had great Iacli'' III
learning languages: knew Spanish ana ali "s
dialects more thoroughly than any ono nave ever
met: could toll Spanish folk tale IN tne dia'ooV VI
the province with an accent which wouio uoOo,,o wv
n
further than Khartoun and had a current known
edge of Arabic to say nothing OIL inc or"i""''
Enronean languages with which lie was quite
familiar He would drink nothing but weak
vhskey ana water, for hc protested To DC Shnerih-
from a liver complaint though he alhit'eu ti'.'
IL was in great part owing to a STRAIN receVcu III
carving young calf to his rooms at the top Vi 'o
barracks as bet. :
After mcctin. him often in LONDON III the spring
of 1874 SAW him again in st. Petersburg III 1910
mis- time he had come for an excursion to Cehtrai
Asia He wished to 20 to Khva, but was uncertain
"a to the hest way of getting there He knew thlt
tho Russan an hortles would object to his Journey
=. bs hal resolved if possible to penetrate 10
Afyharistan | was able to give MIN some deta'iS
about the rones and to recommend nun 10 tho Poi
sons who might facilitate his Journey. Aiter WV
or thrce delays lie started Oft. He had asked ociai
pernission but owing to the i-will OF the military
attache of the British Embassy this hau o'en
DELAYED aud he went without 1t. III reany was vi
no consequence except so far as IL caleu a''o'io"
IN his movements and therefore it did hun more
harm than good. From Orenburg he rode 10 for'
No. /. then straight through tho steppes on the
+r.ck of Nac(;ahan arrived easily AT the Russian
outnosts notwithstanding the hard Journey across
the desert aud then succeeded In outwittlhg the
Russian commanders and found MS way 10 hniN"
and To tho headquarters of the khan. uo hat no
sooner arrived there than an inquiry WAS 'eio
cranhed hack from the Russian General in command
as To his movements. The English Embassy pro-
fessed to have no knowledge of him, and the result
was that as he was simply on leave anu without
military orders the Duke of Cambridge ordered nun
to return at once. This command was sent through
the Russians and reached him at khIva. lie
obeyed reluctantly it is true but not before he had
sean the whole country and had secured the
materials TO write his extremely interesting book.
"a Ride to Khiva."
After meeting Burnaby frequently in London
when he was busy writing his story. we came
together again at Constantinope in the autumn OF
1915 shook had been success. lie hinseil
WA, a success except i'll his strictly professional
career where the Duke of Cambridge. mahager-in-
chief of the English army thought 1t right ior no
ono to deoart from the strict lines of his duty.
Tnirsting for some opportunity to display himself
ba had then come TO offer his services to the turks
IN case of war with Russia and to assist our COM
mon friend Valentine Baker who. after having
served term of imprisonment for a tault III wnich
he was more snned against than slnhihe' hai
become a Pacha and General In the IurKish
service The war did not begin as soon as was
expected and, after the abortlve results ol the
Conference. Burnaby made up his mind to take a
trim to the Armenian frontier. Alter a snort
preparation he started ont on horseback. and the
Horseback Through Asia Minor" This boDk, even
his friends must admit is far inferior to his hrst,
the whole interest lying in the talk and adventures
of soldier servant, who unfortunately died soon
afterward from fever and could not therefore
give the subject for new book
A wear later Burnaby came again to Constan-
tinople this time with the intention OF joining
Raker Pacha in an attempt to relieve Osnan Pacha'
then bcsiceea at Plevna. One of my pleasant
IL -itia RnE nEnr n
Rurpaby were the chief guests, and at which both
were gradually induced TO relate their adventures
Irecau now but one story. Barnaby had made
mention in his Khivan book OF Cookies pills. and
the paragraph was quoted and used largely as an
advertisement by the proprietor. "Burnaby = Ride
20 Khiva" airy Cookies Pills" Burnaby says
etc., stared at you for months in constant aiterha-
tion over whole sides of the London papers. On
returning from Armenia Burnaby found. he SAID, a
letter which looked so suggestive of bill that he
mt il aside till the last. When he opened IL he
fonnd.to his astonishment letter from Mr. Cookie
Offering him a gross of pills and check fol
GOO as his share of the profits gained
from the advertisement. /" of course accepted th'
roonev, he said "but replied to Cookie that
sbould apply 1t in his name to some benevolent
object was at a loss how to get even WIN IA nun u
hut AZ had noticed that he chiefly advertised II
the Liberal papers concluded that ne sympathiZec
with the Russians. and therefore subscribed IL
bis name to the Turkish feiei rulu' .,.
Both Baker and Burnaby ieit on the 1oi0wlhe
morning. but arrived too late to relieve PIevna
Baker himself went with many msgivings III wa'
a plan which nc had proposed two months 'ei0re
and which only the delays OF IA Turkish adm 'nistra
ton had prevented from being executed ,mme ,!n
diately. On this expedition Burnaby came very
ne,r Icing captured. lie lad, it was said th.
he had. made bet that he would enter Pleyna
General Skobclen heard OF this aud within short
fine according to my informant, the American
eftacbe with the Russian armies, had an exaC
DESCRIPTION of Burnaby's personal appearance ana I
knowledge of his history up to three days before
Strict orders were given to all the scouts ana Out
nosts to arrest anv such individual and shoot nm
on sight Knowing Skobelef as well as ana.
should have been yery sorry had this iappchei
oItnnuob cannot hut admit the instce OF his order