The morning call., 1894-01-14

d
mark: Get out of the way, you dirty
niger" Burton dare not retaliatP, but
how he would have liked to hit backi
Lady Burton gives an Oriental poem
written by her husband after his return
She calls 1t a gem. and says she does not
oelleye II has It's equal either from the pen
Of Hafiz. Saadi. Shakespeare, Milton.
wlnburne or any other. 1t certainly has
not its like, but that is not the same thing.
and unQuestiOnably "Kasidah," or "The
Lay of the Higher Law" has much loftier
merit than uniqneness.
From Egypt Burton went out again TO
India. but the exploration fever once more
attacked him and he resolved to journey
to Harar, in Somaliland, Abyssinia. which
it was considered certain death to enter,
This region is, in truth. not yet explored.
Burton made known a great deal OF what
is known about If, and he did so at the
peril OF his life, travelling in disguise with
attendants who were imposed upon quite
al thoroughly as the de iZens of the coun-
try. The journey occupied four months
Three other Europeans crossed to Ber-
berah with him, one of them Speke, but
they had other details Of exploration to
follow up. Adopting the character of
Moslem merchant. learned man, but not
necessarily a buyer or seller, Burton
finally got away from the coast. he
remarks in his notes that ''the
journey was TO be through a savage,
bItdCu6IOue, leIOClOu5 anu DlOOGlulTSIy
people, whose tribes were in a constant
state of blood feuG. The party consisted
OF nine, an abban or guide, three Arab
matchbox men, two women cooks, who
were called ShehraZade and DeewarZade
after the Arabian Nights, fourth SER
want and a Bedouin woman to drive dom
key, which camelS will follow and which is
the custom. We had four or five mules
saddled and orldled and camels for the
baggage. Every one wept over us and
considered us dead men. The abban ob-
Jected TO some routes on account of ayeid-
ing tribes with which he had blood feud."
The prvations were terrible and the
dangers extreme, and the SOmal and
Galas had to be dealt with in various in
genious ways to circumvent their antipa-
thy To strangers. 1t was a compliment to
find the Somal allnding to Burton as the
Sheykh who knows knowledge" That
he entered Harar at all was matter of
amazement to the people. but not only did
he do so. but he passed ten days in ii, bad
several interviews with the Amir aud his
chief minister and came away safe and
reached Berberah. The risks on the re-
turn journey were also 1rightful. In his
notes this passage occurs, describing the
entry into Harar:
I'VE were kept wal ting half an hour, and
were told by the warder 10 pass the thres-
hold. Long Jules gave his animal to the
two BedaWl. every one advising my at
tendants to escape with the beasts as we
were going to be killed on the road to this
African ST. James. We were ordered to
run, but we leisurely led our mules in spite
Of the guides wrath, entered the gate and
strolled down the yard, which was full of
Gallas with spears, and the waiting gave
me an opportunity TO inspect the place. L
walked into a vast hall, hundred feet
long, between two long rows Of Gala
spearmen, between whose lines l had to
pass. They were large, half-naked saw
ages, standing like statues, with fierce,
movable eyes, each one holding, with its
butt end to the ground. huge spear with
a head the size of a shovel l purposely
sauntered down them coolly with q
swagger, with my ewes fixed upon their
dangerOus-loo okiDg faces. L had six
shooter concealed in nv walstbelt, and de-
termined al the first show OF excitement
TO run up to the Amir and put 1t TO his
head, if it were necessary, to save my own
life."
The interview passed most favorably.
The Amir smiled gracousiy, and as Bur-
ton retired the lOiteTers IN the paiace-yard
smiled as though they loved him. The
time he passed in Harar was sufficient TO
pick UP the language, and on his way back
he wrote out It's grammar. The inhablt-
ants are 4 people by themselves, 5000 in
number, holding foreigners in hatred and
contempt, and dividing them into two
classes, Arabs and SOmal.
On returning to Alden Burton planned a
new expedition by which he hoped 10
reach the Nile HaTaTwaTds. He organized
a party of tOrty-twO men, with StTOyaD,
Herne and Speke as lieutenan.s. An at
tack by the Somal at Berberah ruined the
expedition, aud all but ended in the mas
sacre of the party. Burton was pinned by
a javelin through the Jaws, Speke was
wounded in many places, Lieutenant Stro-
van was killed, and only by the greatest
good luck and hard fighting did they
escape.
The Crimean war had broken out and
Burton offered his services. He was too
late to see any active fighting, but was a
captain of Bashi- -Bazouks, who were
formed into a corps by General Beatson,
and might have achieved something had
he been permitted, but was not. The
Crimean war had no glory for Burton and
very little for England.
In England Burton plunged fervidly in
love. became engaged to his future wife
and then set off for three years TO explore
equatorial Africa. He drew little sketch
map, in 1856, of what he expected TO find,
and on it are marked the general course of
the Nile, the Victoria NyanZa and Lake
TangaDyika, south of the equator. anu an
other lake in north latitude. The map
shows that the man had OWNED, from Just
appreciation of slender reports, the true
geography of the region. lie had Speke
with him as second in command, and had
a very modest allowance of funds from the
Royal Geographical Society. 1t was all
exploration over region known only by
vague report At Zanzibar Burton organ
lied his expedition with con summate fore
thought. made friends of the Arabs, with
whom he conversed as one of themselves,
and in spite OF difficulties innumerahls
and fevers, about thirty in number, he
succeeded in reaching Tanganyika and ex-
ploring it, while Spoke also got sight of
The Victoria Nyanza. Burton aimed al
doing more, bu. resources failed and OBJ
stacles fatal to farther exploration arose
Both be and Speke were near death on
several occasions. and on reaching
the coast Burton was too ill to
proceed home at once. Speke pre-
ceded him and in an inconceivable
spirit of pretension claimed most of the
credit for the journey and the discoveries.
The Geographical Society took Speke at
his word and put him in command of an
other expedition, thus forestalling Burton,
who had hoped to resume his work. The
expedition of Speke and Grant made
known $50 miles of new region, including
the Victoria NyanZa. but it was left to Sir
Samuel Baker. who encountered them as
they were returning, to describe the lbert
L. I s,.,.,