The Lake Regions of Central Africa: A Picture of Exploration, Vol. 2

by Sir Richard Francis Burton

APPENDIX II.

FIRST CORRESPONDENCE.

1.

“East India House, 13th September, 1856.

“Sir,—I am commanded by the Court of Directors of the East India Company to inform you, that, in compliance with the request of the Royal Geographical Society, you are permitted to be absent from your duties as a regimental officer whilst employed with an Expedition, under the patronage of Her Majesty’s Government, to be despatched into Equatorial Africa, for the exploration of that country, for a period not exceeding two years. I am directed to add, that you are permitted to draw the pay and allowances of your rank during the period of your absence, which will be calculated from the date of your departure from Bombay.

“I am, Sir,
“Your most obedient humble Servant,
“(Signature illegible.)

“Lieutenant R. Burton.”

2.

“East India House, 24th October, 1856.

“Sir,—In consequence of a communication from the office of the Secretary of State for War, intimating that you are required as a witness on the trial by Court-Martial now pending on Colonel A. Shirley, I am desired to convey to you the commands of the Court of Directors that you instantly return to London for that purpose. In obeying this order, you are required to proceed, not through France, but by the steamer direct from Alexandria to Southampton. You will report yourself to the Secretary of State for War immediately on your arrival. The agent for the East India Company in Egypt has received instructions by this mail to supply you with the necessary funds for your passage.

“I am, Sir,
“Your most obedient humble Servant,
“(Signed) James Melville.

“Lieutenant Burton.”

3.

“The Military Secretary, East India House.

“Aden, 14th November.

“Sir,—I have the honour to acknowledge your official letter of the 24th October, conveying to me the commands of the Court of Directors to return instantly to London by the steamer direct from Alexandria to Southampton.

“The steamer in question left Alexandria on November 6th, at about 10 a.m. I received and acknowledged from the British Consulate your official letter on the same day at Cairo, about noon. No steamer leaves Alexandria before the 20th inst.; it is therefore evident that I could not possibly obey the order within the limits specified.

“No mention was made about my returning to England by the next steamer, probably because the Court-Martial pending upon Colonel A. Shirley will before that time have come to a close. I need scarcely say, that should I, on arrival at Bombay, find an order to that effect, it shall be instantly and implicitly obeyed.

“Considering, however, that I have already stated all that I know upon the subject of the Court-Martial in question—that I was not subpœnaed in England—that I am under directions of the Royal Geographical Society, and employed with an Expedition under the patronage of the Foreign Office—that without my proceeding to Bombay, valuable Government property would most probably have been lost, and the preparations for the Expedition have suffered from serious delay—and lastly, that by the loss of a few weeks a whole year’s exploration must be allowed to pass by—I venture respectfully to hope that I have taken the proper course, and that should I, on my arrival in India, find no express and positive order for an immediate return to Europe, I may be permitted to proceed forthwith to Africa.

“As a servant of the East India Company, in whose interests I have conscientiously and energetically exerted myself for the space of 14 years, I cannot but request the Court of Directors to use their powerful influence in my behalf. Private interests cannot be weighed against public duty. At the same time, I have already embarked a considerable sum in the materiel of the Expedition, paid passage money, and devoted time, which might otherwise have been profitably employed, to the subject of Equatorial Africa. I remained long enough in London to enable the War Office to call for my presence as a witness, and I ascertained personally from Major-General Beatson that he had not placed me upon his list. And finally, I venture to observe, that by returning to Europe now, I should be compromising the interests of the Royal Geographical Society, under which I am in fact virtually serving.”

4.

“To the Secretary of the Royal Geographical Society, London.

“Sir,—I have the honour to forward, for the information of the President and members of the Expeditionary Committee, a copy of a communication to my address from the Military Secretary to the Court of Directors, together with my reply thereto. On perusal of these documents, you will perceive that my presence is urgently demanded in England to give evidence on a Court-Martial, and that the letter desiring me to proceed forthwith to England arrived too late in Egypt to admit of my obeying that order. Were I now to proceed directly from Bombay to England, it is evident that the Expedition which I am undertaking under your direction, must be deferred to a future and uncertain date. With a view to obviate this uncalled-for delay, I have the honour to request that you will use your interest to the effect that, as an officer virtually in your service, I may be permitted to carry out the views of your Society; and that my evidence, which can be of no importance to either prosecutor or defendant in the Court-Martial in question, may be dispensed with. I start this evening for Bombay, and will report departure from that place.

“I have, &c.,
“R. F. Burton.

“Camp, Aden, 14th November, 1856.”

5.

“To the Secretary of the Royal Geographical Society, London.

“Sir,—I have the honour to inform you that on the 1st Dec. 1856, I addressed to you a letter which I hope has been duly received. On the 2nd instant, in company with Lt. Speke, I left Bombay Harbour, on board the H.E.I.C’s. ship of war ‘Elphinstone’ (Capt. Frushard, I.N., commanding), en route to East Africa. I have little to report that may be interesting to geographers; but perhaps some account of political affairs in the Red Sea may be deemed worthy to be transmitted by you to the Court of Directors or to the Foreign Office.

“As regards the Expedition, copies of directions and a memorandum on instruments and observations for our guidance have come to hand. For observations, Lt. Speke and I must depend upon our own exertions, neither serjeants nor native students being procurable at the Bombay Observatory. The case of instruments and the mountain barometer have not been forwarded, but may still find us at Zanzibar. Meanwhile I have obtained from the Commanding Engineer, Bombay, one six-inch sextant, one five and a-half ditto, two prismatic compasses, five thermometers (of which two are B.P.), a patent log, taper, protractors, stands, &c.; also two pocket chronometers from the Observatory, duly rated; and Dr. Buist, Secretary, Bombay Geographical Society, has obliged me with a mountain barometer and various instructions about points of interest. Lt. Speke has been recommended by the local government to the Government of India for duty in East Africa, and the services of Dr. Steinhaeuser, who is most desirous to join us, have been applied for from the Medical Board, Bombay. I have strong hopes that both these officers will be allowed to accompany me, and that the Royal Geographical Society will use their efforts to that effect.

“By the subjoined detailed account of preliminary expenses at Bombay, it will be seen that I have expended £70 out of £250, for which I was permitted to draw.

“Although, as I before mentioned, the survey of Eastern Intertropical Africa has for the moment been deferred, the necessity still exists. Even in the latest editions of Horsburgh, the mass of matter relative to Zanzibar is borrowed from the observations of Capt. Bissel, who navigated the coast in H.M’s. ships ‘Leopard’ and ‘Orestes’ about A.D. 1799. Little is known of the great current which, setting periodically from and to the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, sweeps round the Eastern Horn of Africa. The reefs are still formidable to navigators; and before these seas can be safely traversed by steamers from the Cape, as is now proposed, considerable additions must be made to Capt. Owen’s survey in A.D. 1823-24. Finally, operations on the coast will form the best introduction to the geographical treasures of the interior.

“The H.E.I. Company’s surveying brig ‘Tigris’ will shortly be out of dock, where she has been undergoing a thorough repair, and if fitted up with a round house on the quarter-deck would answer the purpose well. She might be equipped in a couple of months, and dispatched to her ground before the South-west Monsoon sets in, or be usefully employed in observing at Zanzibar instead of lying idle in Bombay Harbour. On former surveys of the Arabian and African Coasts, a small tender of from thirty to forty tons has always been granted, as otherwise operations are much crippled in boisterous weather and exposed on inhospitable shores. Should no other vessel be available, one of the smallest of the new Pilot Schooners now unemployed at Bombay might be directed to wait upon the ‘Tigris.’ Lt. H. G. Fraser, I.N., has volunteered for duty upon the African Coast, and I have the honour to transmit his letter. Nothing more would be required were some junior officer of the Indian Navy stationed at Zanzibar for the purpose of registering tidal, barometric, and thermometric observations, in order that something of the meteorology of this unknown region may be accurately investigated.

“When passing through Aden I was informed that the blockade of the Somali Coast had been raised without compensation for the losses sustained on my last journey. This step appears, politically speaking, a mistake. In the case of the ‘Mary Ann’ brig, plundered near Berberah in A.D. 1825, due compensation was demanded and obtained. Even in India, an officer travelling through the states not under British rule, can, if he be plundered, require an equivalent for his property. This is indeed our chief protection,—semi-barbarians and savages part with money less willingly than with life. If it be determined for social reasons at Aden that the blockade should cease and mutton become cheap, a certain per-centage could be laid upon the exports of Berberah till such time as our losses, which, including those of government, amount to 1380l., are made good.

“From Harar news has reached Aden that the Amir Abubakr, dying during the last year of chronic consumption, has been succeeded by a cousin, one Abd el Rahman, a bigoted Moslem, and a violent hater of the Gallas. His success in feud and foray, however, have not prevented the wild tribes from hemming him in, and unless fortune interfere, the city must fall into their hands. The rumour prevalent at Cairo, namely, that Harar had been besieged and taken by Mr. Bell, now serving under ‘Theodorus, Emperor of Ethiopia’ (the chief Cássái), appears premature. At Aden I met in exile Sharmarkay bin Ali Salih, formerly governor of Zayla. He has been ejected in favour of a Dankali chief by the Ottoman authorities of Yemen, a circumstance the more to be regretted as he has ever been a firm friend to our interests.

“The present defenceless state of Berberah still invites our presence. The eastern coast of the Red Sea is almost entirely under the Porte. On the western shore, Cosseir is Egyptian, Masawwah, Sawakin, and Zayla, Turkish, and Berberah, the best port of all, unoccupied. I have frequently advocated the establishment of a British agency at this place, and venture to do so once more. This step would tend to increase trade, to obviate accidents in case of shipwreck, and materially assist in civilizing the Somal of the interior. The Government of Bombay has doubtless preserved copies of my reports, plans, and estimates concerning the proposed agency, and I would request the Royal Geographical Society to inquire into a project peculiarly fitted to promote their views of exploration in the Eastern Horn of Africa. Finally, this move would checkmate any ambitious projects in the Red Sea. The Suez Canal may be said to have commenced. It appears impossible that the work should pay in a commercial sense. Politically it may, if, at least, its object be, as announced by the Count d’Escayrac de Lauture, at the Société de Geographie, to ‘throw open the road of India to the Mediterranean coasting trade, to democratise commerce and navigation.’ The first effect of the highway would be, as that learned traveller justly remarks, to open a passage through Egypt to the speronari and feluccas of the Levant, the light infantry of a more regular force.

“The next step should be to provide ourselves with a more efficient naval force at Aden, the Head-Quarters of the Red Sea Squadron. I may briefly quote as a proof of the necessity for protection, the number of British protégés in the neighbouring ports, and the present value of the Jeddah trade.

“Mocha now contains about twenty-five English subjects, the principal merchants in the place. At Masawwah, besides a few French and Americans, there are from sixteen to twenty British protégés, who trade with the interior, especially for mules required at the Mauritius and our other colonies. Hodaydah has from fifty to sixty, and Jeddah, besides its dozen resident merchants, annually witnesses the transit of some hundreds of British subjects, who flock to the Haj for commerce and devotion.

“The chief emporium of the Red Sea trade has for centuries past been Jeddah, the port of Meccah. The custom-house reports of 1856 were kindly furnished to me by Capt. Frushard, I.N. (now commanding the H.E.I.C’s. sloop of war, ‘Elphinstone,’) an old and experienced officer, lately employed in blockading Berberah, and who made himself instrumental in quelling certain recent attempts upon Turkish supremacy in Western Arabia. According to these documents, thirty-five ships of English build (square-rigged) arrived at and left Jeddah between the end of September and April, from and for various places in the East, China, Batavia, Singapore, Calcutta, Bombay, the Malabar Coast, the Persian Gulf, and Eastern Africa. Nearly all carried our colours, and were protected, or supposed to be protected, by a British register: only five had on board a European captain or sailing master, the rest being commanded and officered by Arabs and Indians. Their cargoes from India and the Eastern regions are rice, sugar, piece goods, planking, pepper, and pilgrims; from Persia, dates, tobacco, and raw silk; and from the Mozambique, ivory, gold dust, and similar costly articles. These imports in 1856 are valued at 160,000l. The exports for the year, consisting of a little coffee and spice for purchase of imports, amounts, per returns, to 120,000l. In addition to these square-rigged ships, the number of country vessels, open boats, buggalows, and others, from the Persian Gulf and the Indian Coasts, amount to 900, importing 550,000l., and exporting about 400,000l. I may remark, that to all these sums at least one-third should be added, as speculation abounds, and books are kept by triple entry in the Holy Land.

“The next port in importance to Jeddah is Hodaydah, where vessels touch on their way northward, land piece and other goods, and call on the return passage to fill with coffee. As the head-quarters of the Yemen Pashalik, it has reduced Mocha, formerly the great coffee mart, to insignificance, and the vicinity of Aden, a free port, has drawn off much of the stream of trade from both these ancient emporia. On the African Coast of the Red Sea, Sawakin, opposite Jeddah, is a mere slave mart, and Masawwah, opposite Hodaydah, still trades in pearls, gold dust, ivory, and mules.

“But if the value of the Red Sea traffic calls, in the present posture of events, for increased means of protection, the Slave-trade has equal claims to our attention. At Aden energetic efforts have been made to suppress it. It is, however, still carried on by country boats from Sawakin, Tajurrah, Zayla, and the Somali Coast;—a single cargo sometimes consisting of 200 head gathered from the interior, and exported to Jeddah and the small ports lying north and south of it. The trade is, I believe, principally in the hands of Arab merchants at Jeddah and Hodaydah, and resident foreigners, principally Indian Moslems, who claim our protection in case of disturbances, and consequently carry on a thriving business. Our present Squadron in the Red Sea consisting of only two sailing vessels, the country boats in the African ports have only to wait till they see the ship pass up or down, and then knowing the passage—a matter of a day—to be clear, to lodge the slaves at their destination. During the past year, this trade was much injured by the revolt of the Arabs against the Turks, and the constant presence of the ‘Elphinstone,’ whose reported object was to seize all vessels carrying slaves. The effect was principally moral. Although the instructions for the guidance of the Commander enjoined him to carry out the wishes of the Home and Indian Governments for the suppression of Slavery, yet there being no published treaty between the Imperial Government and the Porte sanctioning to us the right of search in Turkish bottoms, his interference would not have been supported by the Ottoman local authorities. It may be well to state, that after a Firman had been published in the Hejaz and Gemen abolishing the trade, the Turkish Governments of Jeddah and Hodaydah declared that the English Commander might do as he pleased, but that they declined making any written request for his assistance. For its present increased duties, for the suppression of the Slave-trade, for the protection of British subjects, and for the watching over Turkish and English interests in the Red Sea, the Aden Squadron is no longer sufficient. During the last two years it has numbered two sailing vessels, the ‘Elphinstone,’ a sloop of war, carrying twelve 32-pounders, and two 12-pounders; and the ‘Mahi’ a schooner armed with one pivot gun, 32-pounder, and two 12-pounders. Nor would it be benefited by even a considerable increase of sailing vessels. It is well known that, as the prevailing winds inside the sea are favourable for proceeding upwards from September to April, so on the return, during those months, they are strongly adverse. A fast ship, like the ‘Elphinstone,’ requires 30 days on the downward voyage to do the work of four. Outside the sea, during those months, the current sets inward from the Indian Ocean, and a ship, in event of very light winds falling, has been detained a whole week in sight of Aden. From April to September, on the contrary, the winds set down the Red Sea frequently with violence; the current inside the sea also turns towards the Indian Ocean, and outside the S.W. Monsoon is blowing. Finally, sailing ships draw too much water. In the last year the ‘Elphinstone’ kept the Arabs away from Jeddah till the meanness of the Sherif Abd el Muttalib had caused his downfall. But her great depth (about from 14-6 to 15 ft.) prevented her approaching the shore at Hodaydah near enough to have injured the insurgents, who, unaware of the fact, delayed their attack upon the town till famine and a consequent pestilence dispersed them. With little increase of present expenditure, the Red Sea might be effectually commanded. Two screw-steamers, small enough to enter every harbour, and to work steadily amongst the banks on either shore, and yet large enough to be made useful in conveying English political officers of rank and Native Princes, when necessary, would amply suffice, a vessel of the class of H.M.’s gun-boat, ‘Flying Fish,’ drawing at most 9 feet water, and carrying four 32-pounders of 25 cwt. each, as broadside, and two 32-pounders of 25 cwt. each, as pivot guns, would probably be that selected. The crews would consist of fewer men than those at present required, and means would easily be devised for increasing the accommodation of officers and men, and for securing their health and comfort during cruises that might last two months in a hot and dangerous climate.

“By means of two such steamers we shall, I believe, be prepared for any contingencies which might arise in the Red Sea; and if to this squadron be added an allowance for interpreters and a slave approver in each harbour, in fact a few of the precautions practised by the West African Squadron, the slave-trade in the Red Sea will soon have received its death-blow, and Eastern Africa its regeneration at our hands.

“I have, &c., &c.,
“R. F. Burton,
“Commanding East African Expedition.

“H.E.I.C. Sloop of War ‘Elphinstone,’
“15th December, 1856.”

6.

No. 961 of 1857.

From H. L. Anderson, Esquire, Secretary to Government, Bombay, to Captain R. F. Burton, 18th Regiment Bombay N. I.

Dated the 23rd July, 1857.

“Sir,—With reference to your letter, dated the 15th December, 1856, to the address of the Secretary of the Royal Geographical Society of London, communicating your views on affairs in the Red Sea, and commenting on the political measures of the Government of India, I am directed by the Right Honourable the Governor in Council to state, your want of discretion, and due respect for the authorities to whom you are subordinate, has been regarded with displeasure by Government.

“I have the honour to be, Sir,
“Your most obedient Servant,
“(Signed) H. L. Anderson,
“Secretary to Government.

“Bombay Castle, 23rd July, 1857.”

7.

THE MASSACRE AT JUDDAH.

(Extract from the “Telegraph Courier,” Overland Summary, Bombay, August 4, 1858.)

“On the 30th June, a massacre of nearly all the Christians took place at Juddah on the Red Sea. Amongst the victims were Mr. Page, the British Consul, and the French Consul and his lady. Altogether the Arabs succeeded in slaughtering about twenty-five.

“H.M. steamship Cyclops was there at the time, and the captain landed with a boat’s crew, and attempted to bring off some of the survivors, but he was compelled to retreat, not without having killed a number of the Arabs. The next day, however, he succeeded in rescuing the few remaining Christians, and conveyed them to Suez.

“Amongst those who were fortunate enough to escape was the daughter of the French Consul; and this she succeeded in doing through the fidelity of a native after she had killed two men with her own hands, and been severely wounded in the encounter. Telegraphic dispatches were transmitted to England and France, and the Cyclops is waiting orders at Suez. As it was apprehended that the news from Juddah might excite the Arab population of Suez to the commission of similar outrages, H.R.M’s Vice-Consul at that place applied to the Pasha of Egypt for assistance, which was immediately afforded by the landing of 500 Turkish soldiers, under the orders of the Pasha of Suez.”

8.

“Unyanyembe, Central Africa, 24th June, 1858.

“Sir,—I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your official letter, No. 961 of 1857, conveying to me the displeasure of the Government in consequence of my having communicated certain views on political affairs in the Red Sea to the R. G. S. of Great Britain.

“The paper in question was as is directly stated, and it was sent for transmission to the Board of Directors, or the Foreign Office, not for publication. I beg to express my regret that it should have contained any passages offensive to the authorities to whom I am subordinate; and to assure the Right Honourable the Governor in Council that nothing was farther from my intentions than to displease a government to whose kind consideration I have been, and am still, so much indebted.

“In conclusion, I have the honour to remind you that I have received no reply to my official letter, sent from Zanzibar, urging our claims upon the Somal for the plunder of our property.

“I have the honour to be, Sir,
“Your most obedient Servant,
“Richard. F. Burton,
“Commanding East African Expedition.

To the Secretary to Government, Bombay.”

9.

No. 2845, of 1857.

“Political Department.

From H. L. Anderson, Esq., Secretary to Government of Bombay, to Capt. R. F. Burton, Commanding E. A. Expedition, Zanzibar.

“Dated 13th June, 1857.

“Sir,—I am directed by the Right Honourable the Governor in Council to acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated the 26th April last, soliciting compensation on behalf of yourself and the other members of the late Somalee Expedition, for losses sustained by you and them.

Having regard to the conduct of the Expedition, His Lordship cannot think that the officers who composed it have any just claims on the Government for their personal losses. “2. In reply, I am desired to inform you, that under the opinion copied in the margin, expressed by the late Governor-General of India, the Right Honourable the Governor in Council cannot accede to the application now preferred.

“I have, &c.,
“(Signed)H. L. Anderson,
“Secretary to Government.”

END OF FIRST CORRESPONDENCE.

SECOND CORRESPONDENCE.

1.

“India Office, E. C., 8th November, 1859.

“Sir,—I am directed by the Secretary of State for India in Council to forward for your information, copy of a letter addressed by Captain Rigby, her Majesty’s Consul and agent at Zanzibar, to the Government of Bombay, respecting the non-payment of certain persons hired by you to accompany the Expedition under your command into Equatorial Africa, and to request that you will furnish me with any observations which you may have to make upon the statements contained in that letter.

“Sir Charles Wood especially desires to be informed why you took no steps to bring the services of the men who accompanied you, and your obligations to them, to the notice of the Bombay Government.

“I am, Sir,
“Your obedient servant,
“(Signed)T. Cosmo Melville.

“Captain R. Burton.”

2.

“No. 70 of 1859.
“Political Department.

From Captain C. P. Rigby, her Majesty’s Consul and British agent, Zanzibar, to H. L. Anderson, Esquire, Secretary to Government, Bombay.

“Zanzibar, July 15th, 1859.

“Sir,—I have the honour to report, for the information of the Right Honourable the Governor in Council, the following circumstances connected with the late East African Expedition under the command of Captain Burton.

“2. Upon the return of Captain Burton to Zanzibar in March last, from the interior of Africa, he stated that, from the funds supplied him by the Royal Geographical Society for the expenses of the Expedition, he had only a sufficient sum left to defray the passage of himself and Captain Speke to England, and in consequence the persons who accompanied the Expedition from here, viz.: the Kafila Bashi, the Belooch Sepoys, and the porters, received nothing whatever from him on their return.

“3. On quitting Zanzibar for the interior of Africa, the expedition was accompanied by a party of Belooch soldiers, consisting of a Jemadar and twelve armed men. I understand they were promised a monthly salary of five dollars each; they remained with the Expedition for twenty months, and as they received nothing from Captain Burton beyond a few dollars each before starting, his highness the Sultan has generously distributed amongst them the sum of (2300) two thousand three hundred dollars.

“4. The head clerk of the Custom House here, a Banian, by name Ramjee, procured ten men, who accompanied the Expedition as porters; they were promised five dollars each per mensem, and received pay for six months, viz.: thirty dollars each before starting for the interior. They were absent for twenty months, during three of which the Banian Ramjee states that they did not accompany the Expedition. He now claims eleven months’ pay for each of these men, as they have not been paid anything beyond the advance before starting.

“5. The head clerk also states that after the Expedition left Zanzibar, he sent two men to Captain Burton with supplies, one of whom was absent with the Expedition seventeen months, and received nothing whatever; the other, he states, was absent fifteen months, and received six months’ pay, the pay for the remaining nine months being still due to him. Thus his claim amounts to the following sums:—

Ten	men for	eleven	months,	at five dollars	per man,	per month,	550	Dollars.
One	man for	seventeen	„	„	„	„	85	„
One	„	nine	„	„	„	„	45	„
				Total dollars			680

“6. These men were slaves, belonging to ‘deewans,’ or petty chiefs, on the opposite mainland. They travel far into the interior to collect and carry down ivory to the coast, and are absent frequently for the space of two or three years. When hired out, the pay they receive is equally divided between the slave and the master. Captain Speke informs me, that when these men were hired, it was agreed that one-half of their hire should be paid to the men, and the other half to Ramjee on account of their owners. When Ramjee asked Captain Burton for their pay, on his return here, he declined to give him anything, saying that they had received thirty dollars each on starting, and that he could have bought them for a less sum.

“7. The Kafila Bashi, or chief Arab, who accompanied the Expedition, by name Said bin Salem, was twenty-two months with Captain Burton. He states, that on the first journey to Pangany and Usumbara, he received fifty (50) dollars from Captain Burton; and that before starting on the last expedition, to discover the Great Lake, the late Lieutenant-Colonel Hamerton presented him with five hundred dollars on behalf of Government for the maintenance of his family during his absence. He states that he did not stipulate for any monthly pay, as Colonel Hamerton told him, that if he escorted the gentlemen to the Great Lake in the interior, and brought them in safety back to Zanzibar, he would be handsomely rewarded; and both Captain Speke and Mr. Apothecary Frost inform me that Colonel Hamerton frequently promised Said bin Salem that he should receive a thousand dollars and a gold watch if the Expedition were successful.

“8. As it appeared to me that Colonel Hamerton had received no authority from Government to defray any part of the expenses of this Expedition, and probably made these promises thinking that if the exploration of the unknown interior were successful a great national object would be attained, and that the chief man who conducted the Expedition would be liberally rewarded, and as Captain Burton had been furnished with funds to defray the expenses, I told him that I did not feel authorised to make any payment without the previous sanction of Government, and Said bin Salem has therefore received nothing whatever since his return.

“9. Said Bin Salem also states, that on the return of the Expedition from Lake Tanganyika, (70) seventy natives of the country were engaged as porters, and accompanied the Expedition for three months; and that on arriving at a place called ‘Kootoo,’ a few days’ journey from the sea-coast, Captain Burton wished them to diverge from the correct route to the coast opposite Zanzibar, to accompany him south to Keelwa; but they refused to do so, saying that none of their people ever dared to venture to Keelwa; that the chief slave-trade on the east coast is carried on. No doubt their fears were well grounded. These men received nothing in payment for their three months’ journey, and, as no white man had ever penetrated into their country previously, I fear that any future traveller will meet with much inconvenience in consequence of these poor people not having been paid.

“10. As I considered that my duty connected with the late Expedition was limited to affording it all the aid and support in my power, I have felt very reluctant to interfere with anything connected with the non-payment of these men; but Said bin Salem and Ramjee having appealed to me, and Captain Speke, since his departure from Zanzibar, having written me two private letters, pointing out so forcibly the claims of these men, the hardships they endured, and the fidelity and perseverance they showed, conducting them safely through unexplored countries, and stating also that the agreements with them were entered into at the British Consulate, and that they considered they were serving the British Government, that I deem it my duty to bring their claims to the notice of Government; for I feel that if these men remain unpaid, after all they have endured in the service of British officers, our name for good faith in these countries will suffer, and that any future travellers wishing to further explore the interesting countries of the interior will find no persons willing to accompany them from Zanzibar, or the opposite mainland.

“11. As there was no British agent at Zanzibar for thirteen months after the death of Colonel Hamerton, the Expedition was entirely dependent on Luddah Damha, the Custom-master here, for money and supplies. He advanced considerable sums of money without any security, forwarded all requisite supplies, and, Captain Speke says, afforded the Expedition every assistance, in the most handsome manner. Should Government, therefore, be pleased to present him with a shawl, or some small mark of satisfaction, I am confident he is fully deserving of it, and it would gratify a very worthy man to find that his assistance to the Expedition is acknowledged.

“I have, &c.,
“(Signed) C. P. Rigby, Captain,
“H. M.’s Consul and British Agent, Zanzibar.”

3.

“East India United Service Club, St. James’s Square,
11th November, 1859.

“Sir,—I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your official letter, dated the 8th of November, 1859, forwarding for my information copy of a letter, addressed by Captain Rigby, Her Majesty’s consul and agent at Zanzibar, to the Government of Bombay, respecting the non-payment of certain persons, hired by me to accompany the Expedition under my command into Equatorial Africa, and apprising me that Sir C. Wood especially desires to be informed, why I took no steps to bring the services of the men who accompanied me, and my obligations to them, to the notice of the Bombay Government.

“In reply to Sir Charles Wood I have the honour to state that, as the men alluded to rendered me no services, and as I felt in no way obliged to them, I would not report favourably of them. The Kafilah Bashi, the Jemadar, and the Baloch were servants of H.H. Sayyid Majid, in his pay and under his command; they were not hired by me, but by the late Lieut.-Col. Hamerton, H.M.’s Consul and H.E.I.C.’s agent at Zanzibar, and they marched under the Arab flag. On return to Zanzibar, I reported them as undeserving of reward to Lieut.-Col. Hamerton’s successor, Capt. Rigby, and after return to England, when my accounts were sent in to the Royal Geographical Society, I appended a memorandum, that as those persons had deserved no reward, no reward had been applied for.

“Before proceeding to reply to Capt. Rigby’s letter, paragraph by paragraph, I would briefly premise with the following remarks.

“Being ordered to report myself to Lieut.-Col. Hamerton, and having been placed under his direction, I admitted his friendly interference, and allowed him to apply to H.H. the Sultan for a guide and an escort. Lieut.-Col. Hamerton offered to defray, from public funds, which he understood to be at his disposal, certain expenses of the Expedition, and he promised, as reward to the guide and escort, sums of money, to which, had I been unfettered, I should have objected as exorbitant. But in all cases, the promises made by the late consul were purely conditional, depending entirely upon the satisfactory conduct of those employed. These facts are wholly omitted in Capt. Rigby’s reports.

“2. Capt. Rigby appears to mean that the Kafila Bashi, the Baloch sepoys, and the porters received nothing whatever on my return to Zanzibar, in March last, from the interior of Africa, because the funds supplied to me by the Royal Geographical Society for the Expenditure of the Expedition, had been exhausted. Besides the sum of (1000l.) one thousand pounds, granted by the Foreign Office, I had expended from private resources nearly (1400l.) fourteen hundred pounds, and I was ready to expend more had the expenditure been called for. But, though prepared on these occasions to reward liberally for good service, I cannot see the necessity, or rather I see the unadvisability of offering a premium to notorious misconduct. This was fully explained by me to Capt. Rigby on my return to Zanzibar.

“3. Capt. Rigby ‘understands’ that the party of Baloch sepoys, consisting of a Jemadar and twelve armed men, were promised a monthly salary of 5 dollars each. This was not the case. Lieut.-Col. Hamerton advanced to the Jemadar 25, and to each sepoy 20 dollars for an outfit; he agreed that I should provide them with daily rations, and he promised them an ample reward from the public funds in case of good behaviour. These men deserved nothing; I ignore their ‘fidelity’ and ‘perseverance,’ and I assert that if I passed safely through an unexplored country, it was in no wise by their efforts. On hearing of Lieut.-Col. Hamerton’s death, they mutinied in a body. At the Tanganyika Lake they refused to escort me during the period of navigation, a month of danger and difficulty. When Capt. Speke proposed to explore the Nyanza Lake, they would not march without a present of a hundred dollars’ worth of cloth. On every possible occasion they clamoured for ‘Bakshish,’ which, under pain of endangering the success of the Expedition, could not always be withheld. They were often warned by me that they were forfeiting all hopes of a future reward, and, indeed, they ended by thinking so themselves. They returned to Zanzibar with a number of slaves, purchased by them with money procured from the Expedition. I would not present either guide or escort to the consul; but I did not think it my duty to oppose a large reward, said to be 2,300 dollars, given to them by H.H. the Sultan, and I reported his liberality and other acts of kindness to the Bombay Government on my arrival at Aden. This fact will, I trust, exonerate me from any charge of wishing to suppress my obligations.

“4. The Banyan Ramji, head clerk of the Custom House, did not, as is stated by Capt. Rigby, procure me (10) ten men who accompanied the Expedition as porters; nor were these men, as is asserted, (in par. 6), ‘Slaves belonging to deewans or petty chiefs on the opposite mainland.’ It is a notorious fact that these men were private slaves, belonging to the Banyan Ramjee, who hired them to me direct, and received from me as their pay, for six months, thirty dollars each; a sum for which, as I told him, he might have bought them in the bazaar. At the end of six months I was obliged to dismiss these slaves, who, as is usually the case with the slaves of Indian subjects at Zanzibar, were mutinous in the extreme. At the same time I supplied them with cloth, to enable them to rejoin their patron. On my return from the Tanganyika Lake, they requested leave to accompany me back to Zanzibar, which I permitted, with the express warning that they were not to consider themselves re-engaged. The Banyan, their proprietor, had, in fact, sent them on a trading trip into the interior under my escort, and I found them the most troublesome of the party. When Ramji applied for additional pay, after my return to Zanzibar, I told him that I had engaged them for six months; that I had dismissed them at the end of six months, as was left optional to me; and that he had already received an unusual sum for their services. This conversation appears in a distorted form and improperly represented in the concluding sentence of Capt. Rigby’s 6th paragraph.

“5 and 6. With respect to the two men sent on with supplies after the Expedition had left Zanzibar, they were not paid, on account of the prodigious disappearance of the goods intrusted to their charge, as I am prepared to prove from the original journals in my possession. They were dismissed with their comrades, and never afterwards, to the best of my remembrance, did a day’s work.

“7 and 8. The Kafilah Bashi received from me for the first journey to Usumbara (50) fifty dollars. Before my departure in the second Expedition he was presented by Lieut. Colonel Hamerton with (500) five hundred dollars, almost double what he had expected. He was also promised, in case of good conduct, a gold watch, and an ample reward, which, however, was to be left to the discretion of his employers. I could not recommend him through Captain Rigby to the Government for remuneration. His only object seemed to be that of wasting our resources and of collecting slaves in return for the heavy presents made to the native chiefs by the Expedition, and the consequence of his carelessness or dishonesty was, that the expenditure on the whole march, until we had learnt sufficient to supervise him, was inordinate. When the Kafilah Bashi at last refused to accompany Captain Speke to the Nyanza Lake, he was warned that he also was forfeiting all claim to future reward, and when I mentioned this circumstance to Captain Rigby at Zanzibar, he then agreed with me that the 500 dollars originally advanced were sufficient.

“9. With regard to the statement of Said bin Salim concerning the non-payment of the seventy-three porters, I have to remark that it was mainly owing to his own fault. The men did not refuse to accompany me because I wished to diverge from the “correct route,” nor was I so unreasonable as to expect them to venture into the jaws of the slave trade. Several caravans that had accompanied us on the down-march, as well as the porters attached to the Expedition, were persuaded by the slaves of Ramjee (because Zanzibar was a nearer way to their homes) not to make Kilwa. The pretext of the porters was simply that they would be obliged to march back for three days. An extra remuneration was offered to them, they refused it, and left in a body. Shortly before their departure Captain Speke proposed to pay them for their services, but being convinced that they might be prevented from desertion, I did not judge advisable by paying them to do what would be virtually dismissing them. After they had proceeded a few miles, Said bin Salim was sent to recall them, on conditions which they would have accepted; he delayed, lost time, and ended by declaring that he could not travel without his dinner. Another party was instantly sent; they also loitered on the way, and thus the porters reached the coast and dispersed. Before their departure I rewarded the Kirangozi, or chief man of the caravan, who had behaved well in exhorting his followers to remain with us. I was delayed in a most unhealthy region for the arrival of some down porters, who consented to carry our goods to the coast; and to prove to them that money was not my object, I paid the newly-engaged gang as if they had marched the whole way. Their willingness to accompany me is the best proof that I had not lost the confidence of the people. Finally, on arrival at the coast, I inquired concerning those porters who had deserted us, and was informed by the Diwan and headman of the village, that they had returned to their homes in the interior, after a stay of a few days on the seaboard. This was a regrettable occurrence, but such events are common on the slave-path in Eastern Africa, and the established custom of the Arabs and other merchants, whom I had consulted upon the subject before leaving the interior, is, not to encourage desertion by paying part of the hire, or by settling for porterage before arriving at the coasts. Of the seven gangs of porters engaged on this journey, only one, an unusually small proportion, left me without being fully satisfied.

“10. That Said bin Salim, and Ramji, the Banyan, should have appealed to Captain Rigby, according to the fashion of Orientals, after my departure from Zanzibar, for claims which they should have advanced when I refused to admit them, I am not astonished. But I must express my extreme surprise that Captain Speke should have written two private letters, forcibly pointing out the claims of these men to Captain Rigby, without having communicated the circumstance in any way to me, the chief of the Expedition. I have been in continued correspondence with that officer since my departure from Zanzibar, and until this moment I have been impressed with the conviction that Captain Speke’s opinion as to the claims of the guide and escort above alluded to was identical with my own.

“11. With respect to the last paragraph of Captain Rigby’s letter, proposing that a shawl or some small mark of satisfaction should be presented by Government to Ladha Damha, the custom-master at Zanzibar, for his assistance to the Expedition, I distinctly deny the gratuitous assertions that I was entirely dependent on him for money and supplies; that he advanced considerable sums of money without any security; that he forwarded all requisite supplies, or, as Captain Speke affirms, that he afforded the Expedition every assistance in the most handsome manner. Before quitting Zanzibar for inner Africa, I settled all accounts with him, and left a small balance in his hands, and I gave, for all subsequent supplies, an order upon Messrs. Forbes, my agents in Bombay. He, like the other Hindus at Zanzibar, utterly neglected me after the death of Lieut.-Colonel Hamerton; and Captain Rigby has probably seen some of the letters of complaint which were sent by me from the interior. In fact, my principal merit in having conducted the Expedition to a successful issue is in having contended against the utter neglect of the Hindus at Zanzibar (who had promised to Lieut.-Colonel Hamerton, in return for his many good offices, their interest and assistance), and against the carelessness and dishonesty, the mutinous spirit and the active opposition of the guide and escort.

“I admit that I was careful that these men should suffer for their misconduct. On the other hand, I was equally determined that those who did their duty should be adequately rewarded,—a fact which nowhere appears in Captain Rigby’s letter. The Portuguese servants, the negro-gun carriers, the several African gangs of porters, with their leaders, and all other claimants, were fully satisfied. The bills drawn in the interior, from the Arab merchants, were duly paid at Zanzibar, and on departure I left orders that if anything had been neglected it should be forwarded to me in Europe. I regret that Captain Rigby, without thoroughly ascertaining the merits of the case (which he evidently has not done), should not have permitted me to record any remarks which I might wish to offer, before making it a matter of appeal to the Bombay Government.

“Finally, I venture to hope that Captain Rigby has forwarded the complaints of those who have appealed to him without endorsing their validity; and I trust that these observations upon the statements contained in his letter may prove that these statements were based upon no foundation of fact.

“I am, Sir,
“Your obedient Servant,
“R. F. Burton,
“Bombay Army.”

4.

“India Office, E. C., 14th January, 1860.

“Sir,—I am directed by the Secretary of State for India in council, to inform you that, having taken into consideration the explanations afforded by you in your letter of the 11th November, together with the information on the same subject furnished by Captain Speke, he is of opinion that it was your duty, knowing, as you did, that demands for wages, on the part of certain Belochs and others who accompanied you into Equatorial Africa, existed against you, not to have left Zanzibar without bringing these claims before the consul there, with a view to their being adjudicated on their own merits, the more especially as the men had been originally engaged through the intervention or the influence of the British authorities, whom, therefore, it was your duty to satisfy before leaving the country. Had this course been followed, the character of the British Government would not have suffered, and the adjustment of the dispute would, in all probability, have been effected at a comparatively small outlay.

“Your letter, and that of Captain Speke, will be forwarded to the Government of Bombay, with whom it will rest to determine whether you shall be held pecuniarily responsible for the amount which has been paid in liquidation of the claims against you.

“I am, Sir,
“Your obedient Servant,
“(Signed)J. Cosmo Melvill.”

5.

“Sir,—I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your official letter of the 14th January, 1860.

“In reply, I have the honour to observe that, not having been favoured with a copy of the information on the same subject furnished to you by Captain Speke, I am not in a position to understand on what grounds the Secretary of State for India in council should have arrived at so unexpected a decision as regards the alleged non-payment of certain claims made by certain persons sent with me into the African interior.

“I have the honour to observe that I did not know that demands for wages existed against me on the part of those persons, and that I believed I had satisfactorily explained the circumstances of their dismissal without payment in my official letter of the 11th November, 1859.

“Although impaired health and its consequences prevented me from proceeding in an official form to the adjudication of the supposed claims in the presence of the consular authority, I represented the whole question to Captain Rigby, who, had he then—at that time—deemed it his duty to interfere, might have insisted upon adjudicating the affair with me, or with Captain Speke, before we left Zanzibar.

“I have the honour to remark that the character of the British Government has not, and cannot (in my humble opinion) have suffered in any way by my withholding a purely conditional reward when forfeited by gross neglect and misconduct; and I venture to suggest that by encouraging such abuses serious obstacles will be thrown in the way of future exploration, and that the liberality of the British Government will be more esteemed by the native than its character for sound sense.

“In conclusion, I venture to express my surprise, that all my labours and long services in the cause of African Exploration should have won for me no other reward than the prospect of being mulcted in a pecuniary liability incurred by my late lamented friend, Lieut.-Colonel Hamerton, and settled without reference to me by his successor, Captain Rigby.

“I have the honour, &c. &c.,
“Richd. F. Burton,
“Captain, Bombay Army.”

“The Under Secretary of State for India.”