[15] Miss Stisted’s Life of Burton, p. 361.
[16] Lady Burton thus describes her visit to the Austrian Court: “I was very much dazzled by the Court. I thought everything was beautifully done, so arranged as to give every one pleasure, and somehow it was the graciousness that was in itself a welcome. I shall never forget the first night that I saw the Empress—a vision of beauty, clothed in silver, crowned with water-lilies, with large rows of diamonds and emeralds round her small head and her beautiful hair, and descending all down her dress in festoons. The throne-room is immense, with marble columns down each side—all the men arranged on one side and all the women on the other, and the new presentations with their ambassadors and ambassadresses nearest the throne. When the Emperor and Empress came in, they walked up the middle, the Empress curtseying most gracefully and smiling a general gracious greeting. They then ascended the throne, and presently the Empress turned to our side. The presentations first took place, and she spoke to each one in her own language, and on her own particular subject. I was quite entranced with her beauty, her cleverness, and her conversation. She passed down the ladies’ side, and then came up that of the men, the Emperor doing exactly the same as she had done. He also spoke to us. Then some few of us whose families the Empress knew about were asked to sit down, and refreshments were handed to us—the present Georgina Lady Dudley sitting by the Empress. It was a thing never to be forgotten to have seen those two beautiful women sitting side by side. The Empress Frederick of Germany—Crown Princess she was then—was also there, and sent for some of us on another day, which was in many ways another memorable event, and her husband also came in” (Life of Sir Richard Burton, by Isabel his wife, vol. ii., pp. 24, 25).
[17] This and the next chapter are compiled from the original notes from which Lady Burton wrote her A. E. I. and sundry letters and diaries. By so doing I am able to give the Indian tour in her own words.
[18] Speech at the British National Association of Spiritualists, December 13, 1878.
[19] Letter to Miss Bishop from Opçina, January 17, 1881.
[20] Letter to Miss Bishop from Trieste, December 5, 1881.
[21] This refers to Camoens: the Commentary, Life, and Lusiads. Englished by R. F. Burton. Two vols. Containing a Glossary, and Reviewers Reviewed, by Isabel Burton. 1880.
[22] From her devotional book Laméd, pp. 28, 29.
[23] Life of Sir Richard Burton, by Isabel his wife, vol. ii., p. 248.
[24] Gondokoro was the seat of Government of the Province of the Equator.