The Khedive was charmed; he made splendid contracts with my husband, so that, with the commonest luck, not only Egypt would have become rich, but my husband would have been a millionaire in a very few years, and he used to say jokingly that he would be Duke of Midian, the only title he had ever wished for. To our great misfortune Ismail Khedive abdicated just as the third Expedition was about to come off, in 1878-9. The new Khedive, Tewfik, did not consider himself bound by any act of his father's; the English Government (it is hardly worth while to remark) was not likely to give Richard a chance of anything good, and instead of being able to carry out the enterprise, he lost all the money which we had advanced and partly borrowed for paying expenses which we were sure would be refunded.[3] His second interesting work on this expedition was the "Land of Midian Revisited" (2 vols., 1879).
In all the expeditions that my husband has undertaken to different mines the minerals are there, but there has been too much dishonesty by those employed to carry it out, for my husband ever to have had his proper share, as Explorer, Discoverer, and Reporter, or Leader of these Expeditions. Every man has been for feathering his own nest, even in a small way, regardless of the public good, and where any other nation has been mixed up, it has cheated in favour of its own country. All these mines will be worked some day, and men will profit largely, but the one who deserved to reap good, is dead, and his widow will be dead before the day comes round.
AKKAS.
Between the first and second Expedition we had a large party from Egypt—Prince Battikoff, Safvet Pasha, Count and Countess della Sala, and others, and there were grand doings on board the Ceylon (a Peninsular and Oriental steamer) for the Queen's birthday. We also had the pleasure of giving a little dinner to Salvini, who came to act there for a week—a little party of eight, which included H.R.H. the Duke of Würtemburg and Mr. George Smart. Then we went to Verona for a while to see the two Akkas brought by Gessi from Africa; Richard's object was, that it was very difficult to get hold of this important little race. These were two males, and there was one at Trieste, a female, which had been brought to his notice by Mdlle. Luisa Serravallo, the daughter of our principal chemist, a very charming family, and she a delightful girl, profoundly educated and serious, who was studying this specimen together with the language, and Richard took a great interest in it. He wanted to see what the effect would be of bringing the Akka boys and girl into each other's presence, but through the jealousy of the people who owned the respective treasures it was not to be managed.
We had a little excursion in the Pelagosa, the Government yacht, to Zara, to Lissa, and Cazza—a little trip of ten days.
One evening we started for Adelsberg, where we paid the usual visit to the caves, and from where there are charming drives. We drove to Idria, a pretty village with its church, through a magnificent country, with splendid gorges, magnificently wooded (chiefly pines), exceedingly fertile, with trout rivers, and delicious air. We descended the quicksilver mine, and saw the whole of its workings. Idria is also famed for its beautiful lace, which is exceedingly cheap, and which you see sold in various parts of Europe with wonderful names attached to it. We then visited the castle of Windisgrätz. We had a very merry time, for we were a large party of English, and we had all sorts of fun.
There was a great joke against Richard, who wanted to inspect a place for scientific reasons which were above the comprehension of the rest of the party. It was one of those mysterious grounds in the Karso where rivers, and even small lakes, disappear and rise up in some other place, changing their ground as the swallows change air, at certain seasons; but he did not tell them this, and they thought they were going to see something wonderful. We drove and drove all day, in carts without springs, over hill and dale and stones, until we were half dead, and across a sort of jolting common, and then we came to a little building that might have been a protection for cattle in bad weather. We all got out and went anxiously into this building, and saw nothing but the objectionable signs of cattle having been there, and Richard (who was our guide) looked round in a profound meditation, and then he nodded his head, and muttered these few words, "I see, I see; I am perfectly satisfied;" and then he turned round, and we all mounted our wretched carts again to the next possible roadside "tap," where our horses were fed and rested, and we got some eggs and rice and beer, and then we all laughed immensely and chaffed him about having brought us all that way to see—what? I joined the others for fun; but then I knew, because he had told me. The place had a very long Slav name, Zerknick-something, but they all christened it "Shirkins," and it has remained so ever since. From this we went on to Graz, a beautiful place halfway between Trieste and Vienna, which is the paradise of the younger and poorer branches of the aristocracy, and retired officers, military and naval. Some wag christened it Pensionville.