Still I was unwilling to leave the field of my labours while so much remained to be done. As my health appeared gradually to return under the influence of repose and comparative comfort, I would willingly have delayed at the island till the answer to an application for leave of absence, and to a request for additional funds could be received from the Government of Bombay and the Royal Geographical Society. But the evident anxiety of my host to disembarrass himself of his guest, and the nervous impatience of my companion—who could not endure the thought of losing an hour—compelled me, sorely against my wish, to abandon my intentions.
Said bin Salim, the Ras Kafilah, called twice or thrice at the consulate. I refused, however, to see him, and explained the reason to Captain Rigby. That gentleman agreed with me at the time that the Arab had been more than sufficiently rewarded by the sum advanced to him by Lieut.-Colonel Hamerton: but—perhaps he remembers the cognomen by which he was known in days of yore amongst his juvenile confrères at Addiscombe?—he has since thought proper to change his mind. The Jemadar and the Baloch attended me to the doorway of the prince’s darbar: I would not introduce them to their master or to the consul, as such introduction would have argued myself satisfied with their conduct, nor would I recommend them for promotion or reward. Ladha Damha put in a faint claim for salary due to the sons of Ramji; but when informed of the facts of the case he at once withdrew it, and I heard no more of it at Zanzibar. As regards the propriety of these severe but equitable measures, my companion was, I believe, at that time of the same opinion as myself: perhaps Captain Speke’s prospect of a return to East Africa, and of undertaking a similar exploration, have caused him since that epoch to think, and to think that he then thought, otherwise.
The report of the success of the Punjaub’s mission left me at liberty to depart. With a grateful heart I bade adieu to a prince whose kindness and personal courtesy will long dwell in my memory, and who at the parting interview had expressed a hope to see me again, and had offered me a passage homeward in one of his ships-of-war. At the time, however, a clipper-built barque, the Dragon of Salem, Captain M‘Farlane commanding, was discharging cargo in the harbour, preparatory to sailing with the S.W. monsoon for Aden. The captain consented to take us on board: Captain Rigby, however, finding his boat too crowded, was compelled to omit accompanying us—a little mark of civility not unusual in the East. His place, however, was well filled up by Seedy Mubarak Bombay, whose honest face appeared at that moment, by contrast, peculiarly attractive.
On the 22nd March, 1859, the clove-shrubs and the cocoa-trees of Zanzibar again faded from my eyes. After crossing and re-crossing three times the tedious line, we found ourselves anchored, on the 16th April, near the ill-omened black walls of the Aden crater.
The crisis of my African sufferings had taken place during my voyage upon the Tanganyika Lake: the fever, however, still clung to me like the shirt of Nessus. Mr. Apothecary Frost, of Zanzibar, had advised a temporary return to Europe: Dr. Steinhaeuser, the civil surgeon, Aden, also recommended a lengthened period of rest. I bade adieu to the coal-hole of the East on the 28th April, 1859, and in due time greeted with becoming heartiness the shores of my native land.
FINIS CORONAT OPUS!
The Elephant Rock (Ακρωτηριον Ελεφας, Periplus II. راس الفيل), seen from fifteen miles at sea, direction S.W.
London, Longman & Co. Engraved by Edwd. Weller, Red Lion Square.