“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.