Richard Francis Burton

Name: The Land of Midian — Conclusion
Author: Richard Francis Burton

Summary

“The Land of Midian — Conclusion”, is a work by Richard Francis Burton. It explores elements such as Suez, Trieste and specimens.

Quotes from The Land of Midian — Conclusion (Richard Francis Burton)

Richard Francis Burton, The Land of Midian — Conclusion

“ All the petty troubles and worries of Cairo; the cancans, the intrigues, the silly reports of the envious and the jealous, with the buzz and sting of mosquitoes; the weary waiting; the visits of “friends” whose main object in life seemed to be tuer le ver; and the exigencies of my late fellow-travellers, who, after liberal pay and free living for four months, seemed determined to quarter themselves upon the Egyptian Government for the rest of their natural lives;—all these small cares, not the less annoying because they were small, disappeared like magic at the first glimpse of blue water. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Richard Francis Burton, The Land of Midian — Conclusion

“ The engineer, M. Marie, when asked aloud, and with all publicity, by the Khediv whether he was sure that such and such specimens contained gold, shirked a direct reply, evasively declaring that “Midian is a fine mining country.” He had pointed out to me the precious metal during our exploration of Umm el-Karáyat; but such is the wretched result of “knowing the people,” instead of telling the truth like a man. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Richard Francis Burton, The Land of Midian — Conclusion

“ After another stormy day, we again got up steam; and, fighting hard against adverse winds and waves, greatly to the distress of the unfortunate mules and gazelles, we reached Suez on April 20th.
At Suez my wife had been awaiting me for long weeks, preferring the simplicity of the Desert to the complex life of Cairo. Some delay was again necessary in order to telegraph our arrival, to apply for a special train, and to sort and pack in the travelling-cases our twenty-five tons of specimens. As often happens, the return to civilization was in nowise cheery. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Richard Francis Burton, The Land of Midian — Conclusion

“ The other tenant of the close and wretched little galley lay sick with spotted typhus; and, after barbarous neglect, he died on the day following our arrival at Trieste—I did not hear that the surgeon of the screw-steamer Austria had met with his deserts by summary dismissal from the service. The Austro–Hungarian Lloyd’s was once famed for good living; over-economy and high dividends have now made the cuisine worse than the cheapest of tables d’hôte. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Richard Francis Burton, The Land of Midian — Conclusion

“ I had barely time to pass an afternoon at Ramleh, “the Sand-heap,” with an intimate of twenty-five years’ standing, Hartley John Gisborne, an old servant of the Egyptian “Crown,” for whom new men and new measures have, I regret to see, made the valley of the Nile no longer habitable.
The next Sunday placed us on board the Austro–Hungarian Lloyd’s screw-steamer Austria (Capitano Rossol) . As usual, the commander and officers did all they could to make their voyagers comfortable; the Company did the contrary. At this spring season, true, the migratory host of unfeathered bipeds crowds northwards ”

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Source: Wikisource

Richard Francis Burton, The Land of Midian — Conclusion

“ The Viceroy was also pleased spontaneously to remind me of, and to renew, the verbal promise made upon my return from the first Expedition to Midian; namely, that I should be honoured with a concession, or that a royalty of five per cent. on the general produce of the mines should be the reward of discovery. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Richard Francis Burton, The Land of Midian — Conclusion

“ Wijh, dispensing pay and “bakhshísh” to the companions of our Desert march; and shipping the men and mules, with the material collected during the southern journey. The venerable Shaykh ‘Afnán and his Baliyy were not difficult to deal with; and they went their way homewards fully satisfied. We exchanged a friendly adieu, or rather an au revoir, with our excellent travelling companion, Mohammed Shahádah; and I expressed my sincere hopes to find him, at no distant time, governor of the restored Quarantine-station. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Richard Francis Burton, The Land of Midian — Conclusion

“ But when berths are full, passengers should be refused; and if the commercial director prefers dead to live goods, travellers should be duly warned. The accommodation would have been tolerable in a second-class or third-class English steamer, which charges fifteen shillings to a sovereign per diem ”

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Source: Wikisource

Richard Francis Burton, The Land of Midian — Conclusion

“ Evidently it would be advantageous to promote such a man to the post of governor of the place—a post which will presently become of high importance, and which is actually held by an old officer, almost bed-ridden. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Richard Francis Burton, The Land of Midian — Conclusion

“ We reached Cairo at 5.30 p.m. More troubles! Ten minutes after arrival we found ourselves in possession, in sole charge of the gare. The train was loaded with Government property, officers, soldiers and escort, mules, boxes and bags of specimens whose collecting had cost money. ”

Richard Francis Burton

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