TRIESTE LIFE AGAIN.
1881.
Early this year two sad things happened, which interested Richard very
much--the death of Carlyle, 5th of February, with all the different
opinions expressed at the time; the disappearance of the Rev. Benjamin
Speke; and a third was the annexation of Tunis through the medium of
our former colleague at Damascus, Monsieur Roustan.
On the 3rd of February we had a very bad earthquake, and if I may quote
it as a proof of animals having some knowledge of what is coming, the
dog, a large setter, who slept in our rooms, sprang suddenly into
our beds, and insisted on getting under the clothes. We were rather
frightened, and thought he had gone mad. Richard opened the door,
and ordered him to go into the passage; he obeyed, but whined his
objections. Two minutes after, we were shaken by an earthquake; so we
jumped up and ran to the door and let him in, because we knew what was
the matter with him--he looked awfully scared.
We made a day or two's excursion to Monfalcone, and then H.M.S. _Iris_,
Captain (now Admiral) Seymour, came in to meet the Ambassador, Mr.
Goschen. We went down to join him in receiving Mr. Goschen, and the
_Iris_ started at once for Constantinople.
On the 10th H.I.H. Prince Rudolf came to Trieste to start for the East.
Later I had the honour of receiving a telegram from Prince Rudolf to
thank me for my "Inner Life of Syria," which he found very useful in
his travels in the East.
We went to a village ball at Opçina, which was very amusing. Baron
Morpurgo this month gave a grand ball in honour of H.I.H. the Archduke
Carl Stefan, to which we were invited.
About this time we had the pleasure of a visit from one of the best
women we had ever known, Mrs. Louisa Birt of Liverpool, who is a female
Don Bosco, and spends the whole of her time in rescuing poor children
from the streets. I believe in one year five thousand had passed
through her establishment. At parting she gave me her little bag, with
her initials on it, which I have still.
We also had seen a good deal of Lieutenant Karl Weyprecht, of the
Austrian Navy, who, with Lieutenant Payer, discovered Franz Josef's
Land during the Austrian Arctic Expedition, 1872-74; but this year he
died, at the age of forty-three.
We had a short excursion to Laibach, to see the Littai Mines, in Krain,
in which Richard was employed as reporter. They are lead and cinnabar,
which concession embraces 1 3/5. Now there were great preparations for
the return of Prince Rudolf. Of course the Austrian Squadron was in,
and he was received with great honour. The City was illuminated, the
streets were full; and in the evening there was a grand opera, and
three thousand in the theatre. When the Prince entered there was great
applause and "Vivas!" ladies clapping hands and waving handkerchiefs;
the National Hymn was played, and all stood up for over ten minutes.
The people showed immense loyalty, and the Prince left next day.
On the 19th of April Lord Beaconsfield died, and our journals were
full of him for several pages. Richard wrote a "Sketch," which made
twelve pages of print, which will appear in "Labours and Wisdom." My
journal is four pages of lament. As a girl of fifteen, his "Tancred"
formed all my ardent desires of an Eastern career, and was my first
gate to Eastern knowledge and occult science. As a Statesman I put him
on a pedestal as my political Chief and model. He had that peculiar
prescience and foresight belonging to his Semitic blood. I think a
certain period of things passed away with him. He was one of the last
relics of England's greatness. Just as the Duke of Wellington died
before the Crimean War, so Lord Beaconsfield foreshadowed England's
temporary decline, or _fusion_ into another state of things, and this
feeling helped his decay. Anyway, one great man is gone.
We were very fond of going to the fairs, especially where the Hungarian
Gypsies congregated. They used to sing, dance, tell fortunes, and
Richard talked Romany with them.
We determined this year to take our gout baths from Duino, and not from
Monfalcone; it is a forty minutes' drive from Duino to Monfalcone, and
the baths are exactly halfway between.
[Sidenote: _Duino_.]
Duino is a village picturesquely situated on an eminence overhanging
the sea, two hours' drive from Trieste, and right in the Karso, the
wild stony district before described. This village and castle remind
one of old times. The village is completely towered over and dominated
by the feudal castle and fortress of the Hohenlöhes, which stand on
the rocky cliff, once surrounded by a keep, a moat, and a drawbridge
in which now grow flowers. The village and everything around them is
theirs, and their flag flies from the tower. The Prince, who was a
very handsome man, died in 1868, and is buried in the family vault in
the chapel. The Princess (the _châtelaine_), who is a sad invalid, was
in her youth a beautiful, gentle, aristocratic blonde, full of talent
and _esprit_. She was a Countess Della Torre (de la Tour d'Auvergne),
Thurn being the Austrian branch. Her early history was very romantic.
She resides there, and has two sons and three daughters, of which
one is married to Prince Thurn and Taxis, and one son to a young and
pretty Countess Kaünitz. The rural inn of the village was within a
stone's-throw of the castle, and we remained there for six weeks taking
the baths, and living every day in their pleasant society. The castle
is filled with antiquities, family relics, old china, and is one of
the show places of the country. It has its ghost (a white lady), and
amongst other curiosities is a small portrait of a family saint, the
famous Cardinal Hohenlöhe. The old Salle d'Armes (all the ancient
armoury was stolen by the French) is made to represent a cave under the
sea, full of shells and stalactites against a white sand wall, which,
lit up at night, look like diamonds.
The grounds and shrubberies descend to the sea, where there is a
bath-house, and where we used to have great fun swimming. On the
opposite side is an old ruined castle in which Dante took refuge, and
it is said the scene suggested his "Inferno," but it is more likely
that the Caves of Adelsberg did that. The park is not quite _our_
idea of a park; it is a space enclosed in four walls, with four large
gateways, bearing armorial carvings. The ground is stony, covered
with holm oak, in which the deer and birds flourish. It is closed
against smugglers; the only lock has a secret, and the key is kept by
one old retainer. In the old days the smugglers put out the eyes of a
celebrated stag reindeer which always followed them. The tiny village
inn is not uncomfortable, if you do not mind roughing it; there is
a post, a telegraph office, and a Catholic chapel, belonging to the
castle, and the only drawbacks are bad food and forty minutes' drive
to reach a train, the Princesses having very sensibly, for their own
peace, refused to have a station. The Trieste Sunday-trippers and
ill-treaters of animals cannot get so far, so it is beautifully still
and rural. There is a pretty bay, and an old monastery some way off,
which is a pleasant walk.
We went for a day or two to Trieste to meet Lord Bath, and we came in
for a scientific excursion by ship, with two hundred people, to Sipar,
to Salona, and Pirano, where there was a band and dancing and lunch.
About this time, on April 30th, died Gessi Pasha, at Suez; he was
Gordon's right-hand man.
We had charming walks to hunt for _castellieri_.[1] We walked to
Slivno, to Ronchi; drove to Atila's Palace, and got some curios from
the ruins. We drove out also to see some new caves, and once we all
drove together to see a _Sagra_, or village dance, at Monfalcone, and
going in we sat in the carriage to hear the band. Here I must relate a
little story showing the force of imagination:--
In the carriage were two of the Princesses, Richard, and me. Suddenly,
at the top of a roof, I caught sight of a rat, which appeared to me
to be fascinated and spellbound by the music. "Look!" I said. "Don't
move; but watch that rat, fascinated by the music." So we all sat and
watched it, and thought it a most interesting fact in nature, that rats
should share this in common with lizards and snakes and other things.
We all saw it move; we all saw its head turn and its tail move, and we
kept still, not to frighten it away. It lasted so long, however, that
we were compelled to drive on; and next day we sent to inquire, and we
found it was made of painted tin, and fixed to the top of a house--an
Italian _scherzo_!
We then went on to Gorizia--already described--where we dined with Mr.
Frederick Smart and his mother, a most beautiful, sweet, and venerable
Italian lady, his sister, Mrs. Fehr, and Mr. and Mrs. Baird. Richard
afterwards went to study bees with Father Pauletic, of the Deaf and
Dumb Institute.
We used to spend many hours on the rocks with the Princesses, fishing
for crabs, swimming, boating, telling ghost stories, and playing cards.
Here we read Sinnett's "Occult World," which I reviewed.
The Princess's married son lives at Sagrado--a comfortable gentleman's
seat, with a park, stags, good stables, and an unrivalled view. It has
a remarkable bath-house in the park. They were both charming people,
and we enjoyed our visit to them very much.
On the 24th of June, Mr. and Mrs. Freeman, of Somerleaze, and their two
daughters (one since became Mrs. Arthur Evans) came over to Duino to
see us. It was the day of the horse-fair with the Hungarian Gypsies,
which afforded them some amusement. We were very sorry to leave Duino
and our friends; but all pleasant things come to an end, and we had to
go down to Trieste to prepare to receive our own Squadron.
On the 11th of this month our friend, Mr. Andrew Wilson, aged
fifty-one, the author of the "Abode of Snow," one of those who wrote
the little sketch of Richard's career, died.
From _Truth_, July 7, 1881.
"Dear Mistress Truth,--I am truly flattered by the genial and
un-Grundy-like 'Anecdotal Photograph' of my Husband.
"But, dear Madam, allow me one word. Don't let your readers confound
a bruise on the brow with a spear-wound through the mouth, splitting
the palate-bone, and received in a 'thrilling fight' when some three
hundred and fifty savages made a night attack on four Englishmen.
Captain Burton usually spares Society any allusion to his adventures,
but at times 'lions' are expected to roar, and are held contumacious
if they keep silence.
"Knowing you only by good report, I do myself the pleasure of
enclosing my card, and of requesting you, dear Madam, to believe me
"Your admirer,
"ISABEL BURTON.
"Trieste, June 29th."
[Sidenote: _Our Squadron_.]
On the 1st of July H.M.S. _Iris_, the _avant courier_ of the Squadron,
arrived. The Squadron itself arrived on the 7th. Richard and I went
on board an hour later, to every ship--there were eleven all told--to
invite the Captains and officers to a night _fête-champêtre_ and ball
at Opçina, as we wanted, as early as possible in the beginning of their
visit, to put them on cordial terms with our friends in the City.
We issued eight hundred invitations to the Captains and officers of
our Squadron, the Captains and officers of the Austrian Navy and other
Men-of-war anchored there, the Colonels and officers of the Austrian
regiments stationed there, the Governor and family and Staff, all
the Austrian authorities, the Consular corps, the chief English and
Americans, the private friends, who numbered about a hundred and fifty
of the cream of Trieste, the Press, Austrian-Lloyd's, and the Police.
We created a kind of Vauxhall in the grounds surrounding the Inn at
Opçina. In a large field at the back of the Inn we had eight tables
fifty feet long; a hut for tea, coffee, and refreshments, one of
barrels of wine and beer, to be drawn off and served at the tables, a
large wooden ball-room, three tents for toilettes, or for resting, and
seats and benches all round, raised like an amphitheatre, for those
who wanted to watch. These were adorned with five hundred and fifty
large bouquets of flowers, several thousand coloured lamps, and two
hundred flags of all nations. There were four entrances, each with
transparencies exhibiting illuminated sentences, such as "Welcome!"
"Ave!" "Austria and England" crossed. The English Admiral and the
Austrian Commander-in-Chief each lent us their bands. We had no end of
fireworks, and Catherine wheels, and Bengal lights. Austrian-Lloyd's
lent us forty stewards; the Chief of Police lent us a cordon of police
to keep the ground. Every omnibus and carriage in the place was engaged
to bring up such guests as had not their own private carriages, and I
chose twelve aide-de-camps to help me to make the affair go off; in
short, we looked forward to having a regular good time.
Everything was in high gala, and the first waltz had begun, when the
weather, which had been as dry as a bone all the summer till that
moment, suddenly opened out; and it did not rain, but it poured in
buckets, with tremendous thunder and lightning. It just lasted two
hours, putting out all our lamps, damping our fireworks, reducing our
transparencies to pulp; there was a regular _sauve qui peut_ to the
inn. The police went for the drinking-booth, and were soon incapable;
the mob broke in; they seized all the best things to eat and drink,
they jumped on the plates and dishes and broke them. Richard looked
up to the sky and ejaculated, "So like Provy!" I cried with rage and
mortification for a few minutes, and then, rallying round, Richard
and I got a party of young men to the rescue, who went and cleared
the grounds, already over ankle-deep in mud; they rescued all that
was left of food and drink. I got another party to clear away the
furniture of the lower part of the Inn, set the two bands to work in
different parts, and my friends to dancing, whilst my aide-de-camps and
I rigged up several supper-rooms. I had forty waiters from Lloyd's,
but half of them had followed the example of the police. Our friends,
quite unconscious of the havoc behind the scenes, danced right merrily
the whole night, and supped, and were good-natured enough to enjoy
themselves thoroughly with the greatest good humour; and the party did
not break up until five.
I went out into the back scenes, where I found that my own things were
being sold at the bar of the inn, to our own Squadron's bandsmen, at
a big price. I soon put a stop to that, and obliged the vendors to
restore them their money, and gave them their suppers and wine. It was
a pandemonium. The natives were all too far gone to know me, so that I
could hardly get any order obeyed; they were breaking bottles of wine,
two together, like clashing cymbals. The tipsy coachmen were dancing
with the tipsy villagers, and every now and then they jumped on a
dish, or destroyed property in other ways. It was not encouraging, but
it was useless to struggle against the inevitable, so I only saw that
the Squadron bandsmen got all they wanted without paying for it. (Such
is the wild animal when it can do what it likes without restraint.)
Meanwhile we managed to do a lot of fireworks, and everything went off
beautifully. After all our guests were departed, Everard Primrose and
Mr. Welby, the well-known popular _attaché_, finding their coachman
helplessly drunk, put him inside the carriage, and got on the box and
drove themselves down; and the very last thing of all was seeing our
staggering, hiccoughing policemen into omnibuses to go down to Trieste.
Thus ended our first _fête_ for the Squadron. The damage the natives
did us was immense, as we borrowed all our plates and dishes from a
Company, and any one can imagine what that would be, to give a sit-down
supper to eight hundred people.
[Sidenote: _Our Squadron leaves_.]
The Emperor, who always honours the English fleet--the only one he
notices--ordered entertainments to be given, one at the castle at
Miramar, and the other by the Austrian Admiral; so on the 11th came off
the dinner at Miramar, and on the 13th the Austrian Admiral's dinner.
Then the English Admiral gave us a dinner, and then a ball was given
by H.M.S. _Alexandra_, where the officers kindly asked me to help them
to receive the Trieste guests. On the 14th we had "teas" on board the
_Invincible_ and the _Alexandra_, and Admiral Beauchamp Seymour's (now
Lord Alcester) dinner; the 15th, a tea-party on board the _Falcon_, and
a ball on the _Superb_. On the 16th we organized a monster picnic to
the Caves of Adelsberg, which were illuminated expressly. On the 17th
Baron Morpurgo gave a banquet with music, and then followed our dinner
to the Captains of the Men-of-war. The fleet departed on the 18th, and
we went round to say good-bye. Baron Marco Morpurgo kindly gave us
a steamer to see the fleet off; he provided refreshments and music,
and we asked our best friends to join. The flagship _Alexandra_ moved
first, the ships forming two lines behind her. We steamed in our little
vessel alongside the flagship, at a proper distance, till we escorted
them out of our Gulf for about a couple of hours; then, shooting ahead,
we stopped our engines, dipped our flag thrice, cheered, and turned
back, cheering every ship as we passed. _They_ all played "Auld Lang
Syne" and "Good-bye, Sweetheart, Good-bye." It was the prettiest sight
in the world on a summer evening in the Gulf of Trieste, to see that
"going out," and we were awfully sorry to lose them. Captain Selby, of
H.M.S. _Falcon_, was left behind to pick up deserters. We dined with
him after parting with the Squadron, and some of his men did a very
pretty hornpipe in the moonlight to amuse us.
It is wonderful how popular our sailors became at Trieste; they did
such fresh, innocent, playful sort of jokes, and withal so manly
and so generous, that they cannot but fail to attract foreigners,
whose soldiers and sailors are much more like a patent machine. Most
respectable families of the middle classes made great friendships with
them, and received them into their families in intimacy, and I am
told that they say that the men save up all their money for coming to
Trieste. When they fraternized with the Austrian soldiers and sailors,
who had not much money in their pockets, they always treated them,
which won all hearts.
One man, who evidently had not tasted beer for a long time, went to
the Café Specchi, where he asked for a bottle of beer (they are very
small); he drank it, paid for it, and called for another. I was not
there, but rumour said that he did not get up till he had drank fifty
of these little bottles, and had collected quite a crowd around him.
One day they were larking about, and they ran away bodily with an old
woman's fruit-stall, she following them shrieking. When they had had
their fun out of her, they ran back with it, and put it down again, and
then gave her two and sixpence. She was so delighted that she wanted
them to do it again, and called after them every time they passed,
asking them to run away with her stall, like a big child. Another day
a lot of them played leap-frog in the Piazza. The Triestines had never
seen leap-frog, consequently quite a crowd collected. Once a party of
them went into the market, and they each bought one of those large
feather kitchen blowers, which they used like fans, and then they came
back joining arms and dancing a step all down the street, fanning
themselves. All these things "fetched" the Triestines immensely.
One day I saw one of them standing by the Austrian Admiral's garden;
an apple tree hung over into the road, so he plucked an apple and ate
it. He was in the public road, and of course the apple had no business
there. Immediately the sentry came out, and a crowd of soldiers and
sailors around him were all jabbering at him. He looked at them
quietly, and went on munching his apple till they touched him, and then
he gave a sort of a quiet, sweeping back-hander, which knocked one or
two of them down. I foresaw a row, so I stepped up to him and said, "I
am your Consul's wife, and I want to tell you that they are trying to
make you understand that those are the Austrian Admiral's apples, and
that you must not eat them." So he smiled and said, "I am sure I am
exceedingly obliged to you, ma'am. I did not know that there was any
reason why I should not eat the apple, and I wondered what they were
all jabbering at me for." And he saluted and went. Then I explained to
the irritated men that he had not known; that he did not understand
a word they said, and that if an apple was in the road, it seemed as
if any one might take it, and that he was very sorry that he had not
understood. When the Squadron left Trieste, eighteen of them hid,
and did not join their ships; and when at last they were caught, and
brought off, they said, "It was such a ---- ideal place that they had
not really the heart to leave it." I begged Captain Selby so hard not
to punish them much. And he said, "Oh no, the darlings! Wait until I
get them on board a ship; I'll have them tucked up comfortably in bed
with a nice hot grog." We then had a visit from Captain Maude, who had
got a little longer leave.
We never saw poor Captain Selby again, as he was afterwards murdered.
[Sidenote: _We go to Veldes_.]
On the 8th of August we started for a new trip, and went _viâ_ Laibach
to Veldes, _viâ_ Radmannsdorf. Veldes consists of a lake, with a few
houses around, chiefly people's villas, and a very comfortable inn
(Mallner's). It is a lovely spot, but rather shut in. This place has
its little romance. We rowed about two hours in a boat to a small
island in the middle of the lake. On the island is a little church,
and the house of a peasant family who keep the church. In the church
is a long rope, by which you ring a bell (a big church bell); it is
called the "wishing bell." You kneel down and wish for something, and
pray for it, and then you get up and ring the bell. If you have several
wishes, they say you are sure to get the first. After I had finished,
Richard rowed off to a spring, and I went and visited the people. There
was an old man of ninety, his daughter, her daughter, and a baby--four
generations. After talking to them for some time, I noticed a little
carved wooden figure of Death with a scythe, and I said, "Oh, do you
know, there is something in this little cottage that I rather envy
you." "What is that?" said the old man. I said, "That death figure."
"Why," he said, "ladies are generally frightened of that;" but he
added, "I could not part with that. My grandfather carved it when he
was a boy. I am over ninety; it must have been there for a hundred
and fifty years. We have a superstition that it keeps us alive to a
great old age." I said, "Pray excuse me; I had no idea that it had
any importance attached to it, or I would not have noticed it." And I
turned the conversation to other things; but when I got up to go, he
said, "What did you mean to give me for that death's head?" I said,
"Why, hardly anything--perhaps a couple of florins; you must forget
that I said such a thing." "Oh no," he said, "I could not afford to
lose so much money as that." So the end of it was that I gave him five
florins, and brought away the skeleton, and we were both delighted,
and I mean to leave it when I die to the person whose life is most
important to the country.
Now, Richard was absent without leave from F.O., but of course he never
left without the Consulate being in the charge of the Vice-Consul, and
all money affairs settled. We were dreadfully frightened of meeting
any one we knew. Think of our horror when we saw coming into the
restaurant the Chaplain of the Embassy at Vienna--our Chief's Chaplain!
Fortunately, the Rev. G. L. Johnston was one of the most charming and
gentlemanly men I ever saw. Richard bolted up to bed; but I thought
it would be wiser to take the bull by the horns, so I went up to him,
and confided our difficulty to him. He burst out laughing, and said,
"My dear child, I am just doing exactly the same thing myself." I ran
upstairs and fetched Richard down again.
We then went on to Tarvis and St. Michele, and from thence to Salzburg;
it was a seventeen hours' journey with many changes of train. Salzburg
is a beautiful place, and its Hôtel Europa one of the dearest and best
I ever was in. We had come up to a Scientific Congress, and passed our
time with Count Würmbrandt the Governor of Istria, Count Bombelles, in
attendance on Prince Rudolf, Prince Windisgrätz, Professor Müllner,
Abbate Glübich, the African travellers Holúb and Nachtigall, all
scientific men. We had an expedition to the salt mines, and went to
the bottom of the mines, and the museum, which is lovely and of great
interest. Then we went to Lend, where we took a four-horse carriage,
and had a magnificent three-hours' drive up the Salz Kammergut,
reaching Gastein at five o'clock, one of the most beautiful places
in Austria, and were enchanted with the scenery, the air, and the
waterfall. Richard and I used to sit out and read and look at the view
all day. Then we took train to Steinach-Irding, to visit Mr. Zech, the
proprietor of Shepherd's Hotel, Cairo. He was a good and jolly old
man, with a nice gentlemanly son, a Parisian wife, and some married
daughters. Other members of the family also arrived, and presently
came a little officer who had lost his way. We were heartily welcomed;
it was a Liberty Hall, comfortable, hospitable, and you were expected
to ask for everything you wanted. We then started for Ischl. The
whole Court was here; it was a very pretty place, situated between
two rivers, with beautiful air and a very fashionable promenade, and
we were very gay. There were illuminations and fireworks for Prince
Rudolf's birthday, and a very amusing little German theatre.
[Sidenote: _We part company--I am sent to Maríenbad_.]
Here, at Ischl, Richard and I parted company. I was ordered to go to
Maríenbad; Richard returned to Steinach-Irding, to Steyr, and back to
Steinach, and from there to Vienna.
I had an eighteen-hours' journey, changing trains three times, baggage
twice visited. I first had to get from Jehl to Wels, there to change
for Passau, thence to Regensburg, where we again changed train; then
began bad driving and bad manners, and I turned round to somebody and
said, "My dear Austrians are not quite so nice or civil up here, as
they are in other parts," and my fellow-traveller said, "Oh, don't
you know, you are just crossing a corner of Prussia for a couple of
hours;" after which we picked up the niceness of Austria once more.
From Regensburg to Eger, and from thence to Maríenbad, completed the
journey. Hôtel Klinger is very comfortable, and Dr. Basch, to whom
I was recommended, was out with the Emperor Maximilian in Mexico.
You hardly see any English at Maríenbad, but Austrians, Hungarians,
Bohemians of course, and many Jews, chiefly Polish.
The cure is an unlimited quantity of Kreuzbrunner water at six
o'clock a.m., with an hour's walk, an exquisite band--just as good as
Godfrey's, if not better--playing the while. The Maríenbad band is, I
think, the best I have ever heard; the conductor is a very big "swell,"
and has lots of decorations. Later you have fifteen minutes' bath of
_Marien Quelle_, which is wonderfully electric, and then you have a
_Moor-fuss-bad_, which means mud up to the knees. To a novice this
sort of thing is very amusing; to see the procession to the springs,
almost like a religious procession, each with a glass in their hand. I
think all this is a great mistake for some people, and only produces
congestion--I think that Maríenbad exhales congestion out of the very
ground. I found a good German professor to read with, and I established
a little branch for prevention of cruelty to animals, which was very
much needed, especially by the dogs which draw the carts.
I here made acquaintance with Madame Olga di Novikoff, who certainly
kept me from feeling dull, for she was capital company--most amusing,
and was to me a new and interesting study of the sort of life that one
reads so much of, but in England rarely meets.
[Sidenote: _The Scientific Congress at Venice_.]
On the 7th of September I was so ill that I did not know how to get
to Vienna, but I had myself put into a _coupé_ to myself, with room
to lie down, and I never stirred off it during the eleven hours and
forty minutes _viâ_ Pilsen and Budweis to Vienna, when at the station
Richard awaited me with the information that he had got a dinner-party
to meet me, and so I had to dress and receive. We had after this one
delightful dinner and evening with Baron Pino and his wife at Hietzing,
and next day we went down to Trieste. We just changed baggage and went
to Venice for the great Geographical Congress, which was opened on the
15th. The illuminations at Venice were something to remember all one's
life, every bit of tracery of the buildings, and especially that of
St. Marco, being picked out with little lamps, and the artistic part
of it was to throw the electric light only on the Basilica. I never
in my life saw, and never shall again see, anything to equal it. Lady
Layard gave a party to all the English and Americans, and the chief
of the Venetian Society. Captain Vernon Lovett-Cameron, R.N., V.C.,
was staying with us, and we collected around us all the pleasantest
people there at our breakfasts and dinners. The regatta was also
a never-to-be-forgotten sight. The King and Queen were there. All
the gondolas represented some country; there were the old Venetian
gondoliers, there were Esquimaux, there were troubadours--you could not
imagine a country or character that was _not_ represented; and every
gondola that assumed no character was dressed in gala array, and their
men in gondolier uniform and sash. Ours was covered with pale blue
velvet. Another day was the opening of the gardens of St. Giobbe by the
Royalties. Here, amongst other friends, we met Mr. Labouchere, General
de Horsey, who was a very dear friend of Richard's, General Fielding,
and many others. There was a night serenade on the water with every
boat illuminated, which was also a grand sight.
Captain Cameron was wild with spirits, and we had many amusing episodes
and one especial sort of picnic day at the Lido, where, just as Lord
Aberdare and some of the primmest people of the Congress were coming,
Richard and he insisted on taking off their shoes and stockings and
digging mud-pies, like two naughty little boys, and they kept calling
out to me, "Look, nurse, we have made such a beautiful pie," and
"Please tell Dick not to touch my spade." I could not speak to the
people for laughing, especially as some of them looked so grave.
However, Richard was exceedingly angry, as he had a good right to be.
Here was a Geographical Congress just outside the City of which he was
Consul, and, as if it had been done on purpose to let him down before
foreigners, he was not only _not_ asked to be the representative from
Austria, but not even asked to meet his fellow-geographers, not even
asked to take any part in it, not even asked to speak at it; so he held
himself entirely aloof from them, as far as Congress was concerned,
and he left his card in the Congress-room with the following squib, as
spoken by the British representatives from London to Venice:--
"We're Saville Row's selected few,
Let all the rest be damned;
The pit is good enough for you,
We won't have boxes crammed."
Would they have ventured so to treat Stanley or Livingstone or any
other Traveller? No! they would not. Every nation had put forth its
best men, but it must be acknowledged--whether it is jealousy or what,
I cannot imagine--ours get crushed and ignored on every possible
occasion, and the men of intellectual straw shoot up to make fools of
themselves and their country. The following letter was sent afterwards
to Richard by our old friend, H. W. Bates:--
"1, Saville Row, Burlington Gardens, W., October 1st, 1881.
"DEAR BURTON,
"I read your very amusing and clever account of the Venice Congress in
the _Academy_ before receiving your letter of the 26th. There cannot
be any doubt that your estimate of the meeting is correct, and that
it was a vain show without any serious import for science. But then
the question arises, 'Who expected it to be otherwise?' We in London
did not. A proof of which, take the fact that the R.G.S. did not send
anything for exhibition. Lord Aberdare to a certain extent represented
us there, but there was no intention, as far as I know, of British
geographical science being represented there for serious purposes,
because nobody here believed anything serious would be done at the
Congress. Notwithstanding all this, I cannot understand how it came to
pass, that you and Cameron were not asked to take the active part that
was your due in the meetings and discussions. Nobody of course wanted
geographical information, but for the European _éclat_ of the thing
_you_ ought to have been put forward.
"Yours sincerely,
"H.W. BATES.
"P.S.--You will not see a word about Venice in our October number. We
shall perhaps give a page about it in November, if I can get authentic
report of what little work was done. Can you supply it, _i.e._ a dry,
serious _compte-rendu, professionally_?
"Mrs. Burton's communication has not yet arrived. Give my kind regards
to her."
On the 24th we all broke up and went back to Trieste. Captain Cameron
then came to us at Trieste, and Colonel Gould, and Abbate Glübich.
On the 18th of November Richard, who had all this while been arranging
the journey with Captain Cameron, had been employed by a private
speculator to go out to the West Coast of Africa, especially to the
Guinea Coast, and to report on certain mines there, which Richard had
discovered in 1861-64 (when he was Consul for that coast, and was
wandering about, discovering and publishing his discoveries), if he
could conscientiously give a good one. He was to have all his expenses
paid, a large sum for his report, and shares in the mines; so on the
18th of November we embarked at two o'clock in the day.
We left the quay at four, hung on to a buoy outside the breakwater till
midnight, and then left by the _Demerara_ steamship (Cunard), Captain
Jones, from Trieste to Venice. At six a.m. we anchored in a rolling
sea, with a heavy fog a couple of miles outside the Lido, but at twelve
it lifted sufficiently to let us see the entrance to Malamocco, and we
got in. It was so raw, damp, and thick, and cold to the bones, that
everybody was ill, and we took rooms at the Britannia so long as the
ship should stay. We then had a splendid passage to Fiume, where we had
a very pleasant time with old friends for nearly a week. On the 25th
we had just finished writing up the biography, when they came to tell
me that the ship had to sail that day, which caused me a good deal of
sorrow, as I was to be left at Fiume; my expenses were not paid, and we
personally had not enough money for two, so Richard was to go on to the
Guinea Coast alone. I watched the ship till it was out of sight, and
felt very lonely. I had supper with Consul Faber, and we looked over
his splendid book of "Fishes," which was going home to the "Fisheries."
The next day we had an expedition to Tersate with Count and Countess
Hoyos, and the following day I went back to Trieste. Meantime Richard
went on to Petras and Zante, Messina, Sardinia, Gibraltar, Lisbon, and
Madeira. Then arrived at Trieste Lady Mary Primrose, now Lady Mary Hope
(Everard Primrose's sister).
1882.
[Sidenote: _Life and Incidents of Trieste_.]
Our usual parties took place, the children's, the servants', the
English party, and the Foreign party; that was a _regular_ Christmas
thing.
About this time, at the end of January, arrived Mdlle. Sara Bernhardt,
who gave us three or four performances. I had the pleasure of calling
on her, and found her very charming, and she wrote something for me.
Her performance enchanted every one; but the theatre, the only one
disengaged, was quite unworthy of her.
This year I fretted dreadfully at Richard's absence, and not being
allowed to join him, and made myself quite ill. I worked at my usual
occupations for the poor, and preventing cruelty to animals, studying
and writing, and carrying out all the numerous directions contained in
his letters.
On the 25th we got the intelligence of poor Captain Selby's (of H.M.S,
_Falcon_) death, who was murdered by Albanian shepherds. Two hours
after his skull had been broken by the axe of the assailants, he was
able to climb on board the ship, and died on the 22nd of February,
1882. He was a brave and good man, and could ill be spared.
On the 1st of March I had a telegram from the present Lord Houghton
to tell me that his father lay dangerously ill at Athens. He arrived
himself at Trieste on the 4th, and I saw him off the same day to Athens.
I got a sort of feverish cold in April, and was confined to my bed,
and I was very much surprised at getting a summons to the Tribunal.
My doctor (Professor Liebman) arrived, and I said, "I wonder what I
am wanted at the Tribunal for; I have not done anything wrong that
I know of?" and he said, "I shall certainly write and say that you
cannot come." Later in the day my door opened, and in marched a solemn
procession of gentlemen in black, with pens and ink and papers. I
was rather taken aback, and asked them "what they wanted." They then
produced a letter in Italian, which purported to be, though it was very
incorrect, a translation of a letter I had written to Mr. Arthur Evans
in Herzegovina. They asked me what I knew about Mr. Evans. I said, "I
know nothing but good of him; but why do you ask?" "Because," they
said, "he is in prison for conspiring against the Austrian Empire."
"Oh," I said, "what has he done?" They said, "You must know something
about it, because you have written to warn him. What do you know?"
I said, "I only know that I heard some of the officers here saying
that he was meddling in what did not concern him, and that, if they
could catch him off civilized ground, they would hang him up to the
first tree, and as I know his wife and her family, and they are my own
compatriots, I thought I would write and say to him, 'What are you
doing? Whatever it is, leave it off, as you are incurring ill will in
Austria by it.'" I _meant_ to be very kind, but I ought not to have
done it, as it not only vexed Mrs. Evans, whom I liked very much, but
unluckily, as the post was slow between Trieste and Herzegovina, it
did not reach until after he had been put into political confinement,
and consequently the authorities had opened it, read it, and had it
translated, and had summoned me to give an account of myself. However,
on my assuring them that I knew nothing but what I had heard from
themselves, they were quite satisfied, and took their departure.
It was now discovered by Professor Liebman that I had the germs of
an internal complaint of which I am suffering at present, possibly
resulting from my fall downstairs in Paris in 1879. I had noticed
all this year that I had been getting weaker and weaker in the
fencing-school, and sometimes used to turn faint, and Reich (my
fencing-master) used to say, "Why, what is the matter with you? Your
arms are getting so limp in using the broadsword." I did not know, but
I could not keep up for long at a time. I think I went no more after
that.
Nigh six months had passed, and it was now time for me to go and meet
Richard at Liverpool, so I left the 18th of April, spending a few happy
days in Vienna, thence to Paris and Boulogne, where I found a howling
tempest. Two houses had been destroyed, a steamer was signalling
distress, and the Hôtel Impérial Pavilion had to open its back door to
let me in, the gale being too strong in front. I had brought a Trieste
girl with me as maid, whose class or race did not admit of the wearing
of hat or bonnet. They wanted to turn me out of the church at Boulogne,
because the girl was bareheaded, and I had to explain that nothing
would induce her to wear one for fear of losing caste. I got off in a
very bad sea two days later, and to London on the 3rd of May.
On the 15th I went up to Liverpool. Richard and Captain Cameron arrived
in the African mail _Loanda_ on the 20th, and there was a great dinner
that night, given by the Liverpudlians to welcome them back. It was a
great success, and they were all very merry. On the 22nd we came up
to London, but no sooner did we arrive there, than Richard was taken
quite ill and had to go to bed. He was to have lectured at the Society
of Arts, but he could not, which was an awful disappointment to them
and to us; but he soon got well under home care, and he lectured on the
31st at the Anthropological.
[Sidenote: _Gold in West Africa_.]
He notices in his journal the death of the poet and artist, Gabriel
Rossetti, on the 10th of April, and Darwin's death on the 19th. We were
immediately occupied in bringing out "To the Gold Coast for Gold" (2
vols,), where he gives an account of the different places to which he
and Captain Cameron went, the chief place being Axim, on the Guinea
coast. There were two obstacles which were deemed fatal to success. One
was Ashantee obstruction, and the other was the expense of transporting
machinery and working still labour in a wild country, a lack of
hands, and the climate; but they were only bugbears. "He knew nothing
to equal it as to wealth, either in California or in Brazil. Gold
dust was panned by native women from the sands of the seashore, gold
spangles glittered after showers in the streets of Axim; their washings
weighed from half an ounce to four ounces per ton. The gold is there,
and it is our fault if it stays there. We have in our hands the best of
workmen--the tireless machine, the steam navvy, and the quartz stamp;
and those called 'Long Tom' and 'Broad Tom' would do more work in a day
than a whole gang of negroes."
He says that in the last century the Gold Coast exported to Europe
three and a half millions of sterling gold, but the abolition of
slavery and manumissions brought it down to £126,000 value. A few
years ago England's annual supply was £25,000,000, and was then (1882)
£18,000,000. England wants gold, and he says that the Gold Coast can
supply it to any amount that England may want. There was a threatened
action a while ago about the way the moneys were supplied for the
carrying out of these mines, called the Guinea Coast Trial. My husband
was not employed to take charge, or to work there, and nearly all who
were sent out (with one or two notable exceptions) thought more of
feathering their own nests, even for a couple of years, than of the
public good; hence the thing failed, _but will live again_.
[Sidenote: _Mining_.]
My husband was passionately fond of mining for the sake of
developing the resources of any country in which he travelled and
made discoveries. I was always sorry when he got on the mine track,
because he always ended in one way. Shady people, partially or wholly
dishonest, would praise up his knowledge to the skies. They would
sometimes go so far as to send him to the spot, to draw up a report of
such or such a mine; with written (legal) agreements contracting to pay
him perhaps £2000 or more for his report, his expenses paid, and shares
in the mine. As soon as they got his report, they would ask him to come
home, and send some one else to run the mine down. Nevertheless they
made their own money out of it. I always trembled, but I always helped
him all I could whenever any of these grand money plans were on hand,
because it interested him; and I keep and leave to my heirs all the
correspondence and agreements concerning them, as well as other matters
of business.
He did his work in his simple, gentlemanly, scientific way, fully
knowing the worth of the mine, but nothing about business. Then, as
soon as they had got all his secrets and information from him, they
would send their own agent, who in one case pretended that he could
not find the spot, purposely avoiding to take the guide Richard had
commissioned for the purpose. But the chief speculator did find
them, and sell them too, although Richard never got a penny for his
trouble. He never knew how to get himself paid without going to
law, which they knew was undesirable for a Consul, and, so far from
getting anything, very often he was largely out of pocket. He was very
much out of pocket about the Guinea Coast Mines, and, had the trial
threatened by Mr. Johns come off, I should have asked to have been
subpœnaed, as my husband was dead, and I should have produced all the
papers and his depositions written before his death, and asked to be
refunded his losses. In the Khedivial Mines of Midian he dropped much
money in expenses, which Ismail Khedive was to have paid him back,
but never did. However, this last only resulted from the accident of
abdication, and not with intent to hurt him. The _others_ were men that
he ought never to have pitted himself against; that is, pitted the
straightforward, unsuspecting ignorance of a gentleman against men who
have been bred for generations to know how much percentage they can get
out of the fraction of a farthing.
I purposely omit names, as I do not care to hurt anybody unless
necessary. These very mines, which I believe Mr. Johns and his Board
have been depreciating so much, have been bought by a man who knew the
gold mine well, and because of its wealth has acquired it from the
natives. He says (1893), "Ever since it was ruined by the weakness
of the directors in London, and the utter incapacity or worse of the
managers on the Guinea Coast, the natives themselves have been mining
it and getting lots of gold out of it, and the writer has just bought
it up again." The thing became a failure entirely through incapacity
and dishonesty abroad, as will be proved by the success of the mine
in proper hands. I had at one time several lumps of quartz with bits
of gold sticking out of it, which Richard picked up himself on the
property.
About eight weeks before Richard died, he dictated a paper to me, and
left papers in my hands which thoroughly prove that he had lost instead
of receiving, and that what he did receive was demanded back again; and
though not obliged, he did pay it, even his own expenses going out and
coming home to make the reports for their benefit, for which he was
promised such good payment.[2]
[Sidenote: _African Mines_.]
He said West Africa has been called the "White Man's Grave." Bombay
and Zanzibar both have had the same reputation, and to sleep ashore
was considered certain death; but English officials now live ashore in
both, and though no European is fever-proof in Africa, Englishmen who
take precautions are pretty healthy. As for labour, if the natives
won't undertake it they can get any amount of Indian coolies and
Chinese. Richard said, "What Africa wants is an honest man at the head,
and machinery;" and almost the last thing that he ever said to me upon
business matters was, "Whatever interests I may have in the West Coast
of Africa, or in Midian, I mean to stick to, and if you survive me, do
you stick to them."
From the Press.
"WEST AFRICAN MINES.
"When Sir Richard Burton was invited to go to the Gold Coast in search
of the precious metal to which that region owes its name, he is
reported to have said, 'Geography is good, but gold is better.' The
result of his expedition, in which Commander Cameron took part, was to
establish the fact that the Gold Coast still deserves its name, and
many attempts have been made of late years to exploit the district.
The Governor of the colony has recently sent a very careful report on
the gold-mining industry to Lord Knutsford, based to a great extent
upon personal observations. The conclusions he arrives at are that the
country is rich in gold, and that earnest and well-considered attempts
are being made to work the mines, the chief difficulty being the want
of labourers, who would have to be imported, probably from China.
"Every two or three years Captain Burton appears like a meteor in
London, and in that City of four millions he invariably succeeds
in creating a stir. However hurried his visitations, his presence
is keenly felt. He wakes up the learned Societies, startles the
Geographers, is the hero of banquets, and drops a new book in his
wake. As we all know, his early exploits have become a part of the
history of our times, and in our annals of discovery or daring there
is nothing to beat his work in Africa--tracking the secret sources
of Old Nile, or his famous pilgrimage to Mecca. As time goes on, the
grass does not grow beneath his feet. A man cannot set the Thames on
fire every day, but he has lived to do many wonders. Cast away as he
is to the east of Venice, and chained to his post at Trieste--doomed
by perverse fate to an isolation that must be almost as irksome as
the rock of St. Helena to Napoleon[3]--when he ought to be in some
splendid position worthy of his powers, Captain Burton makes the most
of leisure and leave of absence. If we do not hear of him and there
is no sign, we may be sure he is not losing time. Either he is deep
in some hard literary enterprise, such as his recent translation of
the epic of Portugal, 'The Lusiads,' or he is off on some fresh quest
interesting to science or to the multitude. He has just now returned
from his old haunts, West Africa, and he comes this time in his
familiar character of Gold-finder."
"MINING ON THE GOLD COAST.
"To the Editor of the _Mining World and Engineering Record_.
"Sir,--Some months have passed since my last communication. I have had
little to say, and was unwilling to intrude upon your valuable space.
Now, however, the state of things has changed, and I am compelled once
more to apply to you for hospitality.
"It is a pleasure to see the Gold Coast taking its proper place in
your columns. The _Mining World_ of November 10th contains three
separate notices, highly encouraging to those who, like myself,
thoroughly believe in the vast mineral wealth of our ill-fated colony,
in the facility of 'getting' the metal, and in the manageability of
the climate, which is certainly not worse than was that of Bombay
at the beginning of the present century. I remark with satisfaction
that the 'debauched, incapable' class, at first sent out, _faute de
mieux_, has been gradually improved off, and that able men are taking
its place. Lastly, I am delighted to observe that at least one of the
new-comers has proposed to adopt the style of work especially adapted
for the Gold Coast, and has determined to preface the good old 'shaft
and tunnel' system by pouching the superficial deposits.
"A case in point. One of my correspondents kindly forwarded to me a
copy of Mr. Lowman's last report to the directors of the African Gold
Coast Syndicate, Limited. This manager, sent out to develop the huge
and rich 'Ingotro Concession,' reached Axim only on August 16th. On
reaching his destination he was at once informed by Chief Appo that
the bottom of the Nánwá Valley, an old lagoon, abounds in gold, 'if we
could but only get water out.' After puddling and washing, 'with extra
good results,' sundry samples of the clay, he cut on the east bank of
the rivulet a drain 350 feet long by 3 feet wide and 2½ feet deep,
with a fall of 1 in 80. I may remind you that the stream in question,
as shown by Captain Cameron's map, 'snakes' all down its valley, and
that ditches from one loop to another would lay bare a great length of
bed. Its width varies from 15 to 30 feet; the depth from 18 inches to
6 feet, and it runs all the year round. Mr. Lowman began another drain
400 feet long, to cross-cut the lagoon, which now infects the lower
bed of the Nánwá, and which would easily empty into the Ancobra. He
proposed to hydraulic with 350 feet of troughs or sluice-boxes, which
were all ready for laying, and one Molyneux box (loose hopper, patent
riffles, and slide tables), 'the first ever made or used on the Gold
Coast.' A sketch of the 'flats' and of the machinery was attached to
the report, and I can say nothing except in their praise.
"The lagoon clay to be puddled and 'Molyneux'd' is described as a
still, yellow argile, resting upon a hard bottom of quartz pebbles.
The cuttings opened up drifts of black sand, considered to be 'highly
auriferous' (see the 'Gold Book'), and these were reserved for
washing at convenience. The results of panning and cradling on the
Nánwá flats, and on the whole line as far as Kitza, yielded samples
varying from 4 dwts. to 10 ozs. per cubic yard of stuff. What would
California and Australia say to those figures? Mr. Lowman adds, and I
believe him, 'There is no property between Axim and Tacquah so well
adapted for hydraulicking and alluvial mining in all its branches
as the Ingotro Concession. There is plenty of water and a good fall
for tailings by simply cutting channels from river bend to bend, and
letting them run into one of the deep valleys or carrying them direct
to the Ancobra river. Another great advantage is that the Ingotro
mines can be worked at one-half the expense of any quartz mine on
the coast. Water here will do the work of steam with half the number
of hands. The whole of the Nánwá Valley is auriferous, good payable
ground, which would take sixty to seventy years to work out, without
touching the quartz.' Now we come to what will greatly benefit the
climate, the only weak point noted at Ingotro by Cameron and myself.
'An absolute necessary piece of work will be to clear the river banks
and to remove the trees which have fallen across the bed. We must also
do away with (N.B.--I hope after panning) the large silted-up banks
of sand and gravel which have accumulated in the river bends, causing
the stream to overflow and to swamp the low lands, after each little
freshet. Some of the banks, four to five feet high and fifteen across,
are perfect natural dams. The work should not occupy more than three
or four months.'
"The first thing which struck me on the Gold Coast was a conviction
that its 'nullah beds' will supply the greatest quantity of metal
for the least possible expenditure. The late M. Bounat, a Frenchman,
who taught Englishmen the value of their colony on the Guinea Gulf,
began (as I related in the 'Gold Book,' ii. 360) with the intention
of dredging the Ancobra river for dust and nuggets. And he was right.
Every little rivulet bed in the land must be ransacked before the
hills are washed down by hydraulicking; and the sooner the 'steam
navvy' appears upon the scene the better.
"Mr. Lowman evidently took good counsel, and, not being a consulting
engineer, was not above taking a lesson from 'Chief Appo.' You may
imagine my vexation on hearing that he had been recalled for 'want
of funds.' Want of funds! Why, three months' work and a few hundred
pounds would have enabled him to wash gold enough for paying all the
labour he requires. Surely the directors of 'Ingotro' must see this as
clearly as I do. It is a sorry time to draw back when standing upon
the very verge of a grand discovery. I would state, in your pages,
my certainty that such is the case; and if the Nánwá project fail, I
would subside into a 'mere traveller,' as a booby acquaintance kindly
described me.
"Excuse the length of this letter--the importance of the subject amply
justifies it.
"I am, etc.,
"RICHARD BURTON.
"Trieste, Austria, November 26th."
"To the Editor of the _Mining World and Engineering Record_.
"Sir,--You should have heard from me before had not _petite santé_
stood in the way of good intentions. Life in a little Mediterranean
harbour-town makes one almost look forward to leaving the world in
view of some extensive explorations beyond the world.
"My letters from the Gold Coast are cheering. Captain Cameron and Mr.
Walsten are doing prime work. The former is being supplied with funds,
an essential point which I cannot urge too strongly upon the two
companies for whom he is now labouring. The 'present and future' of
the Gold Coast mainly depends upon his success.
"Many thanks to Mr. Louis F. Gowan for his 'pile of experience' about
Chinese coolies. This is what we want--familiarity with the subject,
not more dogmatism. And the question is whether Chinamen in Africa
would be the 'pig-tailed cut-throats' described by Mr. Gowan. I did
not find them so in Bombay, San Francisco, and Peru.
"On the other hand, I am in nowise edified by the dogmatism displayed
at the annual meeting of the Guinea Gold Coast Mining Company. A
chairman is hardly expected to be an expert, but he must not address
his shareholders as if he were a high authority. I read: 'Now,
gentlemen, hydraulic sluicing are very easy words to pronounce, but
it is a deuced hard operation to perform.' After some exceedingly
useless statements about hydraulicking in Australia, he continues:
'The directors took the best advice they could, namely, that of your
consulting engineer, and he was opposed to it. He said, "It is quite
true that if your country is impregnated with gold, and if you have
got great results everywhere by assay, it is advisable, but you
have not got any here (!), and therefore it would be very unwise
expenditure."' The chairman concludes, 'We were bound then to take the
opinion of an expert against the opinion of Captain Burton on that
point, because otherwise you would have real reason for blaming us.'
"This is really too bad for the unfortunate shareholders, who have
only £15,000 left wherewith to carry on the work. Their property is
cut by two streamlets, and these have never even been tested for
gold. I have still to learn what experience of mining is possessed
by the consulting engineer; but that he has a complete ignorance of
Africa, I well know. Every writer on the Gold Coast from Bosman to
Swanzy tells him that the land is impregnated with gold. He says it
is not. As regards his management, it is enough to wreck any company.
He recommended a person who reported in his cups that he could find
no gold. I am waiting to see how his second _protégé_ turns out;
present reports are the reverse of favourable, and if number two fail
like number one, I shall offer you a suggestion of my own concerning
management on the Gold Coast.
"Against these miserable theories let us see what is the language
of actual experience. To begin with Mr. Edward Smith's report on
the Kitzia Concession:--'When going up the creek from the native
village, I saw fourteen native women washing alluvial soil in the bed
of the creek; and, on inquiring as to the result of their washing,
Mr. Grant, the interpreter, told me they were making six shillings
each per day. The stuff they were washing was from the surface of the
side of the hill hard by. The creek could be turned, and a water-race
brought alongside of the hill, so as to command the surface and to
ground-sluice this portion of the property with good paying results.'
Such is the hydraulicking recommended by me; but, apparently, where
native women succeed, consulting engineers expect only failure. I
must say with Abernethy, 'Read my book!' And that is not all. Captain
Cameron writes to me from Axim, 'I shall get very good washing by the
engine (_i.e._ without expensive leats or water-races), and think
about ten or twelve shillings to the ton. I have over thirty feet fall
for the sluices, which will give me three hundred and sixty feet (if
necessary) of boxes.' I reported to you what my friend declared in a
former letter, that he could wash down a whole hillside.
"In conclusion, I hope that the shareholders, after comparing the
statements of fact and theory, will insist upon their engineers
abandoning the old humdrum, beaten track; and will compel them,
whether they like it or not, to send home gold washed from the surface.
"I am, etc.,
"R. F. BURTON.
"Trieste, Austria, April 20th, 1883."
From _Mining Journal_, February 5th, 1887.
"WEST AFRICAN GOLD MINES.
"To the Editor of the _Mining Journal_.
"Sir,--I have been surprised that these West African properties
have not been brought to the front during the present excitement
in gold-mining affairs, for that the gold is there is beyond all
question. I do not forget that several of the companies which started
a few years ago came to grief, but the cause of this was well known
to be mismanagement and misfortune--forces which would ruin the best
scheme in the world. But that these are going to prevent success in
West Africa for ever I fail to believe. Let us look for a moment at
what has really been going on quietly during the past twelve months
there, and I think we shall see cause for much hopefulness in the
near future. The Wassau Mining Company's monthly report is now before
me. The crushing for twenty-two days in November gave 232 ozs., which
netted the sum of £894 19_s._ in London, after deducting freight and
expenses. This is at the rate of £1220 per month of thirty days. Their
monthly expenses, I believe, are now somewhere about £500. This shows
a profit at the rate of over £8000 a year, or 8 per cent. on the
capital, and much more than this is a mere question of machinery. The
manager reports on December 1: 'If anything, the mine looks better
than ever.' The French Company have reorganized their affairs, and
a large and able staff left England on January 1st. Their property,
at a depth of 40 feet, gives an average yield of 17½ dwts. per ton
in a south-west direction, and in a north-east direction it gives 21
dwts. At 63 feet it gives 2 ozs. 15 dwts., and in Bonnat's shaft, at
83 feet, it yields 5 ozs. 13 dwts. per ton. With figures like these
one may fairly ask, Where are the East Indian mines? Where, even,
are the Queensland properties? The Swanzy Estates Company, a private
enterprise, carefully and economically managed, have been working for
upwards of two years, on a property which, though not so rich as the
others, is none the less likely to pay handsomely, as the quantity of
mineral in sight is enormous, and it can be worked at a mere nominal
cost, in consequence of its position. They are receiving regular
returns, and the owners are more than satisfied. Cinnamon Bippo,
another private property, equally well and economically worked, has
at least one lode a mile in length, the average assay from which,
over its entire distance, gives 2¼ ozs. to the ton, and by actual
crushing of about 300 tons it has yielded 1 oz. 8 dwts. per ton, at an
estimated profit of seventy shillings per ton. With improved machinery
and appliances, the owners are satisfied that they will get about 2
ozs. per ton, and the quantity of ore is absolutely unlimited. I now
turn to your issue of Saturday last, and draw attention to the report
on Essaman. Mr. Harvey says, respecting the Prestea reef, 'I have
discovered that this is only a portion of an auriferous belt over 200
ft. thick. The cross-cut has been driven through the belt to cut the
reef, so there is proof undeniable of what I state, and, moreover,
the whole is permeated with auriferous veins of quartz. Who knows but
that some day or other this hill may be opened and worked as a quarry?
Believe me, we know little of the wealth of Africa.' Mr. Harvey
reports the main reef to be 10 feet thick at the point where driving
will be commenced, and the average samples taken right through confirm
his previous estimate of about 2 ozs. per ton. Mr. Harvey is right; we
know little of the wealth of Africa, but it will not be much longer
concealed.
"PSEUDONYM.
"January 31st, 1887."
I quote this prematurely, because it finishes the subject:
"AN EXPLANATION.
"Mr. W. J. Johns has called our attention to a very important letter
respecting the Guinea Coast Company, Limited, which has been received
from Sir Richard F. Burton. This letter would have been read by Mr.
Johns to the shareholders of that company who assembled at last
week's meeting, but no opportunity presented itself for him to do so.
Many misstatements were made at that gathering respecting Mr. Johns
and other gentlemen connected with the company, which in a really
deliberative assembly, anxious only for the facts, might have been
set aside. The letter of Sir Richard Burton (an old correspondent of
the _Mining World_) tells its own tale. It is as follows:--
"'Hôtel Windsor, Cannes, January 25th, 1887.
"'I am greatly scandalized at seeing the papers crammed with the
falsest statements about the property of the Guinea Coast Company.
"'Two great points require emphatic contradiction. The first is, that
the place is a swamp; the second, that it contains no gold.
"'As regards both these statements I have only to bring in as evidence
my own book, "To the Gold Coast for Gold," and I am ready to maintain
every word therein printed.
"'The place, so far from being a swamp, struck me as peculiarly
healthy, and the condition of the natives proved that such was the
case.
"'As regards the gold, I noted in my book that Captain Cameron and
I were unable to descend into the native shafts on account of their
being full of water. But the number and extent of these diggings told
their own tale, and I need hardly repeat that auriferous quartz reefs
are only nibbed by the country people.
"'It would be impossible for me to be in England as early as the 24th
of next month, but I have written to my friend and fellow-traveller,
Commander Cameron, whose opinion of the mines and mine were identical,
to print in some leading papers our distinct and emphatic denial of
the two falsehoods above noticed, which have been unblushingly foisted
upon the public.
"'(Signed) RICHARD F. BURTON.'"
[1] Richard wrote "The Castellieri; or, Prehistoric Ruins of the
Istrian Peninsula," and "More Castellieri--the Seaboard of Istria."
[2] This was deemed chivalrous and foolish by his own lawyer.--I. B.
[3] A good simile. The British Government seemed quite as afraid of one
as of the other--friend or foe, she must cage her eagles.--I. B.