Of the races around him.
On the contrary, should he, after duly chastising the offenders, carry out
the original plan, he will command the respect of the people, and wipe out
the memory of a temporary reverse. At no distant period the project will,
it is hoped, be revived. Nothing is required but permission to renew the
attempt--an indulgence which will not be refused by a Government raised by
energy, enterprise, and perseverance from the ranks of merchant society to
national wealth and imperial grandeur.
14. St. James's Square,
10th February, 1856.
FOOTNOTES
[1] It occupies the whole of the Eastern Horn, extending from the north of
Bab el Mandeb to several degrees south of Cape Guardafui. In the former
direction it is bounded by the Dankali and the Ittoo Gallas; in the latter
by the Sawahil or Negrotic regions; the Red Sea is its eastern limit, and
westward it stretches to within a few miles of Harar.
[2] In A.D. 1838, Lieut. Carless surveyed the seaboard of the Somali
country, from Ras Hafun to Burnt Island; unfortunately his labours were
allowed by Sir Charles Malcolm's successor to lie five years in the
obscurity of MS. Meanwhile the steam frigate "Memnon," Capt. Powell
commanding, was lost at Ras Assayr; a Norie's chart, an antiquated
document, with an error of from fifteen to twenty miles, being the only
map of reference on board. Thus the Indian Government, by the dilatoriness
and prejudices of its Superintendent of Marine, sustained an unjustifiable
loss of at least 50,000_l._
[3] In A.D. 1836-38, Lieut. Cruttenden published descriptions of travel,
which will be alluded to in a subsequent part of this preface.
[4] This "hasty sketch of the scientific labours of the Indian navy," is
extracted from an able anonymous pamphlet, unpromisingly headed
"Grievances and Present Condition of our Indian Officers."
[5] In A.D. 1848, the late Mr. Joseph Hume called in the House of Commons
for a return of all Indian surveys carried on during the ten previous
years. The result proved that no less than a score had been suddenly
"broken up," by order of Sir Robert Oliver.
[6] This plan was successfully adopted by Messrs. Antoine and Arnauld
d'Abbadie, when travelling in dangerous parts of Abyssinia and the
adjacent countries.
[7] In A.D. 1660, Vermuyden found gold at Gambia always on naked and
barren hills embedded in a reddish earth.
[8] The writer has not unfrequently been blamed by the critics of Indian
papers, for venturing into such dangerous lands with an outfit nearly
1500_l._ in value. In the Somali, as in other countries of Eastern Africa,
travellers must carry not only the means of purchasing passage, but also
the very necessaries of life. Money being unknown, such bulky articles as
cotton-cloth, tobacco, and beads are necessary to provide meat and milk,
and he who would eat bread must load his camels with grain.
