idolatry. The acme of
stupidity was attained by the Stylites, who conceived that mankind had
no nobler end than to live and die upon the capital of a column. When
things were at their worst Mohammed first appeared upon the stage of
life." The work was published in its unfinished state after Burton's
death.

With The Kasidah we shall deal in a later chapter, for though Burton
wrote a few couplets at this time, the poem did not take its present
shape till after the appearance of FitzGerald's adaptation of The
Rubaiyat Oman Khayyam.

Having spent a few weeks in Egypt, Burton returned to Bombay, travelling
in his Arab dress. Among those on board was an English gentleman, Mr.
James Grant Lumsden, senior member of the Council, Bombay, who being
struck by Burton's appearance, said to a friend, "What a clever,
intellectual face that Arab has!" Burton, overhearing the remark,
made some humorous comment in English, and thus commenced a pleasant
friendship.

Chapter VII. 29th October 1854--9th February, 1855 To Harar

Bibliography: 13. Pilgrimage to Al-Madimah and Meccah. 3 vols.
1855-1856.

29. At Aden. The Arabian Nights. Oct. 1854.

It was while staying at Bombay as Mr. Lumsden's guest that Burton,
already cloyed with civilization, conceived the idea of journeying, via
Zeila in Somaliland, to the forbidden and therefore almost unknown
city of Harar, and thence to Zanzibar. His application to the
Bombay Government for permission and assistance having been received
favourably, he at once set out for Aden, where he stayed with his "old
and dear friend," Dr. John Steinhauser, who had been appointed civil
surgeon there. Steinhauser, a stolid man, whose face might have been
carved out of wood, was, like Burton, an enthusiastic student of The
Arabian Nights, and their conversation naturally drifted into this
subject. Both came to the conclusion that while the name of this
wondrous repertory of Moslem folk-lore was familiar to almost every
English child, no general reader could form any idea of its treasures.
Moreover, that the door would not open to any but Arabists. But even at
the present day, and notwithstanding the editions of Payne and Burton,
there are still persons who imagine that The Arabian Nights is simply a
book for the nursery. Familiar only with some inferior rendering, they
are absolutely ignorant of the wealth of wisdom, humour, pathos and
poetry to be found in its pages. [141] Writing in 18