ertin, and that "true-hearted Englishman, staunch to
the backbone," Charles Tyrwhitt Drake, who "brought with him a breath
from the desert and stayed several weeks." The three friends went to a
fete held in the stalactite caverns of Adelsberg, from which Burton, who
called them the eighth wonder of the world, always assumed that Dante
got his ideas of the Inferno. Lighted by a million candles, and crowded
with peasants in their picturesque costumes, which made wondrous
arabesques of moving shadows, the caves presented a weird and unearthly
appearance, which the music and dancing subsequently intensified.
Shortly afterwards Drake left for Palestine. In May (1874), Burton was
struck down by a sudden pain, which proved to arise from a tumour. An
operation was necessary, and all was going on well when a letter brought
the sad news of Drake's death. He had succumbed, at Jerusalem, to
typhoid fever, at the early age of twenty-eight. [281] Burton took the
news so heavily, that, at Mrs. Burton says, [282] it "caused the wound
to open afresh; he loved Drake like a brother, and few know what a
tender heart Richard has." To use Dr. Baker's [283] phrase, he had "the
heart of a beautiful woman."

78. Khamoor returns to Syria, 4th December 1874.

In the meantime Mrs. Burton was reaping the fruits of her injudicious
treatment of Khamoor. Thoroughly spoilt, the girl now gave herself
ridiculous airs, put herself on a level with her mistress, and would do
nothing she was told. As there was no other remedy, Mrs. Burton resolved
philanthropically to send her back to Syria, "in order that she might
get married and settled in life." So Khamoor was put on board a ship
going to Beyrout, with nine boxes of clothes and a purse of gold. "It
was to me," says Mrs. Burton, "a great wrench." Khamoor's father met
her, the nine boxes, and the purse of gold at Beyrout, and by and by
came to the news that she was married and settled down in the Buka'a.
Such was the end of Chico the Second.

Chapter XVIII. 12th May 1875-18th June 1876, The Trip to India

Bibliography:

51. The Port of Trieste. 52. The Gypsy. Written in 1875. 53. Etruscan
Bologna. 1876. 54. New System of Sword Exercise for Infantry. 1876.

79. Visit to England, 12th May 1875.

On 8th December 1874, Burton sent his wife to England to arrange for the
publication of various of his works, and in May 1875, having obtained
leave, he followed her, arriving in Lo