part in the celebrations in honour of the Prince of Wales, who had just
finished his Indian tour. Honouring the Guebres--the grand old Guebres,
as he used to call them--and their modern representatives, the Parsees,
Burton paid a visit to the Parsee "burying place"--the high tower where
the dead are left to be picked by vultures, and then he and his wife
left for Goa, where they enjoyed the hospitality and company of Dr.
Gerson Da Cunha, [295] the Camoens student and enthusiast.

Mrs. Burton was as disgusted with Goa as she had been charmed with
Dr. Da Cunha. She says, "Of all the God-forgotten, deserted holes, one
thousand years behind the rest of creation, I have never seen anything
equal it." They left India at the end of April, and were back again at
Trieste on June 18th.

Chapter XIX. 18th June 1876-31st March 1877, Colonel Gordon

85. Ariosto.

Shortly after his return from India, Burton commenced a translation of
the Orlando Furioso [296] of Ariosto, a poet, to whom, as we have seen,
he had been drawn ever since those far-off days when with his father and
the rest of the family he had meandered about Italy in the great yellow
chariot. Reggio, the poet's birthplace, and Ferrara, where the Orlando
Furioso was written and Ariosto died, were sacred spots to him; while
the terrific madness of the hero, the loves of Ruggiero and Bradamante
and the enchanted gardens with their Arabian Nights atmosphere, lapped
him in bliss much as they had done in the old days. Only a small portion
of this translation was ever finished, but he had it in mind all the
rest of his life, and talked about it during his last visit to England.

86. Death of Rashid Pasha, 24th June 1876.

In June came the news of the murder of Rashid Pasha; and a thousand
memories, sweet and bitter, thrilled the Burtons. Mrs. Burton recalled
that "cool and aromatic housetop," the jewel-blue Chrysorrhoa, the
saffron desert, and then it was "Oh, Rashid Pasha! Oh, Rashid Pasha!"
Still she found it in her woman's heart to forgive the detested old
enemy, now that he was gone, but Burton could not restrain a howl of
triumph such as might have become some particularly vindictive Bible
hero.

Writing on 24th June to his cousin, Dr. Edward John Burton, he says,
"We returned here on the 18th inst., and the first thing I heard was
the murder of my arch-enemy, Rashid Pasha. Serve the scoundrel right.
He prevented my going to Constantinople and