e lit. [319]
She reached Trieste after "an agonizing sixty hours" and was seriously
ill for several weeks. All the while, Burton, whose purse, like that of
one of his favourite poets, Catullus, was "full of cobwebs," had been
turning his thoughts to Midian again. He still asseverated that it was
a land of gold, and he believed that if he could get to Egypt the rest
would be easy. Says Mrs. Burton, writing to Miss Stisted, 12th December
1879: "Darling Dick started on Friday 5th, a week ago, in high spirits.
My position is singular, no child, no relative, and all new servants."
She then speaks of her Christmas book, which had just gone to the
publishers. She says, "It is for boys from 12 to 16, culled from ten
volumes: Dick's three books on Sind, his Goa, Falconry, Vikram, Bayonet
and Sword Exercise, and my A.E.I." and she was in hopes it would revive
her husband's earliest works, which by that time were forgotten. The
fate of this work was a melancholy one, for the publisher to whom the
manuscript was entrusted went bankrupt, and no more was every heard of
it. [320] Burton's hope that he would be able to lead another expedition
to Midian was not realised. Ismail was no longer Khedive, and Tewfik,
his successor, who regarded the idea as chimerical, declined to be bound
by any promise of his father's. His Excellency Yacoub Artin Pasha [321]
and others of Burton's Egyptian friends expressed sympathy and tried
to expedite matters, but nothing could be done. To make matters worse,
Burton when passing through Alexandria was attacked by thieves, who hit
him on the head from behind. He defended himself stoutly, and got away,
covered however, with bruises and blood.

Chapter XXI. 27th December 1879-August 1881, Camoens

Bibliography

60. Camoens, 6 vols. 1 and 2, the Lusiads. 1880. 3 and 4, Life of
Camoens and Commentary. 1882. 5 and 6, The Lyrics. 1884. 61. The
Kasidah. 1880. 62. Visit to Lissa and Pelagoza. 1880. 63. A Glance at
the Passion Play. 1881. 64. How to deal with the Slave Trade in Egypt.
1881. 65. Thermae of Montfalcone. 1881.

98. The Lusiads.

Burton had brought with him to Egypt his translation of The Lusiads,
which had been commenced as early as 1847, and at which, as we have
seen, he had, from that time onward, intermittently laboured. At Cairo
he gave his work the finishing touches, and on his return to Trieste in
May it was ready for the press. There have been many English translators
of