to Cannes, where the state of Burton's health gave his wife great
uneasiness. She says, "I saw him dripping his pen anywhere except into
the ink. When he tried to say something he did not find his words." An
awful fit of "epileptiform convulsions," the result of suppressed
gout, followed, and the local doctors who were called in came to the
conclusion that Burton could not recover. They thought it better,
however, that their opinion should be conveyed to him by a perfect
stranger, so they deputed Dr. Grenfell Baker, a young man who was then
staying at Cannes, to perform the painful duty.

Dr. Baker entered the sick room and broke the news to Burton as best he
could.

"Then you suppose I am going to die?" said Burton.

"The medical men who have been holding a consultation are of that
opinion."

Shrugging his shoulders, Burton said, "Ah, well!--sit down," and then he
told Dr. Baker a story out of The Arabian Nights. Dr. Baker remained
a fortnight, and then Sir Richard, who decided to have a travelling
medical attendant, sent to England for Dr. Ralph Leslie, who a little
later joined him at Trieste.

To his circle of friends Burton now added Mr. A. G. Ellis, already
referred to, Professor James F. Blumhardt, of the British Museum, and
Professor Cecil Bendall, of University College, London. [546] His
first communication with Mr. Ellis seems to have been a post-card dated
Trieste, 8th May 1887. He says "The Perfumed Garden is not yet out
nor will it be for six months. My old version is to be had at ---'s,
Coventry Street, Haymarket. The Supplemental Nights you can procure from
the agent, -----, Farleigh Road, Stoke Newington."

As we have seen, Burton's first and second supplemental volumes of
the Nights correspond with Mr. Payne's three volumes of Tales from the
Arabic. He also wished to include the eight famous Galland Tales:--"Zayn
Al-Asnam," "Alaeddin," "Khudadad and his Brothers," "The Kaliph's Night
Adventure," "Ali Baba," "Ali Khwajah and the Merchant of Baghdad,"
"Prince Ahmad and the Fairy Peri-Banu," and "The Two Sisters who
Envied their Cadette;" but the only Oriental text he could find was
a Hindustani version of Galland's tales "Orientalised and divested of
their inordinate Gallicism." As Burton was at this time prostrated by
illness, Professor Blumhardt kindly undertook "to English the Hindustani
for him. While the volume was going forward, however, M. Zotenberg,
of Paris, discovered a MS. copy of The