he was a thorough sportsman. For courage, daring,
and enterprise, as well as good-fellowship, there never
lived a man more worthy of esteem than poor Stroyan.
Lieutenant Burton had sent a boat’s crew off to
near the site of our camp, a distance of three miles, to
fetch away anything that might remain there, and
bring it to us. They found the place deserted, with
only such things left as the Somali could make no use
of, and were too cumbersome to carry away; such, for
instance, as grain, boxes, books, and various scientific
instruments, which, after being wantonly injured,
were left scattered on the ground. I t appeared, by
accounts brought back, that many of the men who ran
off at the first false alarm never ventured back again
to help themselves from the spoils. They had now
destroyed about ¿61500 worth of property, but had
enriched themselves but very little, for, whilst fighting,
they had destroyed in the scramble nearly everything
of any worth to themselves. When the boat’s
crew returned with Stroyan’s body, it was found to
be too late to sail that evening.
During] the time of waiting, a poor man, with no
covering on his body, crawled up to the vessel, and
implored the captain, in the name of Allah—the fakir’s
mode of begging—to give him a passage to Aden.
TTis prayer was answered, and he came on board. He
was a Mussulman, bom in Cashmere, and had been
wandering about the world in the capacity of a fakir;
but was now, through hunger and starvation, reduced
to a mere skeleton of skin and bones. His stomach
was so completely doubled inwards, it was surprising
the vital spark remained within him. On being asked
to recite his history, he said, “ I was bom ;in the
' happy valley ’ of Cashmere ; but reduced circumstances
led me to leave my native land. When wandering
alone in some woods one day, I had a visitation, which
induced me to turn devotee, and wander about the
world to visit all places of pilgrimage, carrying only a
bottle and a bag, and ask charity in the name of God,
who supplies the world with everything, and takes
compassion on the destitute. At first I travelled in
India, visiting its shrines and temples, and then determined
on crossing the sea to see what other countries
were like. Taking passage at Bombay, I first went to
Muskat in Southern Arabia, and thence travelled overland
to Aden, begging all the way, and receiving kind
hospitality wherever I spent the night. In Aden I
remained a while, and by constant begging accumulated
sufficient property to purchase food for a considerable
time, when I again set out, in the name of
Allah, to see what the Somali Land was like. At
first I went across to Kurrum, and lived there as long
as my little stock held out, but I could get no assistance
from the people of the place. The stock exhausted,
I was spurned from every door. At last
despairing of obtaining anything on the coast, I
ventured to see what the interior would produce, but
I found the Somali everywhere the same ; they were
mere hywans (animals), with whom no human beings
could five. A man might travel in Arabia or any