Mr. Payne first took up the work of a translator in 1878, his earliest achievement in the new province being his admirable rendering of Villon, in which he gives the music of the thief poet, and all his humour, and this reminds us that Mr. Payne, unlike most poets, is a skilled musician.  Of his life, indeed, music, in its most advanced and audacious manifestations had always been as much an essential a part as literature, hence the wonderful melodic effects of the more remarkable of his poems.  Already an excellent Arabic scholar, he had as early as 1875 resolved upon a translation of The Arabian Nights, and he commenced the task in earnest on 5th February 1877.  He worked with exhausting sedulity and expended upon it all the gifts in his power, with the result that his work has taken its places as a classic.  The price was nine guineas.  Imagining that the demand for so expensive a work would not be large, Mr. Payne, unfortunately, limited himself to the publication of only 500 copies.  The demand exceeded 2,000, so 1,500 persons were disappointed.

It was at this moment that Mr. Payne became acquainted with Burton.  Mr. Payne admired Burton as a traveller, an explorer, and a linguist, and recognised the fact that no man had a more intimate knowledge of the manners and customs of the East; and Burton on his part paid high tribute to Mr. Payne’s gifts as a translator and a poet.[FN#352]

105.  To the Gold Coast, 25th November 1881-20th May 1882.

When Mr. Payne’s letter reached Trieste, Burton had just started off, with Commander Verney Lovett Cameron, on an expedition to the Gold Coast.  In his Fernando Po period he had, as we have seen, been deeply interested in the gold digging and gold washing industries,[FN#353] had himself, indeed, to use his own words, “discovered several gold mines on that coast.”  For years his mind had turned wistfully towards those regions, and at last, early in 1881, he was able to enter into an arrangement with a private speculator concerning the supposed mines.  He and Cameron were to have all their expenses paid, and certain shares upon the formulation of the company.  The travellers left Trieste on November 18th, being accompanied as far as Fiume by Mrs. Burton and Lisa, who on the 25th returned to Trieste; and on December 17th they reached Lisbon, whither Mr. Payne’s letter followed them.  Burton, who replied cordially, said “In April, at the latest, I hope to have the pleasure of shaking hands with you in London, and then we will talk over the 1,000 Nights and a Night.  At present it is useless to say anything more than this—­I shall be most happy to collaborate with you. ....  Do you know the Rev. G. Percy Badger (of the Dictionary)?  If not, you should make his acquaintance, as he is familiar with the Persian and to a certain extent with the Egyptian terms of the Nights.  He is very obliging and ready to assist Arabists[FN#354] .....  I am an immense admirer of your Villon.”