“Good-night, Sir,” I said, “what it is in the power of human nature to do I will do; and on such an errand as I go upon, God will be with me.”

I lodged with young Edward King, who is making such a name in New England.  He was just the man who would have delighted to tell the journal he was engaged upon what young Mr. Bennett was doing, and what errand I was bound upon.

I should have liked to exchange opinions with him upon the probable results of my journey, but I dared not do so.  Though oppressed with the great task before me, I had to appear as if only going to be present at the Suez Canal.  Young King followed me to the express train bound for Marseilles, and at the station we parted:  he to go and read the newspapers at Bowles’ Reading-room—­I to Central Africa and—­who knows?

There is no need to recapitulate what I did before going to Central Africa.

I went up the Nile and saw Mr. Higginbotham, chief engineer in Baker’s Expedition, at Philae, and was the means of preventing a duel between him and a mad young Frenchman, who wanted to fight Mr. Higginbotham with pistols, because that gentleman resented the idea of being taken for an Egyptian, through wearing a fez cap.  I had a talk with Capt.  Warren at Jerusalem, and descended one of the pits with a sergeant of engineers to see the marks of the Tyrian workmen on the foundation-stones of the Temple of Solomon.  I visited the mosques of Stamboul with the Minister Resident of the United States, and the American Consul-General.  I travelled over the Crimean battle-grounds with Kinglake’s glorious books for reference in my hand.  I dined with the widow of General Liprandi at Odessa.  I saw the Arabian traveller Palgrave at Trebizond, and Baron Nicolay, the Civil Governor of the Caucasus, at Tiflis.  I lived with the Russian Ambassador while at Teheran, and wherever I went through Persia I received the most hospitable welcome from the gentlemen of the Indo-European Telegraph Company; and following the examples of many illustrious men, I wrote my name upon one of the Persepolitan monuments.  In the month of August, 1870, I arrived in India.

On the 12th of October I sailed on the barque ‘Polly’ from Bombay to Mauritius.  As the ‘Polly’ was a slow sailer, the passage lasted thirty-seven days.  On board this barque was a William Lawrence Farquhar—­hailing from Leith, Scotland—­ in the capacity of first-mate.  He was an excellent navigator, and thinking he might be useful to me, I employed him; his pay to begin from the date we should leave Zanzibar for Bagamoyo.  As there was no opportunity of getting, to Zanzibar direct, I took ship to Seychelles.  Three or four days after arriving at Mahe, one of the Seychelles group, I was fortunate enough to get a passage for myself, William Lawrence Farquhar, and an Arab boy from Jerusalem, who was to act as interpreter—­ on board an American whaling vessel, bound for Zanzibar; at which port we arrived on the 6th of January, 1871.