e
became an authority on Herodotus, Pliny, Ptolemy, Strabo, and Pomponious
Mela, he became equally an authority on Bruce, Sonnini, Lacerda, the
Pombeiros, Monteiro and Gamitto.

From Ptolemy downwards writers and travellers had prayed for the
unveiling of Isis, that is to say, the discovery of the sources of the
Nile; but for two thousand years every effort had proved fruitless.
Burning to immortalize himself by wresting from the mysterious river its
immemorial secret, Burton now planned an expedition for that purpose.
Thanks to the good offices of Lord Clarendon, Secretary of State
for Foreign Affairs, the Royal Geographical Society promised him the
necessary funds; while Cardinal Wiseman, ever his sincere friend, gave
him a passport to all Catholic missionaries. [165] To Burton, as we have
seen, partings were always distressing, and in order to avoid bidding
adieu to Miss Arundell he adopted his usual course, leaving a letter
which mentioned love and that he was gone.

He quitted England for Bombay in October 1856, and crossed to Zanzibar
in the Elphinstone sloop of war, Speke, who was to be his companion in
the expedition, sailing with him. Burton was in the highest spirits.
"One of the gladdest moments in human life," he wrote, "is the departing
upon a distant journey into unknown lands. Shaking off with one effort
the fetters of habit, the leaden weight of routine, the slavery of
civilisation, [166] man feels once more happy. The blood flows with the
fast circulation of youth, excitement gives a new vigour to the muscles
and a sense of sudden freedom adds an inch to the stature." Among the
crew was a midshipman, C. R. Low, who became a life-long friend of
Burton. Says Mr. Low, "We used to have bouts of single-stick in the
pleasant evening sin the poop, and many's the time he has blacked my
arms and legs with his weapons.... Though a dangerous enemy, he was a
warm and constant friend." [167] On reaching Zanzibar, Burton,
finding the season an unsuitable one for the commencement of his great
expedition, resolved to make what he called "a preliminary canter." So
he and Speke set out on a cruise northward in a crazy old Arab "beden"
with ragged sails and worm-eaten timbers. They carried with them,
however, a galvanised iron life-boat, "The Louisa," named after Burton's
old love, and so felt no fear.

They passed the Island of Pemba, and on the 22nd reached Mombasa, which
Burton was glad to visit on account of its as