APPENDIX II. 



421 



3. 



" The Military Secretary, East India House. 



" Aden, 14th November. 



" Sir, — I have the honour to acknowledge your official letter 

 of the 24th October, conveying to me the commands of the 

 Court of Directors to return instantly to London by the 

 steamer direct from Alexandria to Southampton. 



" The steamer in question left Alexandria on November 6th, 

 at about 10 a.m. I received and acknowledged from the 

 British Consulate your official letter on the same day at Cairo, 

 about noon. No steamer leaves Alexandria before the 20th 

 inst. ; it is therefore evident that I could not possibly obey the 

 order within the limits specified. 



" No mention was made about my returning to England by 

 the next steamer, probably because the Court-Martial pending 

 upon Colonel A. Shirley will before that time have come to a 

 close. I need scarcely say, that should I, on arrival at Bombay, 

 find an order to that effect, it shall be instantly and implicitly 

 obeyed. 



" Considering, however, that I have already stated all that I 

 know upon the subject of the Court-Martial in question — that 

 I was not subpoenaed in England — that I am under directions 

 of the Royal Geographical Society, and employed with an 

 Expedition under the patronage of the Foreign Office — that 

 without my proceeding to Bombay, valuable Government 

 property would most probably have been lost, and the pre- 

 parations for the Expedition have suffered from serious delay — 

 and lastly, that by the loss of a few weeks a whole year's 

 exploration must be allowed to pass by — I venture respectfully 

 to hope that I have taken the proper course, and that should I, 

 on my arrival in India, find no express and positive order for 

 an immediate return to Europe, I may be permitted to proceed 

 forthwith to Africa. 



" As a servant of the East India Company, in whose interests 

 I have conscientiously and energetically exerted myself for the 

 space of 14 years, I cannot but request the Court of Directors 

 to use their powerful influence in my behalf. Private interests 

 cannot be weighed against public duty. At the same time, I 

 have already embarked a considerable sum in the materiel of 

 the Expedition, paid passage money, and devoted time, which 

 might otherwise have been profitably employed, to the subject 

 of Equatorial Africa. I remained long enough in London to 

 enable the War Office to call for my presence as a witness, 

 and I ascertained personally from Major-General Beatson that 

 he had not placed me upon his list. And finally, I venture to 



E E 3 



