THE LATE COL. BURNABY.

Manawatu Standard, Volume IX, Issue 67, 21 February 1885, Page 3

THE LATE COL. BURNABY.

There is no doubt that one of the officers killed iv the battle before Metemneh, was colonel F. G. Burnaby, of Khivan ride fame, who had been wounded i a little before at Souakim. A special message to the Argus says that Colonel I Burnaby had his jugular vein iscvtred with a spear. The lato Colonel Burnaby entered the Horse Guards, Blues, Sept. 30, 1859. So passionately fond was he of fencing and gymnastics that he became very muscular at the expense of his vitality, and broke down. Ho was recommended to travel, and accordingly visited South America, Central Africa, and most parts of Europe. In 1875 he determined to -gp to ithiva, al thoiigh the journey was beßet by almost insurmountable obstacles. Captain Burnaby was exceptionally qualified for this particular journey by his acquaintance with the Russian- and -Arabic languages, and he was besides as much at home on a camel as m a canoe, a sledge, or a balloon— as m, a railway carriage or.a^teamer. over, ho delighted m grappling with a difficulty, and his determination to penetrate Central Asia was much stimulated by the assurance that it was. impossible. At more than one statiou the passage of . foreigners was absolutely prohibited, and he only got through by his knowledge of the language or the inability. ofL tlio inspectors to read his passport. On arriving at Kazala, near the mouth of thcSy r -Daria*, ' lie was al lowed*- by -the commandant to proceed, it being assumed that he would go at ouce to the fort of Petf&.-Alexairdrovsk, hear the river OxusjMti the territory lately acquired by Russia. Had lie done so ho would never have reached the capital ; but, suspecting this, he made a detour, crossed the CXxus into the Khanate, and found his way to the capital. He had intendedto proceed thence to Bokhara, but his further progress was arrested by a message from the Russian authorities, *' inviting" him to re-cross the river, and goto Potro-Alexandrovßk,wherehe found a telegram awating him from the Duke of Cambridge, requiring his immediate return to European Russia. In the winter of 1876-77 Capt. Burnnby tvent on horseback through Turkoy m Asia, and,, all the way from Scutari to Khoi m Persia, land returning by Kars, Ardahan,Batoum, i and Trebizondo to Constantinople.' He was the military correspondent of the ; Times with the army of Don Carlos m Spain. At tthe general election m 1880, < Major Burnaby contested Birmingham m the Conservative interest j and, notwithstanding that his opponents included two gentlemen, Messrs J. Bright and Chamberlain,, who were afterwards Cabinet Ministers, yet no fewer than i 15,716 votes were given m his favor.

In a lending article on the state of affairs m the Soudan the Lylteltou Times sums up the position as follows :—-Wolsdey is at Gulnt, within 100 miles o£ Khartoum, with what is now a strong force, well supplied; Earle's column, 2,400 strong, having lost its original commander, is under General Wood, 40 miles from Khartoum, 300 from Wolseley, and 170 from Berber, making its way steadily onwards, having just beat:en the enemy m a pitched battlu ; Graham is getting ready to lead a fresh di- • vision across the 270 miles of desert that lie between - the Bed Sea port of Souakim and Berber. In a fow weeks these three commanders, if all goes well, will be very .near each other, with troops ' amounting, m "' the aggregate to some 1 10,000 to 12,000 men.

; (elsckio telegraph. — copyright.) ' (b&utisb's tklbqkams.) ; i London, Feb. 18. , Her Majesty the Queen has, through Lord Derby, expressed to the various colonies a warm and grateful feeling for their proffered aid, which was a most : satisfactory expression of loyalty on ; their part. It is believed that all the colonies, except New South Wales, will be warned : that any troops they may wish to send will probably be -too late for an immediate campaign but-- the decision m the matter will be left optional with the : colonies. . . , Fob. 19. : A number of colonists at Home are subscribing towards tuo cost of sending the Australian contingent to the Soudan.