The Land of Midian, vol 1 | Page 6

ore from Midian at the Citadel, Cairo, gave in certain cases forty percent.]. If it is practicable on a large scale, by hand-labour or other means, to separate the "copper mineral" (as in b), it would be sufficiently rich in copper, provided the cost of the transit were not too great.
The specimen No. 17 is only of scientific interest, as it gives off an acid vapour when heated; and this substance may have been used by the ancients in the separation of silver from gold by the process termed "cementation."
I remain, dear Sir, yours very truly,
(Signed) JOHN PERCY, M.D., F.R.S. Lecturer on Metallurgy at the Royal School of Mines, London.
Capt. R. F. Burton, etc.
Upon this able report I would offer the following observations. We, who have travelled through a country like Midian, finding everywhere extensive works for metallurgy; barrages and aqueducts, cisterns and tanks ; furnaces, fire-bricks, and scoriae; open mines, and huge scatters of spalled quartz, with the remains of some eighteen cities and towns which apparently fell to ruin with the industry that founded and fed them;--we, I say, cannot but form a different and a far higher idea of its mineral capabilities than those who determine them by the simple inspection of a few specimens. The learned Dr. Percy at once hits the mark when he surmises that worthless samples were brought home; and this would necessarily occur when no metallurgist, no practical prospector, was present with the Expedition. As will appear from the following pages, all the specimens were collected a ciel ouvert, and wholly without judgment.
I therefore expect that future exploration will develop Midian as it has done India. The quartzose outcrop called the "Wynaad reef" (Madras Presidency) produced only a few poor penny-weights per ton, two and seven being the extremes, while much of it was practically unproductive. Presently, in February, 1878, the district was visited by Sir Andrew Clarke, of Australian experience, member of the Viceregal Council. He invited Mr. Brough Smyth, of Victoria, to explore and test the capabilities of the country; and that eminent practical engineer discovered, in an area of twenty-five by thirteen miles, ninety outcrops, some yielding, they say, two hundred ounces per ton of gold, fine and coarse, "with jagged pieces as large as peas." And British India now hopes to draw her gold coinage from Wynaad.
I conclude this abstract of the book, which would have been reduced in size had the mass of matter permitted, with the heartfelt hope that the grand old Land of Midian will not be without attraction to the public of Europe.
RICHARD F. BURTON.
ATHENAEUM CLUB,
December 16.

CONTENTS.


PART I.
The March Through Madyan Proper (North Midian).
Chapter I.
Preliminary--from Trieste to Midian
Chapter II.
The Start--from El Muwaylah to the "White Mountain" and 'Aynunah
Chapter III.
Breaking New Ground to Maghair Shu'ayb
Chapter IV.
Notices of Precious Metals in Midian--the Papyri and the Mediaeval Arab Geographers
Chapter V.
Work At, and Excursions From, Maghair Shu'ayb
Chapter VI.
To Makna, and Our Work There--the Magani or Maknawis
Chapter VII.
Cruise from Makna to El'akabah
Chapter VIII.
Cruise from El'akabah to El Muwaylah--the Shipwreck Escaped--resume of the Northern Journey

PART II The March Through Central and Eastern Midian.

Chapter IX.
Work in and Around El Muwaylah
Chapter X.
Through East Midian to the Hisma


PART I.
The March Through Madyan Proper (North Midian).
Chapter I.
Preliminary--from Trieste to Midian.

Throughout the summer of 1877 I was haunted by memories of mysterious Midian. The Golden Region appeared to me in the glow of primaeval prosperity described by the Egyptian hieroglyphs; as rich in agriculture and in fertility, according to the old Hellenic travellers, as in its Centres of civilization, and in the precious metals catalogued by the Sacred Books of the Hebrews. Again I saw the mining works of the Greek, the Roman, and the Nabath?an, whose names are preserved by Ptolemy; the forty cities, mere ghosts and shadows of their former selves, described in the pages of the mediaeval Arab geographers; and the ruthless ruin which, under the dominion of the Bedawin, gradually crept over the Land of Jethro. The tale of her rise and fall forcibly suggested Algeria, that province so opulent and splendid under the Masters of the World; converted into a fiery wilderness by the representatives of the "gentle and gallant" Turk, and brought to life once more by French energy and industry. And such was my vision of a future Midian, whose rich stores of various minerals will restore to her wealth and health, when the two Khedivial Expeditions shall have shown the world what she has been, and what she may be again.
I was invited to resume my exploration during the winter of 1877-78, by the Viceroy of Egypt, Ismail I., a prince whose superior intelligence is ever anxious to develop the resources of his country. His Highness was perhaps the only man in his own dominions who, believing in the buried wealth of Midian, had the perspicacity to