200   MEMORIES OF MY LIFE

brought back, as purely his own work, a most elaborate account of all the tribes he had met by the way, the close accuracy of which has been testified to by succeeding travellers. Only one of his numerous notebooks came under my own careful examination, as already mentioned, and I was astonished at its minuteness. I may mention the occasion, which was this.

The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel were considering the propriety of establishing a mission station at Zanzibar, and desired fuller information about the island than they possessed. In the end they invited me to give a lecture, to which I consented, after talking with Burton, who had been asked and refused, but who very kindly offered me the full use of his original notebook written when in Zanzibar. An elaborate account which he had based on it for publication had been lost. I had no firsthand information about the place, but had known Erhardt and others who knew it well, so was able to compile a respectable description, which was published in the Mission Field, June r, 1861. The notes made by Burton were written in a fine clear hand and most elaborate in detail. He told me that he often used a board with parallel wires, such as are made for the use of the blind, to write notes, unseen, in the night-time.

The next expedition was under Captain Speke, with whom Captain Grant (1827-1892) was associated. They were to take up the quest at the point on the Victoria Nyanza where Speke had reached it, and to travel onwards. This was done, and I may say that the attachment of Grant to