But after six months of convalescence he
was off again, this time to the hinterland of Ashanti, on the west
coast of Africa, where he went in the interests of a syndicate to
investigate a concession for working gold mines.
With his brother-in-law, J. C. Blick, he marched and rowed twelve
hundred miles, and explored the Volta River, at that date so little
visited that in one day's journey they counted eleven
hippopotamuses. In July, 1901, he returned from Ashanti, and a
few months later an unknown but enthusiastic admirer asked in the
House of Commons if it were true Major Burnham had applied for
the post of Instructor of Scouts at Aldershot. There is no such post,
and Burnham had not applied for any other post. To the Timer he
wrote: "I never have thought myself competent to teach Britons
how to fight, or to act as an instructor with officers who have
fought in every corner of the world. The question asked in
Parliament was entirely without my knowledge, and I deeply regret
that it was asked." A few months later, with Mrs. Burnham and his
younger son, Bruce, he journeyed to East Africa as director of the
East African Syndicate.
During his stay there the _African Review_ said of him: "Should
East Africa ever become a possession for England to be proud of,
she will owe much of her prosperity to the brave little band that
has faced hardships and dangers in discovering her hidden
resources.
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