Page 34 - Arabian Studies (V)

24 Arabian Studies V

Amir of Bokhara from whom he had subsequently escaped only to
be enslaved in the Khanate of Khokand. In spite of appeals from
his sisters and even a question by Disraeli in the House of
Commons, the Government of India failed to elicit any more infor­
mation of his whereabouts and in 1850 the Secretary to the Board
of Control wrote that ‘short of assembling an army’ nothing more
could be done to find him. By a Government Order of 2 March
1852 Mr Midshipman J. Sheppard was promoted to Lieutenant vice
Wyburd who was struck off the list of the Indian Navy from 16
October 1837.
Wyburd’s main qualities as an explorer seem to have been an
insatiable thirst for information about his surroundings and an
ability to adapt himself and glean some new interest from almost
any situation. During his two years in Persia he was reported to
have become a sort of tribal leader ‘which is proof that he must
possess the requisite tact for familiarising himself with the habits
and customs of these wild Tribes’.7 His superiors certainly seem to
have thought highly of him and the Superintendent of the Indian
Navy, when recommending him to Bombay, spoke of his circum­
spection, considerable boldness and energy of character and excep­
tional linguistic ability (in Arabic as well as Persian). Yet he lacked
the other qualities essential for scientific discovery—accuracy and
reliability. He hardly ever stuck to the course he set out on and he
was constantly harassed by bad luck and misadventure, much of
which seems to have been self-induced. After his two years in
Persia he claimed to have made notes but lost them; en route to
Najd, as we have seen, he was constantly diverted from his declared
purpose, and his final mission to Khiva was, officially at least, a
disaster.
The journal of an excursion to Najd is interesting principally for
its description of Hufuf, of which very few nineteenth century
European accounts exist. Sadlier, of course, passed through in
1819, Lieutenant Jopp in 1841 and Palgrave in 1862, but Sadlier
and Jopp make only slight mention of the town and Palgrave’s
description is, on the whole, not to be trusted. Wyburd’s Hufuf is
certainly recognisable although his account is prone to exaggera­
tion and it is strange that a naval officer should be so inaccurate
with his compass bearings. Nevertheless, the journal is informative,
both from a historical and a geographical point of view and,
perhaps most important of all, it is enjoyable to read.
The text has been reprinted as it appears in the India Office
Records, with some minor alterations of punctuation. Wyburd’s
sometimes idiosyncratic spelling has been retained and modern
versions of the more obscure or strangely spelt place names