Burton.

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Richard F. Burton, an English military man of the Victorian era, can lay claim to being one of the most remarkable men that ever lived. Combined in the same person the unusual talents of great physical and intellectual abilities and an insatiable curiosity and desire for adventure.

A Captain in the British Indian Army, Burton was a man of the most profound abilities, and led a life of adventure. A man of action who took matters into his own hands.

Consider these accomplishments:

British Army officer [British Indian Army].

Explorer.

Polyglot [able to speak 25 languages].

Greatest authority in the world on swords and swordsmanship.

Translator.

Perhaps of all his accomplishments, Burton is best known for his explorations of east Africa in an attempt to find the source of the Nile. Explorations to find the source of the Nile in the 1800's should be considered to be about on a par with lunar exploration in the 1960's! With his army colleague, Speke, Burton did explore for the source of the Nile, but was not successful. While not successful, Burton and Speke did establish a path for further exploration that others could follow.

Additional exploration in what is now Saudi Arabia followed, Arabic being one of the twenty five languages that Burton spoke. On one occasion, Burton made the journey to Mecca, posing as a Muslim, and doing so quite successfully [at great risk to his own life]. He wrote a book about this, he being one of only a handful [if that] of non-Muslims to visit Mecca and survive.

[to this day, no non-Muslims are allowed in the Muslim holy cities of Medina and Mecca. The penalty being death].

As an expert [perhaps the world's foremost] on swords and swordsmanship, Burton was intrigued by the use of such weapons at war.

Even during the life time of Burton, swords as weapons of war were becoming very passe, their use being almost non-existent. However, during a British Army punitive expedition to Somalia, Burton engaged in a sword fight with a Somali, and was wounded on the cheek, leaving a large and vivid scar. [Some accounts say the wound was from a spear, others from a sword. There is no account of what happened to the Somali].

 I would suspect that Burton on this occasion not only engaged in a sword fight with the Somali, he intentionally engaged in the sword fight. No fun being an expert on the subject [swordfighting] if you were not able to do it yourself. Burton was a man who thrived on adventure and danger!

Burton put his skills as a polyglot to great use in a most interesting way during his lifetime.

Burton translated many works of Oriental cultures into English, his expertise being in the area of erotic literature. It may be that Burton was one of the first, if not the first, to translate from the Persian "1001 Arabian Nights", and the Hindu sex work "The Kama Sutra".

Burton indeed seems to have had an inordinate fascination with this erotic literature subject. Even to the point of visiting the male bordellos of Karachi to "investigate" the subject [I am not sure if I want to know about this form of investigation?]. This of course was all done during the Victorian era, when repressed sexuality and mention of same was the norm of behavior.

Burton was also an expert at going "native". Adopting the dress and customs of the "locals" and passing himself off as one of them. Please look at the famous picture taken of Burton that shows him in robes, sitting on the floor, a fez on his head, and glaring at the camera. I am quite sure that in person Burton exuded "bearing" and "presence".

Burton ended his life as Queen's consul in Trieste, putting his polyglot abilities to good use. Quite a remarkable person.

Several decades ago now, the American sci-fi writer, Phillip Jose Farmer wrote a trilogy called "Riverworld". As the hero of his trilogy, Farmer choose the person of Richard F. Burton! This is a most interesting series of books and I recommend them highly!

Here are two good sites on Burton. To see, click here and here.

coolbert.