(1821-1890)
It has sometimes been said that the roving propensities of Sir Richard
Burton are attributable to a slight infusion of gipsy blood; but if this
pedigree were to be assumed for all instinctively nomadic Englishmen, it
would make family trees as farcical in general as they often are now. At
any rate, Burton early showed a love for travel which circumstances
strengthened. Although born in Hertfordshire, England, he spent much of
his boyhood on the Continent, where he was educated under tutors. He
returned for a course at Oxford, after which, at twenty-one, he entered
the Indian service. For nineteen years he was in the Bombay army corps,
the first ten in active service, principally in the Sindh Survey, on Sir
Charles Napier's staff. He also served in the Crimea as Chief of Staff
to General Blatsom, and was chief organizer of the irregular cavalry.
For nearly twenty-six years he was in the English consular service in
Africa, Asia, South America, and Europe.
[Illustration: RICHARD BURTON]
In 1852, when upon leave, Captain Burton accomplished one of his most
striking feats. Disguised as an Afghan Moslem, he went on a pilgrimage
to Mecca and Medina, in the hope of finding out "something of the great
eastern wilderness marked 'Ruba el Khala' (the Empty Abode) on our
maps." For months he successfully braved the imminent danger of
detection and death. Conspicuous among his explorations is his trip of
1856, when with Speke he discovered the lake regions of Central Africa.
The bitter Speke controversy which followed, dividing geographers for a
time into two contending factions, deprived Burton of the glory which he
merited and drew upon him much unfriendly criticism.
He had the true ardor of the discoverer. In 'First Footsteps in Eastern
Africa' he shows his unhesitating bravery again, when penetrating the
mysterious, almost mythical walled city of Harar. After many dangers and
exhausting experiences he sees the goal at last. "The spectacle,
materially speaking, was a disappointment," he says. "Nothing
conspicuous appeared but two gray minarets of rude shape. Many would
grudge exposing their lives to win so paltry a prize. But of all that
have attempted, none ever succeeded in entering that pile of stones."
Richard Burton carefully worded his varied experiences, and has left
about fifty valuable and interesting volumes. Among the best known are
'Sindh,' 'The Lake Regions of Central Africa,' 'Two Trips to Gorilla
Land,' and 'Ultima Thule.' With his knowledge of thirty-five languages
and dialects he gained an intimate acquaintance with the people among
whom he lived, and was enabled to furnish the world much novel
information in his strong, straightforward style.
Perhaps his most noteworthy literary achievement was his fine
translation of the 'Arabian Nights,' which appeared in 1885. Of this his
wife wrote:--
"This grand Arabian work I consider my husband's Magnum Opus....
We were our own printers and our own publishers, and we made,
between September 1885 and November 1888, sixteen thousand
guineas--six thousand of which went for publishing and ten
thousand into our own pockets, and it came just in time to give
my husband the comforts and luxuries and freedom that gilded the
five last years of his life. When he died there were four
florins left, which I put into the poor-box."
This capable soldier and author was very inadequately recompensed. As a
soldier, his bravery and long service brought him only the rank of
Captain. In the civil service he was given only second-class consulates.
The French Geographical Society, and also the Royal Geographical Society
of England, each awarded him a gold medal, but the latter employed him
upon only one expedition. At the age of sixty-five he was knighted. He
had no other honors. This lack of recognition was undoubtedly a
mortification, although toward the end of his career he writes
philosophically:--
"The press are calling me 'the neglected Englishman,' and I want
to express to them the feelings of pride and gratitude with
which I have seen the exertions of my brethren of the press to
procure for me a tardy justice. The public is a fountain of
honor which amply suffices all my aspirations; it is the more
honorable as it will not allow a long career to be ignored
because of catechisms or creed."
He comforted himself, no doubt, with the belief that his outspoken
skepticism was the cause of this lack of advancement, and that he was in
some sort a martyr to freedom of thought; but one may be excused for
discrediting this in the face of so many contrary instances. Capable men
are too scarce to throw aside for such things in this century. The real
and sufficient reason was his equally outspoken criticism of his
superior officers in every department. A subordinate may and often does
know more than his masters; but if he wishes the luxury of advertising
the fact, he must pay for it with their ill-will and his own practical
suppression.
Lady Burton was also an author; her 'Inner Life in Syria' and 'Arabia,
Egypt, and India' are bright and entertaining. But her most important
work is the 'Life of Sir Richard F. Burton,' published in 1892, two
years after her husband's death. This unorganized mass of interesting
material, in spite of carelessness and many faults of style and taste,
shows her a ready observer, with a clever and graphic way of stating her
impressions.