BURTON, RICHARD FRANCIS, one of the most daring and successful of modern travelers, was b. in 1821 in Norfolk. IIe is the son of col. J. N. Burton, and was educated in France and England. In 1842, he entered the Indian army, and served many years iu Sindh. While in this employment, he exhibited a remarkable facility in acquiring the eastern lammages, and a still more remarkable dexterity in imitating the appearance and habits of the natives of India. In 1851, he published his first important and the Races that inhabit the Valley of the of graphic. descrip tion, and interesting to all readers. B. had acquired a very familiar acquaintance. with Hindustani, Persian, and Moultani. He had devoted special attention to Arabic, and had made such progress as to be able to speak it like a native. Possessed of these• qualifications, he resolved to explore Arabia in the disguise of an Afghan pilgrim; and after a visit to England, he set out on his journey. Political commotions prevented him from traversing the whole as lie intended; but his Personal _Narrative of a Pilgrimage to El ATedinah and Meccah (1855) records one of the most daring feats on record. A perpetual strain on the ingenuity was necessary to keep up his assumed character, most difficult in moments of fatigue, and in the midst of shrewd and observant fellow-travelers. The next journey undertaken by B. was into the country of the Somaulis, in eastern Africa. It prored,less than was anticipated. B.'s com panion, lieut. Stroyan, was killed, and B. himself was wounded. He succeeded, how ever, in reaching Harar (q.v.), a most important town in eastern Africa, not before visited by any European, and in penetrating a vast and populous region scarcely known to geographers. The journey led to a still more important series of expeditious— those to the country of the upper Nile. Towards the end of 1856, B. set out in com pany with lieut. Speke, also of the Indian army, to ascertain the truth of the reports collected by the missionaries, that a vast sea existed in the heart of the continent.
The journey is one of the most memorable of our time. It led to the discovery and -exploration of the great lake of Tanganyika, and the opening up of the eastern part of the continent. B. was rewarded with the medal of the geographical society. His health had been affected by his African journeys, and he sought to recover it by a journey in North America, from which he brought the first reliable account of the Mormons. In 1861, B. was appointed consul at Fernando Po, on the w. coast of Africa, and while holding this appointment, he visited the Cameroon mountains, and went on a mission to the king of Dahomey, the incidents of both journeys being recorded in two of his most interesting works. B. has subsequently been consul at Santos in Brazil, and at Damascus; and on the death of Mr. Charles Lever in 1872, B. succeeded him in the post -of British consul at Trieste.
The following is a list of the principal works of capt. B. not mentioned above: Sindh, or theUnhappy Valley (1851); Goa and the Bee Mountains, or Six Months of Sick Leave (18M); Falconry in the Valley of the Indus (1852); First Footsteps in East Africa, or an Exploration. of Harar (1856); The Lake Regions of Central Africa, or a Picture of E.tplor ation (1860); The City of the Saints, and Across the Rocky Mountains to California (1861); Abeokuta, or the Cameroon Mountains.(1863); The Nile Basin; A .3.Ession to Gelele, King of Dahomey, with Notices of the so-called Amazons, etc.; Explorations in the Highlands of Brazil; Vikram and the Vampire; Zanzibar; Two Trips to Gorilla Land; Ultima Thule, or a Summer in Iceland; Etruscan Bologna (1876); Sindh Ren:sited (1877); The Gold Mines of Midian and the Ruined Midianite Cities (1878), giving an account of B.'s investigations in that region during journeys in 1876 and 1877.