Born in Torquay, Devonshire, England in 1821, Burton became an Oxford
man. But do not be mislead! Here was no effete, fey, whiny,
pencil-necked, wimpy, 90-pound, pansy, classical-music listening,
"fag-" smoking poetry-reading, badminton-playing, crochet-knitting,
girlie-voiced Englishman of the typical ilk, nowadays embodied by
wimpy actor Hugh Grant. No, he was a man's man! Described as tall,
dark, romantic-looking and with "gypsy eyes," Burton was a strapping,
robust man, whose physical strength would serve him well throughout
his years of adventuring.

Burton is one of those figures in history whose presence in modern
times would seem impossible. He sneered at the idea of cowardice, and
never backed down from danger. During his life, he undertook perhaps
one of the most difficult and treacherous tasks imaginable: the
penetration of the forbidden cities of Islam. He was able to enter
and, even more significantly, leave the holy cities of Mecca and
Medina, and the Forbidden City of Harar. Had he been discovered, the
penalty would have been death. As an agent for the East India Company,
he was bound by duty to explore areas of the world that might be
useful strategically and politically to England. Far from merely
carrying out his duties, Burton possessed a strange and mystical need
to stare into the abyss. He wanted to risk his life. Often, as when he
went in search of the source of the Nile, he had to convince his
superiors to grant permission for traveling. When writing of his
journey to Mecca, Burton stated that he wished to "prove, by trial,
that what might be perilous to other travelers was safe to me."

In order to prepare for his travels, Burton went to some extreme
lengths. By the time of his death, Burton was able to speak 30
languages in numerous dialects, each with a flawless accent. In
whichever disguise he chose to adopt, he meticulously dressed himself
in appropriate clothing. This was just the surface of the groundwork
he laid for his explorations, and the thoroughness with which he made
himself ready, along with his shrewdness and unlimited courage, led to
his success as an agent.

As part of his preparations, Burton had himself circumcised. This was
an absolute necessity for travel in Arab countries, for if he had
remained uncircumcised and was discovered, he would be instantly
identifiable as a Westerner. Circumcision was the sine qua non of the
Arab world.

During 1844 and 1845, Burton went out on expeditions for his
superiors, to parts of Sind, into the Indine delta, up the Indus
River, to the edges of Punjab and through the Baluchi hills. All the
while, he was disguised as a Muslim, passing himself off as a laborer,
a merchant or a dervish, a kind of vagabond-cum-holy man. He was never
discovered as the Englishman he really was.

The role of holy man was a welcome one for Burton, as he had a
lifelong fascination with religion. He studied Islam, Sufism and
Hinduism. He was so well versed in these religions that he was able to
become accepted in their faiths by those who had been lifelong
devotees. While in India, he studied Hinduism. In 1834, Burton's Hindu
teacher officially allowed him to wear the Brahminical thread, the
janeo. This was no small achievement. The sacred cloth is only awarded
to a member of the highest caste, the Brahmins. The only possible way
to become part of this elite group, according to Hinduism, is to be
born a Brahmin, or to die and be re-born as one. Learning to become a
Brahmin is not an option. As Burton's biographer Edward Rice wrote,
"This was a rare and unheard-of honor for a young man from another
culture, another that bore much enmity to Hinduism and everything it
represented. The janeo, Hindus emphasize, is a privilege never given
to an outsider."

Later, while living in Sind, Burton began to masquerade as a whirling
dervish. The whirling dervish is an ecstatic dance in which the
dervishes heat irons in a fire and stick them in their mouths, biting
and licking them. They also stick swords in their bodies, covering
themselves with wounds. Although these wounds are supposed to be
completely healed by the shaykh's prayers, Burton was found, at the
time of his death, with hundreds of mysterious scars all over his
body.

As a Muslim, Burton immersed himself not only in religious studies and
prayer, but in every aspect of religious life. As his biographer
wrote, "To be initiated into Islam is one thing; to live as a Muslim
was something more demanding. Islam is not only a religion; it is the
very hearty of existence, of daily life, a way of speaking, of
thinking, eating, sleeping, and defecating, of attitudes and outlook.
Even the mention of the Holy Prophet Muhammad demanded the addition of
the phrase, 'Peace be upon him!'"

While practicing as a Sufi, Burton undertook the grueling Chilla, a
40-day feast, followed by sacred dancing, known as sama. Certainly, to
go to such extreme lengths is remarkable. Burton could have stopped
short of the many tests he imposed upon himself. Rice seems to think
that Burton was, privately, a devout follower of all the religions he
embraced. Rice interprets Burton's secret belief as Gnosticism, a
mystical set of beliefs which transcends traditional religion. Jinx
believes Rice is taking this theory too far. While Burton was in the
holy city of Medina, he drank alcohol, a strictly forbidden practice
among Muslims. And during his stay in Sind, Burton described himself
in the third person as "a very clever gentleman, ,who knew everything.
He could talk to each man of a multitude in his own language, and all
of them would appear equally surprised by, and delighted with, him.
Besides, his faith was every man's faith. He chanted the Koran, and
the circumcised dogs considered him a kind of saint. The Hindoos [sic]
respected him, because he always had a devil in an inner room. At
Cochin he went to the Jewish place of worship and read a large book,
just like a priestá" Although Burton may have been fascinated by and
perhaps to some measure believed in what he was studying, it is
dubious that he felt true reverence for other cultures.

Burton endured great hardships during his journeys. While en route to
Medina, Burton's caravan was attacked. Shots were fired and twelve men
perished in the skirmish, along with camels and other beasts of
burden. Although Burton's travels to the holy cities of Medina and
Mecca were ones in which the possibility of execution was a constant,
they had been accomplished by several other Westerners in the past,
most of whom had been sold into slavery by the Turks. There had also
been a few Westerners who had traveled unmolested - always, of course,
incognito. Burton often spoke of Johann Ludwig Burckhardt, a Swiss
explorer who had traveled to Mecca in the early part of the 19th
Century. As impressive as Burton's expeditions to Mecca and Medina
were, and for all the fame they brought him, there was an even more
elusive treasure Burton coveted, one feat that had never before been
accomplished by any Westerner: to enter the forbidden city of Harar in
East Africa. The legend of Harar held that if ever an outsider entered
the city, it would fall within a generation. This indeed happened not
too long after Burton penetrated its walls. All whites were forbidden
entrance to the city, as were African Christians, such as the
Abyssinians. The penalty for an outsider discovered inside, of course,
was death. Undaunted, Burton prepared a caravan for Harar and set out
in 1854. Dressed to the nines in Arab garb, and insisting that his
entourage masquerade as his followers, Burton invented for himself the
persona of Haji Mirza Abdullah. The term haji referred to the fact
that he had completed journey, or hajj, to Mecca. Haji is a title of
great honor.

After an arduous journey in the desert the expedition espied "about
thirty miles distant, and separated by a series of blue valleys. . . a
dark speck upon a tawny sheet of rubble. . . Harar." Burton entered
the city, a six-shooter concealed in his waist belt, with the
intention that if he were threatened he would run up to the chief and
hold him hostage. He described the men of Harar as "large half-naked
savages." The chief himself appeared as, rather than a fearsome
figure, "a little Indian Rajah, an etiolated youth twenty-four or
twenty-five years old, plain, thin-bearded, with a yellow complexion,
wrinkled brows and protruding eyes." His first impressions
notwithstanding, Burton was very careful to remain in good graces of
the chief, lest he be summarily executed. The chief was ruthless and
bloodthirsty. As Burton said, "The government of Harar is the Emir.
These petty princes have a habit of killing and imprisoning all those
who are suspected of aspiring to the throne."

Finally, after weeks in the chief's presence, Burton was granted
permission to leave the city. It was not his decision as to when he
could leave, so Burton, knowing that such a decision was, at best,
mercurial, left in the middle of the night in case the chief should
change his mind.

Burton visited prostitutes while in Harar, remarking in his writings
of a practice known as Kabbazah, wherein the vaginal muscles contract
during sex. Burton was fond of detailing his sexual adventures as well
as his other explorations. In fact, Burton was a scandalous figure in
Victorian England, who most likely would have been more highly
decorated at an earlier time in his life had he been less sexually
obsessed. His journals and writings are full of his encounters with
prostitutes from all over the world, and include an account of the
commonplace practice of British military men interacting with the
bubu, or black woman, while stationed in India. It was a practice
Burton himself participated in. Many of his journals are lost forever,
burned by his widow, Isabel Arundel, whom he married in his fortieth
year. It is suspected that many of these passages were burned because
they contained erotic content, erotic content that did not involve
Mrs. Burton.

Burton's next goal was to find the source of the Nile River, a goal
that was, sadly, unfulfilled. He was now traveling with John Hanning
Speke, a strange character who for fun shot pregnant deer to examine
their fetuses. It is also unclear whether Speke tried to seduce Burton
at some point during the expedition; it is very likely. Burton was
constantly annoyed with Speke, a brave but foolish man whose claims of
past expeditions were fabricated.

Burton, Speke and their entourage were attacked in the middle of the
night by a Somali tribe. The two leaders barely escaped alive, and
many in their party were killed. Speke was severely beaten, and nearly
died from his injuries. As for Burton, a spear was thrown into his
face, piercing one side of his jaw, exiting through the other. He
remained in such a state for hours until the spear could be removed. A
huge scar graced his face for the rest of his life.