Sir Richard Francis Burton (1821-1890) was a renowned British explorer, linguist, writer and diplomat. He could speak 29 languages and was one of the first Westerners to visit the Great Lakes region of Africa and Mecca. Some of his major accomplishments included translating works like One Thousand and One Nights and the Kama Sutra. He explored widely in Africa and South America, seeking to find the source of the Nile River and document unvisited places and cultures. Burton lived a adventurous life full of accomplishments but also controversy due to his immersive approaches to foreign cultures.

1. Who Was Sir Richard
Francis Burton?

2. Explorer, soldier, poet, translator, diplomat, spy,
linguist, writer, cartographer, fencer, and more.
Sir Richard Francis
Burton

3. A great and enigmatic person in history.
Burton traveled the world, going to places that few
westerners had ever been.
Most importantly, he wrote about them.
He spoke 29 languages.
While not the first westerner to make the Hajj to
Mecca, he was the first to widely report upon it.
He translated One Thousand and One Nights and
the Kama Sutra.
He was one of the first Europeans to visit the Great
Lakes of Africa in search of the source of the Nile.
And those are just the highlights.

4. “Do what thy
manhood bids
thee do; from
none but self
expect
applause.”

5. Burton was born in 1821. His family traveled
considerably, leading to his love of journey. He had
a gift for language. It is reported that as a young
man he had an affair with a young gypsy woman,
and learned their language.

6. He attended prestigious Trinity College at Oxford,
but spent much of his time pursuing falconry and
fencing.
He broke rules and was expelled.

7. “Fit for nothing but six pence a day,” Burton said
and enlisted in the Army.
Stationed in India, he immersed himself in the local
culture to the point where his fellow soldiers
accused him of “going native” and also called him
“the White Nigger.”
But they also called him “Ruffian Dick” because he
engaged in more ferocious one-on-one combat than
anyone else they’d ever seen.

8. Because of his talents, Burton received permission from
the Royal Geographic Society to explore India.
He determined to make the Hajj, the journey to Mecca,
forbidden to nonbelievers.
To ensure he would pass, he went so far as to get
circumcised.

10. Then he made the first of
his famous explorations
in Africa along with
Lieutenant Speke.
They were attacked.
Burton was lanced
through the cheeks, and
had to make his escape,
with the spear still
through his face.

11. Among the works he translated.

12. He traveled once more to
Africa with Speke to search
for the source of the Nile
River.
After much hardship, they
discovered the Great Lakes
in the interior, Lake
Tanganyika and Lake
Victoria.
The two men had a falling
out, Speke returned to
England first and claimed
Lake Victoria as the source
of the Nile. This was
eventually proved correct.

13. Burton married Isabel Arundel in 1861.

14. For the rest of his life he served in various
diplomatic posts, traveling the world, particularly
Africa and South America.
Burton canoed the Sao Francisco River and
explored the interior of Brazil.

15. He was appointed British Consul to Damascus, a
critical post. He tried to keep the peace between the
Arab, Jewish and Christian populations.
Having made many enemies, he was sacked, and
sent a cable to Isabel:
“I am superseded. Pay, pack, and follow at
convenience.”

17. Burton died in Trieste on 20 October 1890 of a
heart attack.
His wife Isabel burned many of his papers,
including an unseen manuscript.

18. Burton’s Tomb in the shape of a tent while on
expedition.

19. I became interested in Burton while researching the
Great Sphinx in Egypt. A small footnote in a tome
about the Sphinx mentioned that Burton had visited
it in 1856.
Studying him further, I became fascinated not only
by his life, but by that last action of Isabel.
What was in that manuscript?
What secrets did it hold?
This led me to write a book, where my modern day
hero must search for the parts of a copy of this lost
manuscript that were hidden by Burton during his
travels, in various places around the world.

20. Dr. Lisa Duncan and Special Forces officer Mike
Turcotte know better than anyone that no secret
is safe for long—especially one that offers untold
power. Case in point: no sooner does Turcotte’s
elite Area 51 team uncover a dormant alien ship
in earth orbit than a group of alien-human hybrids
seizes it and uses its technology to commandeer
a satellite array bristling with nuclear missiles.
Now they’re demanding that humankind hand
over the key to an ancient stash of alien
technology…or watch an entire continent be
reduced to atomic rubble.
Doom seems certain, as the required key is
believed lost to the ages—until an unwitting
anthropologist discovers the first of many clues to
its hiding place. As Duncan and Turcotte race to
reach the key—and the powerful treasure it can
unlock—ahead of their alien foes, the quest leads
them deep into a deadly maze within the Great
Sphinx of Giza. The prize? Nothing less than the
legendary Ark of the Covenant.

21. OVER 3 MILLION SOLD. CLICK ON ANY
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22. More Free Information
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23. New York Times bestselling author, is a graduate of West
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www.bobmayer.com