Burton, SIR RICHARD FRANCIS, one of the most daring and successful of modern travellers, was born in 1821 at Barham House, Hertfordshire, the son of Colonel J. N. Burton, and was educated in France and England. In 1842 he entered the Indian service, and served in Sind under Sir Charles Napier. In 1851 he published his first important work on Sindh. Burton acquired a very familiar acquaintance with Hindustani and Persian, and learned to speak Arabic like a native. He resolved to explore Arabia in the disguise of an Afghan pilgrim; and after a visit to England, in 1851 he set out on his journey. His Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to El Medinah and Mecca (1855; new ed. 1879-80) records one of the most daring feats on record. His next journey was into the country of the Somalis, in Eastern Africa. He was chief of the staff to General Beatson in the Crimea. In 1856 he set out in company with Speke (q.v.) on the journey which led to the discovery and exploration of the great lake of Tanganyika (q.v.), and afterwards travelled in North America. In 1861 he married, and was appointed consul at Fernando Po; and while holding this appointment, he visited the Cameroon Mountains, and went on a mission to the king of Dahomey. He was subsequently consul at Santos in Brazil, and at Damascus; and in 1872 he succeeded Charles Lever in the post of British consul at Trieste. In 1876-78 he paid two visits to Midian. In 1882 he visited the gold-producing country of the Guinea coast, along with Captain Cameron. He received the gold medal of both the English and French geographical societies. He was master of thirty-five languages and dialects. He received the honour of knighthood in 1886. Lady Burton, who was of a Catholic family, was the companion of his wanderings since 1861, and wrote a narrative of travel, Arabia, Egypt, India (1879), and Inner Life of Syria, Palestine, &c. (1875).
Among Burton's many works are: First Footsteps in East Africa (1856), The Lake Regions of Central Africa (1860), The City of the Saints (1861), Wanderings in West Africa (1863), The Nile Basin, Vikram and the Vampire (1869). He also wrote two other books on Sind, and works on Goa, Abbeokuta, Paraguay, Brazil, Syria, Zanzibar, Iceland (Ultima Thule, 1875), Bologna, and Midian; on Falconry, Sword Exercise, and Bayonet Exercise; gave us a translation of Os Lusíadas of Camoens (1880), his lyrics, and a Life and Commentary (1881); and a history of The Sword (1883).
In 1885-88 he published a new and literal translation of the Arabian Nights (q.v.) (10 vols. and 6 vols. of supplement), of which his wife issued an expurgated edition. He died at Trieste, 20th October 1890. A Life by Hitchman appeared in 1887; the Life by Lady Burton, and the first volumes of a Memorial Edition of his works, in 1893.