Publisher's Synopsis
In 1844 Sir Richard obtained an appointment on the Scinde Survey, under Sir Charles Napier, and from this moment his life was crowded with picturesque adventures. Disguised as a half-Arab, half-Iranian merchant and dervish, Mirza Abdullah of Bushire, he was sent out by his chief to collect information, selling in the bazaars, passing his evening in the mosques and estaminets, and mixing freely with the natives, till we can only echo Lady Burton's fervent wish that he should have woven some of the strange scenes he witnessed into a novel of personal adventure. He has, however, given us his fresh and witty "Scinde; or, the Unhappy Valley." By this experience, he prepared himself for the most romantic and marvelous achievement of his life, the famous "Pilgrimage to the Holy Places of Mecca and Medina," into which it was then death for an Unbeliever to penetrate; an expedition undertaken by Burton quite alone, unaided, disguised as a dervish, and depending entirely on his knowledge of the language, habits, and religious customs of the fanatics with whom he travelled to prevent discovery and serious misadventure. This pilgrimage was incredibly daring, and required almost superhuman courage, coolness, and presence of mind. The book, describing this brilliant feat, has just been republished by Lady Burton, as part of the " Memorial Edition" of her husband's works on which she is now engaged, and which she tells us will run to "eighty" volumes! It will be found as fascinating as when it first appeared, and gives more insight into Mohammedan life and thought than the most elaborate treatise. Everything Sir Richard Burton has written is marked by originality and power, and though in his writings, as in his speech, he was too impetuous and impatient, he wielded a keen, brilliant, and epigrammatic pen. The degree of value which his works possess for utilitarian purposes has been much discussed, but no one can dispute the dramatic vigor of his descriptions. The narrative of his adventurous expedition to Harar, perhaps the most dangerous of his explorations, as no white man had, at that time, ever penetrated to the Amir's court, is given with much vivacity. The account of his interview with the potentate begins thus and is intensely exciting:
"I walked into a vast hall, a hundred feet long, between two long rows of Galla spearmen, between whose lines-I had to pass. They were large half-naked savages, standing like statues, with fierce movable eyes, each one holding, with its butt end to the ground, a huge spear, with a head the size of a shovel. I purposely sauntered down them coolly with a swagger, with my eyes fixed upon their dangerous-looking faces. I had a six-shooter concealed in my waist-belt, and determined, at the first show of excitement, to run up to the Amir, and put it to his head, if it were necessary, to save my own life."
Sent home on a sick certificate, he volunteered for the Crimean War, and became Chief of the Staff to General Beatson, leader of the Bashi-Bazouks. His account of persons and things in the latter stages of the great struggle is pungent and amusing. "You are the most impudent man in the Bombay Army, Sir," he is told by Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, and returns the compliment by describing the great "Eltchi" as "a man who gained a prodigious reputation in Europe chiefly by living out of it." He next scented an opportunity for romantic adventure in the Unveiling of Isis, the discovery of the sources of the Nile, the mythical Lake Region of Central Africa, and his discovery of Lake Tanganyika was of first-rate importance, and opened the way to all that followed...."
-"The Westminster Review," Vol. 140
