Richard Francis Burton

Sir Richard Francis Burton (March 19, 1821 – October 19, 1890), British consul, explorer, translator, writer and Orientalist known for his often-unprecedented exploits of travel and exploration as well as his extraordinary knowledge of languages and cultures.

Exploration of the Somali Country

Burton's next journey was to explore the interior of the Somali Country (modern Somalia), as British authorities wanted to protect the Red Sea trade. He was assisted by Capt. John Hanning Speke and two other young officers, but accomplished the most difficult part of the trip alone, a journey to Harrar, the Somali capital, which no European had entered. Burton vanished into the desert and was not heard from for four months. When he reappeared, he had not only been to Harrar, but had talked with the king, stayed ten days there in deadly peril, and ridden back across the desert, almost without food and water, running the gauntlet of the Somali spears all the way.

Related Topics:
Somali Country - Somalia - Red Sea - John Hanning Speke - Harrar

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Undeterred by this experience, he set out again, but his party had a skirmish with the tribes, in which one of his young officers was killed. Speke was wounded in eleven places, and Burton had a javelin thrust through his jaws. His book First Footsteps in East Africa (1856), describing these adventures, is considered one of his most exciting and most characteristic books, full of learning, observation and humour.

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He returned to the army, but saw no action in the Crimean War, serving on the staff of a corps of Bashi-bazouks, local fighters under British command, in the Dardanelles.

Related Topics:
Crimean War - Bashi-bazouk - Dardanelles

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