Richard Francis Burton -- perhaps the greatest spy in history

Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton KCMG 19 March 1821 – 20 October 1890) was a British explorer, translator, writer soldier, orientalist, ethnologist, spy, linguist, poet, fencer and diplomat. . He was known for his travels and explorations within Asia and Africa as well as his extraordinary knowledge of languages and cultures. According to one count, he spoke 29 European, Asian, and African languages.

Burton's best-known achievements include travelling in disguise to Mecca, an unexpurgated translation of One Thousand and One Nights [his translation remains the standard version of this work in English] (also commonly called The Arabian Nights in English after Andrew Lang's abridgement), bringing the Kama Sutra to publication in English, and journeying with John Hanning Speke as the first Europeans led by Africa's greatest explorer guide, Sidi Mubarak Bombay, utilizing route information by Indian and Omani merchants who traded in the region, to visit the Great Lakes of Africa in search of the source of the Nile. Burton extensively criticized colonial policies (to the detriment of his career) in his works and letters. He was a prolific and erudite author and wrote numerous books and scholarly articles about subjects including human behavior, travel, falconry, fencing, sexual practices, and ethnography. A unique feature of his books is the copious footnotes and appendices containing remarkable observations and unexpurgated information.

He was a captain in the army of the East India Company serving in India [under Sir Charles James Napier, probably acting as a spy on critical missions] (and later, briefly, in the Crimean War). Following this he was engaged by the Royal Geographical Society to explore the east coast of Africa and led an expedition guided by the locals and was the first European to see Lake Tanganyika. In later life he served as British consul in Fernando Po, Santos, Damascus and, finally, Trieste. He was a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and was awarded a knighthood (KCMG) in 1886.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Francis_Burton [with insertions in square brackets by the blog author]

Footnote by the blog author: Burton was an incredibly quick study at foreign languages, a master of disguise and an expert at cultural customs. He may have served as the model for “Strickland” as the undercover spy in Kipling's short stories and Kim, his masterful novel about 19^th century India.