The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-06-03

o.
Eventuany n vas d.smsd aiy,~able 10
NJ him havs NE AVN Wayy = commission Vas
purchased for him IN M EAaf indian e~sfvios,
and presently ~ found himesN eueieaed
n ths Eieteepssh Itaeimsnt ~ ths bpt1s
hoy Nstive Infantry, Charsctsriaiealiy No
forthwith applied hinlaeN vigorously ~ the
study ~ HinduMteal, vhlch ~ cyes l1ued
during Tho four mosehs voyaae N indla.
DifinG ne hfa brlsf soJourn IN BDpbay ~
md him coliectlne maferiai ~ IN blnd
which vas IA he utilized IN tn notes ~ NE
Arabian Niahaa' Hewina jotBed HE Tegis
ment NJ hafodn, ~ found n 10 ~ tha cus.
ioafof ths ohsars. married 80 veil ~ single,
~ form irregular Unions WNh tbe Hindu
women EVeFy individual kad NE bubti,
and consequently half casts children were
not UNCOMMON, bdt youna Burton vas ~
tho opinion thai thia mehnef ~ NWe had ad-
vantaass. IL connected, ~ aeid, chs WHITE
stranger With the country and Ne people
eavs him an interest," In their manner .
customs and taught him thoroughly we'll
thsir language" labs ths reei Burton q
had he fubu sill. he was M voiuptuary.
fndeed, IN waa ~ q cold nature. and HE
biographer thinks that Piutsrctfs remark
about Alexander applies equally TO him
For though otherwise he was very hot and
hasty, yet he hardly moved with lust or
pleasure Of tho body The dancse OF the
Nautoh girls, dressed though they were In
magnificent brooades. CAV him dlsgnst
rather than pleasure. Languages. not
amours. we're his aspiration, and his mind
ran on grammar books rather than ghasals
10 confeeses, also. TO having given whole
days and nights to the pages Of Euclid
Within about slz months he returned 70
Bombay TO present himself for examination
In Hindustani and having passed with tbe
higheet honor he returned to Baroda. whore
be applied himself to GujSrati. the language
Of the country and also o lessons In San
skirt. He learned some Of the Hindu text
books by heart. This devotion to tho ma
tive tongue caused his fellow officers to call
him THE White Niger"
Transferred In 1874 to Sind. he collected
material for a work which no published
eight years later, with he title Of 'Falconry
In the Valley Of the Indus In order to
obtain an intimate knowledge Of the peo-
pie be o~overtly opened several shops under
an assumed name at Karachi, put on long
hair and a venerable beard, stained his
limbs with benna. and called himself ABB
dullah Of Bushiro, a half Arab. All his
life he loved to disguise himself. The
reader Of these volumes will see him later
as a Greek doctor. a Pathan hakim, a der
wish, an Arab pilgrim. a Moslem merchant
and an Arab sheikh. During one OF his
rambles in Sind young Burton formed the
acquaintance Of a beautiful olive skinned,
- --l n---.-- Ill - ht@h lAaronN
We are told that her eyes were ~narciasir, her
cheeks sweet BASIL Her personal charms,
together with her siren voice and sweet
disposition, caused him to fall in love with
her, but he had scarcely learned that hs
passion was r~eciprooated before she died.
We learn that for many years he could
never think Of her without pain. and tina
when, some time after, he narrated the
story to his sister, he betrayed considerable
emotion.
When the Sikh war broke out Burton re-
siqned his post In Sind In order to take part
in tho campaign in the Punjab, but peace
being proclaimed a few weeks later he
had no opportunities Of Distinguishing him.
self. So he returned to his linguistic stud
les, and now became ambitious to under
stand not only the divers peoples, but alep
the monkeys Of India. Consequently he
collected 30 m forty examples Of the simian
species, made them live n eat after tho
manner Of human beings, n studied them
as they moved and gibbered. He would
then talk to them and pronounce the
sounds they made until at last he could
conduct quite a conversation with them.
Burton never divulged this talk, which
may have peer Of a confidential nature.
but he compiled a simian dictionary, and
thus to some extent anticipated the work
undertaken by Mr.. r. l.. Garner. Unluck-
ily. the dictionary was some years later
destroyed by fire.
By the beginning Of is47 asdduous ap-
plication to his studies had brought about
an illness, and he obtained leave to pass
some time at Ottacamund, a sanitarium
on the Neilgerriee. He left Goa on February
20. 1s47, his mind vibrant with the thoughts
of the mar who was to be all his life his
hero, the "Portingall' Camoens, with whose
noble epic all western India, from Narsinga
to Calicut, is intimately associated. We
are told that passages from Camoens were
frequently in Burton's mouth, and that In
the bitterest moments he could always
find relief in the pages of one whom he
reverently called my master" In later
DAYS he could see a parallel in the thorny
and checkered career Of Camoens and his
own. The parallel is outlined in the book
before us: Each spent his early manhood
on the west coast of India. Each did his
country an incalculable service, Camoens
by enriching Portugal with The Lusiads,'
Burton by his travels and discoveries, and
by presenting to England vast stores Of
Oriental lore. Each received insult and
Ill treatment, Camoens by imprisonment
at Goa, Burton by his recall from Damas.
GUS. There was also a temperamental
likeness between the two men. The pas
sion for travel, the love Of poetry and ad-
venture, the daring, the patriotism Of
-Camoens, all find their counterparts In his
most painstakng English translator
1t was at this time that, dissatisfied with
the English versions Of Camoens by Strang-
ford, Mickle and others, Burton commenced
a translation Of his own, which, however,
did not reach the press for ~thirty-three
years. Begun at Goa in is47, It was re-
slmed at Fernando Pc in 10000, continued
In Brazil and at Trieste, and finished at
Cairo in 1880.
On his return from Calicut to Bombay,