Part 3 (1/2)
Burton presently found hi learnt the use of the theodolite and the spirit level, he went on Dece party to Hyderbad [66] and the Guni River The as trying, but he varied it with hawking; and collected ht years later with the title of Falconry in the Valley of the Indus He then made the acquaintance of three natives, all of whouistic studies, Mirza Ali Akhbar [67], Mirza Daud, and Mirza Mohammed Musayn Helped by the last he opened covertly at Karachi several shops with the object, however, not of e of the people and their secret custo hair and a venerable beard, stained his limbs with henna, and called hiuise, with spear in hand and pistols in holsters, he travelled the country with a little pack of nick-knacks In order to display his stock he boldly entered private houses, for he found that if the master wanted to eject him, the mistress would be sure to oppose such a uise himself We shall see him later as a Greek doctor, a Pathan Hakim, and an Arab shaykh His shops had plenty of custo the ladies, especially if they were pretty, ”the heaviest possible weight for their e too much in order to induce thearrulity of a decayed beauty natide had races of his person, she generally alluded to him affectionately as ”that old hyena” This couple proved a Golconda for infor studied these and other persons before co to the conclusion that the Eastern nores what is e in flights limited only by the ne plus ultra of Nature herself He picked up a [68], local manners and customs such as circumcision, both female and male, and other subjects, all of which he utilised when he cahts, particularly the articles on Al Islae towns he used to ransack the bazaars for rare books and manuscripts, whether ancient or contemporaneous
Still, the e was acquired orally
11 A Dangerous Mission, 1845
About this tih a town of only 2,000 souls, supported no fewer than three houses which were devoted to a particular and unspeakable vice [69] which is said to be common in the East Sir Charles, whose custo and everything, at once looked round for so to make enquiries and to report upon the subject
Burton being then the only British officer who could speak Sindi, the choice naturally fell upon him, and he undertook the task, only, however, on the express condition that his report should not be forwarded to the Bombay Government, from whom supporters of Napier's policy ”could expect scant favour, mercy, or justice” Accompanied by his Munshi+, Mirza Mohauised as a s in the town, made the required visits, and obtained the fullest details, which were duly dispatched to Government House But in 1847, when Napier quitted Sind ”he left in his office Burton's unfortunate official” ”This,” says Burton, ”found its ith sundry other reports to Bombay, and produced the expected result A friend in the secretariat informed me that my summary dismissal had been formally proposed by one of Sir Charles Napier's successors, but this excess of outraged modesty was not allowed” [70] A little later, however, Burton had to suffer very severely for this unfortunate occurrence Of course he heard regularly from home His father was still immersed in blow-pipes and retorts, his
His sister, who had won to herself for her loveliness the name of ”the Moss Rose,” was married to General Sir Henry Stisted [71], his brother Edas practising as an army doctor; his Grandmother Baker was dead
[72]
12 The Persian Beauty
During one of his rambles he formed the acquaintance of a beautiful olive, oval-faced Persian girl of high descent We are told that her ”eyes were narcissi, her cheeks sweet basil,” her personal charether with her siren voice and sweet disposition caused him to fall in love with her; but he had scarcely learnt that his passion was reciprocated before she died We are told also that for many years he could never think of her without pain; and that when, some time after, he narrated the story to his sister he revealed considerable eht she could see references to this episode in Burton's poem The Kasidah, portions of which ritten some three years later: ”Mine eyes, my brain, my heart are sad--sad is the very core of me” This may be so, but the birth of a litter of pups, presented to hie off his grief; and his tribute to one of these pups, which received the na Commissioner” of the time was General Jacob of the Sind Horse, ore a helmet of silver and a sabre-tache studded with diamonds This, however, was not from pride or love of display, but because he held it policy in those who have to deal with Hindus not to neglect show and splendour ”In the eyes of Orientals,” he used to rereat unless he is also superbly dressed” As Jacob stuttered, one of his correspondents thought his name was J J J J J Jacob, and terribly offended the testy General by writing it so A brave and self-confident, but rancorous old ht the Indian are of ruin This peccadillo was passed over, but a more serious offence, his inability to play whist, was reht to the day of his death [73]
13 A Simian Dictionary
When the Sikh war broke out Burton resigned his post under Scott in order to take part in the ca proclaimed a feeeks later, after the battle of Sobraon, Burton had no opportunities of distinguishi+ng himself So he returned to his studies, and now became ambitious to understand not only the people but also the monkeys of India Consequently he collected some forty of them, made them live and eat after the ibbered He would then talk to them and pronounce the sounds they made, until at last they could conduct quite a conversation together Burton never divulged this talk, which, of course, may have been of a confidential nature, but he compiled a Simian Dictionary, and thus to some extent anticipated the work of Mr R L Garner
Unfortunately the dictionary was some years later destroyed by fire
14 Duality
We shall often notice in Burton's life what Burton himself called his dual nature In the tale of Janshah in The Arabian Nights we read of a race of splitabout contentedly on its own account, and reuniting with its fellow at pleasure If Burton in a pre-existent state--and he half believed in the Pre-existence of Souls--belonged to this race, and one of his halves became accidentally united to one of the halves of somebody else, the condition of affairs would be explicable In any circu on his duality For example--a kind-hearted hted, as we have seen, in the sport of cocking; an ambitious man, ore himself out with his studies yet he neutralised all his efforts to rise by giving way to an ungovernable teht, and no ive offence, and quite unnecessarily, to his superior officer, Colonel Henry Corsellis, and they were henceforth at handgrips
A his favourite books was Jami's Beharistan The only pity is that he did not take the advice proffered in the Third Garden:
”If Alexander's realo, Make friends more friendly still, andqualities will be noticed as this work proceeds Late in life, when he took to glasses, Burton used to say ”My duality is proved by ht eye requires a No 50 convex lens, my left a No 14” His assiduous application to his studies now brought about an illness, and, having returned to Bombay, he obtained two years' leave of absence to the salubrious Neilgherries
Chapter IV 20th February 1847-1849 Under the Spell of Caraphy: