| Burton, Sir Richard Francis 1821-1890. British explorer and Orientalist. Disguised as a Pathan, he journeyed (1853) to the forbidden cities of Mecca and Medina and in 1858 tried unsuccessfully to discover the source of the Nile River. His best-known work is a translation of The Arabian Nights (1885-1888), which was considered scandalous at the time. |