ABSTRACT
Richard Burton (1821-90) was born in Hertfordshire. Childhood years of wandering with his parents through Europe gave him a detached view of England and an ambivalent sense of national identity. In 1840 he went to the University of Oxford but left after a year without taking his degree. In 1842 he joined the Indian Army and stayed in India for seven years, during which time he studied several languages and began to develop his deep Orientalism. Burton published more than forty volumes on his explorations and travels. The extract displays the main characteristics of Burton's writing. He shows his erudition by including words from several languages, makes wideranging historical references and assumes an air of anthropological authority. The bundles were torn to pieces in a moment, so were the strings, and at times there was a scramble, a bite, and a scream about a single shell.
