In my previous post on Richard F. Burton’s literary legacy, I noted that RFB was one of the most well-known/notorious men in Britain from about 1855 to some point long after his death in 1890. As I said:

"Make no mistake about it: the Notorious RFB was exactly that in late Victorian England—notorious. Love him or hate him, everyone from lords of the realm to chimney-sweeps knew about Burton and held a firm opinion of some sort about the man. He could not be ignored, even while he endured semi-exile as a consul in Trieste."

Burton less than a year before his death. At that point, he had already been fictionalized by Rudyard Kipling and had a paen written of him by Swinburne.

Burton was known, to some extent, to virtually everyone alive in Britain during that period. 'Everyone' would certainly include the Victorian authors who ushered in what I call the Heroic Age of Exotic Adventure. By that, I mean the period from about 1880 up to about 1910 when so many of the foundations of modern 'adventure literature' were laid. The authors who wrote during that era were almost all British and they pioneered much of what later authors--mostly American--turned into the pulp adventures we all love.

Richard F. Burton provided those authors with so much fodder, it's almost mind-boggling. Here was a man who, physically and mentally, was far above and beyond the norm. At the same time, he was also considered 'sinister' by some and was definitely an outsider in upper-crust British society. A master of disguise. A deadly swordsman. A 'discoverer' of forbidden cities and an explorer of the 'unknown' portions of the globe. A man who could learn various languages 'while running'. Withal and besides, a cultured and erudite man of letters. The 'Renaissance Man' ideal made flesh...but possessed of a contrary streak of darkness a mile wide.

Sir Walter Scott was the Moses of the Exotic Adventure genre. Robert Louis Stevenson was John the Baptist with H. Rider Haggard as the Messiah. Burton's life neatly straddles the careers of all three men.

I can't find a quote from Stevenson regarding Burton. Both men were fond of exotic climes and exotic women--as well as the Arabian Nights--but that's about it. I've yet to find a Haggard quote on Burton. Allan Quatermain bears little resemblance to RFB. We know Quatermain was mostly inspired by the two Fredericks: Burnham and Selous. However, the entire setting within which Quatermain operates--as well as Holly and Vincey in She--wouldn't exist without Burton. Richard was the premier explorer of East Africa. He brought the word 'safari' to the English language in the 1850s. RFB basically invented the practice of assembling a 'team' for far-ranging exploration. Burton penetrated 'lost'/'forbidden' cities like Harar.

Haggard had his apostles, Arthur Conan Doyle and Rudyard Kipling chief among them. Both men admired Burton.

Doyle's career took off slightly ahead of Kipling's, so we'll start with him. While one could argue that Burton being a fairly good model for a 'superman' might have influenced Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, I prefer to stand on firmer ground: namely, ACD's classic exotic adventure novel, The Lost World, which was published in 1912.

The tale opens with the protagonist, Ned Malone, being informed by his lady-love, Gladys Hungerton, of just what sort of man she would marry:

"But, above all, he must be a man who could do, who could act, who could look Death in the face and have no fear of him, a man of great deeds and strange experiences. It is never a man that I should love, but always the glories he had won; for they would be reflected upon me. Think of Richard Burton! When I read his wife's life of him I could so understand her love!"

Doyle himself masquerading as Challenger. Compare this to the photo of Burton below.

Not only is RFB namechecked therein, but Gladys' reasons are basically a parody of those Isabel Burton gave for marrying Richard. Richard and no other man. Doyle had obviously himself read Isabel's two-volume biography of Burton. Richard was being held up--by Doyle--as the type of fearless man that any Edwardian woman would desire. RFB had been dead for over two decades at that point.

However, the shade of Burton looms over far more than that in The Lost World. There is Professor Challenger himself. Ned Malone--a young journalist--searches out Tarp Henry, a scientist and writer for Nature magazine to find out more regarding the irascible and controversial explorer. Tarp describes Challenger in this manner:

"I HAVE heard something of Challenger, for he is one of those men whom nobody can ignore. He's as clever as they make 'em—a full-charged battery of force and vitality (...) I should say he is about the best-hated man in London."

"Whom nobody can ignore." Sounds a lot like Burton at any point from 1860 to 1890. RFB's 'cleverness' and vitality were and are legendary. Burton was cordially hated by many influential Britons from 1840 until long after his death.

Malone steels his nerves and visits the formidable Challenger. His description of the man runs like this:

'His head was enormous, the largest I have ever seen upon a human being. I am sure that his top-hat, had I ever ventured to don it, would have slipped over me entirely and rested on my shoulders. He had the face and beard which I associate with an Assyrian bull; the former florid, the latter so black as almost to have a suspicion of blue, spade-shaped and rippling down over his chest. (...) A huge spread of shoulders and a chest like a barrel were the other parts of him which appeared above the table."

Numerous witnesses commented that Burton had a 'large' head, though it doesn't appear to be abnormally so in photographs. RFB sported an impressive forked beard in his later years. Richard's wide shoulders and massive chest were commented upon throughout his long career.

From the original publication of The Lost World. While not the spitting image of Burton, it’s certainly in the ballpark. — From the original publication of *The Lost World.* While not the spitting image of Burton, it’s certainly in the ballpark.

As it turns out, Challenger is rather short and squat; a stunted giant. However, I think the parallels with Burton are still numerous. Percy Fawcett and William Rutherford are held up as models for Challenger--and they could make a rough amalgam of the redoubtable professor--but neither has the exuberant beardage of Burton in his later years, nor was either as feared by their opponents as the Notorious RFB. Doyle makes Challenger equally feared. Did I mention that Fawcett was a fan of both Burton and Haggard?

Finally, we have Lord John Roxton. Roxton is part of the 'Lost World' expedition. Malone quotes him as saying:

Life can whack me about now, and it can't leave a mark. But a sportin' risk, young fellah, that's the salt of existence. Then it's worth livin' again. We're all gettin' a deal too soft and dull and comfy. Give me the great waste lands and the wide spaces, with a gun in my fist and somethin' to look for that's worth findin'.

It transpires that Roxton had years before journeyed to the wilds of eastern Peru to fight slavers, organizing the native peoples to wipe them out. Ned Malone describes Roxton as a ‘South Americomaniac’. Roxton's also inordinately fond of steeple-chases. And booze. And various Eastern knick-knacks.

Burton was also known for his hatred of slavers...and fondness for alcohol...and for collecting Eastern artifacts. It is also a little-heralded fact that he explored/traveled about as many square miles of South America as he did in Africa. Did I mention that Burton was kicked out of Oxford for attending a steeple-chase?

Do not mistake me here. Roxton, both physically and personality-wise, differs from Burton in several respects. I would say that Doyle 'split' Burton into two parts, assigning some aspects to one character and some to another. After all, who could believe in one man who possessed all of the traits and abilities of Richard Frikkin’ Burton?

As I said, the mighty shade of Burton looms over The Lost World--one of the most influential adventure novels ever written.

One of the classic films of the 1970s. Connery sporting a fairly Burtonian ‘stache.

Rudyard Kipling ascended to popular success and literary acclaim hot on the heels of Doyle. His story of India, 'Miss Youghal’s Sais', is widely considered to feature Burton as the thinly-disguised protagonist, 'Strickland'. Burton's widow certainly thought so.

Kipling's classic novel of imperial espionage, Kim, also seems to feature a Burtonian character in the shadowy 'Colonel Creighton'.

Was Kipling's 'The Man Who Would Be King' also a nod to Burton? The protagonists are treated badly for good service by the British military in India--just like Burton. They penetrate a lost/forbidden city--just like Burton. Kipling wrote the novella in 1888 when RFB was spending his last days in semi-exile in Trieste, seemingly forsaken by the British government, for which he had done so much. It’s a pity that Sean Connery was never cast as Burton in some flick or another.

Algernon Swinburne should be mentioned at this point. He was one of great late Victorian poets and a huge admirer of Burton. Swinburne was a member of RFB's bohemian 'Cannibal Club' group. Their friendship lasted well over a decade. Swinburne held a high opinion of Richard's poetry. Algernon wrote two poems dedicated to Burton, which can be found here and here.

Well, that takes care of the Victorians. My next post will look into the exotic adventure fictioneers inspired by Burton during the Edwardian period. Things are going to take a bit more of a villainous turn...