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First Footsteps in East Africa or, An Exploration of Harar [Illustrated]
Sir Richard Francis Burton KCMG FRGS (19 March 1821 – 20 October 1890) was a British explorer, geographer, translator, writer, soldier, orientalist, cartographer, ethnologist, spy, linguist, poet, fencer, and diplomat. He was known for his travels and explorations in Asia, Africa and the Americas, as well as his extraordinary knowledge of languages and cultures. According to one count, he spoke 29 European, Asian and African languages.
Burton was a captain in the army of the East India Company, serving in India (and later, briefly, in the Crimean War). Following this, he was engaged by the Royal Geographical Society to explore the east coast of Africa and led an expedition guided by the locals and was the first European to see Lake Tanganyika.
In March 1854, he transferred to the political department of the East India Company and went to Aden on the Arabian Peninsula in order to prepare for a new expedition, supported by the Royal Geographical Society, to explore the interior of the Somali Country and beyond, where Burton hoped to discover the large lakes he had heard about from Arab travelers. It was in Aden in September of this year that he first met Captain (then Lieutenant) John Hanning Speke, who would accompany him on his most famous exploration. Burton undertook the first part of the trip alone. He made an expedition to Harar (in present-day Ethiopia), which no European had entered (indeed there was a prophecy that the city would decline if a Christian was admitted inside).
This leg of the expedition lasted three months although much of the time was spent in the port of Zeila, where Burton, once again in disguise, awaited word that the road to Harar was safe. Burton not only travelled to Harar but also was introduced to the Emir and stayed in the city for ten days, officially a guest of the Emir but in reality his prisoner. The journey back was plagued by lack of supplies, and Burton wrote that he would have died of thirst had he not seen desert birds and realized they would be near water.
Lieutenant Burton's book, " First Footsteps in East Africa," is but the first instalment of what is intended to be a journey through Central Africa, and a discovery, if possible, of the sources of the White Nile and the Mountains of the Moon. It treats of the Berber race in the Somauli country, that peninsula of Africa which lies just south of the Straits of Bab el Mandeb. Mr. Burton is not in any sense a missionary, but a daring, perhaps we may add a rather unscrupulous adventurer, determined to push his way by perseverance and "pluck." His "first footsteps" were not very prosperous. He was driven out from the country, with the loss of some of his men and all his goods. But he stayed long enough to learn a few dialects, to see the country, and to get materials for an entertaining book. He was the first Frank traveller who ever reached the capital of Eastern Africa; and though his sojourn there was limited to ten days, and was a sort of imprisonment, he made excellent use of his eyes and ears in that time. Mr. Burton, like Mr. Bayard Taylor, is one of those travellers whose apparent mishaps always turn out to be strokes of good luck; and if he is not able to find the first rills of that river, the divine riddle of which has never yet been read, the long attempt may be given up as hopeless.
Chapter:
1. Departure from Aden.
2. Life in Zayla.
3. Excursions near Zayla.
4. The Somal, their Origin and Peculiarities.
5. From Zayla to the Hills.
6. From the Zayla Hills to the Marar Prairie.
7. From the Marar Prairie to Harar.
8. Ten Days at Harar.
9. A Ride to Berberah.
10. Berberah and its Environs.
Burton was a captain in the army of the East India Company, serving in India (and later, briefly, in the Crimean War). Following this, he was engaged by the Royal Geographical Society to explore the east coast of Africa and led an expedition guided by the locals and was the first European to see Lake Tanganyika.
In March 1854, he transferred to the political department of the East India Company and went to Aden on the Arabian Peninsula in order to prepare for a new expedition, supported by the Royal Geographical Society, to explore the interior of the Somali Country and beyond, where Burton hoped to discover the large lakes he had heard about from Arab travelers. It was in Aden in September of this year that he first met Captain (then Lieutenant) John Hanning Speke, who would accompany him on his most famous exploration. Burton undertook the first part of the trip alone. He made an expedition to Harar (in present-day Ethiopia), which no European had entered (indeed there was a prophecy that the city would decline if a Christian was admitted inside).
This leg of the expedition lasted three months although much of the time was spent in the port of Zeila, where Burton, once again in disguise, awaited word that the road to Harar was safe. Burton not only travelled to Harar but also was introduced to the Emir and stayed in the city for ten days, officially a guest of the Emir but in reality his prisoner. The journey back was plagued by lack of supplies, and Burton wrote that he would have died of thirst had he not seen desert birds and realized they would be near water.
Lieutenant Burton's book, " First Footsteps in East Africa," is but the first instalment of what is intended to be a journey through Central Africa, and a discovery, if possible, of the sources of the White Nile and the Mountains of the Moon. It treats of the Berber race in the Somauli country, that peninsula of Africa which lies just south of the Straits of Bab el Mandeb. Mr. Burton is not in any sense a missionary, but a daring, perhaps we may add a rather unscrupulous adventurer, determined to push his way by perseverance and "pluck." His "first footsteps" were not very prosperous. He was driven out from the country, with the loss of some of his men and all his goods. But he stayed long enough to learn a few dialects, to see the country, and to get materials for an entertaining book. He was the first Frank traveller who ever reached the capital of Eastern Africa; and though his sojourn there was limited to ten days, and was a sort of imprisonment, he made excellent use of his eyes and ears in that time. Mr. Burton, like Mr. Bayard Taylor, is one of those travellers whose apparent mishaps always turn out to be strokes of good luck; and if he is not able to find the first rills of that river, the divine riddle of which has never yet been read, the long attempt may be given up as hopeless.
Chapter:
1. Departure from Aden.
2. Life in Zayla.
3. Excursions near Zayla.
4. The Somal, their Origin and Peculiarities.
5. From Zayla to the Hills.
6. From the Zayla Hills to the Marar Prairie.
7. From the Marar Prairie to Harar.
8. Ten Days at Harar.
9. A Ride to Berberah.
10. Berberah and its Environs.
337 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1856
78 people are currently reading
396 people want to read
About the author
Richard Francis Burton
1,638 books247 followersCaptain Sir Richard Francis Burton KCMG FRGS was a British geographer, explorer, translator, writer, soldier, orientalist, cartographer, ethnologist, spy, linguist, poet, fencer and diplomat. He was known for his travels and explorations within Asia, Africa and the Americas as well as his extraordinary knowledge of languages and cultures. According to one count, he spoke 29 European, Asian, and African languages.
Burton's best-known achievements include travelling in disguise to Mecca, an unexpurgated translation of One Thousand and One Nights (also commonly called The Arabian Nights in English after Andrew Lang's adaptation), bringing the Kama Sutra to publication in English, and journeying with John Hanning Speke as the first Europeans led by Africa's greatest explorer guide, Sidi Mubarak Bombay, utilizing route information by Indian and Omani merchants who traded in the region, to visit the Great Lakes of Africa in search of the source of the Nile. Burton extensively criticized colonial policies (to the detriment of his career) in his works and letters. He was a prolific and erudite author and wrote numerous books and scholarly articles about subjects including human behaviour, travel, falconry, fencing, sexual practices, and ethnography. A unique feature of his books is the copious footnotes and appendices containing remarkable observations and unexpurgated information.
He was a captain in the army of the East India Company serving in India (and later, briefly, in the Crimean War). Following this he was engaged by the Royal Geographical Society to explore the east coast of Africa and led an expedition guided by the locals and was the first European to see Lake Tanganyika. In later life he served as British consul in Fernando Po, Santos, Damascus and, finally, Trieste. He was a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and was awarded a knighthood (KCMG) in 1886.
Burton's best-known achievements include travelling in disguise to Mecca, an unexpurgated translation of One Thousand and One Nights (also commonly called The Arabian Nights in English after Andrew Lang's adaptation), bringing the Kama Sutra to publication in English, and journeying with John Hanning Speke as the first Europeans led by Africa's greatest explorer guide, Sidi Mubarak Bombay, utilizing route information by Indian and Omani merchants who traded in the region, to visit the Great Lakes of Africa in search of the source of the Nile. Burton extensively criticized colonial policies (to the detriment of his career) in his works and letters. He was a prolific and erudite author and wrote numerous books and scholarly articles about subjects including human behaviour, travel, falconry, fencing, sexual practices, and ethnography. A unique feature of his books is the copious footnotes and appendices containing remarkable observations and unexpurgated information.
He was a captain in the army of the East India Company serving in India (and later, briefly, in the Crimean War). Following this he was engaged by the Royal Geographical Society to explore the east coast of Africa and led an expedition guided by the locals and was the first European to see Lake Tanganyika. In later life he served as British consul in Fernando Po, Santos, Damascus and, finally, Trieste. He was a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and was awarded a knighthood (KCMG) in 1886.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
January 25, 2024
It was interesting to learn that, according to Burton, the Somalis like whistling, in contrast with the Arabs, who hold it to be “the chit chat of the djinns.” That was curious, as his is throwaway remark on the contrast between Somali and Arab treatment of snakes:
“To kill a serpent is considered by the Bedouins to be almost as meritorious as slaying an infidel”
And this is amusing in a very Burtonish way:
“As we aproached...the villagers inquired Hibernically if we were the party that had been put to death by the Amir of Harar.”
However, a lot of this is quite tedious, with many boring and exhaustive sections detailing the preparations future explorers should take. And although Burton often seems quite congenial, and takes a keen interest in everything, he has some fairly disagreeable characteristics. For me his worst one is his pointless massacre of “fishing hawks and sea birds” shot out of the sky at one halt. He admits -
“I had acquired throughout the land the evil reputation of killing everything from a bird to an elephant”. Quite so. He seems almost amused by this, but it seems to me that the “savages” show a moral superiority over our author by deprecating the killing of (often inedible) creatures just for the sake of killing.
“To kill a serpent is considered by the Bedouins to be almost as meritorious as slaying an infidel”
And this is amusing in a very Burtonish way:
“As we aproached...the villagers inquired Hibernically if we were the party that had been put to death by the Amir of Harar.”
However, a lot of this is quite tedious, with many boring and exhaustive sections detailing the preparations future explorers should take. And although Burton often seems quite congenial, and takes a keen interest in everything, he has some fairly disagreeable characteristics. For me his worst one is his pointless massacre of “fishing hawks and sea birds” shot out of the sky at one halt. He admits -
“I had acquired throughout the land the evil reputation of killing everything from a bird to an elephant”. Quite so. He seems almost amused by this, but it seems to me that the “savages” show a moral superiority over our author by deprecating the killing of (often inedible) creatures just for the sake of killing.
January 3, 2024
8.25/10.
An excellent adventure by a proud Englishman during the height of the British Empire. It is very interesting to read of the Somalis’ reaction to the whiteness of Burton, for many of their tribes were extremely isolated and had not seen someone lighter than milk chocolate.
An excellent adventure by a proud Englishman during the height of the British Empire. It is very interesting to read of the Somalis’ reaction to the whiteness of Burton, for many of their tribes were extremely isolated and had not seen someone lighter than milk chocolate.
July 19, 2018
An interesting journey whose telling is burdened with a hefty cargo of the easy confidence of unchallenged racism and imperialism.
November 10, 2023
Interesting journal.
July 26, 2012
Chock full of ethnographical information about the Muslims of Somalia, Richard Burton's "First Footsteps in Africa" is a great look at a white man's first forays into that area of the continent. As an adventure novel, the book is kind of dry -- Burton essentially travels to an area, is held there by its leaders and observes the people before he is finally allowed to move on. I found the volumes to be okay-- but I'm sort of surprised they are ranked so highly on the "Greatest Adventure Books of All Time..." because there were plenty of other books that were just a lot more interesting.
September 16, 2013
A detailed if not at times dry (pardon the pun) description of the author's travels into the interior of what was then unknown country. His understated observations and sober reflections provide an occasionally thrilling (if not foolhardy) insight into the mind of a dedicated explorer in the colonial age. That he succeeded is a testament to his knowledge of Arabic, his patience and a familiarity with the temperaments and moral attitudes of the people along with the ability to conceal his actual identity.
Read
May 15, 2011Victorian-era nonfiction by the first European to return from Harar, a city in modern-day Etheopia. A slow read due to the language of the time, but still quite interesting. His reaction to the natives, varying from reverent to derisive, is telling.
Want to read
November 21, 2010--
Read
May 11, 2011Somalia and Harrar
August 12, 2018
An account of the author's travels in Eastern Africa. A slow read.
June 14, 2013
Great book. Took my about 6 months to finish, Glad I did though.
January 16, 2014
DNF – very slow, the footnotes drove me nuts. But some interesting observations, and many would no longer be true today.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews