Sir Richard Francis Burton

Burton, Sir Richard Francis (1821–90), English explorer, writer, and linguist. His interest in Muslim culture led him to secretly visit shrines in the holy city of Mecca (1853). In the 1880s, he translated the Arabian Nights into English. He was the first European to see Lake Tanganyika in central Africa (1858), and he also explored Santos, Brazil (1865). The motion picture Mountains of the Moon is based on his adventures.