Wherever we halted we were surrounded by wandering troops of Bedouins.

Burton was never particularly content with this post but it required little work and allowed him the freedom to write and travel. He adopted the alias of Mirza Abdullah and often fooled local people and fellow officers into failing to recognize him. Before leaving for Africa Burton became secretly engaged to Isabel Arundell.

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. Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton KCMG FRGS (19 March 1821 – 20 October 1890) was a British geographer explorer translator writer soldier orientalist cartographer ethnologist spy linguist poet fencer and diplomat. 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.