Hindustani under Forbes before he went out; in India he laboured
indefatigably at the vernaculars, and his reward was an astonishingly rapid
proficiency in Gujarati, Marathi, Hindustani, as well as Persian and
Arabic. His appointment as an assistant in the Sind survey enabled him to
mix with the people, and he frequently passed as a native in the bazaars
and deceived his own _munshi_, to say nothing of his colonel and messmates.
His wanderings in Sind were the apprenticeship for the pilgrimage to Mecca,
and his seven years in India laid the foundations of his unparalleled
familiarity with Eastern life and customs, especially among the lower
classes. Besides government reports and contributions to the Asiatic
Society, his Indian period produced four books, published after his return
home: _Scinde, or the Unhappy Valley_ (1851), _Sindh and the Races that
Inhabit the Valley of the Indus_ (1851), _Goa and the Blue Mountains_
(1851), and _Falconry in the Valley of the Indus_ (1852). None of these
achieved popularity, but the account of Sind is remarkably vivid and
faithful.

The pilgrimage to Mecca in 1853 made Burton famous. He had planned it
whilst mixing disguised among the Muslims of Sind, and had laboriously
prepared for the ordeal by study and practice. No doubt the primary motive
was the love of adventure, which was his strongest passion; but along with
the wanderer's restlessness marched the zest of exploration, and whilst
wandering was in any case a necessity of his existence, he preferred to
roam in untrodden ways where mere adventure might be dignified by
geographical service. There was a "huge white blot" on the maps of central
Arabia where no European had ever been, and Burton's scheme, approved by
the Royal Geographical Society, was to extend his pilgrimage to this "empty
abode," and remove a discreditable blank from the map. War among the tribes
curtailed the design, and his journey went no farther than Medina and
Mecca. The exploit of accompanying the Muslim hajj to the holy cities was
not unique, nor so dangerous as has been imagined. Several Europeans have
accomplished it before and since Burton's visit without serious mishap.
Passing himself off as an Indian Pathan covered any peculiarities or
defects of speech. The pilgrimage, however, demands an intimate proficiency
in a complicated ritual, and a familiarity with the minutiae of Eastern
manners and etiquette; and in the case of a stumble, presence of mind