Editing Richard Francis Burton (section)

==Scandals==
[[File:ST-Burton.jpg|thumb|Burton in later life]]

Burton's writings are unusually open and frank about his interest in sex and [[Human sexuality|sexuality]]. His travel writing is often full of details about the sexual lives of the inhabitants of areas he travelled through. Burton's interest in sexuality led him to make measurements of the lengths of the penises of male inhabitants of various regions, which he includes in his travel books. He also describes sexual techniques common in the regions he visited, often hinting that he had participated, hence breaking both sexual and racial [[taboo]]s of his day. Many people at the time considered the Kama Shastra Society and the books it published scandalous.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rCh8EIv7b04C&pg=PP1 |title=The highly civilized man: Richard Burton and the Victorian world |author=Kennedy, D. |date=2009 |publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=9780674025523 |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts; London, England |oclc=647823711}}</ref>

Biographers disagree on whether or not Burton ever experienced homosexual sex (he never directly acknowledges it in his writing). Rumours began in his army days when [[Charles James Napier]] requested that Burton go undercover to investigate a male [[brothel]] reputed to be frequented by British soldiers. It has been suggested that Burton's detailed report on the workings of the brothel led some to believe he had been a customer.<ref>Burton, Sir Richard (1991) ''Kama Sutra'', Park Street Press, {{ISBN|0-89281-441-1}}, p. 14.</ref> There is no documentary evidence that such a report was written or submitted, nor that Napier ordered such research by Burton, and it has been argued that this is one of Burton's embellishments.<ref>[[#Godsall|Godsall]], pp. 47–48.</ref>

A story that haunted Burton up to his death (recounted in some of his obituaries) was that, during his journey to Mecca disguised as a Muslim, he came close to being discovered one night when he lifted his robe to urinate rather than squatting as an Arab would. It was said that he was seen by an Arab and, to avoid exposure, killed him. Burton denied this, pointing out that killing the boy would almost certainly have led to his being discovered as an impostor. Burton became so tired of denying this accusation that he took to baiting his accusers, although he was said to enjoy the notoriety and even once laughingly claimed to have done it.<ref>[[#Lovell|Lovell]], pp. 185–186.</ref><ref name=Rice1990>{{cite book|last=Rice|first=Edward|title=Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton: A Biography|year=2001|orig-year=1990|publisher=Da Capo Press|isbn=978-0306810282|pages=136–137}}</ref> A doctor once asked him: "How do you feel when you have killed a man?", Burton retorted: "Quite jolly, what about you?". When asked by a priest about the same incident Burton is said to have replied: "Sir, I'm proud to say I have committed every sin in the [[Ten Commandments|Decalogue]]."<ref>Brodie, Fawn M. (1967). ''The Devil Drives: A Life of Sir Richard Burton'', W.W. Norton & Company Inc.: New York 1967, p. 3.</ref> [[Stanley Lane-Poole]], a Burton detractor, reported that Burton "confessed rather shamefacedly that he had never killed anybody at any time."<ref name=Rice1990/>

These allegations coupled with Burton's often irascible nature were said to have harmed his career and may explain why he was not promoted further, either in army life or in the diplomatic service. As an obituary described: "...he was ill fitted to run in official harness, and he had a [[Lord Byron|Byronic]] love of shocking people, of telling tales against himself that had no foundation in fact."<ref>[http://www.wollamshram.ca/1001/Athenaeum/at3287.htm Obituary in Athenaeum] No. 3287, 25 October 1890, p. 547.</ref> [[Ouida]] reported: "Men at the FO [Foreign Office]&nbsp;... used to hint dark horrors about Burton, and certainly justly or unjustly he was disliked, feared and suspected&nbsp;... not for what he had done, but for what he was believed capable of doing."<ref>''Richard Burton'' by [[Ouida]], article appearing in the Fortnightly Review June (1906) quoted by [[#Lovell|Lovell]]</ref>