Sexpats in History: 1) Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton (1821-1890)

The term ‘sexpat’ is a modern coinage with derogatory connotations, but I am using the term in the much more positive sense of someone who has been open-minded enough to adapt to other cultures, and to the women of those cultures. No-one fits that definition better than Captain Sir Francis Richard Burton. His explorations of sexuality were just a part of his wider explorations: of different cultures, languages, literature and religions, and of the then unexplored places of ‘darkest Africa’.

It is not my intention to give a detailed biography of Burton in this article as that information can easily be found elsewhere. A good starting place for anyone who would like to find out more is: Burton on the Web, which may be found at http://www.isidore-of-seville.com/burton/. Most of my information came from the following book (which is available from Amazon.com): Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton: A Biography by Edward Rice, ISBN-13: 978-0306810282 (all page references in this article refer to this book). I can heartily recommend it as it is well- researched, and such an enjoyable read, I have read it half a dozen times. However, beware the similarly titled: The Life of Captain Sir Richard F. Burton, by Isabel Arundell Burton. This is the ‘official’ biography written by his wife who was a strict Catholic and who understandably wanted to gloss over some of the more exotic episodes of Burton’s life. My purpose in this short article is to discuss those aspects of Burton’s life that I find interesting and inspiring and relate them to my own experiences.

Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton (1821–90) was a famous explorer, writer and linguist. He served as an officer in the army of the British East India Company, and while stationed in India, learned many languages including Persian, Afghan, Hindustani, and Arabic (he is said to have spoken 29 languages overall). He was educated at various schools in England and France, and later, at Trinity College, Oxford, though he was thrown out halfway through his degree course for attending a steeplechase race. In 1851 he met 29-year-old Isabel Arundell. Her parents were opposed to her marrying Burton, and it was five more years before they were secretly engaged and another five before she eloped with him to London. In 1853, he became the first non-Muslim to visit Mecca, and in 1856 he went with Speke to discover the source of the Nile. He also explored different religions, converting to Hinduism soon after his arrival in India, then to Islam, partly as a preparation for his journey to Mecca, and just before he died, to Roman Catholicism. His publications include many translations of Eastern literature including The Arabian Nights and the Kama Sutra.

The first thing that impressed me about Burton was his command of languages. He understood that to get to the heart of a culture you have to speak the language. He learned Hindustani on his outward voyage to Bombay so well that, on arrival, he was able to ‘astonish the throng of palanquin bearers that jostled, pushed and pulled me in the pier head’ (47)

This reminds me of my efforts to learn Thai, sitting in a 747 with an MP3 Player listening to phrases from Thai for Beginners by Benjawan Poomsan Becker while trying to eat an over-cooked meal with a plastic knife and fork. Two things inspired me to keep plugging away at Thai, one was a desire to communicate with those cute Thai girls in their own language, the other was the example of Burton. However, in contrast to my fumbling attempts, Burton’s mastery of languages was consummate. He was able to learn them to the extent that he could pass himself off as a native speaker (he used the excuse of coming from a remote province to cover any slight peculiarities of idiom or pronunciation). Luckily, he had a swarthy appearance which made it easier for him to disguise himself as a native. Now, even if I could chop six inches of my height and disguise myself as a Thai, I would be found out the moment I opened my mouth because I still haven’t got past the ‘pidgin’ stage. I’m halfway through Thai for Intermediate Learners, so I can say what I want in broken Thai, but can’t usually understand the answer, especially when my teerak gets going at full speed! However, I know several sexpats who can speak Thai well enough for most everyday purposes, and they tell me on good authority that the bar scene really opens up when you can speak a bit of Thai.

Burton was much more than a traveller, he was an explorer, his most famous journey being the quest for the source of the Nile with John Hanning Speke in 1856. His excitement at the prospect before him is expressed in this diary entry:

Of the gladdest moments in human life, methinks is the departure upon a distant journey into unknown lands. Shaking off with one mighty effort the fetters of Habit, the leaden weight of Routine, the cloak of many Cares and the slavery of Home. (359)

Even the conventional family man on a two-week package tour to Orlando feels something of the same excitement, but the sex-tourist, or sexpat comes closer. By the time I summoned up the courage to book my first flight to Thailand, the ‘fetters of habit’ were very strong indeed, though the ‘slavery of home’ had been recently abolished by decree absolute. Nana Plaza is not exactly darkest Africa, but I entered the jungle of my first gogo bar (Rainbow 4) with the same trepidation. Having faced that fear, I was much more adventurous in my geographical travels, for example, I finally plucked up the courage to do something I had long fantasized about – travel to Mount Everest – OK, it was only to the foothills, but those who have made that trip will know that it is no walk in the park! By coming to Thailand for girls I had stumbled across a kind of travelling I liked – not the dreaded package holiday – but a mildly adventurous (compared to Burton) form of exploration.

It is the same with culture. On my first trip to Bangkok I almost had to force myself to visit the Grand Palace because it seemed odd (to my way of thinking at that time) to travel 8,000 miles just to look at girls. I was wowed by the experience, and several features, such as the Ramakian murals and Himmapan statues made such an impression that they resurfaced later in some of my poetry. I still spend most of my days in Bangkok in bed recovering from the night before, but I always try to build in at least one cultural visit to every trip. Why is culture so important? - because it is so much more than the politically-correct version of multi-culturalism; so much more than the superficial elements of costume, food and festivals. Each culture represents a different approach to living, and when our own culture takes a wrong turn, as is happening at the moment in the UK with our increasingly authoritarian government, it offers an alternative. To take just one example: the negative feminist influence on male-female relationships in the west is unsustainable because western populations are not breeding at replacement level. Thai culture offers an alternative in which men – and children – are valued. No wonder that an increasing number of men seem to be choosing this alternative.

Burton turned from an expat to a sexpat by simply falling in with the custom among British servicemen of taking a temporary native ‘wife’ or ‘bubu’. He also had experience of nautch girls – the nearest thing in British India to the modern gogo bar:

The nautches were not merely dances. A high pitch of sexual arousal was certain to develop as a result of the music and the throbbing voices of the singers, the erotic lyrics, the drugs and alcohol, the flashing jewelry…the bare midriffs, flashing smiles and unloosened hair… (63)

A bit more exciting than the ‘Bangkok shuffle’ which is the nearest today’s gogo girls get to dancing! Burton quickly found that the bubus and the nautch girls were more adept at sex than the typical Englishwoman who ‘never really learned the real delight of carnal copulation’ (63). My personal experience is that there is an element of truth in this even today arising from two influences: the ‘thou shalt not’ morality which still lingers from Christianity, and the ‘all men are rapists’ mantra of the feminists – or maybe I’ve been unlucky and just dated the wrong girls! It is certainly true that I’ve learned more about sex since I started going to Thailand than in the past 50 years! (is that sad, or what? - but at least I got there in the end!) Burton also learned about sex, partly from the bubus and nautch girls and also from ancient Persian writings such as the Kama Sutra which he discovered and translated. Here he learned that

…there was an inner state of erotic possession, the long sequences of caresses, kisses, scratches, bites, love cries, and various positions that led to an extended state of sexual gratification and excitement, which was to be enjoyed with abandonment by man and woman alike. (67)

Judging by the monotonous similarity of most porn films, it seems that we still have a lot of lessons to learn from these ancient classics. Unfortunately, Thai girls, though not inhibited by Christian proscriptions, are not tutored in these arts as were the nautch girls of nineteenth century India (and, no doubt, the harem-girls of the kings of old Siam).

Burton converted to Hinduism at this time, and as part of his initiation he would have learned that the Hindu aspires to perfection in three things: Dharma, Artha and Kama. Dharma is spiritual enlightenment, Artha is material success, and Kama is pleasure, including sexual pleasure. This helped Burton break through that huge mental block that afflicts most of us in the west as a result of our Christian heritage, that sex is sinful (based on the Adam and Eve myth). He also explored some of the extreme practices of Hinduism including Tantric Yoga, the cult of Naga, the snake, and experimented with Tantric sex. This involves the enhancement of sexual pleasure through techniques of breathing, meditation and ritual with the ultimate aim of increased spiritual awareness:  

The woman represents – is literally – the goddess Sakti…sometimes there is but one woman, who is passed from lap to lap, the participants sitting in the normal yogic posture…with the woman sitting astride. Or eight women may be passed from man to man. Often there will be but a single man and a single woman. (83)

This strange mixture of religion and sexuality will be nothing new to visitors to Thailand, whose curiosity is aroused by their teerak’s Buddhist prayers after sex, or devotions at wayside shrines. What struck me on my first visit was the absolute nature of belief exhibited by all Thai people – very different from the lukewarm Christianity which is the best that the West can offer, most people nowadays being atheists, or more accurately, materialists, who never give spiritual matters a second thought.

The link between sexuality and religion is explored in the same chapter as the description of Tantric sex:

…the subjugation or annihilation of the passions is essential to the final beatitude…the Tantric blunts the edge of passion with excessive indulgence. (82)

I’ve not got there yet, but I’ve blunted the edge enough to get as far as online research into a suitable Buddhist meditation centre. A more common outcome is to get bored with the different-bargirl-every-night syndrome and move on to more rewarding long-term relationships and/or marriage.

In between his work as an army captain, and later, British consul in several different cities, his explorations, and his sexual adventures, Burton managed to find time to produce an extensive body of writing, mostly translations, which by the time of his death added up to 70 volumes. The most famous of these are the Kama Sutra – which contains much more than the inventory of sexual positions for which it is best known – and the 1001 Arabian Nights. This also contains more material than is commonly included in popular editions – including some highly erotic tales.

A similar urge to write has possessed many more recent sexpats, as this and other forums testify. It was responsible for my own epiphany in writing. My story is similar to that of Robert Service. Service was a bank clerk and amateur versifier until he got a bank clerk’s job in the Yukon. He listened to the tales of the gold rush miners and was inspired – he now had a subject worth writing about and produced his finest work. A similar thing happened to me (though unlike Service who was able to quit the day job, my Google ad clicks have so far earned only $7!). I used to play around writing traditional rhyming poetry about nothing in particular but was unable to write convincing modern free verse, so had nothing to say to the modern world. I found my voice when I went to Thailand. The skill I had developed in writing traditional verse was ideal for the Thailand-focused parodies of classic poems I wanted write. The final catalyst was this website because it had a special category for poetry – and so I wrote my first Thailand poem, The Girls of Thailand, a parody of a Byron poem. About six months later I entered into a state of poetic possession and wrote Bangkok Don Juan, which has grown in concept to a five book, five cantos per book behemoth which is as yet unfinished.

The life of Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton reminds us that our adventures in the Far East add up to much more than a bit of sordid philandering. The lure of the brown-skinned beauties is often merely the catalyst that breaks us out of our mental prison and leads on to the higher levels of self-actualisation. Perhaps Burton’s crowning achievement, over and above his exploration and writing, is to have outdone us all in sexual adventure, and been rewarded with the title ‘sir’ for his efforts.