Mr. Burton is already known by his "History of Sindh." And as if to
mark their sense of the spirit of observation and daring evinced by him
when in that country, and still more during his late journeyings in
Arabia and East Africa, the Geographical Society, through their learned
Secretary, Dr. Norton Shaw, have given valuable aid to this work in its
progress through the press, supplying maps where necessary to complete
the illustrations supplied by the author,-who, it will be perceived, is
himself no mean draughtsman.
It was during a residence of many years in India that Mr. Burton had
fitted himself for his late undertaking, by acquiring, through his
peculiar aptitude for such studies, a thorough acquaintance with
various dialects of Arabia and Persia; and, indeed, his Eastern cast of
features (vide Frontispiece, Vol. II.) seemed already to point him out
as the very person of all others best suited for an expedition like
that described in the following pages.
It will be observed that in writing Arabic, Hindoostannee, Persian, or
Turkish words, the author has generally adopted the system proposed by
Sir William Jones and modified by later Orientalists.[FN#5] But when a
word (like Fatihah for Fat-hah) has been "stamped" by general popular
use, the conversational form has been