Burton's travels through war torn Paraguay in 1864, during the war between Paraguay, Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. Something of a war correspondent, Burton showed familiarity with the war scene, and the introductory essay is a penetrating analysis. Sir Richard Francis Burton (1821-1890) dropped out of Oxford to join the Indian army and travel the world. Later, serving as a consul for the British government, Burton was the first European adventurer to search for the source of the Nile; to enter, disguised, the forbidden cities of Mecca and Medina; and to travel through remote stretches of India, the Near East, and Africa. From his spying exploits to his startling literary accomplishments (the discovery and translation of the Kama Sutra and his seventeen-volume translation of Arabian Nights), and was said to be fluent in over twenty languages.