Burton's book is a must read for anybody with more than a casual interest in Goa. A word of warning though, if you are indian and particurlarly goan, you will need to posses an extremely thick hide. Burton found no redeeming qualities in indians, and seemed to have developed a sneering aversion for indian catholics.
Although, a victorian englishman in the east, burton was a sensualist (as one suspects many were). Unlike others, he was not ashamed of it. This makes the book all the more interesting. There is a chapter about his visit to the nautch houses of Seroda, which makes fascinating reading. Without apparrant irony, he proceedes from the brothel to a convent for young goan catholc women, where he is well recieved by the elderly portuguese nuns. Posing as a prospective suitor he intervies the young women, describing them in his typical sneering prose. Burton, though he jars on modern non-white sensibilities, in many ways represents the finest qualities in an englishmen. Absolutely certain of the superiority of his race and country, unafraid, intellectually formidable as well as being first rate at soldiering, his type created the empire. Burton went on to explore the Nile and famously to become the first westerner to enter mecca (in disguise under the pain of death). Goa and the Blue mountains is his first book, much overshadowed by his later writing. Highly reccomended. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Finance Tax Center - File online. File on time. http://taxes.yahoo.com/filing.html ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################