Charles Henry Coote - Early Voyages and Travels to Russia and Persia by Anthony Jenkinson and other Englishmen

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EARLY VOYAGES AND TRAVELS
TO
RUSSIA AND PERSIA .

No. LXXII .

EARLY
VOYAGES AND TRAVELS
TO
RUSSIA AND PERSIA
BY
ANTHONY JENKINSON
AND OTHER ENGLISHMEN .

WITH

SOME ACCOUNT OF THE FIRST INTERCOURSE OF THE ENGLISH WITH RUSSIA AND CENTRAL ASIA BY WAY OF THE CASPIAN SEA .

Edited by

E. DELMAR MORGAN ,
MEMBER OE THE HAKLUYT SOCIETY;
AND
C. H. COOTE,
OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM .

VOL. I.

LONDON:

PRINTED FOR THE HAKLUYT SOCIETY.

M.DCCC.LXXXVI.

LONDON:
WRITING AND CO., SARDINIA STREET, LINCOLNS INN FIELDS.

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C OLONEL H. YULE, C.B., P RESIDENT .

M AJOR -G ENERAL S IR HENRY RAWLINSON, K.C.B., V ICE -P RESIDENT .

W. A. TYSSEN AMHERST, Esq., M.P.

WALTER DE GRAY BIRCH, Esq., F.S.A.

R EAR -A DMIRAL LINDESAY BRINE.

E. H. BUNBURY, Esq.

T HE E ARL OF DUCIE, F.R.S.

S IR BARROW ELLIS. K.U.S.I.

AUGUSTUS W. FRANKS, Esq.

ALBERT GRAY, Esq.

EDWARD HAILSTONE, Esq.

L IRUT -G ENERAL S IR J. HENRY LEFROY, C.B., K.C.M.G.

R. H. MAJOR, Esq., F.S.A.

C APTAIN MARKHAM, R.N.

R EAR -A DMIRAL MAYNE, C.B.

E. DELMAR MORGAN, Esq.

A DMIRAL S IR ERASMUS OMMANNEY, C.B.

L ORD ARTHUR RUSSELL.

T HE L ORD STANLEY OF A LDERLEY .

L IEUT .-G EN . S IR HENRY THUILLIER, C.S.I., F.R.S.

CLEMENTS R. MARKHAM, C.B., F.R.S., H ONORARY S ECRETARY .

And as touchyng Master Jenkynson, what trauayles, paynes, and daungers he hath susteyned and hardely escaped, and what diligence and art he hath vsed in the searching of strange countryes, and in the description of those his viagies, it were but in vayne for me to wryte much vnto you, vnto whom the same is better knowen then to me...Preface to Cortes Arte of Nauigation, translated by R ICHARD E DEN . London, 1561.

PRESIDENT OP THE HAKLUYT SOCIETY .

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D EAR C OLONEL Y ULE ,

Let me thank you for the honour you have clone me in accepting the dedication of this volume. I regret that it is unworthy of so worthy a friend and counsellor as you have been to me. I am conscious that I have fallen far short of the model I had set myself to follow, yet I venture to hope that this endeavour to throw some light on the early geography of Russia and the adjacent countries may meet with your approval. Some mention will be found in the following pages of the early relations between that country and England. These are only incidentally touched upon as far as they concern Jenkinson and other Englishmen in Russia. But even these few reprints of early documents may be instructive and interesting at the present day, when the two nations, who began their intercourse in so friendly a way in the far north, stand face to face in Central Asia almost as foes, ready at any moment to engage in a contest to which none who wish well to the cause of civilisation and progress can look forward without dread.

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A F EW words of personal explanation are necessary. When this work was undertaken, it was a new and difficult task to one who had done so little in literature, and who had been preceded by such learned geographers as the editors of previous volumes of this Society. It was, therefore, with much satisfaction that I made the acquaintance of so able a coadjutor as Mr. Coote, who consented at my request to share the editorial labours. As the work slowly advanced, however, he found that his other engagements would not allow of his bestowing much time on it, and he finally asked to be released altogether from his engagement, particularly as differences of opinion on various points connected with the notes and editing made themselves felt. Unwilling that he should be deprived of any credit due to his work, I begged him to let his name stand with mine on the title page, while I finished the book. The introduction is, therefore, due to my pen, and I am responsible for any of its shortcomings.

I take this opportunity of acknowledging my indebtedness to the Marquis of Salisbury, who kindly allowed me to consult the MSS. in his collection; and to his secretary, Mr. Gunton, who transcribed one of these for me; to Lord Tollemache, for his courtesy in giving me access to the Helmingham Hall Library, and for the obliging loan of a MS. of Jenkinsons journey to Persia; to Mr. Nicholson, librarian of the Bodleian; to the late Mr. Bradshaw, librarian of the Cambridge University Library, for obtaining transcriptions of documents; to Mr. Selby and the officials at the Record Office, for their obliging help in my searches; to the authorities at the British Museum, for allowing photographs to be taken of two maps reproduced in this volume, and to the assistants in the Reading Room and Map Department, for their readiness at all times to find the books, etc., I required; to Mr. Cecil G. S. Foljambe, M.P., for kindly answering queries with reference to the Jenkinson familythis acknowledgment must be coupled with the expression of regret that no connection could be traced between his family and that of the traveller, confirmatory of a tradition preserved in the former; to the Rev. Robert Baillie, rector of Sywell, for his kind assistance in searching the registers in his church and making inquiries; to the Rev. Cavendish Neely, son of the rector of Ashton; to the Rev. A. R. Newby, rector of Teigh; to Mr. Lionel Bonar, late secretary of the Russia Company; to Mr. John Watney, secretary of the Mercers Company, and others.