VOYAGE

of

ANTHONY JENKINSON,

To discover a route through

TARTARY to CATHAY;

1558

The author boards in Astrakhan.

I boarded at Astrakhan on the 6th of August of the year 1558, alongside the two Johnsons, Englishmen, and some Tartars and Persians. I was tasked with the guidance of this voyage with these two Englishmen. We traveled along the eastern shore of the Volga and reached the sea 20 miles from Astrakhan, at the height of 46 degrees 27 minutes.

Enters the Caspian Sea.

The Volga flows into this sea through 17 outlets. Upon exiting, we kept along the coast, which runs North-East, with a favorable wind. On the 11th we covered 7 miles, the course North-East, and came to an island where one saw a high mountain range, called Accurgar, which makes it recognizable from afar.

Sees the mountain range Accurgar and reaches the island Bawhiata.

From there we traveled 10 miles to the East up to Bawhiata, another island situated higher than the previous one. Between these two islands on the north side is a gulf, called the Blue Sea. From there our course was East by North 10 miles.