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This collection of travel narratives, mainly from the nineteenth century, records the impressions of Europeans who visited China, Japan, South and South-East Asia. Some came as missionaries, others as members of trade or diplomatic missions or as colonial administrators. Some were straightforward tourists and one or two arrived as prisoners or shipwrecked sailors. Such accounts of travellers' experiences in exotic locations were eagerly received by European readers.

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96 results in Cambridge Library Collection - Travel and Exploration in Asia

Page 4 of 5

The Book of Ser Marco Polo, the Venetian
  • Concerning the Kingdoms and Marvels of the East
  • Volume 1
  • Marco Polo
  • Edited and translated by Henry Yule
  • Published online:
    05 February 2012
    Print publication:
    02 December 2010
    First published in:
    1871
  • The Book of Ser Marco Polo, the Venetian is a nineteenth-century edition of the famous travelogue written by Rustichello da Pisa and Marco Polo, describing the travels of the latter through Asia, Persia, China and Indonesia between 1271 and 1291. The book secured lasting fame for its editor, the prominent geographer and literary scholar Henry Yule, who was awarded the founder's medal of the Royal Geographical Society for his efforts. The two-volume work, the result of Yule's research in Palermo, Venice, Florence, Paris and London and of extensive correspondence with scholars around the world, has long been considered an authoritative source on Polo's travels. Volume I contains Books One and Two of the travelogue and contains descriptions of the lands of the Middle East and Central Asia that Polo encountered en route to China. Book II covers Polo's time in China and the court of Kublai Khan.

Old Deccan Days
  • Or, Hindoo Fairy Legends, Current in Southern India
  • Mary Frere
  • Edited by Sir Bartle Frere
  • Published online:
    05 November 2011
    Print publication:
    23 September 2010
    First published in:
    1868
  • First published in 1868, this volume contains a collection of twenty-four traditional stories from the southern Indian state of Maharashtra. Mary Eliza Isabella Frere (1845–1911) travelled to India in 1863 to stay with her father, Sir Bartle Frere, the Governor of Bombay. She became fascinated with Indian culture and transcribed these stories from her ayah (nanny and chaperone) Anna Liberata da Souza who had been told them by her grandmother. Expressive and detailed, these stories formed part of southern India's traditional oral culture, at risk of being lost. This volume includes an introduction by Sir Bartle Frere exploring the cultural background to the stories and a chapter by Anna Liberata da Souza describing her life and childhood. This volume was extremely popular, being reprinted in four editions by 1889 and encouraging the study of comparative mythology while revealing new information concerning Indian traditional culture.

Up the Country
  • Letters Written to her Sister from the Upper Provinces of India
  • Volume 2
  • Emily Eden
  • Published online:
    05 November 2011
    Print publication:
    23 September 2010
    First published in:
    1866
  • Raised in a politically-active household, Emily Eden's childhood prepared her well for her role as companion to her brother, the Governor-General of India. Outwardly all that a middle-class spinster should be, Eden never permitted diplomacy to dilute her letters home. Published in 1866, the letters provoked sympathy among women who had similarly endured dusty bonnets to accompany fathers and husbands to distant outposts of the British Empire. As one reviewer noted, this book is 'addressed primarily to a public consisting of wives, sisters, or daughters of possible Governors-General, and is sure therefore of general popularity'. There is still plenty to amuse modern audiences. Volume 2 conveys the growing anxiety surrounding the Anglo-Afghan war, stirring and sympathetic accounts of poverty, and the author's eagerness to return to her much-loved Kensington. Eden's descriptive passages and personal reflections are all narrated with her signature sensitivity and wit.

Narratives of the Mission of George Bogle to Tibet
  • and of the Journey of Thomas Manning to Lhasa
  • Edited by Clements R. Markham
  • George Bogle, Thomas Manning
  • Published online:
    07 October 2011
    Print publication:
    18 November 2010
    First published in:
    1881
  • First published in 1876, this volume contains first-hand accounts of the first voyages to Tibet by British diplomat George Bogle (1747–1781) and scholar Thomas Manning (1772–1840) in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. In 1774 Bogle was appointed the leader of the first British diplomatic mission to the previously unknown country of Tibet in an attempt to establish friendly relations and open trade links between the two countries. Bogle spent six months wintering in various places in Tibet, exploring Tibetan culture and politics. Thomas Manning became the first English national to enter the city of Lhasa and to speak with the Dalai Lama in 1811. Edited by prolific writer and president of the Royal Geographical Society Sir Clements Markham (1830–1916), this fascinating volume also includes a detailed introduction providing the historical and geographic context of the voyages, together with biographies of the two adventurers.

Scenes and Characteristics of Hindostan
  • With Sketches of Anglo-Indian Society
  • Volume 3
  • Emma Roberts
  • Published online:
    07 October 2011
    Print publication:
    21 October 2010
    First published in:
    1835
  • Emma Roberts' 1835 work, compiled from articles she published in the Asiatic Journal, was well received in India and England. Roberts lived in India from 1828 with her sister and her brother-in-law who served in the 61st Bengal infantry. In 1830 she moved to Calcutta, where she edited and wrote for the Oriental Observer and contributed to periodicals and annuals. Returning to London in 1832, she threw herself into the literary world, publishing in several different fields. This book reveals Roberts' sympathetic attitude to the Indian people and her genuine interest in providing a thorough and honest report of their culture. Volume 3 covers topics including the position of women, shopping, gardening, manners, education, missionaries, politics, Anglo-Indian relations and the military establishment, as well as expanding on subjects discussed in the earlier volumes. For more information on this author, see http://orlando.cambridge.org/public/svPeople?person_id=robeem

The Book of Ser Marco Polo, the Venetian
  • Concerning the Kingdoms and Marvels of the East
  • Volume 2
  • Marco Polo
  • Edited and translated by Henry Yule
  • Published online:
    07 October 2011
    Print publication:
    02 December 2010
    First published in:
    1871
  • The Book of Ser Marco Polo, the Venetian is a nineteenth-century edition of the famous travelogue written by Rustichello da Pisa and Marco Polo, describing the travels of the latter through Asia, Persia, China and Indonesia between 1271 and 1291. The book secured lasting fame for its editor, the prominent geographer and literary scholar Henry Yule, who was awarded the founder's medal of the Royal Geographical Society for his efforts. The two-volume work, the result of Yule's research in Palermo, Venice, Florence, Paris and London and of extensive correspondence with scholars around the world, has long been considered an authoritative source on Polo's travels. Volume II comprises Books Three and Four of the travelogue and contains descriptions of the coastal regions of Japan and India and the east coast of Africa. Book Four describes the wars among the Mongols and the regions of the far north, including Russia.

Travels in the Mogul Empire
  • Volume 2
  • François Bernier
  • Translated by Irving Brock
  • Published online:
    07 September 2011
    Print publication:
    19 May 2011
    First published in:
    1826
  • The first English version of Bernier's 1670 work since its initial translation from the French in 1672, Irving Brock's 1826 edition vastly improved his predecessor's work. François Bernier (1625?–1688) trained as a physician at Montpellier and left France for Syria in 1654, travelling to Egypt and finally to India ('Hindustan'), where he spent twelve years as the court physician to the Great Mogul Aurangzeb. Celebrated and influential, his Travels shaped European opinions and knowledge of India. Volume 2 details religious practices, the Great Mogul's journey to Kashmir, and many other topics, concluding with an appendix of north Indian history and a chronology of its rulers. Including Brock's interventions to relate the narrative to imperial Britain, this work will be of interest to scholars of post-colonialism, of early modern travel and of Asian and European encounters.

Travels in the Mogul Empire
  • Volume 1
  • François Bernier
  • Translated by Irving Brock
  • Published online:
    07 September 2011
    Print publication:
    19 May 2011
    First published in:
    1826
  • The first English version of Bernier's 1670 work since its initial translation from the French in 1672, Irving Brock's 1826 edition vastly improved his predecessor's work. François Bernier (1625?–1688) trained as a physician at Montpellier and left France for Syria in 1654, travelling to Egypt and finally to India ('Hindustan'), where he spent twelve years as the court physician to the Great Mogul Aurangzeb. Celebrated and influential, his Travels shaped European opinions and knowledge of India. Brock provides a biography in his preface to Volume 1, where he also outlines the volumes' contents. Volume 1 narrates civil war, describes the government and finances of the court, and the army, and closes with detailed descriptions of Delhi and Agra. Including Brock's many interventions to relate the narrative to imperial Britain, this work will be of interest to scholars of post-colonialism, of early modern travel and of Asian and European encounters.

Scenes and Characteristics of Hindostan
  • With Sketches of Anglo-Indian Society
  • Volume 1
  • Emma Roberts
  • Published online:
    07 September 2011
    Print publication:
    21 October 2010
    First published in:
    1835
  • Emma Roberts' 1835 work, compiled from articles she published in the Asiatic Journal, was well received in India and England. Roberts lived in India from 1828 with her sister and her brother-in-law, who served in the 61st Bengal infantry. In 1830 she moved to Calcutta, where she edited and wrote for the Oriental Observer and contributed to periodicals and annuals. Returning to London in 1832, she threw herself into the literary world, publishing in several different fields. This book reveals her sympathetic attitude to the Indian people and her genuine interest in providing a thorough and honest report of their culture. Volume 1 begins with a description of Calcutta. It reflects the diversity of Roberts' interests, covering topics from marriages to murders, domestic arrangements to military operations, religion to shopping, and architecture to dancing. For more information on this author, see http://orlando.cambridge.org/public/svPeople?person_id=robeem

The River of Golden Sand
  • The Narrative of a Journey through China and Eastern Tibet to Burmah
  • Volume 2
  • William John Gill, Henry Yule
  • Published online:
    07 September 2011
    Print publication:
    09 September 2010
    First published in:
    1880
  • William Gill (1843–1883) was an explorer and commissioned officer in the Royal Engineers. After inheriting a fortune from a distant relative in 1871, Gill decided to remain in the Army and use his inheritance to finance explorations of remote countries, satisfying his love of travel and gathering intelligence for the British government. He was awarded a gold medal by the Royal Geographical Society in 1879 for his scientific observations on his expeditions. This two volume work, first published in 1880, is Gill's account of his expedition from Chengdu, China through Sichuan, along the eastern edge of Tibet via Litang, to Bhamo in Burma, a region little explored by westerners before him. Gill describes in vivid detail the cultures, societies and settlements of the region, and their political and economic systems. Volume 2 recounts his travels across the plateau to the upper reaches of the Irrawaddy, partly retracing Marco Polo's route.

Scenes and Characteristics of Hindostan
  • With Sketches of Anglo-Indian Society
  • Volume 2
  • Emma Roberts
  • Published online:
    07 September 2011
    Print publication:
    21 October 2010
    First published in:
    1835
  • Emma Roberts' 1835 work, compiled from articles she published in the Asiatic Journal, was well received in India and England. Roberts lived in India from 1828 with her sister and her brother-in-law who served in the 61st Bengal infantry. In 1830 she moved to Calcutta, where she edited and wrote for the Oriental Observer and contributed to periodicals and annuals. Returning to London in 1832, she threw herself into the literary world, publishing in several different fields. This book reveals Roberts' sympathetic attitude to the Indian people and her genuine interest in providing a thorough and honest report of their culture. Volume 2 begins by describing Allahabad in northern India, and covers a wide variety of topics including diamonds, geology, climate, flora and fauna, superstition, litigation, children, tourism and sport. For more information on this author, see http://orlando.cambridge.org/public/svPeople?person_id=robeem

The Journal of Mrs Fenton
  • A Narrative of Her Life in India, the Isle of France (Mauritius) and Tasmania During the Years 1826–1830
  • Elizabeth Fenton
  • Published online:
    07 September 2011
    Print publication:
    28 October 2010
    First published in:
    1901
  • Penned in the 1820s but not published until 1901, Fenton's Journal is an intimate portrait of the lives of European expatriates in the early decades of the nineteenth century. Written by a witness to the heyday of Empire, but read by those who were soon to experience its decline, Fenton's diary leads readers from Calcutta to Tasmania. The focus is domestic and relates 'a familiar picture of the everyday occurrences, manners and habits of life of persons undistinguished either by wealth or fame', but it is this informality that makes Fenton's account especially engaging. The reader remains with the author intermittently until her return to the family's English home. Together, her contrasting accounts of exotic foreign lands and the 'dull and downright reality' of Britain provide a rare insight into the life of an adventurous woman. For more information on this author, see http://orlando.cambridge.org/public/svPeople?person_id=fentel.

Up the Country
  • Letters Written to her Sister from the Upper Provinces of India
  • Volume 1
  • Emily Eden
  • Published online:
    05 August 2011
    Print publication:
    23 September 2010
    First published in:
    1866
  • Raised in a politically-active household, Emily Eden's childhood prepared her well for her role as companion to her brother, the Governor-General of India. Outwardly all that a middle-class spinster should be, Eden never permitted diplomacy to dilute her letters home. Published in 1866, the letters provoked sympathy among women who had similarly endured dusty bonnets to accompany fathers and husbands to distant outposts of the British Empire. As one reviewer noted, this book is 'addressed primarily to a public consisting of wives, sisters, or daughters of possible Governors-General, and is sure therefore of general popularity'. There is still plenty to amuse modern audiences. Volume 1 takes readers from the packing of steamer trunks in London, through sea voyages and monsoons. Accounts of peacocks and pageants are balanced against ironic observations regarding domestic arrangements, all of which demonstrate Eden's skill as a sensitive and witty author.

The Golden Chersonese and the Way Thither
  • Isabella Bird
  • Published online:
    05 August 2011
    Print publication:
    30 September 2010
    First published in:
    1883
  • This is an evocative account, first published in 1883, of the final expedition to the East by Isabella Bird (1831–1904), who was one of the most famous Victorian female explorers, and the first woman to be admitted to the Royal Geographical Society. The Golden Chersonese is the ancient name for the Malay Peninsula, as named by the Greek geographer and astronomer Ptolemy. The book is a collection of twenty-three letters written by Bird to her ailing sister, Henny, in Scotland. Henny died as the book was published and Bird dedicates the book of letters to her memory. As well as giving detailed descriptions of her travels and adventures in and around Malaysia, the book also includes fascinating accounts of many aspects of the region, including the people, culture, landscapes and wildlife. It also contains a number of delightful illustrations and a thorough appendix.

Among Hills and Valleys in Western China
  • Incidents of Missionary Work
  • Hannah Davies, Isabella Bird
  • Published online:
    05 August 2011
    Print publication:
    02 November 2010
    First published in:
    1901
  • Among Hills and Valleys in Western China, first published in 1901, is a detailed and accurate picture of missionary work undertaken by Miss Hannah Davies, who had made it her life's work to tour the Chinese provinces and preach her Christian belief, as well as encouraging local people to build places of worship and also helping those in poverty. Some of the sketches of life and character are extraordinarily descriptive and beautiful, and a remarkable journey is described in this series of letters and journal extracts. There is, amongst other stories, a fascinating account of an assembly addressed by Bishop Cassells, the first Protestant bishop in western China, and his heartfelt pleas to the people to help build a new church. The book is well illustrated, with an introduction by Isabella Bird (now Mrs J. F. Bishop), the nineteenth-century British missionary, travel writer and historian.

A Winter in North China
  • T. M. Morris, Richard Glover
  • Published online:
    05 August 2011
    Print publication:
    10 June 2010
    First published in:
    1892
  • In the winter of 1890, the Reverend T. M. Morris and the Reverend Richard Glover spent five months journeying through the Shantung and Shansi provinces in north China. Commissioned by the Baptist Missionary Society to inspect the work of all missionaries in the area, the two clergymen travelled by boat, cart, wheelbarrow and 'other strange conveyances' in order to complete their mission. Published in 1892, this book compiles the letters sent home by Morris, originally appearing in The East Anglian Daily Times and the Freeman. Writing with notable Christian zeal, Morris ably describes the difficulties faced in such a journey, delighting at the people encountered and wondering at the awe-inspiring landscape. With a preface by Glover attesting to Morris' 'careful and shrewd' observational skills, and a map of the area covered in this remarkable journey, this book provides a novel insight into nineteenth-century China.

Notes of a Journey from Hankow to Ta-li Fu
  • Augustus Raymond Margary
  • Published online:
    05 August 2011
    Print publication:
    01 July 2010
    First published in:
    1875
  • The journal of Augustus Raymond Margary's groundbreaking journey from Hankow in the Hubei province of central China, to Bhamo in Upper Burma was published in 1875, soon after his death. Margary was part of the Chinese consular service and had lived in China since 1867, working as an interpreter. This journal begins in August 1874 at the start of his journey, the purpose of which was to meet Colonel Horace Browne to act as his interpreter as he attempted to open an overland trade route between China and India. Margary was the first Englishman successfully to complete the 1,800 mile trip through Szechwan to Yunnan, doing so in six months. On the return trip, he and two servants made a diversion, hearing of danger on his proposed route, but were murdered in the town of Manwyne, leading to public outrage and commemorative publication of accounts of his life and travels.

Unbeaten Tracks in Japan
  • An Account of Travels in the Interior, Including Visits to the Aborigines of Yezo and the Shrines of Nikkô and Isé
  • Volume 1
  • Isabella Lucy Bird
  • Published online:
    05 July 2011
    Print publication:
    24 June 2010
    First published in:
    1880
  • Isabella Bird's Unbeaten Tracks in Japan was published in 1880 and recounts her travels in the Far East from 1876. Bird was recommended an open-air life from an early age as a cure for her physical and nervous difficulties. She toured the United States and Canada, New Zealand, Australia and the Sandwich Islands, before travelling to the Far East in order to strengthen herself to marry Dr John Bishop and live in Edinburgh. Created out of the letters Bird wrote home, primarily to her sister, Volume 1 recounts her experiences as a solo woman traveller living among the Japanese in Yokohama and Niigata. It includes descriptions of clothing, food and drink, education, housing, theatre, women's lifestyles, religion, plant life, medicine, shopping and other day-to-day activities, as well as the vicissitudes and excitement of the conditions and process of travelling, including by boat and pack-horse.

The Yangtze Valley and Beyond
  • An Account of Journeys in China, Chiefly in the Province of Sze Chuan and Among the Man-tze of the Somo Territory
  • Isabella Bird
  • Published online:
    05 July 2011
    Print publication:
    03 June 2010
    First published in:
    1899
  • The Yangtze Valley and Beyond, first published in 1899, contains the account by the redoubtable Isabella Bird (now Mrs J. F. Bishop) of a journey through central China in 1896–1897. The volume focuses on her travels though the province of Szechuan and among the Man-tze of the Somo territory. Many of the areas she explored and carefully described were almost unknown to European visitors and had not been mentioned in any earlier English publications. The volume is based on journal letters and the diary written during her journey, and it is generously illustrated with photographs and Chinese drawings. Bishop's work was warmly received in England and praised especially for the information included on agriculture and industry. The Geographical Journal heralded the work as 'undoubtedly one of the most important contributions to English literature on that country'. It remains a key source for late nineteenth-century British perceptions of China.

Travels on Horseback in Mantchu Tartary
  • Being a Summer's Ride Beyond the Great Wall of China
  • George Fleming
  • Published online:
    05 July 2011
    Print publication:
    03 June 2010
    First published in:
    1822
  • First published in 1863, this is the enchanting account of the travels of George Fleming (1833–1901) in the far north of China. Fleming began his epic journey in Tien-tsin, where he was stationed as an army doctor at a British military garrison; there he was granted special permission to travel almost 700 miles as far as Moukden and to Manchu Tartary, the birth place of the Manchu dynasty. Fleming's route took him through many regions that had been inaccessible to western travellers until the Treaty of Tien-tsin (1858–1859). His vivid account describes the people and customs he met; the landscape; the climate; the language and dialects; the agricultural practices of the various regions; and the struggles and hardships he faced during his journey. Fleming's work is a monument of Victorian travel literature and an important source in understanding Victorian perceptions of China and of Chinese culture.

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