Travels from St. Petersburgh in Russia, to various parts of Asia.

in contemporary binding with two large folding maps

Engaged in the service of the Russian Emperor, Bell left St. Petersburg in July 1715, and proceeded to Moscow, from thence to Cazan, and down the Volga to Astrakhan. The embassy then sailed down the Caspian Sea to Derbend, and journeyed by Mougan, Tauris, and Saba, to Isfahan, where they arrived in March, 1717. They left that city in September, and returned to St. Petersburgh on the 30th of December 1718. Whilst here, Bell gained a position on an embassy to China. His descriptions of the manners, customs and superstitions of the inhabitants, and of the Dalai-Lama and the Great Wall are notable. The embassy arrived back in Moscow in January 1722. The Czar was determined to undertake an expedition into Persia to aid the ruler against the Afghans, his subjects, who had seized Kandahar neighbouring provinces. Bell's former journey to Persia gave peculiar advantages, and he was accordingly engaged to accompany the army to Derbend, from which he returned in December 1722.