Page:Notes upon Russia (volume 1, 1851).djvu/94

lxvi Begebenheiten. Von ihm selbst beschrieben. Aus einer alten Handschrift übersetzt und herausgegeben von A. J. Penzel. München, 1814, 8vo. Modernised and without explanations.

Extracts from Schildberger’s travels. By Witsen; p. 132.

Forster gives a review of these travels, th. 1, p. 245-253, and Sprengel, p. 367-370.

Josafà, or properly Giosafat Barbaro, descended from a noble Venetian family, went, in 1436, as ambassador for his republic, and probably also as a merchant, to Tana, the modern Azov, which then belonged to the Genoese, and was the most celebrated market for Chinese and Indian merchandize [sic]. He tarried sixteen years in the Crimea, through which he travelled, partly by land, partly by water, and thereby gained the interior, with the view of collecting as accurate accounts as possible of the Tatars. In the last two chapters, he speaks particularly of Russia and the Tatar countries, which lie between the south and east. In 1471, he undertook a journey into Persia, in the service of his native city, to Ussum Kassan,—or, as he calls him, Assambeï,—in order to support him with military stores and advice, in the war against the Turks, so as to weaken them in their attempts against Venice. He finally returned to his native country in 1479, and first wrote eight years afterwards, in 1487, as he says himself, both his journeys, that he might be enabled to mention that