Travels in Kamtschatka: Volume 2: During the Years 1787 and 1788

Jean-Baptiste-Barthelemy de Lesseps (1766-1834), a French diplomat, served as an interpreter on La Perouse’s voyage around the world, which sailed from Brest in 1785. In 1787, on the eastern coast of the Kamchatka peninsula, he was tasked with an overland mission to get reports back to France as La Perouse proceeded to Australia. This two-volume work, reissued here in its English translation of 1790, is a compelling account of the one-year journey from Russia to France, and a tale of endurance and resourcefulness in the face of forbidding conditions. More than a mere journal, it also relates the author’s observations on the way of life in Kamchatka, its institutions and trade. Rich in detail, the work will appeal to historians and readers with an interest in transcontinental adventure. Volume 2 covers his journey from the north-eastern extremity of the Sea of Okhotsk all the way back to France.