A young French consul's diary of carrying La Perouse's dispatches overland from Kamchatka to Paris in 1787 to 1788.
Full title Historical journal of the voyage of M. de Lesseps, French consul attached to La Perouse’s expedition, from his leaving the frigates at Petropavlovsk in Kamchatka until his arrival in France (overland across Siberia 1787-1788), 2 vols
Jean-Baptiste Barthelemy de Lesseps (1766-1834), a Russian-speaking vice-consul attached to La Perouse's round-the-world expedition, was put ashore at Petropavlovsk in Kamchatka in September 1787 with the expedition's journals. He crossed Kamchatka, the Okhotsk coast, Yakutsk, Irkutsk, Tobolsk and Kazan by dog-sled, reindeer, horse and boat, and reached France on 17 October 1788. His Journal historique (Paris, Imprimerie royale, 1790, 2 vols) describes Kamchadals, Koryaks, Yakuts and Tungus in detail; Tatars proper appear mainly near the end, between Tobolsk and Kazan. The corpus copy is the 1790 edition.
How they knew
Eyewitness
Who “Tartar” means here
For Lesseps 'Tartares' are the settled Muslim Tatars of the Urals and Volga, the 'Tartares Mantchoux' who conquered China, and the 'Tartares Mongols' on the Chinese frontier. He compares the Yakuts' looks and language to those of the Tartars without calling them Tartars.
Why read it
It shows everyday Siberia in 1788 through a traveller's eyes: Yakut houses of timber and earth, kumiss making and horse burials, Tobolsk rebuilding in stone after a fire, and clean, prosperous Tatar farming villages.
Watch out
Lesseps travelled fast and often through interpreters, and he judges shamans and 'idolatry' as an 18th-century Catholic. Only a small part of the book concerns Tatars.
Editorial contextLesseps reached Tobolsk, the Siberian capital between the Irtysh and the Tobol, soon after a fire had burned most of it. The lower town had only wooden houses, which went first; the upper town on its hilltop had several fine stone buildings, but the fire reached them too and left only walls. On the next page he describes silent townspeople already rebuilding houses and shops in stone.
This capital, situated between these two rivers, must have been one of the finest towns in Siberia, but it had just fallen prey to a fire that had reduced most of it to ashes. Formerly it was divided in two, the lower town and the upper town: the one, built on the flat top of a hill, had several fine stone buildings; the other had only wooden houses
Working translation
Original wording
Cette capitale, située entre ces deux fleuves, doit avoir été une des plus belles villes de Sibérie, mais elle venoit d'être la proie d'un incendie qui en avoit réduit en cendres la plus grande partie. Précédemment elle étoit divisée en deux, la ville basse & la ville haute: l'une bâtie sur la plate-forme d'une montagne, présentoit plusieurs beaux édifices en pierre; l'autre n'avoit que des maisons de bois
Editorial contextA Yakut prince at Amga, owner of two thousand horses, showed Lesseps his 'yurt'. Its walls were upright logs set side by side and plastered with clay, leaning inwards to carry a low-pitched roof. One half housed the family in bunk-like compartments, the other was a byre for cows and calves, with a round wooden hearth in the middle.
Beams set upright side by side and covered with clay form its walls, which do not rise vertically like ours. Drawing closer together towards the top, they carry a roof with a gentle slope … On the other side of the yurt live the animals, the cows and calves; it is quite simply a byre.
Working translation
Original wording
Des poutres posées debout les unes à côté des autres, & recouvertes de terre grasse, en forment les murs, qui ne s'élèvent point perpendiculairement comme les nôtres. Plus rapprochés vers le haut, ils supportent un toit dont l'inclinaison est peu rapide … De l'autre côté de la yourte demeurent les bêtes, les vaches, les veaux, c'est tout simplement une étable.
Editorial contextIn a short 'Note on the Tartars' written as he crossed from Yekaterinburg towards Kazan, Lesseps says the cleanliness inside Tatar houses astonished him after a year among Kamchadals and Koryaks. These Tatars, he stresses, were settled farmers, rich in grain and cattle, and Muslims.
I will only say of the latter that the cleanliness of the inside of their dwellings astonished me, no doubt because I had grown rather too used to the opposite fault among the Kamchadals, Koryaks and so on. These Tartars are settled, farmers, and rich in grain and cattle; they profess the Mahometan religion.
Working translation
Original wording
Je dirai seulement de ces derniers, que la propreté de l'intérieur de leurs habitations m'a étonné, sans doute parce que je m'étois un peu trop familiarisé avec le défaut contraire parmi les Kamtschadales, Koriaques, &c. Ces Tartares sont sédentaires, agriculteurs & riches en blés & en bestiaux; ils professent la religion Mahométane.
Editorial contextIn a corner of the Yakut house hung a leather bag of mare's milk. Everyone who came in, above all the women, stirred it with a plunger for a few minutes before doing anything else, which produced the sour but pleasant drink Lesseps calls koumouiss. Left to ferment longer, it became strongly intoxicating.
In a corner of the yurt a leather bag is kept permanently; every day mare's milk is poured into it and stirred with a stick like the one used to churn butter. Everyone who comes in, the women above all, never fails to churn this milk for a few minutes before turning to other work; from this comes the sourish yet pleasant drink called kumiss.
Working translation
Original wording
Dans un coin de la yourte est à demeure un paquet de cuir; chaque jour on y verse du lait de jument qu'on agite avec un bâton pareil à celui qui sert à battre le beurre. Tous ceux qui entrent, les femmes sur-tout, ne manquent jamais, avant de vaquer à d'autres travaux, de battre ce lait pendant quelques minutes; de-là provient cette boisson aigrelette & cependant agréable, qu'on nomme koumouiss.
Editorial contextLesseps had been shown old Yakut coffins hung in trees, but says the Yakuts now buried their dead like Christians. At a prince's funeral his favourite horse and the best of his herd, richly harnessed, were tied to two carved or painted posts by the grave and killed over his body. Their hides and heads were then hung in nearby trees as a 'mausoleum', and the mourners roasted and ate the two horses on the spot.
If it is a prince, he is dressed in his richest clothes and finest weapons. … The prince's favourite horse and the best of his herd, both richly harnessed … walk beside the procession. On reaching the burial place they are tied to two posts planted by the grave. While their master is buried, they are slaughtered over his body,
Working translation
Original wording
Si c'est un prince, on le revêt de ses plus riches habits & de ses plus belles armes. … Le cheval favori du prince & le meilleur du haras, tous deux richement harnachés … marchent à côté du convoi. Arrivés au lieu de la sépulture, ils sont attachés à deux poteaux plantés auprès de la fosse. Pendant qu'on inhume leur maître, on les égorge sur son corps,
Editorial contextIn a footnote on the Russian crown's monopoly of the Beijing caravans, Lesseps says private merchants soon slipped free of it by trading secretly with China through Mongol Tartars, who charged them dearly for their services.
Private traders soon freed themselves from the tyrannical shackles of the imperial monopoly; they managed to keep up secret dealings with China through the Mongol Tartars, who sold them their services dearly.
Working translation
Original wording
Les particuliers ne tardèrent pas à se dégager des entraves tyranniques du monopole impérial; ils parvinrent à entretenir des relations secrètes en Chine par la voie des Tartares Mongols; qui leur vendirent cher leur entremise.
Editorial contextLesseps notes that the Yakuts are strong and tall, that their features resemble those of the Tartars, and that people say the two languages are closely related. He only vouches for the fact that Yakuts speak very briefly and do not run their words together.
The Yakuts are robust and generally tall; their features as a whole bear some likeness to those of the Tartars; it is even said that the two languages are closely related. All I can affirm is that the Yakuts speak extremely briefly and do not run their words together.
Working translation
Original wording
Les Yakoutes sont robustes & généralement grands; l'ensemble de leurs traits a quelque analogie avec la figure des Tartares; on dit même que les deux idiomes se rapportent beaucoup. Tout ce que je puis affirmer, c'est que les Yakoutes ont la parole extrêmement brève, & qu'ils ne lient point leurs mots.
Editorial contextAt Irkutsk, explaining the history of Russia's trade with China, Lesseps dates its beginnings to the invasion of the 'Manchu Tartars', who ravaged northern China for a long time and finally conquered the whole empire. Here 'Tartar' plainly means the Manchus.
The first relations date from the middle of the last century, around the time of the invasion of the Manchu Tartars, who, after ravaging the northern provinces of the Chinese empire for a long time, ended by subjugating it entirely.
Working translation
Original wording
Les relations primitives datent du milieu du dernier siècle, vers l'époque de l'invasion des Tartares Mantchoux, qui, après avoir ravagé pendant long-temps les provinces septentrionales de l'empire Chinois, finirent par le subjuguer entièrement.
firsthand The author saw the places or people described.
firsthand observation (Lesseps crossed Kamchatka, Okhotsk, Yakutsk, Irkutsk and Siberia by dog-sled and horse)
Research notes
One IA copy (journalhistoriq37unkngoog) is dated 1788 in metadata although the book appeared in 1790: catalogue conflict recorded.
Why it matters
French eyewitness of the far north-east of Siberia between Krasheninnikov and Sauer (W008), describing Koryak, Yakut and Tungus communities under Russian rule; a useful check on the English-language Siberian narratives.