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Journals and Letters of Great Explorers Captain Wm. Becknell: Letters Gertrude Lothian Bell: The Gertrude Bell Project - all her diaries and letters Luys Hernandez de Biedma: Relacion de la Isla de la Florida (about the expedition of De Soto) Daniel Boone: The Adventures of Colonel Daniel Boon, Formerly A Hunter; Containing a Narrative of the Wars of Kentucky Henry Mary Brackenridge: Journal of a Voyage up the Missouri River in 1811 John Bradbury: Travels in the Interior of America Julius Caesar: De bello gallico Robert Campbell: Various letters Robert Campbell: Narrative (written down by William Fayel) Samuel de Champlain: Voyages (extract) Samuel de Champlain: The Foundation of Quebec Aleksej Chirikov: Report to the Admiralty Board (in Russian) Christophorus Columbus: Journal (extracts) (alternative site) Christophorus Columbus: Letter to the king and queen of Spain (1494?) (alternative site) Christophorus Columbus: Epistola de insulis nuper inventis (original 1494 print shown in reproduction, transcription and translation) (alternative site) James Cook: Journal (extracts): 1770 (meeting the Papua), 2-7 September 1773, 17 March 1774, 25 August 1774, some more extracts James Cook, John Elliott, Richard Pickersgill, Tobias Furneaux: journals (extracts) Francisco de Coronado: Report from Cibola to Mendoza Francisco de Coronado: Report to the king of Spain Hernán Cortés: Letter to Emperor Charles V (extract) Hernán Cortés: Letter from Mexico (extract, showing his reception with Moctezuma) William Dampier: A New Voyage Round the World (extract) Charles Darwin: The Voyage of the Beagle (another site, Project Gutenberg) Henri Duveyrier: Les Touareg du Nord Fa-Hsien: A Record of the Buddhistic Kingdoms Ralph Fitch (title not given; extract) Fletcher: The world encompassed (extract) Matthew Flinders Electronic Archive - making all Flinders' personal papers electronically available Matthew Flinders: A Voyage to Terra Australis (various extracts) John Franklin: Narrative of a journey to the shores of the Polar Seas in the years 1819, 20, 21, and 22 Luis Agassiz Fuerte: Journal of the Harriman Alaska expedition Mikhail Gvozdev: Report to Spanberg (in Russian) Hanno: The Voyage of Hanno, King of the Carthiginians (version with comments) Thomas Hariot: A Briefe and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia (first Roanoke colony) Harkhuf: The Inscription of Harkhuf (excerpt, also contains a letter by king Pepi II) Samuel Hearne: Arctic Dawn (The title is by the 20th century editor of the material, but the rest seems original) Herodotus : An Account of Egypt Sir Edmund Hillary: Interview William Hilton: letter home from Plymouth Hsieh Ch'ing kao: Hai-lu (extract) Alexander von Humboldt: article by Biermann and Lange containing many autobiographical notes (in Spanish) Wilson Price Hunt: Overland diary Thomas James: Among the Indians and Mexicans Jorge Juan & Antonio de Ulloa: A Voyage to South America (extract) Clarence King: Mountaineering in the Sierra Nevada (extract, telling about Yosemite Valley) Benjamin Kohlmeister & Georg Kmoch: Journal of a Voyage from Okkak, on the coast of Labrador, to Ungava Bay, westward of Cape Chudleigh Leo Africanus: The Description of Africa - extract 1 (alternative translation), extract 2 Meriwether Lewis & William Clark: journals (alternative sites: 1, 2) Meriwether Lewis, William Clark & Nicholas Biddle: History of the Expedition Under the Command of Captains Lewis and Clark (...) - volume 1, volume 2 David Livingstone: Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa David Livingstone: A Popular account of Dr. Livingstone's expedition to the Zambesi and its tributaries David Livingstone: speech upon the reception of the Freedom of the City of Edinburgh Jeromino Lobo: A Voyage to Abyssinia John of Montecorvino: Report from China Zenas Leonard: Narrative of the adventures of Zenas Leonard (...) Jeronimo Lobo: A Voyage to Abessynia Gustav Nachtigal: letters (in German) Gustav Nachtigal: Sahara und Sudan (in German) Fridtjof Nansen: Photographic archive Peter Skene Ogden: Journals 1824-1829 Don Diego de Padro (no title given) - description of the first European contact with the south New Guinean Papuas Mungo Park: Travels into the Interior of Africa (extract) La Pérouse (edited by M.L. Minet Mureau: The voyage of La Pérouse round the world in the years 1785, 1786,1787, and 1788 with the nautical tables (extract) Zebulon Montgomery Pike: An Account of Expeditions to the Sources of the Mississippi and Through the Western Parts of Louisiana... Zebulon Montgomery Pike: Diary (extracts) Marco Polo (written by Rustichello): Il Milioni 44-46: On the Tartars (alternative site) The Glories of Kinsay John Pory: Description of Plymouth John Wesley Powell: Publications (collected publications by and about Powell) Sir Walter Raleigh: The Discovery of Guiana Rodrigo Ranjel: A Narrative of De Soto's Expedition Virginia Reed Murphy: Across the Plains in the Donner Party Matteo Ricci: Journals, extracts: On Chinese Government, The Art of Printing Gerhard Rohlfs: Quer durch Afrika Theodore Roosevelt: Through the Brazilian Wilderness Alexander Ross: 1824 Journal Sir John Ross: Letter to George Elliot Sir John Ross: Narrative of a Second Voyage in Search of a north-west passage and of a residence in the Arctic Regions, during the Years 1829, 1830, 1831, 1832, and 1833 William of Rubruck (Willem van Ruysbroeck): Journey of the land of the Tartars (extract) Osborne Russell: Journal of a Trapper David Samwell: journal, containing Cook's death. Robert H. Schomburgk: Reports Robert Schomburgk: The fishes of Guyana Fernando da Silveria: True Relation of the Vicissitudes that Attended the Governor Don Hernando De Soto and Some Nobles of Portugal in the Discovery of the Province of Florida Jedediah Smith: Diary (extract) John Smith: The proceedings of the English colony in Virginia (extract) Sir John Hanning Speke: Journal of the Discovery of the Source of the Nile William H. Thomas: Journal of the 1809 voyage to the Mandan Villages. John Kirk Townsend: Across the Rockies to the Columbia Alfred Russell Wallace: The Malay Archipelago, the land of the orang-utan and the bird of paradise - volume 1, volume 2 Edward Winslow & William Bradford: Mourt's Relation - The Pilgrim Fathers 1620-1621 Edward Winslow: Good Newes from New England - Plymouth 1622-1623 John Work: Journals (various) John B. Wyeth: Oregon, or A Short History of a Long Journey(...) Nathaniel Wyeth: Journals and correspondence 1831-1836 Xenophon: Anabasis (the march of the ten thousand) Francisco de Xeres: Narrative of the Conquest of Peru (excerpt) Zheng He (Cheng Ho): inscription on a temple in Changle Documents Related to the history of exploration:  Orders presented to explorers, narratives reporting about the voyages/explorations (not written by anyone involved in the travel), and so forth. Priviledges and Prerogatives Granted to Columbus Cabot's patent (alternative site) Letters patent of Sir Humphrey Gilbert Charter of Sir Walter Raleigh Charters of the Virginia colony (first charter, second charter, third charter) Ordinances for Virginia Charter of New England Charter of the Dutch West India Company Robert Cushman's letter to Edward Southworth (written shortly before the departure of the Mayflower) The Mayflower compact: site 1, site 2, site 3, site 4, site 5 Pilgrim treaty with Massasoit Charter of the colony of New Plymouth Many more Pilgrim/Mayflower/Plymouth-related materials Charter of the Massachusetts Bay Colony (alternative site) Charter of Maryland Articles of Capitulation of New Netherlands Charter of Pennsylvania Act, encouraging the beginning of the Moravian missions in Labrador James Cook's orders for his first voyage Instructions from the Home Secretary, Lord Sydney to Captain Arthur Phillip Louisians Purchase Letter of Thomas Jefferson to Meriwether Lewis: site 1, site 2 Sir John Ross's List of Provisions for his second voyage Lady Franklin's letter to Disraeli Evidence uncovered by Archeologists Eric the Red Eiríksstadir Leifur Eiríksson Heritage Project various finds regarding the viking presence in America L'Anse aux Meadows (viking settlement on the coast of Newfoundland) L'Anse Aux Meadows (with links) Norse expansion into North America Vikings in America Christopher Columbus Bahamas 1492 La Isabela the Gallega Alvaro Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca Cabeza De Vaca's probable route Cabeza De Vaca's observations and their correspondence with the archaological record Mitchell Ridge, Galveston Island (Points of agreement with De Vaca's narrative) Inter-group relations among the Texas indians Hernando de Soto base camp Don Tristan De Luna alternative sites: 1, 2 archaeology Jean Ribault Finding the French at Port Royal Pedro Menendez de Avila Archaeology at Santa Elana Martin Frobisher Archaeological features of Kodlunarn (French language version) Francis Drake Evidence of Drake's Raid of St. Augustine Willem Barentsz wintering place on Navaya Zemlya (Nova Zembla) the search for Barentsz John Smith Jamestown René Robert Cavalier, Sieur de La Salle The Belle Shipwreck Project Raising the Belle Francisco Garcés Rock inscription Meriwether Lewis & William Clark Fort Clatsop John Franklin Fort Franklin Beechey Island The Franklin Trail artifacts received from the Inuit by John Rae tin can sea-boot Henry Kellett storehouse on Dealy Island John Charles Frémont 1844 Sierra Nevada camp site Secondary sources Thomas H. Benton: Emigration into Oregon (extracts) Thomas H. Benton: The Acquisition of California (extracts) John Charles Frémont Pedro de Castaneda: The journey of Coronado Coronado John Day: letter to admiral Columbus (same letter on another site, French version, picture) John Cabot Richard Eden: Decades of the New World (extract) Visit of Windham and other British traders to Benin John Filson: Life and adventures of Colonel Daniel Boone Boone Richard Hakluyt: Discourse of Western Planting (extract) Hakluyt is our main source for many 16th century voyages to North America, especially the English ones. In this extract he discusses the advantages of colonizing America. Herodotus: History Necho, Sataspes, Darius, Scylax, Colaeus, the Nasamonians and Herodotus himself Washington Irving: Astoria, or, Anecdotes of an enterprise beyond the Rocky Mountains (same book, different site) the Astorians Washington Irving: The Adventures of Captain Bonneville, U.S.A., in the Rocky Mountains and the far West Bonneville Governor Macquarie: Government Order, 12th February, 1814 Evans John Mandeville: The Travels of Sir John Mandeville A completely made-up tale of travels to Asia, very popular in the Middle Ages. Peter Martyr: New World Chronicles (extract) (in this extract) Ojeda C.F. McGlashan: History of the Donner Party Donner Party New York Daily Times: Reported Death of Dr. E.K. Kane Kane New York Times: Bolder Dash for Pole Next Time, Says Peary Peary Orosius: History of the World Ohthere (Ottar) Lorenzo Pasqualigo: Letter to his brothers - Italian original, English translation, French translation John Cabot John Pinkerton: Early Australian voyages Pelsaert, Tasman, Dampier Plutarch: Alexander Alexander the Great Samuel Purchas: Purchas His Pilgrims (extract) James Lancaster John Rae: Report to the Hudson's Bay Company (extract) John Franklin, with a discussion between Rae and Dickens about the possibility of cannibalism among Franklin's crew Giovanni Battista Ramusio: Navigazioni e Viaggi (in Italian) Various Bradley Robinson & Matthew Henson: Dark Companion. The Story of Matthew Henson: first chapter, introduction by various explorers Matthew Henson Raimondo dei Raimondi di Soncino: letter to the Duke of Milan (in Italian, in English) John Cabot August Gottlieb Spangenberg: An account of the manner in which the protestant church of the Unitas Fratrum, or United Brethren, preach the gospel, and carry on their missions among the heathen The Moravian missions in Labrador Lytton Strachey: Eminant Victorians Gordon N.N.: Eirik the Red's saga Eric the Red, Leif Ericsson, Thorstein Ericsson, Thorfinn Karlsefni N.N.: The Broken Spears (extract) Cortez (from the Aztec point of view) Polynesian voyaging traditions Inuit testimonies about Franklin's last expedition