Central Asia

Poet and travel writer Bayard Taylor produced popular chronicles of his journeys at home and abroad, as well as novels and collections of poetry. After he went to the Middle East, India, China, and Japan in 1851 1853, he published three volumes that mark his zenith as a travel writer, including The Lands of the Saracen; or, Pictures of Palestine, Asia Minor, Sicily, and Spain (1855). Bayard Taylor always considered himself native to the East, and it was with great delight that in 1851 he found himself on the banks of the Nile, He ascended as far as 12′ 30° N, and stored his memory with countless sights and delights, to many of which he afterwards gave expression in metrical form. From England, towards the end of 1852, he sailed for Calcutta, proceeding thence to China, where he joined the expedition of Commodore Perry to Japan. The results of these journeys (besides the present one) were A Journey to Central Africa; or, Life and Landscapes from Egypt to the Negro Kingdoms of the White Nile (New York, 1854); The Lands of the Saracen; or, Pictures of Palestine, Asia Minor, Sicily and Spain (1854); and A Visit to India, China and Japan in the Year 1853 (1855).