Across the Equator

Philip S. Efremov (1750 - d. after 1811) - Russian traveler in Eastern countries, the court counselor. A native of Vyatka Province, in 1763 entered the service of a corporal in the Nizhny Novgorod Infantry Regiment, in 1765 promoted to kaptenarmusy, and in June 1774 was promoted to noncommissioned officers, and sent to the frontier fortress Donguz Iletsk protection . In early July, at the outpost was attacked by Pugachev, and after a hot battle took Ephraim in captivity. He managed to escape from the Pugachev, but almost immediately he was captured by the Kirghiz, and they sold it in Bukhara . It managed to gain the trust of Efremov Daniyar-bey, the chief nobles of the Emir of Bukhara, yet he had to endure a lot of trouble for refusing to go into Islam . Having obtained the rank of yuz-bashi (Centurion), Efremov involved in Bukhara raids, he fought bravely under the Samarkand, Merv, and during the march on Khiva, for which he was granted land and money. Having obtained a passport in Kokand, he fled from Bukhara and in Tibet, Kashmir, India and England, returned to Russia after nine years of wandering. In 1783 was adopted by Catherine II, granted a warrant, and is defined in the College of Foreign Affairs of the translator of Oriental languages. In 1785, dismissed for determining a different service. Retired with the rank of court counselor. His "A nine-year pilgrimage and adventure in Bukhara, Khiva, Persia and India, and returning thence through England to Russia, "published in the 1 st time in St. Petersburg in 1786, without his knowledge, in the 2 nd time in 1794 by him in St. Petersburg, in the third time in Kazan in 1811 and the 4th time reprinted from original manuscript in the "Russian Antiquities" (1893, 7). Since the last publication was made in the scientific re- Moscow in the 1952 book contains a wealth of important information on linguistics, geography, history and ethnography of Central Asia, Tibet and India . This book is an attempt to show what would have happened if on his way back to Russia Philip Efremov found himself in Africa. Another his possible adventures there could be slavery in Sokotra, and Zanzibar, safari to Great Lakes, escape from slavery to Seychelles on pirate ship, treausure hunt and finally adventiourous track from Mozambic via Swazilend, Lesotho across the lands of Zulu, Bouers to Capetown where he managed to get on the boat to Dublin. So I imagined that I found missing pages of his dairy where Philipp Efremov wrote down his travels all along East African coast starting from Sokotra to Cape of Good Hope.