30 BAKU, THE CITY OF OIL WELLS
The earliest Englishman to come to the district of Baku was Anthony Jenkinson (Oct. 1562), but he says nothing about the place except to mention merely its name as ' Bacowe.' ^
The English agent of the Muscovy Company, Jeffrey Ducket, in his 'fift voyage into Persia,' in 1574, is more explicit.
- There is a very great riuer \i.e. the Kur] which runneth through the plains
of lauat [= Javat], which falleth into the Caspian sea by a towne called Backo, neere vnto which towne is a strange thing to behold — for there issueth out of the ground a marueilous quantitie of Oyle, which Oyle they fetch from the vttermost bounds of all Persia ; it serueth all the countrey to burne in their houses.
- This oyle is black e, and is called Nefte ; they use to cary it throughout
all the country vpon kine and asses, of which you shall oftentimes meets with foure or fine hundred in a companie. There is also by the said towne of Backo an other kind of oyle, which is white and very precious, and is supposed to be the same as that here is called Petroleum' ^
The German Olearius (1636) counts Baku among the few good harbors on the Caspian and tells how the ' Nefta,' which is produced in great quantities, is carried in skin bags [' Schleuchen '] and great casks ['Fudern'], and widely trans-
The Englishman John Bell, in 1715, makes the following statement regarding Baku and its petroleum sources : —
- Two days journey eastward from Niezbatt stand Absheroon and Backu,
two considerable towns. At the former is a good harbour, reckoned the best in the Caspian Sea, except that of Astrabatt, which lies in the south- east corner of it. All the rest are so dangerous that they scarce deserve
1 Jenkinson, ed, Morgan and Coote, ^ ggg Ducket in Jenkinson, ed.
Early Voyages and Travels in Bussia Morgan and Coote, Early Voyages^
andPersia, p. 138, London, 1886 (Hak- p. 439-440, London, 1886 (Hakluyt
luyt Society). Jenkinson came from Society). Ducket's first voyage was
Shamakha to Javat, and was at Sha- made in 1568 (1569).
bran, which lay somewhat north of ^ Olearius, Beiseheschreihungen^
Baku, so he may possibly not have pp. 215, 284, Hamburg, 1696 = earlier
visited the city ; see the old map in Eng. transl. by Davies, pp. 193, 197,
Hanway, British Trade over the Gas- Loudon, 1662. pian Sea, 1. 344, London, 1753.
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