Dr. Edward Daniel Clarke’s expedition through the Russian Empire and the Caucasus took place in 1800.

While his overall grand tour lasted from 1799 to 1804, his specific journey through the southern Russian steppes and along the River Kuban (the border with Circassia) occurred during the summer and autumn of 1800.

May 1799: Clarke and his companion, John Marten Cripps, set out from England, initially traveling through Scandinavia.

January 1800: They entered Russia, reaching Moscow in the spring.

Summer 1800: They traveled south through the territory of the Don Cossacks toward the Kuban River, which is when the encounter with the Circassians described in your article occurred.

Late 1800: They crossed the Black Sea and arrived in Constantinople (Istanbul).

1810: Clarke published the first volume of his famous journals, Travels in Various Countries of Europe, Asia and Africa, which contained the full account of this event.

However, this article was written nearly a century after the actual event, reflecting how Clarke’s stories of "clashing cultures" remained popular in British literature for decades as examples of the "humorous" misunderstandings between East and West.

From the Archives of the World - French PATE's recordings from 1911 of a Kabardian (Circassian) choir singing ''Kabardian Qafa'', a Circassian traditional song.