In 1834 Ernest Mensen astonished all Europe by his pedestrian exploits.

He was a Norwegian sailor, who wagered that he could walk from Paris to Moscow in fifteen days.

On June 25, 1834, at ten o'clock A.M., he entered the Kremlin, after having traversed 2500 kilometers (1550 miles) in fourteen days and eighteen hours.

His performances all over Europe were so marvelous as to be almost incredible.

In 1836, in the service of the East India Company, he was dispatched from Calcutta to Constantinople, across Central Asia.