Realizing that he could be punished for doing so when he returned to Russia, he consulted with Prince Alexander Gorchakov, and sent a detailed explanatory note to Tsar Nicholas I.

In addition to all the usual preparations for such a trip, he was instructed by the Russian Envoy in Istanbul, Vladimir Titov, to collect information regarding the Pasha's plans for public works (including a canal near Suez), and his involvement in the slave trade.

This, and a description of Abyssinia, was included in his book A Journey to Inner Africa, in which he also spoke in favor of a canal, to encourage trade with India, and condemned slavery.

Following the war, in 1856, Prince Alexander Gorchakov appointed him as manager of the Asian Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; a position he held until 1861.

[4] In 1859 he was one of the founding members of the Literary Fund [ru], a society devoted to the financial support of struggling writers, and served as its chairman until his death in 1868.