Which European traveler first gave detailed descriptions of the Gobi Desert?

The Gobi Desert first became known to Europeans through the vivid 13th-century descriptions provided by the Venetian traveler Marco Polo.1

While travelers from various Asian lands had crossed the region for centuries via the Silk Road, it remained largely unknown and untraveled by Europeans until Polo’s accounts were published in his work, The Travels of Marco Polo. Following his journey, the desert remained largely unexplored by Europeans until interest was rekindled by geographic expeditions in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.12