Although there is a probable reference to the lake in Marco Polo's account,[8] the first European known to have visited the lake was the British naval officer John Wood in 1838.[9] Sir-i-kol became known to the British as Lake Victoria, after the British queen, although Wood declined to name it so.[10] It was also known as "Lake Victoria in the Pamirs" to distinguish it from the much larger Lake Victoria in Africa.[11][12]