A SKETCH OF 
 HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
A SKETCH 
 
 OF HISTORICAL 
 
 GEOGRAPHY 
 
 BY 
 
 KEITH JOHNSTON, F.R.G.S. 
 
 LEADER OF THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY'S 
 EAST AFRICAN EXPEDITION, 1878 
 
 i^Reprinted from the Sixth Edition of his '^'' Geography. Physical^ Historical., 
 Political, and Descriptive ") 
 
 WITH AN APPRECIATION OF THE AUTHOR 
 
 BY 
 
 SIR CLEMENTS R. MARKHAM 
 
 K.C.B., F.R.S. 
 
 OF THE , 
 
 UNIVERSITY I 1^ ^^^^ 
 
 OF 
 
 LONDON: EDWARD STANFORD 
 
 12, 13, & 14, LONG ACRE, W.C 
 1909 
 

 ^Sj 
 
 ^% 
 
 Printed by Bali.antyne, Hanson 6r' Co. 
 At the Ballantyne Press, Edinburgh 
 
AN APPRECIATION OF THE 
 AUTHOR 
 
 The author of this admirable sketch of historical 
 geography was fortunate in having had a father 
 who was himself an eminent geographer. The 
 father made geography the ruling and entirely ab- 
 sorbing interest of his life. He certainly did more 
 than any previous author to popularise the science. 
 Dying in June 1871, Dr. Alexander Keith Johnston left 
 an only son, who was born on the 24th of November 
 1844. Young Keith Johnston was trained specially 
 by his father, and by private tutors, to be a geog- 
 rapher, and at the age of twenty-two he entered 
 Mr. Stanford's establishment as a draftsman and 
 compiler of maps. In 1867 he went to Germany 
 for a year, to visit the geographical establishments 
 and make himself master of the language, and he 
 then imbibed that habit of painstaking thorough- 
 ness in study and work which is apparent in all 
 he afterwards did. 
 
 After his father's death Keith Johnston settled in 
 London, where he drew many valuable maps and 
 wrote much for gazetteers. During the year 1873 
 he was Assistant Curator of Maps to the Royal 
 Geographical Society, and constructed some of the 
 
 192458 
 
vi AN APPRECIATION OF THE AUTHOR 
 
 best maps in the Society's Journal. He was ex- 
 ceedingly modest and diffident, but was possessed 
 of a wonderful — an almost inexhaustible store of 
 knowledge. 
 
 In 1874 young Keith Johnston had reached his 
 thirtieth year, and his great ambition was to become 
 a scientific traveller and explorer. He was not 
 fitted for a man of business. The daily drudgery of 
 such a life was distasteful to him. But, as regards 
 his own favourite pursuits, he worked steadily and 
 systematically. It was, therefore, with great delight 
 that he accepted the offer of a post in an expedition 
 planned by the Government of Paraguay to survey 
 the little-known parts of that territory. Proceeding 
 to South America, he prosecuted the work of ex- 
 ploration in Paraguay during 1874 and 1875, and on 
 his return he constructed a valuable map, and wrote 
 a most interesting account of that country. 
 
 From 1876 to 1878 Keith Johnston was employed 
 on geographical work in London. He produced the 
 volume on Africa forming part of Mr. Stanford's 
 Compendium Series. But his most important work 
 was the "Physical, Historical, Political, and De- 
 scriptive Geography" of which the present sketch 
 of historical geography formed a part. He had not 
 quite finished this magnum opus when he started on 
 his last expedition. 
 
 Keith Johnston w^as a very handsome young man 
 of average height, and w^as blessed with a vigorous 
 constitution, which the hardships of his travels in 
 Paraguay seemed rather to have strengthened. He 
 
AN APPRECIATION OF THE AUTHOR vii 
 
 was a good oarsman, and belonged to an eight 
 which won more than one race on the Thames. 
 He continued to feel the old enthusiasm for adven- 
 ture and discovery during all the time of his resi- 
 dence in London. 
 
 When the Royal Geographical Society determined 
 to send an expedition to land on the east coast of 
 Africa and explore the country between the lakes 
 Nyasa and Tanganyika, Keith Johnston eagerly 
 volunteered his services, which were accepted. In 
 point of fact, he would have been selected if he had 
 not volunteered. No man in England then com- 
 bined such an amount of scientific knowledge with 
 such qualifications as a traveller. He was appointed 
 leader of the expedition, and, accompanied by a 
 young geologist named Thomson, he left England 
 for Zanzibar in November 1878. 
 
 His great work was still on his hands, and he 
 took several of the sheets out with him to correct 
 and complete. 
 
 After a preliminary trip to the Usambara Moun- 
 tains, the explorers landed at Dar-es-Salaam on the 
 19th of May 1879. At first all went well, but on the 
 27th they came to a more wooded country and the 
 rains began. Keith Johnston made an expedition 
 to a swampy lake in pouring rain in search of game» 
 He lost his way, was wet through, and this brought 
 on an attack of fever. He ought to have returned 
 to the coast, but he gallantly pushed onwards. For 
 several days he was tramping through marsh and 
 forest, with water generally up to his ankles, often 
 
viii AN APPRECIATION OF THE AUTHOR 
 
 over his waist. The fever continued and he became 
 thoroughly exhausted. He was carried, in great 
 misery and discomfort, for the last few marches. 
 At length the party reached a better country, and 
 arrived at a village called Behobeho, about one hun- 
 dred and twenty miles inland from Dar-es-Salaam. 
 Here they built a hut for their dying leader. He 
 gradually sank, and died on the 28th of June 1879, 
 at the age of thirty-four. 
 
 Keith Johnston had not lived in vain. He left a 
 noble example of steady, untiring work, of lofty en- 
 thusiasm in the cause of science, and of loyal de- 
 votion to duty. Much of his work lives after him, 
 and will long be useful to others. 
 
 Readers of this sketch will, I feel sure, remember 
 with interest and pleasure w^hat manner of man he 
 was who has left such valuable work for posterity. 
 He wrote this sketch with the earnest hope that it 
 would be serviceable to others, and that it would 
 help to create fresh generations of ardent and 
 zealous geographers like himself, when he was dead 
 and gone. 
 
 It should be remembered that he was correcting 
 the proofs up almost to the last moment, and that 
 one of the last wishes of that brave heart was that 
 it should be useful to future students. These were 
 Keith Johnston's thoughts when he met a glorious 
 death, falling, as a gallant soldier of science, in the 
 midst of his discoveries. 
 
 CLEMENTS R. MARKHAM. 
 
 December 1908. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 AN APPRECIATION OF THE AUTHOR 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 I. INTRODUCTION 
 
 II. FROM ABOUT lOOO TO 450 B.C. 
 III. FROM 450 TO 325 B.C. . 
 IV. FROM 325 B.C. TO 300 A.D. 
 V. FROM 300 TO 500 A.D. 
 VI. FROM 500 TO 800 A.D. 
 VII. FROM 800 TO 1000 A.D. 
 VIII. FROM 1000 TO 1300 A.D. 
 IX. FROM 1300 TO 1500 A.D. 
 X. FROM 1500 TO 1600 A.D. 
 XI. FROM 1600 TO 1700 A.D. 
 XII. FROM 1700 TO 1800 A.D. 
 XIII. FROM 1800 TO 1908 A.D. 
 
 INDEX 
 
 PAGE 
 V 
 
 3 
 8 
 
 13 
 21 
 
 25 
 
 33 
 
 41 
 
 58 
 
 74 
 
 104 
 
 124 
 
 148 
 
 219 
 
LIST OF MAPS 
 
 -I. 
 
 ABOUT 
 
 B.C. 450 
 
 facingpage 
 
 3 
 
 2. 
 
 » 
 
 . B.C. 325 
 
 )j 
 
 8 
 
 3- 
 
 )> 
 
 A.D. 300 
 
 >; 
 
 13 
 
 4- 
 
 )> 
 
 A.D. 500 
 
 )) 
 
 21 
 
 5- 
 
 )f 
 
 A.D. 800 
 
 >> 
 
 25 
 
 6. 
 
 ») 
 
 A.D. 1000 
 
 » 
 
 33 
 
 7- 
 
 }) 
 
 A.D. 1300 
 
 • >; 
 
 41 
 
 8. 
 
 }} 
 
 A.D. 1500 
 
 )} 
 
 58 
 
 9. 
 
 »> 
 
 A.D. 1600 
 
 » 
 
 74 
 
 lO. 
 
 )) 
 
 A.D. 1700 
 
 • 55 
 
 104 
 
 II. 
 
 }) 
 
 A.D. 1800 
 
 • 5) 
 
 124 
 
 12. 
 
 5J 
 
 A.D. 1908 
 
 >7 
 
 148 
 
A SKETCH OF HISTORICAL 
 GEOGRAPHY 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 In exactly the same way as one gathers information 
 about one's own home country, all the knowledge 
 that we yet possess about the surface of the world 
 we live in has been gradually gained. The geog- 
 raphers of ancient times, beginning with the dis- 
 trict in which they lived, little by little extended 
 the circle of their knowledge both by their own 
 journeys and by studying the accounts given by 
 travellers and voyagers outward from that known 
 centre, learning from them what directions they had 
 taken, whether towards the sunrising or sunsetting, 
 the north or the south ; and the times and distances 
 between one point and another of the route ; and 
 by laying down these itineraries on their maps. 
 
 Little by little the clouds of ignorance were thus 
 rolled backwards, till knowledge spreading westward 
 joined that which had grown out eastward round the 
 globe. Though in our own day the unknown has 
 
2 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 been chased into the most inaccessible corners of 
 the earth, the same process of extending knowledge 
 is in progress, and geographers of the present day 
 are ever gathering accounts of new journeys past 
 the borders of the unknown regions, each of which 
 contributes a little towards the removal of the dark- 
 ness which still hangs over these ^' ends of the earth." 
 
 We shall perhaps gain the best idea of the gradual 
 expansion of knowledge if we go back nearly to the 
 earliest times of which we have any definite historical 
 accounts, and from that as a starting-point, picture 
 to ourselves the world as known to the more civilised 
 nations, at intervals up to the present time. 
 
 The little maps which have been designed to accom- 
 pany these chapters exhibit the known world at 
 twelve such periods ; an appearance of cloud covers 
 the skirts of each, leaving unveiled only those lands 
 and seas which were the scene of the recorded events 
 of history, and this lifts or rolls back as the limits 
 of knowledge gradually extend. Each is on the same 
 scale, and on each the different States and Empires 
 of the period are marked out as far as the scale will 
 admit, so that they combine at a glance the geography 
 and history of the ages to which they refer, and from 
 one to another the rise and fall of the great kingdoms 
 of the world may be traced. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 FROM ABOUT 1000 TO 450 B.C. 
 
 I. In the earliest times of which we have any 
 records, the more civilised nations of the world were 
 those inhabiting the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, 
 and there accordingly the great events of ancient 
 history have their scenes. The commerce, and 
 along with that the geographical knowledge, of the 
 Egyptians, the Phoenicians and Carthaginians, the 
 Greeks and Romans, all centred and spread outward 
 from the deep bays and harbours of that inland sea. 
 
 The Phoenicians especially, the old inhabitants of 
 the fertile country which slopes down from Mount 
 Lebanon to the eastern coast of the Mediterranean, 
 where Sidon and Tyre were great seaports, were the 
 sailors and traders of early times. Within the space 
 of three centuries (from about 1300 to 1000 B.C.) they 
 explored all the islands and shores of the Mediter- 
 ranean, and covered these with their forts, factories, 
 and cities, while their ships ploughed the sea in 
 all directions. They colonised Cyprus, and, after 
 mastering the rich islands of the -^gean, sailed 
 farther west to Sicily and Sardinia, founding also 
 the city of Carthage, destined to be the centre of 
 an opulent and powerful state on the North African 
 
4 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 coast, which grew in greatness as the golden age 
 of the mother country of Phoenicia began to wane. 
 From Sardinia and the Balearic Isles these inde- 
 fatigable explorers pushed farther on through the 
 narrow Strait of Gibraltar into the wide Atlantic, 
 building the town of Gades (the present Cadiz) on 
 the south-west of Spain, in a country w^hich gave 
 them fabulous wealth of silver, iron, and lead ; boldly 
 venturing northward across the stormy Bay of Biscay, 
 they reached the tin-yielding coasts of Cornwall, and 
 loaded their ships with cargoes of that metal at the 
 Scilly Isles. Sailing southward also from the gates 
 of the Mediterranean, they discovered the islands we 
 now know as the Canaries, obtaining from their shores 
 the shell-fish which yielded the costly Tyrian purple. 
 It was in this direction also that HannOy the Cartha- 
 y ginian, led a famous expedition, consisting, it is said, 
 of 60 ships, with 30,000 men and women on board 
 of them, to extend discovery along the African coasts 
 and to found Phoenician towns and colonies. In this 
 voyage Hanno went south perhaps as far as our 
 present colony of Sierra Leone. Himilco, command- 
 ing another fleet, starting from Gades, coasted Spain 
 and Gaul, and reached Great Britain, which he calls 
 Alfionn (Albion) and lerne, a sacred island of the 
 west, the modern Ireland. 
 
 While some of their navigators were thus exploring 
 the coasts of the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, 
 others seem to have found their way out by the 
 narrow Red Sea to the Indies, and the overland 
 caravans carrying their manufactures appear to have 
 
FROM ABOUT 1000 TO 450 B.C. 5 
 
 made them acquainted with all the lands eastward of 
 Syria and Palestine. 
 
 2. One of the oldest descriptions of the world that 
 has been preserved to our times is that of the Greek 
 historian, traveller, and geographer, Herodotus, who 
 lived about 450 (484-408) years before Christ, at the 
 time when Greek art was at its zenith. With Athens 
 and Greece for a centre, he describes the countries 
 immediately surrounding the Mediterranean, and 
 shows that knowledge had then spread out north 
 and eastward to the regions beyond the Black Sea 
 and the Caspian, to Persia and the confines of India 
 and the Arabian Sea. Yet, strange to say, the name 
 of Rome, which at that time was a flourishing city, 
 is not mentioned once, and of the Phoenician and 
 Carthaginian discoveries outside the Pillars of Her- 
 cules he had but an imperfect idea. He was 
 minutely acquainted, however, with Greece, the 
 -^gean islands, and Asia Minor ; he travelled also 
 to Phoenicia, through Egypt as far as the Cataracts 
 of the Nile, to Arabia and Mesopotamia, and saw the 
 Euphrates and Tigris, and the cities of Babylon and 
 Ecbatana. Africa is described by him as being sur- 
 rounded by the sea, except where it borders on Asia. 
 
 3. In the century previous to that in which he 
 lived, the Persians under Cyrus had established a 
 mighty empire which extended beyond the present 
 area of Persia to the Indies on the east, and west- 
 ward over Asia Minor and Syria. The ancient 
 empires of Assyria and Babylonia also fell under 
 the dominion of Cyrus, and his successors extended 
 
6 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 the Persian Empire to Phoenicia, Cyprus, and 
 Egypt. Thrace and Macedonia were also added to 
 the empire, but the attempts to subdue Greece, made 
 only a year or two before the birth of Herodotus, 
 were completely foiled. Three successive invasions 
 of Greece ended disastrously for Persia : in the first 
 the invading fleet was shipwrecked off Mount Athos ; 
 the second was pushed back at Marathon; and the 
 third, under Xerxes, was repulsed at the pass of 
 ThermopylcBy at Salamisy and at Platcea. 
 
 4. At the period of our first little chart, then, the 
 decadence of the great Persian Empire had already 
 begun. Greece was becoming a strong power, and 
 had flourishing colonies all round the Mediterranean 
 and Black Seas, at Syracuse in Sicily, on the southern 
 shores of Italy, at Massilia (the present Marseilles), 
 on the coast of Spain, at Cyrene in North Africa, 
 at Cyprus, at Byzantium (Constantinople), on the 
 Thracian coasts, at Theodosia (Kaffa) near the Cim- 
 merian Bosporus, in the Tauric Chersonese (Crimea), 
 and at many points between these. 
 
 Carthage had already risen from its condition of 
 a colony to that of a great independent state, which 
 held all the North African coast west of Cyrenaica, 
 the rich country of Tartessus (Baetica, Andalucia), 
 and the gates of the Mediterranean between. The 
 Carthaginians had come in contact with the Greeks 
 in Sicily, and in their first trial of strength the 
 Carthaginian army under Hamilcar had been de- 
 feated. Rome had been founded for perhaps 300 
 years. Already the Romans had taken the lead in 
 
FROM ABOUT 1000 TO 450 B.C. 7 
 
 Latium, and the Republic was in constant warfare 
 with its neighbours on all sides — the southern Etrus- 
 cans, the VolscianS; and the -^qui. 
 
 Thus the great events of this period were clustered 
 round the Mediterranean shores. As yet the un- 
 known peoples of the west and north beyond these 
 were vaguely called the Hyperboreans by the Greeks, 
 " the dwellers behind the north wind " ; and east- 
 ward beyond Persia and the Indies Herodotus could 
 only mark ^^ unknown deserts " on his map. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 FROM 450 TO 325 B.C. 
 
 1. With the defeats that resulted in the attempts 
 to subdue Greece, the decadence of the great Persian 
 Empire may be said to have begun, and it now 
 became a prey to internal conflicts. One of the 
 most memorable of these was the revolt and ex- 
 pedition of the younger Cyrus against his brother 
 the Emperor Artaxerxes, which led to the battle of 
 Cunaxa (401 B.C.); near Babylon, in which Cyrus 
 was slain, and from which Xenophon made his 
 adventurous retreat at the head of the ten thousand 
 Greek mercenaries who had joined the expedition 
 of Cyrus. Civil wars had also broken out between 
 the States of Greece, and soon after the date of the 
 battle of Cunaxa the Spartans gained the ascendency 
 over the Athenian State, which had been the ruling 
 one at the period of the Persian invasions. These 
 troubles gave occasion for the interference of Mace- 
 donia, a State which lay to the north of Thessaly, 
 on the outskirts of the Greek nations, and which 
 had recovered its independence of the Persians after 
 the battle of Plataea. 
 
 2. Under Philip II. Macedonia grew in prosperity 
 and power ; he subdued the southern Greek States, 
 
>^ OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF 
 
FROM 450 TO 325 B.C. 9 
 
 was appointed general of all the Greek forces against 
 Persia, and was preparing for an invasion of that 
 country when he was assassinated (336 B.C.). His 
 son, Alexander, not yet twenty years of age, then 
 ascended the throne, and took up the command of 
 the forces levied against Persia. After putting down 
 several revolts at home with a strong hand, he 
 crossed the Hellespont ^ (334 B.C.) with 30,000 foot 
 and 5000 horse, attacked and defeated the Persians 
 at the river Granicus {Koja Chai). To this suc- 
 ceeded a victorious march through Asia Minor to 
 the defiles of the Cilician mountains, in which 
 Darius III. had stationed his army. At Issus, a 
 seaport at the head of the gulf of Iskenderun (from 
 Iskender = Alexander), the famous battle was fought, 
 in which the treasures as well as the family of 
 Darius fell into the hands of the conqueror, the 
 king himself fleeing to the Euphrates. The whole 
 country eastward now lay open before him, and he 
 turned south towards Phoenicia and Syria, occupy- 
 ing Damascus, and conquering Tyre. Advancing to 
 Egypt, he was welcomed there as a deliverer from 
 the Persian yoke, and founded Alexandria in the 
 Nile Delta (331 B.C.), which became one of the 
 greatest cities of ancient times. 
 
 3. In Africa Alexander advanced as far through 
 the Libyan desert as the oasis in which dwelt the 
 oracle of Jupiter Ammon (Siwah), and returning 
 thence eastward, went against Darius, who had 
 collected a new army in the plain of Mesopotamia. 
 ^ Dardanelles. 
 
10 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 The decisive battle near Arbela^ a small town east 
 of Mosul, opened the way to Babylon and Susa, 
 and to Persepolis^ the capital of Persia, which was 
 entered in triumph. Thence Alexander pursued 
 Bessus, a satrap of Bactriana (the modern Balkh), 
 through Iran or Persia proper, across the Oxus to 
 Sogdiana (Bokhara), and penetrated to the farthest 
 known limits of Asia, defeating the Scythian bar- 
 barians (probably the ancestors of the later Turks) 
 on the banks of the Jaxartes. 
 
 4. Two years later, Alexander proceeded to the 
 conquest of India, then known only by name to 
 Europeans. He crossed the river Indus near the 
 modern Attock^ and marched through the land now 
 known as the Panjab. Turning at the Hyphasis 
 (the modern Satlej), he caused a fleet to be built, 
 in which he sent one division of his army down 
 the stream, another section following the banks of 
 the river, and fighting its way through successive 
 Indian hosts. Having at length reached the ocean, 
 he ordered one division to sail to the Persian Gulf, 
 while he led another back through the fearful 
 deserts of Gedrosia (the modern Baluchistan), where 
 a great part of his force perished for want of food 
 and water, and was buried in the sands. A third 
 division came back through Arachosia and Drangiana 
 (the modern Afghanistan), but only a fourth part 
 of the army that had set out with him arrived again 
 in Persia. 
 
 5. The second of our little maps represents the 
 short-lived Macedonian empire of Alexander, at the 
 
FROM 450 TO 325 B.C. ii 
 
 date of his return to Persia, when his power was at its 
 height, and when ambassadors from all parts of the 
 then known world — from Libya, Italy, Carthage, and 
 Scythia, from the Celts (of Gaul or France), and the 
 Iberians of the Spanish peninsula — came to his court 
 to secure his favour. To his victorious career the 
 world owed a vast increase of geographical know- 
 ledge ; all eastern Asia had been unveiled, and the 
 road to India, with its boundless wealth, was dis- 
 closed to Europeans. 
 
 Westward also, about Alexander's time, the geog- 
 raphy of the Greeks was greatly extended by Pytheas, 
 a bold navigator of the Greek colony of Massilia 
 (Marseilles), who, from Gadeira (Cadiz), coasted Iberia 
 and the country of the Celts (France), and reached 
 Britain. He followed the southern and eastern 
 shores of the islands, and, after six days' sail from 
 the Orcades (Orkney Islands), discovered Thule, a 
 land of fogs in the north, which has been variously 
 identified as the Shetland Islands, the Norwegian 
 coast, or even Iceland. Pytheas also appears to 
 have sailed round Jutland into the Baltic, proving 
 the existence of sea to the north of Europe, which 
 Herodotus doubted. 
 
 In Italy the Romans were continuing their struggles 
 with the neighbouring nations. The whole of 
 southern Etruria had yielded to their supremacy, 
 and was kept in check by Roman garrisons ; while 
 towards the south, at this time, a terrible conflict was 
 in progress with the heroic Samnite highlanders. Of 
 Sicily the Carthaginians held the western, the Greek 
 
12 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 colonists the eastern half, a brief lull having taken 
 place in the fierce wars which had been waging 
 between these powers for the possession of the island, 
 during which the prosperity of the great fortified city 
 and seaport of Syracuse was rapidly reviving. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 FROM 325 B.C. TO 300 A.D. 
 
 1. After the death of Alexander the Great, the vast 
 Macedonian Empire that he had raised was divided 
 among those of the generals of his armies who had 
 been most eminent under his rule ; but for twenty 
 years afterwards incessant wars prevailed, culminating 
 in the battle of Ipsus in Phrygia (301 B.C.). Four of 
 these generals became pre-eminent, and each formed 
 for himself an independent kingdom. Ptolemy held 
 Egypt, Libya, and northern Syria, and soon after 
 added Judaea to his possessions ; Cassander ruled 
 in Greece and Macedonia proper ; Lysimachus, 
 in Thrace and western Asia Minor ; and Seleucus 
 brought under his power all the remaining portions of 
 the former Macedonian Empire, from Asia Minor to 
 the Indus. The last-named ruler even extended his 
 expeditions beyond the limit reached by Alexander, 
 and advanced into India as far as the Ganges (301 B.C.). 
 
 2. While these events were in progress in the lands 
 east of the Mediterranean, the Romans in Italy had 
 been carrying on a sanguinary war with the Samnite 
 highlanders. The heroism of these mountaineers was 
 unavailing against the military genius of the Romans, 
 who, shortly after the date of the first partition of 
 
14 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 Alexander's empire; were extending their power over 
 the whole southern peninsula of Italy. Here the 
 Romans next came in contact with the Greek 
 colonists, and the Tarentines,^ in the name of their 
 fellow-countrymen in South Italy, invited Pyrrhus, 
 king of Epirus, the country on the opposite side of 
 the Adriatic Sea, to command their troops against the 
 enemy. The strange appearance and gigantic size of 
 the elephants brought by Pyrrhus, in imitation of the 
 Indian kings in battle, gained a temporary success for 
 him against the Romans ; but soon after he gave up 
 the contest and passed over into Sicily, to aid the 
 Greeks there against the Carthaginians (278 B.C.). 
 All southern Italy acknowledged the supremacy of 
 Rome, and distant nations began to learn that a new 
 power had risen in the world, Ptolemy of Egypt 
 sending an embassy to conclude treaties with the 
 Republic. 
 
 3. Now followed the terrible contests between 
 Rome and Carthage, which, in the three Punic'^ 
 Wars, lasted for more than a century. The first 
 of these (264-241 B.C.) was waged merely for the 
 possession of Sicily, and during it the Roman navy 
 was created, which, notwithstanding terrible disasters, 
 finally wrested from Carthage the sovereignty of the 
 seas. At the end of this First Punic War the Cartha- 
 ginians had lost their hold on Sicily and Sardinia, 
 which were transformed into Roman provinces. 
 
 4. About the middle of the third century the 
 
 ^ Tarentum (Taranto), see map of Italy. 
 
 * Or Phcenician, in allusion to the descent of the Carthaginians. 
 
FROM 325 B.C. TO 300 A.D. 15 
 
 Carthaginian influence was much extended in Iberia 
 (Spain), and a large extent of territory was brought 
 under subjection. Hamilcar founded the city of 
 Barcelona^ and his son-in-law Hasdrubal that of New 
 Carthage (Cartagena), and concluded a treaty with 
 Rome, whereby it was stipulated that he should not 
 advance beyond the Iberus (Ebro). Hannibal, the 
 son of Hamilcar, succeeded him in the peninsula, 
 and by attacking and destroying Saguntum (Mur- 
 viedro), a city which had been founded by the 
 Greeks, and which had become celebrated for its 
 commerce and wealth, violated the treaty and gave 
 cause for a declaration of war by the Romans 
 (218 B.C.). 
 
 5. A series of wars with the Gauls now extended 
 Roman power over northern Italy, and its influence 
 began to be felt on the eastern shores of the Adriatic. 
 The Second Punic War (218-201 B.C.), the great 
 events of which were the crossing of the Alps by 
 Hannibal (most probably by the pass now known 
 as the Little St. Bernard), the defeat of the Romans 
 at Lake Trasimene and at Cannce^ resulted in the 
 final overthrow of the great Carthaginian leader at 
 Zama^ when terms of peace were imposed by the 
 conqueror which reduced Carthage almost to the 
 condition of a tributary state. The Spanish posses- 
 sions of Carthage, like the Sicilian, now passed to 
 the Romans, who formed out of them the province of 
 Hispania Citerior, the north and eastern, and Ulterior, 
 the south and western, or most distant from Rome. 
 ^ 130 miles south-west of Carthage. 
 
i6 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 6. An alliance formed by the Macedonians with 
 Hannibal after the battle of Cannae gave cause for 
 the hostile advance of the Romans in their direction 
 also, and the three Macedonian and Greek wars 
 which succeeded led to the establishment of the 
 Roman protectorate over the whole of Greece, and 
 the dismemberment of the Macedonian possessions 
 in Europe and Asia Minor. 
 
 7. Although the Carthaginians had been compelled 
 to accept abject terms of peace, their resources 
 had not been utterly destroyed, and Carthage again 
 became sufficiently powerful to excite the jealousy of 
 the Romans, and to draw their armies towards it. 
 After a siege of three years, Carthage was stormed, 
 burned, and razed to the ground, and the once mighty 
 Carthaginian empire vanished for ever from the earth 
 (146 B.C.). 
 
 8. Under the six Ptolemies who succeeded to 
 Alexander's great general of that name on the throne 
 of Egypt up to the date of the fall of Carthage, 
 Alexandria had become the seat of the intellectual 
 cultivation that had resided in Greece, as well as the 
 centre of the world's commerce. It was in the 
 famous school of Alexandria that Euclid taught 
 mathematics, about three hundred years before 
 Christ. Hither also Eratosthenes of Cyrene, one of 
 the most eminent of ancient astronomers, was called 
 by Ptolemy Euergetes to superintend the great royal 
 library. The name of Eratosthenes (276-194 B.C.) will 
 ever be remembered in geography, as it was he who 
 first attempted to discover the magnitude of the earth 
 
FROM 325 B.C. TO 300 A.D. 17 
 
 by the measurement of an arc of the meridian, the 
 same process that is employed at the present day. 
 
 9. The next great extension of Roman power was 
 in Asia Minor, where Attains, one of the succes- 
 sors of Alexander's general Lysimachus, bequeathed 
 to Rome the protectorate of Pergamus, which was 
 formed into the province of Asia. Then followed the 
 conquest of Transalpine Gaul, named the Province 
 (<^ Provence ") to distinguish it from the rest of the 
 country. North of the mountains the Romans first 
 came in hostile contact with the Cimbri and Teutones, 
 in the valleys of Noricum (Tyrol) and at Aquce-SexticB 
 (Aix, in the Bouches du Rhone). In Africa, the over- 
 throw of King Jugurtha of Numidia (Algeria) and 
 of King Juba in Mauritania (Morocco) added these 
 regions also to the list of Roman provinces. 
 
 10. Now the strength of the Roman arms was 
 turned towards Asia, in the three fierce wars with 
 Mithridates of Pontus and his ally Tigranes of Armenia, 
 against whom they were finally successful, establish- 
 ing Roman authority over all Asia Minor. The last 
 defeat of Mithridates on the Euphrates, in 66 B.C., was 
 followed by a brilliant career of success. Syria, 
 Phoenicia, and Palestine were reduced to a state of 
 dependence ; and to the horror of the Jews the holy 
 city of Jerusalem was taken by storm and its walls 
 razed to the ground (63 B.C.). 
 
 11. Not long after this, Julius Caesar began his 
 splendid campaigns in Gaul, conquering the whole 
 of that region for Rome, driving the German tribes 
 towards the Rhine, and invading Albion, to which he 
 
i8 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 gave the name Britannia (55 B.C.). In the civil v^ar 
 which followed the assassination of Caesar, Marcus 
 Antonius, the ruler of the Eastern Roman world, was 
 aided against his rival Octavianus (afterwards Em- 
 peror Augustus) by Queen Cleopatra of Egypt, but 
 was defeated in the naval battle of Actium,^ and his 
 death and that of Cleopatra soon following, Egypt 
 became henceforth a Roman province. Augustus 
 gathered up into his own hands all civil and military 
 power, and the Roman Empire began (29 B.C.). At 
 the beginning of the Christian era the Roman Empire 
 had spread out nearly to its greatest limits. In Europe 
 the lines of the Rhine and the Danube marked its 
 northern boundary; all Asia Minor and Syria had 
 been subjected, and the whole of North Africa, 
 from Egypt to the Atlantic, acknowledged Roman 
 authority. 
 
 12. From this time onward to the date of our 
 third little map (representing the Empire in the time 
 of Constantine) the chief military events were the 
 final conquest of Britain as far north as the Firths 
 of Forth and Clyde by Agricola, and its formation 
 into a prefecture of Gaul, governed by a viceregent 
 resident at Eboracum (York) ; the^ conquest of Dacia, 
 the country north of the lower Danube ; the vic- 
 torious invasion of Armenia and Parthia ; and the 
 subjugation of all the Nile valley as far as Nubia by 
 Trajan. 
 
 Under Constantine the Great two great changes 
 took place — the introduction of Christianity as the 
 * At the entrance to the Gulf of Arta. 
 
FROM 325 B.C. TO 300 A.D. 19 
 
 religion of the State, and the transference of the seat 
 of government from Rome to Byzantium (330 A.D.), 
 which was re-named after the Emperor, Constan- 
 tinople. 
 
 13. Persia at this time, under theSassanian dynasty, 
 attained a height of prosperity and power such as 
 it had never before reached, and against it even the 
 veteran Roman legions could gain no lasting laurels. 
 
 14. In China authentic history begins with the 
 Chow dynasty (1122-255 B.C.), when Confucius and 
 Mincius flourished (600 B.C.). In the next (Tsin) 
 dynasty Shih Hwang Ti (221-209 ^-^O reduced the 
 independent petty States, and built the Great Wall as 
 a protection against the barbarous Hiong-non (Huns) 
 or Tatars of the north. Shortly after the beginning 
 of the Christian era the Chinese seem to have begun 
 intercourse with the Parthians and to have known the 
 Roman Empire as Ta-tsin ; and about the time of 
 Constantine's establishment of his new capital the 
 Chinese Emperor's court was fixed at Nanking, the 
 southern capital. 
 
 15. The increase of geographical knowledge during 
 the period in which Rome was spreading out its 
 power in all directions could not fail to be very con- 
 siderable. Already in the latter part of the first 
 century B.C. a general survey of the Roman Empire 
 had been begun by the collection and arrangement 
 of the itineraries of the roads to places in the empire. 
 One of these (called the Peutingerian table, after the 
 antiquary who found a copy of it in a monastery in 
 Bavaria in the fifteenth century) traces the main roads 
 
20 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 of all the region stretching from Britain to the mouth 
 of the Ganges in India. Strabo of Pontus was one of 
 the great geographers of this period, and he wrote an 
 account of Europe and Africa, and of Asia, in which 
 his knowledge extended as far as China. But it was 
 from Claudius Ptolemy, the celebrated astronomer 
 and geographer, who lived in the learned city of 
 Alexandria about 150 A.D., that geography received 
 the greatest advancement in ancient times — one which 
 made itself felt even down to the fifteenth century. 
 He constructed a series of twenty-six maps, with a 
 general map of the world, in illustration of his eight 
 books of universal geography. His information ex- 
 tended from Thule (Shetland) in the north to the 
 Niger and the Nile lakes in Africa, and eastward to 
 the obscurely known region of China and the island 
 of Taprobane (Ceylon). 
 
'"^ OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 FROM 300 TO 500 A.D. 
 
 1. Fully half a century before the civil discords 
 of the Roman Empire had been temporarily abated 
 by the genius of Constantine, the whole of Europe 
 beyond the Roman frontier, the almost unknown 
 north; had begun to ferment and to pour forth wave 
 after wave of barbarian hordes. Against these the 
 Roman Empire, distracted by discords, could not 
 prevail. 
 
 2. The Goths, a people of Germanic origin, had 
 already once broken through the Roman province 
 of Dacia,! crossing the Black Sea had ravaged the 
 northern shores of Asia Minor, and had advanced 
 as far as Greece, pillaging and burning the famous 
 cities of Athens, Corinth, and Argos. The Vandals, 
 who are first known as the inhabitants of the Bohe- 
 mian mountains, hence called Vandalici Montes, burst 
 like a flood into Gaul, and after ravaging that region, 
 swept south through the passes of the Pyrenees 
 into Spain, and finally settled in the south of that 
 country, to which they gave the name Vandalitia, 
 the modern Andalucia. The Franks, or freemen, a 
 confederation of the tribes inhabiting the borders of 
 
 ^ Transylvania, Walachia, and Moldavia. 
 
 21 
 
22 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 the lower Rhine, made incessant incursions through 
 the low countries into Gaul, where they finally over- 
 threw the Roman dominion. 
 
 3. In the reign of Constantine, the Goths had been 
 obliged to sue for peace with the Romans, but not 
 long after his death they once more engaged the 
 legions in a three years' war. The Goths now began 
 to be distinguished as the Ostrogoths, or Goths of the 
 east, the branch which inhabited the shores of the 
 Black Sea ; and the Visigoths, or Goths of the west, 
 extending along the Danube. 
 
 4. The Huns, a people of Asiatic origin, the eastern 
 (Mongol) branch of the Scythians, now appear on the 
 scene. They invaded Europe through the country 
 of the Alani, a pastoral people living on the great 
 steppes between the Volga and the Don ; having 
 conquered them and incorporated the survivors, they 
 advanced into the country of the Visigoths and drove 
 these people across the Danube into Moesia (modern 
 Bulgaria), occupying the country they had aban- 
 doned ; afterwards they also crossed the Danube, 
 as the allies of the Goths against the Romans. 
 
 5. Under Alaric, the Visigoths invaded Italy, sacked 
 Rome, and ravaged the peninsula. Subsequently, 
 under the successors of Alaric, they withdrew into 
 southern Gaul and crossed the mountains into Spain, 
 beginning a series of struggles there with the Vandals 
 and the Romans. The fatal rivalries of the Roman 
 governors of Spain and Africa now led to the passage 
 of a resistless horde of the Vandals across the Strait 
 of Gibraltar, and to the devastation and ruin of all 
 
FROM 300 TO 500 A.D. 23 
 
 the region between the shores of the Atlantic and 
 Cyrene, to the loss of Carthage, and the dissolution 
 of the Roman Empire in Africa. Thence the Vandals 
 spread over Sardinia, Corsica, and Sicily ; they in- 
 vaded Italy also, and plundered Rome for fourteen 
 days, mutilating and defacing the works of art in 
 the city. 
 
 6. After his conquests in the region of the Danube, 
 Attila, king of the Huns, turned his course of invasion 
 westward, and being joined by the Ostrogoths, pene- 
 trated into Gaul, and was defeated there by the united 
 Romans and Visigoths in a sanguinary battle near 
 the site of the present city of Chdlons-sur-Marne. A 
 year later, however, he recovered strength, and in- 
 vaded Italy, devastating its northern plains and driv- 
 ing their inhabitants to seek refuge in those marshy 
 lagoon islands on which Venezia, afterwards the great 
 city of Venice, was founded. Rome itself was saved 
 by the mediation of Pope Leo, only to be plundered 
 three years later by the Vandals, whose progress we 
 have already traced. After the death of Attila, 
 Odoacer, who had been his ambassador at the 
 court of Constantinople, put himself at the head of 
 the barbarians who had flocked into Italy, and finally 
 crushed the Roman power throughout the peninsula. 
 He in turn, however, was overthrown by Theodoric, 
 king of the Ostrogoths, who now became master 
 of Italy. 
 
 7. The contests with the northern invaders in Gaul 
 had withdrawn thither the greater part of the Roman 
 troops quartered in Britain, and the few remaining 
 
24 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 were taken across to the Continent in the beginning 
 of the fifth century. The Britons, left defenceless, 
 and harassed by the Picts and Scots, invited the 
 Jutes, the Germanic inhabitants of the opposite shores 
 of the North Sea, to their aid, and they, having re- 
 pelled the invaders, began the conquest of the island 
 for themselves, and established their kingdom in 
 Kent. They were soon followed by the Saxons, who 
 took up the southern and central portions of the 
 country, where the names Essex (East Saxons), 
 Middlesex, Sussex, still in use, and Wessex, extending 
 from Surrey to the peninsula of Cornwall, recall their 
 divisions of the land. Cornwall itself remained in 
 the hands of its Celtic inhabitants. 
 
 8. Thus, at the period represented in the fourth 
 map, the great Roman Empire had shrunk down to 
 the limits of the Eastern Roman (also called the 
 Byzantine or Greek) Empire, and was restricted to 
 the countries which lie round the eastern end of the 
 Mediterranean. The Vandals had established their 
 rule along North Africa ; the Visigoths ruled in Spain ; 
 the Ostrogothic monarchy of Theodoric the Great 
 extended over Italy, France, and all the countries 
 round the Alps as far as the middle Danube ; the 
 Franks, under Clovis, had possession of the whole 
 of Gaul between the Loire and Somme ; Persia, still 
 under the energetic Sassanian dynasty, not only 
 maintained its integrity as an empire, but had begun 
 to repel the Roman power in Asia and had added 
 part of Armenia. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 FROM 500 TO 800 A.D. 
 
 1. At the period represented in the last map, we 
 have seen that the Persians in the east were success- 
 fully opposing the Byzantine Empire and extending 
 their dominion in Asia. Westward, however, the 
 arms of the Byzantine Empire were triumphant, the 
 reign of the Emperor Justinian being rendered famous 
 by the expedition of his great general Belisarius to 
 Africa, where, after a campaign of two years, he com- 
 pletely overthrew the Vandals and led their king cap- 
 tive to Constantinople. In a second war, Belisarius 
 wrested all southern Italy from the Ostrogoths, pur- 
 suing them northward to Rome and Ravenna, and 
 thus beginning the re-conquest of the peninsula, 
 which was completed by his successor the imperial 
 general Narses, after which the Ostrogoths disappear 
 as a distinct nation. 
 
 2. At this time, under Khosru, the greatest of the 
 great monarchs of the Sassanian dynasty, the Persian 
 Empire stretched from the Red Sea to the Indus, and 
 from Arabia far into Central Asia. Mesopotamia, 
 Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and Asia Minor were one 
 after another wrested from the Byzantine Empire : 
 Jerusalem was stormed and plundered, and a similar 
 
26 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 fate befell Alexandria. The victorious Persians had 
 even reached to Chalcedon, opposite Constantinople, 
 when the fortune of war turned, and the Byzantine 
 Emperor Heraclius began a magnificent revenge. 
 
 3. Having organised a Greek and barbarian army, 
 Heraclius landed and encamped on the famous plain 
 of Issus in Cilicia, and having completely routed the 
 Persian army sent against him, forced his way through 
 the Taurus into Pontus, crossed Armenia, made allies 
 of the barbarians north of the Caucasus, and with 
 their aid attacked Media, and penetrated to Ispahan^ 
 inflicting repeated defeats on the Persians in the 
 heart of their country, and giving the death-blow to 
 the Sassanian dynasty. 
 
 4. At the height of the fame of Heraclius, however, 
 a new and terrible power arose in the south. During 
 all the changes of empire in the countries east of the 
 Mediterranean the tribes of Arabia had maintained 
 a brave independence ; neither the Babylonian nor 
 Assyrian kings, neither Egyptians nor Persians, could 
 reduce them to subjection ; and even though the 
 Romans under Trajan had penetrated far into the 
 country, only the northern chieftains were made 
 tributary to the empire. The Himyarites of Yemen, 
 the district bordering on the Red Sea, had stoutly 
 repelled an expedition in the time of Augustus. They 
 carried on commerce across the Indian Ocean with 
 Persia and Syria, and had planted many colonies on 
 the opposite African coasts. The tribes of Yemen 
 dwelt in towns, and cultivated the soil, but the most 
 of the Arabs were nomadic as now, and they retained 
 
FROM 500 TO 800 A.D. 27 
 
 their ancient pagan nature worship. About 600 A.D. 
 Christianity penetrated into the peninsula, where 
 Judaism had been introduced by emigrants after the 
 destruction of Jerusalem, and a religious ferment 
 began to move the minds of the thoughtful. It was 
 soon after this time that Mohammed, who was born 
 at Mecca in 570, received his first divine communica- 
 tion in the solitudes of Mount Hira, near Mecca, 
 and began to inveigh against the superstition of his 
 time. Persecuted, and unable to find a hearing in 
 his own city, he took refuge in Medina^ and at once 
 assumed the position of judge and ruler of the most 
 powerful of the Arab tribes. He now went to war 
 in the name of God against the enemies of Islam, and 
 gained a victory over the Meccans at Bedvy after 
 which they concluded a peace with him. He now 
 sent his missionaries abroad over Arabia, and they 
 carried his doctrine into Persia, to the court of 
 Heraclius, to Abyssinia, and to Egypt. The king 
 of Persia received his messenger with scorn, and 
 had him executed ; this led to the first war with the 
 Moslems, in which the latter were defeated. 
 
 5. The power of the new religion was, however, 
 secured in Arabia, and shortly before his death 
 Mohammed had made extensive preparations for 
 expeditions against Syria and the Byzantines. Abu- 
 Bekr, the first ''Calif' or ^^ Successor" of Moham- 
 med, carried war into Babylonia, and, after several 
 victories over the troops of Heraclius, completed 
 
 ^ The Hegira, or flight of Mohammed to Medina (622 A.D.), gives 
 the starting-point of the Moslem chronology. 
 
28 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 the conquest of Syria. Omar, the second Calif, 
 pushed the war of conquest with increased vigour ; 
 Jerusalem fell into his hands, and he caused the 
 mosque which bears his name to be built over the 
 site of the temple of Solomon. He next invaded 
 Persia, and subdued the whole of that region. Amru, 
 one of his generals — such was the prestige of the 
 Arabs — took possession of Egypt for the Calif without 
 opposition, and Barka and Tripoli were also subdued. 
 6. At the time of Omar's death (644) the Saracens ^ 
 had overrun in the short space of ten years all the 
 lands between Armenia and Khiva in Asia, and the 
 Syrtes in North Africa. In the time of Othman, the 
 Mohammedan power was extended westward over 
 Mauretania or Morocco, and the Byzantine posses- 
 sions were restricted to the neighbourhood of New 
 Carthage. The seat of the Califate was now removed 
 from Medina to Damascus in Syria ; Asia Minor was 
 ravaged, and ineffectual siege was laid to Constanti- 
 nople. Before the beginning of the eighth century 
 Carthage had been taken, and the Byzantine dominion 
 in Africa annihilated. The Califate now rose to the 
 zenith of its prosperity, and the conquest of Turkestan 
 in Central Asia was rapidly followed by the invasion 
 of Spain at the opposite extremity of the Arab Empire. 
 The Moors,2 as the Arabo-Berbers are called in 
 
 ^ Probably from Sharkeyn^ "eastern people," as opposed to 
 Maghribe^ "western people," as the inhabitants of Morocco are 
 called. 
 
 ^ From Mauharta, "westerns," first applied by the Cartha- 
 ginians to the Atlas aborigines west of Carthage, and later to 
 the mixed Arabo-Berber peoples of the same region. 
 
FROM 500 TO 800 A.D. 29 
 
 Spanish history, under Tarik, crossed the straits 
 from Ceuta, and effected a landing at Algeciras, near 
 Gibraltar. Roderick, the last king of the Visigoths, 
 met the invader at Xerez de la Frontera (711). Nine 
 days of battle ensued, and in a single combat with 
 Tarik, the Gothic king was slain ; the victory was 
 decisive for the Moslems, and it gave them the 
 mastery over nearly the whole of Spain (except the 
 mountainous country of Asturias in the north), as 
 well as the outlying province of Septimania (Langue- 
 doc, in southern France). 
 
 7. We may now turn to glance at the movements 
 which were taking place in northern Europe during 
 this rapid spread of the Mohammedan Empire in 
 the south. Events in Italy have been already traced 
 up to the defeat of the Visigoths, after which the 
 country was placed under the rule of an Exarch 
 or delegate of the Byzantine Emperor, who had his 
 capital at Ravenna. The first of these delegates had 
 only held the country for fifteen years when the 
 Lombards,^ a Germanic people originally from the 
 lower Elbe, poured over the Alps from Pannonia 
 (Lower Austria), bringing with them numbers of 
 other German tribes, and conquered all north and 
 central Italy. Here in the course of time these 
 barbarians became assimilated with the peoples they 
 had subjected, and exchanged their German for the 
 Latin tongue. 
 
 8. The first or Merovingian (from Merwig, a chief 
 
 ^ Lo7igobardij referring either to their long beards or to their 
 battle-axes {Jbarte). 
 
30 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 of the fifth century) dynasty of the Prankish kings, 
 to which Clovis belonged, gave place to the Carlo- 
 vingian, in which Charles, surnamed Martel, was one 
 of the most prominent rulers. His reign was marked 
 by wars with the surrounding tribes of the Saxons 
 and Alemanni, but especially by the stop which 
 he put to the victorious advance of the Saracens 
 northward from Spain, whose power had filled all 
 Christendom with alarm. He defeated them in a 
 great battle fought between Poitiers and Tours in 732. 
 
 His son Pepin le Bref, taking advantage of the 
 disputes which arose about the succession to the 
 Lombard throne, invaded Italy. It was left to his 
 son Charlemagne, however, who crossed the Alps 
 from Geneva with two armies, by the great St. 
 Bernard and Mont Cenis passes, to complete the 
 overthrow of the Lombard kingdom, which had 
 lasted for two centuries. This monarch also com- 
 pleted the subjection of the Saxons in the northern 
 border of his kingdom, driving them to the Elbe, 
 and from the Moors in the south he wrested and 
 added to his dominion all the country from the 
 Pyrenees to the Ebro, his empire extending also 
 on the side of Germany as far as Pannonia, where 
 he had subdued the Avari. 
 
 9. We left Britain at the end of the last period 
 when the Jutes and Saxons had established them- 
 selves in the south and centre of the present England. 
 Soon after this the Angles, a third Germanic tribe 
 from the country east of the Elbe, made a succession 
 of descents on the coasts of Suffolk and Norfolk, 
 
FROM 500 TO 800 A.D. 31 
 
 as well as in Scotland between the Tweed and Forth. 
 Eventually these last comers obtained possession of 
 all the portions of eastern England that had not 
 fallen to the Saxons, and the union of their different 
 bands with the conquered native Celts took the form 
 of seven kingdoms, the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy, a 
 group of states which rose and fell as one or other 
 of them became more powerful. These were Kent, 
 Essex and Middlesex, Sussex, Wessex, already re- 
 ferred to ; besides Northumbria, including the present 
 Northumberland and all Scotland south of the Forth ; 
 East Anglia (Norfolk, Suffolk, and Cambridge), and 
 Mercia, which embraced the central portions of 
 England. 
 
 10. To sum up the leading features of the period 
 of the world's history sketched in the fifth of the 
 little maps : — The Arabian Empire had spread itself 
 out to Central Asia and to Spain, and had already 
 passed the zenith of its greatness. The dynasty of 
 the Ommiades of Damascus had given place to that 
 of the Abassides in the east, though a branch from 
 it had set up an independent Califate at Cordova, 
 in Spain. The Abbaside Harun-al-Rashid, whose 
 praises are sung by eastern poets, had his capital 
 at Bagdad, on the Tigris, a city which had been 
 founded by his predecessor in 762. Charlemagne 
 had consolidated and extended the Frank Empire, 
 received the ambassadors sent from the court of 
 Bagdad to salute him, and had been crowned by 
 the Pope at Rome. Irene, the barbarous mother 
 of the Byzantine Emperor Constantine VI., had 
 
32 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 conceived the bold plan of uniting the east and 
 west of Europe in one great empire, by marrying 
 the Frank Emperor, a scheme which was frustrated 
 by her overthrow and her banishment to the Isle 
 of Lesbos in the ^gean Sea (802). 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 FROM 800 TO 1000 A.D. 
 
 I. After the accession of the Abbaside dynasty in 
 the Arabian Empire, Bagdad^ as we have noticed, 
 became the capital of the Califate, and the province 
 of Khorassan, in Persia, began to be considered the 
 nucleus of the empire. Though Islamism continued 
 to spread, the rule of the Califs began to be merely 
 nominal. Already during Harun-al-Rashid's reign, 
 independent kingdoms had been formed in Fez (the 
 city of Fez was founded 808) and Tunis, and soon 
 all the western African territories were lost to the 
 Califate. Large numbers of Turks from the region 
 between the Caspian and the central mountains of 
 Asia were called in to be employed in military ser- 
 vice. Acquiring power, the Turks rose against their 
 masters, and for a time Turkish kings reigned in 
 Khorassan. Several transitory dynasties succeeded, 
 pre-eminent among which was that of the Ghizne- 
 vides, who at the height of their power ruled an 
 empire extending from the Tigris to the Ganges, 
 and from the Jaxartes on the north to the Indian 
 Ocean, the central seat of power being the natural 
 fortress of Ghazni. 
 
 2. A Turkish governor of Egypt declared himself 
 
 33 C 
 
34 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 independent in 868. A century later the Fatimides, 
 a sect of Mohammedans, whose leader claimed de- 
 scent from Fatima, the daughter of the Prophet, 
 after overthrowing the rulers of Tunis, conquered 
 Egypt and Syria, and founding Cairo (970), set up 
 a new Califate there ; so that at this time there 
 were three — one in Bagdad, another in Cairo, and 
 a third at Cordova in Spain. Algiers (Al-]ezireh, 
 "the island") had been founded by an Arabian 
 prince twenty-five years previously. 
 
 3. In Spain, as we have seen, the inhabitants of 
 the northern mountain country had not been en- 
 tirely subdued in the Moorish conquest of the rest 
 of the peninsula. Asturias and Galicia formed an 
 independent Christian kingdom, and about the middle 
 of the ninth century the brave and hardy Vascones 
 or Basques of Navarre also regained their independ- 
 ence, and aided in the constant warfare that was 
 maintained against the Moors along the north of the 
 peninsula. Though the '^ Spanish March," as the 
 country between the Pyrenees and the Ebro was 
 named, had been retaken from the successors of 
 Charlemagne by the Moors, the Christian moun- 
 taineers recovered a large portion of this district. 
 Latterly another Christian kingdom added its strength 
 to Asturias and Navarre ; it was that of Castile, 
 which, from its central position in the peninsula, 
 was destined to play a most prominent part in the 
 future history of Spain. 
 
 4. With the death of Charlemagne the great 
 fabric of the Frankish Empire that he had reared 
 
FROM 800 TO 1000 A.D. 35 
 
 crumbled rapidly into fragments. Repeated divisions 
 and subdivisions of the empire among his successors 
 weakened and distracted it, and brought on internal 
 wars, while foreign assailants threatened it on every 
 side. The Normans, or Northmen, from Denmark 
 and Scandinavia, poured in and infested the country 
 as far as Paris, and permanently held the territory 
 known afterwards as Normandy ; the Spanish March 
 was lost again to the Moors on the south ; on the 
 east the German princes arrogated to themselves 
 the right of electing their own sovereigns ; and 
 shortly after the beginning of the tenth century, 
 Conrad I., a duke or count of Franconia, reigned 
 as king of Germany. The conquests of his successor 
 Otho over the Danes, the Slavs, and Hungarians, 
 extended the boundary of the German Empire north 
 to the Elbe and south into Lombardy, where he 
 was soon after acknowledged successor of Charle- 
 magne in Italy, and crowned Emperor of the West 
 at Rome. 
 
 5. The Hungarians, or Magyars, as they call them- 
 selves, with whom the first emperors of Germany 
 had to contend, were a people of Asiatic origin, 
 who, in the year 889, forming a body of fully 40,000 
 families, left their homes in the neighbourhood of 
 the Caspian Sea and made a great exodus to the 
 westward, fighting their way to the central basin 
 of the Danube, and the countries which bordered 
 Pannonia on the north-east. Spreading out in all 
 directions, they extended their conquests from the 
 Carpathian mountains down to Servia, and from the 
 
36 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 Transylvanian Alps to the Alps of Styria on the 
 west, founding that realm on the great central plain 
 of the Danube basin which has outlived the storms 
 of nearly a thousand years. 
 
 6. The history of the Byzantine or Greek Empire, 
 as it was now called, was chiefly characterised by 
 wars with the Arabian powers in the south, to whom 
 Crete and Sicily were lost, and by the inroads of the 
 Bulgarians, a people of Finnish origin, who having 
 conquered the Moesians, established themselves in 
 the country south of the lower Danube. 
 
 7. Towards the close of the tenth century, the 
 Russians begin to emerge from obscurity. Among 
 the enemies of the Greek Empire were the eastern 
 Slavs or Slavonians (the ancestral Russians), part 
 of a group of nations living in eastern Europe, 
 about the sources of the Dnieper and Don rivers, 
 known to the ancient writers as the Sarmatians, who 
 had their chief settlements at Novgorod and Kief, 
 Harassed by warlike neighbours, they sent ambas- 
 sadors, about 862, to the chiefs of the Varangians, 
 or Northmen, beyond the seas, inviting them to 
 their aid. In response came the Scandinavian chief 
 Rurik, at the head of his armed bands, who, from 
 Novgorod first, and then from Kief as capital, ex- 
 tended the embryo empire, till it came in hostile 
 contact with the Greek kingdom on the south. 
 
 8. Another branch of the Slavonic family also 
 begins to take its place as a political power in 
 Europe about this time. The tribes of the Polani 
 dwelt between the rivers Oder and Vistula, and 
 
FROM 800 TO 1000 A.D. 37 
 
 gradually acquired the ascendency over their kindred 
 neighbouring tribes. About the middle of the tenth 
 century their ruler became a convert to Christianity, 
 and under his son Boleslas I., surnamed ^^the Great/' 
 gave unity to the kingdom of Poland, and sustained 
 a successful war with the Germans on the west. 
 CracoWf afterwards the capital, was founded by a 
 Polish prince, Krak, in 700. 
 
 9. In Britain, soon after the period represented in 
 the last sketch, the independent states of the Anglo- 
 Saxon Heptarchy were united by Egbert, king of 
 Wessex (827), into the one kingdom of England. To 
 the dynasty thus founded belonged Alfred the Great, 
 whose exertions in repelling the incessant incursions 
 of the Danes, his defeat of their army at Edrington 
 in Wiltshire, his victories at sea with England's first 
 fleet, and the wise and energetic rule which make 
 his memory dear to all generations of Englishmen, 
 scarcely need be here recalled. 
 
 10. During this time Denmark and Scandinavia 
 were known only by the hordes of freebooters who 
 sallied out thence, making raids on England, the 
 Prankish Empire, and Germany, and taking the lead 
 even in Russia. The result of these expeditions was 
 the introduction, towards the close of the tenth cen- 
 tury, of Christianity into the Scandinavian countries, 
 and from this time their mythical stories, contained 
 in the heroic ^^ sagas " or ^' eddas," give place to real 
 history. 
 
 11. From the time of Ptolemy onward till this 
 period, geographical knowledge had rested at nearly 
 
38 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 the same limits, but now the maritime expeditions 
 of these hardy Northmen were destined to give it 
 a far wider range. Already two northern seamen, 
 named Wolfstan and Othere, had excited interest at 
 King Alfred's court by the story of their voyages 
 through the Baltic to Witland (Prussia) and Estland 
 (Esthonia), and round the North Cape of Europe, 
 in pursuit of the Hval-ros (walrus or whale-horse), 
 to the White Sea. But their discoveries did not end 
 here. The Faroe islands (Faar-oer = sheep islands), 
 with their convenient harbours, became one of their 
 strongholds ; about 867 one of these chieftains, 
 Naddodr by name, driven westward by storms, 
 sighted the mountains of an unknown shore, to 
 which he gave the name of Snowland, the island 
 afterwards known as Iceland. But long before this, 
 in 795, Irish monks had discovered Iceland, and 
 spent a summer there. Some seven years later the 
 Norwegians took permanent possession of Iceland, 
 settling about Reykjavik, the present capital of the 
 island. The Icelanders kept up their character of 
 enterprising sailors, and already, about 876, one 
 of them named Gunbiorn came upon an extensive 
 country, to which, from its great cloak of ice reach- 
 ing down between the black headlands in white 
 glacier arms to the sea, he gave the very apt name 
 of Hvidscerk (*' white shirt "), a name which was 
 unfortunately changed to the inappropriate one of 
 Greenland by Erik the Red, another Icelander who 
 founded (985) the two colonies of the Ostre and 
 Westre Bygd (east and west bays) on its shores. 
 
FROM 800 TO 1000 A.D. 39 
 
 12. The great achievement of the Greenland colo- 
 nists; however, was the discovery of the American 
 continent nearly five centuries before Columbus. In 
 986 Bjarne sailed for Greenland, and, being driven 
 out of his course by northerly winds, discovered an 
 island, which he circumnavigated. About the year 
 994 an expedition under Leif, son of Erik the Red, 
 set sail for this new country. The regions discovered 
 were named Helluland (Slateland), supposed to be 
 Labrador ; Markland, or Woodland, probably Southern 
 Labrador ; and Vinland, a country named from the 
 wild vine growing there, which some identify with 
 Newfoundland, whilst others transfer it to the coast, 
 opposite an island to which the Pilgrim Fathers gave 
 the name of Martha's Vineyard. 
 
 13. Thus, at the period shown in the sixth map, 
 the great Arabian Empire had broken up into a 
 number of separate Mohammedan states, extending 
 from Persia to Spain, and already the Central Asiatic 
 Turks had begun to overrule the power of the Califs 
 in the east ; the Greek Empire had lost still more 
 of its reduced territory, and was harassed on the 
 south by the Saracens, and on the north by the 
 Slavonic peoples of Central Europe, now forming 
 themselves into separate kingdoms, such as Russia 
 and Poland. Germany had also risen to an inde- 
 pendent place, while Charlemagne's great Frank 
 Empire had shrunk to a far smaller area, and was 
 overrun by the Northmen. In Spain, the Christian 
 kingdoms of the northern mountaineers held their 
 own, and were extending their power gradually 
 
40 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 southward against the Moors ; England was now 
 one kingdom, and the hardy Scandinavian seamen 
 had pushed back the clouds of ignorance over the 
 vast region of the North Atlantic, and had reached 
 the shores of the great western continent. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 FROM 1000 TO 1300 A.D. 
 
 I. We have now reached the central stage of the 
 period known as the Middle Ages, which separate the 
 ancient or classic times from the modern. Europe, 
 as we have seen, was fast emerging from the state 
 of barbarism, and the nations of modern times were 
 gradually forming and developing themselves. The 
 Christian Church was striving to extend its bounds 
 in northern Europe, and the Papacy had been rising 
 to great temporal power and influence. Superstition 
 and religious enthusiasm prevailed very extensively, 
 and were manifested in magnificent ecclesiastical 
 buildings and pilgrimages. This zeal rose to its 
 height in Europe when the barbarous Seljuk Turks 
 overran Palestine and destroyed the Holy Sepulchre 
 of Jerusalem, and brought about the great religious 
 wars between the Christian nations of the West 
 and the Mohammedans of the East, known as the 
 Crusades (1096-1270). 
 
 Before touching upon the chief events of these 
 
 wars and their effects on the civilisation of Europe, 
 
 it will be well to glance at the movements which 
 
 were taking place in each State of the known wojld 
 
 at this time. 
 
 41 
 
42 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 2. At the end of the last period we left Persia 
 under the rule of the Ghiznevides. This dynasty 
 had reigned for little more than half a century before 
 the Seljuk Turks began to migrate into the fertile 
 province of Khorassan. These were an offshoot of 
 a number of Asiatic tribes who in 744 had over- 
 whelmed the *^ empire of Kiptchak," as the region 
 north-east of the Caspian was called. Their name 
 they took from their leader, who had held the country 
 about Bokhara. After some conflicts with the Ghiz- 
 nevides they occupied northern Khorassan ; then 
 Balkh and Kharesm (Khiva) fell before them, and ad- 
 vancing southward through Persia they took Karman 
 and Fars. Arrived at Bagdad, the Calif there (whose 
 temporal power was now all but gone, though he 
 was still recognised as the spiritual chief of the 
 Moslems) acknowledged the Turkish leader, and in 
 1060 the conquest of Persia was complete. Later, 
 Melek Shah, the most powerful of the succeeding 
 Seljuk rulers, added Arabia, Asia Minor, and Armenia, 
 besides Syria, Palestine, and the countries beyond the 
 Oxus, to the Seljuk Empire, which at the height of 
 its greatness stretched from the -^gean Sea to India 
 and Tartary. 
 
 3. Egypt at this time was in the hands of the 
 now effeminate Fatimide dynasty, and so remained 
 till the latter part of the twelfth century, when the 
 famous Salah-ed-din, or Saladin, son of the Seljuk 
 governor of Tekrit, on the Tigris, established himself 
 as Sultan of Syria and Egypt. 
 
 4. Algeria was governed by Arabian princes up 
 
^^ OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF 
 
 FROM 1000 TO 1300 A.D. 43 
 
 to the middle of the twelfth century ; Morocco had 
 been formed into a separate state shortly after the 
 beginning of the eleventh century, and the city of 
 that name was founded in 1072. Both of these states 
 were, however, destined to fall before the Moham- 
 medan sect named the Almohades or Unitarians, 
 founded by a native of the Atlas region, to whom 
 Arabs and Berbers flocked. From being a religious 
 body the Almohades became a political power, which 
 mastered all North Africa from Morocco to Tunis, 
 and also extended conquest into Mohammedan Spain 
 as far as the Ebro and Tagus. 
 
 5. In the north of the Spanish Peninsula, soon after 
 the foundation of the kingdom of Castile, another 
 Christian state, that of Aragon, was formed in the 
 basin of the Ebro. These now, with Navarre, waged 
 war with the common enemy, the Moors. 
 
 6. Portugal, the ancient Lusitania, from the Minho 
 to the Tagus, had fallen under the sway of Castile, 
 and in 1095 Henry of Burgundy governed it as a 
 dependent fief of that kingdom ; but after a great 
 victory over the Moors at Ourique, in Alemtejo, his 
 son Alfonso I. was proclaimed king of Portugal by 
 his soldiers. 
 
 In 121 2 a great and decisive battle was fought by 
 the combined forces of Castile, Navarre, Aragon, 
 and Portugal, against the Moors, on the plains of 
 Tolosa, which effectually broke the Almohade power 
 in Spain. The Mohammedan kingdom of Granada, 
 founded shortly after this, was speedily compelled 
 to acknowledge the supremacy of Castile, and 
 
44 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 henceforward all danger from the Moslems was at 
 an end. 
 
 7. When Hugh Capet ascended the Prankish throne 
 towards the close of the tenth century, and first made 
 Paris the capital, the greater part of the land was 
 held by independent lords, and the authority of 
 the kings extended little beyond Paris and Orleans. 
 Louis VI., surnamed the Good (1108-1137), re-extended 
 the royal power over the kingdom, and carried on 
 war with England and Germany. In the latter part 
 of the thirteenth century Navarre was added to the 
 Prankish kingdom. 
 
 8. We have noticed in a former paragraph, that 
 in the ruinous time which followed the breaking up 
 of the empire of Charlemagne, the Northmen had 
 invaded northern Prance, and had subsequently 
 planted themselves firmly in the country, which from 
 them took the name of Normandy. Rolf, or Rollo, 
 the leader of this northern expedition, was the ancestor 
 of the Dukes of Normandy, who were to play such 
 an important part in English history. 
 
 9. The successors of Alfred the Great on the 
 English throne were in constant conflict with the 
 Danes and the Welsh mountaineers, till a more 
 formidable invasion by the former drove Ethelred 
 the Unready to Normandy, and England passed for 
 twenty-eight years under the rule of the Danish kings 
 Sweyn and Canute. With Edward the Confessor, son 
 of Ethelred, the Saxon power was again restored in 
 England (1042), notable events in his reign being the 
 successful wars with the Welsh and Northumbrians, 
 
FROM 1000 TO 1300 A.D. 45 
 
 the advance of an English army into Scotland 
 against Macbeth, and the building of Westminster 
 Abbey. 
 
 10. Harold, the son of the powerful Earl Goodwin 
 of Kent, was raised to the throne on Edward's death, 
 but William, Duke of Normandy, to whom Edward 
 had made a promise of the English crown, asserted 
 his right by an invasion of England (1066). Land- 
 ing at Pevenseyy on the Sussex coast, with 60,000 
 men, he advanced as far as Hastings. Harold met 
 the invader on the heath, where the village of Battle 
 now stands ; in the fight Harold was slain and 
 William ^^the Conqueror" became king, transferring 
 the crown of England from the Saxon to the Norman 
 line. Twenty years, however, were required to com- 
 plete the conquest, for the Saxons maintained an 
 unequal resistance, retiring to the forests, and as 
 outlaws became the heroes of popular legends like 
 that of Robin Hood. The Normans in turn became 
 absorbed in the stronger Saxon element ; even their 
 language disappeared, leaving only its traces. 
 
 11. The Scots and Picts had gradually coalesced 
 into one people under King Kenneth (843), who 
 established his capital at Forteviot, in Strathearn, 
 formerly the centre of the Pictish kingdom. Under 
 Malcolm Canmore, who ruled at the time of the 
 Norman Conquest, and his successors, the country 
 enjoyed comparative quiet ; but towards the end of 
 the thirteenth century the great struggle with Eng- 
 land began in which the heroic names of Wallace 
 and Bruce are prominent — a contest which termi- 
 
46 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 nated in securing the independence of Scotland on 
 the field of Bannockburn. 
 
 12. Norway was brought for a short time under the 
 sway of the Danish conqueror Knut, or Canute the 
 Great, but thenceforward continued to be governed by 
 native kings. Sweden first emerges as an independ- 
 ent kingdom in the beginning of the twelfth century, 
 when Gothland was united with it, and soon after we 
 find its Christian kings subjugating and converting the 
 pagan Finns and adding their land to the kingdom. 
 
 13. Germany during this period was troubled by 
 the dissensions of the two great rival parties in the 
 empire, who are best known, in the Italian form of 
 their names, as the Ghibbelines and Guelphs — the 
 one formed of the supporters of imperial authority, 
 the other opposed to it, and representing the church 
 and municipal rights. These parties took their 
 names from the rival dukes of Franconia and Saxony, 
 whose war-cries were the family names of Waiblingen 
 and Welf (Wolf), corrupted into the forms above 
 given by the Italians, in whose country their con- 
 flicts found their chief scene. 
 
 14. Poland at this time was mainly occupied in 
 wars with the pagan Prussians, who, for fear of 
 losing their freedom, resisted every effort at con- 
 version ; and it was not until the Teutonic knights 
 had been invited by Poland to aid in their sub- 
 jugation that the Christian faith was established in 
 Prussia. The knights in turn, however, became for- 
 midable enemies of Poland, and gained for themselves 
 the countries of Prussia, Livonia, and Courland. 
 
FROM 1000 TO 1300 A.D. 47 
 
 15. Russia had meanwhile fallen from its condition 
 as a united realm, and was held by a number of petty, 
 princes, whose quarrels kept it in a state of anarchy 
 and weakness. 
 
 16. The Greek Empire in the earlier part of this 
 period was harassed on all sides — by the Arabs, the 
 Seljuk Turks, and the northern barbarians ; and in 
 Italy the Normans had reduced Byzantine territory 
 to the district of Otranto. The twelve sons of a 
 knight of Normandy named Tancred de Hauteville, 
 whose estates were insufficient to support such a 
 numerous family, sailed to seek their fortune in the 
 Italian wars. One of them, with a small band of 
 followers, gained possession of Apulia ; another 
 brother, named Roger, conquered the island of 
 Sicily. The son of this knight, Roger II., ultimately 
 obtained possession of all his uncle's territories on 
 the mainland, and thus was formed the kingdom of 
 the Two Sicilies. 
 
 17. We have already referred to the lagoon islands 
 of the Adriatic coast, which gave a refuge to the 
 eastern inhabitants from the devastating wars of 
 the North Italian plains, and to the gradual rise of 
 the settlement of Venezia or Venice, The first form 
 of government of the island state was republican ; 
 which, by and by, gave way to a magistracy in which 
 a duke or ^Moge " was invested with undivided 
 authority (697). Keeping up a close alliance with 
 Constantinople, the naval importance and commerce 
 of the little state increased year by year. It was 
 after the eleventh century had begun, however, that 
 
48 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 the commercial relations of Venice gradually extended 
 east and west, to the Black Sea, and all the Medi- 
 terranean coastlands. The territorial possessions of 
 Venice were also enlarged by the conquest of Dal- 
 matia, Istria, and Croatia. 
 
 In Central Italy the temporal power and possessions 
 of the Pope of Rome had been spreading till they 
 reached thence to Bologna, Ravenna, and Ancona. 
 
 1 8. In 1073 the great Pope Gregory had received 
 a supplication for aid from the Greek Emperor 
 against the Turks, to which he cordially responded, 
 and thus the grand idea of a Christian expedition 
 against the Saracens was first entertained. His suc- 
 cessor Urban revived the design, and after a council 
 held at Clermont in France in 1095, the expedition 
 was resolved upon. Thousands upon thousands, 
 from the remotest corners of Europe, hurried to 
 engage in the holy war, and, each wearing as a badge 
 the sign of the cross, gave the name ^^ crusade" 
 to the movement. First one, then a second great 
 army, led by Peter the Hermit, set out across Hun- 
 gary and Bulgaria for Constantinople ; a third and 
 a fourth horde followed, though it was not till later 
 that the real Crusaders, the nobility and yeomanry 
 of Europe, set forth. In this way not fewer than 
 600,000 men gathered at Constantinople, whence 
 they crossed to Asia Minor, into Mesopotamia and 
 Syria, besieging and taking Antioch ; two years 
 afterwards, the remnant of this great army delivered 
 Jerusalem from the hands of the infidel, and Godfrey 
 of Bouillon was elected king of Palestine (1099). 
 
FROM 1000 TO 1300 A.D. 49 
 
 19. Forty years later, a second crusade, consisting 
 of two vast armies from France and Germany, proved 
 a total failure. Now Saladin, the Seljuk sultan of 
 Egypt, invaded Palestine, and, compelling Jerusalem 
 to capitulate, gave the death-blow to the Christian 
 kingdom. This led to a third crusade, uniting the 
 strength of Germany, France, and England, in which 
 the important city of Acre was besieged and taken 
 (1191), though no further conclusion was reached than 
 that of a treaty granting liberty to the people of the 
 west to make free pilgrimages to the Holy Sepulchre. 
 
 20. The Crusaders had now changed their object 
 from a religious to a secular one ; the fourth expedition 
 ( 1 202-1 204), in which the Franks and the Venetians 
 joined, advancing on Constantinople, took that city, 
 and having mastered the provinces, divided the whole 
 into four parts — Baldwin, Count of Flanders, being 
 made emperor, and the Venetians receiving the coast- 
 lands of the Adriatic and ^gean. A fifth crusade, 
 led by Frederick of Germany (1228), terminated in 
 the cession of Palestine to that emperor ; a sixth 
 was called forth by the irruption of a new race of 
 Turks into Syria, but Louis IX. of France, who 
 led it, was utterly defeated ; he himself was captured, 
 and only obtained his release on paying a heavy 
 ransom to the Sultan of Egypt. Still a seventh 
 crusade was begun by Louis (1270), and carried on 
 after his death by Prince Edward of England, but 
 nothing of importance resulted, save that the Templars 
 and other military knights retained, for a few years 
 longer, possession of Acre and some other towns. 
 
50 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 21. By bringing the civilisation of the east and 
 west into contact, and removing the prejudices of 
 ignorance, relations of advantage, if not of sympathy, 
 were opened up between those different regions ; 
 commerce between east and west received a great 
 impulse, and other great social changes were brought 
 about. 
 
 22. While the wars with the Saracens were occupy- 
 ing all minds in Europe, vast changes of dominion 
 were brewing in Asia. Towards the middle of the 
 twelfth century, a Mongol chief named Yesukai 
 Bahadur ruled over some thirty or forty clans who 
 dwelt between the river Amur and the Great Wall 
 of China, far on the east of Asia. On his death, 
 his son Temujin, only thirteen years of age, assumed 
 his place, but the clans, refusing to acknowledge 
 him, chose another chief, and compelled the rightful 
 heir to retire to Karakorti^n^ and place himself there 
 under the protection of the monarch of Keraeit. In 
 the service of this king, Temujin distinguished him- 
 self greatly in conflicts with neighbouring tribes, and 
 obtained the king's daughter in marriage. The king 
 of Karakorum, becoming jealous of his growing in- 
 fluence, ordered Temujin to be assassinated, but he 
 escaped to his own country at the head of a consider- 
 able following. Raising an army there, he marched 
 against his father-in-law, whom he vanquished (1203), 
 seized upon the dominions of Karakorum, and after 
 a short time made himself master of East Mongolia. 
 Assuming now the name of Genghiz Khan ( = Khan 
 of Khans), he turned his forces south towards China, 
 
FROM 1000 TO 1300 A.D. 51 
 
 conquered the northern Chinese region of Khatai, 
 scaled the Great Wall, and after a long series of 
 campaigns captured Pekin in 121 5. The victorious 
 Mongols now pressed westward into Turkestan, the 
 vast region stretching between Lake Lob and the 
 Sea of Aral, and reached the Jihun (Oxus) on the 
 borders of Kharesm or Khiva. Seven hundred thou- 
 sand of his cavalry burst into Khiva in 1219; 
 Samarkand^ Bokhara, and all the chief cities of the 
 land, were taken ; next his hordes overran Persia, 
 driving out the last of the Seljuk kings ; they crossed 
 the Caucasus into Russia and routed the Russians 
 in a great battle near the Sea of Azov ; after destroy- 
 ing Riazatty Moscow, and the other settlements, they 
 carried victory into Poland and Hungary. Nor were 
 these Mongols less successful in the east, for the 
 whole of southern Asia, and India as far as the Satlej, 
 was laid waste before them. 
 
 23. The sons and grandsons of Genghiz Khan still 
 further extended the huge empire. One of the latter, 
 named Kublai Khan, availing himself of an invitation 
 from a king of the Sung dynasty in China to aid him 
 against the Manchu Tatars, entered China (1260) 
 with a great army and drove out the Manchus ; but 
 afterwards overthrew the Sung dynasty and con- 
 quered all southern China, extending his dominion 
 as far as the Strait of Malacca. The court of Kublai 
 Khan, the magnificence of which is described by 
 Marco Polo, was attended by learned men from India, 
 Persia, and even from Europe ; and his rule was a 
 most beneficent one. During it the noble work of 
 
52 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 the Grand Canal of China was completed, connect- 
 ing Tientsin, the port of Pekin, with Hang-chau on 
 the lower course of the great river Yangtze, a distance 
 as great as from Land's End to the Shetland Isles. 
 Even still, a grain fleet, with great quantities of rice 
 for the supply of the capital, passes every year from 
 the south by this route, avoiding the storms and 
 pirates of the coast. 
 
 24. Thus before the middle of the thirteenth 
 century the vast Mongol Empire had stretched out 
 from China to Poland and Hungary, over all Asia 
 except India and Asia Minor — an empire which far 
 surpassed in extent any that had yet been known 
 on the surface of the globe ; and yet one which was 
 so thoroughly organised under strict laws, that it was 
 said one might travel from end to end of it without 
 danger. 
 
 25. Among the great changes of power brought 
 about by the Mongol invasion was that of the re- 
 moval of the Oguzian Turks, who retreated before it 
 from the steppes east of the Caspian to the mountains 
 of Armenia. Othman or Osman, a chief of the tribe, 
 on the destruction of the Seljuk power, obtained 
 possession of Bithynia, and grew so strong as to be 
 able to attack the Asiatic portion of the sinking 
 Byzantine empire with success, founding there (1299) 
 the subsequently great empire of the Ottoman or 
 Osmanli Turks, as they are named from him. 
 
 26. In the course of his conquest Genghiz Khan 
 had carried off multitudes of western Asiatics as 
 slaves. Twelve thousand of these, mostly Turks and 
 
FROM 1000 TO 1300 A.D. 53 
 
 Circassians, were bought by the Sultan of Egypt 
 (a successor of Saladin), who formed them into a 
 body of troops. From being servants these well- 
 armed slaves rose to be masters in Egypt, and placed 
 one of their own number in the sultanate (1254), thus 
 founding the Mameluke (or slave) dynasty in Egypt, 
 which lasted for nearly three centuries, bringing the 
 country again into great prosperity and power. 
 
 27. Thus about the year 1300, at the period re- 
 presented in the seventh little chart, the relic of the 
 once great Arabian Empire had been restricted to 
 its original seat, and to the western region of North 
 Africa, all else having fallen into the hands of the 
 Turks. The Calif of Bagdad had taken refuge under 
 the protection of the Mamelukes of Egypt, retaining 
 his spiritual power only ; the Ommiade califate in 
 Spain had long fallen ; the Mohammedan princes 
 now held the kingdom of Granada only, as vassals to 
 the Christian court of Castile ; Navarre, on the north, 
 had become an appanage of the crown of France, to 
 which Normandy and Poitou had been annexed. 
 
 The English under Edward I. had incorporated 
 Wales after ten years' contest, and Scotland was 
 fighting for independence, led by Wallace and Bruce ; 
 Anglo-Norman adventurers (Fitzgeralds, Butlers, and 
 others) had established themselves among the native 
 clans of Ireland. Denmark, Sweden, and Norway 
 were separate states, and the Norse colonies across 
 the Atlantic had reached the most flourishing period 
 of their commerce, the old literature of historical 
 sagas or tales and poems being zealously cultivated. 
 
54 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 In central Europe, Poland and Hungary had been 
 brought to the verge of ruin by the Mongol inva- 
 sions, which had swept away for the time the divided 
 principalities of Russia. In the south, the old Greek 
 Empire was fast sinking, and assaults on it by the 
 Turks had begun. 
 
 28. During the earlier part of the period that we 
 have been considering, there lived and travelled a 
 man who may be called the great geographer of 
 the Middle Ages, as Ptolemy was of ancient times. 
 This was the Arabian Edrisi, a man of noble birth, 
 born at Ceuta, in North Africa, in 1099. He studied 
 at Cordova, then the great centre of commerce and 
 the seat of learning of the western Califate, and 
 afterwards he travelled to Constantinople and Asia 
 Minor, Egypt and Morocco, through Spain, and to 
 the coasts of France and England, finally settling 
 with King Roger of Sicily, there to put into shape 
 the materials which this enlightened ruler had been 
 gathering for fifteen years from travellers to all parts 
 of the known world — itineraries, measurements, and 
 observations of all kinds. Here Edrisi drew on a 
 great globe of silver, and described in a book, all 
 that was then known of the earth, from the '' Sea of 
 Darkness" west of the Spanish peninsula to the 
 **Sea of Pitchy Darkness," which was believed to 
 lie east of Asia. He divided the known world, like 
 Ptolemy, into seven belts of climate, from the hottest 
 in the south to the coldest in the far north. 
 
 29. Later, as we have seen, the crusades brought 
 the western and eastern nations into close contact. 
 
FROM 1000 TO 1300 A.D. 55 
 
 and could not fail to extend the geographical know- 
 ledge of both sides of the civilised world. Then 
 the terrible march of the Mongols over Asia and 
 eastern Europe drew all eyes in that direction, and 
 ambassadors and conciliatory embassies were sent 
 from all the western powers to the court of the 
 great Khan. John de Piano Carpini, a Franciscan 
 monk of Naples, was the Pope's envoy to the new 
 potentate, and he brought back from the Mongol 
 court a striking narrative of his adventures in the 
 rigorous climate of Central Asia, describing also the 
 great plains east of the Caspian, strewn with the 
 bones and skulls of the victims of the devastating 
 warfare that had just passed over them, and giving 
 for the first time to Europeans a true account of 
 the Tatars and their manner of living. William de 
 Rubruquis, also a Minorite friar, was sent into Asia 
 by Louis of France (1253-54), and he too reached 
 the court of the Khan at Karakorum after crossing 
 the great deserts, which he compared to an ocean 
 for extent. 
 
 30. Among those who were at this time attracted 
 towards the newly known lands of Asia were two 
 merchants of far-reaching Venice, Nicolo and Matteo 
 Polo, who carried their trading venture past the 
 Euxine and the Volga, round the Caspian to Bokhara, 
 where, meeting with some ambassadors going south- 
 wards to the court of Kublai Khan, they accompanied 
 them to Kemenfuy the summer residence of the ruler. 
 They were well received, and returned to Europe 
 as envoys to the Pope, bearing a request for one 
 
56 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 hundred Europeans well versed in arts and sciences 
 to instruct the Mongols. Finding it impossible to 
 fulfil their mission, they returned in 1271, taking with 
 them Marco, the son of Nicolo Polo, who commended 
 himself to the Khan by his skill and learning, and 
 was made his envoy to several of the other Asiatic 
 rulers, to China, Assam, Tibet, Bengal, and Pegu. 
 In this service Marco Polo gained the material for 
 his book, which is the chief source of information 
 regarding the state of Asia at the close of the thir- 
 teenth century. Having thus passed seventeen years 
 in travelling through kingdoms which no European 
 had ever before seen, from the high table-lands 
 of Central Asia to the great rivers and teeming 
 population of the lowlands of China, he obtained 
 permission to join the escort of a Mongol princess 
 travelling to the west of Persia. He accordingly set 
 out from China (1291), and w^as the first European to 
 sail on the China Sea, and to pass through what we 
 now know as the Strait of Malacca to the Indian 
 Ocean. He came to Teheran in Persia ; hearing, on 
 arrival there, that Kublai Khan was dead, he returned 
 to Venice (1295), bringing much wealth and many 
 strange objects from the unknown regions he had 
 visited. To Marco Polo is due not only the opening 
 up to accurate knowledge of the vast region of the 
 Central Asiatic continent, but also the disclosure of 
 the chief of the great islands which lie beyond it. 
 Before his journey the existence of Japan, which he 
 called Zipangu, had not even been suspected, any 
 more than that of the archipelago to the south-east 
 
FROM 1000 TO 1300 A.D. 57 
 
 of Asia. His book, as might be expected, created an 
 immense interest in the learned world of the west, 
 and was of inestimable value in stimulating geo- 
 graphical research, as we shall afterwards see. 
 
 31. But whilst Venice opened up new paths to 
 commerce towards the east, Genoa, which found her- 
 self excluded from these profitable pastures through 
 the jealousy of her countrymen, looked westward, 
 and sought to open up a new road to India by 
 sailing through the Strait of Gibraltar and round 
 the southern extremity of Africa. It was Genoese 
 who first, in modern times, ventured upon the 
 Atlantic ; it was they who discovered the Canaries, 
 Madeira, and the Azores, and who first felt their 
 way along the west coast of Africa. Tedisio Doria 
 and the brothers Vivaldi, who left Genoa in three 
 small vessels, in 1291, had no other object than 
 the discovery of an ocean highway to India, and 
 we have good reason to believe that at least one of 
 their vessels sailed to the Senegal, if not beyond it. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 FROM 1300 TO 1500 A.D. 
 
 1. The death of the emperor Kublai Khan was the 
 signal for great changes of empire in Asia. In China 
 the power of the Tatar ruler, who had grown effemi- 
 nate under the unaccustomed luxuries of a more 
 civilised state, was overthrown by a revolt of the 
 Chinese, and the Ming or bright dynasty arose. 
 China was again united under its own sovereign 
 at the court of Nanking, and Chinese supremacy 
 was recognised in the surrounding countries of 
 Korea, Manchuria, and Mongolia on the north, and 
 perhaps also by the Grand Lama of Tibet. 
 
 2. A second great conqueror-hero now appeared in 
 western Asia. This was Timur-leng, so called from 
 his lameness (vulg. Tamerlane), a descendant of the 
 family of Genghiz Khan, and a chief of the division 
 of his great empire, known as Jagatai^ or Turkestan 
 north of the Amu river, who had reunited some of 
 its independent sections under his sway. Ambitious 
 of restoring this kingdom to its former power and 
 extent, he first reduced the rebellious prince of Herat, 
 and afterwards invading Seistan and Mazanderan, in 
 Persia, subdued all the districts east of the Euphrates 
 
 from Tiflis to Shiraz. 
 
 58 
 
FROM 1300 TO 1500 A.D. 59 
 
 3. While engaged in this southern campaign his 
 unprotected northern territories were invaded by 
 the Khan of Kiptchak. Hastening home, Timur 
 speedily drove out the invaders, and pursued them 
 westward, almost annihilating the Kiptchak army 
 in a great battle on the Bielaya (a tributary of the 
 Kama) in 1391. Still advancing westward, he now 
 passed through the gates of Derbendy and thence 
 northward by the Volga as far as Moscow, leaving 
 death and desolation in his track. A few years later 
 he turned his conquering army towards India, and 
 going by the Khaibar Pass descended into the plains, 
 fought a great battle before Delhi and took that 
 city, advancing afterwards beyond it to the Ganges. 
 Returning with immense spoils, he expended these in 
 adorning his capital of Samarkand, 
 
 4. A year later Timur made a new expedition to the 
 south-west, attacking and overthrowing the Egyptian 
 Empire in Syria, capturing the towns of Aleppo, Baal- 
 bek, and Damascus. He next attacked the Turkish 
 possessions in Asia Minor, and completely routed the 
 Sultan Bayazet near Angora, and captured his person. 
 On his return homeward Timur conquered Georgia, 
 and by way of Merv and Balkh again reached Samar- 
 kand. A great invasion of China was next projected 
 by the conqueror, and had actively begun, when he 
 died of a fever caught on the banks of the Jihun 
 
 (1405)- 
 
 5. While Timur was beginning his conquests in Asia, 
 
 the Ottoman Turks had gained a footing in Europe by 
 taking Gallipoli, and the Greek Empire was reduced 
 
6o SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 to the districts round Constantinople. The power of 
 Servia was annihilated on the bloody field of Kosovo- 
 polye ('^ plain of blackbirds"), to the west of Prishtina 
 (1389); and the decisive victory over the Hungarians, 
 won seven years later at Nicopoli, opened Central 
 Europe to the inroads of the Turks. The great defeat 
 of the Sultan by Timur in Asia gave Constantinople a 
 respite for fifty years. Recovering from this defeat, 
 the Turks now mastered Macedonia and Greece. 
 Constantinople was stormed in 1453, and with it fell 
 the last relic of the empire of the Romans. Before 
 the close of the fifteenth century the Turkish Empire 
 in Europe had been extended over all the Balkan 
 Peninsula, and included, besides this, the northern 
 shores of the Black Sea, with Dalmatia, and Otranto 
 in Italy. 
 
 6. During this period Hungary recovered from the' 
 wounds inflicted by the Mongol invaders, and became 
 a firmly established State : at the head of it was 
 Matthias Corvinus, the greatest of Hungarian kings, 
 who raised the cavalry force known as the Hussars 
 (IIus2;ar=ihe twentieth, from kusjs= 20, since one man 
 in each village was enrolled out of every twenty), and 
 with their aid the independence of Hungary was 
 maintained against the advancing Turks. 
 
 7. Towards the middle of the fourteenth century, 
 when the fierce energy of the Mongols was declining, 
 the principalities of Russia began to shake off the 
 yoke to which they had been subjected, and to strive 
 among themselves for the supremacy ; the princes 
 of Moscow and Tver were the strongest, the former 
 
FROM 1300 TO 1500 A.D. 6i 
 
 ultimately becoming the chief. The first great step 
 towards liberation was gained in a victory over the 
 Mongol Khan on the banks of the Don (1380); before 
 Timiir's invasion. It is, however, to Ivan III. (1462- 
 1505), surnamed the Great, that the Russian Empire 
 owes its true foundation ; under his skilful guidance 
 the petty principalities were united into one, and their 
 strength turned against the Mongol khanates of the 
 south and east (Kazan, Astrakhan, Krim Tartary, and 
 dismembered Kiptchak), and against the Lithuanians 
 of the north-west. He married Zoe, the daughter of 
 the Byzantine Emperor, and thus paved the way for 
 the introduction of European civilisation. He also 
 introduced the two-headed Byzantine eagle as the 
 Russian arms, an emblem in connection with which 
 certain pretensions are still remembered. 
 
 8. In the earlier part of this period Poland was 
 engaged in repelling the attack of the Teutonic knights, 
 who had been engaged in a crusade for enforcing 
 Christianity on the people of the southern shores of 
 the Baltic, and had thereby acquired possession of 
 Prussia, Livonia, and Courland, but who were finally 
 overthrown. Subsequently the Polish crown passed 
 to Jagello, a grand-duke of Lithuania, the founder 
 of the illustrious dynasty of the Jagellons, and for the 
 first time Lithuania was united to Poland. 
 
 9. In Germany the house of Hapsburg had been 
 rising into power, and afterwards held the throne of 
 the German Empire almost uninterruptedly. 
 
 The period is marked chiefly by the intrigues of the 
 popes, the Roman Church having gradually merged 
 
62 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 its spiritual aspect into a widespread machinery 
 of external government. This spiritual decay was 
 naturally followed by those corruptions and abuses 
 which began to be denounced by such men as the 
 Bohemian reformer and martyr John Huss, whose 
 followers subsequently took such terrible revenge in 
 the insurrections known as the Hussite Wars. 
 
 10. This time is also memorable as that of the 
 contest for independence carried on by the Swiss 
 mountaineers against the Austrian power, and the for- 
 mation of the Confederation of the Cantons, which 
 successfully established its independence in many 
 battles, from that of Morgarten (13 15) to that of Moral 
 
 (1476). 
 
 11. In France a great part of the fourteenth century 
 was disturbed by the constant wars with Edward III. 
 of England, who laid claim to the French throne in 
 right of his mother ; now were fought the battle of 
 Crecy (1346), where the Black Prince gained his crest, 
 and that of Poitiers (1356), in which King John was 
 taken prisoner — victories which cut down the flower 
 of the French nobility. After a pause during the 
 minority of Richard II. the war was renewed ; Henry V. 
 won the great victory of Agincourt (141 5) ; but four- 
 teen years later, when the English had advanced 
 to Orleansy a reaction came ; Joan of Arc inspired 
 courage into the hearts of the besieged, and became 
 the dread of the previously triumphant English. Not 
 many years later the English lost all their acquisi- 
 tions with the exception of the town of Calais, for the 
 disastrous civil contests, known as the Wars of the 
 
FROM 1300 TO 1500 A.D. 63 
 
 Roses, had broken out in England and divided its 
 strength. 
 
 12. In the northern countries, after many feuds and 
 changes of territory, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway 
 were first united as one by the treaty of Calmar{i'^()'])y 
 under Margaret of Denmark. Iceland passed with 
 Norway under the new sovereign ; but all com- 
 munication with the Greenland colonies appears to 
 have ceased soon after this date, and they seem to 
 have been completely forgotten for more than three 
 centuries ; the fearful pestilence which had ravaged 
 northern Europe reached them about the beginning 
 of the fifteenth century, sweeping off the greater part 
 of the colonists, and leaving the rest a prey to the 
 attacks of the Eskimo, or Skrellings as they were 
 named by the Norwegians. The very site of the 
 colonies was lost till quite recently. 
 
 13. We come now to the Spanish Peninsula, where 
 great events were in progress, and where that spirit of 
 adventure and discovery was being fostered which 
 was to add a new hemisphere to the known world. 
 When we last glanced at the changes of power in 
 Spain, the Mohammedan Moors had been restricted 
 to the vassal kingdom of Granada, in the south of the 
 Peninsula, whence they were carrying on a chivalrous 
 warfare with the kings of Castile. The kingdom of 
 Aragon was rapidly spreading outward ; the Balearic 
 Isles, Sicily, and Sardinia were added to it before the 
 beginning of the fourteenth century, and soon after- 
 wards all Naples and southern Italy were brought 
 under its dominion. With the marriage of Ferdinand 
 
64 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 of Aragon with Isabella queen of Castile (1469) began 
 the consolidation of Spain into one great empire. 
 Granada was conquered; and all those of the Moors 
 who refused to adopt Christianity were expelled from 
 the Peninsula (1492). Twenty years later the king- 
 dom of Navarre, in the north, was seized upon by 
 Ferdinand, so that about the close of the fifteenth 
 century Spain was one united kingdom from the 
 Pyrenees to Gibraltar. 
 
 14. Portugal meanwhile had maintained its inde- 
 pendence, and was steadily rising to the highest place 
 as the greatest maritime power in Europe. Already 
 in 141 5 the Portuguese, taking the aggressive against 
 the Moors, captured from them the town of CeutUy on 
 the African coast, and established themselves there. 
 Prince Henry, son of King John I., distinguished 
 himself greatly in this conquest, and on his return 
 took up his residence at Sagres, close to Cape St. 
 Vincent. His mariners, in their sea-fights with the 
 Moors, had sailed into parts of the ocean long be- 
 lieved to be inaccessible, and Prince Henry's ambi- 
 tion for discovery had been awakened. Forming an 
 observatory at Sagres, he gathered there the sons of 
 the nobility of Portugal, and had them trained in 
 the sciences necessary for navigation. Rumours of 
 the gold-yielding coasts of Guinea had been gathered 
 from the Moors, and the thoughts of adventurers 
 were turned thither. 
 
 15. The voyagers sent out southward doubled Cape 
 Bojador, on the African coast, in 1433 ; and in 1441 
 Cape Blanco was reached. In the following year 
 
FROM 1300 TO 1500 A.D. 65 
 
 Nuno TristSo sighted Cape Verd, whose luxuriant 
 vegetation for ever silenced those who looked upon 
 the equatorial regions as an uninhabitable waste 
 scorched up by the heat of the sun. In 1455 the 
 Venetian Ca da MostO; on his return from a visit to 
 the Senegal and Gambia, discovered the Cape Verd 
 islands, which were immediately taken possession of 
 by the Portuguese. The last expedition which sailed 
 under the auspices of Prince Henry was commanded 
 by Pedro de Cintra, 1462, who discovered Sierra 
 Leone. 
 
 Thus before Prince Henry's death the coast was 
 known as far as Sierra Leone, and the work he had 
 set on foot was eagerly taken up by others. The 
 coast, which was named from the grain of the Mele- 
 guetta pepper, was next explored, and Fernando Po 
 reached the island which now bears his name, though 
 he called it Ilha Formosa, the beautiful isle. Each 
 new voyager surpassed his predecessor. Joao de 
 Santarem and Pedro d'Escobar were the first to cross 
 the equator, in 1471. Diego Cam, in 1482, found the 
 mouth of the huge river we now know as the Congo, 
 and there set up the pillar to mark his discovery, from 
 which the river itself for a long time was known as 
 the Rio do Padrao ; sailing still farther south, he 
 explored the coast nearly to the southern tropic. 
 Following him two years later came Bartholomew 
 Diaz, who passed on beyond this limit to the cape 
 named Das Voltas, near the Orange River ; whence 
 driven out to sea by storms, he regained the coast at 
 Algoa Bay, and planted a cross on the islet there, still 
 
66 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 known as St. Croix. He had thus rounded the south- 
 western promontory of Africa, and from the violent 
 weather he had experienced it was named Cabo Tor- 
 mentoso (the Cape of Storms), a name afterwards 
 changed by King John of Portugal to the more 
 auspicious one of Cabo de bona Esperanza, the Cape 
 of Good Hope. 
 
 i6. One of the vague legends of mediaeval times was 
 that of a rich and magnificent kingdom, the sovereign 
 and priest of which came to be known in the west as 
 ^' Prester John " ; but the locality of this kingdom was 
 undefined, and it was sometimes supposed to be in 
 Asia, sometimes in Africa. The reports concerning it 
 had, however, made a profound impression in Europe, 
 and led the adventurous Portuguese to search for it in 
 Africa. In this quest Abyssinia was visited by Pedro 
 de Covilham, an emissary of King John of Portugal, 
 a few years after the southern cape of Africa was 
 discovered, and thus close relations were begun with 
 this part of Africa which lasted for several centuries. 
 But, before entering Abyssinia, the Portuguese emis- 
 sary had visited Ormuz, Goa, and Malabar, and, 
 crossing the Indian Ocean, he had landed on the 
 Sofala coast, rich in mines of gold and silver, and 
 identified by some as the land of Ophir to which 
 Solomon sent his ships. It was then Europeans first 
 heard of the powerful kingdom of the Monomotapa, to 
 the south of the Zambesi. 
 
 17. Lisbon at this time had become the centre of 
 all that was speculative and adventurous in maritime 
 discovery. Here there lived an Italian of Genoa, 
 
FROM 1300 TO 1500 A.D. 67 
 
 named Colon (Columbus), who while employed in the 
 construction of charts and maps, conceived the idea 
 of sailing westward to the Indies of Marco Polo. 
 Toscanelli, the great Florentine astronomer, had 
 sanctioned such a project in a letter written in 1474 ; 
 and Columbus was confirmed in his views by the 
 discovery, on the Azores, of pieces of carved wood, 
 and even of a boat containing the bodies of men 
 whose features differed from those of Africans or 
 Europeans, and who had evidently been drifted ashore 
 from some distant country in the west. He ultimately 
 found the means of laying his scheme before King 
 John. The Portuguese sovereign having decided 
 against the venture, Columbus, disappointed but not 
 despairing, turned to England and then to Spain, 
 and after eight years of hoping at length was put in 
 command of three small vessels, only one of which 
 was decked. With these he set sail from the bar of 
 Suites, near Palos on the Rio Tinto, in August 1492. 
 After a month spent in refitting at the Canaries he 
 ventured out into the unknown seas, and, disregarding 
 the fears and disaffection of his crew, bore steadily 
 westward. 
 
 On the nth of October, says Columbus in his diary, 
 ^^the sailors of the caravel Pinta saw a reed and a 
 stick ; and they picked up another small bit of carved 
 wood, and also a piece of cane, some other fragments 
 of land vegetation, and a small board. At these 
 indications they drew in their breath and were all 
 full of gladness. At ten o'clock at night the admiral, 
 while standing on the quarter deck, saw a light. 
 
68 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 although it was so indistinct that he could not say 
 with certainty that it was land; but he called to 
 Pero Gutierrez, the king's groom of the chambers, 
 and told him there was land in sight, and desired 
 him to look out, and so he did, and saw it." At 
 two o'clock after midnight, the land appeared at two 
 leagues' distance. They struck all sail and lay to 
 until Friday the 12th of October, when they went on 
 shore in an armed barge and took possession in the 
 name of the king and queen of Spain ; the island 
 was called Guanahani in the Indian language, but 
 Columbus gave it the name San Salvador. This islet 
 was either Wailing or Samana Cay in the Lucayos 
 or Bahama group. Continuing westward, Columbus 
 discovered Cuba and Hayti or San Domingo, and on 
 the latter, which he called Hispaniola, he left a small 
 colony and set sail again for Spain, where he was 
 now received with joy and admiration. 
 
 18. In the belief that the eastern side of Asia had 
 been reached, the new lands were collectively named 
 the West Indies. In September of next year Columbus 
 set sail again for the west from Cadiz with seventeen 
 ships and a strong force, and on this voyage added 
 the Caribee Islands diiid Jamaica to his discoveries. In 
 a third voyage, in 1498, he steered more to the south, 
 and found the island of Trinidad, and the mouth of 
 the Orinoco river, landing in the Gulf of Paria. 
 
 The success of Columbus had naturally inflamed 
 many with the passion for discovery; among those 
 who first set out on the path he had opened up to 
 the west, was Amerigo Vespucci, a naval astronomer 
 
FROM 1300 TO 1500 A.D. 69 
 
 of Florence, who sailed with Admiral Ojeda from 
 Cadiz in 1499, and with him explored the coast from 
 Trinidad westward, discovering the lake of Maracaybo; 
 they gave the name Venezuela (little Venice) to a 
 village built on piles at the entrance to the lake which 
 reminded them of Venice, a name which afterwards 
 spread to the whole country. It was Amerigo who 
 first proclaimed the fact that the newly discovered 
 countries had no connection with Asia, but formed a 
 "New World," which geographers, soon after the 
 publication of his narrative, named "America." 
 Next year, Pinzon, a companion of Columbus, sailed 
 south, discovering the mouth of the Amazon, and 
 doubling the promontory called Cape San Roque. 
 
 19. Meanwhile the Portuguese had been vigorously 
 following up their African expeditions, and had made 
 a discovery only second to that of the new continent 
 in the west. On the return of Bartholomew Diaz 
 from the Cape of Storms, King John chose Vasco da 
 Gama, an intrepid mariner of high birth, to search for 
 a southern passage to India. With four vessels, and 
 provided with letters to all potentates that might be 
 met with, among others to the mythical " Prester 
 John," the little fleet left Lisbon in July 1497, and 
 reached the inlet we now know as Table Bay, near the 
 Cape of Good Hope, in November of that year. A 
 mutiny of his crew had to be suppressed before he 
 could sail round the south of Africa. On Christmas 
 day the land which was thence named ^^ Natal'* was 
 seen, and presently the known coasts of Mozambique 
 came in view. Reaching the Arab port of Melinde, 
 
70 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 north of Zanzibar, an Indian pilot was taken on board, 
 under whose guidance the Indian Ocean was safely 
 crossed to the port of Calicut in India. The Arab 
 merchants here, fearing interference with their com- 
 merce, incited the Hindus against the Portuguese, and 
 Gama had to fight his way out of the port. 
 
 20. Soon after he had again cast anchor in the 
 Tagus the Portuguese king resolved to follow up the 
 discovery of the new route by sending out a strong 
 force to establish settlements in India ; and a fleet 
 of thirteen vessels under Pedro Cabral set sail in 
 March 1500. To avoid the calms of the equatorial 
 latitudes in the Atlantic, Cabral took a course too far 
 to the west, and falling into the southerly current was 
 borne to the shores of South America near the har- 
 bour now known as Porto Seguro. Landing here, he 
 took possession of the new land in the name of the 
 king of Portugal, and sent back two of his vessels 
 to announce his discovery of the ^^ Terra da Santa 
 Cruz!' the country now called Brazil. Afterwards 
 passing round the Cape to Mozambique and India, 
 and making the force of the Portuguese arms felt at 
 Calicut, he was permitted to found a factory there, 
 after concluding a treaty with the native ruler. 
 
 21. The ardour of the English also had been roused 
 by Columbus's great discovery, and Henry VII. gave to 
 Giovanni Cabot, a Venetian sailor resident in Bristol, 
 the command of a squadron of five vessels for a voyage 
 of discovery across the Atlantic. Cabot the elder was 
 accompanied in this voyage by his sons Ludovico 
 and Sebastian (born at Bristol), and in June 1497 
 
FROM 1300 TO 1500 A.D. 71 
 
 they sighted the coast of America, at the Helluland of 
 the old Norwegian voyagers, giving the re-discovered 
 country the name of Newfoundland. Three years 
 later these shores were visited by the Portuguese 
 navigator Cortereal, who found the mouth of the 
 St. Lawrence, and the wild and precipitous shores to 
 the north of it, on which he bestowed the name Terra 
 Lalforador = ^^ cu\iiv3.b\e land," a name quite as inept 
 as that of Greenland. 
 
 22. The immediate result of the discoveries of Marco 
 Polo was the establishment of more intimate relations 
 with eastern Asia. The Mongol sovereigns of China 
 encouraged Christian missionaries, foremost amongst 
 whom were Juan de Montecorvino, Friar Odorico of 
 Pordenone, and Marignola. Italian merchants, in- 
 cluding Pegoletti of Florence and Nicolo Conti, the 
 first European to cross the Dekkan (1424), penetrated 
 to India and into Turkestan ; and Clavijo, the ambas- 
 sador of King Henry of Castile, partook of the rude 
 hospitality of Timur-leng at Samarkand. Nor must 
 we omit here Sir John Mandeville's wonderful account 
 of travels, which enjoyed a popularity quite unpre- 
 cedented. 
 
 23. To recapitulate the chief features and condi- 
 tions of the known world, at the time represented 
 in the eighth little chart: — In the far east China 
 had recovered its independence under the Ming 
 dynasty, and its supremacy was acknowledged over 
 Mongolia and eastern Turkestan, though the states 
 of Tongking and Cochin China, in the southern pen- 
 insula beyond India, had assumed a political inde- 
 
72 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 pendence. Western Asia, as we have seen, had 
 been reconquered by Timur of the country of Jagatai, 
 or western Turkestan, whose successors maintained 
 his empire till near the end of the fifteenth century, 
 when it was again subdivided, all eastern Persia 
 falling to the Usbegs of Kiptchak, who had raised 
 the Khanate of Khiva to power ; while a new dynasty, 
 formed by the union of a number of tribes, had 
 sprung up in western Persia, making Azerbijan its 
 chief seat. The Ottoman Turks had extended their 
 European territory to its widest limit over the ruins 
 of the Greek Empire, and their farther advance had 
 been sternly checked by the Hussars of Hungary. 
 Russia had become a united kingdom under Ivan 
 the Great, and had acquired from its union the 
 power to throw off the Tatar yoke. 
 
 24. In western Europe, the Swiss mountaineers 
 had secured their independence. France was re- 
 covering from the calamities inflicted on it by the 
 English, who had all but lost their hold on the land. 
 In the south the reaction of Christendom against 
 Mohammedanism had begun. The Christian king- 
 doms of Spain and Portugal had driven back the 
 Moors across the Straits into Africa, and had con- 
 solidated their strength over the whole Peninsula. 
 The Moors in turn had settled themselves along 
 the North African coast, and had begun that course 
 of piracy which was first instituted as a retaliation 
 against the Christian persecution, but which after- 
 wards sank to a barbarous profession. 
 
 25. Morocco at this time had been formed into 
 
FROM 1300 TO 1500 A.D. 73 
 
 a monarchy, and enjoyed great prosperity. In the 
 south it touched upon a great empire which had 
 risen in Negroland. This was the kingdom of 
 Songhay, the rulers of which had embraced Moham- 
 medanism in the eleventh century, and which, under 
 Haj Mohammed A'Skia, who came into power in the 
 end of the fifteenth century, extended its dominion 
 across the whole region about the great bend of 
 the Niger, to the confines of Morocco on the north, 
 and on the west almost to the shores of the Atlantic. 
 More towards the centre of the continent, round the 
 basin we now know as that of Lake Chad, another 
 great Mohammedan empire, that of Bornu, had also 
 arisen, and reached its height of greatness about the 
 close of the fifteenth century. 
 
 26. Portugal and Spain, as we have seen, had given 
 birth to the boldest navigators the world had ever 
 known ; the terrors of the unknown ^^ Sea of Dark- 
 ness " in the west had been overcome. The wealth 
 of a new hemisphere had been laid open to adven- 
 ture and conquest. Africa had been circumnavi- 
 gated, and the way to the wealth of India had 
 been found. Spain had already laid hold of the 
 islands of the West Indies ; and Portugal had estab- 
 lished the first European settlements on the shores 
 of India. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 F'ROM 1500 TO 1600 A.D. 
 
 Within the last eight years of the fifteenth century, 
 as we have seen, the circle of darkness which had 
 so long hung round the Old World was driven back 
 on all sides, and geographical knowledge expanded 
 from its former contracted limits with a great leap, 
 such as it can never again take in the history of 
 the world. The spirit of Henry the Navigator had 
 entered into the heart of all the maritime nations of 
 Europe, the race for the discovery and conquest of 
 new worlds had begun, and every year, almost every 
 day, brought tidings to the Old World of fresh 
 wonders from the New. 
 
 I. Before turning to follow the progress of events 
 beyond the seas, it may be well to glance, as formerly, 
 at the leading events and changes of power which 
 were progressing meantime in the Old World. 
 
 In China — still under the Ming dynasty (i 368-1 644) 
 — there is no great change to notice, but in the 
 western half of the Asiatic continent power is now 
 rapidly changing hands. 
 
 The Mohammedan dynasty of Ismail, leading the 
 sect called Shias or Shiites, followers of Ali, had 
 acquired command, as we have before noticed, in 
 
FROM 1500 TO 1600 A.D. • 75 
 
 western Persia, and soon the central provinces of 
 Khorassan and Balkh were taken from the Usbegs. 
 On the western frontier their territories were now 
 attacked by the mighty Sultan Selim of Turkey, 
 whose troops, inflamed by religious animosity, mas- 
 sacred the Sectaries at Calderoon, but after their 
 retirement, Ismail pressed westward and conquered 
 Georgia. To this ruler is ascribed not only the 
 restoration of the Persian state to its prosperity, 
 but the establishment of the particular form of the 
 Mohammedan faith which the majority of Persians 
 still hold. 
 
 2. About this time another Asiatic conqueror, a 
 great-grandson of Timur, appeared in the country 
 east of Persia. This was Baber, the founder of the 
 Mogul or Mongol Empire, which had its centre at 
 Delhi in northern India. Having mastered the pro- 
 vinces of Kashgar, Kunduz, Kandahar, and Kabul, he 
 crossed the Indus into Hindustan, and after defeat- 
 ing the native princes in a great battle at Paniputy 
 near Delhi (1526), he captured that city and Agra. 
 Afterwards he established the powerful empire 
 which lasted till the beginning of the nineteenth 
 century. 
 
 3. North of Persia, the country between the Cas- 
 pian and the borders of Mongolia was in the hands 
 of the dominant Usbeg Turks in the states of Khiva, 
 Bokhara, and Kokan. 
 
 In the south-west of Asia, the Ottoman Empire 
 was being raised to its extreme height of power. 
 Sultan Selim ascended the throne in 151 2. Urged 
 
76 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 by a devouring appetite for conquest, he declared 
 war against the Sectaries in Persia, and march- 
 ing eastward at the head of 250,000 men, overran 
 Diarbekr, Kurdistan, and Armenia ; then, turning 
 southwards through Syria, he defeated the Mame- 
 luke Sultan of Egypt, and entered Cairo unopposed. 
 Here the last descendant of the Abbaside Calif in- 
 vested him as the chief of all Islam and the repre- 
 sentative of Mohammed. Now the chief Arabian 
 tribes, and the holy cities of Medina and Mecca, 
 also recognised the supremacy of the Ottoman ruler. 
 The reign of Selim was marked by the construction 
 of the arsenal at Pera beside Constantinople, and the 
 foundation of the Turkish navy, which was soon 
 to command the Mediterranean. His successor, 
 Solyman ^'The Magnificent," carried on the course 
 of conquest ; he exterminated the Egyptian Mame- 
 lukes, and concluded treaties with Persia. In Europe 
 his arms were turned against Hungary ; Belgrad was 
 captured, and his resistless march was continued to 
 Buda and Pest, in the heart of the country ; some 
 years later even Vienna (1529) was besieged by his 
 invading hosts. 
 
 4. The progress of the Turks in this direction 
 was checked by the Imperial army of Charles V. 
 of Germany, but ultimately they gained complete 
 possession of Hungary. An alliance between the 
 Turks and the French, by which the commerce of 
 the Levant was opened to the flag of the latter 
 nation only, bore fruit in the ravages of the coasts 
 of Italy by the united fleets. The Turks became 
 
FROM 1500 TO 1600 A.D. 77 
 
 supreme in the eastern Mediterranean, and Tripoli 
 fell into their hands. 
 
 5. During the reign of Selim II. (1570), the first 
 collision of the Turks with the Russians was brought 
 about in the following manner : — The project of 
 uniting the Black Sea and the Caspian by a canal 
 between the Don and the Volga had been conceived, 
 but the programme required the possession of Astra- 
 khan. The attack made on the city by the Turks 
 brought down the interference of the Russians, and 
 the projected canal scheme was blighted. At this 
 time Ivan IV., ^^The Terrible," reigned in Russia, 
 and his arms were everywhere successful, against 
 the Lithuanians in the north-west and the Tatar 
 Khanates of the south-east. He captured the strong 
 city of Kazan in the middle of the century, annex- 
 ing the state of which it was capital to his empire, 
 and Astrakhan soon afterwards followed the same 
 fate. 
 
 6. It was during his reign that the Cossack Vassili 
 Yermak, an absconded criminal, at the head of a 
 band of wild followers, forced his way eastward into 
 Asia, and extended his conquests as far as the river 
 Irtish, taking the town of Sibir (the site of which 
 was near the present town of Tobolsk), from which 
 the whole land of Siberia was to receive its name. 
 Before the end of the century Russian dominion had 
 here been consolidated. 
 
 7. Early in the sixteenth century Sweden emanci- 
 pated itself from union with Denmark, and Gustavus 
 Ericson, afterwards known as Vasa of romantic 
 
78 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 story, during forty years of noble effort, raised the 
 country from its turbulence and barbarism to the 
 condition of a prosperous and civilised realm ; a 
 condition destined, however, only to fall again in 
 the stormy reigns of his immediate successors, which 
 were marked by internal disorders and disastrous 
 wars with Denmark, Poland, and Russia. When 
 Sweden elected a king of its own, the crown of 
 Denmark and Norway passed to Frederick, Duke 
 of Schleswig and Holstein, and these duchies were 
 united to the State. 
 
 8. Germany at the commencement of this period 
 was in a state of great agitation concerning the doc- 
 trines proclaimed by Luther, and the great move- 
 ment of the Reformation had begun, by which Jhe 
 church of the greater part of north-western EurQpe 
 became separated from that of Rome. On the death 
 of Ferdinand of Spain, his grandson Charles rose 
 to the throne of that country, taking with him to 
 the Peninsula many followers from Flanders, where 
 he had been born and educated. Three years later 
 he was also elected German Emperor. As Charles V. 
 of Germany, one of his first acts was an endeavour 
 to restore tranquillity by summoning the princes and 
 statesmen of the land to the town of Worms, where 
 Luther confronted the assembly, and made the famous 
 declaration of his principles (152 1). 
 
 9. We have already referred to Charles's success- 
 ful opposition to the advance of the Turks in Austria. 
 Between France and Germany a long struggle was 
 in progress during his reign, in which his armies 
 
FROM 1500 TO 1600 A.D. 79 
 
 eventually drove the French from the greater part 
 of their conquests in Italy, defeating them at Pavia 
 (1525), and taking the French king prisoner. Another 
 great act of his reign was an expedition undertaken 
 against the pirate Barbarossa, who had established 
 himself in Tunis, and whose ships did great injury 
 to the commerce of Spain. After Charles's abdica- 
 tion (1556), during the latter half of the century, 
 Germany was a prey to internal dissensions of oppo- 
 site religious factions, which each in turn invited the 
 aid of foreign powers to contribute to the growing 
 anarchy. 
 
 10. The defeat of the French at Pavia, and the 
 capture of King Francis, threw that nation into great 
 disorder, upon which followed the persecutions of 
 the Huguenots,^ as the Protestants or followers of 
 the Reformation in France were called, culminating 
 in the frightful massacre of St. Bartholomew's Day 
 (1572) in Paris, and leading the country into the suc- 
 cessive religious wars which continued till the end 
 of the sixteenth century, when the famous Edict 
 of Nantes established the rights of the Protestants 
 
 (1598). 
 
 11. In England the struggle of the court with the 
 Pope of Rome and the advance of the Protestant 
 doctrines marked the earlier half of the sixteenth 
 century ; then, in the reign of Mary (1553-58), the 
 reaction brought back Papal supremacy, till the 
 atrocities of the persecutors of the Reformers, and 
 the cruel martyrdoms of Smithfield, once and for 
 
 ^ A nickname ("Little Hugues") first applied to them in 1560. 
 
8o SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 ever turned the popular mind from the Church of 
 Rome. Then followed the long and happy reign of 
 Elizabeth, towards the end of which patriotism 
 overcame religious differences, and Protestant and 
 Catholic alike fought to repel the great Armada. 
 This was a huge fleet, with the aid of which Philip 
 of Spain had resolved to strike a decisive blow at 
 the Protestant interest by conquering England, which 
 Pope Sixtus had made over to him. On the death 
 of Elizabeth the crowns of England and Scotland 
 were for the first time united (1603). 
 
 12. We have already referred to the accession 
 of Charles to the Spanish throne. As head of the 
 house of Burgundy he also inherited and united the 
 Netherlands under his sceptre ; and, through the 
 encouragement he gave to commerce and naviga- 
 tion, that country attained to great prosperity, and 
 Amsterdam rose to be its great port. In Spain 
 itself the very events which had raised the empire 
 to magnificence may be said to have laid the seeds 
 of its decline ; for all its most active spirits had set 
 out in search of the El Dorado of the New World, 
 where gold was believed to be more plentiful than 
 in the old country, the culture of which was in 
 consequence neglected. 
 
 13. The expulsion of the Moors from Spain, as 
 we have formerly noticed, had driven them to the 
 opposite African coasts and made them pirates. 
 Their outrages drew down an attack from Ferdinand 
 of Spain in 1509, in which be captured the town 
 of Algiers. Later, one of the Algerian princes in- 
 
FROM 1500 TO 1600 A.D. 8i 
 
 vited the aid of the Greek renegade Barbarossa, 
 who had made himself famous as a Turkish naval 
 chief ; but when he arrived he treacherously turned 
 his Corsairs against the Algerians, and made himself 
 Sultan of their country and of Tunis. The Spaniards 
 marched against him from Oran ; and Barbarossa, 
 after many encounters, was defeated and slain. His 
 brother was then chosen Sultan, and placing himself 
 under the protection of Turkey, drove the Spaniards 
 out of the country. In 1535 Charles of Spain under- 
 took an expedition against the Corsairs, and set 
 free no fewer than 20,000 Christians who had been 
 held as slaves ; but a subsequent great armada of 
 370 ships intended to crush their power proved a 
 complete failure. Emboldened by this, the Algerians 
 pushed their excursions even beyond the Straits of 
 Gibraltar, till the maritime states of Europe were 
 obliged to recognise and pay annual quit money to 
 the pirates of the mountainous Riff coast, between 
 Tangier and Algeria, and the Sallee rovers were the 
 dread of the peaceful mariners of the Atlantic. 
 
 14. Philip II., the successor of Charles in Spain, 
 was on his accession (1555) the most powerful 
 sovereign in Europe, having Spain, the Two Sicilies, 
 Milan, and the Netherlands under his sway, but his 
 maladministration and enormous war expenditure 
 overtaxed the resources of the empire. His fana- 
 tical enthusiasm for Catholicism, and his persecution 
 of the Reformers in the Netherlands, excited a re- 
 bellion there, and brought about the eighty years' 
 struggle which resulted in the establishment of the 
 
82 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 independent republic of the United Provinces. The 
 direct line of succession in Portugal having become 
 extinct in 1580, Philip laid claim to the throne of 
 that country, and, occupying it with an army, was 
 recognised as sovereign by the Portuguese. His sub- 
 sequent attempt at the conquest of England by his 
 " invincible Armada " has been previously referred to. 
 
 15. While Spain was thus passing the zenith of its 
 greatness, Morocco, on the opposite side of the Medi- 
 terranean, was spreading out its limits ; the armies 
 sent southward by its emperor, with the aid of the 
 muskets with which his soldiers were armed, had 
 overthrown the great Songhay Empire, occupying 
 Timbuktu and all the towns and routes as far as the 
 line of the rivers Niger and Senegal. 
 
 Having thus obtained some idea of what was going 
 on in the Old World of history during the sixteenth 
 century, we may now turn to sketch out for our- 
 selves the rapid progress of discovery beyond the 
 old limits. 
 
 16. On Ascension day of 1501 the Portuguese navi- 
 gator Juan de Nova fell in with the solitary volcanic 
 islet of the Atlantic, to which he gave the name of 
 the day of its discovery. Tristan da Cunha, another 
 Portuguese, found the islet which bears his name ; 
 and next year, on St. Helenas day (22nd May), 
 another of the solitary islets of the South Atlantic 
 came to light. In 1502 Columbus set out for his 
 last voyage, to follow up his discoveries along the 
 coasts of Central America ; but his venture was a 
 disastrous one, and on his return home the Spanish 
 
FROM 1500 TO 1600 A.D. 83 
 
 king proved basely ungrateful, and the ablest of navi- 
 gators was allowed to die in poverty at Valladolid, 
 
 17. The Portuguese, as we have already seen, had 
 discovered and formed settlements along a great 
 part of the coast of West Africa, and were begin- 
 ning to extend their dominion over the Indian seas 
 — the great Albuquerque, of the family of the blood 
 royal of Portugal, having been appointed viceroy of 
 the Indies. During the first years of the century 
 they began to supplant the Arabs on the south-east 
 African shores, taking possession of the port of 
 Sofala, extending their conquests inland over the 
 gold region of Manicay and soon after establishing 
 themselves at Mozambique. Across the Indian Ocean 
 Albuquerque followed up the beginning made by 
 Cabral on the Malabar coast, conquering GoUy which 
 he made the seat of the Portuguese government and 
 the chief place of its Asiatic trade, extending com- 
 merce and settlements thence to the whole west 
 coast of India, to Ceylon, Malacca, the Sunda islands, 
 and the coasts of China, and gathering knowledge 
 of the Archipelago as far as the shores of New 
 Guinea. The Arab state of Muscat fell into their 
 power in 1507 ; the islet of OrmuZj in the entrance 
 of the Persian Gulf, Wfis also taken and made into 
 a great entrepot for the goods brought from the 
 Indies ; and when the king of Persia sent to col- 
 lect the tribute formerly paid him by the princes of 
 the island, Albuquerque pointed to cannon balls and 
 swords as the only coin that Portugal would render. 
 
 18. Meanwhile the Spaniards were year by year 
 
84 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 adding new discoveries across the Atlantic. Their 
 first settlement on the island of Cuba was made in 
 151 1 ; two years after that the peninsula called 
 Florida^ on account of its rich vegetation, was made 
 known, and St. Augustine, the first European settle- 
 ment on the mainland of America, was founded on 
 its Atlantic shores. A small settlement was next 
 made on the inward side of the Caribbean Sea, on 
 the shore of the Gulf of Darien, where the settlers 
 soon gathered rumours from the natives of rich lands 
 to the south, and of a new sea w^hich might be seen 
 from the neighbouring mountains. Vasco Nunez 
 Balbao was the first to penetrate the forests of the 
 Isthmus of Panama to its central range ; leaving his 
 followers below, he ascended the highest ridge, and 
 there, beyond the intervening forests and valleys, the 
 immense expanse of the ^^ South Sea " lay before him 
 
 (1513)- 
 
 19. No sooner had the news of Balbao's discovery 
 reached Spain than Juan Diaz de Solis, who with 
 Yanez Pinzon had been engaged for some years 
 previously in exploring the eastern coast of South 
 America as far as the La Plata, was sent out again 
 with three well-appointed ships to ^^ sail to the other 
 side of Castillia del Oroj" the name then given to 
 the lands of supposed fabulous wealth which lay 
 beyond the Isthmus of Panama. Sailing south along 
 the coast of Brazil, he came once more to the great 
 opening of the La Plata, which he hoped to find a 
 strait leading to the South Sea. Finding the navi- 
 gation intricate, he left his vessels and ranged the 
 
FROM 1500 TO 1600 A.D. 85 
 
 shores as high as the islet of Martin Garcia, where, 
 deceived by the submissive movements of some 
 natives, he ventured to land. The treacherous sav- 
 ages, however, set upon him and killed him with all 
 his attendants, and, says Charleroix, '* roasted and eat 
 them in sight of those who remained in the boat, 
 and who had now no other course to take but to 
 return to Spain." The inlet thus discovered is now 
 known as the Rio de la Plata (the river of silver), 
 but at first it received the more appropriate name 
 of Rio de Solis. 
 
 20. It was about this time that the lonely coral 
 group of the Bermuda isles was discovered in the 
 North Atlantic : they take their name from that 
 of the Spanish voyager Bermudez, who first sighted 
 them. Discovery was also progressing to the north- 
 west. King Henry VIII. of England had sent out 
 Sebastian Cabot in command of an expedition to 
 Labrador, in which he sailed north across the 
 Arctic Circle and found the wide strait which leads 
 into Hudson Bay (1517). 
 
 21. We left the Portuguese extending the con- 
 quests and discoveries they had begun in India even 
 farther to the east. After the conquest of Malacca 
 by Albuquerque, they had heard of the famed Spice 
 Islands^ and several ships — one commanded by Fran- 
 cisco Serrao (or Serrano, as the Spaniards called him), 
 and another by his friend Fernao de Magalhaens 
 (whom we know as Magellan) — were sent out in quest 
 of them. The Portuguese Serrao was fortunate in 
 reaching the Spice Islands or Moluccas on the western 
 
86 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 borders of the great ocean almost at the same time that 
 Balbao and his Spaniards caught their first glimpse 
 of the great South Sea from the east. So little was 
 then known or conceived of the huge width of this 
 ocean, that Serrao believed, on reaching the Spice 
 Islands, that he must be close to America, and laid 
 plans with his friend Magellan for reaching them by 
 a nearer route. The latter returned to the Portuguese 
 court with great hopes of reward for his services in 
 the Indies, and with schemes for future discovery, 
 but on being coldly received and denied his well- 
 merited honours, he renounced his allegiance and 
 took service under the king of Spain. 
 
 22. Towards the close of the fifteenth century, 
 when the sailors of Spain and Portugal were ex- 
 tending their discoveries ever farther west and east, 
 Pope Alexander had divided the world between 
 these nations, giving the western hemisphere to 
 Spain, and the eastern to the Portuguese. The line 
 of demarcation was drawn indefinitely through the 
 unknown region of the other side of the world, 
 and when the Portuguese had reached the Spice 
 Islands doubts were raised as to whether they had 
 not passed the limit assigned to them by the Pope 
 and trespassed on the Spanish hemisphere. Acting 
 upon these doubts, Magellan, in concert with the 
 astronomer Ruy Faleiro, who had likewise expatriated 
 himself from Portugal, prepared a globe on which 
 they showed the Spice Islands in such a position 
 that they lay within the Spanish hemisphere, and 
 Magellan urged upon the Spanish court that these 
 
FROM 1500 TO 1600 A.D. 87 
 
 rich possessions could be reached more readily by 
 the " Spanish route " — that is, by the western voyage 
 — than by the <^ Portuguese " or eastern route round 
 the south cape of Africa. At the same time, com- 
 paring South America with South Africa, he showed 
 the probability of the existence of a passage to the 
 South Sea round the coast of South America, and 
 warmly advised a renewal of the search, which had 
 been abandoned in the belief that the land stretched 
 continuously to the south. 
 
 23. Thus it came about that five Spanish ships 
 were fitted and manned with 236 seamen, under 
 Magellan, who weighed anchor and set sail from San 
 Lucar in September 1519. Taking the ordinary track 
 by the Canaries, the fleet reached the shores of the 
 Terra da Santa Cruz (Brazil), and in January of the 
 next year lay off the " Rio de Solis." After explor- 
 ing this inlet and becoming convinced that it was 
 no strait, but the mouth of great rivers, and giving 
 the name Monte Vidi (Monte Video) to a height 
 on its northern shore, Magellan steered south along 
 the coast, examining each of its many inlets in the 
 hope of finding a passage to the westward, till the 
 barren coasts in the south were reached, and the 
 cold storms of this region and the diminution of 
 provisions raised murmurs and discontent in his 
 ships, testing the energy of the leader to the utmost. 
 Later the discontent broke out into an open mutiny, 
 only subdued by the masterful tact of Magellan. 
 One of its ringleaders was executed, and two others 
 — the general controller, Juan de Cartagenas, and 
 
88 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 the priest; Pedro Sanchez — were condemned to 
 banishment, and set ashore on the desert coast. 
 The harbour of San Julian^ where Magellan's ex- 
 pedition wintered (1520), is memorable also as the 
 place at which the name Patagones (big feet) was 
 given to the natives, from the apparent size of their 
 extremities when covered up in skins ; and this 
 name has extended, in the form of Patagonia, to 
 the south-east land of America. In August 1520, 
 with the return of fine weather, the expedition again 
 set out, and in October a deep strait was reached 
 in which the strong tides and currents gave Magellan 
 the hope that he had at length attained the object 
 of his desires, and which proved indeed to be the 
 long-sought passage to the South Sea. The land 
 to the left in passing through it was called Tierra 
 del Fuego, since every night the discoverers saw 
 many fires in the woods, no doubt lighted by the 
 natives. New fears and difficulties now arose among 
 his command before venturing out into the un- 
 known seas to reach the Moluccas, and many were 
 in favour of returning for new outfit. To them, 
 however, Magellan replied that " if he knew that 
 they should be brought to such a pass as to have 
 to eat the leather work of the rigging, still he would 
 go on through the strait, to fulfil the promise he 
 had given to the king, and he hoped that God 
 would help him therein." One ship, missing the 
 others in the labyrinth of the strait, returned to 
 Europe, bringing thither the first news of the great 
 discovery, but with the rest Magellan began his 
 
FROM 1500 TO 1600 A.D. 89 
 
 long voyage across the vast South Sea. Soon, under 
 the fair trade wind, its warm latitudes were reached, 
 and he gave it the name Oceano Pacificoy from the 
 line weather he experienced in sailing through its 
 vast breadth. Strange to relate, Magellan's ships 
 threaded the multitude of the islands of Oceania, 
 sighting but two islets before the discovery of 
 Guahan or Guam (6th March 1521), one of the 
 group to which Magellan gave the name Ladrones, 
 or Thieves' Islands, now known as the Marianas, 
 Next he came upon one of the group afterwards 
 named the Philippine Islands, and there, on the 
 island of Zebu, met his death in a foolish conflict 
 provoked with the islanders, in April 1521. The 
 rest of his command, choosing a new leader, 
 reached the long-sought Moluccas ; but only eighteen 
 of the seamen who had set out from Spain under 
 Sebastian del Cano crossed the Indian Ocean to 
 the Atlantic again, and only one ship, the famed 
 Victoria, with tattered sails and planks as full of 
 holes as a sieve, again appeared at the mouth of 
 the Guadalquivir (September 1522), a glorious ruin 
 and an object of wonder to all Europe. Thus the 
 world was first encompassed, and its roundness was 
 first demonstrated to the popular mind. 
 
 24. The chivalrous Francis I. of France now 
 joined in the work of discovery, and the voyager 
 Verazzano, sent out under his auspices, explored 
 the Atlantic coast of North America, joining the 
 Spanish discoveries in Florida with those of the 
 Cabots about Newfoundland (1524). Ten years 
 
 '^ OF THE 
 
90 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 later, Jacques Cartier, in the service of the same 
 prince, explored the gulf and river St. Lawrence 
 (giving them the name from having first sailed into 
 the gulf on that saint's day), and penetrated as far 
 as the rapids, near the site of the present city of 
 Montreal, in Canada.^ 
 
 25. The Spaniards were meanwhile rapidly extend- 
 ing their excursions and conquests from the settle- 
 ments in the West Indies. Cuba, the Queen of the 
 Antilles, began to be colonised permanently in 151 1, 
 and soon became the base of further operations. 
 As the Spaniards increased in numbers and em- 
 ployed the aborigines, Arawaks and Caribs, in work- 
 ing at the mines, these native West Indians died 
 out with extraordinary rapidity, and the philan- 
 thropic Las Casas, Bishop of Cuba, proposed the 
 introduction of stronger African negro slaves to 
 work in the sugar plantations and mines. Charles of 
 Spain accordingly authorised, in 1577, the importa- 
 tion of negroes from the Portuguese African settle- 
 ments in Guinea, and thus began the American slave 
 trade, which afterwards grew to such gigantic propor- 
 tions, and laid the seeds of so much future trouble 
 for the land. 
 
 26. Only three years after Cuba had been con- 
 quered, its Spanish governor, Diego Velasquez, en- 
 trusted his lieutenant, Hernan Cortes, with the 
 leadership of an expedition for the conquest of 
 
 ^ Canada has its name from Kanata^ an Iroquois word signify- 
 ing a collection of huts, which the discoverers mistook for the 
 name of the country. 
 
FROM 1500 TO 1600 A.D. 91 
 
 Mexico, on the western mainland. The continent 
 was peopled by a race which was very different 
 from that of the aborigines of the islands. As 
 early, perhaps, as the fifth century, when the bar- 
 barian hordes from the north were beginning to 
 descend in bands upon the nations of western 
 Europe, a people named the Toltecs had come from 
 some primitive seat in the north to occupy the 
 Mexican plateau, bringing to it the elements of 
 civilisation, introducing agriculture and metal-work- 
 ing, making roads, and raising great cities and 
 temples of colossal dimensions, the ruins of which 
 remain to this day. To this people, about the twelfth 
 century, had succeeded another family, named the 
 Aztecs^ also from the north, who engrafted upon 
 the civilisation bequeathed them by the Toltecs many 
 fierce and sanguinary religious observances, in which 
 human sacrifices to the patron gods were carried out 
 in splendid temples. Their city of Tenochtitlan, or 
 Mexico, had been founded about 1325. Their form 
 of government was that of an elective empire, and 
 the land was ruled by severe laws, though justice 
 was administered in open courts. 
 
 At the time when the Spaniards first reached 
 America, the Aztec Empire stretched across Mexico 
 from sea to sea. When Cortes set out from the 
 Havana or Haven of Cuba for the conquest of this 
 remarkable country in 15 19, its throne was occupied 
 by Montezuma, who had at first been an energetic 
 prince, extending his dominion to the south, but 
 who had later grown indolent and estranged from 
 
92 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 his people. The oracles which he consulted fre- 
 quently portended the speedy fall of his empire, 
 and thus the landing of the Spaniards on the coast, 
 near where the town of Vera Cruz now stands, 
 terrified him and his priestly councillors, who en- 
 deavoured to propitiate the strangers by sending 
 costly gifts. The road to success was thus strangely 
 opened to Cortes, who had with him but a handful 
 of men to attack this great empire. Resolved to 
 advance, Cortes burned his ships to prevent retreat, 
 and after founding the settlement of the Vera Cruz 
 ("true cross"), set out for the capital, where he 
 was received with great pomp, the Spaniards being 
 regarded as the descendants of the sun, who, ac- 
 cording to prophecy, were to come from the east 
 to succeed to the Aztec Empire. It was soon dis- 
 covered, however, that the Spaniards were but 
 mortal, and the city of Mexico rose against them, 
 but after a siege of four months in 1521, during 
 which a famine aided the Spanish arms, the city 
 was taken, and soon the whole empire was sub- 
 jugated. Cortes subsequently fitted out several ex- 
 peditions, one of which, exploring the western shores 
 of the newly conquered land, discovered the penin- 
 sula which was named California (1534). 
 
 27. The fame of the splendid achievement of Cortes 
 gave fresh impulse to adventure, and led others to 
 imitate his exploits. Among the adventurers who 
 had been with Balbao when he discovered the South 
 Sea from the Isthmus of Panama, and heard of the 
 golden country to the south, was a Spanish soldier 
 
FROM 1500 TO 1600 A.D. 93 
 
 named Francisco Pizarro, and Cortes' success re- 
 kindled his ambition to reach this unknown country. 
 Forming a copartnery with another adventurer named 
 Diego de Almagro, and a priest named Hernando 
 Luque, the three friends made up a small expedition 
 which set out from Panama to the south in November 
 1524, but they did not pass beyond a cape at the 
 southern entrance of the Gulf of Panama, which they 
 called Punta Quemada (Burnt Point). Two years 
 later, however, they set sail again in two ships, and 
 this time reached the port now called Santa, in about 
 9° S. lat., thus discovering the coast-line of Peru and 
 the northern portion of the giant Andes ; they re- 
 turned to Panama with many ornaments of gold and 
 silver, woollen cloths of brilliant dyes, and some 
 members of the camel order called llamas or alpacas. 
 With these proofs Pizarro now repaired to Spain to 
 seek the aid of King Charles, and he obtained from 
 him the rights of discovery and conquest. He 
 was named Governor and Captain-General of Peru, 
 agreeing to send to Spain a fifth of all treasures he 
 should gain, and, returning to Panama, set sail for 
 the south again with a small force of 180 men. 
 
 28. The new lands thus approached by the Spaniards 
 were by no means savage countries, but had, like 
 Mexico, a civilisation and history of their own, leading 
 back into mysterious centuries of the past. We now 
 know that before the tenth century A.D. the Colla or 
 Aymara nation lived during a period of unknown 
 duration on the high plateaus of the Andes, and built 
 themselves large cities and temples, attested by the 
 
94 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 great ruins still found everywhere throughout the 
 land. This ancient race was supplanted, about the 
 year looo, by the Quichuas, one of whose tribes were 
 the Incas, who first appeared on the shores of Lake 
 Titicaca, proclaiming themselves children of Inti (the 
 Sun). Manco Capac (or Manco the Ruler), the first 
 Inca sovereign, who founded the city of CuzcOy intro- 
 duced law and organisation into his small territory 
 round the new city. From this nucleus the Empire 
 spread out, till, in the fifteenth century, the Inca 
 armies had crossed over the terrible desert of Atacama 
 into Chile, fixed the southern boundary of Peru at 
 the river Maule (in 36° S.), and brought all the vast 
 territory extending from the forests of the Amazonas 
 plain to the sources of the river Paraguay under 
 the sway of the central power at Cuzco. From the 
 capital, great roads had been made, radiating out to 
 every part of the empire. The Inca monarch, as 
 the representative of the sun, was also the head of 
 the priesthood, and presided at the great religious 
 festivals. The four great provinces of the empire 
 were each ruled by a Governor or Viceroy, and the 
 nation, which numbered not fewer than thirty millions 
 of people, was further subdivided into departments 
 of about 10,000 inhabitants each. The arts of archi- 
 tecture and agriculture had been brought to high 
 excellence, and peace and security smiled upon the 
 land. 
 
 29. Shortly before the arrival of Pizarro, however, 
 on the death of the reigning Inca, a strife arose 
 between his sons Atahualpa and Huascar for the 
 
FROM 1500 TO 1600 A.D. 95 
 
 inheritance. Atahualpa, to whom the recently con- 
 quered kingdom of Quito in the north had been 
 apportioned; had advanced with an army against 
 his brother at Cuzco, had defeated and taken him 
 prisoner there, and had retired with his army to 
 Cajamarca, on the eastern side of the Andes. At 
 this crisis Pizarro disembarked his Spaniards at 
 Tumbez, and boldly advanced to Atahualpa's camp. 
 Here, at Cajamarca, while Pizarro's priest was telling 
 the indignant Inca how the Pope of Rome had pre- 
 sented Peru to the Spanish monarch, the Spaniards 
 treacherously turned the murderous fire of their 
 mysterious artillery against the Peruvians. Atahualpa 
 himself was captured, and, despite his payment of 
 a vast ransom in gold, was basely executed. 
 
 Now the adventurers set out for the capital, Cuzco, 
 which they entered in November 1533, stripping the 
 splendid Temple of the Sun, and gaining great 
 treasures of gold and silver. Leaving a garrison 
 in the capital, Pizarro repaired to the sea-coast, 
 where he founded the ^'City of the Kings," now 
 called Lima. There were many insurrections of the 
 Incas before their great nation was finally conquered, 
 but more serious than these was a quarrel between 
 Pizarro and his fellow-adventurer Almagro. This 
 conquistador had obtained from Spain a permission 
 to subjugate for himself a new province to the south 
 of Pizarro's conquests, and accordingly marched 
 south into Chile. On returning from this victorious 
 expedition he found the Spaniards enclosed in Cuzco 
 and Lima by the Peruvians, and, taking advantage 
 
96 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 of the opportunity, endeavoured to make himself 
 master of Peru also. In a desperate battle before 
 Cuzco (1538), Almagro was defeated, taken, and con- 
 demned to death. 
 
 30. While Pizarro was conquering Peru, the Spanish 
 navigators had l3een following up Magellan's dis- 
 coveries in the West Pacific ; some of the islands 
 of the group, afterwards known as the Carolinas, on 
 the western border of the Pacific, were discovered, 
 as well as several of those which form the Radack 
 and Ralik chains. The Portuguese seamen were also 
 busily exploring the confines of their half of the 
 outer world. Mascarenhas had found the important 
 islands of Bourbon and Mauritius, in the Indian 
 Ocean, which are still collectively named after him. 
 The ports of China (Macao) and Japan were now 
 visited by their trading ships ; and Francis Xavier, 
 one of the founders of the Jesuit order, had set out 
 on his great mission, and had journeyed from India 
 and Malacca to begin his efforts for the conversion 
 of the Japanese Empire ; his efforts were so successful 
 that at one time it seemed as if the whole of this 
 secluded but cultivated region would embrace the 
 Catholic faith. 
 
 31. Spain and Portugal, now at the height of their 
 prosperity, held complete command of the southern 
 seas, and of the known highways to the Indies, East 
 and West, to the exclusion of the other maritime 
 nations of Europe, however anxious they were to 
 share their good fortune and to prosecute trade with 
 the new realms. It was for this reason that the 
 
FROM 1500 TO 1600 A.D. 97 
 
 thoughts of the northern maritime nations were turned 
 to the possibility of opening up a new and inde- 
 pendent trade route to the Indies and the Spice 
 Islands, either by what was called the North-East 
 Passage^ round Norway and along the coast of Siberia, 
 or the North- West Passage^ between Greenland and the 
 north coast of America. 
 
 32. The search for a north-east passage was begun 
 by England in 1553, when Sir Hugh Willoughby set 
 out with three vessels ; passing round the North Cape 
 he entered the White Sea, and sighted the land 
 now called by the Russians Novaya Zemlya (New 
 Land) ; but the voyage was disastrous, and two of 
 the vessels were lost after drifting about with the ice 
 over the waste of water, and with them perished the 
 leader of the first Arctic expedition. The attempt 
 was twice renewed by the English before the end 
 of the century, in expeditions under Burroughes and 
 Pet, and Jackman, but without success. 
 
 When the attempts to force a passage north-east- 
 ward had failed, efforts were directed to the north- 
 west, and Martin Frobisher sailed from Deptford 
 in March 1576 with two little vessels of 25 tons 
 each, Queen Elizabeth, who was then at Greenwich, 
 bidding them God speed as they passed down the 
 river. In July they sighted Greenland, and soon 
 after the barren lands on the American coast to 
 which the name ^^ Meta Incognita'' was given, and 
 they discovered the bay to the north of Hudson Bay, 
 which is named after Frobisher. Ten years later. 
 Captain John Davis was more successful in sailing 
 
98 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 north through the strait which bears his name, and 
 in reaching as high a latitude as 72° oi¥ the west 
 Greenland coast. 
 
 33. While other maritime nations were forbidden a 
 lawful share in the good fortune of the Spaniards, 
 who arrogantly assumed a divine right to the New 
 World and practised great cruelties upon all foreign 
 interlopers, enterprising mariners of England and 
 France began to make reprisals in the ^^ Spanish 
 Main," to cut out their trading vessels, and espe- 
 cially to intercept and capture the heavy galleons 
 which every year brought to the Peninsula the gold, 
 silver, and other wealth contributed by the American 
 colonies to the mother country. Sir John Hawkins, 
 the first Englishman, it is said, who trafficked in 
 slaves, was afterwards more honourably employed, 
 and became noted for his exploits in the Spanish 
 Main. In one of his last adventures he was joined 
 by Francis Drake, who subsequently made several 
 freebooting voyages to the West Indies. In 1570 
 Drake obtained a commission from Queen Elizabeth, 
 and sailing again for America plundered the town of 
 Nombre de Dios, on the Isthmus of Panama. Crossing 
 the mountains, he saw the Pacific, and ^' prayed God 
 to grant him leave to sail an English ship on this 
 sea." Retiring with much spoil to England, he set 
 out again in 1577, and following on the track of 
 Magellan reached the Pacific, sacked and plundered 
 all the Spanish coast towns from Chile up to Peru, 
 capturing also a great plate galleon. He then 
 steered still northward, hoping to find a northern 
 
FROM 1500 TO 1600 A.D. 99 
 
 passage back to the Atlantic, and took formal posses- 
 sion of the land between 43° N. and 38° 30' N. in the 
 name of Queen Elizabeth. Thence he sailed across 
 the Pacific to the Moluccas, to Ternate, and Java, 
 and straight across the Indian Ocean to the Cape 
 of Good Hope, reaching Plymouth again in 1579, 
 completing thus the second circumnavigation of the 
 globe. 
 
 34. Within a few months of Drake's return. Sir 
 Humphrey Gilbert, accompanied by the famous Sir 
 Walter Raleigh, set out on an ill-fated expedition to 
 Newfoundland, with the object of forming a colony 
 in North America. The island was formally taken 
 possession of in the name of Queen Elizabeth ; but 
 the return voyage was disastrous, and the leader of 
 the expedition was lost. Raleigh's spirit of enter- 
 prise, however, led him again to America, and on 
 his behalf the country was now first occupied which 
 he named Virginiuy in allusion to his virgin Queen 
 Elizabeth, and thus was here planted the first little 
 germ of Anglo-Saxon America. 
 
 35. It was to men trained in these schools of mari- 
 time adventure under Drake and Hawkins, Frobisher 
 and Raleigh, bold and dexterous in the management 
 of their little vessels, that England owed her safety 
 when Philip of Spain, burning to revenge his losses 
 on the Spanish Main, and the aid given by England 
 to the Protestants of the Netherlands in their war of 
 independence, sent his huge Armada of 130 great war 
 vessels into the English Channel. It was there de- 
 feated and chased away north to the Orkneys, and 
 
100 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 round the Western Isles of Scotland, to be wrecked 
 all along those stormy shores. 
 
 36. Meanwhile in Holland William of Orange was 
 fighting for his country's freedom against the Spanish 
 troops, relieving Leyden by breaking through the sea 
 dykes, flooding the country, and drowning many of 
 the besieging Spaniards ; while his coadjutors, the 
 ^^ Beggars of the Sea," made heavy depredations on 
 Spanish commerce, and took the ports of Brill and 
 Flushing. Henceforth the Dutch also began to take 
 a place in maritime adventure and discovery on the 
 high seas. They were the first Europeans to settle 
 and organise trading stations in the country called 
 ^' Guayana " (or Guiana), on the coast of South 
 America (1580). The Dutch also took up the quest 
 of the supposed north-east passage to the Indies, 
 and William Barentz, one of the best seamen of his 
 age, sailed three times to the north, reaching the high 
 latitude of 80° in his last voyage in 1596 ; he dis- 
 covered Bear Island^ and the sharp black peaks of 
 the glacial land named Spitzbergen ; doubling also 
 the northern cape of Novaya Zemlya he wintered on 
 its eastern coast, and was the first European to live 
 out a dark season in the Arctic region. 
 
 37. Spanish seamen also continued to add to their 
 discoveries in the Pacific. In 1567 Alvaro Mendana 
 found the islands which he called the Salomonsy to 
 suggest the idea that Solomon had gone thither for 
 the gold which adorned his temple, and thus to 
 draw attention to the discovery. Thirty years later 
 the group which was called Sta. Cruz was discovered, 
 
FROM 1500 TO 1600 A.D. loi 
 
 and in the next year, the archipelago far out in the 
 centre of the Pacific, to which Mendafia attached the 
 name of the reigning viceroy of Peru, calling them the 
 Marquesas de Mendoza, Farther east in the Pacific 
 Juan Fernandez found the islet on which the English 
 mariner Selkirk (Robinson Crusoe) afterwards was 
 exiled ; but on the west coast of North America 
 they never got farther north than 43° 10' during the 
 sixteenth century, for Juan de Fuca, who claimed to 
 have discovered the strait now named after him, has 
 been proved an impostor, 
 
 38. Failing in their efforts to find an independent 
 track to the Indies, the other maritime nations of 
 Europe, now that the pride of Spain had been 
 humbled, began towards the end of the century to 
 frequent the southern trade routes hitherto sacred to 
 the Portuguese and Spaniards. We have noticed that 
 the Dutch had already secured a footing in South 
 America in Guayana. The British also had laid the 
 foundation of a colony in Virginia on the northern 
 half of the continent, and were soon to gain a hold 
 on the West Indies by settling in the fertile islet of 
 Barbados, Away in the East Indies also, British and 
 Dutch ships began to appear, and to compete there 
 with the Portuguese. The Dutch under Houtman 
 reached Achiny in the north of Sumatra, in 1599, and 
 two years later brought home to Holland the first 
 cargo of goods from that region, with two native 
 ambassadors. It was on the 31st December 1600 
 that Queen Elizabeth granted a charter to a number 
 of merchants of London trading to the East Indies, 
 
102 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 which gave them the exclusive right of trading in the 
 Indian Ocean and Pacific ; and from this East India 
 Company our great Indian Empire was to rise. 
 
 39. To sum up in a few words the state of the 
 known world at the end of the sixteenth century : — 
 In Asia the Chinese Empire remained unshaken ; 
 Persia had again become an independent empire ; 
 the Mohammedan Moguls had begun to reign in 
 northern India ; the once great Tatar Empire had 
 been reduced to the states east of the Caspian. In 
 the north, Russia was spreading eastward over Asia, 
 and had come in contact with the Ottoman Empire, 
 now expanding to its greatest extent in the south, 
 and with Sweden in the north-west. The great 
 Reformation had passed over Europe, separating 
 its Catholic states of the south from the Protestants 
 of the north, and giving rise to fierce wars and many 
 political changes. Maritime discovery and adventure 
 and commerce were being eagerly extended by the 
 nations of western Europe. Four times the world had 
 been circumnavigated — by the Portuguese Magellan, 
 by the English Drake and Cavendish, and lastly 
 by the Dutchman Van Noort. Spain had extended 
 her conquests to Mexico, Peru, and Chile, which were 
 now ruled by Spanish viceroys. The Portuguese had 
 established themselves firmly on the African shores 
 at Senegambia, Guinea, and Angola on the west, and 
 at Mozambique and Sofala on the east ; their posses- 
 sions and settlements in the East Indies included the 
 Malabar coast of India, Ceylon, and Malacca ; and 
 their traffic reached to all the islands of the Asiatic 
 
FROM 1500 TO 1600 A.D. 103 
 
 archipelago, to China and Japan, touching on these 
 seas the discoveries and claims of Spain. 
 
 The English and Dutch, after vainly seeking an in- 
 dependent highway to the north-east or north-west 
 through the ice-fields of the Arctic region, had become 
 formidable rivals of the Spaniards and Portuguese in 
 their own lines, both in the West Indies and round the 
 Cape of Good Hope to the eastward. In the Indian 
 Ocean the Dutch (1598) even took one of the Mas- 
 carenhas isles from the Portuguese, giving it the name 
 Mauritius in honour of their prince Maurice. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 FROM 1600 TO 1700 A.D. 
 
 1. Not long after the coasts of Cathay or China 
 began to be better known to the maritime nations of 
 the West, and to be brought under the influence of 
 the Christian religion by the Jesuit missionaries, the 
 Manchu Tatars from beyond the Great Wall on the 
 north-east took advantage of a civil strife in the empire 
 to invade it. The rebel bands entered Pekin, where- 
 upon the last of the Ming sovereigns strangled himself 
 with his girdle, and a seven years' contest began, 
 which was to end in the establishment of the Tatar 
 ^^Tsin" or pure dynasty. The Manchu Tatar con- 
 querors were not, like the Mongols, a nomadic race, 
 but a much more cultivated and agricultural people, 
 and they had the wisdom to conform in great measure 
 to the existing institutions of Chinese government; but 
 they altered the national Chinese costume, and com- 
 pelled the men of the country to wear the badge of 
 servitude implied in shaving the head and wearing 
 the long Tatar queue with which every one is now 
 familiar in all pictures. 
 
 2. In the latter part of the century, the Russians, 
 overrunning and conquering Siberia, threatened the 
 northern Manchu frontier, and a desultory warfare 
 

FROM 1600 TO 1700 A.D. 105 
 
 ensued with the Cossack freebooters which extended 
 over thirty years ; but a mission was finally sent 
 to the frontier, and the boundary dividing the two 
 nations was settled by mutual agreement in 1689. 
 
 3. Westward of the Chinese Empire the Khanates 
 of Turkestan do not appear to have materially altered 
 their relative positions in this century. In Persia the 
 period begins in the midst of the reign of Shah Abbas 
 the Great, who distinguished his rule by recovering 
 Kurdistan, Mosul, and Diarbekr for Persia from the 
 Ottoman Turks in the west, and by taking Kandahar 
 from the possessions of the Great Mogul on the east. 
 The reigns of his successors during this century were 
 not marked by further increase of territory, but were 
 spent in promoting the internal prosperity of the 
 kingdom. 
 
 4. This was the period, also, at which the Moham- 
 medan empire in India was raised to its highest 
 point of splendour and greatness by Shah Jehan, the 
 " King of the World," who subjugated the kingdoms 
 of Ahmednuggur, Beejapur, and Golconda, on the 
 Dekkan plateau ; and by his son, the famous Aurung- 
 zeb, the crafty and ambitious ^^ reviver of religion." 
 It was during these reigns that the English began to 
 gain a hold on India and to take a part in its politics ; 
 we shall afterwards, however, have occasion to notice 
 the chief events of their arrival and establishment. 
 
 5. Coming now westward to the Ottoman Empire, 
 we find its Sultans contending successfully with 
 Austria in the earlier part of the century for the 
 possession of Hungary, but losing Mesopotamia, as 
 
io6 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 we have seen, to the Persians in the east, and the 
 allegiance of the Khanates of the Crimea. Wars with 
 the Poles and Venetians followed, in which the island 
 of Candia was gained by the Turks, along with most 
 of the old Venetian strongholds in the -^gean, though 
 with some losses in Dalmatia. Later, a combined 
 Polish and German army defeated a Turkish force 
 which had advanced to lay siege to Vienna ; and the 
 Austrians followed up their victory by repossessing 
 themselves of Hungary after the great battle of Mohacz 
 (1687). The Peace of Carlowitz at the end of the cen- 
 tury put an end for ever to the Turkish dominion in 
 Hungary. 
 
 6. For Russia the seventeenth century began very 
 disastrously with internal quarrels, which gave Sigis- 
 mund of Poland the opportunity to invade the coun- 
 try, to take Moscow, and carry off the Tsar to die 
 in a Polish prison, and to leave the country com- 
 pletely disorganised. A rising of the Russians three 
 years later drove the Poles out of the country, and 
 placed the Tsar Michael, of the house of Romanof, on 
 the throne (1613). After restoring order in his empire, 
 this sovereign concluded a treaty with Sweden, giving 
 that country the coasts of the Gulf of Finland. His 
 successor carried on a war with Turkey, and obtained 
 Smolensk from Poland and the abandonment of all 
 claims on Little Russia by the Turks. The close of 
 the century brought Peter the Great to the throne, 
 and opened his grand schemes for the reorganisation 
 of Russia. 
 
 7. Eastward the Russians had been busily pushing 
 
FROM 1600 TO 1700 A.D. 107 
 
 their conquests across the forest lands of northern 
 Asia. The river Obi had been reached, as we have 
 seen, in the last century, and the town of Tobolsk had 
 been founded. During the early part of the seven- 
 teenth century the Yenisei was passed and the Lena 
 crossed ; the settlement of Yakutsk was made in 
 1632, and the shores of the Sea of Okhotsk were 
 reached in 1639. Thus, while the Manchu Tatars 
 were advancing southward to the conquest of the 
 Chinese Empire, the Russians were occupying the 
 land on their northern borders, and had confirmed 
 themselves so strongly in its possession that they 
 could conclude a treaty with the Chinese in 1689, 
 which defined the Siberian-Chinese frontier in the 
 line running from the Sea of Okhotsk, north of the 
 basin of the Amur, westward by the great Lake Baikal, 
 and thence to the source mountains of the Obi, called 
 the Ala Tau. 
 
 8. In the last chapter we left Sweden at a time 
 when the feeble rule of the successors of Gustavus 
 Vasa had brought the land into disorder and had 
 involved it in war with Russia, Poland, and Denmark. 
 Early in the seventeenth century, Gustavus Adolphus, 
 grandson of Vasa, succeeded to the throne, estab- 
 lished a feudal or military government, drove the Danes 
 out of the Baltic coasts of Sweden, opening up the 
 ocean route to western Europe ; allying himself with 
 the Hollanders, he obtained a settlement of the 
 Russian limits. The new boundary line included in 
 Sweden the country beyond the south coast of the 
 Gulf of Finland. A settlement with Poland was next 
 
io8 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 agreed on, which gave to Sweden the Baltic coast 
 districts of Elbing, Braunsbergy PillaUy and Memel. 
 Gustavus's hands were now free to carry out a 
 cherished plan to aid the Protestants of Germany 
 in their struggle with the Catholic League. March- 
 ing south at the head of 15,000 men, he gave the 
 Catholics good reason to fear the "snow king and 
 his bodyguard," for he crossed the Danube, gained 
 a great victory at Ingolstadty marching triumphantly 
 to Munich, and dying on the victorious field of Liitzen 
 (1632). 
 
 9. The reign of his successor, Charles X., was also 
 a warlike one. Poland was again invaded, when 
 Russia, Denmark, and Prussia combined against the 
 northern king. From Holstein Charles at once 
 marched across the frozen Belt to the Danish capital, 
 before which he dictated the Peace of Roskilde. The 
 reign of Charles XI. was also characterised by success 
 abroad ; and at the close of the century, when young 
 Charles XII. had newly ascended the throne, we find 
 Sweden so strong as to have become the object of a 
 combined attack upon it by the neighbouring powers. 
 The young king, however, threatening Copenhagen, 
 compelled the Danes to a new peace, and with only 
 8000 Swedes stormed the Russian camp with its army 
 of 50,000 at Narva in November 1700. 
 
 10. In Norway and Denmark, beyond the frequent 
 contests with Sweden referred to, there is nothing of 
 moment to occupy us at this time. 
 
 11. During the first half of the seventeenth century, 
 Germany was kept in ferment by the succession of 
 
FROM 1600 TO 1700 A.D. 109 
 
 contests which are generally termed the '^Thirty 
 Years' War" (1612-1648), and which originated with 
 attempts of the Catholics to deprive the Protestants 
 of the liberties they had attained. The Treaty of 
 Westphalia (or of Mtinster), drawn up by congresses 
 of all the great continental powers of Europe, re- 
 stored tranquillity to Germany and established a 
 new system of political equilibrium in Europe. 
 
 By this treaty, the independence of the United 
 Provinces of the Netherlands was recognised by 
 Spain, and that of Switzerland by Germany, which 
 last country was cut up into a multitude of petty 
 states. 
 
 12. In former paragraphs we have referred to the 
 forcible Christianisation and conquest of the lands 
 south of the Baltic by the Teutonic knights, the 
 cession of West Prussia to Poland, and the declara- 
 tion of the remainder of the country as fief to that 
 kingdom. The Grand Masters of the Order subse- 
 quently took the title of Dukes of Prussia (by one 
 of whom the university of Konigsberg was founded in 
 1544). Early in the seventeenth century the Duchy 
 of Prussia became incorporated with the Electorate 
 of Brandenburg. During the Thirty Years' War the 
 country was alternately a prey to the Swedish and 
 Imperial armies ; but the Treaty of Westphalia re- 
 stored to it eastern Pomerania and other territories, 
 and the aid given by the Elector Frederick William 
 to King Charles of Sweden in the taking of Warsaw 
 (1656) was recompensed by the complete emancipa- 
 tion of the Prussian Duchy from Polish dependence. 
 
no SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 Frederick William, called the <' Great Elector/' now 
 devoted himself to consolidating and advancing the 
 prosperity of his dominions. Such was his success 
 that Prussia now rose to the rank of a great Euro- 
 pean power. Frederick III., who succeeded him, 
 exhibited the same zeal for the amelioration and 
 extension of his dominions, and was crowned first 
 King of Prussia at Konigsberg in 1701. 
 
 13. The politics of France in the earlier portion 
 of the century were directed by the great Cardinal 
 Richelieu, who, in furtherance of his great object 
 of humbling the power of the house of Austria, 
 allied himself with the Protestants in Germany, and 
 with their champion Gustavus of Sweden, involving 
 France in long and costly wars. At home, however, 
 he oppressed the Protestant party and overthrew 
 the political power of the Reformers or Huguenots, 
 conducting in person the siege and capture of their 
 stronghold La Rochelle. During the minority of Louis 
 XIV., the French nobles seeking to shake off the 
 authority of the Crown, and the political faction 
 known as the Frondeurs, caused great domestic dis- 
 turbances ; but with the assumption of absolute 
 power by the young king (1661) a new era began 
 for France ; prosperity was again restored ; the 
 military successes of Louis's generals, Turenne and 
 Cond6, were most brilliant, and the borders of 
 France were greatly enlarged. First, in virtue of 
 his claim to it as the son-in-law of Philip IV. of 
 Spain, Louis mastered the portion of Flanders known 
 as French Flanders, and the whole of Franche 
 
FROM 1600 TO 1700 A.D. iii 
 
 Comtd. The triple alliance of England, the Nether- 
 lands, and Sweden, compelled him to relinquish the 
 latter, and arrested for a time his course of con- 
 quest ; but two years later, after seizing Lorraine, 
 he marched into the Netherlands, conquering half 
 the country. Ten cities of Alsace also fell into his 
 power, and the free German city of Strassburg was 
 taken in 1681. During the earlier part of his reign, 
 manufactures had begun to flourish greatly — the 
 textures of the Gobelins^ the silks of Tours and 
 Lyon, and the fine cloths of the northern towns, 
 LouvierSy Abbeville, Sedan, acquired great celebrity. 
 Not long after the zenith of his power and influence 
 had been reached and passed, Louis fell under the 
 influence of the Jesuits ; the effect of the change 
 was the adoption of severe measures against the 
 Protestants, and the revocation of the Edict of 
 Nantes, which had given them liberty of worship. 
 The result of this despotic act, disastrous for France, 
 was the exodus from the country of not fewer than 
 400,000 of the most industrious and intelligent of 
 its people, chiefly manufacturers and artisans, who 
 carried with them into exile, to all parts of the 
 known world, their skill, knowledge, and taste. From 
 them England especially learned the art of silk manu- 
 facture, and many other industrial arts. 
 
 Towards the close of the century an invasion of 
 South Germany led to a coalition against France; and, 
 his resources being exhausted, Louis signed the Treaty 
 of Ryswick (between Delf and The Hague) concluded 
 between England, France, Spain, and Germany, 1697. 
 
112 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 14. The seventeenth century opened for Britain 
 with the union of the crowns of England and 
 Scotland, under James I. ; then followed the dis- 
 turbed reign of Charles I., beginning badly with 
 the unsuccessful expedition against Cadiz, and the 
 loss of the fleet off Rochelle. His persecutions of 
 the Puritans in England, and of the Presbyterians 
 in Scotland, and the embitterment of popular feel- 
 ing, brewed the storm which broke out in the civil 
 wars and the battles of Edgehill and Marston Moor, 
 The final defeat of the Royalists at Naseby was 
 followed by the execution of Charles in 1649, and 
 the protectorate of Cromwell, under which England 
 was respected abroad and was brilliantly successful 
 at sea against the Spaniards. Charles the Second was 
 at The Hague at the time of his father's execution, 
 and immediately assuming the title of King pro- 
 ceeded to Scotland, and was crowned at Scone in 
 1651 ; putting himself at the head of the Scots, he 
 marched into England, only to be defeated on the 
 field of WorcesteVy w^hence he escaped amid many 
 dangers to France. After the death of the Pro- 
 tector, a reversal of popular feeling recalled Charles 
 from France to the English throne, when he began 
 his dishonourable and dissolute reign, persecuting all 
 Presbyterians and Nonconformists at home, agreeing 
 for money to carry on war with the Netherlands, 
 till compelled by the appearance in the Thames 
 of the Dutch fleet under De Ruyter to make an 
 ignominious peace. James II. now succeeded, and 
 by his tyranny estranged all classes of his subjects. 
 
FROM 1600 TO 1700 A.D. 113 
 
 15. The independence of the United Provinces 
 (the Netherlands) had been acknowledged by the 
 Treaty of Miinster (1648). During the reign of 
 Charles II. of England they had been engaged in 
 a seven years' contest with Louis XIV. of France, 
 which had terminated in an honourable way for the 
 United Provinces, and the power of the "Stadtholder," 
 William, Prince of Orange,^ who had married Mary, 
 the eldest daughter of the Duke of York, afterwards 
 James II. of England, had become great in Europe. 
 The Stadtholder had leagued himself with the mal- 
 contents in England, and when disaffection was at 
 its height, landed at Torbay (1688) with 15,000 Eng- 
 lish and Dutchmen, entered London as a national 
 deliverer, and Parliament gave the crown to William 
 and Mary. The adherents of James held out in 
 Scotland and Ireland till the battle of the Boyne 
 terminated the contest, and James fled to France. 
 Then Britain and Holland came into close union 
 against France. 
 
 16. We left the Spanish peninsula, in the last 
 section, at the time of the death of Philip II., when 
 Portugal had been reduced to a Spanish province ; 
 but the Spanish kingdom had been impoverished 
 in unsuccessful wars in the Netherlands, and in the 
 attempts against England. One of the earliest acts 
 of his successor Philip III. was the unwise expulsion 
 from the peninsula of the remaining Moriscoes, or 
 half-caste Moors, who had been allowed by Ferdi- 
 
 ^ A principality now comprised in the French department of 
 Vaucluse. 
 
 H 
 
114 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 nand the Catholic to remain ; about half a million 
 of these industrious and peaceable inhabitants were 
 thus driven from the land. The reign of Charles II. 
 was still more unfortunate ; Spanish armies and 
 fleets were everywhere defeated, and the wealth of 
 America was in vain poured into the enervated 
 country. 
 
 17. A few years before the Peace of Westphalia 
 secured the independence of Holland from the 
 Spanish yoke, Portugal freed itself by a rebellion 
 (1640) from the forced union with Spain, which 
 had lasted for sixty years, and had involved the 
 country in war and disaster at home, as well as 
 abroad in the Indies. 
 
 18. In Italy, during this century, the Papal States 
 grew out to their widest limit. Venetia was at war 
 with the Turks ; and Naples and Sicily, in the south 
 of the peninsula, continued under the sway of Spain. 
 
 19. Across in North Africa the Algerians continued 
 to harass the powers of Christendom trading in the 
 Mediterranean, and their insolence at sea increased. 
 They even attacked the south coasts of France, 
 compelling Louis XIV. to retaliate by bombarding 
 Algiers (1682) ; when, by way of replying to the 
 cannonade, the Dey caused the French consul to 
 be shot off from the mouth of a cannon. The result 
 of the punishment was indecisive ; nor were the 
 English and Dutch fleets more successful in re- 
 pressing the ferocity of the Corsairs. 
 
 20. In Morocco, the empire that had extended its 
 limits to the Sudan in the previous century fell to 
 
FROM 1600 TO 1700 A.D. 115 
 
 pieces in this, and was succeeded (1647) by the 
 government of the Sherifs of Tafilet, who conquered 
 Morocco proper and Fez, united the whole under 
 one rule, and founded the dynasty which reigns at 
 present. The influence of Morocco again spread 
 southward till it reached, in the middle of the century, 
 even to the borders of the Portuguese settlements 
 in Guinea. 
 
 If we now turn to look at the progress of conquest 
 and discovery beyond the seas during the seventeenth 
 century, it cannot fail to be remarked how completely 
 the spread of knowledge on the outer borders of 
 the known world was controlled by events which 
 took place in western Europe. We have remarked 
 the gradual crippling and decay of the maritime 
 supremacy of Spain and Portugal, and the rise of that 
 of the Dutch and British into strength. Maritime 
 enterprise during this century passed to Holland, 
 England, and France. 
 
 21. Just at the end of the sixteenth century, the 
 Dutch first opened up trading communication with 
 the East Indies, and entered into alliances with the 
 Achinese of Sumatra ; two years later their East 
 India Company was formed. Spain and Portugal 
 being united in war with the Netherlands at home 
 in Europe, the contest was extended to the Indies, 
 where by violence and intrigue the Dutch began 
 to oust the Portuguese from their possessions. A 
 footing was also gained in the Spanish half of the 
 world, for in the year 1600 the Dutch captured 
 the island of St, Eustatius; and five years later the 
 
ii6 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 British settled in BarbadoSy the most easterly of the 
 Antilles. 
 
 22. Among the last important discoveries made by 
 the Spaniards in the Pacific were those of the island 
 of Sagittaria (now known as Tahiti) by the voyager 
 Quiros, and of the strait which has been named from 
 its discoverer Luis Vaez de Torres, who sailed into 
 it in 1605, and who saw the northern extremity of the 
 great southern continent, afterwards to be made known. 
 
 23. While the Dutch were wresting the Spice Islands 
 from the Portuguese, a band of English gentlemen 
 and a few artisans went out to Sir Walter Raleigh's 
 Virginia, and formed (May 1607) the first perma- 
 nent English colony on the North American shores, 
 founding James Town on the James River (named 
 after King James), and buying land and provisions 
 from the friendly Indians. A year later the French 
 were following up the discoveries of Jacques Cartier 
 on the St. Lawrence ; Champlain discovered the 
 great Lake Ontario, and founded the city of Quebec, 
 which for more than a century was the centre of 
 French trade and civilisation in North America, and 
 the point whence the efforts of the Roman Catholic 
 missionaries radiated. 
 
 24. During these two years the navigator Henry 
 Hudson was making vain attempts to penetrate the 
 north-east passage by Novaya Zemlya ; giving up 
 hope of finding a passage there, he sailed a third 
 time to the north-west by Davis Strait, in a vessel 
 fitted out by the Dutch East India Company (1609). 
 Reaching America about latitude 44° north, he dis- 
 
FROM 1600 TO 1700 A.D. 117 
 
 covered the beautiful river which bears his name, 
 and took possession of it for Holland. Next year 
 he again bore to the north-west, and on the farther 
 side of Davis Strait passed through the channel now 
 known as Hudson Strait^ and entered the vast bay 
 beyond, which he took to be none other than an 
 inlet of the Pacific, an opinion which was contradicted 
 some years later by the researches of Baffin. He 
 resolved to winter here and to follow up his discoveries 
 in the following spring, but his crew mutinied, and 
 placed him with his gun in a small boat at the mercy 
 of the waves, after which nothing was ever heard 
 of this brave mariner. 
 
 25. As early as 161 1 the solitary Bermudas Islands 
 were colonised from the new British settlements in 
 Virginia ; in the same year a Dutch navigator sailing 
 north of Iceland discovered the island which takes 
 his name, Jan Mayen, with its volcano sending flames 
 and smoke out of its snow-clad cone. 
 
 26. About the year 1614 there was living at Amster- 
 dam a famous merchant named Lemaire, who then 
 began to interest himself in geographical discovery ; 
 for it had been a recognised rule in Europe since 
 the time of Columbus that any one making a new 
 discovery beyond the seas had the rights and use 
 of whatever he found. The Dutch East India Com- 
 pany had now been successful in exploring for 
 themselves the way by the Strait of Magellan, and 
 had consequently the exclusive right to the use of 
 this passage to the South Seas. With some other 
 merchants of the town of Hoorn, Lemaire joined 
 
ii8 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 to form an "Austral Company," and fitted out two 
 ships, the Eendragt and Het Hoortty placing them 
 under the command of the navigators Schouten and 
 Jacob Lemaire, son of the merchant. In June 1615 
 the vessels left the Texel, and by the end of Decem- 
 ber had reached the south of Patagonia, making 
 what was then considered a very rapid passage 
 through the Atlantic. Here the yacht Hoorn took 
 fire, and was totally wrecked, and her crew were 
 transferred to the Eendragt, Passing the eastern 
 entrance of the Strait of Magellan, they came upon 
 the long eastw^ard promontory of Tierra del Fuego, 
 through which they soon found a broad deep passage 
 to the south; the land east of this they named, in 
 honour of the States-General of Holland, Staaten Land, 
 Thence bearing south and west against the adverse 
 winds, they passed along the island-bound south 
 coast of Tierra del Fuego, and, reaching a high rocky 
 island peak, which they took to be the extremity of 
 the mainland, they named it Kaep van Hoorn, in 
 honour of the native town of Schouten and many of 
 his sailors. Thence sailing into the open South Sea 
 and northward by Juan Fernandez island, they crossed 
 the ocean to the East Indies, being the first to see the 
 land afterwards called New Britain. Schouten alone of 
 the discoverers again reached Holland, his companion 
 Lemaire having died on the homeward voyage.^ 
 
 * On reaching the East Indies and the Dutch settlements in 
 Java, the governor there, disbelieving the report of their discovery 
 of a new passage, or taking it to be adverse to the interests of 
 the Dutch India Company, confiscated the Eendragt and her 
 
FROM 1600 TO 1700 A.D. 119 
 
 27. The British East India Company had mean- 
 while been establishing itself on the mainland ; in 161 2 
 they had factories at Surat, Ahmedabady Cambaya, and 
 Gogha on the coast of the Gulf of Cambay, and in 
 1615 the English ambassador was well received in 
 the Court of the Great Mogul. 
 
 28. It was about this time that the great south land, 
 now known as Australia, began to be made known. The 
 Dutch, finding the harbours on the east coast of Africa 
 and in India closed against them by the jealousy of 
 the Portuguese, sought for a passage in more southerly 
 latitudes ; and thus, partly by accident, partly by 
 design, they discovered a large portion of Australia. 
 In 1605 Captain Saris, of the Dutch yacht Duiveken, 
 was despatched from Bantam to search for a passage 
 to the south of New Guinea, and obtained some 
 glimpses of the north coast. In 1616 another Dutch 
 voyager, Dirk Hartog, in the ship Eendragt, sailed 
 down its western shores as far as 27° S., and his 
 discovery is perpetuated in the name of Dirk Hartog 
 Island, one of those which enclose Shark Bay, on the 
 west Australian coast. 
 
 29. The course of discovery and colonisation now 
 takes us back to the Atlantic. In Britain, the hope of 
 the possible discovery of a shorter north-west passage 
 to the Pacific was still strong. The account of the 
 complete closure of the inland sea discovered by 
 Hudson was not universally credited, and accordingly, 
 in 161 5, Captain Bylot sailed for that bay, without, 
 however, finding any outlet from it. Next year, with 
 his pilot Baffin, he sailed up Davis Strait, reaching 
 
120 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 78° N.; and; after a superficial examination of the coast, 
 came to the conclusion that this also was a great gulf 
 without outlet. Hence the name Baffiri Bay was given 
 to this, the northern broad expanse of the strait which 
 divides the American Arctic islands from Greenland. 
 
 30. The violent efforts made by King James to 
 extirpate Puritanism in England drove a large number 
 of the Independents to embark at Plymouth^ in 1620, 
 for the New World. These emigrants, known as 
 the ^^ Pilgrim Fathers," disembarked from the May- 
 flower on the North American coast, in lat. 42° N., on 
 a bay about 200 miles north-east of the river-mouth 
 discovered by Hudson, and there founded the settle- 
 ment of New Plymouth, calling the land New Eng- 
 land. A year afterwards the Dutch bought Manhattan 
 Island (at the mouth of Hudson River, on which the 
 central portion of the city of New York now stands) 
 from the native Indians for twenty-four dollars, and 
 founded there the settlement of New Amsterdam, 
 naming the country round it New Holland. Thus 
 there were now five European settlements on the 
 North American coast, — those of the Spaniards in 
 Florida, the English Cavaliers in Virginia, the Dutch 
 at the mouth of the Hudson, the English Puritans 
 more to the north, and the French on the St. Law- 
 rence ; in 1638 a sixth was added by the Swedes, 
 who then colonised the Delaware River. 
 
 31. In the West Indies also the northern nations 
 began to gain ground on the Spanish lands. Bar- 
 bados, as we have noticed, was already British; 
 St, Christopher, or St. Kitts, was added in 1623, and 
 
FROM 1600 TO 1700 A.D. 121 
 
 thence English emigrants passed to Nevis in 1628. 
 Antigua and Montserrat followed in 1632. Then the 
 French came to settle on Martinique and Guadaloupe 
 in 1635, and about that time British settlements were 
 formed on the South American mainland in Guayana 
 at the mouths of the Berbice and Surinam, and by 
 the French in Cayenne, farther east. 
 
 32. The French now began to appear in the Indian 
 Ocean also ; for in 1642 we find them taking pos- 
 session of the southern island of the Mascarenhas, 
 and naming it He Bourbon, and also settling on the 
 north-west of Madagascar. 
 
 33. Meanwhile the Dutch had been extending their 
 circle of exploration from their settlements, and the 
 western coast of Australia had been traced along its 
 whole extent ; for in 161 9 the merchants named Edel 
 and Houtman had passed beyond Dirk Hartog's 
 farthest, to 32^° S., and named the coast-land there 
 Edel's Land. Another Dutch ship, in 1622, reached 
 the south-west cape, giving it the name of the ship, 
 Leeuwin (or Lioness). Before the end of 1627 the 
 south-west corner had been turned, and another 
 Dutchman sailing along it in the Guldezeepard 
 (Golden Sea-Lion), gave the name Nuyts Land to the 
 coast, in honour of a distinguished passenger, Peter 
 Nuyts — a name which is preserved in Nuyts' Archi- 
 pelago in the great Australian bight. 
 
 34. Far more extended discoveries were made in 
 this direction by the navigator Abel Jansen Tasman, 
 who sailed from Batavia in November 1642. Round- 
 ing the west coast of Australia, and then turning east. 
 
122 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 he came upon what he believed to be a portion of the 
 same southern continent of New Holland, and named 
 the new territory Van Diemen s Land, in honour of 
 the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies. An 
 island on its eastern coast he called Maria, after Van 
 Diemen's daughter. Sailing still farther east into the 
 Pacific, Tasman discovered the shore of a new land, 
 which he took to be a continuation of the Staaten 
 Land of Schouten and Lemaire, and named it accord- 
 ingly ; but Hendrik Brouwer, in the following year, 
 showed that it could not be united in any way to the 
 Staaten Land east of Tierra del Fuego, and re-named 
 it New Zealandy from the Dutch province. 
 
 35. We have already noticed the rapid advance of 
 the Russian Cossacks over Siberia, conquering and 
 rendering tributary the native tribes of Tunguses and 
 Yakuts ; how the Arctic Ocean was reached at the 
 mouth of the Lena in 1636, and the Pacific at the Sea 
 of Okhotsk in 1639. Not halting at this barrier, the 
 Cossacks took to the sea at the farthest limits of their 
 land journeys, and one of them, named Deshenev, as 
 early as 1648, reported that he had sailed between 
 Asia and America, and that the two continents were 
 not united. His whole voyage, however, was at the 
 time regarded as a fable, and was not confirmed till 
 nearly a century after. 
 
 36. The leading movement of subsequent years in 
 the Asiatic region appears to have been the extension 
 of Dutch power over Portuguese in the East India 
 Islands, — in Celebes^ Borneo^ and at Padangin Sumatra. 
 
 ^ A corruption of the native name Bruni or Brunei. 
 
FROM 1600 TO 1700 A.D. 123 
 
 It was in the middle of this century also that the 
 attention of the Dutch East India Company was 
 first effectively directed towards South Africa, when, 
 in 1652, Jan Anthony van Riebeek, a surgeon in the 
 service of the company, first settled on the promontory 
 of the Cape of Good Hope with about a hundred officers 
 and servants of the company. On the Gold Coast of 
 Africa the Dutch had already supplanted the Portu- 
 guese, and there the British first settled in 1664. 
 
 37. Three or four years later the French gained a 
 footing on the Senegal coast, and afterwards formed 
 their Senegal Company. In 1668 they first appear 
 in India at Surat, and four years later we find them 
 buying their possession of Pondichery from the native 
 princes. 
 
 38. In America the British dominion was extended 
 by the addition of one of the Virgin Islands (1666), 
 and by the formation in 1670 of the Hudson Bay Com- 
 pany, which at first consisted of Prince Rupert, cousin 
 of Charles II. of England, and certain associates of his 
 who were invested with the absolute proprietorship 
 and sovereignty of all the territory draining to Hudson 
 Bay and its strait. In 1690 this fur company was in 
 full working, and had built several forts and factories 
 on the coasts, whence from time to time their opera- 
 tions extended inland. 
 
 The French also, after their countryman La Salle 
 first descended (1682) the great river Mississippi j 
 ^^the father of waters," invaded Spanish claims by 
 settling in Louisiana, about the mouth of the great 
 river, in 1699. 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 FROM 1700 TO 1800 A.D. 
 
 According to the general plan that we have been 
 following, we now return to review briefly the greater 
 changes, extensions, and contractions of power 
 within the Old World, before taking up again the 
 outline of discovery and conquest beyond the seas 
 within the next hundred years. 
 
 1. Of China under the prosperous rule of the 
 Manchu Emperors there is little to be told that 
 affects the outer world. One of its rulers during 
 this century (Kien-lung) had a reign of sixty years 
 of uninterrupted external peace, and was successful 
 in many military expeditions against the interior 
 tribes, over whom he asserted the authority of the 
 empire. It was only during the last year of his 
 reign (1796) that the turbulent and aggressive prince 
 of the State of Nepal, on the southern slope of the 
 Himalaya range in North India, invaded Tibet on 
 the high Asiatic plateau, and plundered the Lama 
 monastery of Teshu Lumpo near Shigatse, 
 
 2. Tibet had for several centuries been partially 
 tributary to China ; its danger now gave an oppor- 
 tunity for the intervention of the empire : a Chinese 
 army marched into it, defeated the Nepalese, and 
 
 X24 
 
FROM 1700 TO 1800 A.D. 125 
 
 drove them back across the Himalayas. From that 
 time onwards Tibet has remained under Chinese 
 control ; a Chinese viceroy sits at Lhassuy and the 
 Grand Lama of Tibet, or Pope of Buddhism, re- 
 tained only his spiritual authority till 1904, when 
 he withdrew to China before the English expedition 
 to Lhassa in that year. During the reign of Kien- 
 lung the Chinese occupied Bokhara. 
 
 3. Near the end of the century the semi-tributary 
 State of Annam or Cochin China was extended by 
 incorporating Tongking, its sovereign receiving aid 
 in this from France. Burma, another State of the 
 peninsula of farther India, also begins to acquire 
 importance at this period ; it was in 1752 that Aloung- 
 Pra, the most celebrated warrior-king in Burman 
 history, arose, subdued the hostile Peguans and 
 incorporated their country and many neighbouring 
 States, thus forming an empire which continued to 
 expand to such an extent as to attract to itself a 
 Chinese military expedition (1767) for its conquest, 
 which, however, was destroyed on the river Irawadi. 
 
 4. The expansion of Russian power, both in Europe 
 and Asia, is one of the great features of the century. 
 European Russia at the beginning of this period was 
 still shut out from navigable seas, — by Sweden from 
 the Baltic in the north, and by Turkey from the 
 Euxine in the south, — leaving only the northern port 
 of Archangel on the icy White Sea as the outlet of 
 its ships. One of the most cherished designs of 
 Peter the Great, in the middle of whose reign the 
 century begins, was that of creating an armed and 
 
126 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 mercantile fleet for Russia ; for this, however, the 
 possession of accessible seaports was essential, and 
 these were to be obtained only by breaking through 
 Turkish or Swedish territory. The Turkish port of 
 Azov at the mouth of the Don was taken after a 
 long siege (1696). In the north the Tsar joined 
 with Poland and Denmark in attacking Sweden, and 
 though defeated, as we have seen, at Narva, in 1700, 
 he laid the foundation of the city of St. Petersburg in 
 Swedish territory in 1703, and by routing the Swedish 
 army at Poltava in 1709 gained for Russia the whole 
 of the Baltic provinces and part of Finland. Two 
 years later an unsuccessful war with Turkey lost him 
 the hard-won port of Azov ; but in the north his 
 arms were crowned with success ; the Swedish fleet 
 was defeated at Hango, and the outlet of the Baltic 
 was secured. 
 
 5. In 1722 a war was begun with Persia in order 
 to open up the Caspian Sea to Russian commerce, 
 and for a time the provinces of Persia bordering 
 on that sea were in Russian hands. The reign of 
 Catherine II. (i 762-1 796) was not less glorious for 
 Russia than that of Peter the Great had been. Her 
 successful wars with Poland and Sweden in the 
 north, and with Turkey and Persia in the south, 
 widely extended the limits of the empire. In a 
 scheme for the partition of Turkey between Austria 
 and Russia, the former aggressive power was con- 
 stantly defeated, but the Russians were as uniformly 
 successful : the Turkish provinces on the Danube 
 fell into their hands, and the main army of the Turks 
 
FROM 1700 TO 1800 A.D. 127 
 
 was signally defeated before Shumla. In spite of a 
 clear treaty concluded in 1774, the Crimea and the 
 whole country eastward to the Caspian were imme- 
 diately afterwards annexed. Again war broke out ; 
 the Russian armies again overran the northern pro- 
 vinces of Turkey, and by the Treaty of J assy (1792) 
 the Dniester river was made the boundary line, and 
 the Crimea and Kuban were finally ceded to Russia, 
 which thus gained the whole north shores of the 
 Black Sea. 
 
 6. Power was also being rapidly consolidated in 
 Asiatic Russia ; already in 1727 a line of armed 
 Cossack outposts was drawn along the Chinese 
 frontier from the Sea of Okhotsk to the Ala Tau 
 Mountains; in 1772 these posts were increased in 
 numbers and strengthened by regular troops. Dis- 
 covery had also been progressing towards the north 
 and east, defining more clearly the natural limits of 
 the new possession. Adventurers had even gone 
 beyond its shores : the Liakhov, or New Siberian 
 islands in the icy Arctic Sea, with their stores of 
 mammoth ivory, had been found ; and the voyager 
 Vitus Beringy sailing out from a port of the penin- 
 sula of Kamtchatka in 1728, had reached the entrance 
 of the strait which bears his name, confirming the 
 separation of Asia from America that had been re- 
 ported by the Cossack Deshenev. The division of 
 Russia into Governments dates from 1769. 
 
 7. Sweden's wars with Russia in the early part 
 of the century, which lost for her the south-eastern 
 coasts of the Baltic, have been already referred to ; 
 
128 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 these overwhelmed the country with debt, and were 
 followed by a long period of disorganisation. In 
 1788 Sweden again went to war with Russia, at the 
 time when that country was engaged in active hostili- 
 ties against the Turks, but without advantageous issue. 
 
 8. Denmark during this period still ruled over 
 Norway ; it exercised no very important influence in 
 the affairs of Europe, but increased greatly in wealth 
 and commerce. A Danish Asiatic Company was 
 formed in 1733, and the French gave their share of 
 the Virgin Islands in the West Indies to Denmark, on 
 the condition that they should not be made over to 
 any other power without the sanction of France. 
 It was during the reign of Frederick V. (i 746-1 766) 
 that a Greenland Company was formed, and that a 
 number of learned men, among whom was Niebuhr, 
 the explorer of Arabia, were sent from Denmark to 
 travel in the east. 
 
 9. Prussia, we have already seen, had risen in the 
 first year of this century to the rank of a great 
 European power. Frederick William created for it 
 his splendid army of tall soldiers, which his successor 
 Frederick the Great (i 740-1 786) used to such advan- 
 tage for the extension of the kingdom, beginning his 
 career by occupying Silesia, and holding it against the 
 utmost efforts of Austria. The desperate conflict of 
 the ^' Seven Years' War" (1756-1763), in which all the 
 powers of Central Europe were engaged, made no 
 change in the territorial distribution, but left Frederick 
 the acknowledged sovereign of Silesia. 
 
 10. Poland had been closely allied with Russia 
 
FROM 1700 TO 1800 A.D. 129 
 
 against the Swedes, and thus the dependence of that 
 country on the stronger power had begun. From 
 this time its government fell more and more under 
 Russian influence, the intensely national spirit of the 
 Poles being craftily turned so as to keep alive the 
 dissensions which were surely weakening the country. 
 A few zealous patriots, alarmed at the closing grasp 
 of Russia, and supported by Turkey, raised an army 
 and declared war. 
 
 11. It was at this juncture that Frederick of Prussia 
 proposed to Austria and Russia an iniquitous parti- 
 tion of Poland ; the mediation of the other powers 
 of Europe was sought by Poland in vain, so that in 
 1772 a first partition of a large part of the country 
 was effected by these three powers. A second par- 
 tition of still larger territories between Russia and 
 Prussia followed in 1793. The Poles now became 
 desperate, and compelled the Prussians to retreat 
 to their own country, and several times routed the 
 Russian troops. But Austria, chagrined at having had 
 no share in the second division, now again appeared 
 on the scene, and fresh Russian forces arriving, 
 the patriot army of Kosciusco was finally defeated, 
 Warsaw was captured, and the Polish monarchy for 
 ever annihilated. The third and last partition of 
 this unfortunate kingdom gave all eastern and cen- 
 tral Poland to Russia, Posen to Prussia, and Galicia 
 and Bukovina to Austria. 
 
 12. All western Europe became involved in the 
 very first year of this century in the long contest 
 known as the War of the Spanish Succession (1700- 
 
 I 
 
130 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 1 71 3). Charles II. of Spain died without heir, and 
 Louis of France and Leopold of Austria became the 
 rival claimants for the vacant throne, which carried 
 with it the sovereignty of the Spanish Netherlands, 
 the Milanese, Naples and Sicily in Italy, and the vast 
 American possessions. The Austrian party at first 
 prevailed in Spain, but Louis succeeded in under- 
 mining their influence and in having his second 
 grandson Philip declared king. This union could 
 not fail to endanger the independence of every other 
 state in western Europe, and the subsequent occupa- 
 tion of the Netherlands by Louis brought about the 
 alliance of Britain, Germany, and Holland against 
 France and the Spanish usurper. A combined army 
 of these pow^ers, under Marlborough, attacked the 
 French in Belgium. The Austrians also sent an army 
 into Italy, Bavaria alone declaring for France. The 
 defeat at Blenheim^ in Bavaria, lost the French their 
 hold on Germany ; at Ramillies the fate of the 
 Spanish Netherlands was decided ; and in the battle 
 of Turin the French power in North Italy was 
 shattered. A force of British and Dutch troops also 
 landing at Lisbotty were joined by the Portuguese, 
 and invaded Spain from the west, ultimately driving 
 the Bourbon forces across the Pyrenees. By the 
 Peace of Utrechty w^hich concluded this contest, 
 France ceded to Britain her American possessions of 
 Hudson Bay, Newfoundland, and Nova Scotia, with 
 St. Kitts in the West Indies ; the Italian possessions 
 of Spain were renounced in favour of Austria ; the 
 Rock of Gibraltar and the island of Minorca w^ere 
 
FROM 1700 TO 1800 A.D. 131 
 
 given up to Britain ; Portugal gained the country north 
 of the Amazon in South America ; and the profit- 
 able "asiento" or monopoly of the supply of negro 
 slaves to the American colonies was transferred to 
 Britain. 
 
 13. The death of the Emperor Charles VI. of 
 Austria (1740), by which the male line of the house 
 of Hapsburg became extinct, was the signal for 
 another war among the powers of Europe, which 
 continued with alternating success for eight years, 
 but left the limits of the various states, at the Peace 
 of Aix which concluded it, very much as before. 
 
 14. In 1756 broke out the Seven Years' War, 
 in which Britain took the part of Prussia against 
 France, Austria, and Russia ; during this contest 
 Wolfe made his conquest of the French Canadian 
 possessions, and Clive took from them their settle- 
 ments in India. 
 
 15. It was soon after the conclusion of this war 
 by the Treaty of Paris, by which the greater part 
 of the French colonial possessions were given up to 
 Britain, that the first attempt was made to increase 
 the finances of the United Kingdom by taxing the 
 American colonies, a measure which excited the 
 most determined opposition, ultimately leading to a 
 war (1774) between them and the mother country, 
 in which they were materially supported by her 
 enemies France and Spain, and by Holland. After 
 eight years of fighting this struggle concluded in 
 the acknowledgment of the independence of the 
 American colonies and the formation of the Re- 
 
132 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 public of the United States (1783), which we shall 
 afterwards notice more particularly. 
 
 16. This war for freedom had disseminated re- 
 publican ideas in the minds of the lower orders in 
 France, where an incapable government and prodigal 
 court threatened the bankruptcy of the state, and 
 undoubtedly laid the seeds of the great revolution 
 which was about to break out. Insurrections first 
 alarmed Paris in 1789, when the people took pos- 
 session of the Bastille, but the conciliations at- 
 tempted by the king and nobles delayed the grand 
 outbreak till 1792, when a war with Austria was 
 begun, and the defeat of the French was visited on 
 the unfortunate Louis. Revolt now broke loose in 
 every part of France ; a reign of blood and terror 
 succeeded, and all the surrounding states combined 
 against the new republic, till the brilliant exploits of 
 the young general Napoleon Bonaparte, at the head of 
 the French troops against the Austrians in Lombardy, 
 turned all men's thoughts to follow his successes. 
 
 17. In 1797 Bonaparte was master in Italy, and 
 Austria had been compelled to give up Belgium, 
 which had been hers since the Peace of Utrecht, 
 and which was afterwards recognised as part of 
 France. In Holland the French troops had been 
 warmly received by the so-called patriots of the 
 United Provinces ; the Stadtholder William V. and 
 his family (1795) had been obliged to escape to 
 England in a fishing-boat, and the Batavian Re- 
 public, under the protection of France, had been 
 set up. A year later Bonaparte undertook the 
 
FROM 1700 TO 1800 A.D. 133 
 
 famous expedition against Egypt, in which the 
 battle of the Pyramids made the French for a time 
 masters of the Nile Delta. This also was the ex- 
 pedition which gave Nelson the opportunity of 
 signalising his first independent command by the 
 grand victory of the Nile, in which he utterly de- 
 stroyed the French fleet and cut off Napoleon's 
 communications with Europe. Leaving his army 
 behind, Bonaparte escaped from Alexandria, and we 
 leave him at the end of the century First Consul 
 of France, soon to extend the limits of his kingdom 
 by further successes in Europe. 
 
 18. Passing by Portugal, now apathetic and sub- 
 ordinate, from which state the ancient glory had 
 departed never to return, we come to the states 
 which lie along the shores of the Mediterranean. 
 Morocco we find remaining an independent state 
 under the rule of the Sherifs of Tafilet ; Algeria, a 
 military oligarchy, at the head of which was the 
 Dey, and under him a strong Turkish militia, law- 
 less and turbulent at home and piratical abroad, 
 defying the greater Christian powders, and forcing 
 tribute from the lesser on the waters of the Medi- 
 terranean. Against them the last Spanish expedition, 
 with 44 ships of war and 340 transports, carrying 
 25,000 soldiers, went fruitlessly in 1775. 
 
 Tunis at this time had been made tributary to 
 Algiers ; Egypt remained a province of Turkey, 
 administered by Pashas, until Bonaparte's invasion 
 brought it for a year or two at the close of the 
 century under the power of France. 
 
134 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 19. The repeated aggressions of Russia and Austria 
 in the Ottoman dominion in Europe, and the loss 
 to Turkey of the lands bordering on the north coasts 
 of the Black Sea, have been already alluded to. In 
 part recompense for these losses the Turks received 
 the Morea from the Venetians, and brought the whole 
 of Greece again under Mohammedan dominion. 
 
 20. In Asia the story of the Ottoman Empire at 
 this time connects itself with that of Persia. At the 
 beginning of this century the Afghans of the east 
 had acquired independence and power, and Persia 
 was ruled by an Afghan king, whose cruelties have 
 made the name of his people hated in Persia to the 
 present day. A notable leader, who has been called 
 the Wallace of Persia, soon, however, appeared as 
 the deliverer of the country. This was Nadir Shah; 
 at first merely the leader of a band of outlaws who 
 levied contributions on the province of Khorassan, 
 and by announcing his intention of expelling the 
 hated race of the Afghans, drew large numbers to 
 his standard ; he reduced the cities of Mashhad and 
 Herat, and afterwards subdued all Khorassan, and 
 placed a Persian king again on the throne. He was 
 then sent against the Turks (1731), and defeating 
 them at Hamadan, regained for Persia the Armenian 
 provinces. On returning after this campaign Nadir 
 was himself crowned Shah. He resumed his war 
 with the Turks, and granted terms of peace, Persia 
 thereby recovering the province of Georgia. He now 
 advanced against the Afghans in the East, and con- 
 quering them passed on to the North-West Provinces 
 
FROM 1700 TO 1800 A.D. 135 
 
 of India against the Great Mogul ; took Delhi, and 
 returned to Persia with an enormous booty, includ- 
 ing the famous diamond, the ^^ Koh-i-nur." He next 
 drove back the Usbegs on the north, and reducing 
 Bokhara and Kharesm, or Khiva, restored for a time 
 to Persia the wide limits of the empire as in the 
 days of the Sassanian kings. On his death anarchy 
 again broke loose in Persia, and before the end of 
 the century we find Afghanistan and Baluchistan 
 finally separated as independent states from Persia 
 proper, and large territories in the north-west, border- 
 ing on the Caspian, in the hands of Russia, to which 
 empire Georgia was also soon to be added as a new 
 province. 
 
 21. During the wars between Britain and France 
 at home in this period hostilities broke out in India, 
 where the French and British were already suffi- 
 ciently jealous of one another's influence with the 
 native princes. It was now that the great soldier- 
 statesman Clive laid the foundation of British supre- 
 macy in the East, breaking the power of France in 
 this region by his great victory at Arcot in 1751. 
 The next great event here was the siege and capture 
 of Calcutta by the viceroy of the Great Mogul in 
 Bengal, when the prisoners captured suffered the 
 horrors of the '^ Black Hole of Calcutta." In com- 
 mand of an expedition fitted out at Madras^ Clive 
 soon recovered Calcutta, and before 1765, Bengal, 
 with part of Behar and Orissa, had been ceded by 
 the Great Mogul to the East India Company. The 
 power of the great Mohammedan ruler of northern 
 
136 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 India had indeed already suffered greatly from the 
 expedition of Nadir Shah. Ten years later two 
 powerful Mohammedan sovereigns of southern India, 
 Hyder Ali and the Nizam of the Dekkan, assisted by 
 French officers, combined against the English, but 
 the able policy of Warren Hastings broke up the 
 federation and defeated Hyder Ali. War next broke 
 out with Tippoo, Hyder All's son and successor, who 
 had invaded Travancore, then under British pro- 
 tection. Seringapataniy his capital, was taken, and 
 half his dominions ceded to the Company as the 
 price of peace. Not long after this the bad faith of 
 Tippoo and his intrigues with the French again drew 
 the British, under Marquis Wellesley, to Seringapatam 
 (1799), when Tippoo lost both his crown and his 
 life. 
 
 It remains for us now to sketch out the progress 
 of geographical discovery beyond the limits of the 
 Old World during this period. 
 
 22. One of the earliest important expeditions sent 
 out from the Old World in this century was that of 
 Hans Eged^, a Norwegian clergyman, who, believing 
 it possible that the old Greenland colonies might 
 still be in existence, determined to seek out his 
 forlorn countrymen ; accordingly in 172 1 he em- 
 barked with his wife and family and 46 emigrants, 
 sailed for the west coast of Greenland, and there 
 founded the settlements which at present occupy that 
 rock and ice bound shore. 
 
 23. We have already referred to the Russian ex- 
 pedition from Petropavlovsk in Kamtchatka under 
 
FROM 1700 TO 1800 A.D. 137 
 
 Bering, in which he discovered the straits between 
 Asia and America. After some years spent in ex- 
 ploring the Asiatic coasts of Siberia, this voyager 
 sailed in 1741 from Okhotsk out to the east, sighted 
 land in about 58^° N., and was the first to trace the 
 American coast in the Alaska peninsula, and to dis- 
 cover the high volcano called Mount St. Elias ; but it 
 was not made certain by his voyage whether these 
 were really parts of the American continent, or only 
 the shores of islands lying between the mainlands. 
 Bering followed the coast northward, till, overtaken 
 by sickness and storms, his ship was wrecked on the 
 island of Awatska, since called Bering Island, and he 
 died there in December 1741. 
 
 24. About this time the search for the '^ North-West 
 Passage " was renewed, and several ships were sent to 
 explore the coasts of Hudson Bay, where it was be- 
 lieved some outlet to the west would be discovered ; 
 but in vain ; and though a reward of ^£20,000 was 
 offered by the British Government to the fortunate 
 discoverer of such a navigable passage to the Pacific, 
 the search was abandoned for almost the whole re- 
 maining part of the century. On the side of the 
 "north-east," the search for a navigable route had 
 also been abandoned by the western nations of 
 Europe ; Russia, however, was exploring the Arctic 
 shores of her vast Siberian territory, and a Russian 
 walrus-fisher for the first time found the eastern or 
 inner coast of Novaya Zemlya in 1742. 
 
 25. Two years before this, war between England 
 and Spain having again broken out in 1739, Lord 
 
138 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 George Anson was sent out from England, com- 
 manding a fleet which was intended to inflict what- 
 ever injury was possible on Spanish commerce and 
 colonies in the South Seas. His fleet of seven vessels 
 was scattered before rounding the stormy Cape 
 Hoorn, but four of these arrived at the island of 
 Juan Fernandez ; with these he captured a Spanish 
 galleon from Acapulco, and steering across the Pacific 
 discovered a number of the smaller uninhabited 
 islands which lie west of the Sandwich group. He 
 reached Spithead again in 1744, having circum- 
 navigated the globe in a cruise of nearly four years. 
 In 1778 Captain Cook explored much of this ocean. 
 
 26. Another British officer, Captain Vancouver 
 (1791), was the next to make any important discovery 
 in the Pacific ; during four years of incessant exer- 
 tion he explored the shores of the island on the west 
 coast of North America which now bears his name, 
 and the labyrinth of islands and sounds which ex- 
 tends thence to the limit of Bering's discoveries, 
 thus showing for the first time that no navigable 
 passage existed between this coast and Hudson Bay, 
 as had been so confidently hoped and expected. 
 
 27. Shortly before these discoveries were made. 
 General Wolfe had set out (1759) from England with 
 his little army of 8000 men to take Canada from the 
 French. Arrived there, he landed on the island of 
 Orleans in the St. Lawrence opposite Quebec, scaled 
 the Heights of Abraham at fearful risk, and made his 
 memorable capture of the city. At the date of the 
 union of Canada to Britain by the Treaty of Paris, 
 
FROM 1700 TO 1800 A.D. 139 
 
 1763, the colony had gathered a French population 
 of 65,000; inhabiting the immediate banks of the 
 broad St. Lawrence. 
 
 28. Soon after his succession to the throne, and 
 after the close of the Seven Years' War, George III. 
 of England took advantage of the returning time of 
 peace to send out, one after the other, a number 
 of voyagers, who made themselves famous by their 
 circumnavigations of the globe and discoveries of 
 new lands. Byron, Wallis, Carteret, and Cook all 
 left these shores soon after 1764; it was at this 
 time also that Bougainville set out to make the 
 first French circumnavigation of the globe. To 
 Byron geography owes the first survey of the 
 Falkland Islands; to Wallis the survey of the Queen 
 Charlotte Group of islets in the Pacific, and the re- 
 finding of the beautiful Tahiti ; while Carteret made 
 known the afterwards famous Pitcairn Island, and 
 was the first to sail through St. George's Channel, 
 between New Britain and New Ireland ; but Cook's 
 three great voyages formed the great geographical 
 event of the century. 
 
 29. Captain Cook's surveys of the shores of the 
 British possessions of Newfoundland and Labrador 
 introduced him to the notice of the Royal Society, 
 who gave him command of an expedition to the 
 Pacific to observe the approaching transit of Venus 
 over the sun's disc ; and he sailed from Plymouth 
 in August 1768. Having passed round South America 
 to Tahiti in the Pacific, he there successfully carried 
 out the main object of his voyage, and leaving 
 
140 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 that island in July of the following year, steered 
 westward for New Zealand, which had not been 
 seen by Europeans since Tasman's visit, 126 years 
 before. He landed on the coast of North Island, 
 at a place which he named Poverty Bay, in October 
 1769 ; the natives, the cannibal Maoris, as was after- 
 wards learned, took his ship for a gigantic bird, 
 and were thunderstruck at the beauty and size of 
 its wings. Nearly a year was spent in surveying 
 the coasts of these islands, and thence sailing west- 
 ward Cook discovered the eastern side of New 
 Holland, or Australia, and coasted along nearly its 
 whole length, taking possession of it in the name 
 of Britain, and giving it the name of New South 
 Wales. A landing was made in the inlet which 
 was called Botany Bay (34° S.), from the great number 
 of strange plants seen for the first time on its shores. 
 He next turned north to New Guinea, and proved, 
 by passing through Torres Strait, that the island 
 was really separated from New Holland ; thence, 
 continuing his voyage by Java and the Cape of 
 Good Hope, he reached the Downs again in June 
 
 1771- 
 
 30. Geographers had long theoretically held that 
 
 there must exist a great continent in the south to 
 
 balance the mass of land in the northern hemisphere, 
 
 and accordingly a vast ^^ Terra Australis Incognita'' 
 
 was shown on most maps of the time, filling up 
 
 the Antarctic regions. To ascertain the truth about 
 
 this unknown land was the main object of Cook's 
 
 second expedition in the ships Resolution and Ad- 
 
FROM 1700 TO 1800 A.D. 141 
 
 venture^ with which for three years he searched 
 all round the icy Antarctic region, passing due east 
 from the Cape of Good Hope to New Zealand, and 
 thence round to Patagonia, steering south at frequent 
 intervals, till brought to a halt each time by the 
 close pack-ice of the Antarctic region. He thus 
 made known the vast extent of the southern ocean, 
 freeing it from the fantastic lands that had filled it 
 up, and proving conclusively that no great continent 
 existed at all outside the limit of the South Polar 
 Circle. 
 
 31. The belief in the possibility of a north-west 
 passage between the Atlantic and Pacific still pre- 
 vailed at home, and Cook had no sooner returned 
 from his second voyage, than his offer to set out 
 on a new voyage of exploration was accepted by 
 the Admiralty. In this third campaign (1776-79), 
 Cook sought a passage through Bering Straits instead 
 of the old route by Davis Strait, and rounded the 
 north-western extremity of America by this route, 
 but was brought to a standstill by the barrier of 
 ice in front (Icy Cape). On returning south, he 
 was the first to explore the Sandwich Islands (one 
 of which had been seen by Gaetano in 1542), naming 
 them thus after the First Lord of the Admiralty at 
 the time. It was on the island of Hawaii, in this 
 group, that Cook met his tragical death in 1779. 
 
 32. While Cook was absent on this third voyage 
 the attempts to enforce taxation on the North Ameri- 
 can colonies had led to great events in that part of 
 the world. Though of very various origin, as we have 
 
142 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 seen, these colonies were united by common fears and 
 interests, so that their first impulse was to join in their 
 common grievance. The first Act to raise revenue by 
 stamps caused great indignation, and was repealed, but 
 the principle was not abandoned, though ultimately 
 the only duty remaining was that on tea. From north 
 to south in the colonies, however, it was determined 
 that this tax should not be paid, and rioters in 
 Boston J disguised as Indians, were the first to break 
 the peace by wantonly destroying some cargoes of 
 it, ^^ blackening the harbour with unexpected tea." 
 It was now determined to enforce the government 
 of the Crown over the colonies, and a fleet with 
 10,000 troops was despatched to America, and war 
 was begun in 1775, when the famous battle of Bunker* s 
 Hilly near Boston, was fought. Next year the colonies 
 proclaimed their separation from Great Britain, de- 
 claring themselves free and independent under the 
 general title of the thirteen United States of America. 
 These thirteen States, occupying the Atlantic coast- 
 slope between Spanish Florida and Canada, east of 
 the Alleghany Mountains, had gathered a population, 
 m the century and a half which had elapsed since 
 the first settlement on the coast of Virginia had been 
 made, of about 2,500,000. The war was carried on 
 with varying success ; army after army was sent 
 out from England. The States on their part endea- 
 voured in vain to induce the British colonies of 
 Canada and Nova Scotia to join in the struggle for 
 independence ; but Spain and Holland joined them 
 in the war, and Paul Jones, with ships fitted out 
 
FROM 1700 TO 1800 A.D. 143 
 
 in French ports, but sailing under the American 
 flag, fought desperate battles on the English coasts. 
 It was only in 1783 that peace was finally concluded 
 between England, France, Holland, and America, 
 the independence of the States being acknowledged. 
 Four years later the constitution of the United States 
 was framed, and Washington was the first president. 
 
 33. Thus in the latter part of this century, the por- 
 tions of the North American continent which had been 
 occupied and brought under European government 
 were five, (i) Mexico or New Spain, with California 
 (which had been occupied in 1767 by the Franciscan 
 friars, the successors of the expelled Jesuits in Mexico), 
 was under the dominion of Spain. (2) Louisiana, 
 which had been made over to Spain by the igno- 
 minious Peace of Paris in 1763, was restored at the 
 close of the century to France. (3) The United 
 States in the east were extended before the end of 
 the century by the addition, to the original thirteen, 
 of the new States of Vermont, Kentucky, and Ten- 
 nessee. (4) Canada after its conquest had been ex- 
 tended to include all the interior country down to 
 the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio ; but the 
 territories of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, 
 Indiana, and Illinois were given up to the American 
 Republic in 1783. (5) Finally, in the north were 
 the territories of the Hudson Bay Company. All 
 the interior and western region of the continent 
 remained still in the hands of the warlike aboriginal 
 Indians. 
 
 34. Explorers sent by the American fur traders of 
 
144 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 the north were the first to gain a knowledge of the 
 interior of the continent and of its extent towards 
 the Arctic Sea. The Coppermine River was first 
 traced down to its mouth on the shore of the Arctic 
 Ocean by an emissary of the Hudson Bay Company 
 named Hearne in 1769 ; twenty years later, on behalf 
 of a rival association called the North-West Company 
 of Montreal, Mackenzie descended the great river 
 which now bears his name, past the Great Slave 
 and Bear Lakes to the Arctic Sea, and was the first 
 to cross the continent in its entire breadth over the 
 Rocky Mountains to the Pacific. 
 
 35. In Spanish South America several changes 
 were made in the administrative divisions during this 
 century ; in the north New Granada was made into 
 a separate viceroyalty, formed of the provinces of 
 Panama, Santa F6 de Bogotd, and Quito, the last being 
 taken from the existing viceroyalty of Peru. Down 
 to 1775 the basin of the Rio de la Plata in the south 
 remained a dependency of Peru, but in that year it 
 was erected into a distinct viceroyalty, and Upper Peru 
 or Bolivia was subsequently added to it. During the 
 earlier half of the century the ^^ Christian Republic " 
 of the Jesuit missions in Paraguay had enjoyed un- 
 exampled prosperity and was rising surely to wealth 
 and power, when the edict went forth from Spain 
 banishing the Jesuits from the realm, and Paraguay 
 was added to the viceroyalty of Buenos Ayres. 
 
 36. Brazil meanwhile had entirely recovered*^ its 
 independence from the Dutch, who had all but 
 supplanted the Portuguese in their East Indian colo- 
 
FROM 1700 TO 1800 A.D. 145 
 
 iiies, and the fostering care of the mother country 
 was devoted to it ahnost exclusively. In 1780 the 
 boundaries between Spanish and Portuguese America 
 were first defined. Here, however, as in North 
 America, the European settlements were mainly along 
 the coast-land and the lines of the great rivers, all the 
 interior of the land remaining in possession of the 
 native Indian tribes, who were gradually amalgamat- 
 ing with their conquerors and the Africans brought 
 thither as slaves. 
 
 37. In West Africa, the coast-line of the vast con- 
 tinent was now well known, and had been settled at 
 various points by European colonies. The period of 
 those inland journeys of exploration which have little 
 by little disclosed its hidden features and unveiled the 
 very fountains of the Nile itself, had now begun. In 
 1770 James Bruce had reached the capital of Abyssinia 
 and the source-lake of the Blue Nile, bringing back 
 with him such marvellous tales that some of them 
 were set down as fabrications, though they have now 
 been fully confirmed. In 1793, Browne first reached 
 Darfur, and brought the first reports of the White 
 Nile. Three years later, Mungo Park first saw the 
 Niger ; and in the same year the Portuguese sent 
 Dr. Lacerda from Mozambique and the Zambesi 
 stations to visit the inland potentate, the Cazembe. 
 
 38. It was in 1793 that the British first took pos- 
 session of the Cape Colony, though six years later it 
 was temporarily restored to Holland ; and in 1787 
 the philanthropic endeavours then being made in 
 England under the leadership of William Wilber- 
 
146 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 force brought about the establishment of the West 
 African colony of Sierra Leone, to show the pos- 
 sibility of obtaining colonial produce without slave 
 labour. Perim Island, a barren rock, important how- 
 ever in its position at the entrance to the Red Sea, of 
 which it may be called the Gibraltar, was now first 
 taken possession of by the British. 
 
 39. Across the Indian Ocean the first European 
 settlement in Australia was formed by the despatch 
 from England of a batch of 760 convicts and 700 
 soldiers, besides a few cattle, horses, and sheep, all 
 which were landed (January 1788) at Cook's Botany 
 Bay ; soon afterwards the settlement was transferred 
 a little way north to the more promising shores of 
 Port Jackson, the beautiful harbour of the present 
 city of Sydney. Twelve years later Norfolk Island 
 was made into a penal settlement for the colony of 
 New South Wales. 
 
 40. An important voyage of discovery on the Asiatic 
 coast remains to be noticed. It was made by the 
 French voyager La Perouse, who distinguished him- 
 self during the American War by his expedition to 
 attack the British forts on the stormy ice-bound 
 shores of Hudson Bay ; he was sent out in 1785 to 
 attempt again the discovery of a north-west passage 
 by Bering Strait. He for the first time surveyed the 
 shores of Japan and Tartary, discovering Saghalien 
 Island, and the straits which separate it from the 
 island of Yezo and the mainland, sending home 
 his journals by way of Kamtchatka. He also ex- 
 amined part of the little-known American coast on 
 
FROM 1700 TO 1800 A.D. 147 
 
 the opposite side of the Pacific, though he failed to 
 add to knowledge farther north. His voyage has a 
 strange interest, for after anchoring in Botany Bay 
 on his return, his ships disappeared altogether, and 
 no trace of them was ever afterwards found, though 
 several expeditions were sent out in search — the only 
 clue to his fate being the discovery thirty years later 
 of some articles that had belonged to his vessels on 
 one of the small northern islets of the New Hebrides. 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 FROM 1800 TO 1908 A.D. 
 
 By far the most important and rapid changes of 
 power and territorial limits in the beginning of the 
 nineteenth century were those which were taking 
 place in western Europe, where the boundless am- 
 bition of France under Napoleon Bonaparte brought 
 about the most tremendous wars that the civilised 
 world had ever known, and threatened the overthrow 
 of the oldest states of Europe. With this part of the 
 world, accordingly, it may be well to begin our out- 
 line of the leading movements of the century through 
 which we have now passed. 
 
 I. We left France when that state had been ex- 
 tended far beyond its normal limits to include the 
 greater part of North Italy on the one side, and 
 Belgium on the other. Egypt also had fallen under 
 its sway, and Napoleon, as First Consul, had in his 
 hands the entire command of its affairs, civil and 
 military. Austria in alliance with Russia had renewed 
 the war with France in 1799, to recover Piedmont 
 and Lombardy, giving the cause for Napoleon's daring 
 march across the Alps by the Great St. Bernard 
 pass, in the spring of 1800, and the great battle of 
 
 Marengo, which for the second time compelled the 
 
 148 
 
FROM 1800 TO 1908 A.D. 149 
 
 Austrians to resign their hold on Lombardy. The 
 Peace of Luneville (1801) confirmed the conditions 
 which had been premised by those of Campo Formio 
 two years before, Austria receiving Venetia within 
 the Adige, while France grasped all the remaining 
 portions of the old maritime state, including its 
 possessions on the Albanian coast, and the Ionian 
 Islands. Nearer home also the French boundary 
 was extended over Belgium to the Rhine. 
 
 2. While these events were progressing, the northern 
 powers of Europe — Denmark, Sweden, Russia, and 
 Prussia — jealous of the growing maritime power of 
 Britain, shown by the splendid victories over the 
 Spanish at Cape St. Vincent^ and the French at Aboukir 
 Bay^ had entered into an armed neutrality to restrict 
 its power. On this, the British fleet was promptly 
 despatched to the Baltic, and in the glorious battle 
 of Copenhagen (1801) Nelson not only captured the 
 Danish fleet, but shattered the dreaded coalition 
 completely. About the same time the British and 
 Turks were finally expelling the French from Egypt — 
 events which paved the way for negotiations. 
 
 3. The Peace of Amiens (1802), which was intended 
 to settle the points in dispute between France, Eng- 
 land, Spain, and Holland, obliged the French to leave 
 Rome, Naples, and Elba, but restored tranquillity for 
 a brief space only : next year the peace was again 
 dissolved, war with Britain was declared, and a large 
 army was assembled at Boulogne to invade our islands. 
 The French troops now took possession of Hanover ; 
 Sweden joined with Britain, and Spain with France. 
 
150 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 Over the seas, the Dutch possessions of Surinam, 
 Demerara, and Essequibo, which had been restored 
 to the Batavian RepubHc by the Treaty of Amiens, 
 again fell to Britain. 
 
 4. In 1804 Napoleon assumed the title of Emperor 
 of France ; in the following summer he was crowned 
 King of Italy at Milan, and in the same year the 
 Genoese or Ligurian Republic was incorporated 
 with France. Alarmed at the growing extent of 
 French power, Austria, Russia, and Sweden now 
 formed a new coalition with Britain, and hostilities 
 began, in which a series of extraordinary triumphs 
 crowned the arms of France. Though at sea the 
 British were still triumphant, gaining the glorious 
 victory of Trafalgar over the combined French and 
 Spanish fleets (October 1805), the Austro-Russian 
 army was totally defeated by Bonaparte, two months 
 later, on the field of Austerlitz ; the continental coali- 
 tion against France was thereby broken, and the 
 peace that was signed at Pressburg on the Danube, 
 gave Venetia and the Adriatic provinces of Austria 
 to France. 
 
 5. Next year Bonaparte made his brother Joseph 
 King of Naples, and Louis King of Holland. He 
 then formed the "Confederation of the Rhine," which 
 induced the ruler of Austria to give up his title of 
 Emperor of Germany. Sixteen of the German 
 princes, the chief of whom were the sovereigns 
 of Bavaria and WUrtemberg, signed an act of con- 
 federation at Paris, dissolving their connection with 
 the Germanic Empire and allying themselves with 
 
FROM 1800 TO 1908 A.D. 151 
 
 France. Hostilities were now begun against Prussia, 
 which found an ally in Russia, while Napoleon sum- 
 moned the Poles to his aid by promises of liberation, 
 and gathered round him an army of patriots. The 
 French entered Berlin, defeated the Russians in the 
 great battle of Friedland ; and the Peace of Tilsit 
 in 1807 cost Prussia half its dominions, the Poles 
 being rewarded by the partial restoration of their 
 independence by the creation of the ^' Duchy of 
 Warsaw," to which Galicia was added in 1809. 
 
 6. The kingdom of Westphalia, which included 
 that province and a number of the adjoining petty 
 German states, was now formed, and placed under 
 Jerome Bonaparte as a preliminary step to its in- 
 corporation with France. Denmark, which had 
 hitherto maintained neutrality, and had been rapidly 
 increasing her fleet, was now summoned to enter 
 into an alliance with England. Refusing this, Copen- 
 hagen was bombarded by the British, the arsenals 
 and docks commanding the Sound were destroyed, 
 and all the shipping disabled, sunk, or taken back 
 to England. Smarting under this treatment, Den- 
 mark soon after became the ally of France. 
 
 7. Napoleon next turned his attention to Portugal, 
 which country had refused to conform to his edict 
 issued at Berlin, excluding British manufactures from 
 the Continent, and Dom Joao, the Prince Regent, 
 learning that Napoleon had determined upon the 
 destruction of his dynasty, left Portugal with all 
 his family in 1807, transferring his seat of govern- 
 ment to Rio de Janeiro, the capital of Brazil, an act 
 
152 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 which was immediately followed by the occupation 
 and annexation of Portugal by the French. 
 
 8. Spain had been a party to the aggressions of 
 France in Portugal, but soon herself felt the effects 
 of her folly; the whole of her royal family was en- 
 trapped at Bayonne, and the crown of Spain and the 
 Indies was made over by Napoleon to his brother, 
 Joseph of Naples, his kingdom there being given to 
 his brother-in-law, the ^^ Swordsman," Murat. The 
 patriots of Spain and Portugal soon rose against the 
 yoke of France, and Britain being invited to their 
 aid, the Peninsular War began (1808), in which Sir 
 Arthur Wellesley (afterwards Duke of Wellington) 
 gained his glorious name in the triumphs of Vimiera 
 and TalaverUf on the famous lines of Torres Vedras, 
 at Ciudad Rodrigo, Salamanca^ and Vitoriuy pursuing 
 the French gradually back across the Pyrenees and 
 across the Garonne, to defeat them beneath the walls 
 of Toulouse (1814). 
 
 9. When the Peninsular War was just beginning, 
 Austria had once more taken arms against the 
 French, drawing upon itself another invasion by 
 Napoleon ; the French again entered Venice, and 
 notwithstanding the defeats of Aspern and Essling^ 
 once more prostrated Austria in the decisive battle 
 of Wagrarny compelling the ignoble Peace, of Vienna, 
 by which more than 58,000 square miles of her terri- 
 tory on the south and all her seaboard passed into 
 the hands of France— western Galicia, with Cracow, 
 being given up to the Duchy of Warsaw. 
 
 10. This treaty was followed by the marriage of 
 
FROM 1800 TO 1908 A.D. 153 
 
 Napoleon to the Archduchess Maria Louisa ; and 
 three years later Austria joined with France in a 
 short-lived alliance against Russia, when, gathering 
 between the Vistula and Memel a huge force from 
 all his allies — Austrians, Poles, Italians, Swiss, and 
 Germans — Napoleon undertook the invasion of that 
 country. Through Wilna^ losing thousands after 
 thousands of his troops by sickness and by the 
 incessant attacks of the Cossacks who hung in 
 the rear of his army, he chased the Russians by 
 Smolensk till he came up with them at the battle- 
 field of Borodino, a week after which deserted 
 Moscow was reached. Winter coming on early in 
 the already wasted country compelled the disastrous 
 retreat in October 18 12, the very time at which Well- 
 ington was beginning to invade southern France 
 from Spain. 
 
 II. Abandoning the wretched remnant of his army. 
 Napoleon hastened back to Paris, there to raise 
 a fresh conscription and again to march into Ger- 
 many. But the spell of terror which the very name 
 of Bonaparte had hitherto exercised was broken. 
 Russia and Prussia allied themselves against him ; 
 Austria also joined them ; the Confederation of the 
 Rhine and the powers of Westphalia vanished like 
 a mist, the whole German people rising to deliver 
 themselves from their bondage. The three days' 
 '^ battle of the nations " at Leipzig hopelessly ruined 
 the power of Napoleon, and compelled his retreat 
 across the Rhine, followed into France by the allies. 
 In March 18 14 Paris was taken, and the Emperor 
 
154 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 of Russia and the King of Prussia entered it as 
 conquerors, the victorious Wellington joining them 
 a few weeks later from the south. Napoleon abdi- 
 cated, but was allowed to retain the title of emperor 
 and the sovereignty of the little Italian island of 
 Elba, whither he was conveyed in a British ship. 
 
 12. Less than a year later Napoleon made his 
 escape from Elba; landing near Frejus (March 1815) 
 on the French coast, he rallied round him his old 
 soldiers, marched to Paris, and once more prepared 
 to give battle to the allies. The news of his land- 
 ing had again spread terror throughout Europe, 
 and Austria, Russia, Prussia, and England at once 
 allied themselves, the Duke of Wellington taking 
 command of the armies of the Netherlands. The 
 campaign lasted but a few days, the memorable 
 battle of Waterloo (i8th June 1815) annihilating the 
 power of Napoleon, who, under the safeguard of 
 the British, was exiled to the solitary ocean islet 
 of St, Helena. 
 
 13. Immediately after the downfall of Napoleon, 
 the representatives of every sovereign state in 
 Europe, to the number of five hundred, gathered in 
 the Congress of Vienna to re-arrange and settle the 
 respective limits which had been' so rudely broken 
 through in Napoleon's aggressive wars. By this 
 conference, Belgium and Holland were joined to 
 form the ^^ Kingdom of the Netherlands " ; Norway 
 was separated from Denmark and annexed to Sweden 
 in consideration of the aid given by the Swedes 
 against Napoleon, though Iceland and the Green- 
 
FROM 1800 TO 1908 A.D. 155 
 
 land colonies remained to Denmark ; Hanover was 
 restored to Britain, with a large slice of Westphalia ; 
 Lombardy to Austria ; Savoy to Piedmont. Greater 
 discussion was needed before it was decided that 
 Prussia should obtain a portion of Saxony (Prussian 
 Saxony), with Posen and the greater part of the 
 left bank of the Rhine ; and before those portions 
 of the Duchy of Warsaw which were not resigned 
 to Austria and Prussia, were formed into the king- 
 dom of Poland as a separate state, united to Russia 
 by the personal tie of the same monarch being sove- 
 reign in each. The old constitution of Switzerland 
 was re-established ; Genoa was joined to Sardinia ; 
 and the Pope was restored to his territorial authority. 
 
 From the starting-point of this re-arrangement of 
 the map of Europe we may now follow rapidly the 
 subsequent changes of territory in each of the leading 
 states of Europe which have given them the limits 
 they occupy at the present day. 
 
 14. France was now restricted to the limits which 
 it had before the outbreak of the Revolution (1790), 
 and her frontier fortresses were occupied by the 
 allied troops for five years. It may be sufficient 
 here to recall three leading points in the subsequent 
 history of this state — the conquest of Algeria, begun 
 in 1830, which we shall afterwards refer to more 
 particularly ; the Italian campaigns in aid of Sardinia 
 against Austria in 1859, in compensation for which 
 the provinces of Savoy and Nice (Alpes Maritimes) 
 were added to France ; and the Franco-German War 
 of 1871, during which more than a fourth part of 
 
156 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 France was overrun by the Germans, and after which 
 two of its most populous and industrial provinces, 
 those of Lorraine and Alsace (which had formed 
 part of Germany till the end of the seventeenth 
 century), were incorporated as part of the German 
 Empire. 
 
 15. Directly after the settlement of Vienna, those 
 of the German states which still retained their 
 sovereignty (now about forty in number) united to 
 form a confederation, of which Austria and Prussia 
 were naturally by far the most powerful members, 
 rivalling one another for the leadership of Germany. 
 This rivalry displayed itself in mutual jealousy and 
 ill-will, which seemed more than once likely to end 
 in war. 
 
 On the northern border animosity had long existed 
 between the German and Danish inhabitants of the 
 duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, which broke out 
 in an actual war in 1848, put down for a time by the 
 defeat of the Schleswig-Holsteiners at Idsted in 1849. 
 On the death of Frederick VII. of Denmark in 1863, 
 however, the duchies refused the oath of allegiance to 
 the new king as their rightful duke, and appealed to 
 the German Diet ; this gave a pretext for the entry 
 of an Austro-Prussian army into Holstein. For ten 
 weeks the Danes made a gallant resistance, but the 
 final victory of the greater powers was inevitable, and 
 after protracted negotiations Denmark was obliged 
 to accept peace (August 1864) on the hard terms of 
 ceding to Austria and Prussia the duchies of Holstein, 
 Schleswig, and Lauenburg, when, by the Treaty of 
 
FROM 1800 TO 1908 A.D. 157 
 
 Gasteiftj a joint occupation of the duchies by these 
 powers was agreed upon. 
 
 16. Already differences of policy between the two 
 rival powers of Germany had begun to show them- 
 selves, Prussia being supposed to intend the final 
 annexation of the duchies, Austria to desire the 
 question relating to them to be referred to the Diet 
 for settlement, and both nations made preparations 
 for a final struggle. Italy also was actively arming 
 to take advantage of the impending contest to strike 
 a blow for Venetia. On the sitting of the Diet in 
 1866, Austria placed the question of the duchies at 
 the disposal of the Diet — an act which was con- 
 sidered as an insult by Prussia ; war was soon after 
 declared against Austria. Then followed the Prussian 
 invasion of Austria through Bohemia, and the de- 
 cisive battle of Koniggratz or Sadowa, which allowed 
 the victorious Prussians to advance towards Vienna. 
 The South German states — Bavaria, Wiirtemberg, 
 and Baden — had sided with Austria in the contest, 
 but their armies w^ere likewise isolated and defeated. 
 The Italians had attacked Austria by land and sea, 
 in Venetia and the Adriatic, but without great success. 
 By the Treaty of Prague^^Yvvoh concluded the contest, 
 Austria was excluded from all further share in the 
 organisation of the Germanic states, and formally 
 agreed to the incorporation of Schleswig-Holstein 
 with Prussia and the surrender of Venetia to Italy. 
 Most of the smaller states north of the river Main 
 which had taken up arms against Prussia were in- 
 corporated, and the others were united with Prussia 
 
158 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 to form the North German Confederation, from 
 which Bavaria, Baden, and Wiirtemberg, or the 
 South Gerrnan states, were excluded. 
 
 17. In these events, and in the subsequent re- 
 organisation of the country with the prospect of a 
 united Germany, its great statesman Bismarck had 
 been the leading spirit. The opportunity for the 
 accomplishment of this unification of Germany came 
 in 1 87 1. France had declared war with Germany 
 in July of the former year, and South and North 
 Germany united to stem a threatened French inva- 
 sion. In place of a march to Berlin, the campaign 
 was carried on entirely on French soil, the Germans 
 being victorious throughout from the opening battle 
 of Saarbruck to the capitulations of Sedan, MetZy and 
 Paris. At Versailles, in January 187 1, the King of 
 Prussia was crowned Emperor of Germany, the 
 empire being formed by the close union of every 
 German state with the exception of Austria ; the 
 treaty of peace signed at Frankfort-on-the-Main in 
 May of the same year added Alsace and Lorraine 
 to that empire. Germany then became ambitious of 
 founding a colonial empire, and several territories 
 and islands in Africa and the Pacific were taken 
 possession of in the course of 1 884-1 890. 
 
 18. Early in the century, at the instigation of 
 Napoleon, Persia had taken up arms again in a vain 
 contest with Russia, terminating (18 13), after two years 
 of contest, by the cession to the northern power of all 
 the Persian provinces to the north of Armenia, and 
 conceding the right to the navigation of the Caspian. 
 
FROM 1800 TO 1908 A.D. 159 
 
 19. The events of 1814 had equally altered the con- 
 dition of Russia, giving that country great weight in 
 European politics, while internal reforms had acted 
 very favourably on the industry and well-being of 
 the empire. This course of progress was, however, 
 checked on the accession of Nicholas I. (1825), who 
 reverted to the ancient despotic policy of the Tsars, 
 and soon involved the country in fresh wars with 
 Persia and Turkey. That with Persia was begun 
 in 1826, and cost that power the remainder of its 
 territory in Armenia, with Erivan, and a large sum for 
 the expenses of the war. The year (1828) that peace 
 was concluded with Persia, an invasion of Turkey was 
 begun ; Walachia, Moldavia, Bulgaria, and Roumelia 
 were overrun ; but at the Peace of Adrianople (1829) 
 these territories were left in possession of the Porte, 
 in consideration of the cession to Russia of the 
 whole north-east coast of the Black Sea, from the 
 mouth of the river Kuban to the port of Nikolaya 
 (42° N.), with the territories of the Caucasus, besides 
 the right of free navigation of the Danube and the 
 free passage for Russian ships through the Dar- 
 danelles from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. 
 
 20. A national rising of the Poles next occupied 
 attention. This was suppressed only after a very 
 sanguinary contest of nearly a year's duration, and 
 punished by the conversion of Poland into a mere 
 Russian province. Viewing with alarm the exten- 
 sion of British power in Asia, Nicholas despatched 
 an expedition for the conquest of Khiva, in Central 
 Asia, in 1839; ^^^ ^^ failed, as the previous one of 
 
i6o SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 Peter had done, the greater part of the Russian 
 army perishing in the desert. 
 
 21. In 1853 the hereditary scheme for the absorp- 
 tion of Turkey was again entertained, when the un- 
 expected opposition of Britain, France, and Sardinia 
 brought on the Crimean War, during which, if the 
 allies did not gain any signal successes, the defeat on 
 the Danube at Silistria and on the Ahna, and the 
 capture of Sebastopol, drained Russia of men and 
 money, lost her much military prestige, and closed 
 to her the navigation of the Danube and the unre- 
 stricted passage of the Dardanelles. 
 
 With the capture of the prophet chief Shamyl, 
 the most active of Russia's foes in the Caucasus, in 
 1859, the conquest of that mountain region may be 
 said to have been completed. 
 
 22. The next important addition to Russian terri- 
 tory was that of the maritime region of eastern Siberia 
 north of Manchuria. By the treaty with China of 
 1 86 1, all the territory north of the Amur river and 
 east of its tributary the Usuri, including the Asiatic 
 shores of the Sea of Japan as far south as the fine 
 harbour of Peter the Great, or Vladivostok Bayy was 
 ceded to Russia, giving the Siberian provinces a good 
 outlet to the Pacific. A new insurrection in Poland 
 in 1 863-1 864 was put down with extreme severity. 
 
 23. Central Asia next claims attention. For many 
 years a series of wars had been waging between 
 the Khanates of Turkestan, in which direction the 
 line of Russian outposts east of the Caspian had 
 been steadily if gradually pushed forward. Bokhara, 
 
I UNIVERSITY J 
 
 ^=^^=^^^^^=^=^^f^M 1800 TO 1908 A.D. i6i 
 
 Khokan, and Khiva had been mutually at war, the 
 first generally prevailing. Taking advantage of these 
 disputes, the Russians, siding with Khiva, invaded 
 Khokan in 1864, and taking the city of Tashkend, 
 became virtually masters of this Khanate, forming 
 it in 1867 into the nucleus of the general govern- 
 ment of Russian Turkestan. The city of Samarkand^ 
 in Bokhara, once the capital of Tamerlane's great 
 empire, fell before the Russian advance in 1868, and 
 this, with the surrounding country, was incorporated 
 with Russian Turkestan in 1870 as the province of 
 Zerafshan, from the river which flows through it. In 
 1 87 1 Zungaria, with its capital Kulja on the Hi River, 
 was temporarily occupied by Russia, and later re- 
 stored to China. A third campaign against Khiva in 
 1873 terminated successfully, the capital town being 
 occupied, and the whole of the former Khivan terri- 
 tory along the right bank of the Amu Daria (Oxus) 
 being ceded to the conquerors. During the next 
 year a new Trans-Caspian province was formed, 
 extending from the government of the Ural along 
 the eastern side of the Caspian Sea as far as the 
 Atrek, the frontier river of Persia. In 1875 the re- 
 mainder of the Khanate of Khokan was finally incor- 
 porated, the Russian frontier in Central Asia being 
 thus extended- to the summit of the range of the 
 western Thian Shan Mountains, thence to the Oxus 
 and the Sea of Aral and the limits of Persia on the 
 eastern side of the Caspian. Merv, and wuth it the 
 whole of the country of the Turkomans, was united 
 with the Russian Empire in 1884. Thus since 1864 
 
 L 
 
i62 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 Russia has added nearly a million and a half square 
 miles of territory and over seven millions of inhabit- 
 ants to its empire in Central Asia alone. 
 
 24. In April 1877, on the pretext of enforcing 
 reforms in the government of Turkey, the Russian 
 Emperor, who during the previous year had been 
 collecting troops in Bessarabia, declared war, his 
 army beginning simultaneously to cross the river 
 Pruth into European Turkey, and from Alexandropol 
 against Kars in Asia Minor. Romania, though nomin- 
 ally a dependency of Turkey, was friendly to Russia, 
 and no obstacle stood in the way of the advance to 
 the Danube. This river was crossed in the end of 
 June. The heroic defence of Plevna by Osman 
 Pasha and his army delayed the Russian advance in 
 Europe till the beginning of December, Kars having 
 been captured in the previous month. After the fall 
 of Plevna, a general advance of the Russian armies 
 took place across the Balkan mountains, almost un- 
 checked, to the neighbourhood of Constantinople. All 
 the north-eastern region of European Turkey was 
 thus again in the hands of Russia. A Congress of 
 representatives of the great European Powers sub- 
 sequently met at Berlin to determine the future limits 
 of Russia and Turkey. By the treaty which w^as 
 signed in July 1878, the Russian frontier was extended 
 over western Bessarabia to the Danube (thus to 
 Russia the territory which had been taken from her 
 after the Crimean War was restored), and in Asia 
 the territory from the port of Batum on the Black 
 Sea, and round Kars in the interior, was added to 
 
FROM 1800 TO 1908 A.D. 163 
 
 the Russian territory of the Caucasus. The inde- 
 pendence of Romania, Servia, and Montenegro was 
 recognised. Bulgaria and Eastern RoumeHa were 
 separated from the direct rule of the Sultan ; Bul- 
 garia being erected into a tributary Principality, and 
 Eastern Roumelia into an autonomous province 
 under a Christian governor. Servia and Montenegro 
 were enlarged, and Bosnia and Herzegovina placed 
 under Austrian military occupation. 
 
 25. Perhaps the most important series of events in 
 the history of China during this century have been 
 those w^hich have opened its vast territory to greater 
 freedom of foreign intercourse. It does not appear 
 that when the coasts of the China Sea were first made 
 known to Europeans, in the fourteenth century, there 
 existed any feeling of opposition to the admission 
 of strangers, but the conduct of the Portuguese and 
 Spaniards, who were the first to come in contact with 
 the Chinese, seems to have excited their hostility. 
 
 For nearly two hundred years (previous to 1834) the 
 East India Company had held a monopoly of trade with 
 China at the port of Canton^ and though differences 
 had arisen out of the opium traffic, a British embassy 
 had been well received in Pekin in 1792. Dissen- 
 sions, however, rose again in 1839, when open acts of 
 hostility were begun, troops being sent into Canton, 
 and all the opium belonging to the English merchants 
 seized and destroyed. War was thereupon declared ; 
 in 1 841 the Chinese fleet was scattered. Canton was 
 taken, with Antoy, Ning-pOj Wu-Sung, and Shang-haiy 
 and by the middle of 1842 China was sufficiently 
 
i64 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 humbled to agree to the Peace of Nanking^ by which 
 the ports of Amoy, Fuchow, Ning-po, and Shang-hai 
 were, with that of Canton, thrown open to foreign 
 trade, the island of Hong-Kong being ceded in 
 perpetuity to Britain. Soon the British trade with 
 China assumed gigantic proportions. A second war 
 broke out, after the seizure of a vessel from Hong- 
 Kong by the Chinese. In 1857 Canton was stormed 
 by the French and English, the forts at the mouth 
 of the Peiho river on the north were taken, and at 
 Tientsin a new treaty was concluded, which added 
 that port to the five already opened, besides those 
 of Kiung-chow (in Hainan island), SwatoWy Teng-chow 
 (in Shan-tung), New-chwang (in Manchuria), and the 
 river ports of Chiti Kiang, Kin Kiang, and Hankowy 
 on the Yangtse, the great central waterway of China. 
 The treaty also stipulated that British diplomatic 
 agents should have residence in Pekin ; that the 
 Christian religion should be protected ; and that 
 British subjects should have the right to travel in 
 all parts of the interior of China, — conditions which 
 were ratified at Pekin itself, which was temporarily 
 occupied by the British and French troops in i860. 
 
 26. Among the events in the internal history of 
 China during this time, the most remarkable was 
 the rise and progress and final suppression of the 
 rebellion of the followers of the self-styled '^ Tai-ping- 
 wang," or " Heavenly King," a religio-political fanatic, 
 who believed that he had a mission to uproot the 
 Tatar dynasty and re-establish native rule. His in- 
 surrection broke out in the mountains of the southern 
 
FROM 1800 TO 1908 A.D. 165 
 
 province of Kwang-tung in 1849, ^^^ followers at once 
 making themselves distinct by allowing their hair 
 to grow naturally long, and not confined in the native 
 queue. Quickly gathering strength, the Taipings 
 overran all southern China, and passing down the 
 Yangtse, they captured and established themselves at 
 the southern capital of Nanking ; afterwards march- 
 ing northward, their army reached to within 80 miles 
 of Tientsin, where they encountered the Imperial 
 forces in a long contest, and after many defeats, were 
 obliged to fight their way south again. Till i860, 
 however, the provinces in the lower basin of the 
 Yangtse remained in their hands, when the Imperial 
 forces, with the aid of a British leader ('^Chinese 
 Gordon "), began a final campaign which lost them 
 every important position. It was not till 1866 that 
 the last embers of this great insurrection were trodden 
 out in Kwang-si, the original nest of its origin. 
 
 27. The Mohammedan Tatars of the western pro- 
 vinces of China also kept the interior country in 
 ferment for a long period, and established them- 
 selves as an independent power in the south-western 
 province of Yun-nan. Their rebellion spread far 
 inland to Kansu and north-western Mongolia, from 
 which regions they drove the Chinese garrisons, 
 closing for several years all the direct routes of 
 communication between China and Turkestan. In 
 Yun-nan the Mohammedans were in power from 
 1854 till 1872, when the chief stronghold, the city 
 of Tali-fuy again fell to the Chinese troops : the 
 province of Kansu was not again mastered till 1876, 
 
i66 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 and it was only during 1877 that the Chinese again 
 gradually recovered the territories west of Mongolia. 
 
 28. In connection with these movements in the 
 far interior of China and with the Russian advances 
 in Western Turkestan, there remains to be noticed 
 the rise and fall of a very remarkable state in the 
 high central plateau of the continent. Until 1864, 
 Eastern Turkestan had formed part of the Chinese 
 Empire, the Manchu kings having conquered it, as 
 we have seen, from the descendants of Genghiz 
 Khan. In that year the Mohammedan rebels of 
 Kansu made a successful incursion in this region, 
 and were assisted in expelling the Chinese troops 
 by Usbeg soldiery who had been driven out of 
 Western Turkestan by the advancing Russians. The 
 leader of these Usbegs was a man of remarkable 
 powers, named Yakub Beg, who, after the expulsion 
 of the Chinese, on being joined by thousands of 
 his countrymen from the west, instantly seized the 
 chief power in the newly conquered country, and, 
 organising a strong soldiery, in turn drove out the 
 Tunganis, or Kansu Mohammedans. So able was 
 his administration that in a few years Eastern 
 Turkestan, or '' Jetyshahr," as it was named from 
 its seven cities, became to all appearance such 
 a well-consolidated state as to merit the recogni- 
 tion of Britain. A treaty of commerce with India 
 was concluded in 1874, and by firman of the Sultan 
 of Turkey its ruler took the title of Amir Yakub 
 Khan. The Chinese, however, had meanwhile been 
 very gradually recovering their lost provinces in 
 
FROM 1800 TO 1908 A.D. 167 
 
 Central Asia ; their troops appeared on the border 
 of Eastern Turkestan, and again attacked the usurpers. 
 During the Hfetime of Yakub Khan the state con- 
 tinued to resist the returning tide of Chinese power ; 
 but his death in June 1877 ^^^ ^ ^^^^^ event for 
 Jetyshahr, which had been only held together by 
 his iron will. Dissensions about the succession arose, 
 and gave the Chinese opportunity to advance from 
 Manas and Urumchi almost without resistance, so 
 that before the end of 1877 the capital city of 
 Kashgar had fallen into their hands, and Eastern 
 Turkestan was again incorporated with the Chinese 
 Empire. 
 
 29. The islands of Japan, soon after their discovery 
 by Europeans in the fourteenth century, had been 
 freely opened to the foreigner ; Portuguese and later 
 Dutch traders had established very extensive com- 
 mercial relations there, and the Jesuit missionaries 
 had extended Christianity very widely. An edict for 
 their complete exclusion had, however, been put in 
 force in 1638, and from that time onward till the 
 middle of the iiineteenth century, Japan maintained 
 a most rigid isolation, no Japanese being permitted 
 to leave his own shores, and no foreigner allowed 
 to land on them. This state of matters continued 
 till 1853, when the United States Government suc- 
 ceeded in obtaining a permission to trade at two 
 ports, under restrictions. The isolation thus broken, 
 a more satisfactory treaty was concluded in 1858, 
 by which foreigners were allowed to trade at the 
 five ports of Hakodate, Kanagawa (the port of Yedo, 
 
i68 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 or Tokio), Nagasaki, Niigata, and Hiogo (the port 
 of Osaka). Reopened to foreign influence, changes 
 of almost startHng rapidity have been adopted in 
 the country : the whole poHtical constitution of the 
 empire has been re-modelled ; religious reforms 
 have been adopted ; everything is being rapidly 
 Europeanised ; railways, telegraphs, colleges, have 
 been set up, and the successful Chino-Japanese 
 and Russo-Japanese wars of 1894-95 and 1904-05 
 have enabled Japan to take rank with the Great 
 Powers of the world. 
 
 30. We have already noticed how toward the 
 end of the eighteenth century the French secured 
 an interest in the kingdom of Annam or Cochin 
 China. Their first interference, owing to com- 
 plications at home, had not been rewarded by an 
 accession of territory, but the desire for such a 
 convenient resting-place in the East Indian seas 
 had remained, and a claim to it was set up again 
 in i860. Landing a force at the delta of the Mekong 
 River in that year, the French captured the city of 
 Saigon, and forced a treaty by which three pro- 
 vinces were ceded to them in 1867; the remainder 
 of Lower Cochin China voluntarily submitted to 
 them. Since that time the French have made 
 great efforts to extend and consolidate their Asiatic 
 possessions. Cambodia has been placed under 
 French protection, whilst Annam, after the occupa- 
 tion of Hue, in 1883, acknowledged the suzerainty of 
 France, and surrendered Tongking, the conquest of 
 which province involved France in a war with China. 
 
FROM 1800 TO 1908 A.D. 169 
 
 31. The very interesting countries of Siam and 
 Cambodia have played no important part in the 
 world beyond their limits, and we may pass over 
 them to Burma. This empire, which began to rise 
 to power in the eighteenth century, attained its 
 greatest expansion about the year 1822, when it 
 extended from Bengal on the north-west to Cam- 
 bodia in the south-east, including all the territory 
 between Assam and the island of Junk Seylon or 
 Salanga, off the coast of the central Malay peninsula. 
 
 The East India Company had obtained a settle- 
 ment, and some other advantages, in Burma in 
 1737 ; but at the period of greatest power, aggres- 
 sions on the part of the Burmese, and insolence to 
 the British ambassador at the Court of Ava, gave 
 cause for a first war, which terminated in the cession 
 to Britain of the maritime provinces of Tenasserim 
 and Arakan. A second war in 1852 deprived the 
 empire of its remaining seaboard, the provinces of 
 Pegu and Martaban being retained at its conclusion ; 
 these, with the two previously ceded areas, were 
 formed into the territory of British Burma. At the 
 close of the first Burmese War, the northern pro- 
 vince of Assam, in the basin of the Brahmaputra 
 River, was also ceded to the British, and was for a 
 time transferred by them to a native Raja whom 
 the Burmese had formerly expelled ; but its mis- 
 government led to its being brought finally under 
 British administration in 1838. Thus we again 
 approach India. 
 
 32. In touching upon the events, of conquest or 
 
170 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 of annexation, by which the Indian peninsula has 
 been brought directly or indirectly under the British 
 Crown, it is impossible, within our limits, to do more 
 than recall a few of their many prominent points. 
 We left India in the last chapter, when Marquis 
 Wellesley had brought Mysore under British influence. 
 His great victory over the Mahrattas under Scindia 
 at Assaye, in 1803, gave the British arms still higher 
 fame in Central India. The same year saw the con- 
 quest of Delhi, the capital of the Mogul Emperors 
 of North India, by General Lake, and a very consider- 
 able extension of the dominions of the Company in 
 that direction. Sir Charles Napier's conquest of Sind 
 against fearful odds, in 1843, is one of the most 
 brilliant military feats in the history of India ; im- 
 mediately after followed the Sikh Wars, 1845-46 and 
 1848-49, which gave Britain the government of the 
 Pan jab. In 1856 the Company was obliged, in the 
 interests of its misgoverned inhabitants, to annex 
 the province of Oude. In 1857 discontent in the 
 native army, fostered by a Mohammedan conspiracy, 
 broke forth in the Sepoy rebellion ; the march of 
 the mutineers to Delhi, the massacre of Cawnpore, 
 and the siege and then the relief of Lucknow by 
 the heroic Havelock followed. In 1858 no position 
 of importance had been left to the mutineers, but 
 such a calamity showed the necessity for concentrat- 
 ing the supreme power in the hands of the Imperial 
 government ; and, in spite of strenuous resistance, 
 the East India Company was obliged to cede its 
 powers to the Crown in August 1858. The system 
 
FROM 1800 TO 1908 A.D. 171 
 
 of government of the country was in some degree 
 altered ; natives of the higher classes were admitted 
 to a share in the councils, and the proportion of 
 native to European troops was much lessened. The 
 Governor-General; formerly the servant of the East 
 India Company, became ^'Viceroy and Governor- 
 General." In 1876 the Queen of England assumed 
 the title of '^ Empress of India." 
 
 33. The Portuguese settlers of the sixteenth century 
 in the great island of Ceylon were driven from that 
 island, as we have before noticed, after a contest of 
 twenty years, by the Dutch in the middle of the seven- 
 teenth century. Before the beginning of the nine- 
 teenth, the Hollanders in turn gave place to the British. 
 During the great European war w^hich succeeded 
 the French Revolution, immediately after the Batavian 
 Republic had been set up under the protection of 
 France, a British expedition under Colonel James 
 Stuart landed at Trincamali and captured Colombo, 
 when all the Dutch settlements on the island were 
 ceded, though it was not till the Peace of Amiens in 
 1802 that Ceylon was formally annexed to the British 
 Empire. 
 
 A war with the Kandyan king in 181 5 gave the 
 British direct rule over the central territories of the 
 island, since which time its material prosperity has 
 made rapid strides. 
 
 A very important station, that of the island of 
 Singapore, on the highway of commerce, in the straits 
 which lead from the China Sea to the Indian Ocean, was 
 acquired by purchase from the Malay sultan in 181 9. 
 
172 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 34. During the brief existence of the Batavian 
 RepubUc, and Napoleon's subsequent incorporation 
 of the Netherlands with France, all the Dutch East 
 Indian possessions, besides Ceylon, fell into the hands 
 of the British — Malacca, Sumatra, the Moluccas or 
 Spice Islands, in 1795-96; Java in 1810. All were, 
 however, restored to the Dutch after the Congress of 
 Vienna, except Malacca, 
 
 Labuan, important from its coal-beds, was ceded 
 to Britain by the Sultan of Brunei in 1846. Brunei 
 itself accepted the British protectorate in 1888, and in 
 1906 the Sultan became a British pensioner ; since 
 1 841 the Sarawak district had been administered by 
 Sir James (^^ Raja ") Brooke, and the protectorate was 
 extended in 1888 to the territory of the British North 
 Borneo Company (chartered in 1882). 
 
 35. Afghanistan first appears as an independent 
 state after the death of Nadir Shah (p. 134). While the 
 soldiers of the East India Company were extending 
 their conquests in northern India in the early part 
 of the last century, the ruler of Afghanistan, Dost 
 Mohammed, was at war with the Persians on his 
 western border, and with the ruler of the Panjab on 
 the east. The Panjab was at this time in friendly 
 relations with the British in the North-West Provinces ; 
 and when hostilities broke out in 1838 between the 
 British and Afghanistan (the object of the former 
 being to place a more friendly ruler on the Afghan 
 throne), the Panjab joined, though not heartily, in the 
 enterprise. A British expedition entering Afghanistan 
 by the Bolan Pass captured Kandahar and the fortress 
 
FROM 1800 TO 1908 A.D. 173 
 
 of Gliazniy and by occupying Kabul seemed to have 
 completed the conquest of the country. But when 
 the winter of 1841-42 came on, and assistance from 
 India was impossible, the Afghans again rose to arms. 
 A humiliating capitulation was necessitated, and a 
 winter retreat to India began. Once within the gorge 
 of the Khurd Kabul Pass, the British were attacked 
 on all sides, and slaughtered by the fanatical tribes ; 
 only one man out of the 15,000 who formed the ex- 
 pedition reached India alive to tell the tale. A British 
 army of retribution marched into Afghanistan in the 
 same year (1842), destroyed the great bazaar of Kabul, 
 and then retired to India. When the second Sikh 
 War began in 1848, the Afghans joined the enemy, 
 but forsook them after the decisive battle of Gujerat 
 in 1849. Dost Mohammed fled over the Indus, and 
 was pursued by the British to the mouth of the Khyber 
 (or Khaibar) Pass, which thus became the north-west 
 frontier of British India. 
 
 ■ The later history of Afghanistan was one of almost 
 continual disorders while the country was gradually 
 being consolidated round the stronger central power 
 of Kabul, which has occasionally been aided by sub- 
 sidy. To Kabul, Dost Mohammed Khan being still 
 ruler, the northern province of Balkh was added by 
 conquest in 1850, and Kandahar in the south in 
 1854. The province of Herat, to the west, the scene 
 of frequent contests with Persia, was finally incor- 
 porated with Afghanistan in 1863; Shere AH, Dost 
 Mohammed's son and successor, in consequence of 
 his Russian sympathies, became involved in 1878 in 
 
174 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 a war with England, which cost him his throne. His 
 successor, Abd ur Rahman, was installed by a British 
 army in 1880, and he was succeeded in 1901 by the 
 reigning Amir, Habib Ullah Khan. 
 
 36. In 1 87 1, in consequence of the annexation by 
 Persia of portions of Baluchistan and south-west 
 Afghanistan, the question of the boundary between 
 Persia and Afghanistan was referred to the arbitration 
 of a British commission, which in 1871 defined the 
 boundary nearly as it now stands. 
 
 37. About this time the continued advance of the 
 Russians each year in Turkestan made it important 
 that the belt of neutral territory between British 
 dominion and that under Russian influence should 
 be clearly defined. It was accordingly decided in 
 1872 that the northern frontier of Afghanistan should 
 be the line of the Oxus continued by an arbitrarily 
 drawn line from a point on that river at Khoja Sale 
 through the Turkoman desert to the Persian frontier. 
 
 38. Baluchistan to the south of Afghanistan occu- 
 pies a very similar political position to that of its 
 northern neighbour, its ruling chief, the Khan of 
 Khelat, being maintained in power under English 
 direction and influence. It was in accordance with 
 this policy that in 1877 the important station of Quetia, 
 at the head of the Bolan Pass in Khelat, was occu- 
 pied by the British to safeguard the most important 
 line of communication between South Afghanistan 
 and India. Quetta is now connected with the Indian 
 railway system. 
 
 39. The chief alteration in the territorial limits of 
 
FROM 1800 TO 1908 A.D. 175 
 
 Persia has already (p. 158) been noticed in touching 
 upon the extension of Russian dominion to the south- 
 ward. After the repeated wars of the beginning of 
 the century, and the consequent losses of territory 
 south and west of the Caspian, to which we have 
 referred, the Persian Court became the scene of the 
 rival influences of Russia and Britain, the former 
 power gaining more and more influence, and securing 
 for itself the monopoly of building ships of war at 
 the Persian ports of Resht and Astrabad in the Caspian. 
 By the taking of Herat in 1856 Persia drew down 
 upon itself an invasion by British troops under Have- 
 lock, and the restoration of Herat to Afghanistan was 
 the result. 
 
 40. Coming now to the Ottoman Empire, we may 
 recall the aggressions made on the Turkish territory 
 in Europe and Asia, which we have already out- 
 lined in referring to the expansion of the northern 
 power. We have also noticed that, with the aid of 
 Britain, Turkey recovered her possession of Egypt, 
 snatched from her by Napoleon. 
 
 41. Greece had remained subject to the Moham- 
 medan dominion since the conquest of Constantinople 
 in 1453 ; its inhabitants groaned under the tyrannous 
 and brutal yoke, till in 1820 they were provoked to 
 rebel against the Turkish rule, and, with the coun- 
 tenance and aid of the Christian powers of Britain, 
 France, and Russia in the struggle, gained the estab- 
 lishment of Greece as an independent kingdom in 
 1829, a son of the king of Bavaria being ultimately 
 chosen king of the new state. 
 
176 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 42. About this time two large regions of the north- 
 ern side of European Turkey, though not actually 
 separated from the empire, became to some extent 
 distinct from it in their government. These were the 
 principalities of Moldavia and Walachia, in which 
 a number of the nobles were of Greek descent, 
 and w^ho, simultaneously with the Greeks, made an 
 effort to free themselves altogether from Turkish rule. 
 In this they w^ere not successful, but the influence 
 of Russia gained them certain privileges, and in 
 1 86 1 they were formed into the tributary state of 
 Romania, which afterwards (1866) obtained a repre- 
 sentative government. The complete independence 
 of Romania was recognised, as we have seen, by the 
 Treaty of BerHn in 1878. 
 
 43. Servia, the country lying on the southern side of 
 the Danube to the west of Romania, was uniformly 
 the scene of the fierce wars between the Turks and 
 Hungarians, and passed once or twice alternately into 
 the hands of Austria and the Porte, finally falling to 
 the latter. After sixty years of the most oppressive 
 government the Servians revolted in 1801, and by the 
 aid of Russians gained their independence for a time. 
 Napoleon's invasion of Russia, however, withdrew 
 that support, and till 1815 the country again fell under 
 Turkey's tyrannous rule. In that year a war for 
 independence recommenced, and in 1829 ^^^ Turks 
 were compelled to grant a virtual independence to 
 Servia. Russia has also aided the mountaineers of 
 Montenegro in maintaining their independence of the 
 Turks. The independence and accessions of territory 
 
FROM 1800 TO 1908 A.D. 177 
 
 obtained by these two little states through the Treaty 
 of Berlin in 1878 have been already referred to. 
 
 44. As if in compensation for the losses of territory 
 sustained in Europe during the last century, and on 
 its northern border in Asia, the limits of the Ottoman 
 Empire in south-western Asia and in Africa have 
 spread out enormously. We have already noticed 
 that the Turks, aided by the British, quickly regained 
 their hold of Egypt. One of the Turkish officers who 
 was sent to Egypt to co-operate with the British 
 against the French invaders was Mehemet Ali, whose 
 military qualities then displayed themselves to such 
 advantage that he was raised first to the command of 
 the Turkish troops in Egypt, and then to the position 
 of viceroy of the country. Mehemet was soon in- 
 volved in a struggle with the Mamelukes, who had by 
 this time gained such power in Egypt that the Viceroy 
 of the Sultan was merely their nominal ruler. In the 
 end many of them were cruelly massacred at Cairo, 
 and the rest, fleeing up the Nile to Nubia, were pursued 
 thither by Mehemet and utterly exterminated. His 
 son Ibrahim Pasha was engaged during this time in an 
 expedition against the new Mohammedan sect of the 
 Wahabis, who had spread out from the Nejd in Central 
 Arabia, and had closed the pilgrim caravan route 
 through Hejaz to Mecca, to the Turks and Persians. 
 This successful undertaking extended the authority of 
 the Porte through Egypt over a large part of Arabia. 
 Along the Nile valley Mehemet Ali next added Kordo- 
 fan (1821) by conquest to his dominion, and opened 
 
 up a great traffic in slaves from the Sudan to Egypt. 
 
 M 
 
178 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 Thus his position became one of great power 
 and wealth, and his ambition rose in proportion. 
 During the War of Greek Independence his fleet was 
 destroyed off Navarino by the combined British, 
 French, and Russian navy, and this checked his 
 progress for a few years. The government of the 
 island of Candia was given to him by the Porte 
 in 1830, but, not satisfied with this, he sent Ibrahim 
 Pasha on an expedition for the conquest of Syria in 
 1830, the success of which brought the Turkish home 
 government to the brink of ruin. The European 
 powers interfering, Syria was restored to the Porte, 
 but the Pashalic of Egypt was made hereditary in 
 the family of Mehemet Ali. 
 
 45. During the occupation of Egypt by Napoleon's 
 troops, attention had been drawn to the possibility of 
 re-opening the ancient canal which united the Nile 
 delta with the Red Sea in the time of the Ptolemies, 
 and a careful survey of the isthmus of Suez was then 
 made. From that time onwards plans were con- 
 tinually agitated by French engineers for the con- 
 struction of a ship canal, which should open a short 
 water-route to the Indies, and in 1856 the concession 
 for such a work was granted to M. de Lesseps. The 
 result was the completion (in 1869) of the greatest 
 engineering enterprise of modern times — the ship 
 canal which unites Port Said on the Mediterranean 
 with Suez at the head of the Red Sea, 100 miles in 
 length. 
 
 Such an increase of prestige had been gained by 
 Egypt through this and other important works of 
 
FROM 1800 TO 1908 A.D. 179 
 
 advancement, that in 1866, by imperial firman, the 
 title of Khedive, or " King " of Egypt, was granted to 
 the late ruler (the fifth of the line of Mehemet Ali), 
 with powers which made him practically an inde- 
 pendent prince, yielding homage only to the Porte. 
 The ambition of Ismail Pasha enormously increased 
 the extension of the Egyptian territory. Darfur, to 
 the west of the Nile, was incorporated ; Sir Samuel 
 Baker, and later General Gordon, conquered the 
 whole Nile basin up to near the margin of the great 
 lakes ; and Harar, with Berbera, and other places, 
 were acquired on the Gulf of Aden. 
 
 46. These conquests, no less than a wasteful ex- 
 penditure in other directions, brought Egypt to the 
 brink of national bankruptcy. The Christian powers 
 persuaded the Sultan to depose Ismail Pasha, and to 
 appoint his son Khedive in his stead. This was in 
 1879, ^^^ already in 1881 the tribes in the Sudan, 
 headed by a Mahdi or prophet, rose upon their Egypto- 
 Turkish governors, whilst in Egypt itself Arabi 
 headed a revolution, with the object of placing the 
 government of the country into the hands of natives 
 of Egypt. It was then that England interfered. 
 Alexandria was bombarded on July 12, 1882, and 
 Arabi's forces crushed in the battle of Tel el Kebir 
 on September 13. Egypt was advised to abandon the 
 Sudan, but only consented to this sacrifice after the 
 Mahdi had annihilated Hicks Pasha's army, at Kash- 
 gil, on November 3, 1883. Soon afterwards General 
 Gordon, failing to stem the revolt, died at his post 
 (1885). The Mahdi was succeeded in 1885 by the 
 
t8o sketch of historical GEOGRAPHY 
 
 Khalifa Abdallah, who was overthrown at the battle 
 of Omdurman in 1898, when the Sudan was restored 
 to Egypt and constituted the present Anglo-Egyptian 
 Condominium. 
 
 47. Beyond Egypt on the Mediterranean coast-land, 
 Tripoli, with the territories of Barka and Fezzan, 
 remains a province of the Ottoman Empire; but 
 Tunis, still farther west, has virtually become a de- 
 pendency of France. 
 
 48. For many years previous to the opening of the 
 Suez Canal, the Turkish power in Arabia had been 
 allowed to fall into abeyance, the struggle of the 
 Egyptians with the strong nation of the Wahabis 
 having been abandoned about 1849. After the open- 
 ing of the great highway, however, it became im- 
 portant that these regions should be under settled 
 government, and accordingly, through the influence 
 of France and Britain, active means were taken by 
 the Turkish Government for their recovery in 1871. 
 Between that year and 1873, the whole of the coast- 
 land of the Red Sea was recovered and formed into 
 the two governments of Hejaz and Yemen. The 
 Turks have also wrested the coast-land of the Per- 
 sian Gulf from the Wahabis, extending their rule from 
 the Euphrates delta to the island of Bahrein^ and 
 forming this seaboard into the government of ^'El 
 Hasa." Thus, the Wahabi kingdom of the Nejd 
 has been again restricted to the central region of the 
 Arabian peninsula, and the Turkish borders have been 
 extended to meet those of the independent state of 
 Oman, or Muscat, in the south-eastern corner of Arabia. 
 
FROM 1800 TO 1908 A.D. i8i 
 
 49. Muscat, as we have noticed in a former chapter 
 (p. 83), was one of the earliest conquests of the 
 Portuguese, under Albuquerque, after their advance 
 round the Cape of Good Hope into the Indian Seas. 
 It remained in their hands for nearly a century and a 
 half, till it was recovered by the Arabs. When the 
 Portuguese were finally expelled (about 1735) from 
 the northern parts of the East African coast, the 
 Imam of Muscat also took possession of their former 
 settlements about Zanzibar. The greatest extension 
 of native power in this state was obtained during the 
 reign of Said Seid, who reigned in Muscat from 
 1803 till 1856, extending the Sultanate of Oman 
 not only over the south-eastern portions of Arabia, 
 and on the Zanzibar coast of Africa, but to the 
 opposite shores of the Gulf, to Bunder Abbas and 
 Linga on the Persian coast, and the island of 
 Ormuz between. On the death of this ruler his 
 dominion was divided between his sons, the one 
 becoming Sultan of Zanzibar, the other retaining 
 the sovereignty of the Asiatic provinces, which have 
 dwindled in extent. The possessions on the Persian 
 coast w^ere restored to Persia in 1867, while the 
 incursions of the Bedouins from the desert, and 
 of the Wahabis from the Nejd, have again reduced 
 the Sultanate of Muscat to the immediate vicinity 
 of its capital. 
 
 50. Before passing across to Africa, we must 
 notice the British station of Aden, on the south- 
 west Arabian coast, on the route to India. Though 
 exceedingly important from its position at the 
 
i82 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 entrance to the Red Sea, and having on this ac- 
 count been an ancient mart of Asiatic commerce, 
 to which even the Chinese were wont to come, this 
 "Eye of Yemen" is a hot barren volcanic crater 
 that would never have attracted attention or invited 
 residence but for its geographical position. Its 
 situation, however, made it a very desirable vantage 
 point. Not long after it began to be thus coveted, 
 in 1838, a British vessel was shipwrecked off its 
 coasts, and the crew being ill-treated and plundered, 
 restitution was forced from the native Arabian 
 sultan, and terms of cession of his territory to 
 Britain were agreed upon. Repenting of his trans- 
 action, the chief would have withdrawn his consent, 
 but was held to the bargain by force of arms ; since 
 1839 Aden has become a strong British fortress, 
 and has gathered a population from all quarters of 
 the earth. 
 
 51. On the other side of the Red Sea, in Africa, 
 rises the wedge-like plateau of Abyssinia, the top 
 of which, somewhat more extensive in area than 
 the United Kingdom, is occupied by the mixed 
 peoples — primitive Ethiopians, Arabs, Jews, Gallas, 
 and true Negroes — whose name, Abyssinians, from 
 the Arabic habesh — " confusion," refers to this 
 variety of origin. The name is not less applicable 
 to the political condition of the country, for it has 
 been the scene of continual struggles for mastery, 
 warfare within and without. Christianity appears 
 to have gained ground here as early as the fourth 
 century, and two centuries later the Abyssinians 
 
FROM 1800 TO 1908 A.D. 183 
 
 were powerful enough to invade Arabia and conquer 
 Yemen. The Mohammedan tide of conquest took 
 the coast-land of the Red Sea from Abyssinia. The 
 Portuguese, arriving in the fifteenth century, for 
 a time raised the kingdom to importance, but its 
 later history is of continual changes ; one or other 
 of the chieftains of its clans gaining, it may be, 
 the sovereignty over the whole plateau, only to lose 
 it again by fresh revolutions. This condition of 
 affairs was well illustrated in the events which 
 made the British Abyssinian expedition of 1868 a 
 necessity. The chief Theodore having raised him- 
 self by conquest from the condition of the leader 
 of a band of robbers to be for a brief period 
 ^' King of kings of Ethiopia," and failing to be 
 immediately recognised as a rightful sovereign by 
 European powers, imprisoned and held captive the 
 few British subjects and foreign missionaries who 
 happened to be in the country. All peaceable 
 efforts for their release having failed, a British 
 force landed at Annesley Bay, near Massowa, on 
 the Red Sea, and passed in an arduous march along 
 the high eastern edge of the table-land towards the 
 fortress of Magdala, whither Theodore had retreated. 
 He now surrendered his prisoners ; but his personal 
 surrender was required. Magdala was stormed, and 
 Theodore fell by his own hand (1868). 
 
 52. Since then A-byssinia has again been the 
 scene of contests between rivals for supreme power ; 
 but in the end King John, of Tigre, was acknow- 
 ledged king of kings. After his death (1889) Menelik, 
 
i84 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 King of Shoa; acquired the overlordship, and re- 
 moved the imperial capital to Addis Abeba in the 
 extreme south. He has extended his sway over 
 Gallaland and a great part of Somaliland, and 
 maintained his independence against the claims to 
 a protectorate made by the Italians, who were de- 
 feated with great slaughter at the battle of Adowa 
 in 1896. They have, however, retained their colony 
 of Eritrea^ with its capital Massowa, and a large 
 section of Somaliland. The rest of Somaliland has 
 been occupied by the English along the north coast 
 (Zeila, Bulbar, Berbera), and by the French in the 
 north-west (Obok, Tajura Bay, Jibutil). 
 
 53. The Suaheli, or Zanzibar coast, farther south, 
 is, as we have already seen, in the hands of Arabs 
 from Oman, though the power of the Sultan is 
 now virtually confined to the two islands of Zan- 
 zibar and Pemba, his territory on the mainland 
 having passed into the hands of the English and 
 Germans. The Sultan, however, is still the tutelar 
 sovereign of the British East Africa Protectorate 
 up to ten miles inland. But since 1890, when he 
 accepted the British protectorate, he has become 
 little more than a British pensioner with a privy 
 purse limited to about ^25,000. Facing Zanzibar 
 lies German East Africa, which was occupied in 
 1884, and now extends inland to Lakes Nyasa, 
 Tanganyika, and Victoria, with area 384,000 square 
 miles, coast-line 620 miles, and population (1906) 
 6,700,000. Southwards follows Portuguese East Africay 
 between Cape Delgado and Delagoa Bay, with three 
 
FROM 1800 TO 1908 A.D. 185 
 
 districts (Mozambique, Zambesia, and Lourenzo Mar- 
 quez), with area 294,000 square miles, and popula- 
 tion (1906) 3,120,000. 
 
 54. Still farther on we come upon the regions 
 of South Africa which have passed under British 
 rule — the Cape Colony, Natal, and dependencies. 
 The British gained final possession of the Cape 
 Colony in 1806, after the fleet had been sent out 
 to aid the Prince of Orange in recovering the pos- 
 session for the Dutch from the settlers, who, in- 
 fluenced by the revolutionary ideas then spreading 
 in Europe, had rebelled against the mother country, 
 and after the Batavian Republic had come under 
 Napoleon's power. At this time the territory did 
 not exceed a third of its present area ; for the 
 colonists had not spread beyond the Hottentot 
 country, nor as far as the Fish River in the east, 
 nor beyond the Great Karroo, the central mountain 
 range. The Treaty of Paris in 1815 gave Britain 
 formal possession. Before this the ^^ Boers," or 
 peasant farmers of the colony, extending eastward, 
 had come in contact with the warlike Kafir tribes 
 beyond the Fish River, and had fought the great 
 Kafir War of 181 1. The Kafirs invaded the terri- 
 tory west of the Fish River in 1818; but they were 
 unable to stand against the guns with which the 
 colonists were armed ; this second war terminated 
 in the annexation of a large slice of their territory. 
 A third Kafir invasion, in 1830, had the same result, 
 the invaders being driven back, and more of their 
 territory — this time as far as the Kei River — being 
 
i86 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 added to the colony. The emancipation of slaves 
 throughout all the British dominions in 1833 had 
 the effect, in the Cape Colony, of increasing the 
 already existing dissatisfaction of the Dutch Boers 
 with British rule, to such an extent that many thou- 
 sands of them left the Cape Colony, marching with 
 all their belongings northward across the Orange 
 River and the Drakenberg Mountains ; one section 
 of them founding what is now the colony of Natal, 
 another the Orange State, and a third settling in 
 the Transvaal ; while a body of the Griquas or 
 ** Bastards," a race sprung from the intercourse of 
 the Boers with their Hottentot slaves, settled them- 
 selves in the neighbourhood of the confluence of 
 the Orange and Vaal rivers. A fourth great Kafir 
 War, in 1846, terminated as before in the further 
 extension of the colonial limits, which were now 
 declared to be the Orange River on the north, and 
 ^' British Kaffraria," the space between the Kei and 
 Keiskama River on the east, occupied at first by 
 the Kafir tribes who had been dispossessed of their 
 lands to the westward by the colonists. Still a fifth 
 Kafir War broke out in 1857, and a sixth in 1863, 
 after which British Kaffraria was finally incorpo- 
 rated with the colony. In 1868 the Basutos, or 
 mountain Bechuanas, who occupy the hill country 
 at the head of the Orange River, were proclaimed 
 British subjects. A great discovery of the presence 
 of diamonds was made in the country near the 
 junction of the Vaal and Orange rivers in 1867, 
 the country to which the Griquas had emigrated 
 
FROM 1800 TO 1908 A.D. 187 
 
 in 1833, and thither rushed thousands from all parts 
 of the world. In 1871 this diamondiferous district 
 was annexed to Cape Colony as Griqualand West. 
 Since then South Bechuanaland has been incorpo- 
 rated with Cape Colony, and a protectorate pro- 
 claimed over North Bechuanaland up to the Zambesi. 
 At the same time the vast region between the Lim- 
 popo and Lake Tanganyika has been organised partly 
 under the Chartered Company (South, North-west, 
 and North-east Rhodesia), partly as a protectorate 
 (Barotseland), and partly as a separate colony 
 (British East Central Africa, i.e. the British Nyasa- 
 land Protectorate, as renamed in 1907). 
 
 55. Since 1870 the limits of the Cape Colony have 
 been expanded eastwards by the peaceful submission 
 of a number of the chiefs and tribes of formerly in- 
 dependent Kaffraria to British rule. What may be 
 called a seventh Kafir War, in 1877, resulted in the 
 incorporation of further territories with the colony, 
 and since then the rest of the coast as far as Natal 
 has been proclaimed British territory. 
 
 56. Natal was first brought under European in- 
 fluence by the migrating Boers from the Cape Colony 
 in 1838 ; but they had scarcely entered it when their 
 main body was set upon and massacred by the Zulu 
 Kafirs at a place which bears the significant name of 
 Weenen (^^ weeping") to this day. A war of retalia- 
 tion began, and led to the interference of the British 
 governor of Cape Colony ; after a brave struggle the 
 Boers were overcome, the country being proclaimed 
 British in 1843, and in 1856 erected into a special colony. 
 
i88 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 57. The Orange State, in the interior, immediately 
 north of the Orange River, was also settled by the 
 Boers from the Cape, and fell to the British at the 
 same time as Natal, when it became known as the 
 Orange River Sovereignty. But in 1854 it recovered 
 its independence, and continued to enjoy full auto- 
 nomy as the Orange Free State till 1900, when it was 
 re-occupied by the English as the Orange River Colony, 
 in consequence of its participation in the Boer invasion 
 of British territory in 1899. In 1907 representative 
 government was restored under the British Crown. 
 
 58. The new republic founded in the Transvaal by 
 the Boer trekkers about 1836 continued to prosper till 
 about 1876, when conflicts took place with the Zulu 
 Kafirs on its eastern limits, especially in the district 
 of Lydenburg, where rich goldfields had been dis- 
 covered ; the Boers were defeated by the now 
 well-armed Kafirs, and disorders in the financial 
 government of the State brought it into a condition 
 of hopeless anarchy and to the verge of ruin. 
 
 At this crisis, and to avert the impending invasion 
 of the State by the powerful Kafir chiefs on its eastern 
 borders, the British intervened ; and in 1877 the 
 Transvaal was annexed. But the Boers again rose, 
 and in 1881 the '^ South African Republic" was 
 acknowledged, with reservations. Then the Jameson 
 Raid, the discovery of gold, and the harsh treatment 
 of the British " outlanders " led to the South African 
 war of 1899-1902, resulting in the annexation of the 
 two Boer States. Both, however, were granted repre- 
 sentative government in 1906-07. 
 
FROM 1800 TO 1908 A.D. 189 
 
 59. On the Atlantic seaboard we next come to the 
 unproductive districts of Great Namaqualand and 
 Damaraland, inhabited the former by Nama Hotten- 
 tots, the latter by Ova-Herero Bantus. These districts 
 were provisionally annexed to Cape Colony in 1878, 
 but afterwards abandoned, all but Walfish Bay. In 
 1884 the whole region was occupied by Germany, and 
 now forms the colony of German South- West Africa. 
 
 From the Cunene, separating them from German 
 territory, the Portuguese West African possessions 
 extend for over 1000 miles along the coast to and 
 beyond the Lower Congo, and are now conterminous 
 in the north with French Congo and the Congo Free 
 State, and in the interior with the Free State and with 
 British South Africa. They comprise the six adminis- 
 trative districts of Congo, Loanda (Angola), Benguella, 
 Mossamedes, Huitla, and Lunda. Angola^ as Portu- 
 guese West Africa is officially called, has a collective 
 area of 485,000 square miles and a population of over 
 4,000,000. There is a railway running from Loanda, 
 the capital on the coast, for 278 miles to and beyond 
 Ambaca in the interior. 
 
 60. The Congo International Association, founded 
 in 1882 by Leopold, King of the Belgians, was recog- 
 nised by the Berlin Congress of 1885 as the Congo 
 Free State, and placed under King Leopold, who in 
 1889 bequeathed all his rights to Belgium. He is 
 represented by a governor-general, who administers 
 the territory in accordance with his orders. The 
 State comprises most of the Congo basin, with an 
 area of 900,000 square miles and an estimated popu- 
 
190 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 lation of 30,000,000, mainly exploited in the interests 
 of the king and of trading companies responsible to 
 him. There are fourteen administrative districts, 300 
 miles of railway, numerous steamers on the navigable 
 waters, and a large army, mostly cannibals, chiefly 
 employed in the forced collection of ivory, rubber, 
 and other local produce. French Congo occupies 
 nearly all the seaboard between the Free State and 
 the German Kameruns, and stretches inland to the 
 Ubanghi and thence north to Lake Chad, with area 
 680,000 square miles and population (1907) 10,000,000. 
 The German colony, founded in 1884 and lying 
 between French Congo and British Nigeria, extends 
 from the Kameruns through Adamawa to Lake Chad, 
 with area 191,000 square miles and population (1905) 
 3,500,000. 
 
 61. Of the high volcanic islands in the Gulf of 
 Guinea, two. Princes Island and St. Thomas, have 
 belonged to Portugal since their discovery ; the other 
 two, Annobom and Fernando Po, the largest, have 
 been given over to Spain. 
 
 62. Lagos, formerly the chief centre of the slave 
 traffic, was captured by the English in 1851, and per- 
 manently occupied in 1861. Since then the Yoruba 
 hinterland has been added, together with most of 
 Central Sudan between the Lower Niger and Lake 
 Chad, bordering north on French Sudan and south 
 on the German Kameruns. The whole region, pre- 
 viously administered by the Royal Niger Company, 
 came under direct Imperial control in 1900, and is 
 now consolidated as Northern and Southern Nigeria, 
 
FROM 1800 TO 1908 A.D. 191 
 
 with total area 310,000 square miles and population 
 estimated in 1906 at 25,000,000. Sokoto, capital of 
 the late Mohammedan Fulah Empire, was captured 
 in 1902, and in 1906 the old colony of Lagos was 
 included in Southern Nigeria, as the ancient kingdom 
 of Bornu was in Northern Nigeria. 
 
 63. After the discovery of the Gold Coast the Por- 
 tuguese founded (1481) the fort of El Mina, ^^the 
 mine," which with their other settlements fell to the 
 Dutch in 1641. The British first formed trading 
 stations here in 1667, and were followed by the Danes 
 and Brandenburgers. At the back of these colonies 
 the native kingdom of Ashanti rose to power in the 
 eighteenth century. In the course of their conquest 
 of the Fantee tribes near the coast, the Ashantis first 
 came in contact with the British in 1807, becoming 
 involved in a war which lasted till 1826, when they 
 were driven inland. The Danish settlements were 
 acquired by purchase in 1850, and those of the Dutch 
 in 1872, when the entire coast remained in British 
 hands. In two subsequent wars the Ashantis were 
 completely reduced, and their capital, Kumasi, per- 
 manently occupied in 1901. The neighbouring king- 
 dom of Dahomey had been conquered by the French 
 in 1893, and in 1884 the Germans occupied the little 
 district of Togoland (33,000 square miles), between 
 Dahomey and the British Crown Colony of the Gold 
 Coast. 
 
 64. In 1883 the French occupied the Ivory Coast 
 between the Gold Coast and Cape Palmas, beyond 
 which follows the negro republic of Liberia, When 
 
192 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 the presence of freed slaves in America had begun to 
 be found an incubus, a committee of philanthropists 
 was formed in America in 1816, with the object of 
 founding a colony for freed negroes, and giving them 
 an opportunity of self-improvement. In 1822 a com- 
 pact was made with some of the native chiefs of the 
 Pepper or Grain Coast of Upper Guinea for the 
 acquirement of a tract of land ; thither the emanci- 
 pated negroes were sent, and were expected to till the 
 soil, and collect the palm oil with which the coun- 
 try abounds. A settlement was first formed at Cape 
 Mesurado and named Monrovia, and the new colony 
 was styled Liberia, the land of the freed. New 
 settlements were founded, other tracts of land pur- 
 chased, and in 1847 the colony proclaimed itself 
 an independent republic, adopting a constitution 
 in imitation of that of the United States. Some 
 years later an adjoining colony at Cape Palmas, 
 named Maryland, was incorporated. The state, how- 
 ever, has not realised the ardent expectations formed 
 of it ; the American ^^ civilised " negroes, few in num- 
 ber comparatively, seem for the most part to have 
 relapsed into indolence — the stamp of the republic 
 being generally that of a caricature of its model ; 
 though it has established a very considerable trade 
 with Europe and America. Area, 45,000 square 
 miles; population (1907), 2,000,000. 
 
 65. On the north-western border of Liberia lies the 
 British settlement of the peninsula of Sierra Leone, 
 or the '^Lion Hill," the origin of which in 1787 we 
 have already referred to. In 1808 it was made into 
 
FROM 1800 TO 1908 A.D. 193 
 
 a colony, and used as a refuge at which the slaves 
 captured by the British cruisers along the coast were 
 debarked. In 1875 Gambia; founded in 1806, was 
 attached to Sierra Leone, but in 1888 again erected 
 into a separate colony. Passing over a few isolated 
 French and Portuguese settlements which lie between 
 these two detached British possessions, we come 
 to the old West African settlement of the French, 
 between the Gambia and the Senegal rivers. 
 
 66. The French arrived on this coast about 1650; 
 their ^'Senegal Company" dates from 1685, and since 
 about 1880 French West Africa, as the colony is 
 officially called, has acquired an enormous develop- 
 ment. It now comprises the whole region between 
 the Atlantic and the Upper Niger, with most of the 
 great bend, Timbuktu (occupied 1894), the Ivory 
 Coast, Dahomey, and the tracts lying between the 
 Niger and Lake Chad north of British Nigeria, 
 besides the Western Sahara. There are five great 
 administrative divisions, with total area 2,830,000 
 square miles and population (1905) 15,273,000. 
 
 67. Off the coast lie the Cape de Verd Islands and 
 the Canary group. The former, after their discovery 
 in 1460 by the Venetian Ca da Mosto, were taken 
 possession of by the Portuguese, but remained a 
 private property till 1692, when they passed to the 
 Portuguese Crown, and with the settlements on the 
 opposite continental coast form the '^ Province of 
 Cape Verd." The Canaries have been Spanish since 
 the end of the fifteenth century, but Madeira has re- 
 mained from that time in the hands of the Portuguese, 
 
 N 
 
194 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 except during its occupation by the British from 1807 
 till 1 814. Madeira, which with the neighbouring 
 islets of Porto Santo and the rocky Desertas, has 
 an area of 370 square miles and a population (1900) 
 of 150,000, lies 560 miles from Lisbon and 430 from 
 Cape Cantin, the nearest point on the Morocco coast. 
 Before the discovery it had never been occupied by 
 man, so that most of its inhabitants are the descend- 
 ants of the early Portuguese settlers. The surface 
 is mountainous, being traversed in its entire length 
 by an elevated range at a mean height of 4000 feet, 
 and culminating in the Pico Ruivo (6100). Its mild 
 and salubrious climate, combined with its picturesque 
 scenery, makes Madeira a favourite health resort, 
 especially for invalids from Great Britain. Funchal, 
 the capital on the south coast, has a mean annual 
 temperature of 65° F., ranging from 60° in winter to 
 about 72° in summer, is pleasantly situated at the foot 
 of these hills, and has steamer communication with 
 Lisbon and Liverpool. 
 
 68. Owing to chronic internal disorders and pres- 
 sure from without, Morocco has almost ceased to 
 be an independent state, and seems kept together 
 mainly by the jealousy of rival European powers. 
 An international congress held at Algeciras in 1906 
 entrusted the maintenance of order on the seaboard 
 to France and Spain. But since then the massacre 
 of Europeans in the capital and on the coast has 
 called for the active intervention of these two powers, 
 and the occupation of Ujdah by the French. The 
 situation is aggravated by the revolt of Raisuli and 
 
FROM 1800 TO 1908 A.D. 195 
 
 other powerful chiefs, and by the appearance (1907) 
 of a rival to the throne of the reigning Sultan. 
 
 69. In completing the circuit of the continent we 
 come to Algeria, which we left in the last chapter 
 in the hands of the ^' nation of corsairs," who by their 
 piracies had so often drawn upon themselves the 
 vengeance of the maritime powers of Europe. While 
 Napoleonic wars were in progress the presence of 
 strong fleets in the Mediterranean kept them in har- 
 bour, but at the close of the wars their raids began as 
 vigorously as ever. The Americans this time took the 
 lead, and after defeating the Algerian fleet off Carta- 
 gena (181 5), compelled the Dey to respect the Ameri- 
 can flag ; then the British and Dutch fleets furiously 
 bombarded Algiers, and rescued the Christians who 
 had been detained there, but still next year (181 7) the 
 corsairs were as busy as ever, and now ventured 
 to extend their piracies even to the North Sea. Be- 
 tween this time and 1823 French ships suffered 
 severely, and in consequence of one of the disputes 
 that arose the Dey wrote an angry letter to the King 
 of France : to this no reply was sent, and the Dey, 
 summoning the French consul, asked why his master 
 remained silent. To this the consul is reported to 
 have replied that a King of France could not con- 
 descend to correspond with a Dey of Algiers, on 
 which the Dey struck the consul and roundly abused 
 the king. This insult brought a French squadron to 
 Algiers in 1827, and for three years a blockade of the 
 coast was maintained. In 1830, 40,000 men effected 
 a landing, Algiers was again bombarded, and capitu- 
 
196 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 lated on the 6th of July. From this time forward till 
 1857 ^he arduous task of the conquest of Algeria was 
 in progress. Seven years of fighting were required to 
 master the coast-land, and the towns which lie along 
 it. The Tell country, or fertile slope of the moun- 
 tains facing the Mediterranean, was not brought 
 under French rule till 1845; ^^om that time till 1847 
 the battle was waged along the Moroccan frontier, and 
 then eastward towards Tunis. Between 1857 ^"^ 
 1859 ^h^ contest was carried inland over the high 
 plateaus and down into the Algerian Sahara beyond. 
 Until 1864 sanguinary conflicts were constantly occur- 
 ring with the Kabyles or Berbers of the mountains, 
 descendants of the fiery Numidians. The great enemy 
 of the French in this conflict was Abd-el-Kader, the 
 brave leader of the Arab tribes of Oran, who had 
 seized the opportunity of the downfall of the Turkish 
 Dey at Algiers to make themselves independent, and 
 who in their later struggles against the French were 
 aided by the Sultan of Morocco. The capture of Abd- 
 el-Kader in 1847, ^fter he had troubled the French 
 for fifteen years, was one of the most important 
 points of the conquest. The arduous character of 
 the struggle for this possession may be estimated 
 when it is known that the French troops had at 
 times to be raised to a strength of 100,000 men, and 
 that a sum of 120 millions of pounds sterling was 
 spent in military operations. Till 1871 the country 
 remained under strict military rule, and it was not 
 till that time that a civil administration in the pro- 
 vinces of Oran, Algiers, and Constantine could be 
 
FROM 1800 TO 1908 A.D. 197 
 
 safely organised. The acquisition of Tunis, in 1881, 
 has already been noticed. 
 
 70. Having thus completed a rapid survey of the 
 possessions which lie round the margins of Africa, we 
 may now glance at one or two of the more prominent 
 of the discoveries which have been made within the 
 vast continent by the host of European explorers who 
 have besieged its hidden regions from all sides during 
 the nineteenth century. Among the earliest travellers 
 of this period were the Englishmen Clapperton, 
 Oudney, and Denham, who started from Tripoli, and 
 after crossing the Great Desert, first reached the state 
 of Bornu, in the Sudan, and saw the great shallow Lake 
 Chad. In 1826, Major Laing first reached the famed 
 city of TiinbuktUy which had been known by report to 
 Europeans since the fourteenth century, paying for his 
 hardly won knowledge by his life. Then the French- 
 man Caillie brought back an account of this great 
 centre of commerce ; and the German, Heinrich 
 Barth, returned from his six years of travel to and 
 fro in the Sudan (1849-55). It was not till after these 
 arduous journeys that any distinct conception could 
 be formed of the political condition of the great fertile 
 belt of Central Africa which lies south of the barrier 
 of the vast Sahara. Then came to light the great 
 series of Mohammedan states which lie between 
 Darfur on the east and Senegambia on the west 
 — Wadai, Bornu, and the Fellatah states of Central 
 Sudan. 
 
 71. The powerful state of Bornu, in which the 
 descendants of Arabs are the ruling race over the 
 
198 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 far more numerous negro inhabitants, had its first 
 Moslem ruler as early as 1086, and seems to have 
 reached the zenith of its power in the twelfth century, 
 when its limits extended over Fezzan on the north. 
 
 72. The states lying westward — Sokoto, Gando, 
 Masena — with many minor ones, owe their founda- 
 tion to the Fulahs or Fellatahs, who appear to have 
 been converted to Mohammedanism as lately as the 
 middle of the eighteenth century, and who have been 
 extending their religious wars of conquest eastward 
 over the Niger basin since 1802, and long con- 
 tinued to spread their influence farther into the 
 pagan domain of Central Negroland. 
 
 73. Among the many notable points in the pro- 
 gress of South African discovery, it may suffice to 
 recall here the first crossing of the continent by 
 Livingstone, and his exploration of the course of the 
 great river Zambesi in 1854-55 ; the discovery of the 
 snowy mountains of the eastern equatorial zone by 
 the missionaries Rebmann and Krapf in 1849, and the 
 news they gathered on their travels of the vast lakes 
 in the interior ; Captain Burton's discovery of the 
 Tanganyika Lake, and Speke's first view of the 
 Ukerewe, or Victoria Nyanza, in 1858; Speke and 
 Grant's subsequent exploration of the Victoria Lake, 
 an expanse of water nearly as large as Scotland, and 
 their discovery that the Nile flowed from its northern 
 shores ; Livingstone's arrival at the Nyasa in 1859; 
 Sir Samuel Baker's discovery of the Albert Lake in 
 1864; the exploration of the lake chain of the 
 Lualaba by Livingstone in 1866-70; Commander 
 
FROM 1800 TO 1908 A.D. 199 
 
 Cameron's journey across the equatorial region from 
 Indian Ocean to Atlantic in 1874-75 ; and Stanley's 
 brave voyage down the Congo in 1876-77. 
 
 74. The geographical conquest of the continent 
 has been all but completed by the later explora- 
 tions of Junker about the Nile-Congo divide ; of 
 Bottego, Donaldson Smith, Butter, Maud, Harri- 
 son, and others in Somaliland and amongst the 
 romantic lakes between Abyssinia and Lake Rudolf ; 
 of Wellby, Crosby, Austin, and Macmillan between 
 Rudolf and the White Nile ; of Dybowski, Maistre, 
 Lenfant, and Chevalier about the Congo-Chad water- 
 parting ; and by Foureau, Gautier, Laperrine, Thieve- 
 nant, and Hans Vischer in the Sahara, all during 
 the decade ending in 1906. The political conquest 
 has proceeded with equal rapidity, and by 1908 
 the whole of Africa, except Abyssinia, Liberia, and 
 Morocco, had been distributed amongst eight Euro- 
 pean powers — Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Por- 
 tugal, Italy, Belgium, and Turkey. 
 
 75. The physiography of the land is now thoroughly 
 understood. The great divides between the northern 
 and the southern sections have been crossed and 
 re-crossed, and the hydrographic systems of the four 
 main arteries — Nile, Congo, Niger, and Zambesi — 
 clearly defined. Even the Sahara has been crossed 
 in various directions, and Bilma, one of the chief 
 strategical points, permanently occupied by the French. 
 But the great desert has not yet been traversed in 
 its entire length either from west to east or from east 
 to west. 
 
200 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 76. Coming now to America, we may rapidly sm'vey 
 the political changes that have taken place in that 
 region since the beginning of the last century. 
 
 At that time England was at war with Spain, the 
 ally of France, and, owing to the open disaffection 
 of the colonists of La Plata, had some hopes of 
 acquiring that region, which had already become 
 the most considerable mart of Spanish America, 
 and whither the steady tide of immigration from all 
 parts of Europe was setting. In the year 1806, ac- 
 cordingly, a British squadron of five vessels entered 
 the La Plata, took Maldonado, on the north coast of 
 the inlet, and advanced upon the city of Buenos Ayresy 
 which capitulated at once. The triumph, however, 
 was of brief duration, for the people soon rallied and 
 compelled the British to retreat to Maldonado again. 
 Next year Monte Video was carried by assault, but 
 a second attempt to gain Buenos Ayres was a com- 
 plete failure ; and a convention was entered into by 
 which the British abandoned La Plata. 
 
 The Spanish-American colonists thus gained a 
 knowledge of their strength in repelling a force 
 stronger than that of their rulers ; for a time they had 
 remained faithful to Spain, but disaffection showed 
 itself unmistakably when the French under Napoleon 
 had occupied Spain, and when the Bourbons were de- 
 throned by him in 1808. An agent of Napoleon was 
 then sent out to induce the colonists to swear fealty 
 to Joseph Bonaparte, but was put under arrest for his 
 pains. A claim made by the Prince Regent of Por- 
 tugal was likewise rejected for several years. Under 
 
FROM 1800 TO 1908 A.D. 201 
 
 a provisional government, the people of the La Plata 
 were divided in opinion, some desiring a monarchy, 
 others a new organisation and independence. 
 
 77. Paraguay was the first to assert her right to self- 
 government, having become not only free from the 
 authority of Spain, but independent also of the other 
 states of La Plata, as early as 181 1. On the other 
 extreme limit of Spanish America, in Mexico, the dis- 
 content which had been gaining ground against the 
 viceregal government during Napoleon's wars in the 
 Peninsula broke out in open rebellion ; Chile in the 
 south now also began the war for independence. The 
 patriots of the Captain-Generalship of Caracas or 
 Venezuela, under the leadership of the famous Simon 
 Bolivar, claimed independence in 1810, but the country 
 was restored for two years more to its allegiance. 
 In 1 81 3, however, Bolivar entered Caracas as con- 
 queror, and was hailed as liberator of Venezuela. In 
 1 81 6, an assembly of representatives from all the 
 provinces of the La Plata met at Tucuinan, where a 
 declaration of independence was drawn up. Four 
 governments were formed from the former vice- 
 royalties of Buenos Ayres, Paraguay, Alto Peru or 
 Bolivia, the Banda Oriental (eastern side of the Uru- 
 guay river) or Uruguay, and the united provinces of 
 La Plata. The victories of Tuya and Boyaca released 
 New Granada and Ecuador, and in 181 9 the Republic 
 of Colombia was declared. The battle of Maypii 
 achieved the independence of Chile in 181 8; that of 
 Ayacucho, the freedom of Upper Peru, now called 
 Bolivia in honour of the liberator. The Republic 
 
202 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 of Colombia also became independent of the mother 
 country in 1819, ^^^^ ^^e three states composing it 
 remained in union till 1830. Mexico finally established 
 its freedom in 1 824. Peru, the first formed viceroyalty 
 in South America, was the last to set up the standard 
 of independence ; it remained completely in the hands 
 of Spain till 1820, but then, aided by patriots from 
 Chile and by English volunteers, it quickly gained its 
 independence. Before 1823, the Central American 
 States had also thrown off the rule of Spain and 
 formed themselves into a federal republic, composed 
 of the states of Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, 
 Salvador, and Costa Rica — a confederation which 
 held together till 1839. 
 
 Thus before 1825 all the vast continental posses- 
 sions of Spanish America were separated from the 
 mother country and divided into a number of sepa- 
 rate republics, in too many of which a continual 
 round of revolutions forms the sum of their subse- 
 quent history. 
 
 78. We have already remarked, in noticing events 
 in Portugal, that under the threat of Napoleon's in- 
 vasion the royal family transferred itself thence to 
 Brazil in 1807 ; the seat of government of Portugal 
 was for the time transferred to Rio de Janeiro. After 
 the combined efforts of the British and Portuguese 
 had freed Portugal from the French, on the death of 
 Queen Maria in 18 10, the Regent succeeded to the 
 joint crowns of Portugal and Brazil. The continued 
 residence of the new king at Rio de Janeiro, however, 
 gave rise to discontent at home, and ultimately to the 
 
FROM 1800 TO 1908 A.D. 203 
 
 revolution of 1820 at Lisbon, and to the proclamation 
 of a constitutional form of government there. Brazil, 
 on shaking off the imperial yoke like its neighbours, 
 found a merely nominal revolution sufficient, and 
 accepted a hereditary monarchy instead of a restless 
 republican system, its independence being ratified 
 by King Joao, and its government placed in the 
 hands of Dom Pedro his son — an arrangement which 
 lasted till 1889, when Brazil became a republic. 
 
 79. Of all the vast extent of Spanish America there 
 remain now under the government of the mother 
 country only the islands of Cuba and Puerto Rico 
 in the West Indies. The misgovernment of the 
 former, and the exclusion of the native-born Creole 
 element from all offices and emoluments, drove that 
 island into rebellion, resulting in the conquest of 
 both islands by the United States in the Spanish- 
 American War of 1898. 
 
 80. The island of Hayti or Hispaniola, lying between 
 Cuba and Puerto Rico, and nearly as large as Scot- 
 land, has had a remarkably disturbed history. On 
 its shores the first settlement of Spanish America 
 was placed by Columbus, and after the aboriginal 
 Indians had been swept away it became one of the 
 earliest fields of negro slavery. During the seven- 
 teenth century the buccaneers and filibusters of the 
 Caribbean Sea made its western harbours their great 
 haunt, and, as they were chiefly French, this part of 
 the island was ceded to France by the Peace of 
 Ryswick in 1697. For nearly a century the buc- 
 caneers imported great numbers of Africans ; an 
 
204 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 intermediate race of mulattoes sprang up, and soon 
 the mutual antipathies of these three colours gave 
 rise to the terrible internecine struggle of 1791, 
 which ended in the extermination of the once domi- 
 nant Europeans. 
 
 In 1 80 1 a fruitless effort was made by France 
 to recover this dependency. For a time a negro 
 named Dessalines was ^^ Emperor of Hayti/' after 
 which revolution on revolution changed the poli- 
 tical condition to and fro from republic to monarchy 
 or despotism. In 1843 the inhabitants of the eastern 
 or Spanish portion of Hayti formed themselves into 
 the Dominican Republic, which during 1861-65 placed 
 itself under the authority of Spain, but in the latter 
 year again proclaimed the republic and expelled the 
 Spanish troops. 
 
 8i. Returning to the mainland of North America, 
 some important points must be noted in the history 
 of Mexico after its rise to independence. After 
 Louisiana had been purchased from the French 
 by the United States in 1803, the territory of Texas, 
 lying between that and Mexico, became a debat- 
 able land, claimed alike by Spain and by the United 
 States ; till 1837 Texas was the scene of continual 
 disturbances brought about by the attempts of the 
 Americans to wrest the country from the Mexicans, 
 the warlike native Apache and Comanche Indians 
 keeping up the unsettled condition of the land. In 
 1837, however, after an unsuccessful Mexican invasion, 
 Texas became for a few years an independent republic, 
 which in 1845 was annexed to the United States. As 
 
FROM 1800 TO 1908 A.D. 205 
 
 Mexico had never recognised the independence of 
 Texas, this annexation gave rise to a war with the 
 United States ; hostilities were carried on for three 
 years, and the city of Mexico was stormed and taken. 
 
 During a series of revolutions between 1850 and 
 i860, such wanton aggressions were committed against 
 foreign residents in Mexico as to provoke the inter- 
 ference of European powers, and in April 1862 the 
 French Emperor declared war against the republic. 
 In June of the following year the French troops 
 entered the capital, a provisional monarchy was 
 set up, and the crown was accepted by the ill- 
 fated Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian of Austria. 
 The repugnance of the United States to the estab- 
 lishment of an empire on its borders led to the 
 removal of the French troops, when the repub- 
 licans immediately rose to arms, defeated the Impe- 
 rialists, and Maximilian, betrayed into their hands, 
 was executed in 1867. After this the republican 
 constitution of 1857 again came into operation. 
 
 82. The marvellous changes which have been 
 brought about in the North American continent 
 by the expansion of the Republic of the United 
 States now claim attention, as they have no parallel 
 in the history of the globe. At the beginning of 
 the last century four States had been added to the 
 original thirteen which lay along the Atlantic slope 
 of the Alleghany mountains ; now the territory of 
 the United States reaches across from Atlantic to 
 Pacific. In 1800 the States already had a popula- 
 tion of 6 millions, which in 1908 had increased to 
 
2o6 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 nearly 87 millions. The continent was crossed for 
 the first time by Alexander Mackenzie in 1793, and 
 again by Lewis and Clarke in 1804; yet a railway 
 had already been opened from ocean to ocean in 
 1869. The interior was still roamed by the natives 
 at the beginning of the last century ; now but few 
 survive, interesting because disappearing or becoming 
 incorporated with the stronger race. 
 
 A few leading points in the history of the develop- 
 ment of the United States may be recalled. 
 
 83. On the death of the first president, the seat of 
 government of the Republic was removed in 1800 to 
 the city on the Potomac which he had planned for the 
 capital, and which bears his name of Washington. 
 Three years after this the area of the territory of 
 the United States was more than doubled by the 
 acquisition of Louisiana. During Napoleon's wars 
 the debated right of search of American vessels for 
 British-born subjects to be impressed into the naval 
 service, gave rise to disputes and then to a war, in 
 which Canada was invaded from the United States, 
 and Washington city was taken (1814) by the British 
 fleet. Peace once more restored, the rapid tide of 
 European immigration required the formation of 
 seven new States within the first twenty years of the 
 century.^ The peninsula of Florida also was ceded 
 by Spain in 18 12. Before this time slavery had been 
 gradually abolished in the northern and middle 
 States, but was retained in the purely agricultural 
 
 1 Ohio 1802, Louisiana 1812, Indiana 1816, Mississippi 1817, 
 Illinois 1818, Alabama 1819, Maine 1820. 
 
FROM 1800 TO 1908 A.D. 207 
 
 States of the south. Two sections were thus 
 formed in the RepubHc. 
 
 84. The war with Mexico for the possession of 
 Texas has been previously referred to. Just before 
 the treaty which concluded it, after the occupation 
 of the capital city of Mexico by the American troops, 
 the discovery of gold was made in Upper California, 
 an event which was to work the most marvellously 
 rapid change in the condition of all western America. 
 The Mexican treaty, concluded immediately after, 
 added New Mexico and Upper California to the 
 United States ; men rushed thither from all parts of 
 the world, San Francisco rose as if by magic to 
 become the great mart of the Pacific coast, and only 
 three years after the discovery of the precious metal 
 gold was exported thence to the value of nine millions 
 sterling. California having been raised to the con- 
 dition of a State, the country inland, between it and 
 the States already formed east of the Mississippi, was 
 rapidly explored and incorporated. 
 
 85. In 1854 the attempt to introduce slavery into 
 the central territory of Kansas led to the first active 
 outbreak of the storm which had been brewing be- 
 tween the slave-party and the friends of free labour 
 in the United States, and after a violent contest the 
 latter prevailed. 
 
 At the presidential election of i860 the northern or 
 abolition party and the southern slaveholders were 
 formally arrayed in opposition in Congress, and the 
 Southern States being outvoted at once began to 
 withdraw from the Union. The legislature of South 
 
2o8 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 Carolina was the first to dissolve its union. Missis- 
 sippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas 
 followed at once, and a year later North Carolina, 
 Virginia, Tennessee, and Arkansas joined them ; 
 Kentucky and Missouri were divided between the 
 Northern and Southern inclinations. For the capital 
 of the Southern or rebel government Richmond in 
 Virginia was chosen, and the contest between the 
 Northerns or Federals and the Southerns or Con- 
 federates began with the battle of Bull Run^ near the 
 Potomac River, in July 1861. In the four years' war 
 which ensued, the decisive victory of the Federals at 
 Chattanooga in Tennessee, and the capture of Vicks- 
 burg on the Mississippi, nearly at the same time in 
 1863, may be said to have been the great turning 
 points of the war, as they re-opened the highway of 
 the great river from its mouth upward, and divided 
 the Confederate States into two portions. The great 
 battle of Petersburg in April 1865, ^Y which the 
 evacuation of Richmond was necessitated, brought the 
 great rebellion to a close. In 1866 all the seceded 
 States were restored to the Union, and slavery ceased 
 to exist in the United States. 
 
 86. The remote north-western provinces of America, 
 discovered by Bering on his voyage from Siberia, 
 remained in the hands of the Imperial Russian Fur 
 Trading Company, as a vast hunting ground, from 
 1799 till 1867. In that year the territory was pur- 
 chased from Russia by the United States, and has 
 since taken the title of the Alaska Territory. 
 
 At the present time the Union consists of 43 States 
 
FROM 1800 TO 1908 A.D. 209 
 
 and 4 Territories, each of which is represented accord- 
 ing to its population in the Congress of the Union, 
 but is independent in the management of its internal 
 and local affairs. 
 
 87. We now come to British North America. By 
 the Treaty of Utrecht in 171 3, which ended the ten 
 years' conflict of the Wars of the Spanish Succes- 
 sion, the French possessions on the eastern coasts 
 of North America known as Acadia (Nova Scotia, 
 New Brunswick, and Newfoundland) passed into the 
 hands of Britain. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia 
 were not formally settled as colonies by the British 
 till the middle of the eighteenth century, when the 
 French, who with the native Indians had kept up 
 hostilities against the new-comers, were finally ex- 
 pelled or reduced to submission. 
 
 Newfoundland, on the coasts of which the French 
 still hold the privileges of the cod-fishery, obtained a 
 government of its own in 1728, and Labrador has 
 been included in its administration since 1809. 
 Prince Edward Island, adjoining New Brunswick and 
 Nova Scotia, though settled in 1745, was not finally 
 annexed to Britain till 1763. It takes its name from 
 Edward, Duke of Kent, commander of the British 
 forces in America at the end of the eighteenth 
 century. 
 
 88. The conquest of Canada in 1759-60 has already 
 been noted. After the territory had been restricted 
 to its present limits north of the great lakes and the 
 49th parallel of latitude by the cession of the six 
 sovereign States of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, 
 
 O 
 
210 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois to the United States, it 
 was divided in 1791 for a time into two separate 
 provinces ; the eastern one, or Lower Canada, with 
 a larger proportion of French inhabitants, retained 
 its national institutions, and the western province, or 
 Upper Canada, became the English section of the 
 land. Dissensions between these differently consti- 
 tuted provinces increased in malignity, till in 1837 
 armed insurrections broke out, which were only 
 suppressed after martial law had been proclaimed ; 
 the result of the movement being the union of the 
 provinces under one government in 1841. 
 
 89. The whole unoccupied territory west of the 
 Rocky Mountains called Oregon (as far as the 55th 
 degree of N. latitude) was claimed equally by Britain 
 and by the United States, and by a treaty made in 
 1 818, and renewed in 1827, ^^ ^'^^ agreed that this 
 region should be considered joint property. Its in- 
 creasing importance, however, made it necessary to 
 have some definite line of division, and in 1846 a 
 compromise was made by which Britain held all the 
 land north of the 49th parallel, the United States all 
 south of that line. 
 
 90. Vancouver Island, which the Hudson Bay 
 Company had been accustomed to visit regularly for 
 the furs provided by its native Indians, was brought 
 prominently into notice by this boundary question, 
 and was granted in 1849 ^^ the Company^ under the 
 express condition of colonising it. At this time the 
 territory of the Pacific side of the continent north 
 of the 49th parallel was still a part of the hunting 
 
FROM 1800 TO 1908 A.D. 211 
 
 grounds of the Hudson Bay Company. The dis- 
 covery of gold here in 1857, as in California farther 
 south, drew crowds of adventurers to its shores, and 
 when the monopoly of the Company ceased in 1858, 
 the territory was named British Columbia, and was 
 raised to the rank of a colony. 
 
 91. The question of the union of the various British 
 American provinces now began to be discussed, and 
 found favour from the obvious advantages that the 
 plan would confer. It was not till 1867, however, 
 that an Act of the Imperial Parliament was passed 
 uniting federally the separate provinces of Canada, 
 Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, into one Dominion 
 under the name of Canada, with a constitution 
 modelled on that of the United Kingdom. Subse- 
 quently the Dominion has been extended over the 
 North-West Territory (the Hudson Bay Company's 
 territory and Rupert's Land), which was acquired by 
 purchase in 1869. From this territory the small 
 province of Manitoba, embracing the basin of the 
 Red River next the United States boundary, was 
 formed in 1870. In 1871 British Columbia and 
 Vancouver Island also joined the Dominion ; Prince 
 Edward Island was added in 1873; so that at present 
 Newfoundland alone holds out independently from 
 the rest of the group now included in the Dominion 
 of Canada. 
 
 92. Scarcely less wonderful than the rapid develop- 
 ment of the Republic of the United States of America 
 has been that of the Australian colonies of Great 
 Britain. Though Cook had sailed along the greater 
 
212 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 part of the eastern shores of New Holland, and a 
 British colony had been established at Botany Bay in 
 1788, so little was known even of the coast-line of the 
 new continent that it was not until within two years of 
 the close of the eighteenth century that Dr. Bass, 
 in H.M.S. Reliance^ established the fact that Van 
 Diemen's Land (Tasmania) was really separated from 
 the mainland by a strait 150 miles in width. During 
 the year 1803 a vessel carrying a party of convicts and 
 a small armed guard was sent out from England to 
 form another station, like that of Botany Bay, on the 
 shores of Bass's Strait. This party landed at Port 
 Philip (the site of the present city of Melbourne), but 
 considering the country too sterile left the place and 
 crossed the strait to Van Diemen's Land, and formed 
 a camp at Sullivan'' s Cove, where the little settlement 
 struggled through its first years in resisting the attacks 
 of the aborigines. In 1825 another convict station 
 was placed at Moreton Bay, on the north of the New 
 South Wales coast, and West Australia was first 
 occupied in 1826, the Swan River being chosen as 
 the point of settlement. Port Philip, after the first 
 cursory visit to it, does not appear to have attracted 
 attention again till 1835, when a stockowner bartered 
 a quantity of cloth with the natives there for a large 
 tract of land ; his schooner arriving in the mouth of 
 the Yarra Yarra (a stream flowing into Port Philip) 
 was moored to the trees on its banks where the 
 wharves of Melbourne now stand. 
 
 93. In 1825, when the settlers in Van Diemen's 
 Land numbered about 3000, Tasmania was raised to 
 
FROM 1800 TO 1908 A.D. 213 
 
 be a separate colony, and ten years later was under 
 the governorship of Sir John Franklin, of Arctic fame, 
 under whom it made great progress. South Australia 
 was unoccupied till 1836, when a party of 200 colonists 
 landed and began a settlement at the site of the 
 present city of Adelaide. The Swan River Settlement 
 on the west coast had not prospered greatly before 
 1850, at which date, by petition of the colonists, it 
 received the convicts who were now refused by New 
 South Wales, and between that time and 1868, when 
 the transportation ceased, about 10,000 prisoners were 
 added to its little population. 
 
 94. A great event in the history of Australia was 
 the discovery of gold in the Port Philip district of 
 New South Wales in 1850, causing the whole settle- 
 ment to become ^' drunk with gold"; drawing men of 
 all avocations — merchants, sailors, tradesmen — from 
 all parts of the world to the diggings. Up to this time 
 the Port Philip district had been but an appanage of 
 New South Wales ; now it was created into the inde- 
 pendent colony of Victoria, which developed its roads, 
 railways, and manufactures with astonishing rapidity. 
 
 From New South Wales, on the northern side, the 
 Moreton Bay district was separated in 1859, to form 
 the colony of Queensland, 
 
 95. As yet the interior of the continent was all but 
 unknown, though explorers were every year lifting the 
 borders of the veil which covered it. Most prominent 
 of all in the long list of Australian pioneers stands 
 M'Douall Stuart, who after many attempts succeeded 
 in crossing -ihe continent from South Australia to its 
 
214 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 northern shores in 1862. In consequence of the 
 favourable report given by Stuart, the South Austrahan 
 Government determined to attempt the colonisation of 
 the northern territory, which was then added to its 
 existing limits. The experiment was not successful, 
 but within ten years of Stuart's exploring march a line 
 of electric telegraph had been set up all along the 
 route that he followed from sea to sea, uniting South 
 Australia with the Asiatic and European system of 
 communication. From a few hundreds dotted about 
 at various convict stations along the coasts, the 
 population of the five divisions of Australia rose in 
 1906 to upwards of four millions ; explorers have 
 investigated the interior in all directions ; the large 
 cities of Sydney^ Melbourne^ and Adelaide have arisen, 
 and settlements extend far inland on all sides except- 
 ing the northern seaboard. In 1901 the several states 
 became federated as The Comynonwealth of Australia. 
 
 96. No European is known to have resided in New 
 Zealand before 1814, and no attempt at colonisation 
 was made until 1839, when a patch of land at Port 
 Nicholson, in Cook Strait, was bought from the natives 
 for the first party of settlers, by a number of gentle- 
 men who had clubbed together to form a New Zealand 
 Company. Wellington, the present capital, and Auck- 
 land, the former seat of government in the North 
 Island, were first founded in 1840; New Plymouth 
 and Nelson in 1841 ; Dunedin in Otago, by a Scotch 
 company under the auspices of the Free Church, in 
 1848 ; and Canterbury in 1850, in connection with the 
 Church of England. The first British governor took 
 
FROM 1800 TO 1908 A.D. 215 
 
 office in 1840, and the history of the colony thence 
 onward until 1865, especially in the North Island, is 
 one of almost constant warfare with the brave and 
 skilful Maori natives. This fine aboriginal race, found 
 by the discoverer Cook living in a state of consider- 
 able civilisation, was in 1906 reduced by incessant„ 
 wars from 200,000 to 48,000, all of whom now live 
 peaceably on the North Island. In 1875 the colony 
 was brought under one administration, and in 190 1 
 assumed the title of the Dominion of New Zealand, 
 
 97. North-east of New Ze3l3.nd the archipelago of 
 the Fill or Fiji Islands forms one of the latest acquisi- 
 tions of the British Crown. As early as 1804 a 
 number of escaped convicts from New South Wales 
 reached their shores, and, remaining there, acquired 
 considerable influence in the tribal wars which were 
 constantly being waged. About 1820 the Wesleyan 
 missionaries began their work here, and so far paved 
 the way for the arrival of white settlers that the num- 
 ber of these had increased in 1905 to over 2500. In 
 1875 the islands were formed into a British colony. 
 The final partition of New Guinea took place in 1885- 
 1887, when the N.E. section fell to Germany (^Kaiser 
 Wilhelnt's Landy 70,000 sq. miles) and the S.E. to 
 Britain {British New Guinea^ 90,000 sq. miles), Holland 
 retaining the W. section (152,000 sq. miles). Ger- 
 many also acquired the neighbouring Admiralty, New 
 Britain and New Ireland Islands, now re-named the 
 Bismarck Archipelago (1885), besides the northern sec- 
 tion of the Solomons (1886), and in 1899 all the Mari- 
 anne, Pelew (except Guam), and Caroline groups by 
 
2i6 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 purchase from Spain, and part of Samoa by agreement 
 with England and United States. The rest of Samoa 
 went to the United States, which also wrested from 
 Spain the Philippines and Guam. England took over 
 the Tonga and South Solomon groups, and a sort of 
 Anglo-French Condominium was permanently estab- 
 lished in the New Hebrides by the Convention of 
 1907. Such are now the political relations in the 
 Pacific Ocean. 
 
 98. About 1800 the age of great maritime discovery 
 was closed, Cook and others having shown that no 
 large tracts of habitable land lay about either Pole. 
 Since then extensive ice-bound regions have no doubt 
 been discovered or sighted, especially in the south. 
 But there has been no revelation of lands which can 
 ever be of value for the habitation of men, and, in 
 later years especially, exploration has taken a new 
 direction, aiming rather at the scientific conquest of 
 the globe. 
 
 In the Antarctic region the South Shetland Isles ^ 
 south-east of Cape Hoorn, were reached by Captain 
 Smith in 1816; the Russian voyager Bellinghausen 
 found the most southerly land then known, Peter 
 Island^ in 182 1 ; Captain Biscoe discovered the coast 
 he named Enderby Land in 1831 ; Balleny the islands 
 named after him in 1839 ; the French commander 
 Dumont D'Urville, Addie Land, in 1840; and Sir 
 James Ross reached the highest south point yet 
 attained in 1841, discovering Victoria Land, with its 
 volcanoes of Erebus and Terror. 
 
 Then, after a lull, operations were resumed about 
 
FROM 1800 TO 1908 A.D. 217 
 
 1900, in which the EngUsh, Germans, French, Scan- 
 dinavians, and Belgians took part. Most successful 
 was Captain Scott of the Discovery^ who beat all pre- 
 vious records by reaching the high latitudes of 82° 17' 
 and 83° S. in Victoria Land, which was coasted a 
 long way south and explored on sledges for over 900 
 miles inland, while east of Cape Adare a new region 
 with snow-clad heights was discovered and named 
 King Edward VI I. Land (1902-3). The German 
 Captain Drygalski of the Gauss failed to sight the 
 supposed Termination Land, and was arrested by a 
 new land at 66° S. 
 
 In the Arctic seas. Parry, following the inlet of 
 Lancaster Sound, in 1819 reached Melville Island and 
 other barren Arctic islands to which his name has 
 been given ; Scoresby and Graah made known the 
 fiord and glacier coast of East Greenland m. 1822-23 \ 
 the many expeditions in quest of the lost Sir John 
 Franklin and his ships, which had gone on the last 
 search for the North-West Passage, added many hun- 
 dreds of miles of coast-line to the Arctic American 
 shores ; M'Clure discovered and made the North- 
 West Passage in 1850, although his vessel, the Investi- 
 gatory had to be abandoned; Dr. Kane extended know- 
 ledge in Smith Sound in 1853 ; an Austrian expedition 
 in 1872-74 discovered the archipelago north-east of 
 Novaya Zemlya which was named Franz Josef Land ; 
 Captain Markham, of a British expedition under 
 Captain Nares, reached lat. 83° 20' N. ; Nordenskjold 
 effected the North-East Passage, and was the first to 
 circumnavigate Asia ; and Lieutenant Lockwood, of the 
 
2i8 SKETCH OF HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY 
 
 American Greely expedition, advanced along the N.W. 
 coast of Greenland to lat. 83° 24'. Then followed 
 Nansen's memorable voyage in the Fram (1895-96). 
 But all previous records were again beaten by the 
 American Captain Peary, who in 1906 reached 87° 6', 
 about 200 miles from the Pole. About the same time 
 other less successful expeditions were made by Captain 
 R. Amundsen of the Gjoa, Lieutenant Hansen, A. H. 
 Harrison, and M. Erichsen ; in 1908 E. Mikkelsen 
 found deep water free of land stretching a long way 
 toward the Pole. 
 
 99. The scientific conquest of the globe has begun. 
 Europe is being surveyed with the minutest accuracy 
 of detail, and in every other region the closer weav- 
 ing of a network of routes of exploration is ever in 
 progress. The systematic sounding of the oceans has 
 begun, so that their true depth in every part may be 
 known. As the first representatives of this explora- 
 tion of the deep seas, may be taken the circum- 
 navigation voyages of the British ship Challenger 
 (1872-76); the United States expeditions to the Pacific 
 in the Tuscarora (1874-76) and the Nero (1900) ; 
 the German Gazelle voyage in the same years, and 
 others in 1904-5, when 675 soundings were taken in 
 the Pacific ; that of the Norwegian ship Voringen 
 between Norway and Iceland in 1875-76; and the 
 latest German, French, British, and other oceanic 
 surveys. 
 
INDEX 
 
 Abbas the Great, 105 
 
 Abbasides, dynasty of, 31, 
 33,76 
 
 Abbeville, iii 
 
 Abdallah, Khalifa, 180 
 
 Abd-el-Kader, 196 
 
 Abd-ur-Rahman, 174 
 
 Aboukir Bay, 149 
 
 Abraham, Heights of, 138 
 
 Abu Bekr, wars of, 27 
 
 Abyssinia, 27, 66, 145, 182, 
 198, 199 
 
 Acadia, 209 
 
 Acapulco, 138 
 
 Achin, loi 
 
 Acre, 49 
 
 Actium, battle of, 18 
 
 Adamawa, 190 
 
 Adare, Cape, 217 
 
 Addis Abeba, 184 
 
 Adelaide, 213, 214 
 
 Ad61ie Land, 216 
 
 Aden, 179, 181-2 
 
 Adige River, 149 
 
 Admiralty Islands, 215 
 
 Adowa, 184 
 
 Adrianople, Peace of, 159 
 
 Adriatic provinces, Aus- 
 trian, 150 
 
 Adriatic Sea, 14, 15, 47, 49 
 
 ^gean Sea, 3, 32, 42, 49, 
 106 
 
 .^qui, 7 
 
 Afghanistan (Afghans), 10, 
 134, 135. 172, 173, 174. 
 
 Africa, s, 9, 17, i8, 19, 123, 
 
 145, 182-199 
 Africa, South, 123, 185- 
 
 188 
 Africa, West, 145, 189 
 Agincourt, battle of, 62 
 Agricola, 18 
 Ahmedabad, 119 
 Ahmednuggur, 105 
 
 Aix (Bouches du Rhone), 
 
 17 
 Aix, Peace of, 131 
 Alabama, 206, 208 
 Alani, 22 
 Alaric, sack of Rome by, 
 
 22 
 Alaska, 137, 208 
 Ala Tau Mountains, 107, 
 
 127 
 Albania, 149 
 Albert Nyanza, 198 
 Albion, 17 
 Albuquerque, his voyages, 
 
 83. 85, 181 
 Alemanni, 30 
 Alemtejo, 43 
 Aleppo, 59 
 Alexander, Pope, 86 
 Alexander the Great, 9, 
 
 10, II, 13 
 Alexandria, 9, 16, 26, 133, 
 
 179 
 Alexandropol, 162 
 Alfionn (Albion), 4 
 Alfonso I. of Portugal, 43 
 Alfred the Great, 37 
 Algeciras, 29, 194 
 Algeria, 17, 42, 81, 114, 
 
 133. 155. 19s. 196 
 Algiers, 34, 80, 159 
 Algoa Bay, 65 
 Al-jezireh (Algiers), 34 
 Alleghany Mountains, 
 
 142, 205 
 Alma, battle of the, 160 
 Almagro, 95, 96 
 Almohades, 43 
 Aloung-Pra, 125 
 Alpes Maritimes, 155 
 Alps, IS, 29, 148 
 Alsace, iii, 156, 158 
 Amazon, 69 
 Amazonas Plain, 94 
 Ambaca, 189 
 219 
 
 America, early notices of, 
 39, 40, 69, 71, 84 
 
 America, North, 89, 97, 
 99, 209 
 
 America, South (Portu- 
 guese), 145 
 
 America, South (Spanish), 
 84, 144, 145 
 
 American Colonies, Brit- 
 ish, 131-2, 141-143 
 
 Amiens, Peace of, 149, 
 171 
 
 Amoy, 163, 164 
 
 Amru, Mohammedan 
 general, 28 
 
 Amsterdam, 80 
 
 Amu Daria River, 58, i6i 
 
 Amundsen, Captain, 218 
 
 Amur River, 107, 160 
 
 Ancona, 48 
 
 Andalucia or Andalusia, 
 6, 21 
 
 Andes, 93 
 
 Angles, 30 
 
 Anglo-Egyptian Condo- 
 minium, 180 
 
 Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy, 
 
 31.37 
 Angola, 102, i8g 
 Angora, 59 
 Annam, 125, i68 
 Annesley Bay, 183 
 Annobom Island, 190 
 Anson, Lord George, 138 
 Antarctic explorations, 
 
 140-1, 216-7 
 Antigua, 121 
 Antilles, 90 
 Anticch, 48 
 Apache Indians, 204 
 Apulia, 47 
 Aquae-Sextiae, 17 
 Arabi Pasha, 178 
 Arabia, 26, 27, 42, 76, 128, 
 
 1 80-1, 182-3 
 
220 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Arabian Empire, 31, 32, 
 
 36, 39. S3 
 Arabian Sea, 5 
 Arabo- Berbers, 28 
 Arachosia, lo 
 Aragon, 43, 63 
 Arakan, 169 
 Aral, Sea of, 51, 161 
 Arawaks, 90 
 Arbela, battle of, 10 
 Archangel, 125 
 Arcot, 13s 
 Arctic explorations, 85, 100, 
 
 103, 122, 127, 217-8 
 Argos, 21 
 Arkansas, 208 
 Armada, the Spanish, 80, 
 
 99 
 Armenia, 18, 24, 26, 28, 42, 
 
 76, 134, 159 
 Arta, Gulf of, 18 
 Artaxerxes, 8 
 Ascension, 82 
 Ashanti, 191 
 Asia, Roman province of, 
 
 17 
 Asia Minor, 5, 9, 13, 
 18, 21, 25, 28, 42, 48, 
 
 59 
 Aspern, battle of, 152 
 Assam, 56, 169 
 Assaye, battle of, 170 
 Assyria, 5 
 Astrabad, 175 
 Astrakhan, 61, 77 
 Asturias, 29, 34 
 Atacama, desert of, 94 
 Atahualpa, 94, 95 
 Athens, 21 
 Athos, Mount, 6 
 Atlantic Ocean, 4, 40 
 Atlas region, 43 
 Atrek River, 161 
 Attalus, 17 
 Attila, king of the Huns, 
 
 23 
 Attock, 10 
 Auckland, 214 
 Augustus, Emperor, i8 
 Aurungzeb, 105 
 Austerlitz, battle of, 150 
 Austin, African explorer, 
 
 199 
 Austral Company, 118 
 Australia, 119, 121, 140, 
 
 146, 211-214 
 Austria, 62, 105, no, 126, 
 
 130, 132, 134, 148, 149, 
 150, 152, 155-6. 176 
 
 Ava. 169 
 
 Avari, 30 
 
 Awatska Island, 137 
 
 Ayacucho, 201 
 
 Aymara nation, 93 
 
 Azerbijan, 72 
 
 Azores, 57, 67 
 
 Azov, 126 
 
 Azov, Sea of, 51 
 
 Aztecs, 91, 92 
 
 Baalbek, 59 
 
 Baber, founder of the Mon- 
 gol Empire, 75 
 
 Babylon, 5, 10 
 
 Babylonia, 27 
 
 Bactriana, 10 
 
 Baden, 157, 158 
 
 Baetica, 6 
 
 Baffin, 117, 119 
 
 Baffin Bay, 120 
 
 Bagdad, 31, 33. 42, 53 
 
 Bahamas, 68 
 
 Bahrein Island, 180 
 
 Baikal, Lake, 107 
 
 Baker, Sir Samuel, 179, 
 198, 199 
 
 Balbao, Vasco Nuiiez, 84, 
 92 
 
 Baldwin, Count of Flan- 
 ders, 49 
 
 Balearic Isles, 4, 63 
 
 Balkan Mountains. 162 
 
 Balkan Peninsula, 60 
 
 Balkh. 10, 42, 59, 75, 173 
 
 Balleny Islands, 216 
 
 Baltic, II, 38, 61, 108, 
 109, 126-7, 149 
 
 Baluchistan, 10. 135, 174 
 
 Banda Oriental, 201 
 
 Bannockburn, battle of, 46 
 
 Bantam, 119 
 
 Bantus, 189 
 
 Barbados, loi, 116, 120 
 
 Barbarossa, the pirate. 79. 
 81 
 
 Barcelona. 15 
 
 Barentz, William, 100 
 
 Barka, 28. 180 
 
 Barotseland, 187 
 
 Barth, Heinrich, 197 
 
 Basques. 34 
 
 Bass's Strait, 212 
 
 Bastille, taking of the, 132 
 
 Basutos, 186 
 
 Batavian Republic, 132, 
 
 150, 171, 172, 185 
 Battle, 45 
 Batum, 162 
 Bavaria, 150. 157, 158 
 Bayaz^t, Sultan, 59 
 Bayonne. 152 
 Bear Island, 100 
 Bear Lake, 144 
 Bechuanaland, 186, 187 
 Bedouins, 181 
 Bedr, 27 
 Beejapur, 105 
 " Beggars of the Sea," 100 
 Behar. 135 
 
 Belgium, 148, 149, 154 
 Belgrad. 76 
 Belisarius, 25 
 Bellinghausen , explorer, 
 
 216 
 Belt. the. 108 
 Bengal, 56, 135 
 Benguella. 189 
 Berbera, 179, 184 
 Berbers, 196 
 Berbice, 121 
 Bering, Vitus, 127, 137. 
 
 138, 208 
 Bering Island, 137 
 Bering Strait, 127, 141, 
 
 146 
 Berlin, 151 
 Berlin, Congress and 
 
 Treaty of, 162, 177. i8g 
 Bermudas. 85, 116 
 Bermudez, explorer, 85 
 Bessarabia, 162 
 Bessus, 10 
 Bielaya River, 59 
 Bilma, 199 
 Biscay, Bay of, 4 
 Biscoe, Captain, 216 
 Bismarck Archipelago, 215 
 Bismarck, Prince, 158 
 Bithynia, 52 
 Bjarne, 39 
 Black Prince, 62 
 Black Sea, 5, 6, 21, 60, 77, 
 
 127, 134, 159, i62 
 Blanco, Cape, 64 
 Blenheim, battle of, 130 
 Boers. 185, 186, 187 
 Bogota, 144 
 Bohemia, 157 
 Bojador, Cape, 64 
 Bokhara, 10, 42, 51, 55, 
 
 75. 125. 135. 160 
 
INDEX 
 
 221 
 
 Bolan Pass, 172, 174 
 
 Boleslas I. , 37 
 
 Bolivar, General, 201 
 
 Bolivia, 144, 201 
 
 Bologna, 48 
 
 Bonaparte, Jerome, 151 
 
 Bonaparte, Joseph, 152 
 
 Bonaparte, Napoleon {see 
 Napoleon) 
 
 Borneo, 122 
 
 Bornu, 73, 191, 197 
 
 Borodino, battle of, 153 
 
 Bosnia, 163 
 
 Bosporus, 6 
 
 Botany Bay, 140, 146, 147, 
 212 
 
 Bottego, African explorer, 
 199 
 
 Bougainville, circumnavi- 
 gator, 139 
 
 Boulogne, Napoleon's 
 army at, 149 
 
 Bourbon or Reunion, 96 
 
 Boyaca, 201 
 
 Boyne, battle of the, 113 
 
 Brahmaputra, 169 
 
 Brandenburg, Electorate 
 of, 109 
 
 Braunsberg, 108 
 
 Brazil, 70, 84, 87, 144, 151, 
 202, 203 
 
 Brill, 100 
 
 Britain, 4, it, 18, 23, 30 
 
 Britannia, 18 
 
 British Columbia, 211 
 
 British East Africa Pro- 
 tectorate, 184 
 
 British East Central 
 Africa, 187 
 
 British Empire {see Aus- 
 tralia, Canada, India, 
 &c.) 
 
 British Kaffraria, 186 
 
 British New Guinea, 215 
 
 British North America, 
 209 
 
 British North Borneo 
 Company, 172 
 
 British Nyasaland Pro- 
 tectorate, 187 
 
 Brooke, " Raja," 172 
 
 Brower, Hendrik, 122 
 
 Browne, the traveller, 145 
 
 Bruce, James, 145 
 
 Bruce, Robert, 45, 53 
 
 Brunei, 172 
 
 Buda, 76 
 
 Buenos Ayres, 144, 200, 
 
 201 
 Bukovina, 129 
 Bulgaria, 22, 36, 159, 163 
 Bulbar, 184 
 Bull Run, 208 
 Bunder Abbas, 181 
 Bunker's Hill, 142 
 Burgundy, 43, 80 
 Burma, 124, 169 
 Burroughes, explorer, 97 
 Burton, Captain, 198 
 Butler, African explorer, 
 
 199 
 Bylot, Captain, 119 
 Byron, Captain, 139 
 Byzantine Empire, 24, 25, 
 
 28, 36, 47, 52. 61 
 Byzantium, 6, 19 
 
 Cabot, Giovanni, 70, 89 
 
 Cabot, Sebastian, 85, 89 
 
 Cabral, 83 
 
 Cabral, Pedro, 70 
 
 Ca da Mosto, 65, 193 
 
 Cadiz, 4, II, 112 
 
 Caesar, Julius, 17, 18 
 
 Cailli^, the traveller, 197 
 
 Cairo, 34, 76, 177 
 
 Cajamarca, 95 
 
 Calais, 62 
 
 Calcutta, 135 
 
 Calderoon, 75 
 
 Calicut, 70 
 
 Califates, 27, 28, 33, 34, 
 
 39. 42, 53 
 California, 92, 143, 207, 
 
 211 
 Calmar, 63 
 Cam, Diego, 65 
 Cambay, Gulf of, 119 
 Cambaya, 119 
 Cambodia, 168, 169 
 Cameron, Commander, 
 
 198 
 Campo Formio, Treaty of, 
 
 149 
 Canada, 90, 131, 138, 142, 
 
 143, 206, 209, 211 
 Canary Islands, 4, 57, 67, 
 
 193 
 Candia, io6, 178 
 Cannae, 15 
 Canterbury, 214 
 Cantin, Cape, 194 
 Cantcn, 163 
 Canute, King, 44, 46 
 
 Cape Colony, 145, 185, 
 
 186-7, 189 
 Cape cf Good Hope, 66, 
 
 69. 70, 99. 123 
 Cape Verd Islands {see 
 
 Verd) 
 Capet, Hugh, 44 
 Caracas, 201 
 Caribee Islands, 68 
 Caribs, 90 
 
 Carlovingian dynasty, 30 
 Carlowitz, Peace of, 106 
 Carolinas (Caroline Is- 
 lands), 96, 215 
 Carpathian Mountains, 35 
 Carpini's travels, 55 
 Caribbean Sea, 84, 203 
 Cartagena, 15, 195 
 Carteret, Captain, 139 
 Carthage, 3, 6, 11, 16, 23, 
 
 28 
 Carthaginians, 3, 6, 11, 14 
 Cartier, Jacques, 90, 116 
 Caspian Sea, 5, 35, 52,55, 
 77, 126, 127, 135, 158, 
 160, 161, 175 
 Cassander, 13 
 Castile, 34, 43, 63 
 Castillia del Oro, 84 
 Cataracts of the Nile, 5 
 Cathay {see China) 
 Catherine II., 126 
 Catholic League, 108 
 Catholicism and Protes- 
 tantism, 79, 102, 108, 
 109, m 
 Caucasus, 51, 159, 160, 
 
 163 
 Cavendish, Thomas, 102 
 C awn pore, 170 
 Cayenne, 121 
 Celebes, 122 
 Celts, II, 31 
 Ceuta, 29, 54, 64 
 Ceylon, 20, 83, 102, 171, 
 
 172 
 Chad, Lake, 73, 190, 197 
 Chalcedon, 26 
 Challen^'er expedition, 218 
 Chaions-sur-Marne, 23 
 Champlain, explorer, 116 
 Charlemagne, 30, 31, 34 
 Charles I. of England, 112 
 Charles I. of Spain, 78, 80, 
 
 81, 90, 93 
 Charles II. of England, 
 
222 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Charles II. of Spain, 114, 
 
 130 
 Charles V. , Emperor, 76, 
 
 78 
 Charles VI. of Austria, 131 
 Charles X. of Sweden, 
 
 108, 109 
 
 Charles XI. of Sweden, 
 108 
 
 Charles XII. of Sweden, 
 108 
 
 Chartered Company, 187 
 
 Chattanooga, 208 
 
 Chevalier, African ex- 
 plorer, 199 
 
 Chile, 94, 95, 98, 102, 
 201 
 
 Chin Kiang, 164 
 
 China, 19, 20, 50, 51, 56, 
 58, 59, 71, 83, 96, 102, 
 104, 107, 124, 160-1, 163- 
 166 
 
 Chino -Japanese War 
 (1894-1895), 168 
 
 Chow dynasty, 19 
 
 Christianity, 18, 27, 41, 
 46, 49, 61, 64, 71, 104, 
 
 109, 167, 182 
 Cilician mountains, 9 
 Cimbri and Teutones, 17 
 Circassians, 53 
 Circumnavigaticns of the 
 
 globe, 89, 99, 102, 117 
 Ciudad Rodrigo, 152 
 Clapperton's travels, 197 
 Clavijo, 71 
 Cleopatra, Queen, 18 
 Clermont, Council of, 48 
 Clive, Lord, 131, 135 
 Clovis, King, 24 
 Clyde, Firth of, 18 
 Cochin China, 71, 125, 
 
 168 
 Colla nation, 93 
 Colombia, Republic of, 
 
 201 
 Colombo, 171 
 Columbus, Christopher, 
 
 67, 68, 82 
 Comanche Indians, 204 
 Cond^, French general, 
 
 no 
 Confederation of the Can- 
 tons, 62 
 Confederation of the 
 
 Rhine, 153, 158 
 Confucius, 19 
 
 Congo, French, 190 
 Congo Free State, 189 
 Congo River, 65, 189, 199 
 Conrad of Germany, 35 
 Constantine, 196 
 Constantine the Great, 18, 
 
 21 
 Constantinople, 6, 19, 26, 
 
 28, 47, 48, 49, 60, 162, 
 
 Conti, Nicolo, 71 
 
 Cook, Captain, his voy- 
 ages, 138-141, 211, 215, 
 216 
 
 Cook Strait, 214 
 
 Copenhagen, 108, 151 
 
 Copenhagen, battle of, 149 
 
 Coppermine River, 144 
 
 Cordova, 31, 54 
 
 Corinth, 21 
 
 Cornwall, 4, 24 
 
 Corsica, 23 
 
 Cortereal, navigator, 71 
 
 Cortes, Hernan, 90, 91, 
 92 
 
 Corvinus, King of Hun- 
 gary, 60 
 
 Cossacks, 105, 122, 127 
 
 Costa Rica, 202 
 
 Courland, 46, 61 
 
 Cracow, 37, 152 
 
 Crecy, battle of, 62 
 
 Creoles, 203 
 
 Crete, 36 
 
 Crimea, 6, 106, 127 
 
 Crimean War, 160 
 
 Croatia, 48 
 
 Cromwell, Oliver, 112 
 
 Crosby, African explorer, 
 199 
 
 Crusades, the, 41, 48, 49 
 
 Cuba, 68, 84, 90, 91, 203 
 
 Cunaxa, battle of, 8 
 
 Cunene River, 189 
 
 Cuzco, 94, 95, 96 
 
 Cyprus, 3, 6 
 
 Cyrenaica, 6 
 
 Cyrene, 6, 23 
 
 Cyrus, 5, 8 
 
 Dacia, 18, 21 
 Da Gama, Vasco, 69 
 Dahomey, 191, 193 
 Dalmatia, 48, 60, 106 
 Damaraland, 189 
 Damascus, 9, 28, 59 
 Danes: conquered by Otho, 
 
 35 ; England invaded by, 
 
 37. 44 
 Danish Asiatic Company, 
 
 128 
 Danish settlements in 
 
 Africa, 191 
 Danube, 18, 35, 36, 159, 
 
 160, 162 
 Dardanelles, 9, 159, i6o 
 Darfur, 145, 179 
 Darien, Gulf of, 84 
 Darius III., 9 
 Das Voltas, 65 
 Davis, Captain John, 97 
 Davis Strait, 116, 119, 141 
 De Almagro, Diego, 93 
 De Cartagenas, Juan, 87 
 De Cintra, Pedro, 65 
 De Covilham, Pedro, 66 
 Dekkan, 71, 105, 136 
 Delagoa Bay, 184 
 Delaware River, 120 
 Del Cano, Sebastian, 89 
 De Fuca, Juan, loi 
 Delgado, Cape, 184 
 Delhi, 59, 75, 135, 170 
 Demerara, 150 
 DeMontecorvino, Juan, 71 
 Denham, traveller, 197 
 Denmark, 35, 37, 53, 63, 
 
 77, 78, 107, 108, 128, 
 
 149, 151, 154. 155 
 De Nova, Juan, 82 
 Derbend, 59, 
 De Ruyter, 112 
 De Santarem, Joao, 65 
 D" Escobar, Pedro, 65 
 Desertas, 194 
 Deshenev, his voyage, 122, 
 
 127 
 De Solis, Juan Diaz, 84 
 Dessalines, 204 
 De Torres, Luis Vaez, 116 
 Diarbekr, 76, 105 
 Diaz, Bartholomew, 65, 69 
 Dnieper River, 36 
 Dniester River, 127 
 Don River, 36, 61, 77 
 Dominican Republic, 204 
 Doria, Tedisio, 57 
 Dost Mohammed, 172, 173 
 Drake, Francis, 98, 102 
 Drakenberg Mountains, 
 
 186 
 Drangiana, 10 
 Drygalski, Captain, 217 
 Dunedin, 214 
 
INDEX 
 
 223 
 
 D'Urville, Dumont, 216 
 
 Dutch East India Com- 
 pany, 115, ii6, 117, 118, 
 123, 172 
 
 Dutch East Indies, 122, 
 144 
 
 Dutch and Portuguese, 
 115, 122, 123, 144, 167, 
 171, 191 
 
 Dybowski, explorer, 199 
 
 East India Company 
 (British), 102, 119, 135, 
 163, 169, 170, 172 
 
 East Indies, loi, 102, 115, 
 118 
 
 Eboracum, 18 
 
 Ebro, IS. 30, 34. 43 
 
 Ecbatana, 5 
 
 Ecuador, 201 
 
 Edel's Land, 121 
 
 Edgehill, battle of, 112 
 
 Edrington, 37 
 
 Edrisi, the geographer, 54 
 
 Edward the Confessor, 44 
 
 Edward I. of England, 49, 
 
 53 
 Edward III. of England, 
 
 62 
 Egbert, first king of Eng- 
 , land, 37 
 Eged6, Hans, 136 
 Egypt, 3, 9. 13, 25, 28, 33, 
 
 34. 42. S3, 76, 133. 148, 
 
 149, 175, 177, 178, 179 
 Elba, 149, 154 
 Elbe, 29, 35 
 Elbing, 108 
 El Dorado, 80 
 El Hasa, 180 
 Elizabeth, Queen, 80, 97, 
 
 98, 99, lOI 
 El Mina, 191 
 Enderby Land, 216 
 England, Kingdom of, 37, 
 
 40, 45. 79 
 Epirus, 14 
 Eratosthenes, astronomer, 
 
 16 
 Erebus, 216 
 Erichsen, M., 218 
 Erik the Red, 38 
 Eritrea, 184 
 Erivan, 159 
 Eskimo, 63 
 Essequibo, 150 
 Essex, 24 
 
 Essling, battle of, 152 
 
 Esthonia, 38 
 
 Estland, 38 
 
 Ethelred the Unready, 44 
 
 Etruria, 11 
 
 Etruscans, 7 
 
 Euclid, 16 
 
 Euphrates, s. 9. 17. S^. 
 
 180 
 Euxine, SS 
 " Eye of Yemen," 182 
 
 Faleiro, Ruy, 86 
 Falkland Islands, 139 
 Fantees, 191 
 Faroe Islands, 38 
 Fatimide dynasty, 34, 42 
 Fellatah or Fulbe, 197 
 Ferdinand of Aragon, 64 
 Ferdinand of Spain, 78, 80 
 Fernandez, Juan, loi 
 Fernando Po, 65, 190 
 Fez, 33, 114 
 Fezzan, 180, 198 
 Fiji, or Viti, Islands, 215 
 Finland, 126 
 
 Finland, Gulf of, 106, 107 
 Finns, 36, 46 
 Fish River, i8s 
 Flanders, 78, no 
 Florida, 84, 89, 120, 206, 
 
 208 
 Flushing, 100 
 Forteviot, 45 
 Forth, Firth of, i8, 31 
 Foureau, African explorer, 
 
 199 
 France, 62, 72, 78, 132, 
 
 148-1S6 
 Franche Comt^, in 
 Francis I. of France, 79, 
 
 89 
 Franco-German War, iss 
 Franconia, 3s, 46 
 Frankfort, Treaty of, is8 
 Franklin, Sir John, 213, 
 
 217 
 Franks, empire of the, 21, 
 
 24. 30. 31. 34. 37. 39. 
 
 44. 49 
 Franz Josef Land, 217 
 Frederick 11. of Germany, 
 
 49 
 
 Frederick the Great, 128, 
 129 
 
 Frederick William, Elec- 
 tor, 109, no 
 
 Frederick III. of Prussia, 
 
 no 
 Frederick V. of Denmark, 
 
 128 
 Frederick VII. of Den- 
 mark, is6 
 Frederick William I., 128 
 Fr^jus, Napoleon at, iS4 
 French Revolution, 132 
 French West Africa, 193 
 Friedland, battle of, 151 
 Frobisher, Martin, 97, 99 
 Frondeurs, no 
 Fuchow, 164 
 Fulah empire, 191, 198 
 Funchal, 194 
 
 GADEIRA, II 
 
 Gades, 4 
 Gaetano, 141 
 
 Galicia (Spain), 34 ; (Aus- 
 tria), 129, isi, IS2 
 Gallaland, 184 
 Gallipoli, 59 
 Gambia, 65, 193 
 Gando, 198 
 Ganges, 13, 20, 33, S9 
 Garcia, Martin, 85 
 Gastein, Treaty of, 156 
 Gaul, 4, II, 15, 17, 21, 23, 
 
 24 
 Gautier, explorer, 199 
 Gedrosia, 10 
 Genghiz Khan, so, S2, 58, 
 
 166 
 Genoa, 57, 155 
 Genoese Republic, is© 
 George III., 139 
 Georgia, S9. 75- ^34. 13S. 
 
 208 
 German East Africa, 184 
 German South-West 
 
 Africa, 189 
 German tribes, 17 
 Germany, 35, 36, 37, 39, 
 
 46, 61, 78, 108, is8 
 Ghazni, 33, 173 
 Ghibbelines, 46 
 Ghiznevide dynasty, 33, 
 
 42 
 Gibraltar, 130 
 Gibraltar, Strait of, 22, 
 
 57 
 Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, 99 
 Goa, 66, 83 
 
 Godfrey of Bouillon, 48 
 Gogha, 119 
 
224 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Golconda, 105 
 Gold Coast, 123, 191 
 Goodwin of Kent, Earl, 
 
 ^45 
 
 Gordon, General, 165, 179 
 
 Gothland, 46 
 
 Goths, 21, 22 
 
 Graah, explorer, 217 
 
 Grain Coast, 192 
 
 Granada, 43, 53, 63, 64 
 
 Grand Canal of China, 52 
 
 Granicus River, 9 
 
 Grant, Captain, 198 
 
 " Great Elector," the, no 
 
 Great Karroo, 185 
 
 Great Mogul, 105, 119, 135 
 
 Great Namaqualand, 189 
 
 Great St. Bernard Pass, 
 
 148 
 Great Slave Lake, 144 
 Great Wall of China, 19, 
 
 51 
 Greece, 3, 5, 6, 8, 11, 13, 
 
 14, 16, 60, 175, 178 
 Greek Empire, 24, 36, 39, 
 
 47, 59. 72 
 Greely, his expedition, 218 
 Greenland, 38, 63, 97, 98, 
 
 136, 154. 218 
 Greenland Company, 128 
 Gregory, Pope, 48 
 Griquas, 186 
 Guadeloupe, 121 
 Guam, 89, 215, 216 
 Guatemala, 202 
 Guayana, loo, loi, 121 
 Guelphs, 46 
 Guiana, 100 
 
 Guinea, 64, 102, 115, 192 
 Guinea, Gulf of, 190 
 Gujerat, battle of, 173 
 Gunbiorn, 38 
 Gustavus Adolphus, 107, 
 
 108, no 
 Gustavus Vasa (Ericson), 
 
 77, 107 
 Gutierrez, Pero, 68 
 
 Habib Ullah Khan, 174 
 
 Hainan Island, 164 
 
 Haj Mohammed A'Skia, 
 
 73 
 Hakodate, 167 
 Hamadan, 134 
 Hamilcar, 6, 15 
 Hang-chau, 52 
 Hango, 126 
 
 Hankow, 164 
 Hannibal, 15, 16 
 Hanno, 4 
 Hanover, 149, 155 
 Hansen, Lieutenant, 218 
 Hapsburg, House of, 61, 
 
 131 
 Harar, 179 
 Harold, death of, 45 
 Harrison, African ex- 
 plorer, 199 
 Harrison, A. H., 218 
 Hartog, Dirk, 119, 121 
 Harun-al-Rashid, 31, 33 
 Hasdrubal, 14 
 Hastings, battle of, 45 
 Hastings, Warren, 136 
 Havana, 91 
 Havelock, General, 170, 
 
 Hawaiian (Sandwich) Is- 
 lands, 141 
 Hawkins, Sir John, 98, 
 
 99 
 Hayti Island, 68, 203, 204 
 Hearne, 144 
 Hegira, the, 27 
 Hejaz, 177, 180 
 Hellespont, 9 
 Helluland, 39, 71 
 Henry V., 62 
 Henry VII,, 70 
 Henry VI 1 1,, 8s 
 Henry of Burgundy, 43 
 Henry of Castile, 71 
 Henry the Navigator, 64, 
 
 65.74 
 Heptarchy, Anglo-Saxon, 
 
 31. 37 
 
 Heraclius, 26, 27 
 
 Herat, 58,134. i73. ^75 
 
 Herodotus, 5, 6, 7, n 
 
 Herzegovina, 163 
 
 Hicks Pasha, 179 
 
 Himalaya range, 124 
 
 Himilco, 4 
 
 Himyarides of Yemen, 26 
 
 Hindustan, 75 
 
 Hiogo, 168 
 
 Hira, Mount, 27 
 
 Hispania, 15 
 
 Hispaniola, 68, 203 
 
 Holland, 100, 114, 115, 
 121,132, 154 (j^g Nether- 
 lands) 
 
 Holstein, 78, 108, 156, 157 
 
 Honduras, 202 
 
 Hong-Kong, 164 
 
 Horn (or Hoorn), Cape, 
 
 118, 138 
 Hottentots, 185, 189 
 Houtman, loi, 121 
 Huascar, 94 
 
 Hudson, Henry, 116, 119 
 Hudson Bay, 85, 97, 123, 
 
 130, 137, 146 
 Hudson Bay Company, 
 
 123, 143, 210, 211 
 Hudson River, 120 
 Hudson Strait, 117 
 Huguenots, 79, no 
 Huiila, 189 
 Hungary, 35, 51, 54, 60, 
 
 76, 105, 106, 176 
 Huns, 22 
 Huss, John, 62 
 Hussars, Hungarian, 60, 
 
 72 
 Hussite Wars, 62 
 " Hvidsaerk," 38 
 Hyder Ali, 136 
 Hyperboreans, 7 
 Hyphasis, 10 
 
 Iberia, n, 15 
 
 Iberus, 15 
 
 Ibrahim Pasha, 177, 178 
 
 Iceland, 11, 38, 63, 154 
 
 Icy Cape, 141 
 
 Idsted, battle of, 156 
 
 lerne (Ireland), 4 
 
 lie Bourbon, 121 
 
 II ha Formosa, 65 
 
 Hi River, 161 
 
 Illinois, 143, 206, 210 
 
 Incas, 94, 95 
 
 India, 5, 10, 11, 42, 51, 70, 
 
 71, 83, los, 131, 135. 
 
 170 
 Indian Ocean, 33, 56, 66, 
 
 70, 99, 102, 103, 121 
 Indiana, 143, 206, 210 
 Indus River, 10, 13, 75 
 Ingolstadt, battle of, 108 
 Ionian Islands, 149 
 Ipsus, battle of, 13 
 Iran (see Persia) 
 Irawadi, 125 
 Ireland, 4, 53 
 Irene, mother of Con- 
 
 stantine VI., 31-2 
 Irtish River, 77 
 Isabella of Castile, 64 
 Iskenderun, Gulf of, 9 
 
INDEX 
 
 225 
 
 Islamism, spread of, 33 
 
 Ismail dynasty, 74, 75 
 
 Ismail Pasha, 179 
 
 Ispahan, 26 
 
 Issus, 9, 26 
 
 Istria, 48 
 
 Italy, 11,23,29,48, 63, 79, 
 
 132, 148 
 Ivan III. (the Great), 61, 
 
 27 
 Ivan the Terrible, tj 
 Ivory Coast, 191, 193 
 
 JACKMAN, explorer, 97 
 Jagatai, 58, 72 
 Jagellon dynasty, 61 
 Jamaica, 68 
 James I. of England, 112, 
 
 120 
 James ^i of England, 112 
 James iKwn, 116 
 Jameson Raid, 188 
 Jan Mayen Island, 117 
 Japan, 96, 103, 146, 160, 
 
 167 
 Jassy, Treaty of, 127 
 Java, 99, 140, 172 
 Jaxartes, 10, 33 
 Jehan, Shah, 105 
 Jerusalem, 17, 25, 28, 41, 
 
 48,49 
 Jesuit missionaries, 104, 
 
 143, 144, 167 
 "Jetyshahr," 166, 167 
 Jews, 17 
 Jibutil, 184 
 Jihftn River, 51, 59 
 Joan of Arc, 62 
 Joao, Dom, 151 
 John, King, of Abyssinia, 
 
 183 
 John, King, of France, 62 
 John of Portugal, 66, 67, 
 
 69 
 Jones, Paul, 142 
 Joseph, King, of Naples, 
 
 150, 152 
 Juan Fernandez Island, 
 
 118, 138 
 Juba, King, 17 
 Judaea, 13 
 Jugurtha, King, 17 
 Junk Seylon Island, 169 
 Junker, explorer, 199 
 Jupiter Ammon, cracle of, 
 
 , 9 
 
 Justinian, Emperor, 25 
 
 Jutes, invited to Britain, 
 
 24.30 
 Jutland, II 
 
 Kabul, 75, 173 
 
 Kabyles, 196 
 
 Kaep van Hoorn, 118 
 
 Kaffa, 6 
 
 Kaffraria, British, 187 
 
 Kafirs, 185, 186, 188 
 
 Kaiser Wilhelm's Land, 
 
 215 
 
 Kama River, 59 
 Kameruns, 190 
 Kamtchatka, 127, 137, 146 
 Kanagawa, 167 
 Kandahar, 75, 105, 172, 
 
 173 
 
 Kane, Dr., 217 
 
 Kansas, 207 
 
 Kansu, 165, 166 
 
 Karakorum, 50 
 
 Karman, 42 
 
 Kars, 162 
 
 Kashgar, 75, 167 
 
 Kashgil, 179 
 
 Kazan, 61, 77 
 
 Kei River, 185, i86 
 
 Keiskama River, 186 
 
 Kemenfu, 55 
 
 Kenneth, King, 45 
 
 Kent, 24 
 
 Kentucky, 143, 208 
 
 Keraeit, 50 
 
 Khaibar Pass (see Khyber) 
 
 Kharesm, 42, 51, 135 
 
 Khatai, 51 
 
 Khedive of Egypt, 179 
 
 Khelat, 174 
 
 Khiva, 28, 42, 51, 72, 75, 
 135, 159. 161 
 
 Khoja Sale, 174 
 
 Khokan, 161 
 
 Khorassan, 33, 42. 75- ^34 
 
 Khosru, 25 
 
 Khurd Kabul Pass, 173 
 
 Khyber Pass, 59, 173 
 
 Kief, 36 
 
 Kien-Lung, Chinese Em- 
 peror, 124, 125 
 
 King Edward VII. Land, 
 217 
 
 Kiptchak, empire of, 42, 
 59, 61, 72 
 
 Kiu Kiang, 164 
 
 Kiung-chow, 164 
 
 Kiyef {see Kief) 
 
 Knut [see Canute) 
 
 Koja Chai River, 9 
 
 Kokan, 75 
 
 Koniggratz, battle of, 157 
 
 Konigsberg, 109, no 
 
 Kordofan, 177 
 
 Korea, 58 
 
 Kosciusco, 129 
 
 Koscvopolye, 60 
 
 Krak, Prince, 37 
 
 Krapf, missionary, 198 
 
 Krim Tartary, 61 
 
 Kuban, 127, 159 
 
 Kublai Khan, 51, 56, 
 
 58 
 Kulja, 161 
 Kumasi, 191 
 Kunduz, 75 
 Kurdistan, 76, 105 
 Kwang-si, 165 
 Kwang-tung, 165 
 
 Labrador, 39, 85, 139, 
 209 
 
 Labuan Island, 172 
 
 Lacerda, Dr., 145 
 
 Ladrones, 89 
 
 Lagos, 190, 191 
 
 Laing, Major, 197 
 
 Lake, General, 170 
 
 Lama, Grand, 125 
 
 Lancaster Sound, 217 
 
 Languedcc, 29 
 
 Laperrine, African ex- 
 plorer, 199 
 
 La P^rouse, 146 
 
 La Plata, 84, 200, 201 
 
 La Rochelle, siege of, no, 
 112 
 
 La Salle, 123 
 
 Las Casas, Bishop, 90 
 
 Latium, 7 
 
 Lauenburg, 156 
 
 Lebanon, Mount, 3 
 
 Leif, expedition to Green- 
 land, 39 
 
 Leipzig, battle of, 153 
 
 Lemaire's expedition, 117, 
 118, 122 
 
 Lena River, 107, 122 
 
 Lenfant, African explorer, 
 199 
 
 Leopold, King of the Bel- 
 gians, 189 
 
 Lesbos, Isle of, 32 
 
 Lesseps, de, 178 
 
 Levant, 76 
 
 P 
 
226 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Lewis and Clarke's ex- 
 pedition, 206 
 
 Leyden, 100 
 
 Lhassa, 125 
 
 Liakhov Islands, 127 
 
 Liberia, 191, 192, 199 
 
 Libya, 11. 13 
 
 Libyan Desert, 9 
 
 Ligurian Republic, 150 
 
 Lima, 95 
 
 Limpopo River, 187 
 
 Linga, 181 
 
 Lisbon, 66, 130. 203 
 
 Lithuania, 61, 77 
 
 Little Russia, 106 
 
 Little St. Bernard Pass, 15 
 
 Livingstone, Dr., 198 
 
 Livonia, 46, 61 
 
 Loanda, 189 
 
 Lob, Lake, 51 
 
 Lockwood, Lieutenant, 
 218 
 
 Lombards, 29, 30 
 
 Lombardy, 35, 132, 148, 
 
 155 
 Lorraine, iii, 156, 158 
 Louis VI., 44 
 Louis IX., 49 
 Louis XIV., no, 114 
 Louis, King of Holland, 
 
 150 
 Louisiana, 123, 143, 204, 
 
 206, 208 
 Lourenzo Marquez, 185 
 Louviers, in 
 Lualaba River, 198 
 Lucayos Islands, 68 
 Lucknow, 170 
 Lunda, 189 
 
 Lun^ville, Peace of, 149 
 Luque, Hernando, 93 
 Lusitania, 43 
 Luther, Martin, 78 
 Liitzen, battle of, 108 
 Lydenburg, 188 
 Lyon, III 
 Lysimachus, 13 
 
 Macao, 96 
 
 Macbeth, of Scotland, 45 
 
 M'Clure, Arctic explorer, 
 
 217 
 Macedonia, 6, 8, lo-ii, 13, 
 
 i6, 60 
 Mackenzie, traveller, 144, 
 
 206 
 Macmillan, explorer, 199 
 
 Madagascar, 121 
 Madeira, 57, 193-194 
 Magalhaens, Fernao de 
 
 (see Magellan) 
 Magdala, 183 
 Magellan, 85, 87, 88, 96, 
 
 102 
 Magellan, Strait of, 117, 
 
 118 
 Magyars, 35 
 Mahdi, the, 179 
 Mahrattas, 170 
 Main River, 157 
 Maine, 206 
 Maistre, explorer, 199 
 Malabar, 66, 83, 102 
 Malacca, 83, 85, 96, 102, 
 
 172 
 Malacca, Strait of, 51, 56 
 Malay Peninsula, 169 
 Malcolm Canmore, 45 
 Maldcnado, 200 
 Mameluke dynasty, 53, 76, 
 
 177 
 Manas, 167 
 
 Manchuria, 58, 160, 164 
 Manchus, 51, 104, 107 
 Manco Capac, 94 
 Mandeville, Sir John, 71 
 Manhattan Island, 120 
 Manica, 83 
 Manitoba, 211 
 Maoris, 215 
 
 Maracaybo, Lake of, 69 
 Marathon, 6 
 Marco Polo, 51 
 Marcus Antonius, 18 
 Marengo, battle of, 146 
 Margaret of Denmark, 63 
 Maria of Portugal, Queen, 
 
 202 
 
 Maria Island, 122 
 
 Maria Louisa, Arch- 
 duchess, 153 
 
 Marianas, 89 
 
 Marianne Islands, 215 
 
 Marignola, 71 
 
 Markham, Captain, 217 
 
 Markland, 39 
 
 Marlborough, Duke of, 
 130 
 
 Marquesas (de Mendoza) 
 Islands, loi 
 
 Marseilles, 6, 11 
 
 Marston Moor, battle of, 
 112 
 
 Martaban, 169 
 
 Martel, Charles, 30 
 Martinique, 121 
 Mary of England, 79 
 Maryland (Africa), 192 
 Mascarenhas Islands, 96, 
 
 103, 121 
 
 Mashhad, 134 
 
 Massaua or Massowa, 183, 
 184 
 
 Massilia, 6, 11 
 
 Maud, African explorer, 
 199 
 
 Maule River, 94 
 
 Mauritania, 17, 28 
 
 Mauritius, 96, 103 
 
 Maximilian of Austria, 205 
 
 " Mayflower," 120 
 
 Maypu, 201 
 
 Mazanderan, 58 
 
 Mecca, 27, 76, 177 
 
 Media, 26 
 
 Medina, 27, 28, 76 
 
 Mediterranean Sea, 3, 6, 
 76, 77 
 
 Mehemet Ali, 177, 178 
 
 Mekong River, 168 
 
 Melbourne, 214 
 
 Meleguetta pepper, 65 
 
 Melek Shah, 42 
 
 Melind6, 69 
 
 Melville Island, 217 
 
 Memel, 108, 153 
 
 Mendana, Alvaro, 100, loi 
 
 Menelik, King, of Abys- 
 sinia, 184 
 
 Merovingian dynasty, 29 
 
 Merv, 59, 161 
 
 Merwig, 29 
 
 Mesopotamia, 5, 9, 25, 48, 
 
 Mesurado, Cape, 192 
 " Meta Incognita," 97 
 Metz, 158 
 Mexico, 91, 92, 102, 143, 
 
 201, 202, 204, 205, 207 
 Michael, Tsar, 106 
 Michigan, 143, 209 
 Middle Ages, 41 
 Middlesex, 24 
 Mikkelsen, E., 218 
 Milan, 81, 150 
 Mincius, 19 
 Ming dynasty, 58, 71, 74, 
 
 104 
 Minho, 43 
 Minnesota, 143, 209 
 Minorca, 130 
 
INDEX 
 
 227 
 
 Mississippi, 123, 143, 206, 
 
 208 
 Missouri, 208 
 Mithridates, 17 
 Moesia, 22, 36 
 Mohacs, battle of, 106 
 Mohammed, 27 
 Mohammedan Empire, 29 , 
 
 41,74, 105 
 Moldavia, 21, 159, 176 
 Moluccas, 85, 89, 99, 172 
 Mongol dynasty, 51, 52, 
 
 60, 71, 75, 102, 170 
 Mongolia, 50, 58, 71, 165 
 Monomotapa, 66 
 Monrovia, 192 
 Monte Video, 87, 200 
 Montenegro, 163, 176 
 Montezuma, gi 
 Montreal, 90 
 Montserrat, 121 
 Moors, 28, 30, 34, 35, 40, 
 
 43. 63. 64, 72, 80 
 Morat, 62 
 Morea, 134 
 
 Moreton Bay, 212, 213 
 Morgarten, 62 
 Moriscoes, 113 {see also 
 
 Moors) 
 Morocco, 17, 28, 43, 72, 
 
 82, 114, IIS, 133. 194. 
 
 196, 199 
 Moscow, 51, 59, 60, 106, 
 
 153 
 Moslems, 29, 42 
 Mossamedes, 189 
 Mosul, 10, 105 
 Mozambique, 69, 70, 83, 
 
 102, 145, 185 
 Miinster , treaty of , 109, 113 
 Murat, 152 
 Murviedro, 15 
 Muscat, 83, 180-1 
 Mysore, 170 
 
 Naddodr, his voyage to 
 
 Iceland, 38 
 Nadir Shah, 134, 136, 172 
 Nagasaki, 168 
 Nanking, 19, 164, 165 
 Nansen, his voyage, 218 
 Nantes, Edict of, 79 ; re- 
 vocation cf, TII 
 Napier, Sir Charles, 170 
 Naples, 63, T14, 149 
 Napoleon, 132-3, 148-154, 
 158, 195, 281, 202, 206 
 
 N arses, 25 
 
 Narva, battle of, 108, 
 
 126 
 Naseby, battle of, 112 
 Natal, 69, 185, 186, 187 
 Navarino, 178 
 Navarre, 34.43-53. 64 
 Negroland, 198 
 Nejd, 177, 180 
 Nelson, 214 
 Nelson, Lord, 133, 149 
 Nepal, 124 
 Netherlands, 80, 81, 82, 
 
 99, 109, 111-113, 154 
 
 (see also Holland) 
 Nevis Island, 121 
 New Amsterdam, 120 
 New Britain, 139, 215 
 New Brunswick, 209, 211 
 New Canhage, 15, 28 
 New-chwang, 164 
 Newfoundland, 39, 71, 89, 
 
 99, 130, 139, 209, 211 
 New Granada, 144, 201 
 New Guinea, 83, 119, 215 
 New Hebrides, 147, 216 
 New Holland, 120, 122, 
 
 140, 212 
 
 New Ireland, 139, 215 
 New Mexico, 207 
 New Plymouth, 120, 214 
 New Siberian Islands, 127 
 New South Wales, 140, 
 
 213. 215 
 New Spain, 143 
 " New World," 69 
 New Zealand, 122, 140, 
 
 141, 214-5 
 Nicaragua, 202 
 Nice, 155 
 
 Nicholas I. of Russia, 159 
 Nicopoli, 60 
 Niebuhr, explorer, 128 
 Niger Company, Royal, 
 
 190 
 Niger River, 20, 73, 82, 
 
 145, 190, 198, 199 
 Nigeria, 190 
 Niigata, 168 
 Nikolaya, 159 
 Nile, battle of, 133 
 Nile Delta, 9 
 Nile River, 18, 145, 199 
 Nile, sources of, 145 
 Ning-po, 163, 164, 199 
 Nizam, the, 136 
 Nombre de Dios, 98 
 
 Nordenskjold, explorer, 
 217 
 
 Norfolk, 30 
 
 Norfolk Island, 146 
 
 Noricum, 17 
 
 Normandy, 35, 53 
 
 Normans, 35, 45, 47 
 
 Norse colonies, 53 
 
 North Cape, 38, 97 
 
 North Carolina, 208 
 
 North-East Passage, 97, 
 100, 137, 217 
 
 North German Confedera- 
 tion, 158 
 
 Northmen, 35, 36, 38, 39, 
 
 44 
 Northumbrians, 44 
 North- West Company cf 
 
 Montreal, 44 
 North- West Passage, 97, 
 
 n6, 119, 137, 141, 146, 
 
 217 
 North- West Territory, 211 
 Norway, 11, 38, 46, 53, 
 
 63. 78, 97. 128, 154 
 Nova Scotia, 130, 142, 209, 
 
 2TI 
 
 Novaya Zemlya, 97, 100, 
 
 116, 137 
 Novgorod, 36 
 Nubia, 18, 177 
 Numidia, 17, 196 
 Nuyts' Archipelago, 121 
 Nyasa, Lake, 184, 198 
 Nyasaland, 187 
 
 Obi, river, 107 
 
 Obok, 184 
 
 Oceania, 89 
 
 Octavianus, 18 
 
 Oder River, 36 
 
 Odoacer, 23 
 
 Odorico of Pordenone, 
 
 71 
 Oguzian Turks, 52 
 Ohio, 143, 206, 210 
 Ojeda, Admiral, 69 
 Okhotsk, 122, 137 
 Okhotsk, Sea of, 127 
 Oman, 180, 181, 184 
 Omar, the Calif, 28 
 Omdurman, 180 
 Omniades, dynasty of the, 
 
 31. 53 
 Ontario, Lake, 116 
 Ophir, 66 
 Oran, 81, 196 
 
228 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Orange Free State, i86, 
 
 1 88 
 Orange River, 65, 186, 188 
 Orange River Colony, 188 
 Orcades, 11 
 Oregon, 210 
 Orinoco, 68 
 Orissa, 135 
 Orkney Islands, n 
 Orleans, 44, 62 
 Orleans Island, 138 
 Ormuz, 66, 83, i8i 
 Osaka, 168 
 Osman Pasha, 162 
 Osmanli Turks, 52 
 Ostre Bygd, 38 
 Ostrogoths, 22-25 
 Othere's and Wolfstan's 
 
 voyages, 38 
 Othman, 28, 52 
 Otho, King of Germany, 
 
 35 
 Otranto, 47, 60 
 Ottoman Empire, 52, 59, 
 
 72, 75, 102, 105, 134, 
 
 Oude, 170 
 
 Oudney, traveller, 197 
 Ourique, 43 
 
 Oxus, or Amu Daria, 10, 
 42, i6i, 174 
 
 Pacific Ocean, 89, 96, 
 
 98, 100, 102, 122, 218 
 Padang, 122 
 Palestine, 17, 25, 42, 48, 
 
 49 
 Palmas, Caf)e, 191, 192 
 Palos, 67 
 
 Panama, Gulf of, 93 
 Panama, Isthmus of, 84, 
 
 93. 98 
 Panama, Province, 144 
 Pan! put, 75 
 Panjab, 10, 170, 172 
 Pannonia, 29, 30, 35 
 Papacy, 41 
 Papal States, 114 
 Paraguay Republic, 144, 
 
 201 
 Paraguay River, 94 
 Paria, Gulf of, 68 
 Paris, 35, 44, 79, 153, 158 
 Paris, Treaty of, 131, 138, 
 
 185 
 Park, Mungo, 145 
 Parry, explorer, 217 
 
 Parthia, 18, 19 
 Patagones, 88 
 Patagonia, 88, 118, 141 
 Pavia, battle of, 79 
 Peary, Captain, 218 
 Pegoletti, traveller, 71 
 Pegu, 56, 125, 169 
 Peiho River, 164 
 Pekin, 51, 52, 104, 163, 
 
 164 
 Pelew Islands, 215 
 Pemba, 184 
 Peninsular War, 152 
 Pepin le Bref, 30 
 Pepper Coast, 192 
 Pera, 76 
 Perganms, 17 
 Perim Island, 146 
 Persepolis, lo 
 Persia, 27, 28, 42, 51, 58, 
 
 72, 75, 76, I02, 105, 106, 
 
 126, 134, 158, 159, 161, 
 
 172, 173, 174, 175 
 Persian Empire, 5, 6, 8, 
 
 10, 19, 24, 25 
 Persian Gulf, lo, 180 
 Peru, 93, 94, 95, 98, 102, 
 
 144, 201, 202 
 Pest, 76 
 
 Pet, explorer, 97 
 Peter Island, 216 
 Peter the Great, io6, 125, 
 
 126 
 Peter the Hermit, 48 
 Petersburg, battle of, 208 
 Petropavlovsk, 136 
 Peutingerian table, 19 
 Pevensey, 45 
 Philip of Spain, 80, 99 
 Philip II. of Macedonia, 
 
 8, 81 
 Philip III. of Spain, 113 
 Philippine Islands, 89, 216 
 Phoenicia, 4, 9, 17 
 Phoenicians, 3 
 Phrygia, 13 
 Pico Ruivo, 194 
 Picts and Scots, 24, 45 
 Piedmont, 148, 155 
 " Pilgrim Fathers," 120 
 Pillars of Hercules, 5 
 Pillau, 108 
 
 Pinzon, Yanez, 69, 84 
 Pitcairn Island, 139 
 Pizarro, Francisco, 93, 94, 
 
 95 
 Plataea, battle of, 6 
 
 Plevna, 162 
 
 Poitiers, 30, 62 
 
 Poitou, 53 
 
 Poland, 37, 39,46, 51,54. 
 61, 78, 106-109, 128, 
 151. 155. 159.160; par- 
 titions of, 129 
 
 Polani, tribes of, 36 
 
 Polo, Marco, 56, 71 
 
 Polo, Matteo, 55 
 
 Polo, Nicol6, 55 
 
 Poltava, battle of, 126 
 
 Pomerania, Treaty of, 109 
 
 Pondich^ry, 123 
 
 Pontus, 26 
 
 Port Jackson, 146 
 
 Port Nicholson, 214 
 
 Port Philip, 212, 213 
 
 Port Said, 178 
 
 Porto Santo, 194 
 
 Porto Seguro, 70 
 
 Portugal, 43, 64, 69-70, 
 72, 85, 86, 96, 113, 131, 
 151, 152, 163, 202 
 
 Portuguese African Pos- 
 sessions, 83, 184, 189, 
 190, 191 
 
 " Portuguese Route," 87 
 
 Posen, 129, 155 
 
 Potomac, 206, 208 
 
 Poverty Bay, 140 
 
 Prague, Treaty of, 157 
 
 Pressburg, Treaty of, 150 
 
 " Prester John," 66, 69 
 
 Prince Edward Island, 
 209, 211 
 
 Prince's Island, 190 
 
 Prishtina, 60 
 
 Protestantism, 79, 102, 
 108, 109, III 
 
 Provence, 17 
 
 Prussia, 46, 61, 108, 109, 
 no, 128, 149, 151, 155, 
 156 
 
 Pruth River, 162 
 
 Ptolemies, the, i6 
 
 Ptolemy, Claudius, the 
 geographer, 13, 14, 20, 
 37 
 
 Ptolemy Euergetes, 16 
 
 Puerto Rico, 203 
 
 Punic Wars, 14, 15 
 
 Punta Quemada, 93 
 
 Puritanism in England, 
 120 
 
 Pyramids, battle of the, 
 133 
 
INDEX 
 
 229 
 
 Pyrenees, 21, 30, 34 
 Pyrrhus, 14 
 Pytheas' voyages, 11 
 
 Quebec, 116, 138 
 Queen Charlotte Islands, 
 
 139 
 Queensland, 213 
 Quetta, 174 
 Quichuas, 94 
 Quiros, 116 
 Quito, 95, 144 
 
 Radack Islands, 96 
 Raisuli, revolt of, 194 
 Raleigh, Sir Walter, 99, 
 
 116 
 Ralik Islands, 96 
 Ramillies, battle of, 130 
 Ravenna, 25, 29, 48 
 Rebmann, missionary, 198 
 Red River, 211 
 Red Sea, 4, 26, 146, 180 
 Reformation, the, 78, 102 
 Resht, 175 
 
 Reunion or Bourbon, 96 
 Reykjavik, 38 
 Rhine, 17, i8, 149 
 Rhodesia, 187 
 Riazan, 51 
 Richard II., 62 
 Richelieu, Cardinal, no 
 Richmond, 208 
 Riff Corsairs, 81 
 Rio de Janeiro, 151, 202 
 Rio de la Plata, 85 
 Rio de Solis, 85, 87 
 Rio do Padrao, 65 
 Rio Tinto, 67 
 Robin Hood, 45 
 " Robinson Crusoe," loi 
 Rocky Mountains, 144, 210 
 Roderick, King of the 
 
 Visigoths, 29 
 Roger de Hauteville, 47 
 Roger II., 47, 54 
 Rolf of Normandy, 44 
 Roman Empire, 18, 19, 24, 
 
 60 
 Romania, 162, 163, 176 
 Romanof, House of, 106 
 Romans, 3, ii, 13, 15 
 Rome, 5, 6, 149 
 Roses, Wars of the, 63 
 Roskilde, Peace of, 108 
 Ross, Sir James, 216 
 Roumelia, 159 
 
 Roumelia, Eastern, 163 
 Royal Society, 139 
 Rubruquis, William de, 55 
 Rudolf, Lake, 199 
 Rupert's Land, 211 
 Rurik, the Viking, 36 
 Russia, 36, 37, 39, 47, 51, 
 S3, 60, 61, 72, ^^, 78, 
 102, 104, 106-108, 125, 
 127, 134, 148, 151, 153, 
 155, 158, 162, 166, 174-5 
 Russo-Japanese War, 168 
 Ryswick, Treaty of, in, 
 203 
 
 SaarbrCck, battle of, 158 
 
 Sadowa, battle of, 157 
 
 Saghalien Island, 146 
 
 Sagittaria (Tahiti), 116 
 
 Sagres, 64 
 
 Saguntum, 15 
 
 Sahara, 199 
 
 Said Seid, 181 
 
 Saigon, 168 
 
 St. Augustine, 84 
 
 St. Bartholomew's Day, 79 
 
 St. Christopher, 120 
 
 St. Croix, 66 
 
 St. Elias, Mount, 137 
 
 St. Eustatius, Island of, 
 
 IIS 
 St. George's Channel, 139 
 St. Helena Island, 82 
 St. Kitts, 120, 130 
 St. Lawrence, 71, 90, 116, 
 
 120, 139 
 St, Petersburg, 126 
 St. Thomas Island, 190 
 St. Vincent, battle of, 169 
 St. Vincent, Cape, 64, 149 
 Saladin, 42, 49 
 Salamanca, battle of, 152 
 Salamis, 6 
 Salanga Island, 169 
 Sallee rovers, 81 
 Salomon Islands, 100 
 Saltes, 67 
 Salvador, 202 
 Samana Cay, 68 
 Samarkand, 51, 59, 71, 161 
 Samnite highlanders, 11, 
 
 Samoa, 216 
 Sanchez, Pedro, 88 
 San Domingo, 68 
 Sandwich Islands, 138, 141 
 San Francisco, 207 
 
 San Julian, 88 
 
 San Lucar, 87 
 
 San Roque, Cape, 69 
 
 San Salvador, 68 
 
 Santa, 93 
 
 Santa Cruz Islands, 100 
 
 Santa Y€ de Bogota, 144 
 
 Saracens, the, 28, 30, 39, 
 
 48, 50 
 Sarawak, 172 
 Sardinia, 3, 4, 14, 23, 63, 
 
 155. 160 
 Saris, Captain, 119 
 Sarmatians, 36 
 Sassanian dynasty, 24, 25, 
 
 26 
 Satlej River, 10, 51 
 Savoy, 155 
 Saxons, 24, 30, 45 
 Saxony, 46, 155 
 Scandinavia, 35, 37, 39 
 Schleswig, 78, 156, 157 
 Schouten, 118, 122 
 Scilly Isles, 4 
 Scoresby, explorer, 217 
 Scotland, 30, 45, 46, 53, 80 
 Scots and Picts, 24, 45 
 Scott, Captain, 217 
 Scythians, 10, 11, 22 
 Sebastopol, capture of, 160 
 Sedan, in, 158 
 Seistan, 58 
 Seleucus, 13 
 
 Selim, Sultan, 75, 76, 'J^ 
 Seljuk Turks, 41, 42, 47, 
 
 49. 51 
 Selkirk, Alexander, loi 
 Senegal, 57, 65, 82, 123, 
 
 193 
 
 Senegambia, 102, 197 
 
 Septimania, 29 
 
 Seringapatam, 136 
 
 Serrao (Serrano), Fran- 
 cisco, 85 
 
 Servia, 35, 60, 163, 176 
 
 Seven Years' War, 128, 131 
 
 Shamyl, Caucasian chief, 
 160 
 
 Shang-hai, 163, 164 
 
 Shang-tung, 164 
 
 Shark Bay, 119 
 
 Shere Ali, 173 
 
 Shetland Islands, 11 
 
 Shigatse, 124 
 
 Shiraz, 58 
 
 Shoa, 184 
 
 Shumla, 127 
 
230 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Siam, 169 
 
 Siberia, jj, 97, 104, 122, 
 
 137, 160, 208 
 Sibir, Tj 
 
 Sicilies, the Two, 47, 81 
 Sicily, 3, 6, 11, 14, 23, 36, 
 
 47, 63, 114 
 Sidon, or Saida, 3 
 Sierra Leone, 4, 65, 146, 
 
 192, 193 
 Sigismond of Poland, 106 
 Sikh Wars, 172-3 
 Silesia, 128 
 Silistria, 160 
 Sind, conquest of, 170 
 Singapore Island, 171 
 Siwah, 9 
 Sixtus, Pope, 80 
 Skrellings, 63 
 Slave trade, American, 90 
 Slavonians, 35, 36, 39 
 Smith, Captain, 216 
 Smith, Donaldson, African 
 
 explorer, 199 
 Smith Sound, 217 
 Smithfield martyrdoms, 79 
 Smolensk, 106, 153 
 Sofala, 66, 83, 102 
 Sogdiana, 10 
 Sokoto, 191, 198 
 Solis, Juan Diaz de, 84 
 Solomon, Temple of, 28 
 Solomon Islands, 215, 216 
 Solyman " The Magnifi- 
 cent," 76 
 Scmaliland, 184, 199 
 Songhay, 73, 82 
 South African Republic, 
 
 188 
 South Carolina, 208 
 " South Sea," the, 84, 87, 
 
 88, 89, 117, 118, 138 
 South Shetland Isles, 216 
 Spain, II, 21, 24, 28-30, 
 
 34. 39. 43. 63-4. 72, 79- 
 
 83, 86, 90, 96, 102, 113, 
 
 152, 163 
 Spanish - American War, 
 
 203 
 Spanish Main, 98, 99 
 " Spanish March," 34, 35 
 "Spanish route," 87 
 Spanish Succession, War 
 
 of the, 129, 209 
 Spartans, 8 
 Speke, Captain, 198 
 Spice Islands, 85, 116, 172 
 
 Spitzbergen, 100 
 
 Staaten Land, 118, 122 
 
 Stanley, H. M., 199 
 
 Strabo, 20 
 
 Strassburg, in 
 
 Strathearn, 45 
 
 Stuart, M'Douall, 213, 
 
 214 
 Styrian Alps, 36 
 Suaheli, 184 
 Sudan, 114, 177, 180, 190, 
 
 197 
 Suez Canal, 178 
 Suffolk, 30 
 Sullivan's Cove, 212 
 Sumatra, loi, 122, 172 
 Sunda Islands, 83 
 Sung dynasty, 51 
 Surat, 119, 123 
 Surinam, 121, 150 
 Surrey, 24 
 Susa, 10 
 Sussex, 24 
 Sutlej {see Satlej) 
 Swan River, 212, 213 
 Swatow, 164 
 Sweden, 46, 53, 63, 77, 
 
 78, 102, 106-8, 120, 127, 
 
 149, 150, 154 
 Sweyn, King, 44 
 Swiss mountaineers, 62 
 Switzerland, 109, 155 
 Sydney, 146, 214 
 Syracuse, 6, 12 
 Syria, 5, 9, 13, 17, 18, 25, 
 
 27, 34, 42, 48, 49. 59. 
 
 76, 178 
 Syrtes, 28 
 
 Table Bay, 69 
 
 Tafilet, Sherifs of, 115, 133 
 
 Tagus, 43 
 
 Tahiti Islands, 116, 139 
 
 ' ' Tai-ping-wang ' ' rebel- 
 lion, 164, 165 
 
 Tajura Bay, 184 
 
 Ta la vera, battle of, 152 
 
 Tali-fu, 165 
 I Tamerlane, 58 
 j Tancred de Hauteville, 47 
 
 Tanganyika, Lake, 184, 
 187, 198 
 
 Tangier, 81 
 
 Taprobane, 20 
 
 Taranto, 14 
 
 Tarentines, 14 
 
 Tarentum, 14 
 
 Tarik, Gothic king, 29 
 
 Tartary, 42, 146 
 
 Tartessus, 6 
 
 Tashkend, 161 
 i Tasman, Abel Jansen, 
 [ 121, 122, 140 
 
 Tasmania, 212 
 
 Tatars, 19, 51, 55, 72. 77, 
 
 I02, 104, 107, 164, 165 
 
 Tauric Chersonese, 6 
 
 Taurus, 26 
 
 Teheran, 56 
 
 Tekrit, 42 
 
 Tel el Kebir, 179 
 
 Templars, Knighis, 49 
 
 Tenmjin, 50 
 
 Tenasserim, 169 
 
 Teng-chow, 164 
 
 Tennessee, 143, 208 
 
 Tenochtitlan, 91 
 
 Termination Land, 217 
 
 Ternale, 99 
 
 "Terra Australis Incog- 
 nita," 140 
 
 "Terra da Santa Cruz," 
 70, 87 
 
 " Terra Laborador," 71 
 
 Terror, volcano, 216 
 
 Teutones, 17 
 
 Teutones and Cimbri, 17 
 
 Teutonic Knights, 46, 61, 
 109 
 
 Texas, 204, 208 
 
 Theodore of Abyssinia, 
 183 
 
 Theodoric, King, 23, 24 
 
 Theodosia, 6 
 
 Thermopylae, 6 
 
 Thessaly, 8 
 
 Thian Shan Mountains, 
 161 
 
 Thi^venant, African ex- 
 plorer, 199 
 I Thieves' Islands, 89 
 
 Thirty Years' War, 109 
 I Thrace, 6, 13 
 ' Thule discovered, 11, 20 
 I Tibet, 56, 58, 124-5 
 i Tientsin, 52, 164, 165 
 
 Tierra del Fuego, 88, 118, 
 I 122 
 ! Tiflis, 58 
 
 Tigranes, 17 
 
 Tigre, 183 
 
 Tigris, 5, 31, 33 
 
 Tilsit, Peace of, 151 
 I Timbuktu, 82, 193, 197 
 
INDEX 
 
 231 
 
 Timur-leng, 58, 71, 72 
 Tippoo, 136 
 Titicaca, Lake, 94 
 Tobolsk, 'JT^ 107 
 Togoland, 191 
 Tokio, 168 
 Tolosa, battle of, 43 
 Toltecs, 91 
 Tonga Islands, 216 
 Tongking, 125, 168 
 Tonquin [see Tongking) 
 Torbay, William of Orange 
 
 lands at, 113 
 Torres Strait, 140 
 Torres Vedras, battle of, 
 
 152 
 Toscanelli, 66 
 Toulouse, 152 
 Tours, 30, III 
 Trafalgar, battle of, 150 
 Trajan, 18 
 
 Transvaal, the, 186, 188 
 Transylvania, 21, 36 
 Trasimene, Lake, 15 
 Tra van core, 136 
 Trincamali, 171 
 Trinidad, 68 
 Triple Alliance, iii 
 Tripoli, 28, 180, 197 
 Tristan da Cunha, 82 
 Tristao, Nuno, 65 
 Tsin dynasty, 19, 104 
 Tucuman, 201 
 Tumbez, 95 
 Tunganis, 166 
 Tunguses, 122 
 Tunis, 33, 34, 43, 79, 133, 
 
 180, 197 
 Turenne, Marshal, no 
 Turin, battle of, 130 
 Turkestan, 28, 51, 58, 71, 
 
 72, 105, 160, i6i, 165, 
 
 166, 167 
 Turkey (Turks), 10, 33, 
 
 39. 48, 49. 52-54. 60, 
 
 76, jT, 106, 129, 134, 
 
 149, 159, 160, 162, 176 
 Turkomans, 161, 174 
 Tuya, 201 
 Tver, 60 
 Tweed River, 31 
 Tyre, 3, 9 
 Tyrol, 17 
 
 Ubanghi, 190 
 Ujdah, 194 
 Ukerewe, 198 
 
 Unitarians, 43 
 
 United States, 131-132, 
 
 14 I- 143, 205-206, 207, 
 
 210, 211 
 Ural government, i6i 
 Urban, Pope, 48 
 Uruguay, 201 
 Urumchi, 167 
 Usbegs, 72, 75, 135, 166 
 Usuri River, i6o 
 Utrecht, Peace of, 130, 
 
 132, 209 
 
 Vaal River, 186 
 
 Valladolid, 83 
 
 Vancouver, Captain, 138, 
 210, 211 
 
 Vandalici Montes, 21 
 
 Vandalitia, 21 
 
 Vandals, the, 21, 22, 23, 24 
 
 Van Diemen's Land, 122, 
 212 
 
 Van Noort, 102 
 
 Van Riebeek, Jan An- 
 thony, 123 
 
 Varangians, 36 
 
 Vascones, 34 
 
 Velasquez, Diego, 90 
 
 Venetia, 114, 149, 150, 
 
 157 
 Venezia, settlement of, 23, 
 
 47 
 Venezuela, 69, 201 
 Venice, 47, 48, 49, 57, 106, 
 
 152 
 Vera Cruz, 92 
 Verazzano, traveller, 89 
 Verd, Cape, 65 
 Verd, Cape, Islands, 65, 
 
 193 
 Vermont, 143 
 Versailles, German em- 
 peror crowned at, 158 
 Vespucci, Amerigo, 68 
 Vicksburg, 208 
 Victoria, 213 
 Victoria, Lake, 184, 198 
 Victoria Land, 216, 217 
 Victoria Nyanza, 198 
 Victoria, voyage of, 89 
 Vienna, 76, 106, 157 
 Vienna, Congress of, 154, 
 
 156, 172 
 Vienna, Peace of, 152 
 Vimiera, battle of, 152 
 Vinland, 39 
 Virgin Islands, 123, 128 
 
 Virginia, 99, loi, 116, 120', 
 
 208 
 Vischer, Hans, explorer, 
 
 199 
 Visigoths, 22, 23, 24 
 Vistula River, 36, 153 
 Vitoria, battle of, 152 
 Vivaldi, 57 
 Vladivostok, i6o 
 
 Volga, 55, 59, ^^ 
 
 Volscians, 7 
 
 Wadai, 197 
 Wagram, battle of, 152 
 Wahabi, 177, 180, i8i 
 Walachia, 21, 159, 176 
 Wales, 53 
 Walfish Bay, 189 
 Wallace, William, 45, 53 
 Wallis, explorer, 139 
 Warsaw, 109, 129 
 Warsaw, Duchy of, 151, 
 
 152. 155 
 Washington City, 206 
 Washington, George, 143 
 Waterloo, battle of, 154 
 Watling. 68 
 
 Weenen, 187 
 Wellby, explorer, 199 
 Wellesley, Sir Arthur [see 
 
 Wellington) 
 Wellesley, Marquis, 136, 
 
 170 
 Wellington, 214 
 Wellington, Duke of, 152, 
 
 153. 154 
 
 Welsh mountaineers, 44 
 
 Wessex, 24, 37 
 
 West Indies, 68, 90, loi, 
 
 120 
 Westminster Abbey, 45 
 Westphalia, kingdom of, 
 
 151. 153. 155 
 Westphalia, Treaty of, 
 
 109, 112 
 Westre Bygd, 38 
 White Sea, 38, 97, 125 
 William the Conqueror, 45 
 William of Orange, 100 
 William, Prince of Orange 
 
 (William III.). 113 
 William and Mary of Eng- 
 land, 113 
 William V. of Holland, 
 
 132 
 Willoughby, Sir Hugh, 97 
 Wisconsin, 143, 209 
 
232 
 
 Witland, 38 
 
 Wolfe, General, 131, 138 
 
 Wolfstan and Othere's 
 
 voyages, 38 
 Worcester, battle of, 112 
 Worms, Diet of, 78 
 Wiirtemberg, 150, 157, 
 
 158 
 Wu-Sung, 163 
 
 Xavier, Francis, 96 
 
 Xenophon, 8 
 
 Xerez de la Frontera, 
 
 battle of, 29 
 Xerxes, 6 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Yakub Beg (Khan), 166, 
 
 167 
 Yakuts, 122 
 Yakutsk, 107 
 Yangtze, 52, 164, 165 
 Yarra Yarra, 212 
 Yedo, 167 
 Yemen, 26, 180 
 Yenisei River, 107 
 Yermak, Vassili, 77 
 Yesukai BahS,dur, 50 
 Yezo, 146 
 York, 18 
 Yoruba, 190 
 Yun-nan, 165 
 
 Zama, battle of, 15 
 Zambesi River, 66, 145, 
 
 187, 198, 199 
 Zambesia, 185 
 Zanzibar, 70, 181, 184 
 Zarafshan, province, 161 
 Zarafshan River, 161 
 Zebu, 89 
 Zeila, 184 
 
 Zerafshan (see Zarafshan) 
 Zipangu (Japan), 56 
 Zoe, Empress, 61 
 Zulu Kafirs, 188 
 Zungaria, 161 
 
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