in nog 15 ■ ■ V m ■<*■ cm ■ THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES o SYS T E M OF UNIVERSAL GEOGRAPHY FOUNDED ON THE WORKS OF MALTE-BRUN AND BALBf; EMBRACING THE HISTORY OF GEOGRAPHICAL DISCOVERY, THE PRINCIPLES OF MATHEMATICAL AND PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, AND A COMPLETE DESCRIPTION, FROM THE MOST RECENT SOURCES, OF ALL THE COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD. ANEW EDITION, REVISED AND CORRECTED THROUGHOUT. WITH ALPHABETICAL INDICES OF 13,500 NAMES. LONDON: HENRY G BOHN, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN is;,] PRINTED BY HARRISON AND SON, LONDON GAZETTE OFFICE, ST. MARTIN'S LANE; AND ORCHARD STREET, WESTMINSTER. PREFACE. When the Publishers of the present Work had completed the English Transla- tion of Malte-Brun's Geography, in nine volumes octavo,*they were repeatedly urged to publish an abridgment of it in a single volume. With this view they engaged the services of several writers, whose talents and studies peculiarly fit- ted them for the departments respectively allotted to them ; while the whole Work was, at the same time, placed under the care of a gentleman well qualified to undertake the general superintendence. Before, however, much progress had been made in preparing the materials for the press, it was discovered that a mere abridgment of Malte-Brun's text would be very unsatisfactory ; and the attention of the Editor having been di- rected to the second edition of Adrien Balbi's " Abrege de Geographie," he was satisfied that the perspicuous and systematic arrangement of that book offered a better plan for the construction of the present volume. It has accordingly been adopted as the basis of this Work ; which, however, is not so much an abridgment of the labours of these two celebrated Geographers, as an entirely new compilation, embodying information communicated by later writers, and not accessible at the time when the large work of Malte-Brun was published. In reference to the authorship of the following Work : — the " Historical Sketch of the Progress of Geographical Discovery," which forms the First Chapter of the Introductory portion, was originally written by M. Larenaudiere, Editor of the French Abridgment of Malte-Brun's " Precis." It was translated by Robert Hamilton, M. D , and considerable modifications and additions to the present time, were made by Mr. Laurie. The Second Chapter, containing the " Prin- ciples of Mathematical Geography," was, with similar modifications and addi- tions, translated from Malte-Brun's text, by Thomas Galloway, Esq., Secre- tary to the Royal Astronomical Society. " Physical Geography in relation to the Inorganic part of the Globe," which forms the subject of the Third Chapter, is from the pen of J., P. Nichol, LL.D., Professor of Astronomy in the Univer- sity of Glasgow. The first Three Sections of the Fourth Chapter were written by John H. Balfour, M.D., Professor of Botany in the University of Edin- burgh ; and the remaining Section, as well as the first three Sections of the succeeding Chapter en Political Geography, were contributed principally by Mi-. James Laurie. The General Description of Europe, and also the Statistics of England and Scotland, were compiled by Mr. Hugh Smith, under whose su- perintendence the early portion of the Work was placed. Mr. Alexander Rose, Lecturer on Mineralogy and Geology, furnished materials for the Geo- logical Notices of England, Scotland, and France. The remainder of the volume : 1078 vi PREFACE. Mas written by Mr. James Laurie, and conducted by him as general Editor to its completion. The object kept in view throughout has been to produce a Work on Geo- graphy which would be generally useful. The Contributors conceived it to be no part of their business as Geographers to give minute descriptions and long classified lists of the various objects of Natural History. All that they deemed it necessary to do in this respect, was to give those general views of Natural Science connected with Geography which will be found in the Introduction ; while, in the body of the work, they have confined themselves, with very few exceptions, to short notices of such objects of Natural History as are conducive to the subsistence and the comfort of man, or to the promotion of national in- dustry and the useful arts — objects, in short, the nature of which all can under- stand and appreciate. As a book of reference, its value will be understood at once from the simple fact, that the principal Index contains a much larger num- ber of names than is to be found in any English Gazetteer. The sources from which the Work has been compiled are generally indicated in their proper places throughout the volume. The writers have stated nothing but on what they conceived to be good authority, though in many cases they have found the authorities so perplexingly at variance as to make it extremely difficult to determine which ought to be followed. They have not allowed themselves to indulge in those moral, economical, and political speculations, with which some Geographers largely intersperse then- works, conceiving that the space necessary for these may be much better em- ployed in the statement of facts, from which the readers may draw inferences for themselves. They have confined themselves to such subjects as they considered within their legitimate province, and such as are calculated to be useful to the great bulk of the reading Public. With this view, particular attention has been directed to the Sections embracing the British Islands, and the principal British Colonial Possessions, which, in addition to the strictly Geographical details, will be found to contain a larger amount of statistical information connected with their natural productions, commerce, and manufactures, than has yet appeared in any work of the same size. To facilitate the conversion of Foreign Weights and Measures into the British standard, part of an able article on that subject, from the Seventh Edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, has been prefixed to the Work. No pains have been spared to procure the latest and most correct accounts of the various countries of the world. The most recent books of travels have been consulted, and due advantage has been taken of the Transactions of the Royal Geographical Society of London — the most valuable contributions which modern research has made to Geographical Science. In short, it is confidently hoped that, in respect of accuracy and extent of information, the present work will be found, at the least, not inferior to any similar publication. C N T E N T S, INTRODUCTION. I. — Historical Sketch of the Progress of Geographical Discovery, page 1. II. — Principles of Mathematical Geography. — § 1. Of the Earth considered with relation to the other Celestial Bodies, 29. § 2. Of the Dimensions and Figure of the Earth, 40.— § 3. Of Globes and Maps, 44. § 4. Of the Calendar, § 5. Prin- cipal Elements of the Solar System, 55. § 6. Measure of Latitude, 56. III. — Physical Geography, in relation to the Inorganic Part of the Globe. — § 1 . Phenomena of the Land, 57. § 2. Phenomena of the Water which covers part of the surface of the Globe, and its action upon the Land, 63. § 3. The Con- stitution and Motion of the Atmosphere ; Physical Climate ; Meteorological Pheno- mena, 73. IV. — Physical Geography-, in relation to Organized Beings ; or the Geographical Distribution of Vegetables, of Animals, and of the Human Race. — § 1. On the Geographical Distribution of Vegetables, 88. § 2. On the Geographical Distri- - bution of Animals, 93. § 3. On the Fossil Remains of Organic Bodies, Vegetable and Animal, 100. § 4. On the Geographical Distribution of the Human Race, 105. V. — Political Geography, or Geographical Science, in relation to Mankind in Society. — § 1. The Influence of External Causes on the Social Condition of Man, 110. § 2. Of the Classification of Mankind according to their Languages, 116. § 3. Classification of Mankind according to their Religions, 117. §4. Of Mankind iu respect to Civil Government and the Customs of Society, 128. DESCRIPTIVE GEOGRAPHY. General Description of Europe. — Astronomical Position, Dimensions, Boundaries, Seas, and Gulfs, 137. Straits and Capes, 139. Peninsulas, Rivers, 140. Lakes, Islands, 141. Mountains, 142. Tablelands or Plateaux, Volcanoes, 166. Valleys and Plains, Deserts, Steppes and Lands, Climate, 167. Minerals, 169. Vegetation, 170. Animals, 171. Population, People, and Languages, 172. Religions, 175. Govern- ment and Political Divisions, 176. ENGLAND and WALES. — Astronomical Position, Dimensions, Boundaries, Gene- ral Aspect, 177. Gulfs, Bays, and Strait, 180. Capes, Islands, Sandbanks, Shoals, 180. Rivers, 181. Mountains, Valleys, Plains, Climate, 182. Geology and Mineral Productions, 183. Soil and Vegetation, 188. Animals, 189. People and Language, 190. Population, 191. Religion and Ecclesiastical Divisions, 194. Education, 195. Government, 197. Finances, 198. Army and Navy, 199. Productive Industry — Agriculture, 201. Fisheries, 202. Mines, 203. Manufactures, 204. Commerce, 207. Income of the Population, 216. Internal Communication — Roads, 216. Canals, 217. Railways, 220. Administrative and Ancient Divisions, 222. Topography, 224 List of Parliamentary Cities and Boroughs, 257. SCOTLAND. — Astronomical Position, Dimensions, Boundaries, General Aspect, 260. Gulfs, Bays, and Straits, 261. Capes, 263. Islands, Sandbanks, Shoals, Rivers, 263. Lakes, 264. Mountains, Valleys, Plains, Climate, Geology and Mineral Productions, 265. Animals, 268. People and Language, Population, Religion, and Ecclesiastical Divisions, 269. Education, 274. Government, 275. Public Revenue, 276. Pro- ductive Industry — Agriculture, 276. Fisheries, Manufactures, Commerce, 277. In- ternal Communication — Canals, Railways, 278. Administrative Divisions, Cities, and Towns, 279. Parliamentary Representation, 291. IRELAND. — Astronomical Position, Dimensions, Boundaries, General Aspect, 292. Gulfs, Bays, and Straits, 293. Capes, Islands, 294. Rivers, Lakes, Mountains, Climate, 295. Geology and Mineral Productions, 296. Soil and Vegetation, 298. Animals, People, and Population, 299. Religion, 300. Education, 301. Govern- ment and Finances, 302. Productive Industry — Agriculture, 302. Fisheries, Ma- viii CONTENTS. nufactures, 303. Commerce, 304. lloads and Inland Navigation, 304. Civil Divi sions, 305. Ecclesiastical Divisions, 306. Cities and Towns, 307. Parliamentary Representation, 310. Tabular View of the British Empire, 311. FRANCE. — Astronomical Position, Dimensions, Boundaries, General Aspect, 315. Gulfs, Bays, Straits, Capes, 316. Rivers, 317. Mountains, Geology and Mineral Productions, 318. Climate, 321. Vegetable Productions, 322. Animals, 323. People, 325. Population, 326. Religion and Ecclesiastical Divisions, 327. Education, 328. Government, 330. Administrative Divisions, 331. Judiciary Establishments, 332. Public Revenues, 333. Military Administration, Forts and Naval Stations, Army and Navy, 334. Productive Industry, 339. Commerce, 339. Internal Communication, 340. Table of the Old Provinces, with the Corresponding Departments, 341. Geo- graphical and Statistical Table of the Eighty-six Departments, 342. Cities and Towns, 343. Colonies and Foreign Possessions, 361. Republic of Andorre, 361. SWITZERLAND. — Astronomical Position, Dimensions, Boundaries, General Aspect, 362. Lakes and Rivers, 364. Mountains, People, Religion, Government, 365. Revenues, Army and Fortresses, 366. Productive Industry, 367. Commerce, and Divisions, 368. Topography, 369. BELGE or BELGIUM. — Astronomical Position, Dimensions, Boundaries, General Aspect, Area and Appropriation of the Provinces, Rivers, Climate, 376. Geology and Mineral Productions, 377. People and Population, 377. Religion and Education, 378. Government and Military Force, 379. Productive Industry and Commerce, 380. Internal Communication, 381. Administrative Divisions, 381. Cities and Towns, 382. HOLLAND. — Astronomical Position, Dimensions, Boundaries, General Aspect, 385. Area and Appropriation of the land, Rivers, Canals, Seas, Gulfs, Islands, 386. People, Religion, Education, Government, 387. Fortresses and Naval Arsenals, Productive Industry, Commerce, 388. Administrative Divisions, Cities and Towns, 389. Co- lonies, 391. GERMANY. — Astronomical Position, Dimensions, Boundaries, General Aspect, Moun- tains, Rivers, 392. Lakes, Canals, Railroads, 394. Geology, 395. Minerals, Climate, 396. Vegetable Productions, 397. Animals, 398. People, 399. Education and Religion, 400. Government, 401. Industry, 403. Commerce, 405. Commercial League, 406. Political Divisions and Topography, 407. German Empire and Medi- atized Princes, 420. AUSTRIAN EMPIRE. — Astronomical Position, Dimensions, Boundaries, Compo- nent Parts, Physical Aspect, Climate, &c, 422, People, Religion, 423. Education, 424. Government, 425. Finance, 426. Army and Navy, 427. Industry and Com- merce, 429. Internal Communications, 433. Topography — German Provinces, 434. Polish Countries, 444. Hungarian Countries, 445. Italian Provinces, 577. PRUSSIA. — Astronomical Position, Dimensions, Boundaries, General Aspect, Gulfs, Bays, Straits, 462. Islands, Rivers, Climate, Vegetable Productions, Animals, People, 463. Population, Religion, Education, 464. Government, Revenues, 465. Army, 466. Productive Industry, 467. Internal Communications, Administrative Divisions, To- pography, 470. DENMARK — Astronomical Position, Boundaries, General Aspect, Gulfs, Bays, and Straits, Capes, Islands, 476. Rivers, Lakes, Climate, Vegetation, Animals, 477. People and Language, Population, Religion, 478. Education, Government, Re- venues, 479. Army and Navy, Productive Industry, 480. Internal Communica- tions, Administrative Divisions, 481. Cities and Towns, Foreign Possessions, 482. Heligoland, 483. SWEDEN and NORWAY, or THE SCANDINAVIAN PENINSULA.— Astronomi- cal Position, Dimensions, Boundaries, General Aspect, 484. Gulfs, Bays, and Straits, 485. Capes, Islands, Rivers, Lakes, 486. Mountains, Climate, 487. Geology and Mineral Productions, 488. Soil and Vegetation, 489. Animals, 491. — Sweden. Peo- ple, 491. Religion, 492. Education, 493. Government, 494. Finances, Army and Navy, 495. Productive Industry, 496. Internal Communication, 497. Administrative Divisions, Cities and Towns, 498. — Norway. People, 479. Religion, Education, Go- vernment, 500. Revenues, Army and Navy, Productive Industry, 501. Inland Com- munication, Administrative Divisions, Cities and Towns, 503. RUSSIA in EUROPE. — Astronomical Position, Dimensions, Boundaries, General Aspect, 505. Gulfs, Bays, and Straits, Capes, Islands, Rivers, 506. Lakes, 507. Climate, Geology and Mineral Productions, 508. Soil and Vegetation, 510. Animals, CONTENTS. ; x People and Population, 511. Education, 518. Religion, Government, Finances, 520. Army and Navy, 521. Productive Industry, 522. Internal Communication, Admi- nistrative Divisions, 523. Topography, 524. Kingdom of Poland, 530. SPANISH PENINSULA. — Astronomical Position, Dimensions, Boundaries, General Aspect, 531. Gulfs, Bays, and Straits, Capes, Islands, Rivers, 533. Lakes, Moun- tains, Climate, 534. Geological Structure, 535. Vegetable Productions, 536. Ani- mals, 537. — Kingdom of Spain. People, 537. Population, Education, Religion, 538. Government, 539. Finances, Army and Navy, Productive Industry, 540. Inland Communication, 543, Administrative Divisions, 544. Cities and Towns, 546. Fo- reign Possessions, 551. — Kingdom of Portugal. People, 551. Education, Religion, Government, 552. Productive Industry, 553. Administrative Divisions, and Topo- graphy, 554. Foreign Possessions, 556. ITALY. — Astronomical Position, Dimensions, Boundaries, General Aspect, Gulfs, Bays, Straits, 558. Capes, Islands, Rivers, 559. Lakes, 560. Climate, 561. Geology, 562. Soil and Vegetation, 563. Animals, People, and Language, 565. Religion, Education, 566. Government, and Political Divisions, 567. Productive Industry, 568. Internal Communication, 573. Topography — 1. Sardinian States, 573. Island of Sardinia, 576. — 2. Lombardo -Venetian Kingdom, 577. — 3. Duchy of Parma; 4. Duchy of Modena, 580, 582.-5. Grand-Duchy of Tuscany, 581. — Duchy of Lucca; 6. States of the Church, 582. — 7. Kingdom of Naples, or the two Sicilies, 586.-8. Island of Sicily, 589. Malta, Gozo, Comino, 592. TURKEY IN EUROPE. — Astronomical Position, Dimensions, Boundaries, General Aspect, Geology and Orography, 593. Gulfs, Bays, Straits, 595. Capes, Islands, 596. Rkvers, Lakes, Climate, 597. Soil and Vegetation, 598. Animals, People, 599, Religion, 601. Education, Government, 602. Finances, 603. Army and Navy, 604. Manufactures and Trade, 605. Internal Communication, 606. Divisions, Cities, and Towns, 607. HELLAS or GREECE. — Astronomical Position, Dimensions, Boundaries, General Aspect, 614. Climate, 615. Soil and Vegetation, Animals, 616. People, 617. Go- vernment, Education, Administrative Divisions, Religious Establishment, Finances, Army and Navy, Productive Industry, 618. Cities, Towns, and Remarkable Places, 619. Islauds, 620. Gulfs, Bays, Straits, Capes, Rivers, Lakes, Mountains, 621. IONIAN ISLANDS. — Names and Dimensions, General Aspect, People, Religion, Edu- cation, 621. Government, Productive Industry, 622. Cities and Towns, 623. Mediterranean Sea, 623. Recapitulatory Table of the European States, 623. ASIA. General Description. — Astronomical Position, Dimensions, Boundaries, General As- pect, Mountains, 625. Volcanoes, 629. Deserts, 630. Plains, Valleys, and Table- lands, Seas, Bays, Gulfs, Straits, Rivers, 631. Lakes, Islands, Climate, 632. Mine- rals, Vegetation, 633. Animals, People, 634. Government, Divisions, 636. TURKEY or OTTOMAN ASIA. — Astronomical Position, Dimensions, Boundaries, General Aspect, Climate, 637. Gulfs, Bays, Straits, Capes, Islands, Rivers, 641. Lakes, 643. People, 644. Government, Productive Industry, Commerce, Divisions, 646. Cities and Towns in Asia-Minor and Armenia, 647. Cities and Towns, &c. in Syria and Palestine, 651. Cities, Towns, and Remarkable Places in Algezira and Mesopotamia, 654. ARABIA. — Astronomical Position, Boundaries, Dimensions, General Aspect, Climate, Gulfs, Bays, Straits, 658. Capes, Islands, 659. Minerals, Vegetable Productions, Animals, People, 660. Government, Productive Industry, 661. Divisions, Cities, Towns, and Remarkable Places, 663. PERSIA. — Situation and Divisions. — Kingdom of Iran. Astronomical Division, Boundaries, Dimensions, General Aspect, 665. Climate, Natural Productions, People, 666. Religion, Education and Learning, 667. Government, Productive Industry, Commerce, Divisions, and Topography, 660. Islands, Rivers, Capes, 673. — Aff- ghanistan. Situation, Boundaries, Dimensions, General Aspect, and Natural Pro- ductions, 675. People, 676. Cities and Towns, 676. Rivers and Lakes, 677. Be- LOOCHISTAN, 677. INDIA. — Astronomical Position, Dimensions, Boundaries, Name, General Aspect, 679. Madras candy of 20 maunds 500 Malacca bahar of 3 peculs, 405 Mocha bahar of 15 frazils 450 Muscat custom-house maund, 8 Mysore candy of 7 morahs, 560 Pegu candy of 150 vis, 500 I'enang pecul of 100 catties, 133 Surat maund of 40 seers 37 Surat pucca maund 74 Tillicherry candy of 20 maund*, 600 Oz. Dr. 6 13 10 Bombay. 10 10-7 2 2-1 4 8 5 8 8 5 12 5 5 5-3 5-3 5-3 53 10 10-7 Mds. S. Ch. Mds. Vis. Pol.lMds. S. 26 37 20 32 20 4 20 8 15 16 31 11 4 25 20 28 16 4 20 28 31 20 13 13-7 10 56 43 11 6 2-6 2-9 15 1 11 6 2 16 8 22 5 22 2 3 22 3 1 1 5 21 19 19 20 16 18 22 20 5 1 2 24 19 16 8 16 8 3.V7 11-3 8 35*2 4-8 24 26 5 36-8 16 16 12 21 32 8 26 379 35-7 15 7 20 4 20 2 2 20 3 1 1 4 19 16 10 17 27 17 13 17 34 14 18 16 2 12 20 17 34 4 30 1 13 2 26 21 17 Pice, 27 8-6 22-4 20 10 27-9 21-4 25-7 14-3 129 21-4 43 10 8-6 171 25.7 15 86 143 10 20 43 Ionian Isles — The present British system was introduced in 1828, when the libbra sottile was made equal to 1 lb. troy, the libbra grossa to 1 lb. avoird., the talanto to 100 lbs. avoird., the stadio of 40 carnaco to 1 Brit, furlong, the barrel to 16 Brit, gal- lons, and the kilo of corn to 1 Brit, bushel. Of the old weights, 44 okes = 1 quintal = 123-15 lbs. avoird., or 40 okes = l cwt. nearly. Of the old measures, the Zante braccio for cloth = 27-18 Brit, inches, the silk braccio = 25-37 Brit, inches ; the Zante barile =14-68, and the Corfu barile= 15 Brit, gallons. Also 8 misure = l corn moggio of Zante = 4-63 Brit, bushels. In land measure, 24 zappade = 8 misure = 1 moggio = 2-4 Brit, acres. Lubeck. — The Cologne mark of 3608 troy grains is used for gold and silver, and 112 lbs. = 8 lisponds= 119-67 lbs. avoird. Two feet = 1 ell = 22-7 Brit, inches; and 80 kannes = 40 stubgen=20 viertels = 1 ahm = 31-87 Brit, galls. Also 96 scheffels = 24 barrels = 8 dromts = 1 last of wheat or rye =11-04 Brit, quarters. The last of oats = 12 - 95 quarters, and is similarly subdivided. Lucca The common lb. = 0-7448 lb. avoird., but the lb. peso grosso = 8-234 lbs. avoird. or 11 Leghorn lbs. The braccio for woollens = 238 Brit, inches, but that for silk is an inch less. There are 4 braccio in the canna. The coppo for oil =21 -97 Brit. gall. Wine is sold by the Leghorn barile of 20 fiasci, and corn by the staja = two-thirds of a Brit, bushel. Madeira In general the same as in Portugal ; but in corn measure 23 alquieres are = 24 of Lisbon, and in wine measure 12 almudos are = 13 of Lisbon. Majorca. — One hundred rottolos or lbs. = 1 cantaro Berberesco = 88-2 lbs. avoird. = 104 rottollos = 4 arrobas = 1 quintal = 91-73 lbs. avoird. ; and 312 rottollos = 3 quintals = 1 carga. Also 108 rottolos = 12 quartins or cortans = 1 odor of oil. The canna = 67 - 5 Brit, inches. Of wine, 6-5 corters = 1 quartin = 5-97 Brit, galls. ; and 6 barcellas of corn= 1 quartera= 194 Brit, bushel. Malacca One hundred catties = 1 pecul = 135 lbs. avoird.; 3 peculs make 1 bahar; and 500 gantons = 50 measures = 1 last = 29 Brit. cwt. nearly. Also 40 peculs = 1 co- yau of salt or rice. A kip of tin =41 lbs. avoird. The buncal, = 832 grains troy, is used for gold and silver. The covid = 18-125 Brit, inches. Malta — One hundred rottoli or lbs. = 1 cantar= 174-5 lbs. avoird. Gold and silver xx WEIGHTS AND MEASURES are weighed by the lb. of 12 oz. = 4886 grains troy. Eight palmi = 1 canna = 82 Brit. inches; and 16 square tumuli = 1 salma land measure = 4-44 Brit, acres. The wine barile contains 9-17, and the oil caffiso 4-375 Brit. gall. Two caffisos make a barile. The salma corn measure = 7*875 Brit. Morocco The rottolo or commercial lb. = 1-19 lb. avoird., and 100 such lbs. =1 quintal. The market lb. is one half heavier, or= 1-785 lb. avoird. By it, iron, bees' wax, and provisions are sold. The canna for cloth = 21 Brit, inches, but the measures of capacity are very variable. Mauritius. — In government affairs the British system is used, but in ordinary busi- ness something near the old system of France, reckoning the quintal of 100 lbs. poids de marc = 108 lbs. avoird. ; 20 quintals = 1 French ton ; 100 lbs. French to the bag of coffee, 150 to the bag of rice, and 250 to the bale of cotton. Also 15 French feet are reckoned:: 16 Brit, feet, 7 aunes = 9 Brit, yds., 1 arpent = 1-04375 acre, 1 velt = 2 old English wine gallons, and 30 velts = 1 cask. Mecklenburg The weights are chiefly those of Lubeck and Hamburg, but 100 Rostock lbs. = 1 Brit. cwt. There are 2 feet in the Rostock ell = 22-67 Brit, inches, and 1 schefFel of corn = 1-07 Brit, bushel. The liquid measures are those of Lubeck. Mexico In general the same as in Spain ; but the British yard and French aune are also in use for European goods. Minorca The weights and dry measures are the same as in Majorca; and, except the gerra or jar of two quarters, = 2-65 Brit, gall., the other measures are the same as in Spain. Mocha Of the weights, 150 maunds = 15 frazils = 1 bahar = 450 lbs. avoird.; 48 carats = 3 coffola = 2 miscals = 14674 grains troy ; 10 coffolas = 1 vakia, and 87 vakias = the weight of 100 Spanish dollars. Thecovid=19, theguz = 25 Brit, inches; 8 noosfias = 1 gudda =1-8 Brit, gallon ; and 40 kellas dry measure = 1 tomand, which, of rice, is reckoned to weigh 168 lbs. avoird. Modena. — The Modena libbra or lb. = 0-7045 lb. ; the Reggio lb. = 0-7274 lb. avoird. and 100 lbs. = 1 quintal. The Modena braccio = 24-31 ; and the braccio of Reggio = 20-85 Brit, inches. In land measure, 72 tavole = 1 biolca = 2*8036 Brit, roods. Corn is sold by the stajo, = 1-94 Brit, bushel. Moldavia. — In general the same as in Turkey ; but in common trade, 25 okes of Galatz are reckoned = 2 Russian poods ; 2400 okes = 7 centners = 700 lbs. of Vienna. Montevideo Same as in Spain. Mozambique One frazil = 12 lbs. avoird., and 20 frazils = 1 bahar. Muscat Twenty-four cuchas = 1 maund=8| lbs. avoird. Naples One hundred rottoli or lbs. = 1 cantaro grosso = 196-45 lbs. avoird. ; 1800 oz. = 150 lbs. = 1 cantaro piccola = 106-07 lbs. avoird. ; and 7200 acini = 360 trapesi = 12 oz. = the lb. of 4950 grains troy, by which gold and silver are weighed. Of the measures, 96 inches =8 palmi = 1 canna or ell = 83-05 Brit, inches; 15 palmi make 2 passi, and 7000 palmi = 1 mile= 2018 Brit. yds. There are 900 sq. passi in the moggia of land = -8315 Brit. acre. Sixty caraffi= 1 baril of wine or brandy = 9-6 imp. galls. : 24 barili = 2 botte = 1 carro ; 14 barili = 1 pipe ; and 256 quarti = l6 staja = 1 salma of oil = 34-91 Brit, gall., and is reckoned to weigh 324 lbs. avoird. Four quarti of corn = 2 mezzetti = 1 tomole = 1-519 Brit, bushels. At Gallipoli, 320 pignatti = 10 staja = 1 salma of oil = 34*11 Brit. gall. The salmi at Bari = 36-42 such gallons. Nassau The standards are founded on the metrical system of France. Ten inches = 1 foot = half a metre = 19-685 Brit, inches ; 10 teet = 1 perch, and 100 square perches = 1 morgen = 25 ares = -6170 Brit. acre. New Brunswick Same as in Britain. Newfoundland Same as in Britain. New Granada Same as in Spain. Norway The same as in Denmark. Nova Scotia The same as in Britain. Oldenburg The weights are those of Hamburg. Twelve inches = 1 foot = 1 1-65 Brit, inches ; and the ell contains 22-76 of same inches. Also 104 kannes =4 ankers = 1 ohm; 3 ohms = 2 oxhofts; and 144 scheffels= 18 tonnes = 12 malters = 1 last = 80-69 Brit, bushels. Parma Of the weights, 300 ounces = 25 lbs. = 1 rubbio= 18-08 lbs. avoird. The braccio for measuring cloth = 25-35 Brit, inches, which exceeds that used for silk by 1-95 inch. There are 12 inches in the braccio di ligno used by surveyors, = 21-34 Brit, inches; and 6 bracci = 1 perch. Also 288 sq. perches =72 tavole = 6 tari = 1 biolca = nearly *75 Brit, acre ; and 16 quarterole = 1 stajo of corn = 1*413 Brit. busheL USED IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES. xxi Persia. — The weight chiefly used in commerce is the batman, which not only is of different amount in different districts, but depends also on the kind of article to be weighed. At Tabriz, 600 miscals = 300 derhams = 6 rattles = 1 batman = 6-34 lbs. avoird., which is only half the batman of Cherray. Thore is a derham of nearly 150 grains troy, by which gold and silver are weighed, and which exceeds the derham of Bushire by nearly 7 grains. Pearls are weighed by the abas of 2-25 troy grs. The measures are not less variable than the weights. The guz or common cubit = 25 Brit, inches, and the royal guz is one-half longer. The archin of Tabriz = 44 Brit, inches. There are 20 leagues or parasangs in a degree of the equator ; but it is by the fursoch or augage, that is, the space of about four or five Brit, miles walked over by a horse in an hour, that moderate distances are usually reckoned. Greater distances are esti- mated by the day's inarch of a caravan, which may be about 30 miles. In corn mea- sure, 200 sextarios = 50 chenicas=25 capichas= 1 artaba = 1-039 Brit, bushels. Peru The same as in Spain. Philippine Isles The same as in Spain, except that the Chinese pecul is some- times used. Poland — Of the weights, 128 drachms = 32 loths=16 oz. = 1 lb. = 089414 lb. avoird.; 32 lbs. of Poland = 1 stone, and 160 such lbs. = 1 centner. The Cologne mark is used for coined gold and silver, but the Warsaw mark = 3113 grains troy for the uncoined. Two feet = 1 ell or lokci = 22-68 Brit, inches. The mile is the twen- tieth part of a degree of the meridian. There are 300 perches in the acre or morgen, = 1-384 Brit, acre; and 30 rnorgens make 1 wloka. Also 16 kwaterkas = 4 kwartas = I garniec = 4 French litres = 0-88039 Brit, gall.; and 25 gamiecs = 1 becsksa. Of corn, 128 kwartas = 32 garniecs = 4 cwiercs = 1 korsec= 35214 Brit, bushels. Popedom or Papal States. — Of the commercial weights, 6912 grani= 288 denari = 1-2 once = 1 Roman lb. = -7477 lb. avoird. The same lb. is also used by apothecaries, and for gold and silver; and 100 such lbs. = 10 decine = 1 quintal. The foot= 1 172 Brit, inches; 8 palmi = 1 mercantile canna = 6-52917 Brit. feet. The Roman mile = 1628 Brit. yds. Also 128 fogliette = 32 boccali = 1 barile of wine = 1284 Brit. gall. ; 80 boccali = 1 soma of oil = 36-14 Brit. gall. ; and 88 quartucci = 22 scorzi =4 quarte = 1 corn rubbio = 8-l Brit, bushel. In Ancona, 100 lbs. = 73-75 lbs. avoird.; the braccio = 25-33 Brit, inches; and 24 boccali = 2 barili=l wine soma= 18-9 Brit. gall. Also 8 coppe = 1 corn rubbio = 7'87 Brit, bushels. In Bologne, the lb. = -798 lb. avoird., and the foot = 15 Brit, inches. Portugal. — Of the commercial weights, 32 marks = 16 oz. 1 arratel or lb. = 1-0119 lb. avoird.; and 32 arratels= 1 arroba. There are 4 arrobas in the quintal, and 54 in the tonelada. The apothecaries' lb. is only three-fourths of the com- mercial. There are 8 inches in the palmo craveiro, =8-622 Brit, inches; the pe or foot =1-5 palmo ; 5 palmos = 1 varo ; and though three palmos are usually said to form the varo, it is more nearly 26-67 Brit, inches. Ten palmos =1 braco ; the miles 2253 Brit. yds. ; and 3 miles = 1 league. Of land, 4840 square varos = 1 geira, and 7 geiras make nearly 10 Brit, acres. Of liquids, 48 quartilhos = 12 canadas = 2 pots = 1 almude of Lisbon = 3-64 Brit, gal.; there are 18 almudes in the baril, 26 in the pipe, and 52 in the tonelada. In dry measure, 240 quartos = 60 alquieres of Lisbon = 15 fanegas = 1 moyo = 22-39 Brit, bushels. The almude of Oporto = 5-61 Brit, gall., and the alquiere of Oporto = -465 Brit, bushel. Prussia. — Of the commercial weights, 128 quintins=32 loths = 2 Cologne marks = 1 lb. = 1-0311 lb. avoird.; and 110 lbs. = 1 centner or quintal = 113-42 lbs. avoird. There are 4000 lbs. in the ship last ; and the apothecaries' lb. is- only two-thirds of the commercial. The Cologne mark is used for gold and silver. The Rhinland foot = 12-356 Brit, inches ; the ell = 26-26 of such inches ; and 2000 perches = 1 mile = 8237 Brit. yds. There are 180 sq. perches in the morgen or acre, = 3054 Brit. sq. yds.; and 30 morgen = 1 hufe. Also 120 quarts = 4 ankers = 2 eimers = 1 liquid ohm = 30-23 Brit. gall. ; 3 eimers = 1 oxhoft ; 100 quarts = 1 tun of beer ; and 48 quarts = 16 metzen = 1 corn scheffel= P512 Brit, bushel. Various old measures are still partially in use. Prusso- German Commercial League or Zoll-Verein is composed of Anhalt Bern- bourg, Anhalt Cothen, Anhalt Dessau, Baden Bavaria, Birkenfeld (part of Olden- burg), Frankfort, Hesse Cassel, Hesse Darmstadt, Hesse Homburg, Hohenzolleru Hechengen, Hohenzollern Sigmaringen, Nassau, Prussia, principalities of Reuss, Saxony, Saxe-Altenburg, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Saxe Meiningen, Saxe Weimar, Schwarzhurg Rudolstadt, Schwarzburg Sondershausen, Waldeck (exclusive of Pjr- mont), Wurtemberg. The basis of their tariff is the centner of Baden = 50 French kilogrammes and divided into 100 pounds or livres usuelles of France. Hence the xxii WEIGHTS AND MEASURES zoll centner of 100 lbs. = 110-2429 lbs. avoird. Tbe following relative values are given in the tariff: — 935-422 zoll lbs. = 1000 Prussian lbs. 1120- = 1000 Bavarian lbs. 2000- = 1000 kilogrammes. 935-456 = 1000 Wiirtemberg lbs. 933-673 = 1000 Saxon (Dresden) lbs. Or 14 = 15 Prussian lbs. nearly. 28 = 25 Bavarian lbs. 2 = 1 kilogramme. 14 = 15 Wiirtemberg nearly. 14 = 15 Saxon (Dresden) lbs. nearly. Russia — Of tbe weights, 96 zolotnicks = 32 loths = 1 lb. = -90264 lb. avoird. With this lb., which is used for most purposes, gold and silver are also weighed, it being divided into 6528 grains. The Nuremberg lb. of 5527 grains troy is used by the apothecaries. The British and Dutch feet and -inches are employed. The Russian foot = 13-75 Brit, inches; 16 verchoks= 1 archine for cloth = 28 Brit, inches; and 1500 archines = 500 sagenes= 1 verste or mile= 1167 Brit. yds. Also 2400 sq. sagenes = 1 deciatine = 2-7 Brit, acres ; and 100 tcharkeys = 2-705 Brit. gall. Of corn, 64 garnietz = 32 tchetverkas=8 tchetveriks = 4 payaks = 2 osmines=l chetwerk = 5-77 Brit, bushels. Various old standards are partially in use in different parts of the empire. Sardinia. — In Turin, 12 oz. = 1-5 mark = l lb.= 8133 lb. avoird. ; 25 lbs. = 1 rubbio; and the mark of 3795 grs. troy is used for gold and silver. The raso or ell = 23-6 Brit, inches ; the mile = 2697 Brit. yds. ; the giornate = *938 Brit, acre ; the wine rubbio = 2-07 Brit, gall.; and the corn sacco = 3-17 Brit, bushels. In Nice, 150 lbs. = 1 quintal = 103-14 lbs. avoird.; the ell = 3-8975 Brit, feet; 12 rubbi=l charge = 20-75 Brit. gall. ; but the charge of corn = 4-4 Brit. bush. In Cagliari, 12 oz. = 1 lb. = *875 lb. avoird. ; the raso = 21-63 Brit, inches, and the restiere = 4-04 Brit, bushels. Saxony. — In Dresden, the lb. = 1 -0293 lb. avoird. ; 110 lbs. = 1 centner ; the mark = 3602 grs. troy ; two feet = 1 ell = 22-3 Brit, inches ; 3200 feet = 1 mile = 9914 Brit, yds. ; the morgen or acre = 1-261 Brit, acre ; the liquid eimer = 14-84 Brit. gall. ; the scheffel = 2-859 Brit, bushels. In Leipzig, 32 loths = 1 lb. = 1-0301 lb. avoird.; the centner = 1 10 lbs. = 1 13-32 lbs. avoird. Two feet = 1 ell = 2224 Brit, inches ; 60 ells = 1 schock; the liquid eimer = 16-69 Brit, gall.; the old scheffel for corn = 3812 Brit, bushels. The Dresden scheffel, which is one third greater, is now the general standard. Siam. — The common weight is the catty = 2-67 lbs. avoird., which is double the Chinese catty; but the pecul, containing only 50 catties, is just equal the Chinese pecul. Also 8 spans = 4 cubits = 1 fathom = 6-5 Brit, feet ; 20 fathoms = 1 sen ; but a square area of 20- fathoms to the side is likewise named a sen. Sicily. — The cantarro grosso = 192 53 lbs. avoird.; the cantarro sottile = 175-03 lbs. avoird. The lb. =-7014 lb.,avoird. Gold and silver are weighed and valued as at Naples; 94 cubic French feet of the old standard = 5 salmes = l ship ton. Oil is sold in Messina by the caffiso, = 2-58 Brit. gall. The canna =81-35 Brit, inches; the wine tonna = 31-24 Brit. gall. ; the corn salma = 7'61 Brit, bush., and the salma grossa of Leghorn = 9-47 Brit, bushels. Sincapore The Chinese pecul of 133-33 lbs. avoird. is the usual weight. The covid for cloth = 18 Brit, inches ; the gantang, by which corn, fruit, and liquids are occasionally sold, = L04 Brit. gall. European commodities are often sold by British weights and measures. Spain. — Two marks = 1 lb. = 1*01443 lb. avoird. ; the arroba consists of 25, and the quintal of 4 lbs. The mark used for gold and silver is = 3550 grains troy. Twelve pulgados=l Burgos foot = 11-128 Brit, inches; 4 palmos=l vara or ell = 33-38 Brit, inches. The estadale = 12 feet ; 8000 varas = 1 league = 7418 Brit. yds. A degree is divided into 20 marine leagues ; 5378 sq. varas = 1 arcada of vine land ; and 6000 sq. varas = 1 fanegada of corn land. The greater or wine arroba = 3-54 Brit. gall., the less or oil arroba = 2-77 ; the pipe = 27 of the greater arrobas, or 34 5 of the less; the corn fanega=l-55 Brit, bushels ; and 12 fanegas = 1 cahiz. But a variety of local standards is also in use. Sweden — The lb., victual weight, = 6563 grains troy ; the lispund contains 20, the sten 32, the centner 120, the waag 165, and the skeppund-400 such lbs. Two feet = 1 ell = 23-38 Brit, inches ; 8 ells = 1 ruthe ; 2250 ruthes = 1 mile = 1 1,689 Brit, yds. ; the tunnaland = 1-22 Brit. acre. The liquid kann = -5756 Brit, galh ; the fuder USED IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES. xxiii contains 300, the pipe 180, the oxhufvud 90, and the ahmGO kanns. The corn tunna = 4-029 Brit, bushels. But various other measures and local standards are in use. Switzerland In 1837 the 12 cantons, Berne, Zurich, Lucerne, Friburg, Zug, Soleure, Basel, Aargau, Thurgau, Schaffhausen, Glarus, and St. Gallen, adopted the following standards, founded on the decimal system of France : 32 lotbs = 1 lb. =half a kilogramme = 1-1024 lb. avoird. ; 2 feet = 1 ell = 6 decimetres; and 1 stund = 4800 metres = 5249 Brit. yds. The liquid mass = 1*5 litre = 2-64 Brit, pints ; ten mass of corn = 1 viertel = 15 litres = 1*65 Brit. peck. In Geneva, besides the French system, 100 lbs. gros poids = 121*43 lbs. avoird. ; 100 lbs. petit poidsr 101-19 lbs. avoird. The winechar = 120-71 Brit. gall. ; the coup of corn = 213 Brit, bushels. Tripoli. — One hundred rottoli = 1 cantar = 109 - 71 lbs. avoird. ; the caraffa of oil weighs 3- 125 rottoli. The great pik = 2642, and the small = 1903 Brit, inches ; the wine barilfe = 14-25 Brit. gall. ; and 4 temen = 1 corn hueba = 2-95 Brit, bushels. Tunis One hundred rottoli = 1 cantaro = 111-75 lbs. avoird. ; for cotton the pik or ell = 1923, for silk and linen = 25, and for woollen = 26-5 Brit, inches. The wine millerole = 14-15, and the oil mettar = 4-27 Brit. gall. The corn caffiz = 1-918 Brit, quarter. Turkey. — The oke = 2-8286 lbs. avoird.; 1 oil almude should weigh 8 okes ; 100 rottoli =44 okes=l quintal = 12446 lbs. avoird. The great pik = 27'9, the small = 27 - 06 Brit, inches ; the berri or mile = 1826 Brit. yds. ; the liquid almude = 1-143 Brit, gall. ; the corn fortin = 3-84 Brit, bushels. Tuscany The quintal or cantaro = 100 lbs. =74-86 lbs. avoird. ; 20 soldi = 1 braccio = 22-979 Brit, inches ; the mile = 1808 Brit. yds. ; the saccato of land = 5928 Brit. sq. yds. ; the baril for wine = 1003, and for oil = 7-36 Brit. gall. The corn stajo = 2-676 Brit, pecks ; and 24 staja= 1 moggio. United States of America. — Chiefly the same as in England prior to the imperial system. But instead of the cwt. they generally use simply 100 lbs. which are some- times called a quintal. The barrel of flour weighs 196 lbs.; the hhd. of Indian meal 800 lbs. ; and the barrel of salt meat 200 lbs. Wallachia. — The weights are those of Moldavia. The killow of Brailow, of about 400 ocche =1-5 killow of Galatz = 18 killows of Constantinople = 9 sacche of Leghorn. In other respects the same as in Turkey. West Indies (British.) — In general the same as in Britain ; but Spanish measures are partly used in Trinidad, and the old system of France in St. Lucia. West Indies (French.) — Same as in France. West Indies (Dutch.) — Chiefly the old system of Amsterdam. In Curacoa, the Spanish varo is also employed. West Indies (Danish.) — Same as in Denmark. The British yard and French aune are sometimes employed. West Indies (Swedish.) — Chiefly the same as in Sweden. WUrtemberg.— The lb. = 10314 lb. avoird.; the foot =11-25 Brit, inches. The toise = 6 feet; the ell =24-18 Brit, inches. The mile is the fifteenth of a degree. The morgen or acre = 31*518 French ares; and 1*5 morgen = 1 juchart. The fuder of wine = 388*16 Brit. gall. The scherTel of corn = 4-88 Brit, bushels. * * These Tables are extracted from the Encyclopaedia Britaniuca, seventh edition. INTRODUCTION. CHAPTER I. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE PROGRESS OF GEOGRAPHICAL DISCOVERY When the second father of our race came forth from his ark, on the mountains of Ararat, the face of the earth was desolate, " the world was all before him where to choose," and geographical science had to begin her course. The situation, however, of Ararat, is as much a matter of dispute as that of Eden ; the Bible, the only record of these events, supplies no clue to guide us to the spot ; neither does it tell us the time or the manner in which the new generations of men proceeded to, and took possession of, the countries in which we find them at the dawn of history. The book of Genesis contains, indeed, the names of the descendants of Noah, among whom the earth was divided after the flood; but, as none of these (except only such as refer to the He- brews themselves and their immediate neighbours) can be satisfactorily identified with nations and countries, we are compelled to descend at once through the dark interval of many centuries, to inquire, What was the extent of the sacred historian's personal acquaintance with the earth's surface ? and that we shall find to have been extremely limited. He speaks quite indefinitely of the east and the west ; of the south and the north he seems to have known as little ; and, in short, the geography of the Israelites in his days may be said to have comprised only Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and the north-west parts of Arabia. Even in the times of the kings and the prophets of Israel and Judah, the Hebrew geography seems to have extended no farther than to Assyria, Media, Persia, and Ethiopia. Solomon, indeed, sent ships to Tarshish and Ophir, but the navigators were Phenicians, and the commerce thus begun lasted too short a time for the nation to acquire much knowledge of foreign countries. The great geographers of those early ages, the most renowned explorers of unknown regions, were the Phenicians, a branch of the great Semitic, or Aramean, family of nations, which occupied the regions between the Mediterranean Sea and the Tigris, and extending southward from Mount Taurus to the Indian Ocean. Phenicia itself was one of the smallest countries of antiquity, comprising only a narrow slip of land on the coast of Syria, about 120 miles in length, and probably nowhere more than 18 or 20 in width. This short line of coast, rich in bays and harbours, was bounded by lofty mountains covered with forests, which supplied building materials for the ships and houses of the Phenicians. Seven cities occupied various points on the coast, and between them were a number of smaller towns, the abodes of industry and enter- prise, forming, as it were, one city, extending along the whole line of coast and the adjoining islands : this chain of cities, with their harbours and numerous fleets, must have afforded a spectacle then unequalled in the world, impressing the stranger who visited them with the highest idea of the opulence, the power, and the spirit of the people. Precluded by the nature of their country from extending their dominion by land, and invited by the numerous facilities for intercommunication presented by the adjacent sea, the Phenicians seem early to have directed their attention to foreign commerce. From Homer we learn, that even before his time, they were the general carriers of the Mediterranean ; and in the books of Kings we are informed, that their trade extended to regions of the east, or the south, so remote that three years were spent in each voyage. For the better carrying on of this trade, they established factories and built cities on every part of the Mediterranean shores. Carthage, the daughter of Tyre, rivalled her mother-city in wealth and power, and extended the Punic dominion over a large A 2 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE PROGRESS [Introd. portion of Africa and Europe. Beyond the straits of Gibraltar, the Phenicians pos- sessed the present Cadiz, and several other stations. They explored the west coast of Africa to an extent now unknown ; they visited the British Islands for tin ; and with the sacred isle of the west, the modern Ireland, they appear to have been fami- liarly acquainted, if they did not actually colonize it. They have even been supposed to have reached America; and certainly there are passages of the Greek and the Ro- man writers that will hardly admit of any other interpretation.* Judah and the land of Israel supplied the Phenicians with the staple necessaries of life, corn, wine, and oil ; Arabia furnished them with wool, frankincense, and myrrh ; while gold, silver, tin, and coarser produce of other kinds, were derived from the distant coasts of Europe and Africa. Besides their maritime commerce, they appear to have also traded overland with the interior countries of Asia. The great point to which this trade was directed was Babylon ; and there still remain, in the desert, between Syria and the Euphrates, the splendid ruins of Tadmor, or Palmyra, which appears to have been one of their stations, and which, long after the fall of Tyre and Sidon, continued to enjoy great commercial prosperity, till ruined by the vengeance of the ruthless Aurelian, in the third century of the Christian era. Babylon herself, the most splendid and renowned of eastern cities, besides being the capital of a mighty empire, was also the seat of a widely extended commerce with all parts of Asia. Most advantageously situated for commu- nicating by land with the most fertile regions of the east, her situation was equally convenient for maritime and for river navigation. The ancient geographers, travellers, and historians, uniformly represent the Babylonians as a people fond of magnificence, and accustomed to a variety of artificial wants, which could have been supplied only by commercial relations with many countries, some of them very remote. They were celebrated, too, for their manufactures ; and by the extent of her commerce and con- quests, Babylon became the great central point where all nations assembled. With this luxurious city the Phenicians traded ; but the records of both nations having perished, it is only from a few imperfect notices of the Greek and Hebrew writers that our scanty knowledge of these people is derived. Had the case been otherwise, geography would not have been still in its infancy two thousand years after the fall of Babylon, f Next to the Hebrew writings of the Old Testament, the oldest geographical records extant are the Iliad and the Odyssey of Homer, which are the sole depositories of the knowledge possessed by the Greeks of the state of the world prior to the age of the poet. In these primeval times, the earth appears to have been regarded as a flat circular disk, surrounded by the ocean stream. The extent of the known world was only from Colchis in the east, to somewhere about Sicily in the west; and the Mediterranean and the Euxine seas, communicating at either end with the ocean, stretched across it in that direction? Egypt seems to have been known, and the Ethiopians are also men- tioned ; but, towards the north, the information of Homer was bounded by Thrace. Hesiod, who lived sometime after Homer, knew of the Lygyes, who dwelt beyond the Tyrrhenians, and of the river Eridanus (Rhine), which flowed from the Riphean mountains northward to the ocean, of which river the -Rhone and the Po came af- terwards to be considered branches. He also mentions the amber which was collected at its mouth, and the singing swans that haunted its waters and those of the ocean. He also celebrates the fertile land of Umbria, where the flocks and the herds brought forth three times in each year, two, three, and four at a time, where hens laid thrice a-day, the fruits of the earth ripened thrice a-year, and the women bore two or three children at a birth ! Greece itself formed the central region, and Delphi, the seat of the great oracle and temple of Phoebus-Apollo, was called the centre (optpuXo;) of the earth. The world, the universe, appears to have been considered a hollow globe, divided into two equal portions by the flat disk of the earth ; and how very limited was this fancied universe we learn from Hesiod, who says that it would take nine days for an anvil to fall from heaven to earth, and an equal number to fall from earth to the bottom of Tartarus 1 The upper part of this globe was Heaven, the abode of the everlasting gods, and the interior of this upper hemisphere was enlightened by the sun, moon, and stars. The lower part of the globe was Tartarus, filled with eternal darkness, and having its still air unmoved by any wind. From such begin- nings as these have geography and astronomy advanced together, till the uttermost ends of the earth have been explored, and the prying eye of man has dived into the * Our readers will find a summary of the reasons for believing America to have been not altogether unknown to the ancients, in a book from which they might hardly expect such information, viz. Fabcr on the Difficulties of Infidelity. t Heeren's Historical Researches. Chap. I.] OF GEOGRAPHICAL DISCOVERY. 3 depths of the universe, far beyond what was once supposed to be the solid firmament of heaven, studded with little twinkling stars. " Poor man, to think the earth was turning round !" has been imagined as a fitting speech of a monk to Galileo ; but what would Homer and Hesiod, or any of their contemporaries, have said, had they been told that the earth is in reality a mighty globe, as large as their universe, and that the universe itself is an assemblage of worlds, where man can see no beginning and no end — a mass of light and life, as incomprehensible as the Being who has given it existence ! From the time of Homer to that of Herodotus, the Greeks spread themselves over several parts of the Mediterranean shores. About 600 years B. c, a colony of Phoceans from Ionia founded Marseilles ; and between 500 and 430, other colonies, from various parts of Greece and Asia Minor, had established themselves in Sicily, Sardinia, Cor- sica, and even Spain ; but the history of these events can only be gathered from short, vague, and imperfect narrations, scattered through a great number of authors. He- rodotus is celebrated as the father of history; and may, with equal justice, be styled the father of descriptive geography. By birth a citizen of Halicarnassus, he travelled into the three quarters of the globe that were known in his time, and ended his career in southern Italy, where, probably, he also finished the admirable history in which he has introduced the geographical information he had taken so much trouble to procure. He describes the Indians as the people of Asia who are nearest the east, and the place of the rising sun ; and the country beyond them as a perfect desert of sand. The last inhabited country towards the south was Arabia; and adjoining it on the S.W. was Ethiopia, the last of inhabited lands. He was acquainted with Lybia, as far as the Atlantes, but beyond them he knew of no place by name, only that there was a habi- table country as far as the pillars of Hercules, and even beyond them. His knowledge of the west of Europe was equally imperfect. He bad heard of the river Eridanus, from which the Greeks obtained their amber, and the Islands called Cassiterides, from which they got their tin ; but he had endeavoured, he says, without success, to meet with some one who, from personal observation, could describe to him the sea that lay in that part of Europe. The Ister (Danube) he appears to have been well acquainted with ; he also mentions some of the rivers that flow from Scythia into the Black Sea; and he knew that the Caspian was a sea by itself, unconnected with any other, a piece of information thrown away upon subsequent geographers, Strabo, Mela, and Pliny, who, five centuries later, still represent it as a bay of the northern ocean. We are not to conclude, however, that he had accurate notions of all the countries within these limits ; for even of Home, the destined mistress of the world, then com- mencing the fourth century of her existence, he does not mention the name ! For some time after the days of Herodotus, the Grecian knowledge of the world appears to have been nearly stationary. About 368 years b. c, Eudoxus of Cnidus, whose desire of studying astronomy induced him to visit Egypt, Asia, and Italy, who first attempted to explain the motions of the planets, and who is said to have disco- vered the inclination of the moon's orbit, and the backward motion of her nodes, is celebrated as having first applied geographical observations to astronomy ; but he does not appear to have directed his researches or conjectures to the figure or the circum- ference of the earth, or the distances or relative situations of any places on its surface. Nearly about the time of the death of Eudoxus, Aristotle flourished. This e:reat philosopher, collecting and combining into one system the discoveries and observations of all who had preceded him, rendered them less liable to be forgotten or misapplied. From the observations of travellers, that the stars seen in Greece were not visible in Cyprus or Egypt, he inferred the spherical form of the earth, the basis of geographical science. His knowledge, however, of the details of geography was not much advanced. He supposed the coasts of Spain to be not very distant from those of India ; and he describes the habitable earth as a great oval island, surrounded by the ocean, termi- nated on the west by the river Tartessius, on the east by the Indus, on the north- west by Albion and lerne (Britain and Ireland), of which, however, his knowledge was very imperfect. To the north and the south, the lliphean mountains and the deserts of Lybia appear still to have been his limits. A bttle earlier than Aristotle, Hippocrates of Cos, the celebrated physician, who had travelled in Scythia, Thessaly, Colchis, Asia Minor, and perhaps Egypt, com- posed the most ancient work on physical geography that has come down to our times. In his treatise on " Airs, Waters, and Places," he divides the world into two parts, and always opposes Europe to Asia, including in the latter both Egypt and Lybia. He appears in the course of his journeys to have followed the plan and the route of Herodotus, but his system is still that of Homer, showing how little progress the 4 HISTORICAL SKETCH OP THE PROGRESS [Introd. science had hitherto made. In the same age lived Pytheas of Marseilles, who is cele- brated for his knowledge in astronomy, mathematics, philosophy, and geography, and for the ardour and perseverance that carried him forward in the path of maritime dis- covery ; but the course of his voyages and the extent of his discoveries are not very clearly ascertained. Setting out from Marseilles, he coasted Spain, France, and the east side of Britain, from the northmost point of which he continued his voyage for six days, till he reached a land called Thule, 46,300 stadia from the equator ; and, it being "then the summer solstice, he saw the sun touching the northern point of the horizon, asserting at the same time, that the day and night were each of six months' continuance. The situation of this Thule has been ever since a fertile subject of dis- pute among geographers. Strabo and Polybius utterly denied his veracity ; but on some points he was certainly much better informed than themselves ; and, perhaps, the discrepancies that exist in his narrative, and have made its truth be doubted, are more owing to the mistakes or wilful perversions of those who quoted it, and have handed it down to us, than to its original falsity. We are now arrived at the age of the greatest practical geographer of antiquity, the most ardent and persevering explorer of unknown seas and countries, and, indeed, in every respect the most illustrious personage that figures in ancient history — Alex- ander the Great, who appears to have been actuated by a desire to be honoured as the patron of science, nearly as strong as his desire to be known to posterity as the conqueror of the world. He carried along with him, in his triumphant journey, geo- graphers and engineers, to measure exactly the marches of his army, and to make observations upon the countries through which they passed. The famous voyage of Nearchus from Nicea, on the Hydaspes, to the head of the Persian Gulf, accompanied on land by Alexander himself, the projected voyage round Arabia, the survey of the west side of the Persian Gulf, the projected establishment of a direct commercial intercourse between India and Alexandria, and the foundation of this city, which gave a new turn and a strong impulse to commerce and navigation, are but a few of the benefits that geography received from Alexander, or would have received, had not his plans been frustrated by his sudden and early death. The conquests of Alexander opened up to the knowledge of the Greeks the wide regions of the east. After his death, Seleucus Nicator penetrated to the Ganges ; Patrocles, his admiral, sailed upon the Indian Ocean and the Caspian Sea ; numerous other voyages and travels were made by different individuals in different directions ; geographical knowledge concerning all parts of the world abounded at the court of Ptolemy Euergetes ; and, with all these helps, Eratosthenes at length completed a system of geography, above two centuries b. c. The limits of the known world of the Alexandrian Librarian were probably Thince or Tenasserint, to the east ; but his positive knowledge terminated at the mouths of the Ganges. On the sources of the Nile, his information appeared to be as extensive as that possessed at the present day. On the west and* the north, his knowledge was the same as that of Pytheas. For the western side of Africa, he followed Herodotus. His charts of the coasts of Arabia^ of India to the Ganges, of the islands Albion and Thule and of the course of the upper Nile, prove the great progress of the Grecian geography since the time of Herodotus. This progress was not confined to the navigation of the Indian ocean, for commerce had already opened up a route across Central Asia, which penetrated by the north of Persia into the north of India, and reached Palibothra by descending the Ganges, whilst other caravans made the circuit of the mountains Imaus, or Belur, to reach Serica. We cannot but regret that the works of Agatharcliides of Cnidus have not come down to us entire. He appears to have visited the Grecian establishments on the coasts of Ethiopia and Arabia ; and if Diodorus borrowed from him the curious details concerning Meroe, probably Hipparchus, 140 years b. c, derived from his writings the idea of a great southern territory which joined eastern Africa with India. To this ornament of the Alexandrian School, we owe the foundation of a geography which was purely astronomical, and perhaps the primary idea of geographic projections; but at that time celestial observations were but few ; and in supplying the gaps by hypotheses, Hipparchus added to these errors in the map of Eratosthenes which he wished to rectify. Haifa century before him, the travels of Polybius, then detained as a hostage by the Romans, gave them additional information concerning their con- quests. Being of a positive disposition, he denied the discoveries of Pytheas, because contradictions were involved in them. He refuted the error of those who believed that the torrid zone was uninhabitable, whilst he too much restricted the limits of the known world. The subsequent conquests of the Romans in Macedonia, Syria, Nu- midia, Arabia, Mauritania, Britain, and Gaul, very considerably extended the circle of Chap. I.] OF GEOGRAPHICAL DISCOVERY. 5 geographical knowledge, and confirmed the truth of what Polyhius had rejected. Hi- bernia, or Ireland, was again recognised, after being denied by Pytheas, Eratosthenes, Polybius, and Hipparchus, although its existence had been proved many ages before by the Carthaginian mariners. With the assistance of these new documents, and from his individual observations, the astronomer Possidonius imagined he had rectified the system of Eratosthenes ; but he only committed greater errors. He enclosed the habitable world in a very elongated ellipsis, pointed at its two extremities, the form of which he compared to a ring. He probably believed, according to the account of Eudoxus of Cyzicus, in the possibility of executing the circumnavigation of Africa, and rejected the idea of Hipparchus, who converted the Indian ocean into an inland sea. Meanwhile Julius Caesar had illustrated the geography of Gaul, and commenced the discovery of Germany, and the coasts of the British isles. In the Augustan age, Germanicus as a conqueror visited Dalmatia, Bosnia, Servia, and Bulgaria, which had never been well known to the Greeks; the Roman Eagle reached the banks of the Elbe, and the description of the Great Empire was terminated by Agrippa, whose chart, exposed under his portico, exhibited its immense extent. At this epoch Straho composed his geography, a vast fund of the knowledge of his predecessors, and of his personal observations. It is evident that he had carefully consulted Dicearcus, Polybius, Eratosthenes, Hipparchus, and Possidonius ; and that he had borrowed from, and commented upon, a great number of other authors. His work comprehends, at the same time, a very minute description of Greece and Asia- Minor, in both of which he had travelled, and a rapid sketch concerning the other nations that were then known. An exact topographer, and a scrupulous and modest critic in the former part of his work — in the other, Strabo is often nothing more than a faithless compiler, and a partial and superficial judge. The limits of his positive knowledge were, to the north, Ierne or Ireland and the mouth of the Elbe, and he avows that what is beyond this river, and what to the north of the Tanms or the Don, is unknown to him ; he refuses to give credence to the existence of the Thule of Pytheas, because, as he alleges, the earth is not habitable 4000 stadia to the north of Britain. Towards the east, he believes that Taprobana and Tliince are the extre- mities of the world. As to Africa, his knowledge does not extend beyond the eastern coast of Noiicornu, now Bandel-Caus; and upon the western side to the river Bam- botum (perhaps the river Non, as Polybius had stated.) These coasts, in the opinion of Strabo, trended the one towards the east, and the other toward the west, at the latitude of 12^ of our degrees. It is here that he placed to the west his Ethiopes JEtherii; to the east the Regio-Cinnamomifera; between these two countries he only haves a small space, into which the voyager, repelled by a burning and destructive atmosphere, cannot enter. He adopted the opinion of the Alexandrian School, con- cerning the union of the Atlantic and the Indian oceans, at the south side of this Africa, which was cut short by a half; and this opinion, preserved in the west of Europe during the middle ages, as attested by the planisphere of Sanuto, and some oilier charts of the same epoch, unquestionably influenced the bold Portuguese navi- gators to attempt the route of the Cape of Good Hope. Straho had scarcely finished his description of the world, when it was rendered obsolete by the progress of discovery. The Roman armies, these terrible pioneers of geography, did not stop in their career. Speedily the fleets of the empire turned the promontory of Jutland, or the Cimbrick Chersonese, discovered the island of Scandia, and finally penetrated to the entrance of the Gulf of Finland. The Ebudce, or Western Islands, and the Orkneys, were visited at the time of the expedition of the Emperor Claudius. Some years afterwards, the south of Albion was visited by Agricola; and his fleet, in making the circuit of Caledonia, observed the true Thule, or the chief of the Shetland islands, which Pytheas seems to have confounded with Iceland, of which he had also heard. Yellow amber became the rage of the Roman fair, and immediately speculative adventurers traversed the interior of Germany, of which they previously knew only the frontiers and the coasts. Far from these ancient forests, and under milder skies, Hippalus discovered the character of the monsoons, and confiding in these winds, he ventured to shoot right across from Africa to India, and thus open up more prompt and ready communications. New light concerning Africa resulted from the expeditions of the Consul Paulinus into Sijilmessa, and of Cornelius Balbus against the Garamantes. The limits of the great desert were ascer- tained, and various oases cheered the eyes of the conquerors. All this knowledge, acquired since the time of Strabo, is found in the natural history of Pliny, who seems to have been ignorant of the geography of his predecessor, although conversant with that of many others, valuable fragments of which lie has preserved. 6 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE PROGRESS [Inteod. From the writings of Pliny, we perceive that we have lost Agrippa's description of the Roman Empire, to which we have already referred; as also the commentaries of king Juba regarding Africa, the relation of Statins Sebosus concerning the Fortunate Islands, and the Memoirs upon India, by Seneca. Pliny has no fixed opinions con- cerning the extent and figure of the earth ; he hesitates between Hipparchus and Eratosthenes. But ill informed of the length of the different stadia of the Greeks, Egyptians, and Babylonians, he counted them at the rate of 8 to the Roman mile ; whence resulted innumerable errors, which his want of critical skill still more in- creased. But in the midst of all these, there were an immense number of invaluable truths collected together for the first time in his great work. The geography of Pomponius Mela, who lived nearly at the same epoch, is neither more exact, nor better defined. Like Pliny, he compares nothing, but confounds old opinions with recent discoveries. He restored the system of Eratosthenes, and the doubt whether the Caspian communicated with the ocean. The course he assigns to the Oxus is correct : he knew that the Sarmatians had extended their possessions to the Baltic, and that Scandinavia was separated from the neighbouring islands : Herodotus was his guide respecting India and Scythia, or, in other words, his intelli- gence was not so advanced as that of many of his contemporaries. He followed, but as an unfaithful copyist, the Periplus of Hanno, the Carthaginian, for the coasts of Africa. He admitted the probability of the junction of the Nile and the Niger, but he rejected the hypothesis of the latter's subterranean course, so extravagantly de- scribed by the Roman naturalist. He places the source of his Niger or Nuchul in Ethiopia, and adds this important observation : " Whilst other rivers run to the ocean, this flows to the east, and the centre of the continent, where it is lost, without any one knowing where it ends." May it not be said that Mela anticipated, by eighteen centuries, the state of our knowledge of the Joliba ? It is probable it was in the first century of the Christian era that there appeared that Nautical and Commercial Itinerary, which is known under the title of The Peri- plus of the Erythrean Sea, and the abridged geography of Dionysius Periegetes, in the shape of a Greek poem. Another itinerary, by Isidorus of Charax, supplies many geographic details concerning the empire of the Parthians. Towards the close of the same century, the demands of luxury pushed -commerce into the north of Asia, as far as Serica, concerning which, a merchant named Titianus afterwards published some imperfect details. By the new Roman expeditions, it was made to appear that Africa extended southwards much farther than was usually supposed. Marinus of Tyre compared the authors who had written before him, and composed a complete body of geography, in which the new charts which he constructed are discussed ; but it is only through the extracts of Ptolemy that we are acquainted with his works. At the commencement of the second century, the conquests of Trajan extended the limits of geography. Dacia and Mesopotamia became well known ; and this is the period which gave"birth to some of those celebrated itineraries which the masters of the world caused to be prepared for the guidance of the marches of their troops, and the private possession of which was esteemed as the crime of high treason. The Itinerary of the emperor Antoninus, which has been attributed without proof to Ethicus, appears to be a collection of the ancient and modern maps of roads. The Itinerarium Hierosolymitanum seems to have been a map of roads given to some im- perial functionary ; the fragment of it which we possess indicates, in the most minute detail, the route from Bourdeaux to Jerusalem. Finally, The Table of Peutinger, more considerable than the two former, and which, according to Mannert, goes as far back as the reign of the Emperor Severus, comprehends in its extraordinary tracks, not only the Roman empire, but the farthest limits of the then known world, more especially towards the east, where we see the country of the Seres, the mouths of the Ganges, the island of Ceylon, and even roads traced in the heart of India. Finally, we arrive at the epoch when the geography of the ancients was attempted to be put upon a scientific basis, and in the hands of Ptolemy it rose to the height of a mathematical science. The work of this celebrated man is nothing more than a set of elementary and geometrical tables, on which the figure and extent of the earth, and the position of its various portions, are set down. The limits of the different countries are not marked, and the author but seldom gives any historical notice. His text appears to have been often corrupted by the negligence of copyists and editors ; but even after giving them the credit of many and great errors, very many still remain which really belong to the geographer, and these seem to have arisen from the measures which he used, and which made him miscalculate his longitudes. Nevertheless, with all its faults, the work of Ptolemy raises itself like a brilliant light-house in the dark Chap. I.] OF GEOGRAPHICAL DISCOVERY. 7 night of time. He displays to us in detail countries which never saw the eagles of Rome, and which were not thought of for ten centuries afterwards, except on the faith of his descriptions. After the publication of the work of Ptolemy, the inroads of the barbarians, both in the east and the west, originated some new opinions concerning the northern por- tions of Europe. The marches of Septimius Severus from the banks of the Euphrates and Tigris to the mountains of Caledonia, a. d. 209, furnished information concerning the east and the north. A portion of this additional knowledge escaped the injury of time, and is found preserved in the itineraries of which we have spoken, and in the histories of Ammianus-Marcellinus and Procopius. The former supplies us with intelligence concerning the nations of Germany and Sarmatia, for which we seek in vain in Tacitus, Pliny, or Ptolemy ; and Procopius gives us information respecting the people round the Black Sea and the Caucasus, which is the more valuable from having been collected by himself on the spot. In the sixth century, the north of Europe was, as it were, enlarged, by Sweden and Norway being introduced to notice. And this was the last advance made in ancient geography before the world sunk into the dark- ness of the middle ages. The irruption of the northern tribes into the Roman empire swept knowledge almost entirely from the face of the earth, and condemned it to sleep for centuries in mo- nastic recesses. The ignorance that prevailed was deplorable, and few appear to have had any acquaintance with geography beyond their own immediate neighbourhood. It would be unjust, however, to deny the services which were rendered to geography by the clergy of the middle ages. A zeal for their religion conducted them, as pilgiims or as missionaries, into the most distant countries, and the accounts of their travels, and of the wonders they had seen, furnished matter'for the pages of the monkish annalists. Emon, the Abbot of Werum, in his account of a crusade, presents us with the itine- rary of these militants from the Low Countries to Jerusalem. Saint Boniface gives some information respecting the people placed to the east of the kingdom of the Franks and of the Slavones, to whom he went to preach by order of the Pope. With the assistance of the letters of this courageous apostle, King Alfred, in the ninth century, composed the first complete description of the Sclavonian country. The missionaries and the commandants of the neighbouring frontiers brought intelligence successively of the nations upon the Oder and the Vistula. We now observe the Poles for the first time, they are noticed in the writings of Ditmar of Mersebourg, under the name of Poleni. It was attempted to plant the vine among the Slavi, a people whom the missionaries had been unable to convert, and Saint Otho was entrusted with the task. The inhabitants of the isle of Rugen did not treat him like the strangers whom they had repelled from their coasts, but received him gladly. This missionary, who had never heard of the Baltic, was greatly astonished at the vast size of this sea Anscaire, a monk of Corbie, under Louis le Debonnaire, penetrated into the country of the dreaded Normans, and travelled over Sweden and Denmark, which were before that time but little known. The detailed journal of his labours and dangers is now lost: but two centuries afterwards, Adam of Bremen laid it under contribution, and by uniting its observations with those he obtained from Sveno, king of Denmark, he compiled a very complete description of the kingdoms of the north. After the downfal of the Western Empire, the Greek cities of Italy still preserved their communications with Constantinople, and imported into their own country the rich products of the East. In the tenth century, the Venetians had opened a trade with Alexandria, in Egypt. The people of Amalfi and Pisa followed their example: and the intercourse thus renewed with the East was still farther increased by the crusading mania that hurried the European nations in shoals to the Holy Land. Ve- nice, Genoa, and Pisa, furnished vessels to carry them by sea, and thus brought into their own coffers all the wealth of the age. The effect of the crusade on geographical sci nee was most beneficial. It diffused among the nations of Europe a greater know- ledge of each other, and likewise made them acquainted with the countries and the people of Western Asia. Egypt, however, became shut against Europeans, in conse- quence of their hostility ; but as a compensation for this loss, the Venetians and the Genoese opened up and carried on a caravan trade with India and China, setting out from the shores of Syria and the Black Sea. The countries, however, traversed by these caravans, were in a great measure desert, inhabited only by wandering tribes, without cities or cultivated ground. These journeys were attended with both danger and fatigue, but very imperfect records of them are now remaining. Constantinople having been taken by the Latins in the fourth crus;ule, and held for several years by a Latin sovereign, the Genoese assisted the Greeks to recover their 8 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE PROGRESS [Introd. empire, which they effected in the year 12G0. In reward of this service, the Genoese obtained from the Greek emperor exclusive commercial privileges; and the Venetians, driven from the trade of the Black Sea, concluded a treaty with the Sultan of Egypt, in consequence of which Alexandria became again the emporium of Indian commerce, and so continued to be till the Portuguese discovered the route to India by the Cape of Good Hope, and opened up a direct communication with the countries that pro- duced the so-much-coveted spices and drugs of the Indies — a consummation which the Venetians, and their worthy ally the Sultan, did all in their power to prevent, by sending a powerful armament to India to crush the Portuguese ; but which expedition was signally defeated, and Venice and Alexandria fell in consequence into rapid and hopeless decay. During these turbulent ages, great commotions took place in Asia, and the Mon- gols and Tartars, under Zingis-Khan and his sons, overran almost every part of Asia, and even made their way into Europe. Great alarm was the consequence of these invasions, and several ambassadors were dispatched to the Tartar chiefs by the Pope, and other Princes of Europe, to endeavour to pacify them, and induce them to turn their conquests in some other direction. For this purpose, in consequence of a convocation of the clergy held at Lyons by Pope Innocent IV. in 1245, six monks were selected from the new and severe orders of Predicants and Minorites. John de Piano- Carpini and Benedict travelled through Bohemia and Poland to Kiow, and thence by the mouth of the Dnieper to the camp of Corensa, a Mongol general. Thence crossing the Don and the Volga, they came to the camp of Baatu-Klian, who sent them to the Emperor. The other ambassadors, Asceline, with Friars Alexander, Albert, and Simon de St. Quintin, went by the south of the Caspian through Syria, Persia, and Khorassan, to the court of Baiju-Nojan ; but it is only of the travels of Carpini that any account remains. In 1253, William de Rubruquis, or Van Ruysbroek, by order of St. Louis, king of France, commenced a journey in Tartary with a similar object. He passed through the Crimea, along the Volga and the shores of the Caspian sea, and arrived at length at the great camp of the Mongols, where he saw Chinese ambassadors ; and from them, and certain documents, he learned many particulars respecting the north of China, the most curious of which is, his accurate description of the Chinese language and characters. He returned by the same route, and arrived at Tripoli, in Syria, 15th August 1255. He is the first who mentions koumiss and arrack ; and he gives a very particular and correct account of the cattle of Tibet, and the wild and fleet asses of the plains of Asia. He moreover confirms the account given by Herodotus, so many ages before, of the separation of the Caspian from every other sea, a fact that had till now been overlooked or forgotten. But the most distinguished traveller of those times was Marco Polo. While the most powerful kingdoms in Europe were trembling at the proximity of the Tartars, the Venetians and the Genoese seem rather to have rejoiced at the prospect of find- ing new markets for their commerce among the new conquerors, and several of the merchants of both States began to try their fortunes at the courts of the Tartar princes. Two noble Venetians, Maffio and Nicolo Polo, were amongst the first to make the experiment. Having purchased a stock of jewels, they crossed the Black Sea in the year 1254, and found their way to the residence of the great Khan of the Tartars at Canbalu, the modern Pekin, the capital of China, where they were favour- ably received. Returning home as ambassadors to the Pope from the Great Khan, after an absence of fifteen years, Nicolo found that his wife had died, leaving a son named Marco, who was now approaching the age of manhood. Accompanied by this youth, the two brothers again set out from Venice, on a new journey into the East, in the year 1271 ; and after a long and wearisome travel, they arrived at Pekin, where the Khan received them with honour, took young Marco under his protection, and made him an officer of his household. Marco adopted the dress and customs of the country, and made himself master of the four principal languages then in use in the empire. By his talents and accomplishments he soon acquired a great degree of influence at court, was employed on missions to the most distant provinces, and even held, for the usual period of three years, the high rank of Governor of Yang-chou-fou, in the province of Kiang-nan. After a residence of seventeen years, the Polos felt a desire to revisit their fatherland ; but the emperor being unwilling to let them go, they contrived to leave China by stratagem, and returned by the way of the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf, whence they journeyed through Trebisond and Constan- tinople, and reached Venice in the year 1295, after an absence of twenty-four years. Having thus traversed so great a part of both the continent and the seas of Asia, Chap. L] OF GEOGRAPHICAL DISCOVERY. 9 a person of the talents and accomplishments, and high official rank of Marco Polo, must have possessed the most ample information concerning those distant regions. He seems nevertheless to have taken no measures to make his geographical knowledge extensively known, and to prevent it perishing with his own life ; for it was only during a long captivity as a prisoner of war at Genoa, that one of his companions in misfortune procured from him that account of his travels which has come down to our times. The three Polos were the first Europeans who are known to have visited China. The recital of Marco Polo is generally the result of personal observation, though reports of others are sometimes so intermingled with the text, that it is often difficult to distinguish what belongs to the traveller, and what to his informer ; hence con- siderable uncertainty pervades the account of his route, and of many places which he visited. But still his text remains a rich mine of information. He dilates on the industry of Bagdad, on Georgia, Tauris, and Persia, and was astonished at their silk manufactures. Of Badakhshan, remarkable for the extraordinary salubrity of its climate, he celebrates the flocks of wild sheep, the swift horses, and the mines of precious stones, which supplied the balass ruby, the lapis lazuli, and other minerals. Our naturalist observed, that on the mountains of Belur, where the atmosphere was highly rarified, fire burned with less vivacity and strength. He accurately described tha animal which supplies the musk, and the great pheasant. His details upon Bokhara and China are those of a geographer. He traversed a great portion of the provinces of this vast empire ; and although he does not describe them all, he gives us a rapid sketch of its most important towns, of Cambalu or Pekin, of Nankin, and of the town of Quinsai, the largest in the world, and whose countless inhabitants consumed 24 quintals of pepper a-day. He mentions the commerce of Canfu with the Indies and the Spice Islands. He says nothing of tea, but does not forget porcelain. He mentions also the cowrie of the Maldives. He is astonished at the scarcity of silver in China, and at its high price compared with that of gold. He also speaks of their paper money, and of the dearness of furs ; and coal, or black-stone, as he calls it, does not escape his observation. He has also preserved some curious details of the North of Asia. He was informed that the soil of these northern countries was composed of morasses, which continued to be covered with snow and ice for the greater part of the year ; that instead of chariots, the inhabitants employed small sledges, which were drawn by rein-deer ; and finally, that the most precious furs were there found in abundance. By these traits we recognise Siberia. Marco Polo is the first who gave any account of Bengal to Europeans ; but whilst speaking of its fertility, of the beauty of its cottons, of its sugar, and crops of rice and indigo, he seems to confound it, as well as Pegu, with the provinces of Cathay. His narrative includes the towns on the western and eastern sides of India, but is silent concerning those in the interior — an omission which was probably intentional, for he treats largely concerning many things in these countries. He was not ignorant of the castes in India, nor of the aversion of the Hindoos to the sea, nor of the man- ner of travelling in palanquins, nor of the voluptuous dances of the courtesans, nor of the scarcity of horses in these countries. Japan he named Cipangu, according to the Chinese appellation Shibyn. He places 740U islands in the sea of Cin. He also knew by report of Great Java (perhaps the island of Borneo), which abounded in spiceries, to purchase which, it was resorted to by the Chinese. His smaller Java, where he remained five months, is unquestionably the island of Sumatra, and eon- cerning it he supplies very abundant information. His notice of the island of Malaiur, and of the town of the same name, proves that he had heard of the Malavs, who had spread themselves as far as the other side of Molucca. His navigation in the Indian seas appears to have led him to Nicobar and Andaman, who-e inhabitants he characterizes as man-eaters, and cruel towards strangers. He also mentions Ceylon, and the pearl fisheries. As to Madagascar, and the eastern coasts of Africa, he knew them only from the Arabian writers, and amuses himself by repeating many of theii fabulous stories. On the traces of this intrepid traveller, and of the missionaries who had preceded him, other Italian merchants followed, among whom Pegoletti (1345) particularly de- serves to be named. His itinerary is curious as a commercial route, and indicates the course which the merchandise from Azoph followed on its transit into China. This line traverses the middle and eastern parts of Asia, Azoph, Astracan, Saracanco or Suratschick, in Tartary ; Ourghenz, in Kharizm ; Otrar. in the neighbourhood of Bok- hara; Almalekh (Al Malik) in the Lesser Pukharia; Khami (Kan-Tcheou), neat the great wall of China j and Cassai, perhaps Quinsay, now Ilang-Tcheou-fou. The limit 10 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE PROGRESS [Introd of the travels of Pegoletti in the East, appears to have been Cambalu or Pekin, named Gumalecco in the itinerary. He describes his route in returning with equal minuteness, and it appears to have been the common one followed by the caravans of that time, when returning to the shores of the Mediterranean from India. Religion, politics, and commerce, those three great stimuli to all great enterprises, continued, during the 14th and 15th centuries, to direct general attention to Central Asia. Among the travellers and geographers of the former part of this period, we shall only name HaTtho, Oderic of Portenau, and Mandeville, who have added few truths and many errors to the information accumulated by Marco Polo. " The Oriental History" of HaTtho comprehends a general geography of the prin- cipal States of Asia, with the exception of the peninsula beyond the Ganges, and the neighbouring islands. Like Mandeville, he places a certain kingdom of Tarse be- tween China and Turkistan. He gives the name of Igours to its inhabitants, among whom he recognised some professing Christianity, who made use of peculiar letters. His map of Turkistan, and his remarks on the manners of the Chinese, are alike dis- tinguished by their fidelity. It is evident that he has put Rubruquis and the other travelling monks under contribution, and that he has availed himself of the writings of the Mongols. Animated by an ardent zeal, and devoting himself to the labours of far distant mis- sions, Oderic of Portenau proceeded towards Asia. Arriving at Constantinople, he crossed the Black Sea, landed at Trebisond, travelled to Ormus, and embarked at this port for the coast of Malabar, where he remained sometime. The islands of Ceylon, Sumatra, Java, and Borneo, were successively visited by the indefatigable missionary. He landed upon the southern coast of China, and traversed that vast empire, from south to north, to reach Kambaleth (Pekin.) His route in returning was nearly that which Marco Polo had pursued in going ; and it is equally difficult to follow him in this portion of his travels, which terminates in Thibet, and adds scarcely anything to the information previously acquired. Some new facts concerning the coast of Mala- bar, the culture of pepper, the ancient custom in India of women burning themselves along with the bodies of their dead husbands, and accounts of the religious practices of the Hindoos and the penances of their yogies, appear to be all that merits being extracted from his tedious narrative. One feature of his narrative is particularly re- markable : he affirms the truth of many of his recitals with the solemnity of an oath, and these portions are by no means the least difficult of belief. Sir John Mandeville, an English knight, traversed Asia at the same time as Oderic, and the agreement of their narratives leads us to suppose that they had copied from each other, or had derived their information from the same source. It was the fashion at that period to extol the wonders of the East ; and Mandeville, wishing to become more inti- mately acquainted with them, left England in 1327, passed through France, and reached Palestine. Far from fighting like a good knight against the infidels, he en- tered the service ©f the Sultan of Egypt, and followed the Great Khan of Cathay in his wars against the king of Manci (southern China.) His itinerary is the same as that of Oderic ; and he also draws from the geography of Hai'tho, and transcribes largely from the old chronicles of the time. The contemporary monks have been accused of some of these additions, but probably Mandeville himself wished to im- prove upon the wonders of his predecessors. He finds his monsters m Pliny, and his miracles in the legend. In his work, we find islands inhabited by giants fifty feet high, and certain demons, who, from the tops of the mountains, vomited flames of fire upon the passing travellers ; and also a certain lamb which was brought forth by a melon. He places his Prester John in the city of Susa, and the history he gives of him seems mixed with Indian traditions. In his travels there is very little real geography, with the exception of some new details concerning Egypt and Palestine. Though the taste for that kind of fables continued to predominate throughout the 14th century, yet the narratives of the 15th century began to get rid of them. Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo appeared at this time, as a truthful and well-informed traveller. Sent as ambassador to Tamerlane by Henry III. king of Castille, he embarked for Constantinople on the 21st March 1403; thence he crossed the Black Sea to Trebi- sond, and then by Armenia, the north of Persia, and Khorassan, to the city of Samar- cand, near to which Tamerlane was encamped. He fully describes the fetes which were given him by the conqueror, and this sketch may serve to convey an idea of the .A history and industry of this period. In his work there are likewise very carious detail? of the "commerce of the East. That of Samarcand was then flourishing, and I ! B ?sians and Tartars came to exchange their hides, furriery, and linens, with the silks, musk, precious stones, and rhubarb of Cathay. Tauris also, then rich and ener Chap. I.] OF GEOGRAPHICAL DISCOVERY. 11 getic, received the same articles, and exchanged for them those products of Europe which were carried thither by the Genoese. Sultania also was still a considerable market, being the grand entrepot between Persia and India. Clavijo is the first who makes us acquainted with this mode of commercial intercourse between India and Europe. He is also the first of the travellers of the middle age who rejects all pro- digies from his narrative, and his work contains the only information we yet possess concerning some parts of Asia. The work of Schildberger, a German, who followed Tamerlane in his conquest?, is too vague and too incorrect to throw any light upon geography. More instruction may be found in the travels of Josaphat Barbaro, a noble Venetian, who was sent by the Republic to Tana, in the year 1436; and to Ussum-Cassam, king of Persia, in the year 1473. He traversed a great part of Tartary during his former absence, which lasted for sixteen years. After this he visited the principal towns of Persia, such as Shiraz, which then contained 200,000 inhabitants; Yezd, which was enriched by its silk ma- nufactories; Strava, or Estrava (the Astrabad of our day), which was then bustling, commercial, and populous. His details concerning Russia are not devoid of interest. The duchy of this name was then without power, and far from populous, and Moscow inclosed vast spaces covered with woods. He exhibits Georgia devoid of its ancient civilization, and preserving no other trace of it than great corruption of manners. "What he says of the tribes of the Caucasus, is unintelligible ; and the names in this part of his narrative are too much altered to be at all useful. Barbaro terminates this long succession of travellers, who, from the 13th to the end of the loth century, traversed the interior of Asia; and it was by uniting their partial discoveries, and their different itineraries, that the geographers of those several epochs attempted to pourtray the whole of the earth. It was with the help of these incomplete materials that Martin Sanudo, Pietro Yisconti, the brothers Pizigani, Gi- raldis, Pareto, Bianco, Bedrazio, Bonincasa, Martin Brazl, F. Mauro, the authors of the voyages of the brothers Zeni and of Marco Polo, and some other geographers whose names are unknown, designed those rude charts, in which we find combined both the recent discoveries and the opinions of the ancients, distorted by ignorance, and accommodated to the necessity of filling up vacuities, or supporting absurd hypo- thecs. In many of these charts, Europe, Asia, and Africa, are represented like a vast island. Africa is terminated to the north of the equator, and in this position is washed on the south by the sea, as Eratosthenes and Strabo had believed, and whose ideas were still maintained in Western Europe. These charts of Sanudo and of Bianco represent the greatest number of European kingdoms, and trace the States of the north which are joined to Russia by a long and very narrow tongue of land. The figure of Southern Asia is quite shapeless, and the Tartars occupy the north of this portion of the globe. We find, in other charts of the epoch now under review, some vague indications of the discoveries which were made in the west of Europe and Africa, in the 11th, Pith, and 13th cen- turies. There is an island named Antilia placed to the west of the Canaries in several of these charts, and especially upon those of Bianco, Bedrazio, and Pareto. The learned Buache has endeavoured to prove that this Antilia was no other than one of the Azores ; and he partly grounds his opinion on the fact, that there appears to be a great proximity in their situations. The charts of Bianco might give rise to this senti- ment, which is, however, overturned by the inspection of Pareto's map, with which the French geographer was not acquainted. On this latter, Antilia is found at a very considerable distance from the ancient world, and quite to the west of the Atlantic Ocean; and it is even maintained by some well-informed men. that it was a know- ledge of this Antilia, fabulous or true, reaching Columbus, which prompted him to his glorious enterprise. There may be also seen in the maps of the 14th century, a delineation of the eastern coasts of Africa, before the discoveries of the Portuguese, which might lead us to suppose that these bold mariners, in doubling Cape Nun or Non, and advancing south- wards, only navigated a sea which had been already visited. A map of 1340, which i< written in Castillian. represents Cape Bojador as a known point, and that navi- gators had passed it. A manuscript, preserved at Genoa, contains the record of an i xpedition which sailed from Majorca about the same time, with the purpose ot reach- ing the mouth of a river called Vedumel or Rut Jaura, probably Rio-do-Ouro. The Canary Islands appear on this map of 1340, probably taken from the descriptions ot the Arabs ; and even the island of Madeira appears upon another map, under the name of Isola de Let/name, the Island of Forests, the true meaning of the name it now bears. 12 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE PROGRESS [Introd. Europe was now fast awakening from her long- intellectual slumber, and the early years of the 15th century witnessed the first of those systematic attempts that resulted in the discovery of the way to India by Da Garaa, and of the New World by Colum- bus. The Moors and the Arabs held possession of great part of Spain for nearly seven centuries. They conquered it almost at once, but were driven out very slowly. As one province after another was recovered by the Christians, each successful leader established a new kingdom for himself. Among these were the kings of Portugal, who, not content with expelling the Moors from the Peninsula, followed them into Africa. In 1415, King John I., attended by his sons and principal nobility, made a descent upon Africa, took Ceuta, and at his return, appointed his fifth son, Don Hen- riquez Duke of Viseo, to be governor of the new conquest. Don Henry was an able and active-minded prince, well versed in all the learning of the age, and he appears to have very early contracted a passion for maritime discovery. While residing in Africa, he received much information from the Moors respecting the interior and the tribes beyond the desert, and justly concluding that these might be reached by sea, he resolved to overcome by perseverance the difficulties of the navigation. So early as 1406, Don Henry had already taken up his residence at Sagres, near Cape St. Vincent, with the purpose of gratifying his passion for discovery. His regard for religion also led him to endeavour to destroy or diminish the power of the infidels, and his patriotism to acquire for Portugal that Indian commerce which had enriched the maritime states of Italy. Hitherto the farthest limit of navigation along the coast of Africa was Cape Nun, scarcely 300 miles from the Strait of Gibraltar. In 1412, the prince sent out his first vessel to explore the coast, and continued to send one every year, till at last his mariners succeeded in doubling Cape Nun, and making their way to Cape Bojador, the dangers of which were too formidable to allow them to pass. Accident, however, effected what the skill of his mariners had failed to perforin. In 1418, one of his ships was driven out to sea by a storm, and after they had given them- selves up for lost, the crew discovered an island, to which, in token of their fortunate escape, they gave the name of Porto Santo. The neighbouring island of Madeira was soon afterwards discovered ; and the Portuguese, emboldened by this first success, made their way from point to point along the coast, till at length their perseverance was rewarded by the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope, round which lay the road to India. This was effected by Bartholomew Diaz, in 14S6, twenty-three years after the death of the illustrious prince to whose enlightened zeal all these discoveries were owing. Diaz gave the cape the name of Tormentoso, on account of the terrible storms which he had encountered ; but the King, Don John II., at his return, ordered it to be called by the better-omened name of Cabo de Boa Esperaza, Cape of Good Hope. In 149G, Vasco-da-Gama, with a fleet, passed the cape, and arrived at Calicut on the coast of Malabar. Under the skilful and intrepid conduct of Albuquerque, Da- Castro, and Almeida, the Portuguese, within a few years, explored the farthest shores of Asia, and established their dominion along all the coasts of the Indian Ocean. By and by they were followed by the Dutch and the English, who wrested their empire from them ; and now, out of their wide-spread possessions in Asia, the city and small territory of Goa in India, and the town of Macao in China, are all that remain to Portugal. The glory of Columbus, who only completed what Don Henry had so well begun, and so perseveringly carried on, has eclipsed the fame of his master. The discovery of America occupies so prominent a place in the history of the world, that it seems to be regarded as an isolated event, to be entirely ascribed to the genius of the man who made it. So far, however, was this from being the case, that the way had been prepared for Columbus by the preliminary voyages of the Portuguese. Every thing was now ripening for this great event, and America seems to have been destined to remain no longer hid from the eastern world ; for, only seven years after the first voy- age of Columbus, the Portuguese Admiral, Pedro Alvarez Cabral, who commanded the second expedition to India, was driven by the wind so far out of his course as to reach the coast of Brazil, till then unknown. No part of the history of geography is better known than that which narrates the voyages of Columbus. He sailed from Palos, a small sea-port of Andalusia, on the 3d of August 1492 ; in thirty-three days landed on Guanahani, one of the Bahamas ; and, on his return, discovered the large islands of Cuba and Haiti. In his second voyage he discovered Jamaica ; in the third Trinidad, and the continent of America, near the Oronoco ; in the fourth and last, he explored a part of the shores of the Gulf of Mexico. In the meantime the discovery of America by other voyagers was rapidly Chap. I.] OF GEOGRAPHICAL DISCOVERY. 13 advancing. In 1499, Ojeda, a follower of Columbus, sailed for the New World, accompanied by a Florentine of the name of Amerigo Vespucci ; and this gentleman having published an account of the voyage, and modestly called the country he had seen America, after himself, the world adopted the appellation, and thus Columbus was robbed of the honour of giving his name to the new continent. Immediately preceding the important events we have so rapidly narrated, the geo- graphical knowledge possessed by the nations of western Europe was very limited. In fact, the somewhat vague knowledge of the far East, communicated by Marco Polo and other travellers, was almost the only addition made to what had been handed down from the Greeks and the Romans, iceland, indeed, was known, but no ship had yet sailed beyond Norway; and all the countries to the east of the Black Sea and the Baltic were still unexplored, although some of them might be known by name.' But all at once the face of the world was changed. In less than thirty years after the first voyage of Columbus, the farthest east and the farthest west had met ; and for the first time since the flood of Noah, the earth was proved to be, what geometers had suspected, a globe, and not, as Homer and Hesiod and most barbarians have ima- gined, a disk. The way once shown, ambitious spirits were soon attracted to the new career of maritime discovery ; and so early as 1497, or thereabout, for the time is not precisely known, Giovanni Cabota, a Venetian in the service of England, or his son Sebastian, explored a large portion of the coast of North America, from Newfoundland to Vir- ginia. The object of these voyages was still to find a western passage to India. With this view, Pinzon (one of the captains of Columbus's first voyage) crossed the equator, and explored the coast of South America as far as the Gulf of Paria. In 1500, Corte-Real, a Portuguese, sailed towards the coast that had been explored by Cabot, visited Newfoundland, entered the Gulf of St. Lawrence, coasted Labrador as far as Hudson's Straits, to which he gave the name of Anian, — a strait which the geographers of the 16th century supposed to be the passage to the great ocean, the search for which led to many expeditions which contributed to the progress of geo- graphy along the coasts of North America. But it was not at this epoch that they sought this passage only by the north-west. Many attempted it by the south. The coasts of South America were accordingly scon explored, and Juan Diaz de Solis perished in a voyage of this kind, after having discovered the Rio-de-la-Plata. In 1513, Vasco Nunes de Balboa, having descried the great Pacific Ocean from the top of a mountain on the Isthmus of Panama, proceeded to the coast, and, wading up to his middle in the sea, took possession of the wide expanse for the King of Spain. The Portuguese, after their successful discovery of the East Indies, obtained from the Pope a grant of all the countries they might discover ; and, after the third voyage of Columbus, the King of Spain applied for and obtained a grant of the same kind. But as it was necessary to draw a line between the two rival nations, the Pope fixed upon the meridian of 27£ c west of Ferro; all the countries to the east of that line being tn belong to Portugal, all to the west to Spain. The kings, however, of the two countries, for their mutual accommodation, fixed the line of demarcation 370 leagues west of the Cape Verd Islands ; and, supposing the globe to be equally divided be- tween the two favoured potentates, the Molucca Islands, which the Portuguese had already occupied, were clearly situate within the hemisphere belonging to Spain. The Portuguese would not give them up ; and this dispute gave occasion to the first voyage round the world. Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese gentleman, who had served in India under Albuquerque, and visited the Moluccas, proposed to the king of Spain to sail to those islands by a westerly course, and thus establish the Spanish right to the possession of them, even upon the principle acknowledged by the Portuguese. The King of Spain, Don Carlos I. (better known as the Emperor Charles V. of Germany, a personage who never allowed .any scruples of honour or conscience to stand in the way of his interest), or perhaps his ministers (for the king himself was then only nineteen), agreed to the proposal of Magellan, who accordingly sailed from * The honour of having been the first discoverers of America is also claimed by the Norsemen, and with some show of probability, though we have not mentioned the circumstance in our t.'\t. as, perls speaking, it forms no part of the history of geography. The histories of Snorro-Sturleson, Torfaeus, and Arngrim, and the Icelandic Chronicles, have all preserved the memory of the discoveries of Lief, the son of Eric Rauda, and Biorn, the son of Herjolf, who, in the year 1001, sailing I south-west of -Greenland, fell in with a country, to which, from its producing wild grapes, they gave the name of JVinland dat Gode, or \\ ineland the (iood. A col. my was soon afti rwarda formed, and a r uiar trade-carried >n for some time between Winlandand Norway ; but ire long the communication was dropped; the. colonists appear to have^become extinct, and the situation of the country cannot now be pointed out. Of the certainty of the discovery there can be no doubt ; but as it led to nothing:, and was itself forgotten for nearly live centuries, it can hardly be allowed to detract li'^ni the well- earned glory of Columbus. 14 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE PROGRESS [Introd. Spain in the year 1519, with five ships. In the course of his voyage he discovered and sailed through the strait that still bears his name, and made his way across the* Pacific Ocean to the Philippine Islands, where he perished in a skirmish with the natives. His companions continued their voyage to the Moluccas, where they found plenty of spices, and then returning home by the Cape of Good Hope, reached Seville after an absence of 1154 days. Twenty-six years had elapsed since the first voyage of Columbus, when vague ru- mours of the grandeur and opulence of Mexico excited the cupidity of the Spaniards. Grijalva, having been charged to make some observations on Yucatan, had discovered, in 1518, part of the eastern coast of New Spain ; and Cortez forthwith prepared to invade this great country. In three years he conquered it ; and, fifteen years later, Peru was conquered by Pizarro. Cortez was possessed of eminent talents ; his mind was open to generous feelings ; with much zeal he sought for a passage to the north of America, similar to that which Magellan had discovered in the south. He did not succeed, but made the discovery of California, and of the Vermillion Sea. The search for this supposed strait was prosecuted with ardour, and produced some real discoveries. Rodriguez Cabrillo, a Portuguese in the service of Spain, pushed as far north as the 44°, and designated a cape there Mendocino. Francisco Galli ad- vanced to 47° 30', and discovered part of the coast which by the English of the pre- sent day is named New Georgia and New Cornwall. The English themselves entered into the pursuit, and commenced with great success. In 1578, Drake, a most skilful mariner, passed through the Straits of Magellan, buffeted by the tempest, and advanced into the South Sea, where unknown lands presented themselves to his view. He discovered, under the name of the Islands of Elizabeth, the western part of the ar- chipelago of Tierra del Fuego ; perhaps he even reached the southern extremity of America, to which, at a later period, the Dutch navigators assigned a name. The winds ceasing to detain him in seas he had no desire to explore, he sailed to the north, and visited the coasts already seen by Galli and Cabrillo, and which he called New Albion. He then crossed the Pacific, discovered a few islands, and arrived at Ports- mouth, after an absence of 1501 days. Twenty years afterwards, these coasts, as far as Cape St. Sebastian (42°), were examined by Sebastian Viscayno, who discovered the harbour of Monterey; and one of the ships of his squadron, commanded by Flores, went as far as the 43°, where the mouth of a river or bay appeared : this was at a later period converted into a strait, which received the name of Martin d'Aguilar ; but neither the strait, nor the river, nor the bay, were ever afterwards again discovered. We have already spoken of the voyages of Cabot and of Corte Real. Other navigators followed them ; and if their attempts were equally fruitless, they had yet the effect of enlarging the domains of geography. Ponce de Leon discovered Florida ; Jean Denis and Cosmant extended the chart of Newfoundland ; Thomas Aubert reclaimed the first "Savages of Canada; Verazzani, in the service of Francis I., navi- gated the coasts of the same country, reached the 50° of latitude, and returned with- out establishing a colony. Jacques Cartier was the first to explore the gulf of St. Lawrence ; he ascended the river 360 leagues from its mouth, gave to the country the name of Nouvelle France, and made the circuit of Newfoundland. It was now the year 1534, and the Strait of Anian had hitherto always escaped discovery. For several years, all attempts were interrupted ; but the belief of its existence was strongly maintained by most navigators, and soon those of England renewed their research. In 1577, Frobisher, in seeking for this passage, again found the southern part of Greenland, which he called Westfrieseland, and passed through a strait situated in the 64° of latitude, formed by some islands in Hudson's Bay, a strait which has been erroneously placed in Greenland. His countrymen pursued the same course. Sir Humphry Gilbert reached the harbour of St. John (in Newfound- land), and examined the country which extends southwards. The unfortunate Raleigh visited a part of the coast of North America, which received the name of Virginia, in honour of Queen Elizabeth. Other navigators of the same kingdom pushed far north of these latitudes. Among the most fortunate and intrepid of these was John Davis, who distinguished himself by continuing the labours of Frobisher on the west coast of Greenland, in 1585-1587. During his first voyage, he penetrated as far as 66° 40', and discovered an arm of the sea, called from him, Davis Straits. During another voyage he advanced to Disco Island, and on the west coast discovered Cum- berland Straits. The ice proved an impenetrable barrier between Iceland and East Greenland, and the most advanced point he reached seems to have been Sanderson's Hope. Twenty years later, Hudson, one of the most eminent mariners of modern Chap. I.] OF GEOGRAPHICAL DISCOVERY. 1.5 times, visited these frozen regions, and continued the investigations of his predeces- sors. During his first voyage he ascended to a higher latitude than had previously been attained on the western coast of Greenland ; in 1609 he discovered the river in New York which bears his name ; and, in the year following, the great internal sea, called from him Hudson's Bay, where he was abandoned by his crew, and left to perish in a boat. Thomas Button was sent for the purpose of relieving him ; but the journal of this navigator has not been published, although it appears that he traversed a portion of Hudson's Bay, discovered the river Nelson, and made some important observations on the tides. This sea was explored in the year 1615 by Bylot ; and he returned the following year in search of the north-west passage. William Baffin accompanied him as pilot , and this voyage is one of the most remarkable whicli the history of geography pre- sents. Bylot and Baffin penetrated beyond Davis Straits ; they sailed along the coast northwards, and there discovered Horn Sound, Cape Dudley Diggs, Hakluyts Island, Sir Thomas Smith's Sound, Cary's Isles, and the Sounds of Alderman Jones and Sir James Lancaster. They advanced beyond the 74° of latitude, and their disco- veries were doubted ; but Captains Ross and Parry, two centuries afterwards, proved their accuracy. Those who immediately followed them executed nothing of much moment. This was true of Fox's expeditions : the voyage of the Dane, Jean Munk, disclosed a new gulf, which he named Mare Christianeum, and a coast, which he named New Denmark. These discoveries are to be found in Welcome Bay. During this period (1608), Samuel Champlain founded the French colony of Canada ; and sixty years afterwards the English Hudson's Bay Company was esta- blished. A desire to discover a shorter route to the Indies had excited all the endeavours we have just been enumerating ; and it was with the same hope and end that other attempts were made by the north-east of Europe. It was imagined, that through these high latitudes they would soon reach the Chinese seas, and thus abridge the distance to the Spice Islands. Connected with the execution of this bold idea, and the hazardous undertakings to which it led during the 16th and 17th centuries, we find the names of Willoughby and Chancellor, Stephen Burrows, and Arthur Pet, Charles Jackman, Barentz, Hemskerk, Cornelissen, Ysbrantz, Bennel, Jonas Poole, and others. If the icy barrier resisted the efforts of ail these intrepid mariners, it could not prevent them from penetrating into the permanent abodes of winter. The White Sea, which had been visited by Ochthere in the eighth century, and afterwards for- gotten, was discovered of new, and opened up a new commercial route between Archangel and England and Holland: the northern coasts of Nova Zembla were dis- covered and visited; the Strait of Vaygatz was explored; and Spitzbergen, the last known land of the north, appeared upon the maps of the Polar Sea. We have already remarked that Cortez had attempted to discover a passage by its north-west coast ; and it would appear that about the same time he had thoughts of exploring the great ocean ; at least the second voyage of Grijalva, which was under- taken by his orders, seemed to have had this destination. The result is but inaccu- rately known. It has been thought that he discovered a portion of Papua, as it was supposed that Saavedra discovered New Guinea. The voyage of Magellan had de- monstrated that it was possible to navigate from the coasts of America to the eastern shores of Asia. It was conceived that, in the west of this vast extent of sea, there existed rich islands of gold, and in the south a great continent, which was made to approximate the equator, more or less, according to the system of the geographer who represented it. The expedition commanded by Mendana, and which sailed from Callao de Lima on the 10th January 1568, was less meant to verify these conjectures, than to reach the Moluccas by the shortest way. Mendana took his course directly across the great ocean, and calculated it at 1450 leagues; and the discovery of many islands rewarded his perseverance. In this group, which he placed between the 7° and 12° of southern latitude, the land or island of Guadalcanal, and the islands of St. Christoval and Isa- bella, were particularly distinguished. It was on this land that the first mass was sung which was heard in these islands of the southern ocean. This voyage, the most im- portant of those undertaken by the Spaniards since the discovery of the New World, gave origin to the greatest number of those fables with which their historians enter- tained Europe for more than a century. They did not forget to identify these new islands with the golden islands, of whose existence they had satisfied themselves ; they gave them the name of the Isles of Solomon ; and their position was for a long time one of the most uncertain and obscure points in geography. De Brosscs, Pingre, and 16 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE PROGRESS [Intiiod. Dalrymple, have made this archipelago travel from Tierra del Espiritu Santo (Holy Ghost Land) to New Britain, with which the learned Englishman supposed it iden- tical. It is now believed, owing principally to the labours of Buache and of Fleu- rieu, that the Isles of Solomon are no other than the land of Arsacides of Surville, or the New Georgia of Shortland, of which Admiral d'Entrecasteaux completed the survey. The object of the second voyage of Mendana was to establish a colony on these isles of Solomon ; but the art of determining the latitude and longitude was at that time so much in its infancy, that the Spanish navigator could not find his own discovery. However, he made new ones. He had the honour of first naming the Marquesas de Mendoza ; he visited the islands of St. Barnardo, which Byron, in 1767, called Danger Islands ; he also discovered the island of Santa Cruz, which Carteret afterwards named Egmont, and which is the largest of those that form the group of Queen Charlotte's Islands. It was in this last voyage that Quiros, the friend and companion of Mendana, con- firmed the idea of the existence of a southern continent, which, we have seen, conti- nued to be the vague belief of the geographers of the day. Neither Magellan nor Gallego had suspected a continent in this part of the world, nor had the search for it been the object of any particular expedition ; but the discovery of Santa Cruz made Quiros believe that this unknown continent had at last been found. In two memoirs which he presented at the time to D. L. de Velasco, we find for the first time a scien- tific and learned discussion upon this great question, which did not cease to be agitated till the days of Cook, Surville, and Weddel. Geography was indebted to Quiros for the discovery of a great many islands, and after his days the Pacific no longer appeared to be an immense waste. Had he been encouraged and supported by a government solicitous for true glory, and less avaricious for gold, Quiros would have been the Co- lumbus of the ocean. The greatest number of the discoveries of this able navigator have since been confirmed ; his Dezana was rediscovered in the Onasbrugh of Wallis ; his island of Sagitaria corresponds to the Otaheite of Bougainville and Wallis ; his Neustra Senora de la Luz, to the Pic de VEtoile of Bougainville; and his Tierra Aus- tral del Espiritu Santo is the same as the New Hebrides of Cook. To this voyage of Quiros we must attach that of Louis Vaez de Torres, one of the captains of his fleet. Having been separated from the admiral in a storm, on quitting La Tierra Austral, he skirted along the shores of an extensive region for the distance of 800 leagues, and then reached the Phillipines, where he gave an account of his discoveries. As in this navigation Torres could not for 800 leagues coast along any other place than the southern shores of New Guinea, it follows that he was the first to pass through the strait to which Cook, its second discoverer, gave the name of Endeavour Strait. Such were the concluding efforts of Spain to increase our acquaintance with the world : Mendana, .Quiros, and Torres, terminate the list of those intrepid navigators of the bright days of her power. But before this, the patient Dutchman, indefatigable and brave, had sallied forth among the northern ice ; he had spread his sails in the eastern seas, in the Indies, and in the Molucca Islands he had established numerous factories. The founding of these establishments manifests that it was less with the view of cultivating science, than that of promoting commerce, that he embarked in these pursuits. It was with the same view that he followed out the discoveries of the Spaniards in the great Pa- cific. With the intention of reaching the Moluccas without doubling the Cape of Good Hope, the celebrated voyage of Le Maire and Schouten round the world, in 1615, was undertaken. For the first time the southern extremity of America was passed, and Cape Horn (so called from the town of Horn, from which they had sailed), became, as it were, the fellow of the Cape of Good Hope. Statenland was discovered ; and Le Maire had the honour of giving his name to the strait which separates this island from Tierra del Fuego. The quickest and safest route was thus discovered, and the voyages round the world have ever since lost their character of danger. The navigation of Le Maire in the Pacific brought a sea spotted with islets and rocks to light, which was named the Bad Sea (Mer Mauvaise), at no great dis- tance from the dangerous islands of Bougainville. He also discovered, in the northern part of the same group, the islands Sonder-Grondt (without bottom — so called be- cause they could find no soundings along its coast), Waterland, and Vlieghen (Fly) Island. His course then led him between the Friendly and the Navigators Islands, where four small islands still preserve the names which were then for the first time given them, viz. the Traitors, the island of Good Hope, the Cocos, and De Hoorn. It is to be regretted, that in changing the course which had hitherto been followed, Chap. I.] OP GEOGRAPHICAL DISCOVERY. 17 and turning their head northwards, the prudence of Schouten prevailed over the zeal of Le Mai.e; for had they continued in the same latitudes, the honour of finding again the lands of Quiros, and of reaching the eastern coast of New Holland, would have rewarded their perseverance. The course of his countryman Tasman, in 1642, was much better chosen. This great navigator, who was instructed to ascertain the extent of that great southern continent, of which the Portuguese and several Dutchmen had already visited certain portions, fully justified, by his numerous discoveries, the confidence which was reposed in his talents. He enlarged the limits of geography, by examining the northern Van Die- men's Land as well as the southern ; also Van Diemen's Island, and the western coast of New Zealand, which he named Staten-landt ; he also surveyed the Friendly Islands, the Fidji Islands, and many others. He gave the name of New Holland to the north- west part of this great continent, which he had been the first to witness ; and he commenced the examination of the east, north, north-west, and west coasts of this vast land. By his first voyage he dissipated the notion that those portions which Edel, Leeuwin, Carsten, Nuyts, and De Witt, had previously discovered, extended indefinitely to the south and east ; and in his second, he determined the extent of the great gulf of Carpentaria. The name of Van Diemen, which Tasman gave to several of his discoveries, was that of the governor of Batavia ; and this statesman richly merited the honour. He was solicitous of extending the possessions and commerce of the Company who em- ployed him, and geography reckons him as one of its protectors. It was he who, after the first return of Tasman, in 1643, directed Captains Vries and Schaep to proceed to the north of Japan, and in these boisterous seas to endeavour to make discoveries. Before this voyage, geographers represented the famous land of Jesso in a very extra- ordinary way : they made it a continent or very large island between Asia and Ame- rica, and even joined it to what was then called Russian Tartary. Meanwhile the Chinese missionaries had furnished some details concerning the island Saghalien, and concerning the existence of a strait called Tcssoi. Le-Pere-des-Anges had stated that the land opposite to the island Saghalien was called the land of Aino Moxori, and that it was separated from Japan ; but doubts still existed concerning the junction of Jesso with Saghalien. We shall erelong find that La Perouse dispelled these doubts, and that Broughton pointed out the strait of Sangaar such as it is now known. The discovery of some of the southern Kuriles also belonged to this expedition of Captain Vries. Between this last voyage, and the first Spanish ones to the Caroline Islands, to which little attention was paid, forty-three years, quite barren of discoveries, passed away; and the 17th century appeared to be manifesting the same inaction, when Dampier, who united all the boldness of a buccaneer with the science of a geographer, appeared on the scene. We owe to this celebrated navigator our first knowledge of the Bashee islands, of which he has given a complete description. He discovered, in 1699, and 1700, Shark's bay, in New Holland, and surveyed the north-west part of this con- tinent to the extent of three hundred leagues, which more lately has been examined by the French vessels Le Geographie and Le Naturaliste, and, more lately still, has been visited by Captain King. He was the first to penetrate the strait which sepa- rates New Britain from New Guinea, and which bears his name. He very much in- creased our acquaintance with this great island, and showed the extent of its northern coast ; he also made some other minor discoveries in these seas, and upon the shores of New Ireland : he likewise reached Ceram by a course which till then was unknown. Such is a review of his labours. During the 16th and 17th centuries the inhabitants of Western Europe were not the only people who were engaged in the search for undiscovered lands. The same adventurous disposition animated the inhabitants of the shores of the Frozen Sea. In 1636, Russian vessels descended the Lena, and coasted along the shores of this terrible northern ocean. The shores of the eastern ocean were thus reached, in 1629, by Dimitri Kopilaw ; and, in 1646 and 1648, Bomyschlan and Deschnew went from the Kovima to the Anadyr, and doubled Cape Tchoukotskoi. These remarkable voy- ages were then but little known, and many a long year elapsed before these maritime discoveries of the Russians were turned to any account. The ideas of the Greeks and Romans regarding the configuration of the earth had now disappeared, from the day in which Columbus discovered the New World, and Gama passed those limits which had arrested the genius of the ancients, and Magellan had succeeded in convincing the multitude that the earth was a globe. The necessity of abandoning the vague plan followed by the authors of the early planispheres was B 18 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE PROGRESS [Introd. then perceived, as well as the necessity of determining the position of places hy rind- ing their distance from the equator or from the first meridian ; but many accurate observations were required before this plan could be executed. The system of Ptolemy was too deeply rooted speedily to give way, and it was at first attempted to effect an accommodation between it and the newly discovered facts. The surveys of the pilots and hydrographers who accompanied the first navigators, were had recourse to, but without any great profit ; because the required science was wanting, by which to take the benefit of these limited observations, and, taken detached, they appeared as errors in the general maps. The maps of Appian, Ri- beiro, and Gemma Frisius, were the first which represented the newly-discovered hemisphere. Sebastian Munster collected in his atlas all the discoveries of his time, and received the name of Strabo from his contemporaries. Finally, Ortelius infused some order into the science. He was the first who separated the modern geography from the ancient : he did much for both, and displayed much erudition even in his cartography. The map of the world, which he placed at the commencement of his Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, exhibits a system very different from that of Ptolemy. Mercator, though less learned, yet being a better mathematician, employed with much decision the few facts which existed at his time ; and he is the true founder of scien- tific geography. He placed it upon a solid foundation, and left it in the hands of Cluver, Riccioli, and Varenius. Thanks to these celebrated men, erudition, astro- nomy, and high physical science, now became the auxiliaries of geography : it was then seen what it would be, when, rich in facts, it left the path of vain conjectures. Sanson, Blaeu, and Buraeus, followed with success the footsteps of their masters, and began to exercise much care in the details of geographical charts, the general appear- ance of which likewise was much improved. Statistics, too, a secondary branch of the science, the commencement of which we have seen in the middle ages, engaged the attention of Sansovino, Bativo, and Davity. Germany was not long before it manifested its superiority in this department. Conring, who prosecuted it with ardour, soon did more and better than had been done before him. The Elzevirean Republics, which are a specimen of the statistical labours of this age, prove that the limits of that branch were as uncertain as" incomplete. At the beginning of the 18th century, geography was indebted for its progress to a zeal independent of conquest, and free from all mercantile consideration. Noble and perilous enterprises were undertaken without any other object than the increase of the knowledge already acquired, and to convey to unknown nations the benefits of arts and industry ; accurate criticism and minute examination, as well as advanced civilization, influenced research, and illuminated it with their lustre. About the year 1722, the belief of southern continents, still in all its force, led to the voyage of Roggeween, who thought he had discovered one in Antartic New Bri- tain, but which tuxned out to be nothing more than one of the Falkland Islands. He also imagined that the ice-fields which he encountered at the 62° south, were attached to a continent ; a second error, which Debrosses subsequently adopted. Roggeween named it Easter Island, and it was supposed to be the land seen by Davis ; this was the opinion of Cook and Dalrymple, though not that of Fleurieu. His navigation of the Mer Mauvaise brought to light a group of islands, which were a portion of the Palliser Islands of Cook, but which, at the time, only led to the not very important discovery of the islands of Bauman, Roggeween, Tienhoven, and Groningen, the very position of which is uncertain, but which Fleurieu placed between 8° and 15° south, ■and between the 158° and 160° west from the meridian of Paris. The course of Roggeween was badly selected ; he crossed that of Quiros, and nearly followed that of Schouten, than which he could not have done worse ; although this reflection might be made against several of the navigators who followed him. It would seem, that in quitting a western course, and striking towards the north, they were anxious to avoid New Holland. Nevertheless, the time in which great discoveries were to be made in the Pacific Ocean had now arrived. Lands without number were about successively to appear, like a vast archipelago between Asia and America. Byron, Wallis, and Carteret, succeeded one another in this career. The discovery of the Falkland Islands, and of several smaller ones, such as the Danger Islands, and that of Disappointment, are the results of the voyages of the first of these. The other two occupy a more important place in the annals of the science. Wallis again found, in the beautiful Otaheite, the Sagitaria of Quiros, and made us acquainted with the southern chain of the Dan- gerous Archipelago. Carteret touched at the island Santa Cruz of Mendana, ap- proached the famous Isles of Solomon, and first passed through St. George's Channel Chap, t] OF GEOGRAPHICAL DISCOVERY. 19 between the New Britain of Dampier, and the land which from that time received the name of New Ireland. At the same time that these fortunate navigators were giving names to unknown lands, and opening new paths for the navies of Europe, Bougainville, who had passed the early part of his life in camps, and who devoted the rest to gaining distinction on the sea, sailed through the Dangerous Archipelago of Wallis, and landed upon the shores of that Tai'ti of which he fancied himself the original discoverer. This would have been an additional honour : but sufficient remains for his glory, and to procure for him the gratitude of his countrymen. He was the first Frenchman who, by cir- cumnavigating the globe, enriched science with important discoveries. He made known, and for the first time named, the beautiful Navigator's Archipelago, the lands de la Louisiade, the north-west coast and the northern point of the Archipelago of Arsacides or Solomon ; and refouiul in the great Cyclades a part of the Tierra Austral del Espiritu Santo of Quiros. It is sufficiently absurd that the belief of an imaginary island, near to America, and rich in the precious metals, should have revived, at the interval of two centuries, and should have led to the expedition of Surville in 1769, as it gave birth to that of Mendana in 1569 ; and it is another caprice of fortune, that the same error should have conducted both navigators towards the satne regions. The identity of the Archipelago of Solomon's Islands and that of the Arsacides, seems to be all but demonstrated. In 1769, Surville made the discovery of the greatest part of the line of coast on the south-east, east, and north-east, of those lands which Lieutenant Shortland discovered on the opposite coasts in 1788. But the first navigator of the 18th century, Cook, whose name is universally popu- lar, had already appeared in the Pacific. His labours were immense, and they possessed the highest scientific interest; whilst it is only just, at the same time, to add, that he did not make so many discoveries, in the accurate sense of the word, as improve and digest that which was already known. His first voyage exhibited New Zealand in its true light and bearings. He proved it was composed of two islands, and he gave his name to the channel which divided them. He discovered a portion, and examined with care the greatest part of the eastern coast of New Holland, commencing at the northern point of the strait which divides it from the island of Van Diemen, which had not previously been perceived, and proceeding to the northern extremity of that long line of coast, which then received the name of New South Wales. His second voyage, which was undertaken for the purpose of examining into the existence of a southern continent, nearly resolved a question which had been agitated for two centuries. It was by it proved that there was no land, of any extent, on this side of the 71° of southern latitude. In this memorable voyage he visited many parts of New Zealand, and of the Archipelago St. Esprit of Quiros ; he also surveyed with care the Society and the Friendly Islands, and discovered New Caledonia on its east- ern side. His third expedition had also in view the determination of certain great geogra- phical questions. The voyages of the Spaniards to the north of California, and of i he English in Hudson's Bay, had still left the north-western parts of America in ob- scurity ; and there was also a want of accurate information concerning those parts of Asia which approximate to the New World ; and the possibility of entering the Pacific from Hudson's Bay, and the existence of a passage into it by the north of Asia, still remained undetermined. The Russians, whose labours during the 16th and 17th cen- turies we have recounted, had, in fact, endeavoured to resolve one part of the prohlem. During the earlier part of the 18th century, they had continued their expeditions on the northern coasts of Siberia, and then, in 1724, had perceived a great polar land ; but both the charts of d'Isbrand Ides, of 1693, and those of Strahlenberg in 1736, gave a very imperfect representation of their discoveries. Behring, in 1728, after having traced all the northern coasts of Kamtshatka, sup- plied the first notions concerning the separation of the two continents. His second voyage, in 1741, led him much too far to the south on the American coast, where he discovered the Cape St. Elias, and the same uncertainty remained concerning the ex- tent of the sea which separated it from Asia. In fact, it was not determined whether the lands which were opposite to Kamtshatka, and of which a vague apprehension existed, formed a part of America, or were only intermediate islands between the two continents. Such was the state of the question in Europe, when Cook offered his services in resolving it. His navigation along the north-west coast, proceeding from 30° north of Cape Mendocino up to Behring Straits, Mas not so carefully conducted as 20 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE PROGRESS [Introd. to decide that the American continent within these limits was not at all interrupted : but if he did not prove this fact, he very unhesitatingly conjectured it. In his pro- gress into the middle of the straits, he did not lose sight of the American coast ; and had not the ice arrested his progress in lat. 70° 44', and prevented his pursuing his course northwards, he would have explored the Polar Sea, and determined the trend of the northern coast of the New World. This last voyage of the great navigator augmented, in other points, the mass of geographic information. Cook undertook the examination of New Zealand, and of the Society and Friendly Islands ; he also increased our knowledge of the peninsula of Alashka, and of the Aleutian Islands, first named in 1745 by Novozilzoff. He dis- covered the Sandwich Islands, and was remarkably delighted with his success in this last particular , he delights to dwell, in his journal, on the beauty of these islands, and the advantages which they promised to mariners ; and of course did not foresee that he was actually writing an eulogium upon his tomb, and that he was doomed soon to perish under the blows of those who were now receiving him as a god. The whole world seemed to sympathize in his fate. But far from repressing the zeal of mariners, this remarkable event only afresh rekindled it ; and a desire to acquire renown in maritime discovery became the am- bition of all the enlightened nations of Europe. Louis XVI. who was anxious for the well-being and the glory of his people, and whose acquaintance with geography was both extensive and profound, originated the expedition of La Ptirouse, and himself traced out the plan. Some of its scientific results are known : but the fate of the French navigator and of his intrepid companions long remained like one of the mys- teries of the dead ; nor was it till lately ascertained what land saw their shipwreck, their agonies, and death. The efforts of La Perouse on the north-west coast of America, in 1786, added additional information to that which Ayala, la Bodega Quadra, and Captain Cook, had procured. This coast, from Mount St. Elias, in about 60°, was investigated by going southwards as far as Monterey, and a harbour, which had escaped the observa- tion of Captain Cook, received the name of Port des Francais; and many other parts, which had only imperfectly been looked at, were now examined with care. The second important part of the expedition of La Perouse, in 1789, was the survey of the seas of Japan, which includes that of the islands of the same name, and of the eastern coasts of Tartary ; and here he did much for the science, as all the doubts and uncer- tainties which had hitherto prevailed concerning this part of the globe were nearly entirely dissipated. The seas between Tartary and Japan were examined as far north as 51° 30'; and the separation of the island Saghalien from the coast of Tartary, by a channel which became straiter and less deep as it advanced to the north, was finally determined. The discovery of the Straits of Perouse, to the south of Saghalien, ac- complished the demonstration that Jesso was an island, being on the south separated from Japan by the Straits of Sangaar, which had long been known. By these re- searches also, the northern coast of Japan resumed its true position as to the latitude. These seas were again explored by Krusenstern and Broughton ; the latter of whom, in 1797, passed through the Straits of Sangaar, and laid down the coasts as they are known at the present time ; he also ascended some leagues farther northward than La Perouse, and supplied geographers with ample grounds of discussion, by maintaining that the alleged straits between Mantchouria and Saghalien had no existence, and that this land is a peninsula. Krusenstern did not come near this channel ; but he visited that which is to the north of the mouth of the river Saghalien ; he also care- fully surveyed the south-east and northern coasts of the land which bears this name, and also the western coasts of Jesso island, which preceding navigators had not visited. What remained unfulfilled of the instructions of La Perouse was performed by d'- Entrecasteaux, who surveyed the whole of the western coasts of New Caledonia and of the island of Bougainville ; also the northern part of the Archipelago of Loui- siade, and nearly 300 leagues of the south-west coast of New Holland ; that is to say, the whole of the land of Leeuvvin, and nearly the whole of that of Nuytz. He like- wise discovered, to the south of Van Diemen's Land, a number of channels, roads, and harbours. He determined the identity of the islands of Solomon or of Mendana with the land seen by Surville and Lieutenant Shortland. Whilst he was engaged in this voyage, commerce, by its useful toil, was doing much to advance geography. From 1785 to 1792, among the English, Hanna, Lawrie, and Guise, Meares and Tipping, Portlock and Dixon, Barklay, Colnett and Duncan, Grey, an American, and E. Marchand, a Frenchman, attracted to the north-west coast of America by the fur trade, made some discoveries there. Marchand also supplied Chap. I.] OF GEOGRAPHICAL DISCOVERY. 21 some additional information concerning the group of the Marquesas, and carefully examined the Sandwich Islands and the Mariannes. During the same period, Billings and Saritcheff, in the service of Russia, Bustamante, Galiano, Martinez, and Haro, in the service of Spain, also visited the same American coasts as far as the 60° north. Malespina surveyed some parts between 57° 1', and 59° 94', and determined many positions in the neighbourhood of Nootka Sound. This separate and piecemeal in- formation, however, did not determine the question of the continuity of the continent, which was thus reserved for the persevering zeal of Vancouver. This able mariner, the companion of Cook in his second and third voyages, ex- amined with the greatest care the whole of the north-west coast of America, from California to Cook's Inlet. He discovered, that to the north of the 49°, the whole coast is skirted by innumerable islands, and that the inlet of Jean de Fuca only ter- minated in a strait which led back to the ocean. In passing the island of Quadra and Vancouver, he observed that to the south of Monterey the country presented a double chain of mountains, of which that nearest to the sea is the lower. He examined with minute care the Archipelago of King George, and that of the Prince of Wales, the Admiralty Islands, &c. This voyage, in which the Spaniard Quadra took a part, de- monstrated that the idea of a north-west passage was a chimera ; and that no com- munication fit for the transport of vessels existed between the Pacific and the interior of the continent, nor were there any practicable channels between this sea and the Atlantic. But the negative solution of this question was not the only result of these expeditions : the exploring of New Holland along a line nearly as extended as that surveyed by Entrecasteaux, the discovery of King George's Sound — of the island of Oparo, whose inhabitants resembled those of the Friendly Islands — and the accu- rate survey of the Sandwich Islands, were labours which would have been sufficient to signalize a less distinguished navigator than Vancouver. The voyage of Kotzebue, in one of its most important results, connected itself with this last expedition. This able officer of the Russian marine took the Rurik through Behring's Straits, and found, to the east, in latitude 67°, a bay which ex- tended southwards to 66°. To him also we are indebted for the discovery of Radak Islands, which form the north-east extremity of the Mulgraves, a chain which connects the Carolines with southern Polynesia, and which till then had only been noticed in passing. But leaving the coasts which were thus made known and determined, the zeal of navigators led them to make original investigations, and we are now to trace the progress of geography on the shores of New Holland. Bass and Flinders made their appearance there about the close of the 18th century. Furneaux, the companion of Cook, had without doubt seen the large strait which separates Van Diemen's island from the main land. Bass observed it alone in 1798. Flinders and he united their exertions to make an accurate survey of the channel, and of the coast of Van Die- men's Land. Flinders explored the bays of Hervey and Glasshouse, and, in the years 1801, 1802, and 1803, the southern coasts of New Holland, the Straits of Torres, and the Gulf of Carpentaria, and thus proved himself one of the best sailors and most dis- tinguished hydrographers of his day. Whilst Flinders was executing with so much success and ability the operations he had undertaken, Le Gcoy raphe and Le Naturalist, commanded by Baudin, and with whom were Freycinet and Peron, were sailing in the same seas, and meriting praise by observations not less difficult, nor less ably conducted. It is especially on the west and north-west coasts of New Holland that we must look for the principal results of the French expedition, which, besides, enriched every branch of natural history with almost an inconceivable number of specimens in the three kingdoms of nature. To it, al.-o, geography is indebted for accurate statements with regard to Timor, and some other neighbouring islands. It was reserved for Captain King to do for New Holland what Vancouver had done for the north-west coast of America ; and during four years, from 1818 to 1822, he prosecuted his painful and laborious investigations. He has pointed out a sure and easy course in Torres Straits, and determined a line of coast, 690 miles long, between Cape Hillsborough and Cape York. The geography of the north coast, and of a por- tion of the north-west, has been completed from the Wessel, beyond Cape Villarct, as far as George the Fourth's Harbour. He also pointed out a long succession of archi- pelagoes, running along at no great distance from the continent; and his observations on the tides in this neighbourhood have led him to conjecture, that in this line of 510 miles behind these archipelagoes, and thus almost unknown, great inlets of the se.i must one day be discovered. 22 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE PROGRESS [Introd. With the voyage of Captain King, above alluded to, is connected the increase of our geographic knowledge concerning the Mariannes, Timor, Ceram, the Moluccas, and the Caroline islands. Many of the islands of this archipelago, not indicated on the chart, were visited by L' Uranie. A new island, surrounded by dangerous reefs, was discovered to the east of Tonga, and a great number of positions were rectified, and, amongst others, those of Danger Islands, Pylstart, and Howe. The expedition of Captain Duperrey, during 1822-1825, connected itself with the preceding voyage, of which, in some degree, it was a continuation. The results ob- tained on this occasion were not of less scientific importance. If La Coquille, like L' Uranie, made no brilliant discoveries — the happy lot of the mariners of the 18th century — it was only because the possibility of encountering r:ew lands necessarily di- minished every day. The great features of the whole globe are now known, and details alone remain as objects of pursuit : we are in the age of perfecting knowledge hastily acquired ; and it is by the excellence of our instruments, and our methods of observation, that the navigators of the 19th century must acquire their celebrity. The expedition of La Coquille has at the same time enriched our charts with the addition of some new discoveries. The Islands of Duperrey, the Isle d'Urville, in the neighbourhood of the MacAskill islands, and the island of Clermont-Tonnerre, at the western extremity of the Dangerous Archipelago, were all named for the first time. This vessel also revisited a great many places in different parts of the globe, and rectified many errors which existed concerning them. As among the more important, we shall mention its visit to the Series Islands, and the Dangerous Archipelago ; to Ine, Vayag, Syang, and Waigieou in the Papuan Archipelago ; to Joyi and Guebe, in the Molucca Archipelago ; to Dog, Volcano, Weter, Babi, Cambi, Ombai, and Pen- ter, belonging to the Timorian Islands ; and to Borabora, and some other points of the Society Islands. During this expedition, the geography of the Carolines was also reviewed with care. The island called Strong, or Oualon, first seen by the American Captain Crozer, was resorted to for the first time by a European vessel ; and St. George's Channel, between New Ireland and New Britain, as well as the north-east port of New Zealand, were examined and ascertained with precision. Such is a dry enumeration of some of the principal results of the voyage of Captain Du- perrey. Whilst the two French navigators were ploughing the seas, and examining the islands of Western Asia, Mr. George Smith, the captain of an English merchant ves- sel, penetrated as far as the 62° 30' south, and discovered, under west longitude 62°, a group of islands which he designated South Shetland. They were without inhabi- tants, and almost without vegetation, and might almost be regarded as the last southern limits of animated nature. But the point which Captain Smith had reached was very soon surpassed by Captain Weddel, who had formerly frequented, the southern seas. After visiting South Shetland, he discovered to the east of them the South Orkneys ; and then navigated, amidst icy islands, as far south as 74° 15', under longitude 35° 20' west, into an open sea, where he observed many whales, and countless numbers of sea-fowls. Other islands have since been discovered by Captain Biscoe. In recounting the labours of a period which puts no limits to its investigations, our transitions must be rapid, like the march of science — and sudden, as we desire to embrace everything. We must transport ourselves, therefore, from the Southern Ocean to the Polar Seas, where the most courageous endeavours succeeded each other. By naming Behring, formerly mentioned, Morovief, OfFzin, Roskelef, Feodor Menin, Prontschistschef, and Schalauroff, we point out the active part taken by Russia during a portion of the 18th century, in exploring the north and north-eastern coasts of Siberia and the islands in its neighbourhood. The exertions of these different mariners embrace a period of forty years, from 1728 to 1770. It ought to be observed, that of all the endeavours made by those we have just mentioned to double Cape Tchoukotskoi, not one of them succeeded: in fact, it had not been done since 1648, during the voyage of the Cossack Deschneff. Nevertheless, these repeated efforts had this important result, that they rectified many serious errors concerning the line of the coast of Siberia ; and a great many points intermediate between the Straits of Waygatz and Cape Schelatskoi were better determined by these perilous and difficult navigations. Is it certain, then, that the inhabitants of western Europe could not reach Behring's Straits but by the Pacific, rounding Cape Horn? and is the passage so much sought by Corte de Real, Hudson, and Baffin, undiscoverable ? Were the discoveries of these last imaginary ? Where did those of Hudson stop to the north and west ? Was it with propriety that some geographers defaced from their maps the :oasts of that sea of which Chap. I.] OF GEOGRAPHICAL DISCOVERY. 23 Baffin had detected the limits? What really are the western coasts of Greenland? are they prolonged indefinitely towards the pole, or, trending to the west, may thev then be traced ? Such were some of the principal questions which were canvassed by the maritime nations of Europe since the early years of the 18th century. In endeavouring to resolve them, Knight, Barlow, and Vaughan, between 1719 and 1722, did actually nothing. Middleton, in 1741-2, advanced into north latitude G6° 14' by 86° 28' west longitude, but still was not more successful. However, he made us more familiar with the northern ports of Hudson's Bay, and especially with that deep creek between Cape Dobbs and Cape Hope. The examination of the same localities by Captains Moore and Smith, in 1746, is the only result of their voyage which might have become useful to science, if, directing their course more to the north, they had reached the icy Straits of Middleton, since recognised as the Repulse Bay of our charts. With these attempts, those of Hearne and Mackenzie must be united, whose travels, though undertaken by land, had truly a maritime object in view. These courageous travellers reached two points in latitude 69°, upon the hyperborean shores of America; but what immense intermediate spaces between the ley Cape of Cook, Mackenzie's River, Hearne's, and the last determined points of Repulse Bay! If we were writing a dry catalogue, other names would require to be introduced; but we must here pass over in silence those attempts which yielded no results : we must limit ourselves to the statement, that the voyages of Captain Phipps, and of the Davies, Lowenorn, Egede, and ltothe, have established the fact, that an impenetrable wall of ice flanks the eastern coasts of Greenland, and that a never-ending winter pro- hibits all approach to it. It might have been thought that so many vain attempts would have banished the north-west passage into the number of hopeless speculations. But this was far from being the case in England, where it continued to have many partisans amongst geo- graphers, as well as among practical mariners. The British Government yielded to the suggestions of these two classes, and fitted out the first expedition of Captains Ross and Parry ; and the recognition of the shores of Baffin's Bay, such as that great mariner had described them, was the result. Ross penetrated into Lancaster Sound, but did not advance ten leagues ere he imagined he saw land to the west which de- barred his further progress. He then turned ; but his opinion found dissentients in the expedition, and did not afford satisfaction in England. Parry, accordingly, was again fitted out to ascertain whether Ross or public opinion were right. He entered this unexplored Sound of Lancaster, which he speedily found to be a strait running directly west. He entered into this prolongation of the former, calling it Barrow's Straits, and discovered Prince Regent's Inlet on the south, and traversed it as far as 72°, when he returned to the north, and sailed in a polar sea, where the islands of Corn- wallis, Bathurst, Melville, and some others, successively presented themselves to view. The ice finally stopped him at 110° west longitude, and forced him to return. Thus, although the object was not yet attained, still the geography of these high latitudes underwent a complete change. The whole of the region to the north of Lancaster's Sound, and to the south as far as Labrador, was found to be intersected with in- numerable channels and islands, and Greenland was proved to be detached from the continent of America. Parry quitted England a third time in 1821. He reached Hudson's Bay, penetrated into the icy straits of Middleton, and into Repulse Bay. He for the first time en- tered Lyon's Inlet, a narrow arm of the sea which ran into the continent, and termi- nated in Ross's Bay. Winter arrested his progress for eight months in the harbour of Winter Island ; after which he quitted it to proceed further north. He doubled the point of Melville's Peninsula, and went through the Strait of the Hecla and Fury, in the 70" degree north, and so reached the Polar Sea. He did not go farther west than the 85° in this voyage, the principal results of which were an accurate retracing of the former discoveries of Bylot, Baffin, Middleton, and Fox, the discovery of the north-east portion of Melville Peninsula, and of the Hecla and Fury Straits. The impossibility of clearing the strait, on account of the western currents, which bring along with them enormous masses of ice, proved, that if the north-west passage be not an absolute impossibility, yet it is wholly useless for all the practical purposes of navigation, whether attempted along the northern shores of America — by passing be- tween Melville Peninsula and Cockburn's Island — or by attempting Regent's Inlet — or, finally, by any other existing courses to the west and south of Melville Island. The fourth voyage of Parry had for its object to reach the north pole over the ice; but natural obstacles prevailed over the most ardent zeal for discovery, and he accom- plished nothing. 24 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE PROGRESS [Introd. Captain Franklin was dispatched to America in 1819, to second on land the efforts of Parry, and chose for the centre of his operations the points which were deter- mined hy Hearne. He then descended the Coppermine River, entered the Polar Sea, and proceeded eastward as far as George the Fourth's Coronation Gulf, at nearly the siime latitude as Repulse Bay, and which seemed to extend to the south-east, as if to connect itself with Chesterfield's Inlet. His second expedition, in 1825, had a double object in view. On reaching Mackenzie River, half of his party, under the command of Richardson, were to examine the coast intermediate between this river and the Copper-mine ; and the other half, under his own command, were to examine the coasts between Mackenzie's River and the Icy Cape of Captain Cook. Complete success attended the former branch of this expedition ; and Franklin himself was just on the point of reaching the last place visited by Cook, when the peremptory charac- ter of his instructions compelled him to stop about 10° east of the Icy Cape. While Franklin and Richardson were exploring the coasts of America by land, Captain Beechy, in the ship Blossom, was employed to co-operate with them by sea ; and, in the summer of 1826, he explored the north-west coast from Kotzebue Sound to Elson's Bay, 126 miles north-east of Icy Cape, and only 146 from Franklin's west- most point. He likewise surveyed, in his progress to and from Behring's Straits, many of the islands and coasts of the Pacific Ocean. Captain Ross, stimulated perhaps by Parry's success, and wishing to retrieve the credit he had lost by his unlucky mistake respecting the termination of Lancaster Sound, succeeded, by the aid of a private friend, in fitting out a small expedition for discovery, with which he left England in May 1829. He was no more heard of till the autumn of 1833, when his party made their escape from the ice that had detained them so long, and reached in safety the very ship, the Isabella, with which he had explored Baffin's Bay in 1818, now employed as a whaler, and which had been search- ing for him in Prince Regent's Inlet. The extent of his new discoveries was not great. Besides reaching the magnetic pole, he surveyed the eastern and part of the western coasts of a land to which he gave the name of Boothia- Felix, in honour of Mr. afterwards Sir Felix Booth, to whose assistance the expedition was chiefly owing. Public feeling in Britain having been strongly excited to ascertain the fate of Ross and his crew, an expedition was fitted out by private subscription, and put under the charge of Captain Back, who left England in February 1833, with instructions to search for Ross in the first place, and afterwards to explore so much of the neigh- bouring seas and countries as his time and opportunities would permit. The results were, " the determination of the physical aspect of the country north-east of Great Slave Lake, and the contribution of some additional facts regarding its coast line." While these expeditions were in progress in the northern parts of America, geogra- phical science was rapidly advancing in other parts of the world. The officers of the British navy, let loose from the toils of war by the long-continued peace, have been more usefully employed in surveying the seas and coasts of almost every accessible country; and by the zeal and intrepidity of private adventurers, as well as of public officers, large accessions have been made to our knowledge of the interior regions of both Africa and Asia. We should now take notice, in due order, of the journeys of those travellers, who, during the last four centuries, have contributed so materially to the progress of our acquaintance with the various countries of the earth ; but our limited space would allow us to give nothing more than a useless list of names ; and, besides, many of these will necessarily be mentioned, and perhaps more appropriately, in our descriptions of the countries that have been illustrated by their labours. We shall therefore conclude our sketch with a brief account of the more distinguished of those dauntless spirits who ventured, and many of whom sacrificed their lives in a series of expeditions more dangerous still than the northern voyages, and, for a long time, with as little prospect of a successful result. Africa, though lying so near Europe, and apparently so easily accessible from the shores of the Mediterranean sea and the ocean, has ever been the reproach of Euro- pean geography. The Roman conquests included all the regions of Barbary between the sea and the desert, and even of the interior their travellers seem to have acquired some knowledge ; for Ptolemy, the geographer, describes a number of great rivers, lakes, and mountains, westward from the Kile, which have been generally understood to have been in the modern Negroland. Afterwards, at an early period of the middle ages, the Arabs, hurried on by the spirit of enterprise as well as of fanaticism, pene- trated across the desert, and explored, subjected, and colonized, a large tract of the central regions. Several descriptions of these kingdoms are extant in the Arabic Chap. I.] OF GEOGRAPHICAL DISCOVERY. 25 language, but which, being till lately unknown in Europe, contributed nothing, di- rectly at least, to the progress of geography. Early, however, in the 16th century, Hasan- Ibn-Mohammed-al-Gharnati, better known by his Christian name of John Leo Africanus, a converted Mahometan, at the request or command of his patron, Pope Leo X., wrote, in Arabic, a description of Africa, which was immediately translated into Italian, and published by Ramusio in his great collection ; and having been soon translated from the Italian into French and other European languages, spread the knowledge of these countries among the learned of Europe. In the same century, the Portuguese, after having explored the coasts of Africa, penetrated into Abyssinia, and for some time maintained a communication with that country; but for two cen- turies later, no further progress was made by Europeans in exploring the interior. In 1769, James Brice, of Kinnaird, a Scottish gentleman of high lineage, and cor- responding stature, after having been British consul at Algiers, and travelled through Barbary and Syria, conceived the design of penetrating into Abyssinia, and visiting the sources of the Nile. Accordingly, in November of that year, he entered the country, and in the November following (1770) he reached the springs of the Bahar- el-Azreek, or eastern Nile, to the south-west of Gondar, but had the mortification to learn, on his return to Europe, that he had been anticipated in his discovery by Payz, a Portuguese missionary, who had visited the same place in 1618. His account of his travels was, moreover, attacked on all hands by envious cavillers, and, upon their authority, discredited by people who could not judge for themselves. His reputation, like that of his great brother travellers, Marco Polo and the Father of History, who was considered for many ages to be little better than the Father of Lies, suffered severely ; but every day, of late years, has been bringing to light new proofs of his veracity ; and his claim to be considered as one of the most distinguished of modern travellers will now hardly be disputed. In 1793, Mr. W. G. Browne, an English gentleman, an enthusiastic traveller, penetrated into Dar-Fur, a country to the west of Abyssinia, and procured the first distinct accounts of the origin and early course of the great western branch of the Nile, the Bahr-el-Abiad. Though he returned in safety from this daring enterprise, he afterwards perished in his vocation, having been murdered while on a journey in Persia in 1813. In 1788, an association was formed in London to promote the discovery of the inland parts of Africa. Their first missionary was John Ledyard, an American, who had been round the world with Cook as a private marine, and had afterwards travelled on foot to the extremity of Siberia. The love of travelling seems to have been with him a disease : when Sir Joseph Banks first communicated the views of the association, he engaged in their service at once, and offered to start " to-morrow morning." He proceeded forthwith to Cairo, where he remained some time to qualify himself for his perilous enterprise. By conversing familiarly with the caravan merchants, he gained and transmitted to his employers a great deal of new information concerning the in- terior, but was carried off by a bilious fever before he could begin his journey. Their next missionary was Lucas, in 1789, who failed in an attempt to cross the desert from Tripoli, but acquired considerable information respecting the countries he had intended to visit. In 1791, Major Houghton, also employed by the association, at- tempted to explore Africa from the Gambia, but perished, or was murdered near Jarra, on the borders of Ludainar and Kaarta. In 1794, Foota-Jallo, near the west coast, was explored by Messrs. Watt and Winterbottom, two gentlemen in the service of the Sierra- Leone Company. The next, and the most distinguished, missionary of the association, was Mungo Pauk, a native of Selkirkshire, in Scotland, and a surgeon by profession. In De- cember 1795, he left the British settlement on the Gambia; and on the 21st of the following July reached the banks of the Niger — the grand object of his journey — . " glittering in the morning sun, as broad as the Thames at Westminster, and flowing glowly to the eastward." He afterwards proceeded down the river to Silla, a large town on its south bank, 18° east of Cape Verd, on the same parallel ; but there find- ing himself exhausted with sickness, hunger, and fatigue, half naked, and without any article of value to procure provisions, clothes, or lodging, and the fanaticism of the Moors, and the tropical rains, presenting insuperable obstacles to his farther progress, he determined to return to the coast ; and accordingly reached the Gambia, after an absence of eighteen months — a successful result, to which the benevolent attention of a slave-dealer, named Karfa Taura, was mainly instrumental. In September 1799, Frederick Horneman, a German, who had been educated at Gottingen, and offered his services to the association, left Cairo, under their patron- 26 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE PROGRESS [Intuod. age, penetrated through the desert hy Siwah and Fezzan, and procured much infor- mation concerning the interior countries, which he carried to Tripoli. He returned to Fezzan in January 1800; and on 6th April of the same year, he wrote home that he was upon the point of setting out with the caravan to Bornou. No intelligence of his subsequent proceedings was ever received from himself, but Captain Clapperton learned, many years afterwards, that he had died at NyfTe. In 1804, Park was again employed, and received the charge of a large party of ar- tificers and soldiers, accompanied with every requisite for the journey, the object of which was to explore the Niger to its termination, wherever that might be ; though Park himself was firmly persuaded that it was nowhere but in the ocean, and probably at the Zaire, or river of Congo. He left the Gambia in the summer of 1805, and reached the Niger, after a difficult and disastrous journey of five hundred miles. Be- ing assured of protection by Mansong, the king of Bambarra, and having received his permission to build a boat at any part of his dominions, Park chose Sansanding for the purpose ; and having succeeded in building a large schooner, which he named the Joliba, he set out on his adventurous voyage on 17th November 1805. No farther intelligence was ever received from himself; but it has been since ascertained that he perished, through the hostility of the natives, at a difficult passage of the Niger, near Boussa. In 1811, Timbuctoo was visited by Adams, an American sailor, who had been shipwrecked on the coast, and made a slave by the Moors; and in 1815, Riley, an American shipmaster, having also been wrecked, met with a merchant, named Sidi Hashem, from whom he learned many particulars concerning the course of the myste- rious Niger. All eyes were now turned to the Zaire as the most probable outlet of the great river; and in 1816, an expedition was fitted out, under the charge of Cap- tain Tuckey, for the purpose of exploring its upward course. But the commander himself, and many of his party, having died of fever, the expedition was abandoned by the survivors. In 1818, it was resolved by the British government to appoint a Vice- consul to reside at Mourzook, the capital of Fezzan ; and Mr. Joseph Ritchie was selected for the undertaking. He was joined at Tripoli by Captain G. F. Lyon, R. N. ; and on the 25th March 1819 they left Tripoli for the interior. They reached Mour- zouk on the 4th of May. Mr. Ritchie died there, after a long illness, on the 20th of November following ; and Captain Lyon and his surviving companion, Belford, a ship- wright, returned to Tripoli, where they arrived on the 25th March 1820. The mission of Ritchie and Lyon was followed up by the appointment of Dr. Walter Oudney, Captain Dixon Denham, and Lieutenant Hugh Clapperton, R. N., to proceed to the interior of Africa by the way of Tripoli and Fezzan. These travellers, accom- panied by William Hillman, a shipwright from Malta, and escorted by Boo-Khaloom, a merchant of Fezzan, and a party of Arabs in the service of the Bashaw of Tripoli, left Mourzouk 8th June 1822, and on the 4th of the following February they had the inexpressible pleasure of beholding from a rising ground " the great lake Tchad, glowing with the golden rays of the sun in his strength." Denham remained in Bor- nou, making exploratory journeys in various directions, while Oudney and Clapperton proceeded westward : Oudney died at a place called Murmur, 12th January 1824| but Clapperton reached Sokatoo, the capital of Sultan Bello, chief of the Fellatahs. During his absence, Denham was joined by Ensign Toole, of the 80th regiment, who had volunteered his services at Malta, but who died very soon after his arrival in Bornou ; also by Mr. Tyrwhitt, who brought with him presents from the British government to the Sheikh of Bornou. The surviving members of this adventurous party returned to Tripoli from their interesting and successful journey, in January 1825. The termination of the Niger being still uncertain, Captain Clapperton was again appointed to proceed into the interior of Africa by the way of Guinea, which he accomplished successfully. He reached Sokatoo, but died there on the 13th day of April 1827, and his papers were brought home by his servant, Richard Lander, for whom was reserved the honour of solving the problem that had puzzled European geo- graphers so many years in vain. Lander was immediately employed to proceed on a new expedition ; and accordingly, accompanied by his brother John, he left the coast of Guinea for the interior, 31st March 1830, and on the 17th June reached the Niger at Boussa. They traced the course of the river downwards to the ocean, which it enters in the Bight of Benin. In a subsequent expedition, Lander perished in a skir- mish with the natives. While these expeditions were in progress, Captain, afterwards Major, Alexander Gordon Laing, of the African Colonial Corps, who had been sent home with dispatches after the unfortunate Ashantee war, was engaged by government to proceed on a Chap. I.] OF GEOGRAPHICAL DISCOVERY. 27 journey through the desert from Tripoli to Timbuctoo. After spending some time at Tripoli, he proceeded on his journey in 1826, and reached Timbuctoo ; but having left that city, with the view of proceeding towards the west coast, he was murdered in his tent, at a halting place in the desert, and his papers carried off. A more for- tunate result attended the efforts of Rene Caillie, a young Frenchman, who, having cherished from his earliest infancy a strong desire to become a traveller, proceeded to Senegal in 1816; and, after spending several years in travelling through the countries in the neighbourhood, finally left the vicinity of the Rio Nunez in April 1827, and, travelling along the Joliba, or Niger, by Jenne and the lake Dibbie, reached Tim- buctoo on the 20th April 1828. He remained fourteen days in that city, then pro- ceeded northwards through the Sahara, and reached the French consulate at Tangier in September following — the most fortunate of all the explorers of central Africa. All his predecessors are dead. Major Denham, after returning from Bornou, died at Sierra Leone ; and another victim has lately been added to the list, in the person of Mr. John Davidson, a member of the Royal Geographical Society of London, who left Wedinoon in Morocco, towards the end of 1836, and was murdered in the desert, thirty-two or thirty-three days after, on his way to Timbuctoo. At a time when the despotism of Buonaparte had closed every avenue of distinction but one to the youth of the Continent, John Lewis Burkhardt, a native of Zurich, and a cadet of one of the principal families in Switzerland, came to England, and offered his services to the African Association. Under their patronage he left England in 1809, and spent several years in Syria, Egypt, and Arabia, to perfect himself in the knowledge of the religion, the manners, and the language of the Mahometan Arabs, as preparatory to his journey into the interior of Africa. He took the name of Sheikh Ibrahim, and was very successful in maintaining his assumed character of a Mussul- man. He transmitted to the association very valuable journals of his excursions in Syria, Egypt, Arabia, and Nubia ; but, like his predecessor Ledyard, before he could accomplish his principal object, he was carried off by dysentery in October 1817. While these expeditions were in progress in Northern Africa, various exploratory jour- neys have been made by missionaries and others into the interior parts of South Africa from the settlements at the Cape of Good Hope, making us acquainted with the nu- merous tribes that possess those regions. Messrs. Cowan and Denovan perished, in 1808, in an attempt to penetrate from the Cape to the north-east coast ; but a similar expedition, conducted by Dr. Andrew Smith, has lately proved more successful, add- ing considerably to our previous knowledge of the country and people, and contributing largely to the progress of natural history at least, if not of geography. This expedi- tion started from Graaf Reynet in August 1834, and returned in the beginning of 1836, having penetrated several hundred miles beyond Latakoo, as far as latitude 25i° south, and 28° 50' east. The additions made to our knowledge of the interior parts of Africa by the journeys of the daring travellers whom we have endeavoured to commemorate, bears no pro- portion to their efforts, or to the expense that has been lavished upon this object ; for Africa still presents one long extended blank of unknown regions. The interior of the wide continent of Asia is hardly better known ; for no modern European has visited the countries that form the great empire of China, reaching from the Himalaya moun- tains, on the borders of India, to the range of the Altai, on the borders of Siberia. The interior of New Holland likewise presents another blank ; and the wide range of the Antarctic ocean is yet to be explored. But the spirit of discovery, like the school- master, has gone abroad; a spirit of innovation and change seems to be pervading all the earth. The very Hindoos, long crushed under the weight of a dark superstition, that seemed an insuperable bar to improvement, are now beginning to awake from their lethargy, and to desire to learn the language, the manners, and the customs of their European conquerors. The Chinese, too, the people of the celestial empire, the inhabitants of the central kingdom of the universe, who used to look with contempt on all the rest of mankind as barbarians, are beginning to feel the superiority of their visitors; and a general spirit of inquiry seems ready to awaken their minds from the long sleep of ignorance and prejudice in which they have been sunk. They have already learned that the barbarians have fire-ships, with which they can ascend rivers without the aid of trackers ; and, perhaps, the day is not far distant when they shall see these fire-ships, and these barbarians, carrying the seeds of civilization and the blessings of knowledge and true religion, into the heart of their empire, along their far-famed, but hitherto little-known rivers, the Yang-tse-kiang, and the Whang-ho. 28 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE PROGRESS, &c. f Introd. Since the last part of the preceding sketch was written (1837), oar anticipa- tions have been in some degree realized by the progress of the British expedition against China, in the course of which the steam-vessels of the Indian navy, as well as several ships of war, ascended the Yang-tse-kiang as far as Nan king. One of the condi- tions of the treaty of peace, with which the war has been concluded, is, that five of the principal maritime cities of China, besides the Island of Hong-kong, shall be opened to European trade ; and from these, as from so many central points, it may be expec- ted that the science and the civilization of Europe will rind their way into the interior of the country. The river Indus, also, has been surveyed, and opened to steam navi- gation ; and, by the ascent of two steam-vessels, built for the purpose, and sent out by the East India Company in 1841, the practicability of navigating the Euphrates has been ascertained. These vessels reached Balis, the port of Aleppo, 1130 miles from the sea, without any casualty, in 273 hours, or 19^ days. The chief difficulty to be encountered is the strength of the current, caused by numerous walls or dams constructed in the river, at different places, to raise water for irrigation ; but these might be partially or even wholly removed. Another great river of Asia, the Oxus, has been traced by Lieutenant Wood, R. N., the surveyor of the Indus, to its source in the Sir-i-kol, on the lofty table-land of Pamer ; but, owing to the circumstance of this river terminating in an inland sea, or great lake, it cannot be laid open to general navigation like the other celebrated streams which we have mentioned. A less fortunate result has attended an expedition which left Britain in 1841, for the purpose of opening the navigation of the river Niger or Kawara, in Central Africa, exploring the upper part of its course, and forming agricultural and com- mercial establishments on its banks. The steam-vessels employed had ascended no farther than the confluence of the Kawara and the Tchadda, when their crews were attacked with fever; and the commanders felt themselves, in consequence, obliged to return to the coast. The further prosecution of the objects of the expedition has been abandoned ; and the geography of that part of Africa must still remain uncertain or unknown. On the opposite side of the continent, however, discovery has been steadily advancing. Several travellers have explored Nubia and Abyssinia, and pe- netrated to Dar-Fur and Shoa ; and, in particular, Messrs. D'Arnaud and Sabatier, in 1841-2, ascended the Bahr-el-Abiad, for 500 leagues above Khartum, to 4° 42' N. lat., nearly under the meridian of Cairo, beyond the place usually assigned to the mountains of the Moon, but without perceiving any mountains in sight. In America, the outline of the northern coast has been nearly completed by the persevering exertions of Messrs. Dease and Simpson, officers of the Hudson's Bay Company, who, in 1837, connected Franklin's westmost point with the most easterly point of Beachey, and in 1839 traced the coast eastward, from the points reached by Franklin and Back, without, however, being able to connect them with the discoveries of Parry and Ross. In South America, Mr. II. H. Schomburgk has made several im- portant discoveries in the interior of Guiana, tracing the watershed which divides the rivers of that country and of the basin of the Oronoco from those of the basin of the Amazons ; and cutting off a large portion of the supposed upper course of the Oro- noco, and transferring it to the Rio Braneo, a branch of the Amazons. We may also refer, though they are more important in an antiquarian than in a geographical point of view, to the discoveries that have been, and are continually being made, of ruined cities and temples in Central America, which seem to imply a far higher degree of civilization than has usually been ascribed to the former inhabitants of that country. In the Antarctic Regions also, discovery has been advancing; but the most import- ant results of recent expeditions have been detailed in the 1018th page of our work. J. L. March, 1843. ( 29; CHAPTER II. PRINCIPLES OF MATHEMATICAL GEOGRAPHY. § 1 Of the Earth, considered with relation to the other Celestial Bodies. Astronomy exhibits to our view the globe of the Earth, balanced by its own weight, and revolving in the immensity of space with ten other planets round the resplendent luminary that distributes to each of them its portion of light and heat. Of these, the earth is, as may be seen from the table placed at the end of this chapter, the third in the order of distance from the sun, and the fourth in point of size. Its form is that of a globe, or sphere, and this spherical form is the basis of mathematical geography. That the earth is globular, will appear obvious from a few considerations. Were we placed on a wide plain, or on the surface of the ocean, no mountain would then inter- cept the objects situated within the range of our vision. Why then do not elevated objects only diminish in apparent size, as they recede from our view, without any por- tion of them being hid, as would certainly be the case if we were upon the same horizontal plane with them ? Why do towers and mountains, when we recede from them, appear to sink below the horizon, the base disappearing first ? and why, on the contrary, when we approach these objects from a distance, do their summits first come into view, then their middle parts, and last of all, their bases? These pheno- mena, which every one has an opportunity of observing, prove evidently that every apparent plane upon the earth is in reality a curved surface. It is the convexity of this surface which conceals from the spectator on the beach, the hull of the vessel of which he sees the masts and sails. But since we know that these things happen uni- formly, towards whatever part of the earth we travel — since we find that this assem- blage of curved surfaces is nowhere sensibly interrupted, it is impossible to avoid the conclusion, that the whole surface of the earth is curved on all sides in a nearly regular manner ; or, in other words, that the earth is a body approaching in figure to a sphere. The object at which the first observers of the stars chiefly aimed, was, doubtless, to discover fixed marks by which they should be enabled to recover their position, or direct themselves in their voyages. They remarked that the sun occupied, in the celestial hemisphere, a place opposite to certain stars, which every night were con- stantly visible over their heads, while other stars disappeared and re-appeared alter- nately. But their attention was particularly attracted by the pole-star : they remarked that this point in the heavens, itself immovable, appears to serve as a pivot, or pole, to the apparent motions of the celestial bodies. They next traced a meridional line, that is, a straight line on the ground, in the direction from the sun at noon to the pole- star ; and however imperfect this first operation may have been, it was sufficient to mark out to them the four quarters of the world, usually denominated the cardinal points. Now, if they proceeded towards the north, they saw the pole-star take a higher place in the heavens, with regard to the horizon. If they went towards the south, the same star appeared to sink, and other stars, before invisible, appeared successively to rise. It was therefore impossible that the line whose direction they followed could be a straight line traced upon a horizontal plane ; it could only be a curve — in short, an arc of a circle, corresponding to another arc of an imaginary circle in the heavens. But as the same changes of the horizon had everywhere taken place, it was natural to conclude that the earth had at least a circular form from north to south. Astronomical observations were rendered perfect by repetition. The motions of the heavenly bodies were calculated from fixed epochs; and the periodical return of eclipses was determined. It was then easily perceived, that the sun rises sooner to those who dwell more towards the east, and later to others in proportion as they are removed to the west. This, however, could not happen, unless the surface of tin- earth were curved from east to west ; for were it flat, the sun would begin to illumi- nate all parts of the same side at the same instant of time. Lastly, when by a series of observations we are fully convinced that the eclipses of the moon are caused by the conical shadow of the globe of the earth, we have a com- plete confirmation of all the preceding proofs in favour of the rotundity of the earth; and we see, at the same time, that the globe of the earth is not subject to any great irregularity ; since, in all possible positions, its shadow upon the disk of the moon is * To economize space, marginal references have been dispensed with ; but a substitute for these will be found in the analytical table of contents prefixed to the work. 30 PRINCIPLES OF MATHEMATICAL GEOGRAPHY. [Introd. found to be terminated by an arc of a circle. The numerous voyages which have been made round the world, have at length silenced all those who persisted in regarding the earth as a circular plane, or a hemispherical disk. Navigators, like Magellan and Drake, sailing from Europe, have pursued a course always towards the west ; and without quitting this general direction, have returned to the place whence they set out. Upon a circular plane we might indeed perform a circular voyage, but only by continually changing the direction. Heemskerk, having wintered at Nova Zembla, confirmed what astronomers had concluded from the spherical figure of the earth : namely, that the days and nights near the poles extend to several months. Finally, Cook and others, in approaching as near as possible to the southern polar circle, found that the distance round was always diminished in proportion to the diminution of his distance from the pole ; so that we have thus obtained an experimental proof of the roundness of the earth towards the south pole, as well as towards the north. So many concurring proofs leave no room for reasonable doubts respecting the sphe- ricity of the earth. Respect for the Sacred Writings, which, in speaking of the earth, employ expressions borrowed from ordinary language, ought not to induce us to reject a physical truth altogether foreign to the moral truths which rebgion undertakes to teach. In vain does ignorance demand how the earth can remain suspended in the air without any support. Let us look upon the heavens, and observe how many other globes roll in space. The force which supports them is unknown to us ; but, we see its effects, and we can investigate the laws according to which these effects take place. Everything on the surface of the earth is impelled in straight lines towards its centre; the antipodes see, in like manner as we do, the earth under their feet, and the sky over their heads. What should we gain by supposing, with Homer, the earth to be sup- ported by a range of columns guarded by Atlas ? or by imagining it to rest upon nine pillars, like the Scandinavians ? or upon four elephants, according to the opinion of the worshippers of Bramah ? Upon what would these elephants or these columns rest ? Our thoughts, however far they proceed, must always at length stop short, and, afFrighted, recoil from that infinity which surrounds us on every side, and which it is folly to attempt to comprehend. But some more rational observers will say, Do not the Andes and the Alps make it evident that the earth is an irregular body, and not at all round? We answer: The highest mountain known, which is Dhwalagiri in Nepaul, rises to about 28,077 English feet above the surface of the sea. This height is nearly l-5000th of the earth's greatest circumference, and l-1600th of its axis. Upon an artificial globe of twenty-one feet in circumference, or of 6} feet in diameter, Dhwalagiri could only be represented by a grain of sand less than one-twentieth of an inch in thickness. Irregularities so imperceptible do not deserve to be taken into consideration. We shall see, besides, as we proceed, that the true differences which exist between our globe and a perfect sphere, are known, measured, and estimated. But before enter- ing on this subject, it is necessary to point out more precisely the nature of some of the relations which connect this earth with the other heavenly bodies. On directing our view to the heavens, the stars appear to move from east to west, each describing a portion of a circle. If we observe this motion more attentively, it appears to be performed about an immovable point, which has received the name of pole, and the star which is situated nearest to it is called the pole-star. The sky presents itself under the appearance of a sphere ; there must therefore be, in the hemisphere which is invisible to us, another immovable point : this point is the south celestial pole, as that which we see is the north celestial pole. The imaginary line which passes through these two points is named the axis of the world. This Hne pass- ing through our globe forms at the same time its axis, and intersects the surface of the earth in two points corresponding to the poles of the heavens, and denominated terrestrial poles. That which answers to the pole-star, is called the north, or arctic pole ; the opposite pole is named the south, or antarctic pole. The point of the horizon which corresponds to the north pole is called the north, and the opposite point is the south. The circle perpendicular to the horizon, which passes through the poles, is called the meridian ; it divides the visible celestial hemis- phere into two equal parts ; so that the stars, at the moment when they appear upon this circle, are at the middle of their apparent course. It is the passage of the sun over this circle that determines the instant of apparent noon. We have already spoken of the meridian line, or of the line which joins the north point of the horizon with the south. A line perpendicular to the meridian line, and conceived to be extended both ways till it meets the horizon, marks upon this circle two opposite points, each 90 degrees distant from the north and south ; and to which are appropriated the names of east and ivest. Chap. II.] PRINCIPLES OF MATHEMATICAL GEOGRAPHY. 31 We may illustrate these definitions upon an artificial globe, or by means of the annexed figure. Let the circle NEMO represent the horizon, and the point A the centre, at which the observer is placed ; the letters a b c and d e f, will indicate portions of circles which the stars appear to de- scribe about the pole. Those stars whose polar distance is not greater than the arc P N, which measures the elevation of the north pole above the horizon, appear to describe complete circles, as S h i k. The point N marks the north point of the horizon, M the south ; and consequently M N represents the meridional line. The celestial meridian is represented by the semicircle M Z N, of which the plane is sup- posed perpendicular to that of the horizon NEMO, and which passes through the points M and N. This circle divides the arcs a b c and d ef into two equal parts at the points b and e. The east point of the horizon is represented by the point E, and the west by the point O. It is from E towards O that the stars appear to move, pass- ing in the middle of their course through some point of the celestial meridian M Z N. The true cause of these appearances is the motion of the earth round its own axis from west to east in the space of twenty-four hours. We proceed now to explain this motion by means of another figure, which represents the globe of the earth. We shall suppose the point A to be the place of the observer, E M O N his horizon, and the straight line Pp to re- present the axis round which the earth per- forms its motion of ro- tation. It is easy to perceive, that the ho- rizon of the observer, since it turns along with him during the rotation of the earth, must advance towards the stars successively, so as to give them the appearance of gradually approaching the horizon, in the same manner as a vessel leaving or approaching the land causes the objects on shore to ap- pear to the eyes of an observer on board to be in motion. As the plain M Z N of the meridian revolves at the same time with the horizontal plane NE M O, to which it is perpendicular, it must point successively to the different stars,' which will then appear in the middle of that part of their course which they describe above the horizon. As soon as any star touches the western verge of the horizon, that star appears to set, and ceases to be visible until the motion of the earth has brought back upon it the eastern boundary of the same circle. This explanation gives a direct reason for the diurnal appearing and disappearing of the stars and of the sun. But in order to conceive the us^> which is made of these celestial appearances in astronomy and geography, it must be observed that the celes- tial motions are measured only by anylcs, without any regard to absolute lengths and real distances. For example, if the star n appear first above the horizon in the direc- tion of the visual ray A F, and be seen afterwards in the direction of the ray A G, the eye of the spectator measures only the angular space FAG; it determines only the arc of the circle comprehended in this angle, anil not the length of the radius. This arc is estimated in degrees, and parts of a degree. The circumference of every circle. Whether a great circle or a small, is supposed to be divided into 360 degrees. Each degree is divided into 60 minutes, and each minute is subdivided into 60 seconds. It is easy to see, that with regard to the heavenly bodies we may substitute for the plane N E M O, which touches the earth, a parallel plane, passing through the centre. The reason is, that when a star situated at I appears in the horizontal plane which touches the earth at the point A, an observer, placed at the centre of the earth, would -*U 32 PRINCIPLES OF MATHEMATICAL GEOGRAPHY. [Introd. see the same star upon the line C I, so that it would appear elevated only by the angle I Co, which will be so much the smaller, according as the star is more distant. The figure renders this evident with regard to the star situated at the point H. The dis- tance of the stars being almost infinite, compared with the semi-diameter of the earth, which separates the place of the observer from the centre of the globe, this angle be- comes insensible for the fixed stars, and very small for the planets. We may substitute therefore, without error, another diagram, instead of the preceding, as- suming for the horizontal plane, with regard to the stars, the plane N E M O passing through the centre of the earth, and parallel to the plane touching it in A. We may conceive, in the same manner, the plane of the celestial meri- dian M Z N, to be extended indefinitely from the centre C of the earth, through which it must ne- cessarily pass, since it passes through the axis Pp. This plane determines upon the surface of the earth a circle P Ap, which passes through the poles. This circle is the terrestrial meridian of the place A, and at the same time, of all the places situated upon its circumference. We ought to observe here, that the horizon represented by the circle N E M O, and Avhich passes through the centre of the earth, is called the rational horizon, to distin- guish it from the circle whose plane is a tangent to the surface at the point on which the spectator is placed, and which is called the sensible horizon. The line drawn from the centre of the globe through the place of an observer, determines the position of a point Z in the heavens perpendicularly over his head, and called the zenith. The same line produced through the globe, marks, in the opposite part of the heavens, another point z, which is called the nadir. The position of the line Z A C, which is called the vertical line, is ascertained by the direction which heavy bodies take in falling, as that of the horizontal plane is indicated by the surface which water at rest, and of inconsiderable extent, naturally presents. The vertical line, or that which is ascertained by a thread stretched by a plummet, is perpendicular to the horizontal plane. As gravity tends everywhere towards the interior of the globe, it acts at a in the direction z a opposite to Z A ; in both places, bodies fall towards the surface of the earth. The people placed at a, having their feet opposite to the feet of those who are at A, are called the antipodes of these last. The zenith of the one is the nadir of the other. It follows from this definition, that the horizon must change its position relatively to the stars, when the observer changes his place upon the sur- face of the earth. If he removes, for example, from A to a, directly along the same meridian from north to south, the horizontal visual ray N M, will become n m, so that a star E, situated upon the prolongation of the former ray, will appear to be elevated above the horizon mn, by the angle ECw, which is precisely equal to that formed by * the radii C A, Ca, drawn to the centre of the earth. It was upon this principle that Posidonius, having observed that the star Canopus appeared in the horizon at Rhodes, while at Alexandria in Egypt it appeared elevated by the 48th part of the circle, or 7 degrees and a half, concluded that Rhodes was dis- tant from Alexandria, in the direction of the meridian, the 48th part of that circle. It is true, indeed, that the estimate of the Greek philosopher was inaccurate. Still, how- ever, his principle is correct, and it is the same that is employed at the present time ; the question being always to find, by means of observations made upon the same star, what ratio the arc A a of the meridian passing through the two points of observation, bears to the whole circumference of the circle. When this ratio has been deter- mined, and the itinerary distance between the two points also measured, we are enabled to compute the whole distance round the terrestrial meridian. By the observation above described we ascertain the relative position of two places, a and A, in respect of north and south; but in order to determine the absolute positions of these places, some fixed term of comparison is required. For this purpose we conceive a plane to pass through the centre of the earth at right angles to the axis Chap. II.] PRINCIPLES OF MATHEMATICAL GEOGRAPHY. 33 of rotation, determining upon its spherical surface a cir- cumference G E F, every point in which is at the same distance from the poles P and p. This circle is called the equator. Now, if an observer be situated upon the equa- tor, the two poles will appear exactly in the horizon ; but as he removes from the equator towards either pole, that pole to which he approaches will rise above, while the other sinks below the horizon. The height, or elevation of the pole above the horizon of any place, is equal to the angular distance of that place from the equator, estimated in the direction of the meri- dian. For the angles A C N and G C P being right angles, if we take away the common angle A C P, there remains the angle A C G equal to N C P. It is evident also, that the height M C G, to which the equator rises above the horizon, is equal to the com- plement of the angle A C G. It is sufficient, therefore, to determine the altitude of the pole above the horizon of any place, in order to find the angular distance of that place from the equator. In the regions of the globe where one of the poles appears elevated above the hori- zon, those stars which never set, called circumpolar stars, furnish directly the means of determining the height of the pole. As they appear to describe circles about the celestial pole, each must appear equally removed from it at every point of its course ; and as they twice pass the meridian during a diurnal revolution of the earth, namely, once above the pole, and once below it, we have only to measure their angle of eleva- tion in each of these positions, and to take the arithmetical mean between the results, in order to obtain the elevation of the pole. It is not enough to know merely the distance of a place upon the earth from the equator ; because this distance is common to all the places which are situated upon a circle traced upon the surface of the globe by a plane parallel to the plane of the equa- tor, and passing through the place in question. In order to distinguish places equally distant from the equator, it is necessary to know their meridians, the meridian being different for each place. The observation of the celestial motions may here be again successfully employed in the manner which we are now about to point out. We have seen that the planes of the different meridians, VAp, P L p, P Mp, &c. intersect each other in the axis P Cp ; but since all these meridians turn upon this line, they must also correspond successively to the same star; and the time which elapses between the passage of two meridians, con- taining between them any angle, will thus be to the time of the entire rotation, as the angle contained by these meridians is to the whole circumference of the circle. Hence, if we could measure the first of these intervals, in order to compare it with the second, we should be able to deduce the angle which the two proposed meridians form with each other. To obtain this comparison, it is necessary that we should be able to indicate, by a signal visible at the same instant of time at places under both meridians, the moment at which a star appears upon one of them : this instant must be noted, and a well-regulated clock will measure the time which elapses till the same star appears on the other meridian. When we have determined by this method the angle which the meridian PLp, passing through the place L, makes with the meridian P Ap, passing through a given place A, the place L becomes entirely determined, provided that we already know its distance G L from the equator E G F ; for it will necessarily be situated at the inter- section of the semicircle PL/7, and the parallel L M, drawn at this given distance. The shortest distance of a place from the equator is termed its latitude. This dis- tance is measured by an arc of the meridian comprehended between the place and the equator. Latitude is north for those places which lie between the north pole and the equator, and it is south for places in the opposite hemisphere. The angle contained by two meridians, measured by an arc of the equator, or of a circle parallel to it, is termed the difference of longitude of the places situated under these two meridians. That we may estimate these differences in an absolute manner, if is necessary to assume a first meridian, the choice of which is altogether arbitrary, and has varied at different times. The absolute longitude of a place is therefore the angle which the meridian of that place forms with the first, or conventional meridian. We have just seen that the determination of the difference of longitude of two S4 PRINCIPLES OP MATHEMATICAL GEOGRAPHY. [Introd. places upon the earth requires the use of a signal visible at the same time at both places. It is evident, that for places separated by any considerable distance, the only signals sufficiently elevated must be sought for among the stars. It is indeed by means of the celestial bodies that the geographer determines the position of places. We must therefore acquire some idea of their motions, particularly of the motions of the sun and moon. Every attentive observer of the heavens must have remarked that the sun, besides the apparent diurnal motion which it has in common with all the stars, appears, in the course of a year, to change its place in a two-fold maimer. First, it appears to advance towards one of the poles, and then to fall back and approach towards the other, or to oscillate in the direction of north and south. Again, if we observe its place among the stars, it appears either that the sun recedes daily towards the east, or that the stars advance in the opposite direction ; for the stars which we see at any time set immediately after the sun, are, on the following evening, lost among its rays. Some days afterwards they re-appear in the east, and their rising precedes daily more and more that of the sun. At last, after a year, or about 365 days, the sun and stars are again observed in the same relative position. The complexity of these motions is also increased by the apparent motions of the other planets, which sometimes seem to be hurried along by an impetuous vortex, at other times to become stationary, and sometimes even to acquire a retrograde motion. The impossibility of reconciling this apparent confusion of the heavens with the most simple principles of physical science, involved Ptolemy, Tycho-Brahe, and all others who, like them, maintained the doctrine of the immobility of our earth, in a labyrinth of contradictory hypotheses. Copernicus reduced this chaos into order and regularity, by supposing, with some ancient philosophers, that while the earth turns upon its own axis from west to east in the interval of a day, it has at the same time a motion in absolute space from west to east, and performs, in a plane inclined to the equator, an entire revolution round the sun in the space of a year. The axis of the earth, with regard to the plane of the ecliptic, that is to say, the plane of the circle which the centre of the earth describes in its annual motion round the sun, remaining always parallel to itself, presents alternately each of its poles to- wards the sun. This phenomenon may easily be illustrated by the help of the annexed diagram, in which the lines P p, which are parallel to each other, re- present the axis of the earth, S the centre of the sun, and A B C D the elliptic curve which the earth des- cribes about the sun. In conse- quence of the parallelism of the axis, the pole P, which is the one nearer to the sun when the earth is at B, becomes the more remote when the earth is at D ; because in the former position the inclination of the part BP of the earth's axis is directed towards the interior of the curve A B C D ; but in the latter it is directed towards the exterior. At the two intermediate points, A and C, the axis Pp is inclined neither towards the sun nor from it ; but in every other point of the orbit A B C D, it necessarily takes an in- clined position relatively to the sun. These different positions, being the cause of the difference of the seasons, deserve, however, to be explained more in detail. It is easy to see that the surface of the earth is at every instant divided into two parts, the one illuminated by the sun, and the other deprived of his light. The com- mon boundary of these two parts is determined by a great circle, the plane of which is perpendicular to the line drawn from the centre of the sun to that of the earth. To this line we suppose the sun's rays to be parallel ; seeing that by reason of the great distance of the sun, and the small diameter of the earth, all convergency or diver- gency becomes insensible. It is evident, therefore, that the above circle, which is denominated the circle of illumination, is the boundary of the hemisphere which the earth presents to the sun. Hence the equator being a great circle, and consequently divided into two equal parts by the circle of illumination, each point of the equator must necessarily be illuminated by the sun during half the time that the earth requires to perform its diurnal revolution. It is evident besides, that all the circles parallel to the equator are unequally divided by the circle of illumination, and that this inequa- Chap. II.] PRINCIPLES OF MATHEMATICAL GEOGRAPHY. 35 lity becomes more sensible according as they are farther removed from the equator. In the case in which the greater of the two portions lies upon the illuminated side of the earth, the length of the day must exceed the length of the night. With regard to the whole region comprehended within the circle I K, described by the point I, there can be no night, since that circle lies entirely upon the illuminated side of the globe. The other hemisphere must necessarily present an appearance in every respect the reverse of that which we have now described. The length of the days must there diminish as we approach the pole ; and the polar region, lying entirely on the dark side of the earth, is buried in perpetual night. It is also evident, that while the earth revolves upon its axis, all the points of the circle traced out on the surface by the straight line S B, which joins the centres of the earth .and sun, come successively to receive the perpendicular rays of the sun ; but if we remove from that circle towards either pole, we enjoy only the oblique rays. Let us now consider the length of the days and nights at the time when the earth is situated at the point A or C. In this position the solar ray S A or S C, is directed towards the centre of the earth, in a line perpendicular to the axis ; and the equator, as well as all the circles parallel to it, are divided into equal parts by the circle of il- lumination : but since the extent of the enlightened part of the earth is equal to that of the dark part, the length of the day must be equal to that of the night, at every point on the surface of the earth. The epochs at which the centre of the earth is in these two positions have been denominated the equinoxes ; and as the sun is then in the plane of the equator, that circle has thence received the name of the equinoctial line, or simply, the line. The time which elapses during the earth's motion from the point A to the point 13. and during which the pole P approaches nearer to the sun, is denominated the astro- nomical spring, for the hemisphere E P F. As the earth, setting out from the vernal equinox, advances in its orbit, the plane of the equator becomes more and more de- pressed in relation to the sun, which appears to rise towards the pole. When the sun has attained its greatest apparent altitude at the point B, the semi-axis B P of the earth has then its greatest possible inclination towards the sun, which at this season appears nearest to the pole P : the day on which this occurs is the longest of the year. This situation of the axis in respect of the sun undergoes very little variation for several days, and the circle of the sun's apparent path is called the summer solstice. After this the sun appears to descend in the heavens, and returns to the plane of the equator. The earth having arrived at the second equinox C, autumn commences in the hemisphere which we inhabit. Having crossed the equator, the sun appears to descend below that circle, while the semi-axis C P inclines, at the same time, more and more in the opposite direction, until the earth has reached the point D; the axis then preserves for several days almost the same inclination, and the sun is at the winter solstice. In the opposite hemisphere E/> F, the succession of the seasons is reversed, so that the spring of this hemisphere corresponds to the autumn of the other, the summer to the winter, and so on. We remark further, that the orbit of the earth AB C D, being an ellipse or oval, having the sun in one of its foci, the earth employs a greater number of days in moving from the vernal equinox A, through the summer solstice B, to the autumnal equinox C, than in describing the other half of its orbit. This circumstance gives to the northern hemisphere which we inhabit, the advantage of a spring and a summer a little longer than those enjoyed by the inhabitants of the southern hemisphere. The early astronomers, in order to estimate more correctly this apparent motion of the sun, referred it to the constellations or groups of fixed stars through which he appears successively to pass. These are twelve in number. The following are their names, and the characters which are used for representing them : r i"> Aries, So Cancer, =^ Libra, ]^ Capricornus, 8 Taurus, ^ Leo, H|_ Scorpio, as Aquarius, EL Gemini, 11J Virgo, f Sagittarius, K Pisces. From a fancied resemblance of these groups of stars to the animals whose names they bear, astronomers, in the infancy of the science, gave the name of Zodiac (from a Greek word signifying animal) to the zone occupied by the twelve constellations. Each constellation is called a sign. It is proper to remark, that, in consequence of a peculiar but very slow motion of the axis of the earth, the constellations no longer correspond to the same points of the terrestrial orbit as in ancient times ; but, as we confine the name of signs to the t welve divisions of the circumference of the circle which measures the whole revolution of the earth, and as these divisions, each of whiiii 3(5 PRINCIPLES OP MATHEMATICAL GEOGRAPHY. [Introd. contains 30 degrees, do not change, the vernal equinox always corresponds to the first point of the sign Aries; the summer solstice coincides with the first point of Cancer ; the autumnal equinox falls upon the first point of Libra ; and the winter solstice upon the first point of Capricorn, although the constellations or groups of stars to which the names belong have ceased to correspond to these seasons. In consequence of the inclination of the plane of the terrestrial equator to that of the ecliptic, the sun passes successively through the zenith of all the points of the earth's surface comprised between the two circles parallel to the equator, upon which the rays of the sun fall vertically at the two solstices. These limits, at which the sun appears to stop and then return in the same course, have received the name of tropics. That which corresponds to the summer solstice, is called the tropic of Cancer, and the other, the tropic of Capricorn. The circles which circumscribe towards each pole, the part of the earth's surface deprived of the solar rays when the sun is at its greatest distance from the equator in the opposite hemisphere, are denominated polar circles ; the one is called the arctic, and the other the antarctic polar circle. The surface of the earth is thus divided into five zones, or belts, hy the polar circles and the tropics: those which are enclosed by the polar circles, being deprived of the light of the sun for a part of the year, and during the other part, receiving its rays but very obliquely, have deservedly received the name of frigid, or frozen zones. Two other zones, one in each hemisphere, comprehended between the polar circle and the tropic, receive the sun's rays less obliquely than the frozen zones, hut never vertically ; these are the temperate zones. Lastly, the zone comprehended between the two tropics, every point of which passes twice under the sun in the year, and which receives constantly the solar rays, in a direction very little oblique, has obtained the name of the torrid zone. The ancient geographers frequently made use of a division of the earth into climates, which was founded upon the length of the day, compared with that of the night, at the summer solstice. The climates are counted by the difference of half an hour, until they reach the polar circle, where the differences succeed each other more rapidly ; from that circle to the pole they are reckoned by months. The contrast of the seasons, in the hemispheres situated to the north and to the south of the equator, has given rise to certain distinctions which it is necessary to know, as they are sometimes met with in the old books of geography. The people who live under the same meridian, and at the same latitude, on opposite sides of the equator, are called antceci ; they reckon the same hours of the day at the same instant, but they have opposite seasons. Those who live under opposite meridians, upon the same side of the equator, and at equal distances from it, are called peria?ci : they reckon at the same instant opposite hours, the first having midnight when the second have mid-day; but being on the same side of the equator, they enjoy the same seasons. The ancient -geographers also distinguished the inhabitants of the earth according to the projection of their shadows. They called those who inhabit the two temperate zones heteroscii, because their shadows, being always turned towards that pole which is elevated above their respective horizons, fall consequently in opposite directions. The inhabitants of the frozen zones, to whom, at one time of the year, the sun never sets, see that luminary make a complete circuit round the heavens, so as to project their shadows in all directions ; hence they have been called periscii. Lastly, the in- habitants of the torrid zone are called amphiscii or ascii, because their shadows, which are almost nothing at mid-day, are directed by turns towards both poles. We pass on to a distinction of more importance. In considering local phenomena, •we distinguish three positions of the sphere, that is, of the assemblage of the different circles which we have now pointed out, and which serve to determine the relative positions of the heavenly bodies. To the inhabitants at the equator, the sphere is said to be right, because the plane of that circle passing through their zenith is, with regard to them, perpendicular to the horizon ; and hence the heavenly bodies, which, in their apparent diurnal motion, describe parallels to the equator, appear to rise and set vertically in reference to the horizon. To the people who dwell between the equator and the poles, the sphere is said to be oblique, because the equator cutting their horizon obliquely, the diurnal courses of the heavenly bodies are inclined to the horizon. Lastly, at the poles, the horizon coincides with the equator, so that the heavenly bodies describe circles parallel to the horizon : to an inhabitant of the pole, therefore, were there any such, the sphere would appear parallel. As the limits of the zones and of the climates depend upon the inclination of the axis of the earth to the plane of the ecliptic, it is of importance to determine this Chap. II .] PRINCIPLES OF MATHEMATICAL GEOGRAPHY. 37 inclination. We may easily discover it by observing at the same place the greatest and least latitude of the sun, when he passes the meridian at the summer and winter solstices. For, since in both cases the sun is equally distant from the equator, on the one side and on the other, this circle must cut the meridian at a mean altitude between the extreme altitudes of the sun ; and the difference of these altitudes will be double of the angular distance to which the sun recedes from the equator towards the north and south. By observing the solstitial altitudes we are therefore enabled to deter- mine at once, both this distance, and the position of the equator above the horizon, as well as the latitude of the place of observation. At Paris, for example, the sun, at the summer solstice, rises to 64° 38' above the horizon, and to 17° 42' at the winter solstice. The sum of these altitudes is 82° 20', of which the half is 41° 10': this is the height of the equator above the horizon ot Paris ; and, taking its complement to a right angle, or to 90°, we find that the dis- tance of the equator from the zenith, or the latitude of Paris, is 48° 50'. But subtracting the one of these altitudes of the sun from the other, we find a dif- ference of 46° 56', the half of which or 23° 28', is the distance in degrees and minutes to which the sun recedes from the equator towards either pole. Such is the angle which the planes of the equator and ecliptic make with each other. This is what is called the obliquity of the ecliptic. It is not invariable ; observa- tions, joined with the calculation of the forces which produce the motions of the planets, have shewn that the inclination of the terrestrial equator is subject to a dimi- nution of about 47" in a century, till it, reaches a certain limit which is not yet exactly determined, after which time it will begin to increase. The terrestrial zones vary therefore in proportion to this change. By assuming the mean of the present obli- quity of the ecliptic, we find that if we divide the surface of the earth into 10,000 equal parts, the torrid zone will occupy 3982 of these parts, the two temperate zones, 5191, and the two frigid zones the remaining 827 parts. The two combined motions of the earth produce a difference in estimating time, which affects the methods by which geographical positions are determined. We distinguish several kinds of days and of years. The tropical or solar year is the time which the earth occupies in returning to the same point of the ecliptic. It consists of 365 mean days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 50 seconds, and is denominated the tropical year, because this interval of time must elapse, in order that the seasons may return in the same order. In consequence of the apparent motion of the poles, or of the axis of the earth, the equinoctial points, as well as all the other points of the ecliptic, appear to have a re- trograde motion with regard to the stars. This motion is denominated the precession of the equinoxes. Astronomers have estimated it at about 50". 1 in a year; and the time which the earth occupies in passing through this arc must be added to the tropical year, in order to obtain the time of a revolution in respect of the stars. The period of this revolution is named the sidereal year, and consists of 365 days, 6 hours, 9 minutes, and 10 seconds. The length of the astronomical mean day, which is divided into 24 hours, is de- termined by the interval which elapses between two consecutive passages of the sun over the meridian of the same place, supposing this apparent motion of the sun to be performed with an uniform velocity. But it is necessary to observe, that our tint li does not occupy quite 24 hours in its rotation, on account that in the same time which it employs in revolving round its axis, it advances in its orbit towards the east about a degree in space, corresponding to four minutes, or more exactly to 3 minutes 56 seconds of time. Hence it follows, that the interval between two passages of a fixed star over the same meridian, which measures the true time of the earth's rota- tion, or of the sidereal day, is only 23 hours, 56 minutes, 4 seconds. The sidereal day can scarcely be employed for measuring time in civil life, because the sidereal hours never coincide with the solar hours. We make use therefore of the solar day, that is, of the time of a revolution of the earth about its axis, in reference to the sun ; but this time is not the same at all seasons of the year. This inequality arises from two distinct causes : the oblique position of the ecliptic with regard to the equator, and the inequality of the apparent motion of the sun in the ecliptic. By reason of the obliquity of the ecliptic, the arc of the equator which passes the meridian in the same time with the diurnal arc of the ecliptic, is not always equal to it, but is sometimes greater and sometimes less. With regard to the second cause, we observe that the sun, being placed in one of the foci of the elliptic orbit of the earth, appears to move more slowly in the six northern signs than in the six southern ; and this dilference of velocity is sullicient to produce 38 PRINCIPLES OF MATHEMATICAL GEOGRAPHY. [Introd. an inequality in the diurnal arcs of the equator. It results from the combination of these two causes, that the length of the solar day, compared with the time of the earth's rotation, is sometimes less and sometimes greater than twenty-four hours ; and this inequality will always be greatest when the two causes which we have just explained concur in accumulating the differences in the same direction. The series of these differences forms what is called the equation of time, or the quantity which, if we wish to get the mean or astronomical time, must, at certain seasons, be added to, and at other seasons subtracted from, the hour indicated by the sun, or the true time. Now, it is for mean time that the astronomical tables are constructed, by the help of which we calculate the motions of the stars, and from these motions deduce the geographical positions of places on the earth. We have now considered the earth in relation to the sun ; but geography also derives essential aid from the theory of the motions of the moon. This satellite of our planet performs its revolution round the earth in 27 days 7 hours, 43 minutes 1 1 seconds, usually called a periodical month. It is to be observed, however, that the moon employs more than this time to return to the sun after each conjunction. The cause of this difference is, that the earth, and consequently its satellite, the moon, advances in the ecliptic while the moon is describing her orbit ; so that before the moon comes into the same position relatively to the sun, 2 days and about 5 hours elapse beyond the time required for completing a revolution round the earth. The whole time occupied in returning to the sun is 29 days 12 hours, 44 minutes 2.8 seconds. This interval of time is called a synodical month, or lunar month. It com- mences from the moment when the moon is directly between the sun and the earth, in which position the moon is said to be in conjunction. In describing its orbit, the moon, with regard to the sun, assumes various situations, from which arise its divers aspects, or phases. The moon being an opaque body, can be seen only in as far as it reflects the light that it receives from the sun ; it can be visible to us, therefore, only when it begins, after being in conjunction^ or in the same straight line with the sun, to turn towards the earth a portion of its en- lightened disk. This portion increases according as the moon recedes from the sun, until it arrives at the point of its orbit opposite to the sun, when, the earth being between it and the sun, we see the whole enlightened hemisphere ; the moon then appears full, and is said to be in opposition with the sun. The conjunction and opposition of the moon with regard to the sun, or the new and full moon, are what are called the syzyyies. When the moon is distant from the sun a fourth part of the circumference, it is in quadrature, and shows only one-half of its enlightened hemisphere. It is the first or last quarter, according as the round edge of the enlightened part is towards the west or east. One would be led to suppose that the moon, every time it comes into conjunction with the sun, ought to conceal from us the whole, or, at least, a part of the disk of the sun; and tliat every time it is in opposition, it ought to pass through the shadow which the earth projects behind it; so that there would be, in the former case, an eclipse of the sun, and in the latter, an eclipse of the moon. These phenonema do not, however, occur at every new and full moon ; and the reason is, that the plane of the moon's orbit is inclined to that of the ecliptic, and that these two planes meet one another only in their line of common section, which passes through the centre of the earth. Hence the moon is not situated in the plane of the ecliptic, except when it passes through one or other of the extremities of this line, that is to say, when it is in the nodes of its orbit. When the conjunctions and oppositions take place at the same time that the moon is in, or near, its nodes eclipses will happen ; in the opposite cases, no eclipse takes place. We proceed now to point out in what manner the observation of these phenomena enables us to determine the longitude of a place upon the earth. We have already seen, that in order to find the difference of longitude between two places, it is only required to ascertain precisely the hour which is reckoned at the same instant at each of these places, by the observation of some instantaneous phenomenon which can be seen at both. The eclipses of the moon appear at first view the most favourable phenomena ; for the entrance of the moon into the shadow of the earth takes place at the same in- stant for all the points of the hemisphere which is then turned towards the moon ; that .s, for all the places where the eclipse can be observed ; besides, the spots vi- sible upon the moon's face afford the means of making several observations upon the same eclipse, by marking with precision the time of the disappearing of each spot at its ei trance into the shadow, or the immersion, and that of its re-appearing at its Chap. II.] PRINCIPLES OF MATHEMATICAL GEOGRAPHY. 39 coming out of the shadow, or the emersion. Supposing, then, that we have deter- mined at each place the true time of this observation, the difference of these titties, converted into degrees of the equator, will give immediately the difference of the longitudes. But eclipses of the moon present this great inconvenience, that the instant when the lunar disk enters into the true shadow of the earth, that is to say, the instant which marks the commencement of the eclipse, can never be assigned with precision ; we cannot therefore be certain of not erring a few seconds of time in the determination of the phases of an eclipse of the moon; for this reason, the use of lunar eclipses for determining longitudes is now generally abandoned. The use of the eclipses of the satellites of Jupiter, for the purpose of finding longitudes, was first proposed by Cassini in 1668. The theory of these eclipses is the same with that of the eclipses of the moon; for the satellites of Jupiter, when placed in circumstances similar to those which produce the eclipses of the moon, fall, in like manner, into the shadow of their primary planet: and if we observe at the same time, at several places, their immersions and emersions, we may make the same use of these, for the determination of the longitudes, as of the eclipses of the moon. But here, as in the eclipses of the moon, the precise moment of immersion and of emersion is always a little uncertain ; particularly with regard to the second and the third satellites. Nevertheless, the use which may be made of them has induced as- tronomers to frame tables for predicting their immersions, in order that corresponding observations at different places may not be necessary. The eclipses of the sun are no less proper than those of the moon, for determining longitudes. It is sufficient for this purpose that we observe at each of the places the beginning or the end of the same eclipse ; but the calculation becomes more difficult than in the case of a lunar eclipse, because the relative situation of the sun and the moon is not the same for the different parts of the earth's surface at which these two bodies are visible at the same time. The case of the moon is the same as that of the clouds, which, seen from a particular point, appear situated under the sun, and project their shadows over a limited space, beyond which the sun shines in all its splendour. This spectacle varies continually, according as the sun, the cloud, and the spectator, change their situations. To employ the observation of a solar eclipse for the determi- nation of longitudes, it is necessary to determine several of its phases, but particularly the beginning and the end; to deduce from thence the middle of the eclipse, and to obtain from the astronomical tables the proper data for fixing the respective positions of the lines described by the centre of the sun and that of the moon during the eclipse, in order that we may be able to calculate the instant when these two bodies were in conjunction. If we know, then, the hour at each of two places corresponding to this same instant, the difference of the hours will indicate the difference of the longitudes of these places. But the eclipses of the sun do not give the longitudes of places with much precision. The celestial phenomenon of most frequent occurrence, which can be properly employed for the determination of the longitude, is that which is called an occultation, or the passage of a star behind the disk of the moon; it is, at the same time, one of those which may be observed with much precision. It is necessary, in the first place, to determine from the observation the moment when the centre of the moon is in conjunction with the star: this fixes the absolute position of the moon. In the next place, we must find, either by means of calculations made beforehand, or by the comparison of corresponding observations, the hour it was, at the moment of this conjunction, at a place whose position is known. The difference of longitude is then obtained as in the other methods. All these methods evidently resolve themselves into the following proposition : " To determine, with reference to the place of which the longitude is sought, the position of a celestial body at a given moment, and to deduce from this position the hour it was at the same instant at another place, of which the situation is previously known." Hence it follows that, without waiting for a celestial phenomenon, our place on the earth may be determined from the variation alone of the angular distance between two heavenly bodies whose motion is known. But it is also evident that this angular distance must vary by the motion of one or both of the bodies with so much rapidity as to present very considerable variations in 24 hours. The moon alone affords us these advan- tages ; as its motion in its orbit is at the rate of nearly 13° a-day, a change of a single minute of a degree in its position, corresponds to a little less than two minutes of a time, or 30' of a degree in longitude. Now, by help of the accurate instruments at present in use, \vc can, by taking the angular distance of the moon from a star, or from the sun, ascertain with great precision the position of that body, and consequently can determine the hour, within a few seconds, under a given meridian, at the moment of observation. This is the method employed for determining the longitude at sea. 40 PRINCIPLES OF MATHEMATICAL GEOGRAPHY. [Introd. To lunar observations, however, it is necessary to join the use of chronometers, or time-keepers, which serve in the intervals during which observations of the distance of the moon from the sun, or from a star, cannot be obtained. These instruments would alone accomplish the end proposed, if it were possible to construct them with such accuracy, that when once regulated to mean time under a given meridian, their motion would remain exactly the same during the whole continuance of the voyage, for they would then at all times point out the hour under that meridian. To all these methods of determining geographical positions, furnished by the obser- vation and calculation of the celestial motions, is now added the use of signals made by gunpowder. In a very elevated place, during a serene night, a quantity of powder is from time to time inflamed in the open air ; two observers, each provided with a clock, and stationed at the places of which the difference of longitude is required, mark with care the appearance of the flashes — an appearance which, notwithstanding the distances, is instantaneous for the two places, in consequence of the prodigious velocity of light. The difference of the times indicated by the two clocks will give the difference of longitude sought. § 2. Of the Dimensions and Figure of the Earth. The active curiosity of man, not satisfied with having demonstrated that the earth is a globe revolving in space, instigated him to ascertain the exact dimensions of the planet which had been assigned to him as his abode. An arc of the celestial meridian being measured, it was natural to conclude, that as this arc ought to correspond to a similar meridional arc on the surface of the earth, it would be necessary only to measure this latter curve, in order to find the dimensions of the entire circle, and consequently of the circumference of the globe. In the century before the Christian era, Posidonitis, who lived at Rhodes, erro- neously supposing that the cities of Alexandria and Rhodes had the same longitude, measured the arc between these two places, as an arc of the terrestrial meridian. If we except this error, the method of Posidonius was the true one. Erastos- thenes made use of a gnomon placed vertically in the centre of a concave sphere ; he knew that at Syene the sun, at the time of the solstice, projected no shadow; he remarked that at Alexandria, the gnomon, at the same instant, projected its shadow over the fiftieth part of a circle ; hence he concluded the latitude of Alexandria to be 7° 12' north of Syene, which must have been situated under the tropic. But accord- ing to the moderns, the latitude of Syene is 24° 5', consequently that of Alexandria would be 31° 17', which is not far from the truth. But however accurately this ob- servation might be made, it could not furnish the Greek astronomer with a solid basis for the measurement of the earth, as the two points which he compared are not situated exactly under the same meridian. The measures j)f a degree attributed to the Arabians exhibit in like manner only equivocal results^ and such as cannot be reconciled with the truth but by means of arbitrary assumptions. After the revival of letters, the European astronomers made many fruitless attempts to measure accurately an arc of the meridian. Fernel, in the year 1530, measured a degree between Paris and Amiens, and, notwithstanding the imperfection of his instruments, found it to be 57,070 toises, a result almost identical with that obtained by modern geometers. In 1617, Snell, after having determined the celestial arcs comprised between Alkmaer, Leyden, and Bergen-op-Zoom, by the difference of the altitudes of the pole in those three places, calculated the terrestrial distances of the three parallels on the meridian, by means of a series of triangles connected together, and proceeding from a base which was ascertained by actual measurement on the ground ; he thus found that the length of a degree of the meridian was 55,021 toises, or 58,639 English fathoms of six feet each. Norwood, an English astronomer, in 1635, measured, by a very imperfect method, the arc of the meridian between London and York. He found the degree to be 57,310 toises, or 61,078 fathoms, which result is a very near approximation. About fifteen years afterwards, Riccioli, a celebrated Italian astronomer, pretended to have found, by a measurement carried on in the environs of Bologna, that a degree of the meridian was 62,900 toises, or 67,036 fathoms; but this result is almost 6000 toises, or 6395 fathoms above the real value. It was by applying the telescope to instruments used in the measurement of angles, that Picard was enabled to undertake with the necessary precision, the new measure of a degree which he commenced in 1669. He chose for the theatre of his operations the spa=s contained between Sourdon in Picardy, and Malvoisine, on the borders of Chap. II.] PRINCIPLES OF MATHEMATICAL GEOGRAPHY. 41 Gatinais and Hurepoix. In order to ascertain the itinerary distance which separates those two places, which are situated under the same meridian, he connected them hy a series of triangles, and ohserved successively all the angles of each triangle, which furnished him with a means of verification for each, as the sum of the angles of every triangle is equal to 180°. He scarcely ever obtained this sum; but the inevitable errors only amounted to a few seconds. A triangle is indeterminate if only the angles are given, for then we can obtain no more than the ratio of the sides ; but one side, together with the angles, being known, the other parts are easily found. Picard therefore measured, with a precision till then unattempted, a distance of 5663 toises, or 6035 fathoms, on the road from Villejuif to Juvisy. With this base he calculated the side of one of his triangles; and from this he found the side of a second; and thus he proceeded from triangle to triangle, as far as Sourdon. Here again a straight line was measured as a base of verification, and it differed only by one or two toises from the length computed from the first measure. New triangles were afterwards carried forward as far as the cathedral of Amiens, where the operation ended. It was then necessary to find the length of the line which joins the extreme points, and its position with respect to the meridian of Paris, in order to ascertain the dis- tance in the direction of this meridian ; and also to determine accurately the length of the corresponding arc of the celestial meridian, that is, how many degrees and parts of a degree it contained, in order to deduce its ratio to the whole circumference. In tliis second part of his operation, which depended on the observation of the stars, Picard selected a star near the zenith, in order to obviate the effects of refraction, which, in his time, produced much uncertainty. By this means he found the difference of latitude between Malvoisine and Sourdon to be 1° 11' 57"; that it corresponded, in the direction of the meridian, to a distance of 58,430 toises, or 62,272 fathoms ; and hence he concluded the length of the degree to be 57,064 toises, or 60,816 fathoms. He found also, between the cathedral of Amiens and Malvoisine, a difference in la- titude of 1° 22' 55"; and a distance of 78,850 toises, or 85,034 fathoms, which gave for the degree 57,057 toises, or 60,808 fathoms; he chose the mean of both these results, viz. 57,060 toises, or 60,812 fathoms; whence the whole circumference con- tains 21,892,820 fathoms, or about 24,880 English miles. The accuracy of Picard's operation seemed to remove all doubt respecting the dimensions of the earth, when the important experiments made by M. Richer at Cayenne in 1672, showed that the figure of the earth was not perfectly spherical, and that consequently the degrees were not equal. His pendulum clock, regulated at Paris to the mean motion of the sun, after being transported to the island of Cay- enne, which is only about 5 degrees from the equator, was found to lose every day 2 minutes, 28 seconds. The length of a pendulum, which at Cayenne beat seconds exactly, being marked upon an iron bar, which was brought to France, it was observed that the seconds pendulum of Cayenne was a line and a quarter shorter than that of Paris, which measured 440.57 lines, or 30.156 English inches. This experiment proved that the force of gravity is less at Cayenne than at Paris; for when the pendulum is drawn aside from the vertical position, the force which causes it to return is gravity; and the interval of time it takes to return to that situation is shorter, if the power of gravity increases, and longer if it diminishes. Hence, since the pendulum oscillates more slowly at Cayenne than at Paris, or beats a less number of seconds in the course of a day, it is clear that the force of gravity is less at the former place than at the latter. This experiment perfectly coincided with the reasoning of mathematicians, who began to consider the earth as depressed towards the poles : and the cause of the aug- mentation of gravity, or the attracting force, was explained by the depression of the surface, which therefore approaches nearer to the centre. Iluyghens, a Dutch mathematician, even before the experiment of the pendulum was known, considering that bodies which revolve round a centre, or an axis, acquire a centrifugal force, which tends constantly to make them fly off from this centre or axis, as we observe in a stone whirled about in a sling, concluded that the fluid dif- fused over a considerable part of the surface of the earth could not assume a form perfectly spherical, as it must be affected at the same time both by the centrifugal force and by the force of gravity impelling it towards the centre. He supposed, therefore, that the earth must be depressed towards the poles, and that the axis of rotation is shorter than the equatorial diameters by s i s , which is equal to about fourteen miles. Newton, to whose profound sagacity we owe the discovery of the principle of uni- versal gravitation, considered gravity at the surface of the earth not as a constant 42 PRINCIPLES OF MATHEMATICAL GEOGRAPHY. [Introd. force everywhere directed towards the centre of our globe, but as the result of the mutual attractions of all the particles of the earth to each other; and found that this force varies a little in intensity and direction, when the earth is regarded as not being perfectly spherical. If the figure of the earth depends upon gravity, gravity itself is also modified by the figure of the earth ; whence, the earth having once assumed the oblate figure, this figure alone, independently of the centrifugal force, ought to render gravity weaker under the equator than under the poles. Newton, proceeding on this principle, and supposing the earth homogeneous in all its parts, found, for the quantity of depression, 3 Ljj, or about 35 miles. Those conclusions, differing as to the quantity of the result, but agreeing with re- spect to the alteration which the figure of the earth ought to undergo in consequence of the centrifugal force, have been developed by the most deUcate and profound cal- culations. It has been demonstrated, that the earth cannot be a homogeneous mass, but that its density ought to increase in descending to the centre ; and that, in all cases, an elliptical figure satisfies the laws of the equilibrium of fluids. At the present time, the theory of the diminution of gravity towards the equator has been confirmed by a great number of observations on the pendulum, from Lapland to the Cape of Good Hope ; and from their general agreement it has been concluded, that the depression of the globe is equal to very nearly the 290th part of its axis. The depression of the earth is also verified by measures taken on the terrestrial globe; for it results from this theory, that the degrees of latitude cannot be equal throughout the whole extent of the meridian, but that they ought to be augmented in the flattened part of the meridian, that is, towards the poles, and diminished in the most convex part of the same meridian, or near the equator. These consequences, which follow from the fundamental notions of elementary geometry, were however for some time mistaken by men of very great merit, such as Cassini, and D'Anville, who affirmed that the earth was elongated towards the poles : in other words, that the terrestial spheroid revolved about its greater axis ; a supposition entirely incom- patible with the theory of gravitation and the equilibrium of fluids. In France, the notion prevailed for forty years, that the earth is a spheriod pro- tracted towards the poles. At length, the Academy of Sciences resolved to ascertain by actual experiment the truth of the theoretical conclusions on the subject, and se- lected from their own body two companies of mathematicians, who were dispatched, the one in 1736 to Peru, and the other in 1737 to the polar circle, to measure a de- gree of the meridian in the regions bordering on the equator and near the pole. The results thus obtained, compared with each other, and with the degree measured in France by Picard, though they did not entirely agree with respect to the quantity of the depression of the earth at the poles, completely dissipated all doubts of the fact. The degree measured at the polar circle exceeded that of the equator by 669 toises, or 703 fathoms ; and the degree measured in France, though smaller than that of the polar circle, still surpassed that of the equator by 307 toises, or 327 fathoms. Astronomers and mathematicians still continued to doubt respecting the true di- mensions and ellipticity of the earth, when a political project afforded an opportunity for undertaking a new measure of the arc of the meridian which traverses France. The National Convention had ordered that a uniform and permanent system of weights and measures should be established. The philosophers proposed to found the basis of this system upon nature, and to take as the primitive unity of measure, or the metre, the ten millioneth part of the quadrant of the terrestrial meridian, that is, of the distance between the equator and the pole. It was said that a metrology founded on such a basis would belong to every age and nation; and it was therefore deter- mined that the new metrological system should be rendered more authentic, by found- ing it upon new operations, conducted with a precision till then unknown, and directed by the most able astronomers. Delambre and Mechain were appointed to measure the arc of the meridian intercepted between the parallels of Barcelona and Dunkirk. These two celebrated geometricians measured the angles of 90 triangles with repeating circles constructed on the principle of Borda ; they observed with these instruments, five latitudes at Dunkirk, Paris, Evreux Carcassone, and Barcelona. The two bases near Melun and Perpignan were measured with platina and copper rules, and were found to agree, to a few inches, with the measures calcu- lated. Minute attention prevented or rectified the smallest errors. The most emi- nent of the French mathematicians, together with a number of others sent from different countries, verified and sanctioned all the calculations. No doubt, therefore, can be entertained respecting the accuracy of the results of this vast enterprise, which commenced in 1792, and terminated, as far as regards the measurement, in 1798. Chap. II.] PRINCIPLES OF MATHEMATICAL GEOGRAPHY. 43 It has been proved, that the degrees of the meridian diminish towards the south, and increase towards the north. But this augmentation of the terrestial degrees does not follow a regular and constant progression. Therefore no meridian whatever can be a regular ellipse. It is probable that the earth itself is not a solid of revolu- tion, that is, a figure circumscribed by the revolution of the same ellipse round its axis. However, these irregularities, which appear extremely small in comparison with the mass of the earth, may, without inconvenience, be overlooked. The meridian of France, which MM. Biot and Arago have lately prolonged, by a very tedious operation, as far as the isles of Iviza and Formentera, considered se- parately, gives for the quantity of the depression T | 5 , and, by comparing it with the degree of Peru, it would give ^; 5 . This latter result, adopted by the French commissioners of weights and measures, coincides with what was found by observations of the pendulum. It agrees also with se- veral celestial phenomena occasioned by the non-sphericity of the earth ; for this planet being swelled out towards the equator, the attraction of the sun and moon is there more powerful than towards the poles ; and, as the plane of the equator is inclined to the ecliptic and lunar orbit, the additional attraction communicates to the axis both a progressive motion, which causes the equinoctional points to retrograde, and an alternate motion, by which it oscillates around the position it would have by virtue of the first motion. The first of these motions is called the precession of the equinoxes, and the last the nutation of the axis. M. Burg having calculated the causes of those perturbations, and the influence of the earth's depression, found the latter to be 3 i s . The degree measured at the polar circle by the French academicians in 1737, was that which differed the most from the general result deduced from all the other data. Accordingly the measurement of a new degree, at the same place, was undertaken by M. Svanberg, a Swedish astronomer. The French academicians had measured only an arc of 57', but M. Svanberg extended the operation to 1° 37'. By the definite result of this measure, a degree of the meridian at that latitude was found to be 196 toises shorter than that which was measured in 1737. Even the planets, which are many millions of leagues distant from us, have contri- buted to fix our ideas respecting the oblate figure of the terrestial spheroid. The al- teration of the spherical figure, resulting from the rotation of a celestial body on its own axis, appeals also in the planet Jupiter, where it is so sensible that the difference of the two diameters of the disc may be discerned by means of a telescope. This dif- ference is almost one-tenth ; and when we compare the exact measure of this depres- sion, the dimensions of Jupiter, and the time of his rotation with those of the earth, we find for this latter planet a flatness proportioned to 5 a § ; which does not differ very widely from the result of the French measure. We may now consider the quantity of the earth's depression as sufficiently deter- mined for geographical purposes. There are few geographers indeed, who, in the construction of maps on a small scale, have paid attention to the depression or ellip- ticity of the earth. Maupertuis, Murdoch, and others, have indeed calculated tables, which give the increase of the degrees of longitude on an elliptic spheroid. But the depression of the earth, reduced to the 5 a„ of the equatorial diameter, not producing between that diameter and the axis which passes through the poles more than a dif- ference of about 26 miles, would give for a spheroid, the major axis of which would be 3 feet, a difference of only about one-eighth of an inch, a quantity which it would be extremely difficult to observe with precision in the construction of globes. They may therefore be made perfectly spherical. In topography and special hydrography the effect of ellipticity is perceptible not only in the degrees of latitude, but also in those of longitude; and it is the duty of a careful geographer to attend to it, by following the methods which several late works have given for expressing those differences. We shall now terminate this short historical account of the investigations relative to the figure of the earth, by placing before the reader the results deduced from twenty of the principal and most accurate measurements of arcs of the terrestial meridian that have been made in various parts of the world. Dimensions and Ellipticity of the Earth* English Feet. Milt r. Equatorial Diameter =41,843,330 = 7924.873 Polar Diameter =41,704,788 = 7898.634 Difference of Diameters, or Polar Compression . . . = 138,542 = 26.239 Katio of Diameters = 302.020 : 3m Ellipticity .... , ,„ Circumference of the Equator = 24897 * Encyc. Brit. Article, Figure of the Earth. U PRINCIPLES OF MATHEMATICAL GEOGRAPHY. Introd. From these elements the following table is computed, showing the length of a degree of. the meridian or latitude, and of a degree of longitude, at every tenth degree of latitude: — Lat J Degree of Latitude. Degree of Longitude. £ng. Feet. Miles. Eng. Feet. Miles. 0° 362,734 68.70 365,152 69.16 10 362,843 68.72 359,640 68.11 20 363,158 68.78 343,263 65.01 30 363,641 68.87 316,493 59.94 40 364,233 68.98 280,106 53.05 50 364,862 69.10 235,171 44.54 60 365,454 69.21 183,029 34.67 70 365,937 69.31 125,254 23.72 80 366,252 69.36 63,612 12.05 90 366,361 69.39 § 3. Of Globes and Maps. To fix well in the mind the various parts of knowledge which constitute the science of geography, it is necessary to have before our eyes a representation of the earth and its different parts, on a small scale. The simplest of these representations is the artificial terrestrial ylobe ; which shews as nearly as possible the earth in relief, with its seas, continents, and islands ; also its mountains, rivers, and principal towns. All these are placed in their true position on the artificial globe ; they are represented in their totality, and relatively to each other, as they are situated on the earth itself, according to astronomical observations and geodesical measurements. A geographical map can only give perspective views of a part of the globe, in which there are always more or less of conventional errors. The artificial globe affords a representation of those mathematical circles which serve to give us an idea of the various relations of the earth with the heavenly bodies, and of terrestrial places with each other. Thus, the terrestrial equator, the tropics, the polar circles, are represented on the surface of the globe ; then, the other parallels to the equator, from 5 to 5, or from 10 to 10 degrees, according to the size of the globe. The meridians are also described from 5 to 5 or from 10 to 10 degrees ; and are numbered at their point of intersection with the equator. The parallels to the equator are sometimes numbered at the points where they intersect the conven- tional first meridian. The ecliptic is also represented on good globes. The poles are the extremities of the axis about which the globe turns. These two pivots are fixed to a metallic circle which surrounds the globe from one pole to the other, so that on turning the globe, every terrestrial point passes under this circle. It serves, therefore, as a general meridian, and is so called. The degrees of lati- tude, and on large globes, even the minutes and seconds, are marked on the general meridian. The bearers, or feet of the whole machine, support a circular band of metal or wood, which divides the globe, in whatever position it may be placed, into two hemispheres, one superior, the other inferior, and thus represents the rational horizon. This arti- ficial horizon has several circles traced on its surface, on which are marked the degrees of the twelve signs of the zodiac, the names of those signs, the days of the month, and the thirty-two points of the compass. The quadrant of altitude is a thin plate of brass, attached to the general meridian, and divided into 90 degrees, which serves, instead of compasses, to measure the dis- tances, and determine the positions of places. The horary circle is fixed on the north pole; it is divided into 24 hours, and bears a moveable index, which turns round the axis of the globe. There is also at the foot of the globe a mariner's compass, which should be fixed in the parallel and the meridian of the horizon. The globe serves, generally speaking, to illustrate the elements of mathematical geography. In order to shew its use, we shall now explain its construction. The most simple and most exact way of constructing a globe is to describe on its surface, by the means we are about to explain, the circles, lines, and points, which it ought to represent. Let us suppose that two points, diametrically opposite, have been assumed to re- present the poles, and fix the position of the axis of rotation : taking one of these points for a centre, at an equal distance from each, a circle must be described, which will be the equator ; another great circle is drawn through the poles to represent the first meridian, which will be divided into 90 degrees, counting from the equator to- wards each pole: afterwards, setting out from this meridian, the circumference of the equator must be divided from degree to degree. These two circles being determined, Chap. II.] PRINCIPLES OF MATHEMATICAL GEOGRAPHY. 45 it is easy to mark on the globe any place of which the latitude and longitude may be ascertained from geographical tables ; for it will be sufficient to mark the latitude on the first meridian, and through the point where it falls, to describe (the pole being taken for the centre) the circle parallel to the equator; then drawing a semicircle through the point of the equator on which the longitude falls and the two poles, we shall have the meridian whose intersection with the parallel already described marks the position of the place. It is thus that the circles of latitude and longitude are traced on the globe, at the distance of ten or of five degrees from each other. The circles of latitude are parallel to the equator; they therefore necessarily dimi- nish till the last circle of latitude is identified with the pole itself. The circles of longitude, or the meridians, extend from pole to pole, cutting the equator perpendicu- larly, and are all equal to each other. The degrees of latitude are counted only on the circles of longitude, and vice versa. The degrees of latitude are, therefore, small arcs of 5 | s of a circle of longitude, intercepted by two circles of latitude. They would of course all be equal were it not for the small difference which proceeds from the depression, and makes them increase a little towards the poles. The degrees of longi- tude are arcs of 3 i 5 of a circle of latitude, intercepted by two circles of longitude. Therefore the degrees of longitude go on diminishing in proportion as the circles of longitude come near each other; and at the point where all these circles, till then con- vergent, cut each other, that is to say, at the pole, there is no longer any difference of longitude. The latitudes are reckoned from the equator. This origin is naturally determined by the circumstances of the earth's motion. It is otherwise with the longitude ; for all the meridians being great circles, nature furnishes no reason for choosing one in preference to another, as a term from which to begin to count, or as first meridian. We need not be surprised, therefore, that geographers have varied much in their choice of this element. Ptolemy fixed his first meridian at the Fortunate Isles, (now the Canaries), be- cause they formed the most western limit of the countries known in his time ; and as their extent from east to west was more considerable than from south to north, the former direction received the name of longitude, or length, the latter that of latitude, or breadth, terms which now bear a general application. This first meridian of the ancients is not known with certainty. In order to render the manner of expressing longitudes in French geography uni- form, Louis XIII., by an express declaration, ordered that the first meridian should be placed in the Isle of Ferro, the most western of the Canaries. Delisle, one of the first who endeavoured to give precision to geographical determinations, fixed the longitude of Paris 20 degrees east of that meridian. When it was known by more rigorous observations, that the difference of longitude between Paris and the principal town of the Isle of Ferro, was 20° 5' 50", it was necessary to advance the first meri- dian 5' 50" to the east of that point, so that it is now merely a conventional circle which passes through no remarkable point. The Dutch had fixed their first meridian at the Peak of TenerifTe, a mountain si- tuated in the island of that name, and then esteemed the highest in the world. Gerard Mercator, a famous geographer of the 16th century, chose the meridian which passes through the island Del Corvo, one of the Azores, because in his time it was the line on which the magnetic needle suffered no deviation. It must be con- fessed, that this line forms the most natural and the most commodious point of de- parture with respect to maps of the world. Some writers on geography understand by the term meridian of a place, only the half of the great circle corresponding with the celestial meridian ; the other half, which is in the opposite hemisphere, with respect to the poles, is by them called the anti-meridian. Geographers now begin to count the longitudes from the eastern side of the first meridian, and to reckon them in the same direction round the whole circumference of the equator, till they return to the western side of the meridian. In this way of counting, the longitudes increase to S60°. These conventional arrangements have not been adopted by mariners. Astrono- mical observations having become of general use in navigation, and the tables which indicate the instant of the celestial phenomena, and the position of the heavenly bodies at different epochs, being always computed for the meridian of the principal obser- vatory of each nation, navigators found it more convenient to refer to this meridian the points of the routes they followed. French mariners count from the meridian of 46 PRINCIPLES OP MATHEMATICAL GEOGRAPHY. [Introd. the observatory of Paris ; the English from Greenwich ; the Spaniards from Cadiz. Let ns observe, moreover, that mariners estimate the longitude from the difference of the time which elapses between the passage of the meridians under the same heavenly body, or from the difference of hours counted at the same moment in two different places. If the mariner has advanced towards the east, the hour of the day, at the same instant of time, is later than under the meridian from which he set out ; the contrary happens when he proceeds westward. It is necessary, therefore, when we convert a difference of time into a difference of longitude, to indicate whether the longi- tude is east or west. In this way of reckoning, the longitude is always counted on the side nearest the first meridian, so that it only embraces the semi-circumference : and the globe is divided into two hemispheres with respect to the first meridian ; in the hemisphere situated to the west, the longitudes are said to be west: and in the other east. All marine charts are constructed according to this mode of reckoning. In conformity with the ancient custom of geographers, we shall here point out the means of resolving various elementary questions by means of the artificial globe. It its proper, however, to apprize our readers that exact solutions of these problems can only be obtained by calculation. The greater part of the questions usually pro- posed as exercises on the globes, are either of a vague and frivolous nature, or so little connected with geography, as not to merit any particular notice. The first use that is made of the globe is to determine the distance of one place from another. The shortest distance between two points on the sphere is mea- sured by the arc of the great circle which joins them; and as all great circles are equal, the degrees of any one of them are exactly of the same length as those of the equator or meridian. We therefore measure with compasses the arc comprised between the proposed points, and carry it to the meridian or the equator, which are graduated; or we may stretch the quadrant of altitude between the two places, and observe the number of intercepted degrees. These converted into itinerary measures will give the distance required. If, for example, the arc comprised between two places marked on the globe, and brought to the meridian, contains 10° 45', we shall have the shortest distance between these points in miles, by converting the degrees and minutes into miles, reckoning 69^, or in round numbers 70 miles, to a degree. The result will be 716§ miles. If the places whose distance we wish to ascertain are situated under the same me- ridian, it is only necessary to take the difference of their latitudes, and to convert it into itinerary measures. A difference of a few minutes in longitude has no sensible effect on the result. It would be a great error to take the difference of longitude in degrees, of two places, situated on the same parallel, for the measure of their distance ; this can only be done when the places are situated on the equator, which is a great circle ; but the parallels being small circles, the radii of which diminish as we approach the poles, it follows from the~principle stated above, that the absolute length of their arcs does not give the true measure of the shortest distance from the extremities of those arcs : this distance can only be measured by a great circle passing through the two extreme points. For as the radius of the parallel is shorter than that of the great circle, the arc of the parallel must necessarily have a greater curvature than that of the great circle comprised between the same points, and is consequently longer. The follow- ing is a striking example : Petersburg is almost under the same latitude as the Isle of Kodiak, in Russian America ; the difference of longitude is about 180°, equivalent under this parallel to 6360 miles ; but the shortest distance between the two places, counted on a meridian that is almost common to them, is 60 degrees of latitude, equivalent to 4240 miles. It is true, that to pass from the one place to the other in the direction of the meridian, it would be required to cross the polar ice. It is necessary, however, in many cases, to measure the distance on the parallels, and, consequently, to know exactly the value of the degrees of longitude marked on the parallel circles. The globe renders the diminution of these degrees towards the poles sensible to the eye ; our table indicates it in detail : but we should know the mathematical principles on which it depends. The length of the degrees marked on the parallels is proportional to the radii of those circles; but the radii of the equator, and of its parallels, are perpendiculars let fall from the different points of the meri- dian on the axis of the sphere, as the lines E C and H R, on the second figure on page 33. Consequently, if we take the radius EC for the length of the degree of the equator, and if we divide it into sixty-nine parts, each representing a mile, the number of these parts which the radius HR of the parallel LM may contain, will indicate the value of the degree of this parallel in miles. Hence it results, that, to determine the length Chap. II.] PRINCIPLES OF MATHEMATICAL GEOGRAPHY. 47 of the degrees on each parallel, we have only to describe on a line EC, which repre- sents the length of the degree of the meridian, or of the equator, a quarter of a circle E P; divide it into degrees, and let perpendiculars fall from each point of division on the radius CP; these lines will mark the respective lengths of the degree of the pa- rallel for each latitude. To find the latitude of any place on the earth, the globe must be turned round on its immoveable axis till the place comes under the fixed meridian ; and the degree marked on the fixed meridian over the place will give the latitude. The longitude of the same place will then be found on the equator, at the point where this circle passes under the meridian. If we wish, on the contrary, to determine the position of a place, the longitude and latitude of which are known, we have only to bring the point of the equator which corresponds to the given longitude, to the fixed meridian, and, taking the given latitude on the meridian, we shall have the geographical position ot the place. The hour circle which is commonly adapted to the north pole of the globe, serves to indicate the hour in one part of the earth, when we know the hour it is in another ; for, by placing the latter place under the meridian, after having fixed the index ot the dial at the given hour, and by making the globe turn till the fixed meridian is over the place of which the hour is required, the index will show on the dial the hour wanted : it is later if the globe has been turned to the east, and earlier if it has been turned to the west. If we wish to know the length of the longest day for all the points of a hemis- phere, the northern, for example, we must place the meridian, so that the arctic polar circle touches the horizon of the globe: this horizon will then be identical with the circle of illumination. If we bring any point whatever of the proposed hemisphere to the meridian, and then fix the index of the polar dial at 12, and make the globe turn towards the east till the point marked enters into the horizon, the index will stop at the hour at which this point passes from the enlightened to the obscure part. The number of hours gone over on the dial will be the half of the duration of the day required. By bringing the pole nearer the horizon, we shall give the horizon the position which the circle of illumination occupies before and after the solstices, and we shall find, as above, the length of the day in each country at any time of the year. In this position of the globe, all the points which are at the same time on the western border of the horizon, are those at which the sun is seen to rise at the same moment that it is seen to set at those on the eastern border. It is by studying the globe attentively that we come to understand perfectly the import of the terms north and south, east and west. Two terrestrial points, situated under the same meridian, are directly north and south of each other, and all the in- termediate points, that is to say, all the points of the line of distance, are equally north and south of each other, and all reciprocally on the same point of the compass. In like manner, any two points whatever, taken under the terrestrial equator, are directly east and west of each other; and all the intermediate points are equally so, and are reciprocally on the same point of the compass. If we take two places, which are neither under the same meridian, nor under the equator, whatever their relative position may be otherwise, none of the intermediate places will, with respect to the others, be on the same point of the compass. For the arc of a great circle which measures the distances, is an arc of a vertical circle which passes through the zenith of the two places in question ; but every vertical circle, which is itself neither a meridian, nor perpendicular to the terrestrial meridian (like the equator), will cut all the intermediate meridians under angles unequal to each other. But it is these angles of position which determine the point of the compass on which one place is relatively to another. Therefore, as all the intermediate places between the two places in question will offer angles of position unequal in degrees, each of them will be on another point, with regard to the following place, from what the preceding place was with regard to it. Thus, in following the shortest route be- tween two places situated out of the equator, and under different meridians, the point of the compass varies at every step. The directions of the winds, or points of the compass with respect to the men- dional line, and the names assigned to them, are generally marked on the horizon. By this means we may ascertain the position of a place with respect to the sun, at the moment when it appears to rise or set, by observing on what point of the horizon the given place passes from the obscure to the enlightened part, or from this into the other. The globe, thus turned, aimi'ds the means of representing physically all the phenomena of the annual motion of the earth. 48 PRINCIPLES OF MATHEMATICAL GEOGRAPHY. [Introd. The following table exhibits the thirty-two points of the Mariner's Compass: — Situation upon the English Names. French Italian Names. Ancient Names." Compass. ii CZ f/tC St Degrees. NORTH (N.) NORD(N.) TRAMONTANA. ( Boreas ; Aparc- \ tias; Septentrion. "i N. by E. N. i N. E. 4 di T. Verso Greco. 22 J N.N. E. N. N.E. Greco- Tramontana. 33| 45 561 N. E. by N. ' North- East (N. E.) N. E. byE. N.E.JN. N. E. N. E.|E. i di Greco-Verso T. Greco. i di Gr. -Verso Levante. f Cassias ; Aquilo ; \ {sometimes Boreas) 674 E.N. E. E. N. E. Greco-Levante. iu K.byN. E. i N. E. i di Levante V. Greco. ( Apeliotes ; Subso- \ lanus; (Eurus?) 90 EAST (E.J EST(E.) LEVANTE. 101J E. by S. E. | S.E. i di Lev. Verso Scirocco. 1124 K.S. E. E. S.E. Levante- Scirocco. 123 J S. E. by E. S. E. JE. i di Scirocco V. Levante. ( Euronotos ; Vul- 135 South- F.ast (S.E.) S.E. Scirofco. < turnus ; (often 146| S E.byS. S. E.JS. i di Scir. Verso Ostro. (. Eurus.) 157J S. S.E. S.S. E. Ostro- Scirocco. 1683 S. by E. S.JS.E. i di Ostro. V. Scirocco. 180 SOUTH (S.) SUD(S.) OSTRO. Notos; Auster. 191* S. by W. S.i S. O. i di Ostro V. Libeccio. 202} s. s. w. s. s. o. Ostro-Libeccio. 2133 S. W. by S. S. O.J s. i di Libeccio V. Ostro. 225 South- West (S. W.) S.O. Libeccio. Libs ; Afrieus. 2361 S. W. by \V. S.O.JO. J'di Lib. V. Ponente. 247 i W. S. W. O. S. 0. Ponente- Libeccio. 258| W. by S. O.i S.O. i di PonenteV. Libeccio. 270 WEST (W.I OUEST(VV.) PONENTE. Zephyrus ; Favonius. 281 \ W. by N. O.JN.O. $ di PonenteV. Maestro. 292 i W. N.W. O. N. O. Maestro-Ponente. 3033 315 N. W.bv W. North- West (N.W.) N. O. iO. N. O. i di Maestro.V. Ponente. Maestro. / Corus ; Skiron ; \ Argestes. 32Gi N. W. by N. N. 0. JN. i di Maestro V. Tram. 337 i N. N. W. N. N. O. Maestro- Tramontana. 3483 N.bv W. N.iN. 0. 1 di Tram. V. Maestro. 3G0 NORTH. NORD. TRAMONTANA. Boreas ; &c. If we wish to know on what line one place is situated with respect to the meridian of another, we must first place the globe so that the second place may answer to the pole of the horizon, that is to say, we must rectify the globe for that place. This is done by taking its latitude, and elevating the nearest pole to a degree equal to this latitude. The horizon is then, with respect to the globe, in the position which the rational horizon of the place proposed occupies on the earth. The globe being thus rectified, the pivot of the quadrant of altitude is brought over the place in question, and its edge is afterwards made to pass by the first place. The number of degrees and parts of a degree on the horizon, are then counted from the quadrant of altitude to the meridian, either on the north or south side, and we have the measure of the angle formed with the meridian by the arc of the great circle which joins the two places proposed. Large globes are costly and inconvenient instruments ; small ones do not afford sufficient details ; it becomes necessary, therefore, to have recourse to maps, which give a representation of the globe and its different parts on a plane surface. These representations embrace either the whole earth, or a part of the world, or a single country. In the first case they are called maps of the world, and when they have a circular form, planispheres; those of the second'class are called general maps; the others are special maps. Among the special maps, some represent a province on a large scale, with all its remarkable places ; these again are chorographic maps. If the designer has entered into all the details of the nature of the ground, and the direction of roads and rivers, they are topographical maps. Custom sometimes confounds these denominations. Geographical maps, properly so called, are also distinguished from those that are appropriated to a particular use ; such are hjdrographic charts, destined for manners, mineralogical maps, and others. The figure of the earth prevents the possibility of giving a general picture, in which the distances of places, and the relative extent of regions, are preserved in their mutual relations. The earth being a spheroid, its surface cannot coincide rigorously * The names in this column form the ancient compass of eight points. The following intermediate po.nts were recogmsed by the ancients in the compass containing twelve points : - 1 . Be™™ North an,! Last, Meses, (often Boreas and Aquilo) 30°; Cffisias 60=. ±2. Between East and South Eurus Vulturnus, 120°; Phcemx, Euronotos 150°.-3. Between South and West, Libonotus, L bophren* 2H£ ; Libs, Afncus 240°. _ Between West and North, Iapix, Corus, Argestes 300° ; Thracias, Ce?££ Chap. II.] PRINCIPLES OF MATHEMATICAL GEOGRAPHY. >id with a plane ; and hence results the impossibility of marking on a map, at the same time, and in their natural relations, the extent of countries, the distances of places, and the similitude of configurations. Geographers are obliged to have recourse to various constructions, to represent, at least in an approximative manner, each of these relations in particular. These constructions have received the name of projections; a name applied in ge- neral to drawings, the object of which is to indicate on a plane the dimensions of the sphere, and of the bodies on its surface. They are of two kinds ; some are real perspectives of the globe, or of the parts of its surface, taken from different points of view, and on different planes ; the others are only a kind of developments, restrained to approximative laws, and appropriated to the relations which it is wished to pre- serve in preference. The projection of the sphere is commonly divided into orthographic and stereo- graphic. Orthographic projection is that in which the surface of the sphere is represented on a plane which cuts it through its centre, the eye being placed vertically at an infinite distance from the two hemispheres. The following are the principal laws of this pro- jection : 1st, The rays of light proceeding from an infinite distance are parallel. 2d, A straight line, perpendicular to the plane of projection, is projected in a single point, which is that in which the line cuts the plane of projection. 3d, A straight line which is not perpendicular to the plane of projection, but parallel or oblique to it, is projected by a straight line terminated by perpendiculars drawn from its extremities to the plane of projection. 4th, The projection of the line is the greatest possible when it is parallel to the plane of projection. 5th, Hence it follows evidently that a straight line parallel to the plane of projection is projected by an equal straight line; but that, if it is oblique to the plane of projection, it is projected by a straight line less than itself. 6th, A plane surface, if it be perpendicular to the plane of projection, is projected simply by a straight line; and this straight line is the line in which the given surface intersects the plane of projection. 1th, It is hence evident, that the circle whose plane is perpendicular to the plane of projection, and which has its centre in that plane, ought to be projected by the diameter which is its common sec- tion with the plane of projection. 8th, It is also evident, that an arc of a circle, the extremity of which would answer perpendicularly to the centre of the plane of pro- jection, ought to be projected by a straight line equal to the sine of that arc, and that its complement is projected by a line which is simply the versed sine of that arc. 9th, A circle, parallel to the plane of projection, is projected by a circle that is equal to it; and a circle oblique to the plane of projection is projected by an ellipsis. Stereographic projection is that in which the surface of the sphere is represented on the plane of one of its great circles, the eye being supposed at the pole of that circle. In the stereographic projection, the globe is considered as a transparent solid. The hemisphere represented is that which is opposite to the hemisphere in which the eye is supposed to be. The following are the principal laws of stereographic projec- tion : — 1st, Every great circle, passing through the centre of the eye, is projected by a straight line. 2d, A circle placed perpendicularly opposite the eye, is projected by a circle. 3d, A circle placed obliquely with respect to the eye, is projected by another circle, the radius of which increases in the ratio of the obliquity. 4th, If a great circle is projected on the plane of another great circle, its centre will be on the line of the measures, that is to say, on the projection of the great circle, which passes through the eye, and which is perpendicular to the circle to be projected, and to the plane of pro- jection. The distance of the centre of the projected circle from the centre of the primi- tive circle, or circle of projection, is equal to the tangent of its elevation above the primitive plane, or the plane of projection. 5th, A small circle will be projected into .mother circle, the diameter of which (if the circle to be projected surrounds the pole of the primitive circle) will be equal to the sum of the semi-tangents of the greatest and least distance from the pole of the primitive circle, these tangents being taken each in the line of the measures from the same side of the centre of the primitive circle. 6th, In the stereographic projection, the angles which the circles make on the surface of the sphere are equal to the angles which the lines of their respective projections make with each other on the plane of projection. On these principles, methods have been found for tracing maps of the world accord- ing to either of the two projections. Three sorts of stereographic projections are in common use : \st, That on the plane of the equator, called polar, because the eve is supposed to be at one of the poles. 2d, That on the plane of a meridian, which divides the globe into two hemispheres, D £0 PRINCIPLES OF MATHEMATICAL GEOGRAPHY. [Introd. one containing America, and the other Europe, Asia, and Africa. 3d, Tnat on the plane of the horizon of any place whatever. In the polar projection, supposing the eye at one of the poles, the plane of the pic- ture will be that of the equator ; the meridians will be projected by straight lines, and the circles parallel to the equator by concentric circles. In the stereographic projection on a meridian, the point of view, always placed in the pole of the hemisphere opposite to that which is to be represented, is on the cir- cumference of the equator ; and the projection of this great circle is a straight line perpendicular to the axis of the poles of the earth. The horizontal stereographic projection, is the most interesting application of this method. The rational horizon of any place whatever will serve as a plane of projec- tion ; the point of view is the lower pole of that horizon ; the meridian that passes through that place is represented by a straight line, and is commonly called the prin- cipal meridian. It is sufficient to cast one's eyes on a map of this kind, to perceive that the quadri- laterals comprehended between two meridians and two consecutive parallels, increase in extent in going from the centre to the circumference. This increase results from the oblique direction which the visual rays take, on diverging from an axis perpendi- cular to the picture, called the optical axis It follows, therefore, that the regions placed towards the borders of the hemisphere have a much more considerable extent than if they were at the centre, ; and that we are led into error whenever we compare them withthose which occupy that part. For example, when the horizon of Paris is taken as the plane of projection, the point of southern Africa appears much broader than on a globe ; and in Nova Zembla, the distances, south and north, are represented by spaces much larger than the same distances are in India. This inconvenience, of no consequence to experienced geographers, may convey erroneous ideas to pupils ; but the risk would be diminished, if, in teaching, care were taken to explain the pro- perties of stereographic projections, and to place under the view of beginners the polar, equatorial, and horizontal planispheres, the defects of one always disappearing in another. Besides the orthographic and stereographic projection, there is a third projection in perspective called the central projection. It is obtained by placing the point of view at the centre of the sphere, and taking for the plane of the picture a plane which is a tangent to its surface. It is plain that this projection, still more than the stereogra- phic, alters the extent of regions, in proportion as they are removed from the centre of the map. It can never represent an entire hemisphere, because the visual rays, drawn from the circumference which terminates this hemisphere, are infinite, being parallel to the plane of the picture. It may, however, be employed with advantage to represent parts of the globe, the extent of which is not very considerable ; for, in this projection, all the places situated on the same great circle, are placed on the map in a straight line ; and it is susceptible of a scale, the construction of which is not difficult to find. Such are the three principal projections of the globe which the rules of perspective admit. We see that none of the planispheres traced after these projections unites all the qualities of a perfect representation of the globe. They necessarily alter the figure of countries, either in the middle or towards the borders of each hemisphere. They do not represent spaces really equal under equal dimensions ; and the same takes place for most of the distances. Nor is it possible to obtain, either in the stereographic or orthographic projection, that places situated in a straight line on the globe, that is to say, on the same great circle, should be also represented in the map of the world on a straight Hue. Finally, the necessary inequality in the projection of spaces does not allow us to find with ease the exact longitude and latitude of a place. Different means of modifying the stereographic projection have in vain been proposed, with a view to remedy these inconveniences. Among all bodies which can be exactly represented on a plane, the cone and the cylinder are those which approach the nearest in character to the sphere. The cone especially offers this advantage, that a small conical zone hardly differs at all from a spherical zone : hence it is that conical developments afford the best projections of special geographical maps, and, by the help of some modifications, even for maps em- bracing considerable portions of the globe. When we merely wish to trace a zone of very little extent in latitude, it is evident that the spherical zone may, without any sensible error, be represented by the de- velopment of a cylinder, either inscribed or circumscribed about that zone, and the axis of which coincides with that of the globe. These maps can only serve for very Chap. II.] PRINCIPLES OF MATHEMATICAL GEOGRAPHY.' 51 small parts of the globe ; the least defective are those which represent the regions near the equator, because, at a little distance from this circle, the cosines of the lati- tude do not vary much. D'Anville made use of them in a similar case, but such a case is of very rare occurrence. Mercator, who had introduced the stereographic projection for maps of the world, considering that mariners do not employ maps to learn the figure of countries, but only to trace exactly, according to its length and direction, the course they have run, and to determine the distance they are from different points of the coasts, with the course they must hold to reach or avoid them, invented, in order to accomplish this object, in 1550, the projection of reduced maps, which perfectly satisfies these condi- tions, and of which Wright, Gregory, Halley, and others, discovered the mathematical theory long after. The meridians in these maps are parallel straight lines, equidis- tant from one another, and intersected at right angles by the parallels to the equator ; but the intervals which separate the latter, increase as we advance towards the poles, in proportion as the degrees of longitude on the globe diminish. Hence it results, that the distances in longitude, measured on each parallel, have the same relation as on the globe, with respect to the distances in corresponding latitudes. It is of some consequence to attend to the scale of itinerary distances, or distance according to the local measures of the country usually laid down upon some prominent part of the map. The principal lineal and itinerary measures made use of in different countries are, the English and the French foot, each of them divided into 12 inches; the English yard of 3 feet ; the English fathom of 6 feet ; the French metre ; the French toise or fathom of 6 French feet; the English statute mile of 1760 yards; the English league of 3 miles ; the English geographical mile, 60 to a degree of the equator, which is equal to 69 i (69.1575) English statute miles; the French mile of 1000 toises ; the old French post league equal to 2 French miles ; the French geographical league, 25 to a degree of the equator ; the French nautical league, 20 to a degree ; the Spa- nish league, 16s to a degree ; the Italian mile, 43| to a degree; the German geo- graphical mile, 15 to a degree ; the German great mile, 12 to a degree; the Russian wcrste, 6 of which are equal to a Russian geographical mile, about 17| to a degree ; the Swedish mile, 10§ to a degree ; the Danish mile, 14f to a degree ; and theJDutch mile, 19 to a degree. Of the itinerary measures used by the ancients, the great Alexan- drian or Egyptian stadium was equal to 243 English yards ; the Grecian Olympic stadium to 203 r 7 5 English yards; and the Hebrew mile to 1275 English yards. Foreign Measures reduced to English denominations. English Measures. 12.789 inches. 39.371 inches, or 3.281 feet. 2.13155 yards. 4263 yards, or 2.422 miles. 4868.6 yards, or 2.76 miles. 6085.8 yards, or 3.457 miles. 7421 yards, or 4.216 miles. 8114 yards, or 4.61 miles. 1162 yards. 11703 yards, or 6.649 miles. 8224 yards, or 4.67 miles. 6406 yards, or 3.638 miles. 7.65 English square miles. 21 .25 English square miles. Geographical league of France . . . German geographical mile .... French geographical square league . German geographical square league . The mathematical elements of a map being determined, it still remains to introduce into it the historical, political, and physical details, of which its extent and object render it susceptible. * The foot and toise belong to the old measures of Franco ; the mitre is one of the terms of the new system of measures introduced into that country at the period of the Revolution. As these measures arc mentioned in some geographical works, it has been thought proper to subjoin the following tabid of their equivalents in English inches : — English Inches. Millimetre 0.03937 Centimetre 0.39371 Decimetre 3.93710 Metre / Ten-millionth part of the quarter) , ,- lnn Aiciur. | of the terrestrial meridian, / ' ■ 39 - 3 ' 100 Decametre 393.71000 Hectometre 3937.10000 Chiliometre 39371.00000 Miriametre , 393710.000000 The miriametre is equal to 6.2138 English miles. The square metre is equal to 10.766 English square feet. 52 PRINCIPLES OP MATHEMATICAL GEOGRAPHY. [Introd. The objects of common geography require the employment of only a small number of signs, easily understood, and the sense of which was explained by the old geogra- phers, in a legend placed on one of the sides of the map ; a custom which ought to be resumed in elementary atlasses. These signs indicate the position of places, and are modified according to the importance of these places, and the rank which they occupy in civil, military, or ecclesiastical government. When we wish to measure distances on a map, we must remark the very small circle or cipher, which is either adjacent to, or inscribed in each of those signs, because it is the central point of this circle which fixes the geographical position of the place. A simple line shows the course of small streams, and the two banks are indicated separately only when the dimen* sions of the bed of a river can be appreciated by the scale of the map. The sea shores are indicated by a very clean line, bordered with hatchings. In geographical maps, these hatchings, exterior with respect to the land, may be conceived to repre- sent the undulations of the sea on the coasts ; while, in marine maps, the hatchings, done on the land, exhibit the acclivity of the coast. Navigable canals are represented by straight lines joined angularly, which distinguish them sufficiently from natural streams of water, indicated by undulating lines, and from railways, marked by lines of short strokes drawn at right angles to the direction of the road. Common roads are often marked by two fine parallel strokes, sometimes by simple lines, continuous or punctuated; the latter, however, are most commonly reserved for marking the limits of states and their provinces, for which purpose the size and form of the points are varied ; and to exhibit in a more striking manner those political divisions, which so often form an absurd contrast with natural limits, the monotony of the engraving is usually relieved by varied colours. The physical part of a map requires attention to be paid to certain other circum- stances. It is desirable to know if a country is covered with plains, or is mountain- ous, naked or wooded, dry or marshy. Certain conventional signs are usually em- ployed for this purpose ; thus the parts more or less strongly shaded, represent slopes more or less steep, on which the light is the more lost in proportion as they approach the vertical position. Geographical maps are less calculated to admit of this improve- ment, especially with regard to mountains; for the scale of those maps is necessarily too small to admit of expressing on them, in just proportions, the innumerable inequa- lities of ground, from the highest chains of mountains, to hills of the lowest order. Indeed it is impossible, by any device whatever, to represent, on a single map, all the physical features and superficial inequalities of a country of considerable extent. For a small region, a model may be employed with advantage. § 4. Of the Calendar. It may now b,e proper to give an explanation of the calendar, which is a table of the days of the year, arranged so as to assist in the distribution of time, and to point out remarkable days connected with devotion or business. It derives its name from the La- tin word Calendce, the name which the Romans gave to the first day in every month, and which signified called, because on those days the people were called together by the pontiffs to apprise them of the days of festival that fell within the month. The divisions of time as marked in the calendar are those of years, months, iveeks, and days. The year is the period of time which the earth employs in describing its orbit round the sun. As the earth performs this revolution in 365 days 5 hours 49 minutes, or a solar year, it is evident, that at the end of 4 years, each of them supposed to con- sist of 365 days only, the earth will not have finished its fourth revolution by 24 hours nearly. In order to complete the revolution, every fourth year is reckoned to consist of 366 days, and is named bissextile, from the circumstance, that at the time of the first correction of the calendar, the 24th of February, or sixth of the calends of March, according to the Romans, was doubled. The year of 366 days is called in English leap-year. In adding, however, an entire day or 24 hours, called intercalary, to the fourth year, the true time of the earth's revolution is exceeded by 11 minutes for each year, or nearly three quarters of an hour for the whole period of 4 years. This excess, in the lapse of 400 years, amounts to 3 days, and is corrected by rec- koning the last years of three centuries consecutively as common years, and the last year of the century following as bissextile. The rule of intercalation stands thus : ■Every year of which the number is divisible by four without a remainder, is a leap year, except the centurial years, which are only leap years when divisible by four, after sup- pressing the two zeros or cyphers. Thus 1600 was a leap year, but 1700, 1800, and 1900, are common yean ; 2000 will be a leap year ; and so on. Chap. II.] PRINCIPLES OF MATHEMATICAL GEOGRAPHY. 53 The year, as consisting of 365 or 366 days, called the civil year, corresponds with the Julian year, which was invented by Julius Caesar, for the purpose of remedying the defects which in his time existed in the calendar. At the commencement of the use of the Julian year, no account was taken of the excess of II minutes every year; and from this omission, the error in the course of fifteen centuries amounted to 10 entire days. To remedy thisinconvenience, Gregory XIII. the reigning Pope, ordered 10 days to be at once struck out of the year 1582, and the day following the fourth October of that year was called the fifteenth. He farther contrived the omission of the three intercalary days in 400 years. This new form of the year is called the Gre- gorian or new style, in opposition to the former mode of computation, now termed the old style. The new style was introduced into England in 1752, and took effect on the day following the second of September, which was accounted the fourteenth, 11 days being thus omitted. At the same time, another important alteration took place : the year, which had hitherto been reckoned to commence on the 25th March, was held to commence, as at present, on the 1st January. The new style prevails throughout Europe, with the exception of Russia, where the old style is still retained. The year is divided into 12 months, consisting of unequal numbers of days. There are three months in each season of the year ; but in the calendar the seasons differ, in the dates of their commencement and termination from the astronomical seasons, de- scribed in our 34th and 35th pages. The spring months are February, March, and April : the first consists of 28, or, in leap years, 29 days ; the second of 31 days, and the last of 30 days. The summer months are, May, 31 days ; June, 30 days ; July, 31 days. Autumn contains. August, 31 days; September, 30 days; October, 34 days; and the winter season, which includes the last two months of one year, and the month commencing the year following, has November, 30 days; December, 31 days; and January, 31 days. The division of the year into months is derived from the revolutions of the moon round the earth. The interval that elapses between two successive conjunctions of the sun and moon, or, in other words, between the period of the new moon and its return, is called a lunation, the mean length of which is 29 days 12 hours 44 mi- nutes. If the duration of the solar year were equal to that of 12 of these lunations, each month would have the same number of days. This, however, is not the case. The moon, in some years, makes 12 lunations, in others 13 ; and 19 years must elapse before the conjunctions and other phases return in the same order, and on the same days as formerly. This period of years_, which is termed a lunar cycle, was registered by the Creeks in letters of gold. The year immediately before the one that com- menced the Christian aera, was the first of the cycle ; the following year was the second, and so on. From this it may easily be seen, that, in order to find the place in the cycle which any year holds, or its golden number, as it is usually called, it is only necessary to add one to the year, and divide by 19; the remainder will be the golden number. Where there is no remainder, the golden number of that year is 19. In this way, if 1838 be divided by 19, the remainder will be 14, which is the golden number for the year 1837 ; and the new moons throughout this year will be found to happen on the same days as in every other 14th year of the lunar cycle. The epact is the moon's age on the 1st January of any year. Since the duration of the solar year exceeds the length of 1 2 lunations by nearly 1 1 days, if the epact of the first year of the lunar cycle be 0, that of the second year will be 11, the third year 2_, and the fourth year 33, or rather 3, cutting off 30 days for the additional lunation that the moon has made during the previous three years. On this principle, it is easy to construct a table of the epacts for every year in the lunar cycle, by adding 1 1 to the epact of the preceding year, and retrenching 30 every time the epact exceeds that number.* Golden Numbers. Epacts. Golden Numbers. Epacts. Golden Numbers. Epacts. 1 .... 8 17 15 4 2 ....11 9 28 16 15 3 22 10 9 17 26 4 .... 3 11 20 18 7 5 ....14 12 1 19 18 6 ....25 13 12 1 7 .... 6 14 23 * If the moon's motion were equable in every part of her orbit, it would be an easy matter, from a knowledge of the epact, to calculate the true times of the new and full moons throughout the year. The moon's motion, however, is often accelerated or retarded by the varying attractions of the sun nod earth, according to the situation which she occupies in her own orbit, and that of the earth in thn ecliptic. These variations arc termed solar and lunar anomalies ; and in order to ascertain the trua 54 PRINCIPLES OF MATHEMATICAL GEOGRAPHY. [Introd. There is yet another periodical division of time, that of weeks. The week is com- posed of 7 days, the Latin names of which are derived from those of the planets. The names of the days in Latin and English are — _ Dies Solis Sunday. Dies Lunae Monday. Dies Martis Tuesday. Dies Mercurii Wednesday. Dies Jovis Thursday. Dies Veneris Friday. Dies Saturni Saturday. The English names, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, are of Saxon origin, the days themselves being formerly dedicated to Tiu, Woden, Thor, and Friga, the chief deities of the Pagan Saxons. Sometimes in calendars, instead of the days of the week, the seven letters ABC D E F G are used. These letters are placed over against the respective days of the month. If the year begin upon a Wednesday, all the Wednesdays throughout the year are designated by the letter A, Thursdays by B, Fridays by C, Saturdays by D, and Sundays by E ; the letter which marks the Sundays is called the dominical or Sunday letter. The dominical letter falls back one place in each of the three common years, because the year has a day more than 52 weeks ; and two places in bis-sextile years, which have two dominical letters, the first answering for the months of January and February, and the second for the succeeding months of the year. The 28th and 29th of February have but one dominical letter. The civil day commences at 12 o'clock at midnight, and lasts till the same hour of the following night. Twelve hours are counted from midnight till noon, and twelve from noon to midnight. In this it differs from the astronomical day, which is reckoned from noon to noon, the hours in the interval being counted up to twenty-four. In France, and most of the other States of Europe, the hours are reckoned in the same way as in Britain ; but in several parts of Italy and Germany, the day is held to com- mence about sun-set, and the hours are counted on till next sun-set. In every country where the forms of the episcopal churches are observed, the prin- cipal ecclesiastical festival is that of Easter. It is one of the feasts called moveable, and on the date of its celebration depends the dates of the principal church fasts and festivals throughout the year, with the exception of Christmas, which is always held on the 25th of December. Easter day has been fixed for the first Sunday after the full moon that happens next after the day of the spring equinox: consequently it can never happen sooner than the 22d of March, nor later than the 25th of April, dates called Easter limits. The principal church feasts depending on Easter, and the times of their celebration, are as follows : — Septuagesima Sunday) . g J 9 weeks J b f E Ash -Wednesday ) ( 4o days 5 after Easter. "5 weeks' 40 days 7 weeks 8 weeks Rogation Sunday. Ascension Day or Holy Thursday Pentecost or Whitsunday Trinity Sunday In most European countries, there are certain days, the periodical returns of which are fixed for the arrangement of business : these are called terms, or, as they are gene- rally four in number, quarter-days. The English terms are : — Lady-day 25th March. Michaelmas 29th September. Midsummer ...24th June. Christmas 25th December. The terms kept by the English courts of law and universities are regulated by the church festivals. Hiliary Term is held between the commencement of the year and Easter ; Easter Term, immediately after Easter-day ; Trinity Term, after Whitsunday ; and Michaelmas Term, betwixt Michaelmas and Christmas. In Scotland, the Terms observed are — Candlemas 2d February. Lammas 1st August. Whitsunday 15th May. Martinmas 11th November. We shall conclude this chapter with a tabular view of the principal elements of the solar system, taken chiefly from Baily's Astronomical Tables, Lond. 1827. time of the new or full moon, the equations arising out of the anomalies have sometimes to be added, at other times subtracted from mean solar time, as marked by the synodical month of 29 davs 12 hour* 44 minutes, which is the mean »r average length of all the lunations contained in a solar cycle. Chap. II.] PRINCIPLES OF MATHEMATICAL GEOGRAPHY. 55 CO a c g » co" SIS' 1 ! 1 ? ■5ffS-B' l " W 'nS3' W "'rt STB'B* ^a-fj-srtr &H w L « fD cr ►* w to r/i 05 p s O C 1' *• >v ti CO -J tO O' b£ — O O o © o o © o o o © as to Co o cn bo to co co C< Qu IO >— ' OO O Cn o — .p- cr rf* © — o o o o o o o o © © © o o o to •— ' CO Os Cn CO OS cwoib co en to rfk go O CO 00 CO tO 4*. Cn . 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