xvlii AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 



and utenfils of diftant countries are admired 

 and carefully collected; why fhould not then 

 the works of the Creator deferve at lead an 

 equal degree of attention? 



The obfervations which I have made in fe- 

 deral places, efpecially fuch as were much fre- 

 quented, are fhort and inartificial : and it will 

 appear from my flile, in how languid a man- 

 ner the pen performs its office amidft the 

 fcorching heat of the Chinefe fhores, where, to 

 avoid the fufpicion of the people, I frequently 

 wrote with my hand in my pocket, on a pocket 

 book. Let every reader confider my fituation, 

 and apply the cafe to himfelf. The hurry of 

 the prels has excluded forne additions c which 

 I intended to have made. 



I only wifh that my obfervations may pro- 

 cure half as much approbation from the world, 

 as they have coll me trouble and attention. 

 I ventured on more at the ifland of Java, 

 where the woods are filled with tigers and cro- 

 codiles ; and hazarded my life in China ; (where 



e Thefc additions were inferted by Mr. OJbeck himfelf 

 in the German tranflation, which is here followed. 



7 the 



