Ch. T. south AMERICA. 5 



his countenance, and ordered the narrative of it to_ 

 bepublifhed; not only for the information and in- 

 fíru6tion of his own fubjeéts, but ahb for thofe of 

 other nations, to whom thcfc accounts will prove, 

 equally advantageous. And, that this narrative may. 

 be the more inilru6iive, we ihall introduce the parti- 

 cular circumftances which originally gave occafion to 

 our voyage, and were in a manner the baiis and rale 

 of the Other enterprifes, which will be mentioned in 

 the fequel, each in its proper order. 



The attention of the Royal Academyof Sciences at 

 Paris, for the improvement of human knowledge, 

 and its continual ardour to difcovcr and^ apply the 

 befl methods for that noble end, could not fit down 

 contented under the uncertainty concerning the reaV 

 figure and magnitude of the eartli ; the mveftigatioii. 

 of which had, for leveral years paft, employed the. 

 moil eminent geniufes of Europe. This learned af-, 

 fembly reprefented to their ibveieign the ncceíTity of 

 determining a point, the exaiit deciiion of wiiich was 

 of fuch great moment, cfpécially to geography and 

 navigation ; and at the fame time laid beibre him a 

 method of doing it. This was, to meafure feme de- 

 gree of the meridian near the equator ; and (as was 

 done with great propriety after our departure) by 

 meafuring other degrees under the polar circle, in or- 

 der to form a judgment of the different parts of its 

 circumference, by their equality or inequality, and 

 from thence to determine its magnitude and figure. 

 No country feemed fo proper for this as the province 

 of Quito in South America. The other countries 

 under the equinoctial line, both in Afia and Africa, 

 were either inhabited by favages, or not of an extent 

 fufficient for thefe operations ; fo that, after the mofi: 

 mature refle6fion, that of Quito was judged tobe the 

 only place adapted to the plan in queftion. 



Hrs Moft Chriftian majeily Lewis XV. applied, 

 by his minifiers, to king Philip, that fome members 



B 3 Oí 



