588 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1818. 



and zeal bestowed in the eoUec- 

 tion and preservation of them ; — 

 in every other respect they also 

 merit the highest praise. 



" From the nature of the greater 

 part of the country passed over, 

 our mineralogical collection is but 

 small. Mr. S. Parr did as much 

 as could be done in that branch, 

 and throughout endeavoured to 

 render himself as useful as pos- 

 sible. 



" Of the men on whom the 

 chief care of the horses and bag- 

 gage devolved, it is impossible to 

 speak in too high terms. Their 

 conduct, in periods of consider- 

 able privation, was such as must 

 redound to their credit ; and their 

 orderly, regular, and obedient 

 behaviour could not be exceeded. 

 It may be principally attributed 

 to their care and attention that 

 we lost only three horses; and 

 that, with the exception of the 

 loss of the dry provisions already 

 mentioned, no other accident 

 happened during the course of it. 

 I most respectfully beg leave to 

 recommend them to your Exc.'s 

 favourable notice and considera- 

 tion. 



" I trust your Exc. will have 

 the goodness to excuse any omis- 

 sions or inaccuracies that may 

 appear in this letter: the mes- 

 senger setting out immediately 

 will not allow me to revise or 

 correct it. 



" I have the honour to remain, 

 with the greatest respect, your 

 Excellency's most obedient and 

 humble servant, 



J. OxLiJY, Surv.-Gen." 

 " To his Excellency 

 ■Governor Macquarie, &c. &'C.&c." 

 (True copy) 

 " J. T. Campbell, Sec. 



DESCRIPTION OF AN ALMOST 

 UNKNOWN GROUPE OF ISLANDS 

 SITUATED BETWEEN JAPAN 

 AND THE MARIANNE ISLANDS. 



\_Compiled from Japanese Ac- 

 counts hy M. Abel Remusat, 

 M. D, Member of the French 

 Institute and Professor of the 

 Chinese and Mandchu Tartar 

 Languages in the Royal College 

 of France.'] 



The immense progress the 

 discoveries of navigators have 

 made in geography rendering 

 evident the imperfection of the 

 charts compiled by the inhabi- 

 tants of even the most civilized 

 countries in Asia, have inspired 

 an indifference for them not 

 always well merited. While the 

 sea has not been ploughed in 

 every direction, the coasts fol- 

 lowed and examined in all their 

 extent, the interior of the coun- 

 tries surveyed by intelligent ob- 

 servers, the unoccupied spaces in 

 our charts, will present a void 

 that is perhaps deceptive. The 

 indentations of the coasts, the 

 concatenation of the mountains, 

 the sinuosities cf the rivers, the 

 grouping of the islands, will 

 remain merely ornaments too 

 frequently arbitrary, and we may 

 borrow the verbal or figured 

 descriptions furnished by the 

 natives without blushing, and 

 appreciating their testimony by 

 the knowledge acquired of their 

 ability and exactitude, employ it 

 for enriching the science in those 

 parts our voyagers have not yet 

 sufficiently investigated. If it 

 was not known that attention and 

 patience can supply all deficien- 

 cies, it would be difficult to con- 

 ceive the precision of the conclu- 

 sion* 



