340 GlIEAT VARIETY OF HIS "WORK. 



him ; and his narration interests us the more, w hen a local 

 tint is diffused over the description of a country and its 

 inhabitants. Such is the source of the interest excited 

 by the history of those early navigators, who, impelled 

 by intrepidity rather than by science, struggled against 

 the elements in their search for the discovery of a new 

 Avorld. Such is the irresistible charm attached to the fate 

 of that enterprising traveller (Mungo Park), who, full of 

 enthusiasm and energy, penetrated alone into the centre 

 of Africa, to discover amidst barbarous nations the traces 

 of ancient civilization. 



" In proportion as travels have been undertaken by 

 persons whose views have been directed to researches 

 into descriptive natural history, geography, or political 

 economy, itineraries have partly lost that unity of com- 

 position, and that simplicity which characterized those of 

 former ages. It is nOw become scarcely possible to con- 

 nect so many different materials with the detail of other 

 events ; and tliat ips^rt of a trav^eller's narrative which we 

 may call dramatic gives way to dissertations merely 

 descriptive. The numerous class of readers who prefer 

 agreeable amusement to solid instruction, have not gained 

 by the exchange ; and I am afraid that the temptation 

 will not be great to follow the course of travellers who are 

 encumbered with scientific instruments and collections. 



" To give greater variety to my work, I have often 

 interrupted the historical narrative by descriptions. I 

 first represent phenomena in the order in which they 

 appeared ; and I afterwards consider them in the whole 

 of their individual relations. This mode has been suc- 

 cessfully followed in the journey of M. de Saussure, 

 whose most valuable work has contributed more than 



