15 



the passions of mankind, and such have been the ambi- 

 tion or folly of rulers, that we cannot point to a single 

 day since the history of the race began to be written, 

 when peace prevailed in every part of the Globe. 



That the want of communication between different 

 peoples, and even between the people of different por- 

 tions of the same country, materially retarded the acqui- 

 sition of knowledge, is obviously true, and presents a 

 contrast between ancient and modern times so striking 

 as to excite feelings approaching to wonder. In ancient 

 literature we find volumes upon volumes of history, 

 politics, the art of war, philosophy, mathematics, and 

 the drama; and poems whose grandeur and beauty 

 have never been surpassed, possibly never been equalled, 

 by any similar productions of human genius. But, with 

 a few meager exceptions, we look in vain for books of 

 travels ; and those we do find are almost, or wholly, des- 

 titute of practical, much less scientific, value. But in 

 our day there is no expense too great to be incurred, no 

 hardships too great to be endured, in order to extend our 

 knowledge of even the remotest portions of the globe. 

 Neither the heat of the Torrid Zone or the ice of the 

 Arctic Circle, the hostility of savages or the yet greater 

 dangers of disease, serve to deter our adventurous 

 travellers, who, in the interest of commerce or of science, 

 penetrate every spot accessible to the human foot. The 

 highest mountains of the world have been measured by 

 human science, the greatest rivers followed and explored 

 from their fountains to the sea, the most extensive and 

 barren deserts traversed and described, and almost every 

 island of the ocean, perhaps every one, visited, designa- 

 ted, and marked upon our charts. But what shall we 

 say of the intercourse between the civilized portions of 

 earth; of the thousands of travellers who annually pass 

 from one country to another, for either profit or pleasure, 

 and who return to their homes with an accumulation of 



