THE PREFACE. 



luflrated. It is very certain, that the adjufliyig the feve^ 

 ral Geographical Data, and laying dovjn Maps correfpon- 

 dent to them, have been attended njoith no /mall Labour and 

 Fatigue-, as the colleciing the Materials themfelves had be- 

 fore expofed me to a Variety of T>angers and Difficulties. 



Thefe Dangers and Difficulties I happily overcame : and 

 mufl therefore return my humble Thanks to /to Almighty 

 Providence, "which was gracioufly pleafed to fupport me 

 under them, ^nd indeed I cannot conclude this Prelimi- 

 nary Z)i/?(?/ir/i', without obferving, what a Jerious Train 

 of Thought a Traveller can fcarce fail of being en- 

 gaged in, when he views fuch a large Scene of Ruin and 

 Defolation, as I have here defcribed. He isflruck immediate-• 

 ly with the very Solitude ofthofefew Domes, and Porticos 

 that are leftflanding ; which, Hiflory tells him, were once 

 crowded with Inhabitants : where Scy phax and Ma.umiR ; 

 Scipio and Csefar ; where the Orthodox Chriftians, and the 

 Arians ; the Saracens and the Turks, have given Laws in 

 their Turns, Every Heap of Ruins points out to him the 

 JVeakneJs and In fl ability of all Human Art andContrivance ; 

 reminding him further of the many thoufands that lye buried 

 below, now loji in Oblivion, and forgotten to the World, 

 Whilft He is full of thefe Meditations, Chriftianity 

 fleps in to his Relief-, acquainting him, that We are 

 only Strangers and Pilgrims upon Earth ; feeking a 

 City, {not, Mi• Thefe, fubjeci to the Strokes of Time and 

 Fortune, but) which hath Foundations, whofe Builder 

 and Maker is God. 



xV 



