PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION. 



THE Essays collected in this volume were written in 

 great part during journeys or voyages which I 

 have been accustomed to make in the autumn of every 

 year; under the conviction, justified by experience, that 

 in no other way could I equally maintain health amid 

 the labours of a London professional life. During the 

 last twenty years, aided by facilities unknown before, I 

 have repeatedly visited America, and the nearer parts 

 of Africa and Asia ; hastily, I must admit, yet never 

 without some good attained. Travelling frequently 

 alone, however, and often by routes rarely followed, it* 

 would have been difficult for me to sustain the solitude 

 of particular times and places in such journeys, with- 

 out some personal occupation constantly within reach. 

 This occupation I have found in writing the several 

 papers now republished, or such principal portions of 

 them as formed a framework, to be filled up on my 

 return home. The employment so gained was as 

 agreeable as beneficial ; perhaps not less so, from the 

 contrast it often afforded to the scenes and objects 

 around me, at the time when I had recourse to it. 

 The greater number of the Essays, thus composed, 



