Chap, v.] Geography. 3? 



faithfulness 3 and the instruction with which hi.s 

 narrative abounds shows him to have been u man 

 of an enhghteued and hberal mind. In firmness, 

 resolution, and talents for observation, he was pro- 

 bably little if at all inferior to the celebrated Cuok; 

 and although the list of his achievements is by no 

 means so large or so brilliant as those of the 

 British commander, yet his voyage will long be 

 accounted honourable to himself, to his sovereign, 

 and to his country. To Bougainville succeeded 

 Messrs. Pages and Surville, w ho also made a numr 

 ber of valuable discoveries and observations, espe- 

 cially in the Southern Ocean, w hich have secured 

 for their names an honourable place in the liistory 

 of modern voyages. In 1771 Kerguelen, Marion, 

 and du Clesmur, were successively busied in ex- 

 ploring the same seas, in quest of the southern 

 continent. And though the additions which they 

 made to our knowledge of the globe ^vere by no 

 means great, yet they were such as to entitle tliem 

 to respectful mention in the present sketch. 



Soon after the peace of Paris, in IJS'J, a new 

 voyage of discovery was projected by the French 

 government, and preparation made for carrying it 

 into effect. The objects of this expedition were 

 to improve geography, astronomy, natural history, 

 and philosophy in general ; to collect ^uccounts of 

 the customs and manners of ditferent nations ; and 

 to open new fields of commercial enterprise. 

 Never, probably, was the plan of a voyage more 

 enlightened and extensive, the instructions given 

 to its conductors more scientific and precise, or the 

 provision made for its execution more liberal and 



