42 Geographi/. - [Chap. V. 



Beside the more distinguished voyages which 

 have been enumerated, several others are entitled 

 to notice in the present sketch, as having con- 

 tributed to the improvement of geography. The 

 voyages of Nieuholf and Osbeck, to China, early -in 

 the century; the voyage of Chabart, in 1^53 ; that 

 of Courtanveaux, in 1768; of Stavoriniis, to some 

 of the Asiatic Islands, in 1/68; of Kerguelen, to 

 Iceland, Greenland, 'S'hefland, and Noricay, in 177^; 

 of Forrest, in 1774; of En t recast aux, in search of 

 la Perouse ; of the missionaries to the South-Sea 

 Islands, and several others, who have all furnished 

 some new and valuable information concerning the 

 countries which they respectively visited. 



From the foregoing very imperfect view of what 

 has been done by the principal Naval discoverers 

 of the eighteenth century, to extend our knowledge 

 of the globe, it will appear to form a great amount 

 of geographical improvement. Their achievements, 

 however, form but a part of our acquisitions in 

 geography ; for, while discoveries by sea have suc- 

 ceeded each other with astonishing rapidity, enter- 

 prising Travellers have been equally diligent, bold, 

 and persevering, in exploring the interior of coun- 

 tries ])efore unknown, and in making us acquainted 

 with their territorial limits, their governments, 

 manners, riches, and science. Some notice of these 

 will be necessary, in order to give a tolerable ex- 

 liibition of modern advances in geographical know- 

 ledge. 



At the beginning of the century under considera- 

 tion, the greater part of Asia was comparatively 

 little known. While the names of its various king- 



