THEPREFACE. xy 



lu/irated. It is "very certain^ that the adjufling the feve- 

 ral Geographical Data, and laying do'wn Maps correfpon- 

 dent to them, have been attended "with no fmall Labour and 

 Fatigue; as the collecting the Materials themf elves had be- 

 fore expofed me to a Variety of Dangers and Difficulties. 



Thefe Dangers and Difficulties I happily overcame : and 

 muft therefore return my humble Thanks to /to Almighty 

 Providence, "which was gracioujly pleafed to fupport me 

 under them. <i^7id indeed I cannot conclude this Prelimi- 

 nary Z)i/r^/^r/^, without obferving, what a ferious Train 

 of Thought a Traveller can fcarce fail of being en- 

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

 Deflation, as I have here defer i bed. He isjiruck immediate- 

 ly with the very Solitude ofthofefew Domes, and Porticos 

 that are left Jtanding ; which ^ Hiflory tells him, were once 

 crowded with Inhabitants : where Scy phax and Mafjiiiila ; 

 Scipio andCx^2iY ; where the Orthodox Chrifl:ians,/3';/(^M^ 

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

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

 TVeakneJs and In fl ability of all Human Art andContrivance ; 

 reminding him further of the many thoufands that lye buried 

 below, now loft in Oblivion, and forgotten to the World. 

 Whilft He is full of thefe Meditations, Chriftianity 

 fieps in to his Relief; acquainting him, that We are 

 only Strangers and Pilgrmis upon Earth ; feeking a 

 City, {not, //^r Thefe, Jubjeci to the Strokes of Time and 

 Fortune, but) which hath P'oundations, whofe Builder 

 and Maker is God. 



