THE TRANSLATOR S PREFACE. 



nently qualified for the fituation to which he was 

 appointed: his defcriptions in natural hiftory 

 are at once concife and perfpicuous, and be- 

 fpeak the mod perfect knowledge of the 

 fubjecl ; while that part of his narrative which 

 immediately relates to nautical matters, leaves 

 the inquifitivc geographer and cautious navi- 

 gator nothing to wifh for, either in refpeel 

 to the configuration and extent of the coafls 

 he vifitcd, or their prccife latitudes and longi- 

 tudes, the variation of the compafs, the pre- 

 vailing winds, the direction and flrength of the 

 tides and currents, the fituation of fhoals, the 

 foundings &< . Sec. On each of thefc heads 

 enough is faid for the guidance of future navi- 

 gators, without defcending to thofe frequent 

 repetitions, which, however neceffary they may 

 be in detailing the geographical pofition of a 

 ncwly-difc.ovcred land, never fail to tire the 

 general reader. Hence it is, that thp narrative 

 of a mere feaman is commonly filled with a 

 fucccfiion of nautical remarks, penned in the 

 monotonous flyle of a log-book ; the journal of 

 ihe philofophic naturalift, on the contrary, not 

 only abounds with lively pictures of the mod 

 5 intercfting 



