iv INTRODUCTION. 



By the present improved state of nautical science, 

 by means of His Majesty's ships of war employed on 

 surveys, of the surveying marine of the East India Com- 

 pany, and of the accidental discoveries of commercial 

 vessels, the hydrographical knowledge of every part of 

 the globe is daily extending itself. The line of the coasts 

 which form the boundaries of the continents and larger 

 islands, are traced with more or less accuracy ; the po- 

 sitions of most of the islands or groups of islands are 

 generally ascertained ; and the prevailing winds and cur- 

 rents of the ocean are so much better understood than 

 formerly, that the usual time of an eight or nine months 

 passage to or from China, is now reduced to four months, 

 and rarely exceeds five. It may be said indeed, ge- 

 nerally speaking, that, as far as regards maritime disco- 

 very, the edge of curiosity has been taken off. Enough 

 however still remains to be done. The deficiency in 

 the detail, and the want of that accuracy so essentially 

 necessary for the advantage and security of navigation, 

 still furnish ample scope for further investigation and 

 research. 



But the object of the voyage, of which the narrative is 

 contained in the present volume, though fitted out in the 

 naval department, is nearly, if not altogether, unconnected 

 either with maritime discovery or nautical surveying. 

 It was planned and undertaken with the view and in 

 the hope of solving, or of being instrumental in solving, a 

 great geographical problem, in which all Europe had, for 

 some time past, manifested no common degree of interest ; 

 and, at any rate, in the almost certain means it would 

 afford of adding something to our present very confined 



