Tlii PREFACE. 



perty; the journey which they record 

 having been undertaken at the pubhc 

 expense, and the objects illustrated 

 thereby being, necessarily, more impor- 

 tant to the author's countrymen than 

 to any other people. This remark, how- 

 ever, was not n)ade till long after the 

 manuscript, with all the treasures which 

 accompanied it, had escaped, by land 

 and by sea, the pursuit instituted by 

 the Swedish monarch to recover them, 

 and had reached England in safety. It 

 became a duty for their fortunate pos- 

 sessor to render them useful. To place 

 the authority of this collection, as far 

 as possible, out of the reach of acci- 

 dent, he has made it his chief object to 

 extend any information to be derived 

 from it, not only to his own country- 

 men, but to his fellow-labourers in 



