AND LOWER EGYPT. 3 



the love of glory, or, which is the same thing, with 

 the love of public good, he has been sufficiently 

 happy to extend the sphere of knowledge, and to 

 add new realms to the empire of science, it be- 

 comes a sacred duty to give an account of his pro- 

 gress, and delay or neglect becomes equally repre- 

 hensible. My own pen has apparently recorded 

 the sentence of self-condemnation ; for amidst the 

 incredible number of men and things reviewed 

 during the course of twelve years of travelling and 

 observation, my collection must of necessity con- 

 tain many interesting objeets, and some of these en- 

 tirely new. I cannot complain of want of encou- 

 ragement. Friends, whom letters and the sciences 

 have rendered illustrious, pressed me to publish my 

 travels ; and BufFon, who deemed mine worthy of 

 being associated with his own immortal labours ; 

 BufFon, that Colossus of eloquence and philosophy, 

 wrote to me in these terms, in 1781: "I can 

 " have no doubt that you must be possessed of 

 i( many excellent observations, the publication of 

 " which would redound greatly to your honour." 



But I enjoyed not the liberty of devoting myself 

 to an employment which requires composure, and 

 serenity of mind. How far, alas ! have I been from 

 tasting the delicious fruits of tranquillity ! Nature 

 had, if I may venture to say so, distinctly marked 

 my destination. With an ardent imagination, a 



b 2 thirst 



