106 REPOKT— 1867. 



are dependent upon geographical discoveries that shall bring to light coimtries and 

 climates favourable to the development of European races. Thus civilization v^^ill ad- 

 vance to a higher standard in such latitudes as are conducive to industry and enter- 

 prise ; the severity' of an Arctic region would be as great a barrier to the intellectual 

 Srogress of the inhabitants as would the burning sun and barren sand of the desert where 

 Tatm-e has withheld every blessing from mankind. In such localities the hmnan 

 energies are overpowered by the oppression of circumstances, and a high standard 

 of civilization can never be attained. If, therefore, civilization be mainly dependent 

 upon temperature and geographical position, it will be exliibited in the highest de- 

 gTee within particular latitudes comprised iu the temperate zone; The discovery of 

 coimtries that afford the requisite conditions for such advancement has been the 

 gi'andest residt of comparatively modern geography. In tracing the progress of 

 geographical science from the earliest period of iiistory, we are struck with the 

 marvellous strides eft'ected during the last three centm-ies. 



When we consider that the Mosaical history accounts, for 4004 years from the 

 creation of the first man until the birth of Christ, and thus establishes the recorded 

 existence of man for a period of 5871 years to the present day, we nmst regard with 

 the most intense interest the mysterious development of the world during that space 

 of time. 



The Phoenicians were the most ancient maritime power described in history, the 

 ports of TjTe and Sidon ha\'ing been their London and Liverpool. Even at the 

 remote date when Pharoah Necho governed Egypt, the Phoenicians are said to 

 have cii'cumnavigated Afi'ica, having passed tlirougli a canal from the Mediter- 

 ranean to tlie Red Sea, and returned to Egypt by the Straits of Gibraltar. Thus 

 wasm3'sterious Africa sailed around at that remote age, — an object of barren wonder 

 to the mariners, who were amazed to find the rising sun upon tlieir right hand in- 

 stead of on their left upon rounding tlie Cape of Good Hope from the east and 

 coasting north. 



The Phoenicians are supposed to have traded with England, and to have obtained 

 tin from Cornwall ; they founded Carthage, whicli subsequently gave birth to the 

 adventurous explorer Planno^ who coasted the western shores of Africa to near the 

 Equator. 



In those days the principal objects of exploration were commerce and conquest : 

 there was no Roj'al Geographical Society, with a JNIurchisou as President, to support 

 the love of science and adventure ; but the report of tlie explorer, if successful, was, 

 as in the case of Cresar, Veni, vidi, vici ! 



The voyages of the ancients were generally confined to coasting or to crossing 

 narrow seas by the guidance of the stars, iu precisely the same manner as performed 

 at the present day by tjje Arabs in navigating the Persian Gulf and the lied Sea. 

 There can be little doubt that they were acquainted with India and Ceylon, as the 

 presents of peacocks to Solomon must have been brought from one of those coun- 

 tries, that species of bird being imkuown in Africa. The conquests of Alexander 

 extended geographical knowledge into the far interior of India; and the founding of 

 ^Vlexandria added an important seaport to the Mediterranean. 



Although the enterprise of the Greeks and the Phoenicians had overcome the 

 difficidties of the Mediterranean, and had establislied trading-stations upon the east 

 coast of Afi'ica, their explorations were boimded by that impassable barrier to the 

 west — the mysterious Atlantic Ocean. They had visited Zanzibar, and doubtless 

 they had penetrated far into the interior of Eastern Africa, and had heard of the 

 existence of the great lakes which Ptoleni}' long afterwards placed upon his map, 

 from the description of native merchants, as the sources of tiie Nile ; but from the 

 beginning of the world up to the fifteenth centuiy, no human eye had pierced the 

 mystery of the Atlantic. At that time there were two great geographical questions 

 to be solved — the Nile and the Atlantic. 



The fifteenth century was rich in geographical discovery. Marco Polo's travels in 

 Asia had brought renown to Venice ; and Vasco de Gama liad, by the circumnaviga- 

 tion of Africa, sustained the honour of Portugal, which enterprising coimtry assumed 

 the lead in exploration, imtil Columbus achieved the feat that completely 

 altered the geography of his age — the discovery of America. How little did he 

 dream that, within the short interval of three and a half centuries, the New World 



