I 



[ 49 ] 



Hiftôries we have had in England, till of late 

 years, are moftly tranflations from other lan- 

 guages, which has rendered the underftanding 

 of them fomewhat difficult -, for I believe it al- 

 together impraticable to make a tranflation run 

 fo fmooth and intelligible as the original from 

 which one tranflates, without lofmg a good deal 

 of the true fenfe and meaning of its author. This 

 we daily difcover in tranflators, who are forced, 

 in fome particular parts, to give the words of 

 the fir ft author in the margin, becaufe they can- 

 not be intelligibly rendered in the language of 

 the tranllator -, fo that being in its original lan- 

 guage is always an advantage to a book, becaufe 

 tranflations muft neceffarily, at leaft in fome fmall 

 degree, give the readers of them different ideas 

 from the originals. My Natural Hiftory hath the 

 advantage to be original in its figures, as well as 

 its defcriptions -, not one of the former being co- 

 pied from others, or the latter either tranflated or 

 tranfcribed. 



We are much deceived by people who fliew 

 foreign birds and beafts ; for they, to make 

 them feem more rare, often pretend them to be 



E natives 



