VI PREFACE. 



career derives a particular charm from 

 presenting to us new systems of social 

 organization ; but it must be admitted, 

 that in general sea-expeditions have a 

 certain monotony, which arises from the 

 necessity of continually speaking of navi- 

 gation in technical language. The mariner 

 also, while he braves the element on which 

 he steers his perilous course, is chiefly 

 occupied by it's dangers. The outlines 

 and the bearings of coasts are the leading 

 objects of his researches ; he visits only 

 the shores of the countries where he dis- 

 embarks, and holds but slight communica- 

 tions with the natives by whom they are 

 peopled. 



The history of journies by land in 

 distant regions is far more calculated to 

 excite general interest; not only by ex- 

 tending the limits of science, but by pre- 

 senting new aspects of the variegated 

 scenery of the Globe. Happy the traveller, 

 with whom the study of Nature has not 



