viii PREFACE. 



on the charm of a narrative, which dis- 

 plays the most enlarged views of science 

 and philanthropy! What sympathy does the 

 traveller excite, while he imprints the first 

 step, that leads to civilization and all it's 

 boundless blessings, along the trackless 

 desert, and, struggling with the savageness 

 of the untamed wilderness, obtains a vic- 

 tory that belongs to mankind. 



It were erroneous to believe, that 

 countries, because they have been already 

 visited, are therefore known. A penetrat- 

 ing and capacious mind finds every where 

 new materials for observation. The work, 

 of which I now offer the translation to the 

 public, relates to regions of which the 

 greater part have never till now been de- 

 scribed by a scientific and learned traveller. 

 A few botanists had indeed herbalized 

 along those distant coasts, and added some 

 riches to the vegetable world. La Con- 

 damine, Don Jorge Juan, and Bouguer, 

 scaled the lofty Andes ; but it was only to 



