452 



Frogresi of Geograpliy in 1836-7. 



[ApRil 



his travels, which, from the specimen kindly given to the Geographical 

 Society, must contain valuable inforujaiion. 



C//?7.a.— Of this country, to which it is so difficult to ohtain access, 

 we have a general description, as aNo of its iiihabitants, by Mr. 

 Davis, many } tars a rehident at Cant(.n, and well acquainted with 

 the language and literature of the Celestial Empire. 



It is probable that we must look to our mis.^ionaries for a better 

 knowledge of this country. The patient perseverance, combined 

 with llie truly Chiisijan ztal wiih winch ihey pursue their high call- 

 ing, may even'ually open a way into an tm| ire, that seems shut 

 to any (tihcr attempts. 



It is from the journal of a missionary, M. Brugui^re, appointed 

 thief of the Run. an Catholic mission in Corea, tliat we have the 

 latest accounts ol" China and Chinese Tartary. From Macao, M. Bru- 

 gui^re went to Foiigan, to Nanking, passed the Great Wall into Tar- 

 tary, and resided some lime at Sivang ; thence he reached the fron- 

 tiers of Coita, where he fell a victim lo fatigue and privation.* 



Malacca. — k slight notice of a part of this peninsula has been 

 communicated to the Asiatic Society of Bengal by Lieut. Newbold, 

 chiefly concerning the political relations of the native stales. 



Borneo,— 0? this little-known island an interesting paper will be 

 found in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of London, by Mr. G. W, 

 Earl, who has also given an acc< urtt of his voyages in the Asiatic 

 Archipelago, in a volume just published. We have, too, the results 

 of Heer Oliver's Voyages to the Moluccas, and to Makassar in the 

 Celebes, in 1824, lately published at Rotterdam. At Paris, also, M. 

 de Rienzi is publishing an account of some years spent in these 

 Eastern Seas. 



New Guinea. — At the south-western extremity of this island 

 the Dutch have proved that Cape Walsli is situated on an island, 

 about eighty miles broad ; thus one atom of information is added 

 to the balance against our great ignorance of even the shores of this 

 vast island. 



/n</m.— Returning westward, we come to the British possessions 

 in India ; and here, at least, we are upon known ground. The mea» 



• See Aanales tie la Propagatioa de la Foi, No. 50. 



