The VOYAGES of Book I. 
By their Obfer various, we have acquired a great Know- 
ledge as to the Nature and Variation of Winds, particu- 
larly the Monfoons, or Trade-winds, and other periodical 
'Winds, of which the Antients had not the lead Concep- 
tion : And* by thefe Helps, we not only have it in our 
Tower to proceed much farther in our Dilcoveries, but we 
are likewiie delivered from a Multitude of groundlefs Ap- 
prehenfions, that frighted them from profecuting Difcove- 
ries. We give no Credit now to the Fables, that not only 
amufed Antiquity, but even obtained Credit within a few Ge- 
nerations. The Authority of Pliny will not perfuade us* 
that there are any Nations without Heads, whole Eyes 
and Mouths are in their Breads, or that the Arimafpi 
have only one Eye fixed in their Forehead, and that they 
are perpetually at War with the Griffins, who guard hidden 
Trealures •, or that there are Nations that have long hairy 
Tails, and grin like Monkeys. No Traveller can make us 
believe, that* under the Torrid Zone, there area Nation, 
every Man of which has one large flat Foot, with which, 
lying upon his Back, he covers himfelf from the Sun. In 
this refped we have the fame i^dvantage over the Antients 
that Men have over Children * and we cannot reflect with- 
out Amazement, on Mens having fo much Knowledge and 
Learning in other refpeds, with Inch ehildiffi Underdand- 
ings in thefe. 
By the Labours of thefe great Men, in the two lad Cen- 
turies, we are taught to know what we leek, and how it 
is to be fought. We know, for Example, what Parts of 
the North are yet undifcovered, and alfo what Parts of 
the South. We can form a very certain Judgment of the 
Climate of Countries undifcovered, and can forefee the Ad- 
vantages that will refult from Difcoveries before they are 
made 5 all which are prodigious Advantages, and ought 
certainly to animate us in our Searches. I might add to 
this, the great Benefits we receive from our more perfed 
Acquaintance with the Properties of the Loaddone, and 
from the furprifmg Accuracy of adronomical Obfervations * 
to which I may add the phyflcal Difcoveries made of late 
Years, in relation to the Figure of the Earth * all of which 
are the Refult of the Lights which thefe great Men have 
given us. 
It is true, that fome of the zealous Defenders of the 
Antients, and fome of the great Admirers of the Eadem 
Nations, difpute thefe Fads * and would have us believe, 
that almod every thing was known to the old Philofo- 
phers and not only known, but pradtifed, by the Chu 
nefe , long before the Time of the great Men to whom 
we afcribe them. But the Difference between their AfTer- 
tions and ours is, that we fully prove the Fads we allege, 
whereas they produce no Evidence at all : For Indance, 
Albertus Magnus fays, that Arijlotle wrote an exprefs 
Treatife on the Diredtion of the Loaddone* but nobody 
ever faw that Treatife, nor was it ever heard of by any 
of the red of his Commentators. We have, in our 
Hands, fome of the bed Performances of Antiquity in 
regard to Geography * and any Man who has Eyes, and 
is at all acquainted with that Science, can very eafily did 
cern, how far they fall fhort of Maps that were made even 
an hundred Years ago. The celebrated Vojfius , and the 
red of the Admirers of the Chinefe , who, by the way. 
derived all their Knowledge from Hearfay, may tedify, 
in as drong Terms as they think fit, their Contempt for 
the Wedern Sages, and their high Opinion of thofe in 
the Ead * but till they prove to us, that their favourite 
Chinefe made any Voyages comparable to the Europeans , 
before the Difcovery of a Paflage to China by the Cape 
of Good Hope , they will excufe us from believing them. 
Befides, if the Antients had all this Knowledge, how came 
it not to difplay itfelf in their Performances ? How came 
they to make inch Difficulties of what are now efteemed 
Trifles ? And how came they never to make any Voyages, 
by Choice at lead, that were out of Sight of Land ? Again, 
with relped to the Chinefe., if they excel us fo much in 
Knowledge* How come the Miffionaries to be fo much 
admired for their fuperior Skill in the Sciences ? But to 
cut the Matter fhort, we are not deputing now about fpe- 
culative Points of Science, but as to the practical Applica- 
tion of it * in which, I think, there is no doubt, that the 
modern Inhabitants of the Wedern Parts of the World 
excel, and excel chiefly from the Labours and Difcove- 
ries of thefe great and ingenious Men, who applied their 
Abilities to the Improvement of ufeful Arts, for the particu- 
lar Benefit of their Countrymen, and to the Common Good 
of Mankind* which Character is not derived from any Pre- 
judice of ours, either againft the Antients, or the oriental 
Nations * but is founded in Fads of public Notoriety, and 
on general Experience, which are a kind of Evidence not 
to be controverted or contradideck 
We are dill, however, in feveral refpedS, fhort of Per- 
fedion * and there are many Things left to exercife the 
Sagacity, Penetration, and Application of this, and of fuc- 
ceeding Ages: For Indance, the Paffages to the North- 
cad and N orth-wed are yet unknown * there is a great Part 
of the Southern Continent undifcovered * we are, in a man- 
ner, ignorant of what lies between America and Japan , and 
all beyond that Country lies buried in Obfcurity, perhaps 
in greater Obfcurity than it was an Age ago * fo that there 
is dill Room for performing great Things, which, in their 
Confequences, perhaps, might prove greater than can well 
be imagined. I fay nothing of the Difcoveries that yet 
remain, with regard to inland Countries, becaufe thefe fall 
properly under another Head, I mean that of Travels. 
But it will be time enough to think of penetrating into the 
Heart of Countries, when we have difcovered the Sea- 
coads of the whole Globe, towards which the Voyages* 
recorded in this Chapter, have fo far advanced already^ 
But the only Means to arrive at thefe great Ends, and to 
tranfmit to Poderity a Fame approaching, at lead in 
fome meafure, to that of our Ancedors, is to revive and 
redore that glorious Spirit, which led them to fuch great 
Exploits * and the mod natural Method of doing this, is to 
colled and preferve the Memory of their Exploits, that 
they may ferve at once to excite our Imitation, encourage 
our Endeavours, and point out to us how they may be 
bed employed, and with the greated Probability of Suc- 
cefs * which, as it has been the principal and particular De- 
fign of this Chapter, fo it (hall be, God willing, profe- 
cuted with like Diligence and Attention, to the very lad 
Chapter of this Work. 
SECTION 
