CONCLUSION. 104J 
his Head ever turned that Way, and has likewlfe had 
it no lefs at Heart, which will appear particularly from his 
never efpoufing the Caufe of any Party, but regarding the 
Independency, commercial Concerns, and Naval Power 
of Great-Britain, as her moft effential Interefts, which, 
if well minded, all other incidental Matters will fall in 
happily of Courfe. Thus much as to the Work in ge- 
neral *, we will next confider the Parts of which it is 
compofed, from whence its Correfpondence with the 
Plan propofed will manifeftly appear. 
II. The firft Thing defigned and executed, was the 
Hillory of the Circumnavigators.^ which the beft Judges 
of Works of this Kind had always reprefented as equal- 
ly important and neceffary 5 fo that it had been greatly 
delired, often attempted, but never in its full Extent 
performed, in any Colle6lion extant in any Language, 
which was owing to certain Difficulties that are occa- 
lionally taken Notice of in the Progrefs of that Part of 
the Book, and therefore not neceffary to be repeated 
here. It is fufficient to obferve, that this Hiftory is 
ablolutely compleat, and that all the Circumnavigations 
in the Space of 225 Years, are particularly, circum- 
ftantially, and impartially written. 
The Merit of firfi; forming this Defign of failing round 
the Globe, is juftly attributed to the great Columbus.^ ^and 
it is fully ffiewn, that to hi m of right it belongs, tho’ he 
was not fo fortunate, tho’ very fortunate in other Re- 
fpedfs, as to execute it. The Reafons that induced him 
to think it prafticable, and the Motives that lead him 
to attempt it, are fully explained from the moll; authentick 
Memoirs, and the Obligations which Mankind owe him 
in that Refped, are fet in a true Light. The particular 
Advantages arifing from the Difcoveries made by each 
of the Circumnavigators are conftantly attended to, and 
from thence the gradual Extenfion of Commerce, and 
with it our mod perfeft Acquaintance with the Situation 
of the different Parts of the Globe, are manifeftly 
fhewn. But as it fell out that various of thefe Difcoveries, 
which were only touched upon in thefe general Voyages, 
afforded afterwards Occafion to clofer Enquiries, and 
more diftind Defcription of Countries very far diftant, 
by particular Expeditions undertaken with that View, 
the moft accurate and confiderable of thofe Expeditions 
are thrown in as Appendices in their proper Places, to 
render the great Point in View as clear and as perfpi- 
cuous as it was poffible, fo as that the Reader may be 
perfedly informed of what has been found, what there 
is good Reafon to believe may be found, and what ftill 
remains abfolutely unfurveyed and unknown. 
In fome Cafes, the Memoirs of Circumnavigators 
were fo involved and confufed, that their Names were 
ever hardly heard of as fuch ; as for Inftance, the Of- 
ficers in the Najjau Fleet, that failed from Holland in 
the Year 1623, and C2i^i2dn J ohn Clipperton., who fail- 
ed from Plymouth in the Year 1719, thefe we have 
drawn out of the dark, affembled all the Circumftances 
relating to them, the beft we could, and have given 
them as entire as it was poffible, under fuch Difficulties, 
to collect them. As for the Voyage of Commodore 
Roggewein, which, take it altogether, is one of the moft 
entertaining, curious and inftrudive Pieces that was ever 
publiftied, it never appeared in our Language till now, 
and never in any Language fo fully as in this Collec- 
tion, as we had an Opportunity of confulting a very 
candid and knowing Perfon, who made that Voyage 
upon every Part of it, and who was very defirous that 
the Publick ffiould receive as ample an Account of it as 
poffible. 
We have likewife given, fo far as was neceffary, and 
fo far as we could come at, with any Degree of 
Certainty, the principal Points of the perfonal Hiftories 
of all the Circumnavigators.^ which cannot but be very 
fatisfadory to the inquifitive and judicious Reader, fince 
there is nothing fo natural as to defire to know, what 
became of a Man who fo remarkably diftinguifhed 
himfelf as by condubfing an Expedition of this Sort, 
of which there have not been more than fifteen in the 
whole, from that of Ferdinand Magellan.t who failed 
ixom Seville ic\ Spainy August 10, 1519. to that of the 
VoL. II. N® 14,3. 
prelent Lord Anfon^ who failed froni St. Hellensy Sep- 
tember 18, 1740. 
The Difpofition of all thefe Voyages, in their regular 
and natural Order, renders them infinitely more ulefuj, 
than when read feparately, as they refie6t reciprocal 
Lights upon each other, and at the fame Time afford, 
an Opportunity of throwing out many needlefs and ufe-^ 
lefs Repetitions. It was upon thefe Principles that two 
Pieces, which from their Titles might feem to claimi^ a 
Right of being confidered in that Part of our Vf orK, 
were, after mature Deliberation, rejeded. 
The firft of thefe is the Voyages and Travels of Dh 
Gemelli Carreri, a very large Work, already tfanflated 
into our Language; fo that the judicious Reader vvili 
eafily judge of the Solidity of thofe Arguments upon, 
which it was left out. In the firft Place, what-^ver the 
Title Page may fay, this cannot, ftriffly fpeaking, be 
confidered as a Circumnavigation, fince the Author 
went from Place to Place by Land, and embarked^ as 
his Occafions required, or his Inclinations led him, 
aboard feveral Veffcls which carried him from Port to 
Port, and the Sum total of thefe Travels and Voyages, 
is what he is pleafed to call a Tour round the World. 
All our Circumnavigators were other Sort of Men, and 
made their refpeftive Voyages on board the Veflels they 
commanded, or of which they had the Direffiop, fo 
that each Account is the Hiftory of a diftindi; Expedition, 
and not a Detail of Adventures by Land and Sea. In 
the next place, the Dodfor is a very voluminous Wri- 
ter, and takes in fuch a Variety of Matter, beyond 
what it was poffible fhould fall under his own immediate 
Knowledge and Infpedlion, as render’d his Performance 
very improper to be ranged with thofe in which there 
is little or nothing related but from the Authority of 
Eye Witneffes. Laftly it has been afferted by Au- 
thors worthy of Credit, who inquired upon the Spot 
in China^ more efpecially, as' to the Opportunity the 
Dodlor had of feeing thofe Things which he relates, as 
very particularly examined by himfelf, that they 
were thoroughly informed that he took them upon 
Truft. Befides, there is Nothing to be met with in all 
his large Work, which is not to be found in this Coi- 
ledlion, digefted in its proper Place, from the Memoirs 
of Authors of indifputed Credit. 
The other Piece is in French^ written by Mr. de la 
Barbinais le Gentil.^ and printed at Paris in 1728. The 
Author embarked at a French Port, and in a French 
Veffel, Augud 20, 1714, but for fome Reafons which 
he does not difclofe, he conceals both the Name of the 
Port, and of the Veffel. He proceeded to CM/, and 
after making fome Stay in South America.^ embarked on 
board another Veffel, in which he went to the Port of 
Amoy in China., from whence he returned into Europe 
in the Year 1718, touching by the Way at ih^ Bra- 
zils. The whole of this Relation is digefted into fif- 
teen Letters, written in a very pleafant and entertaining 
Stile, agreeable to the Defign of the Author, who tra- 
velled only out of Curiofity, ahd of which we have made 
the beft Ufe we were able, by extrading every Thing 
that is curious, and inferring it in the Accounts we have 
given of Chili., Peru, China, and the Brazils, which 
appeared to be more fuitable to the Nature of our De- 
fign, than making a profeffed Tranflation of a Piece, 
which the Author himfelf acknowledges to be made up 
of occafional Remarks and curfory Obfervations ; which 
he thinks is a fufficient Reafon for its being defedive in 
other Points, that had however been abfolutely ne- 
ceffary to intitle him to the Honour of being a Cir- 
cumnavigator, in the ftrid and proper Senfe of the 
Word. 
There is no Doubt, that after all much is wanting 
to render this Kind of Hiftory compleat ; but to make 
it abfolutely perfed, future Difcoveries miift contribute j 
and there is no Doubt that Circumnavigations by new 
Routes, that is, by the North-eaft and North-weft Paf- 
fages, will afford a noble Supplement to what has been 
already done. Yet the moft important, the moft cu- 
rious, and the moft entertaining Circumnavigation 
would be through both thofe Paffages, for we ffiould 
12 I ^ . theE 
