INTRODUCTION. 
Xil 
ote m an itinerary, because they serve for the guidance of 
nose who afterwards journey through the same countries. 1 
ave preserved a few, hut have suppressed the greater part of 
P? r f ona l incidents which present no particular interest, 
style Waloa can rendered amusing only by the perfection of 
• re , s pect to the country which has been the object of my 
l? atl0US ’ d am full y sensible of the great advantages en- 
t, i Persons who travel in Greece, Egypt, the banks of the 
ra "° s > and the islands of the Pacific, in comparison with 
e who traverse the continent of America. In the Old World, 
„.T S ? nd V le distinctions of their civilization form the prin- 
pomts in the picture ; in the New World, man and his 
p oauctions almost disappear amidst the stupendous display of 
a a , Sigautic nature. The human race in the New World 
vn S ' i S . °i - a few remnants of indigenous hordes, slightly ad- 
T1 ‘ 111 civilization ; or it exhibits merely the uniformity of 
fnvei t 613 if U< ^ restitutions transplanted by European colonists to 
o,,.,,,;"” * 01 '? Sl Information which relates to the history of our 
•irt ’ ,i , ,y al ? ous forms of government, to monuments of 
Ip ’ ■ P,! 1 , 003 °f great remembrances, affect us far more than 
thp 18 ° P 1 ”’ 0 vas ^ 80 htudes which seem destined only for 
animals °niu 011 * °* '’cgofable life, and to be the domain of wild 
so man v Jw S f ageS °- An “- who lla ve been the objects of 
reveries, and on whom M. Volney has lately 
j” tel dgent observations, Inspire less 
nhabhau ts of the £ ^ ™de known to us the 
a SkiW “Ll h l Sl '2 th feea ’? la nds m whose character we find 
v, mixtuie of perversity and meekness The state nf 
halfimvit^auen existing among those islanded gives a ueoidiar 
haim to the description of their manners. A king followed 
by a numerous suite, preseuts the fruits of bis orchard or a 
funeral is performed amidst the shade of the loftv wfr ’ o n 
Oi^ncTotlmr part of tffglobe^is^hG^ 6 j, a H ours ° f the naturalist - 
by nature to i-n-n u; S l€) be is he called upon more powerfully 
phenomena and Zir } ° « eneral ideas on the cause of 
thatluxurL^of^ To sa / uutW ”6 of 
tVirvQA n i; 1T „t • ° , &tion, that eternal spring of organic life 
Ooydilcr«tndZL g l>y - 8t ^ eS - M We “ *&» flanks of the 
has described ^vit! 0 ^ majestic rivers which a celebrated writer* 
the New W id Sr UC | l S^cc* 11 ^ accuracy, the resources which 
" ew World affords fer the study of geology and natural 
m M. Chateaubriand. 
