editor’s peerage. 
V 
to the existing state of things, and consequently it has 
been deemed advisable to omit it. By this curtailment, 
together with that of some meteorological tables and dis- 
cussions of very limited interest, the work has been divested 
of its somewhat lengthy and discursive character, and con- 
densed within dimensions better adapted to the taste and 
requirements of the present time. 
An English translation of this work by Helen Maria 
Williams, was published many years ago, and is now out 
of print. Though faultless ns respects correctness of inter- 
pretation, it abounds in foreign turns of expression, and is 
somewhat deficient in that fluency of stylo without which 
a translated work is unsatisfactory to the English reader. 
In the edition now presented to the public it is hoped that 
these objections are in some degree removed. 
A careful English version is given of all the Spanish and 
Portuguese terms, phrases, and quotations which occur in 
this work. Though the author has only in some few in- 
stances given a French translation of these passages, yet 
it is presumed that the interpretation of the whole in 
English will not be deemed superfluous ; this new edition 
of the “Personal Narrative” having been undertaken with 
the view of presenting the work in the form best suited 
for the instruction and entertainment of the general reader. 
T. R. 
London, December 1851. 
