82 Mr. Bell’s Remarks on the 
graphers, and concluded our sketch with a short account of the 
tables of Ulugh Beigh, who flourished in the middle of the 15th 
century. These tables were meant ostensibly to correct all those 
which had preceded them, and must consequently be viewed as the 
most correct of all the Oriental Tables of longitudes and latitudes. 
It was observed, however, that many gross errors still remain,—that 
his longitudes were calculated from the meridian of the Fortunate 
Isles ; but that not a few of them neither correspond in his own 
tables, nor in those of Nasroddin-al-Toosi, with that meridian, nor 
with that of Ceuta. A few examples of these errors were given, to 
establish the charge of incorrectness in tables professedly made to 
correct the errors of all those which preceded them ; but to enter into 
any lengthened discussion to prove the incorrectness of Oriental Ta~ 
bles in general, and what effects these errors have produced on all the 
systems of modern geography down to the present time, would have 
swelled our abridgment, and subjected us to the charge of tedious 
discussion in a work professedly popular, as general readers are for 
the greater part quite indisposed to what is denominated dry geo- 
graphical dissertations. 
The following remarks are intended more fully to substantiate 
the charges advanced ; but, for the sake of connection, we shall re- 
peat those which we mentioned in our account of Ulugh Beigh’s 
tables. 
Ulugh Beigh, who professed to correct the errors of preceding 
tables, places Rome 4° 28’ W. of Constantinople, whereas the lat- 
ter is 10° 28’ S. of the former. Again, Rome is placed by him 
55° 27'S. of the Canaries, which are only 30° 7’ W. of the former. 
Athens is, in his table, 50’ S. of Constantinople, though it is reall 
5° 2) W. of that city. He places the mouth of the Indus 102° E. 
of the Canaries, or 15° too much. Cashmere is placed in nearly 
the same longitude as the mouth of the Indus, though it is nearly 
9° E. of that position. The city of Peking, (the Cambalu of Ori- 
ental geographers,) is placed in 46° N. latitude, in the tables of 
Abulfeda and Ulugh Beigh, which is 6° 6’ N. of its true latitude, — 
or 420 British miles too far N. Samarcand, the very residence of 
Ulugh Beigh himself, is placed 99° 16’ E. of the Canaries, or For- 
tunate Islands, or 17° 21’ too far E. the longitude of Samareand 
being estimated at 64° 15’ E. of Greenwich, or 81° 15’ E. of Ferro. 
By the same table, the longitude of Aleppo is made 72° 10’ E. of 
the same meridian, being 17° 20’ too much. Yet Rennel has fixed 
the longitude of Samarcand entirely on the authority of Ulugh 
Beigh, who makes it 27° 6’ E. of Aleppo, and 14° 16’ E. of Casbin. 
It is true Rennel does not adopt the longitude of Aleppo given by 
Ulugh Beigh, as that was manifestly enormous; but he has adopt- 
ed his longitude of Samarcand, as given from Aleppo, without any 
other proof than that of comparing the intermediate distances be- 
tween Casbin and Samarcand, with the intermediate longitudes and 
latitudes recorded in the Oriental Tables. The longitudes of Alep- 
po and Casbin are past dispute, the one being given by observation, 
