' with fc ie rf^Q f imdtogyj, “but ought_ ra th e r to, be ftyte^cofmow
'f ^pnies, or ideal creatidnMtm ptahets.’’ *'
But .^eogfephy,, p o p ^ ly e o n f id e r e d , is p c c ii^ e d 'in the.defcriptiou
• - ^ 'th e " fariohs^fegi^n^bf, th y ^ Io B e i^ h ie f f^ a ^ b e i^ g l diyi(^d among
Yariq^S nations, Tand improved by human art and in d u ftry .. I f a fcien-
tifrc termQwere m d i f p |||% l e 'f o r t h k 'p q p u l ^ ^
| *rieal Geography might ' 156, hdopt^dy^not only . ^*T
^ e rv ic n S to ' hiftory, but becaufe i t t l ^ i n faQ ^a narrative fo, hea&y
apprbaching the hifturical,- th a tH e fed o tu s, and, many other .ancient
'^‘hlftoriansj h a v e d&feifified the ir works with !lafgS'*pbi,t^ins d f^ 'q g ra p h y ,~
ahd‘ th ^ c e leb i^ ed defcription o f Germany,, _’^y'T a ck u sj _ edntaips« moffi
’.f o f th e materials adopted in mbdern treatifes of\gepgraphy.r v v
of I >Ki '$ $ § popular' p;6lnt- 'of VUw,-! h*ihbfi^al/‘* ^ e h '^ p h ^ ^ iK it^ 6 T three ^
y- divifiohs. ' T h e ^ J ^ ^M ^ c ia f f i f c ll^ w h fP ’^ ie ffili^ h e ^ f ta te of th e
earth,, fo far as-it was difcovered at'.differerif periods;v TOtf^dt^xfehd-^
” rng-furtb& than the year-of Ghrift 5-00. 2v T h a t ro f% | Middlg’A^es^
which-reaches to the fift^ ritif'c e h tu g , when' th d : difco^eriel o f ^.BS
Portugdefe began to lay wider fralikfatfohivof the:'fci6nte.f ^ ‘Modern
Gec%raphy, theHole febjedt o f 4 4 e ^ c f d n t worh,ri whiehV w f i i l |.€
embraces; Hhe moft" recent difcotfenfelH ftiH f em ^ ^ e a p l l l 'e jMT’greal
s accdffions, particularly in "Africa- j *■- n o t jto ^ e jftib n mfere-hint We
deficiencies;’'
T h e chief qbjeft ’of1 modern geography rsLto prelent tb'e^moft recent
" and authentic information l&ncerajng th e nutae^usTnatiorts and%K$p5
who divide and tfiverfify the earth ; but on th is fbbjedt iWisimpoffiB^jra
attain a ^ u ra te ideas withouLa brief - iotroduapfyivshw^ofhheprdgrell'
' of ;each nation and Rate. . Though^ .inWbwMfdwhihflahces, natural
b’arriers-have divided, and continue to divide,-1 -nations, yet in general
rhU boundaries are arbitrary, fo that the oat3ara%£ogpaphjy^afia,c u h •^ r^
’ though forming an effential feature, hitherto treated' witfiptob niuch
' megledt in geographical works^ cannot be admitted t'o.a predominans?:.;
' b u t'o n the contrary, as matter yields to' mind, may rather be regarded
a fequef'in hiftoricalqgeography, which is chiefly occupied in de-
fcribing the diverfities o f nations, arfd the- conditions Of; the various
rates o f mankind. On this fubjed there is no doubt room for a variety ;
I I f
P R E L I MIN A R Y < O B S E R V A T I ONS.' 3
<ef opinions ; but after long confideration it has appeared raoft eligible
to prefer the following order : 1. T h e ' hiftoricalp "or progreffive geography
o f each country. 2. Its political ftate, including moft o f the
topics which recent German writers, by a term o f dubious;purity, call
ftatiftic. 3. I h e civil geography, including objefts not ^im m ed ia te ly
conne&ed with the^government, as an account o f the chief cities, towns,
&c. À:
T h e ancients confidered the earth under the three grand divifions of
Alia, y u ro p lr,_ aifd fórhv oné^coiltfnent, th e
diftin étions, were arbitrary; m they often included Egypt under Afia
and they 1 ad not difeovered the limits of Europe towards the N. E.
Modern difcöveries have added a fourth divifion, that of America
which,- exceeding even Afia in fize, might perhaps as well' have heen
âdbhticd'’d i/dêFîtw’p ^ rlliff'âh 'd Bimnâp cfehominltfioW,; limited by4hé'
IAbm ^ n f ■ Hafi'ehf' It-wàs fiTpfiofedi fiffiwifhirftMfe^BiTty- years’ that
f ig f e k ittH d a^vafl ç b ra 'm e |iF ^ ,t^ e fc1 ^ u liJ gfêÏïè;&!ahdWiamy
fchemes; Were formed for colonizing the widë and opulent Terra 'Auftra-
ffie fetojul navigation'pT^!the, 'immort^Xoo^^&tD^led th ii
J jfr 9 ^ | e i r à r o ÿ jÆ d eruQ n ftr ^ e d f &at _ i f â ây ‘continent
there Cxifted, it muft Be loft in the uninhabitable ice . of the fouth pole.
Yet the wide extent of N ew Holland rewarded the views o f enterprife.
Too large for an ill and,''too finall for a continent, New Holland, like
the; .other, works , tpf nature, eludes the .p etty . diflin<aions o f man j and
while geographers .hHitatê whether to afcribe it .td. Afia, or, with De
Brofles, to denominate it a Ei r f n fpecific divifiou/of the earth, it is not
improbable that the popular divifion of four quarters'.of the world will
continue^ to predpminate (over any feientifiç difcuÿljatei I
I * Th!s arrangement was in part % g e fte d .b y tlie ^ W t j ! ' Ge0?raf)j!r j,y Robert.
'O&ViugÔndÿV4-’ f
’■ T b e word quqrjerÿ.as foui^lLparijbecomes rather, a > when apj>!icd.to the. '
[wirf ) -4J * : 1 t j be, accepted i a; feepnd fen fe, equally .popular in French
,ancl Éu,gb(h, (whence (jenved ?) ïlation: yet a fifth or fixtli
’, 4a m ' would not plêale tbc ear. T he Magéllimka 'ó tiC hw iu s and De BrfÉeS'hàs
fadëd.bcFore, the jigb t o f .î^ffl& ifco ve i îcs ; but 'the o f the latter are exccl:
Iatt»|nd clear arrangements, now ju llly adopted by nistt Men o f leience. '
vox. 1. s 2' Of-
Order of
topics. ■
Quarters "of
the world.