Prosms, .a befouridln a memoir, ^ of the Memoirs ofithe
G*sAPHvf" Afcademy, on the?3imits‘nf-;thb world knownto theancients beyond the
i | m w m sé
- §0' far this induftriotisfgeog'rapher, whofe reafonlng mu% at)th&'firft
glance, bë pron'düü'c'éd! to* be y'agéê’ and ifraenclüiïvet ri-Noi; has she beer\
abldtö'avëlPthat fodk-upon which many ge%raphiéa| theories <h&Ve
fpÜt', the ''attempt to traös ancient nppel-latdöns by modern nameswhile
the hitter,' though bearing- feveti' friong refëmhla(hóel! may he Very recent,
and ’have no -connexion whatever with the ahbieht etymon* - 'Thfe
opinion of D’Anvillé. ha's finfcê'-been üabïy -controverted fry’Góftèlli-n »
vsKó'ïecms to demdhftrate that the- Golden Cherfonefe of Ptolemy is
, the föuthern part of thei kingdom of TeghJ-hoi: Malacca as D’Anville
fuppërèd; and thaGthe capital of the Sin-se is Tanaferim-iri the weft'of
'the country’ of Siam. In this Goffellin ièems ivetl founded ; though
in a latter work he certainly have too much reftti&ed the knowledg&.of
the ancients concerning Africa.
"With regardr to tbe otBer exttérnfe ^fitlónf'^atWStefa^ ^hiloijÖ’An-;
viile ridicules thé Idea of tranfporting it tó Pèkin, hë himfelffeemstö
have placed it too much to the
circumftances, that it is Can-T’cheou, a, town -of 'Tangut, how comprized
in the Chinde Jrcdrincé of Shen^fi- There - can o’h the contrary
bé little doubt, from the afpèfl: of Ptolemy’s maps/ that his - Sêrièa is
the country now called Little Bocharia. Not,-is thdreianyiir.e&fdu’tö
believe that1 the ancients had ever palled the gre$li-dëfartGf iGdMv- oHis
Scythia beyond the mountains cd' Imaus, or Belur Tag, .is hy.iiiinfHf
jeftri&ed to # narrow- finpe on the eaft of thefe-moünta&iSLj .and feems
now to rcorre^tcmd^■ with the mountainoas diftrbfts Mohrtlüé: weft and
north of Little-Bucharia.'
From fhl^diftuffiondt will appear that not above one qu^rtei?,cif‘ Afia
w;as known th the ancients f and this knowledge Was little êncrèafed till
Mafpö Pölo, whctfe travels became well kno^wn in Euct^dri tibe beginning
of the fourteenth century, eftabl-Hhed a memorable fepoch in
geography, by palling to China, atid difclofing the extent of that coun-
* i j ’AnyilLe, Apcient Geography, p. 563« London, 1791. 8vo.
* Geographic des Grcc's ahalyfcé. ’ Paris, l7fO.'4ta.
try,
*^y,!thj|'i|l:an€!fe of Japan, and’ af<fhint intelligence of other regions, illuf- Progres-
traced >>n4 co^^nedjte-^^ent ^.pc^^nts.- The yvide; qopquefts of the hy.°"
famqu^'^liigisjfin the thirteenth--, centuryfirfj ;ppened
the diftoVety $f th’e, dL$$£ pal® of Aha, the ^l^^g^fe^^hp|e.fovereign
hetwas,<bei n g - 6hej’gft‘ltJ''?)fi%e^I4Qn,^,;-whO had before diffufed
teripb^Ver-j Europe. fsftbe M&ngulSi was dn t^e j^noun^ -
tains:, ndpehrigfive. foliree etMtStefriye-F; Q;EL-on ;^apd s|S£-ftiprt di'%pee to«'1 %
the S.W. was Kara-knm^ theifirft, capital o f the .Mohgdltempire. The
jVi<dtoriqs|Qf$ijngis exHnded-frqnij^tb^yj pr the'tiortheritpaft of China,
to -the-.river' Indus; ahd-~his fuqgeffia® extflndhlcl '-them .pd^bRuffia,
yiflidlertthfeil inroads reached' H'ungafynand-! GermanyThi s widely
diffufed; power of,the -MonghJe' naturally-) ekeitecf art -attention t ^ntf-cu- »
riofity, h9ver,iftimulated by a; number barbaric, itrih#;;:-and' at
the fame time, facilitated the, ,progrefs of jhe-traveller,-who,> as in Africa
a^.pBf^nt,. had been - formerly ,iippeded'by thq enmities of diminutive
pote;ita;tep. By force o f arms the Mpnguls alfp fifft ppened the obfcure
, ,$^heib'anJ;K.han,:A.fP.: '
families,' intp, .tho^ .portherp, region? ; and,h^ defcendajttsi, feigned at
Tobolfkpy -above,thrfee centuries till the Ruffian qctnqueft.3 n Two European
travellers; Garpihi and
the potyer and- rfefources of'the new empire of the 'Mongnls ; the:datter'
fpund at Kara^kum a Pslrifian goldfmith, employed in the Service of the
relation it appears; from th^.nhf^renin Sir
befiafhfMonguls hajd received fome intelligence concjerning; theSamoieds,
T h u s . t h e , d i | c p v e r y ; © f A l i a , w h i c h h a d b e e n ; n ^ a ^ d o r m a n t - f l n c e
t h e t i m e i o f P t o l e m y , ’ . b e g a n t o , r e v i v e i h ) t h e t h i r t e e n t h ' - c e n t u r y - Y e t
a f t e r ^ t h e p u b l i c a t i o n o f M a r G O P o l o j s t r a v e l j s ; d i ^ t t e ' - w a s ' d o n a - J o f • t w o
centuries; bfegf®,' qnef- -
tioned«* One man indeed,;,of > great mentad po^yerp, Was imprelfe^
with their - veracity, and in confeqnence accomplifhed a memorable eater-,
prize. / T|m8 was*:f^ifloyaifG<ytHi, or<,a»;we.-*^l
‘ Gibbon, xi. 424.1 ■
* 1 Prom - tie ittaB af tBe .world by,Andrea Bianoo the;Venefiati, ’ 1440,. it- Mioiently appears
that the difcoveries of redo had, even in hi? native country, been rather ditmndfied^lgn^ricreafed.
See Formaleorii,-Sa^gio fulla Nautica Ahtici dtr VetfeziSni. Ven. lySJi Svof See alfo the de- •
feription of Afia by Pojie Pius II, who-does not appear even to have feen the travels of 'Ppfe. . ; j
l u m b u s , p