A S I A .
iu f e ,w K o was'ledby tKerelatioriof'Polotoc^Geive'tliatvas A.fiaex-
tended fo far m' the eaftfits fhores might be reached by a ffiort navigation
t o , the weftefn extremity of Eurdpeh- In
that great man difcovered- th6 M g now called the Weft-Indies, he
thoüght that hd had arrived' at the Zipango of Pöto, Ot Japan; and
thusthehame ö fIndia was abfurdly beftowed ortthofe new -■
- After the difcovery' of America and,the Gape of Good Hope, the ma,
r i f e parts a rM äh d s .n f'A ß a t o t o f f i v e l y , f e o f o *
rdefent vöyägesof the. Ruffian navigators; of our > immortal Göok, and'<*
the unfortunate La Peroufe; evince that much remained to be done ;
and concerning the interior uoff&feri*
arofe, t i l l t e Ä h e Great, after the battled Pult W
.örifoners into that region; and Strahlenberg,pn4 of-the^fficers;piffiPied
an’ feüÄbf'Siberia^
creafed- hy the well known • jöufnies of Pallas, and
knowledge'of Afia is for from being perföa,*efpecäaliyim -refpeä: to
Daouria, and Ötberirbgiörismfear the confines between the R ÄW and
Ghinefe‘ empire^■ ;;hör to mention central' Afia m 'g§hera% Tibbet or
Tibet, and fame more fouthern regions; nor had even'the gd^raphy
ofHinddftkn been treated with tolerable'accuracy till Major Renndl
publifhed hisexcellent map and memoir. almofc
remind the reader of the recent difcoveries td the fdtfth of^Afia/ in
Which the intöiöf, and fouthern coaft, tif New Holland^reiiiam tQ‘be
felored r with bthef defers of fmäller confluence: ' But Whikrhfaliy
■, improvements are wanted in the gedgraphy of feveräl Eüjo^eato'ün- j
tries, it id no wonder there fhoiild bte great ddficidnfcies/m that’ of the
other quarters of the globeV m ' . , - , . . ’
The importance of ffie’fcbjeÄ'will cxcufe the length of thefe remarks
Oh the* progreffivegeography bf Afia,: than-Which no pa.it of the feiere
can be more juftly intereftihg ; from the vaft extent of that portion of
the globe; -from tim great variety o f r ra t ife VMfifed and barbar®;
by whom’ it is peopled; and from its intimate connexion with thedef-
tinies of Europe, which k has frequently ' overawed, while-’the fävage
tribes of Africa and America can never become formidable to European
arts or happinefs. The
The'religions- of'Afia are ‘,-vatipqs, and will b#rilluftrated in the ae- Religions.
counts*', of-j the federal j^suntfies., , T,hp jcljrnate ^fo a«lnjitS’tof! every va*
rietyi fröm thé equator, to < the ^arCtitj fea.-_
.Though-Afia.'eanii©t-Mq$wltb;fE‘us0pevtip>tbe( advantaged offinland Seas,
feas^yet; kisiatidkróuto a- ffiare-of^th^Mediteifsap^an,, it poffefle^jthe
Red Sea,- t-héjArabianjSea, ai^gu%fi:Qf^eïbfq;-t,the bays* flf Bengal an,d
Nankin ;..and(Wher-gulphs, •whifeh diVer&fy cqa%*rauch. ULOre than,
fe©fe of ïAfriea^r^Atnerfeal^ and-dMe dop^M5?'contributed greatly to,
the earlyveivilifation,.of th^celebrafted
- The Red Sea,i or- the Arabian gulph df antiqpity, Gqnftkutes the,grandr Red go.
natural.'dMftoh,<hetweën, .AÖS; a®i-^%k^S'K^«l%daitfgntfees, have
chiefly been felfcyby/ethe i, latter,- uwJ&icth; is- pntipely- i^ b ite ofpt%r,inr,
land fe&d;' Egypt and Abj^mia?f{t.w,Q- ,pft /.thejfniq j§? ckiljfed ^c^untries-
ip, that.'^iyjfipn,..hayipg; deriyeferpat. bfpefil£ .fipijijjhjft celebrated*
gulph; which from the ftraits of .^belm^ndcbi^ri^AiCxtendsjabaif
2 0% ori _i47CpBritifti. miles^jtermipktijlg not in ^wp,* equalsbr^nphqs,
4eUneated in old’h^Sv^fenigP^Stepfi-ye ytpftbrn branch, v while J b e
eaftern. afeends -little beyopd: the.parallel ofliMount Sinai, a
^pThe Perfiamgjdph.is another noted ififand feav ^bout-half the length
of th^tfermery.heleg the, grand receptacle, of ,t-hpfe cje|gbrated riyers'the
fir fin: r^ldw ■; it sSgW
l ,The other gulphs do npt^afford fueb. flrOng fea,tur?^whati are' properly
termed inland.feaé ; if *he'Euxine<b,e^^ep|edrjvVbichohp ^ r^ l y
been briefly^éferibed in the gener^- furvey; of E y im i BPt ^he 'vaft
extentbofAfia contains fea& totally del^.Q-be^ , a^ ^ 1
tiqpj from nuy ‘S a t pectr -in Europe!, pr^heT g a r te r s , ofjtb^gjobe.
Such is the Gafpian fepü exte^kg'-^bcrut^ij©,0 skileg, i n Cafpian.
and:from tqp tonqo-in,breadth,; Strabo
fpa,4Q bf a gulph, extpdi^g/rpiq |be> n o ^ h ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ f | ero ^
tus, many rpurnriel^efcre. had. expr^fed
Gafpian |emVat o n e ^ e rfe tp havWfprpaid furthers-, tileW tb , 'where'
ihe departs are%Il'.'fantiy^nd falinejand EjreiTent tl|Tame^ ffi^g ||t_ a ré
1 •Deform o f the Euxmh has been greatb.ïnïpréyed; Woifrécent obferratipn^ in Mr. Ar-
: rowUith’s maps ; the breadth from the'foudiërii cape of Crimea td.'bve óppofite Afiattctromontories
being found to be far lefs llian. formjif j fuppofed.
VOL. II. € found