DAS
the'Uncertainty-df the of the 'Variations in the'author’s ideas,
èntf öf tfré prè^reCsfofiAfri'&am^gl^phy. 1 Suffice it to phfêrve, that in
hisinap of'ity§id Rennell^ftaarks tHê^Ntgirias'pafflng» by Tombudoo tb
,the weft; while in D’An^ffibYïii£$ 1749,’»and ifn l^sambientgeography
^'769; the' Nig&ifdpMMty mfe’htiOned as running‘from-the weft to the
j5|ft; and hé" dwells on the paffage- of fjerodotus to* fiftat effecft, which
W-as afterwards ilfüft’rated-'hf Rfeafteft. B S ^ é% ^ h f5 & öfteti- retro-
grade and' D’AnvffieVmap'T)^, the afp£<ft' of which' is chiefly dej-
frv^i from Ptolemy, was certainty %?feetter delineation of central Africa
than Rennell’s in 1790, or even #Soq. ^Se\%M> theóriis have been recently
ftarted by Vario&s writers, but th^Rret&h geographer was a Ide-
fcrded. enethy-fh, •'theory," which in geography- is Wötffè' than igAoitaCe
itfelf;* as ii ndé only theglèds the^^aftical knowledge already -acquired,
but impedes’ tft'Afïrogrefs'' of -•difebvëty by a fatfe fêmblahöe? oftfcience,
iiot tb m'e'Mbft tbe inConvenidnce, aad;f©metim<es fatal rilk, fhht travellers?
inay dncobntfer in pnrfuit oftfhië'WiM-fire. iSukh-theories are often
fciifed on mathematical» evidence, built upon -the fendy foundation- of
erroneous repbrtsi hafty -'routes,' and 'oriental driacèötecies. ‘ O n fueh
ricCafiööé nfatheraatical' cfteulations-become- as! heterogeneous as in
biftiop HuetV Demonftration; and-the beft arguments are thofe from
plain d'edudton, arifeg^frota ftriking '.features,, and probablqmt^umr
ftaheeë» Hence'ftt-foliows ihat.th'e'ieft. and-'maft e.xad geographers
(where the materials are aftronomical and precifd) wiM^if they attempt
to ‘Build theories,; Wander the farthefhfrom the, truth. •* -
■- The trayds bf Mri Browne, merely- to iatisfy’-his owti curiofity, and
fity fóndftefs'fof Oriental manners', have -alfo 'ctfetriUttgd moftjèflêntialty
ta onr knowledge of northern Africa, not oiïly- byJ thé, geography ,of
Darfur and Kordofan, but by aftertaiming the origin:and pragrefs ©f the
fiahr el Abiad, or real Nile*; and by ;<$fcl ©fiftg fe^erak cicctimftances towards
the weft, particularly a large river riteg k -th e ifeoifliat^Sns of
Kurnri, and proceeding N. W. which: &ems!ïtoib^l\e:fïiFjoF1'gtoiemy^ ;,
and the Nile of the Negroes of Edriföf? It needs tftarcety be added- 1
that as the fource of the Nile,' and tBè rivet runniri^^.W. mrlTftr'iking
features of Ptolemy’s map, there" is reafon - to infer that his intd^geno?
deferves in other refpefts great credit,
v o t . 11. 5 j? It