Of every kind, occult, or known,
(Each exquisitely formed to suit

Its humble lot, and that alone),
Through ocean, earth, and air fulfil,
Unconsciously, their AUTHOR's will,
Who gave, without their toil or thought,
Strength, beauty, instinct, courage, speed;
While through the whole his pleasure wrought
Whate'er his wisdom had decreed.

MONTGOMERY.

It is of great consequence, in the education of the young, to encourage their instinctive taste for the beauty and sublimity of Nature. While it opens to the years of infancy or youth a source of pure and of permanent enjoyment, it has consequences on the character and happiness of future life which they are unable to foresee. It is to provide them, amid all the agitations and trials of society, with one gentle and unreproaching friend, whose voice is ever in alliance with goodness and virtue, and which, when once understood, is able both to soothe misfortune, and to reclaim from folly. It is to identify them with the happiness of that nature to which they belong; to give them an interest in every species of being which surrounds them; and, amid the hours of curiosity and delight, to awaken those latent feelings of benevolence and of sympathy, from which all the moral or intellectual greatness of man finally arises. It is to lay the foundation of an early and of a manly piety amid the magnificent system of material signs in which they reside; to give them the mighty key which can interpret them; and to make them look upon the universe which they inhabit, not as the abode only of human cares, or human joys, but as the temple of the living God, in which praise is due, and where service is to be performed.

ALISON.

O NATURE, whose Elysian scenes disclose

His bright perfections at whose word they rose,
Next to that Pow'r who formed thee and sustains,
Be thou the great inspirer of my strains.
Still as I touch the lyre, do thou expand
Thy genuine charms, and guide an artless hand;
That I may catch a fire but rarely known,
Give useful light though I should miss renown.
And poring on thy page, whose ev'ry line
Bears proof of an intelligence divine,
May feel a heart enriched by what it pays,
That builds its glory on its MAKER's praise.

COWPER.

Introduction.

OUTLINES

OF

HISTORICAL AND PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.

GEOGRAPHY, which, in its modern acceptation, is a noble and delightful study, receives increased value from its association with Christian benevolence. The knowledge of the globe, its inhabitants, and products, which was formerly confined to commercial or scientific purposes has been exalted by philanthropy, and consecrated by religion. We no longer gaze upon the map of the world, merely with a view of fixing the sites of battles, tracing the courses of rivers, the direction of mountains, or the forms and outlines of countries. In these researches, the mind is employed in nobler pursuits-man has become more peculiarly the object of study, and the exertions of benevolence have called the attention of thousands to the subject, who are occupied in tracing the diffusion of instruction, the growth of morality, and the increase of vital piety, in the dark parts of the earth.-MYERS's Modern Geography, Vol. II. p. iii.

Section 1.

HISTORICAL SKETCH of GEOGRAPHY.

THAT the globe, which Infinite Wisdom has assigned for the probationary residence of human beings, should have excited their curiosity, even during the primeval ages of the world, cannot surprise those who reflect either upon the subject itself, or upon the nature of those powers which were bestowed for its contemplation. Various causes soon fanned this curiosity into desire, and impelled it into action; and though the motives were not always such as could either excite the approving smile of heaven, or command the applause of men, the result seldom failed

to increase the sum of human knowledge, and not unfrequently contributed to the comforts of human life. To point out the principal means by which this has been accomplished, and the twilight of geographical knowledge gradually brightened into the comparative splendour of the present day, as well as to show the bearing of this knowledge upon the arts and conveniences of life, is the object of the present essay.

At this distance of time, it would be impossible to trace, with precision, the early progress of Geography; but both reason and analogy show that it must have been at once slow and gradual. Its commencement must be referred to an era almost coeval with the origin of the human race; for mankind had no sooner spread themselves over a part of the earth's surface, than a knowledge of the adjacent regions became an interesting topic of research. Variety in the climates and situations of countries gave rise to a corresponding dissimilarity in their productions; and the desire of possessing a more diversified share of those than a single district afforded, was soon felt, and almost as early manifested in the simple traffic of primeval times. Under these circumstances, almost every step in the progress of the primitive knowledge of the globe either disclosed new enjoyments, or created new wants, which caused the transfer of natural productions from one region to another, as well as the discovery of new stores, to become an object of peculiar attention. The simple raft, originally formed for paddling on the river, or along the shore, and designed for procuring a daily subsistence from the watery elements was soon converted into a more noble bark, and employed in exchanging the productions of one region for those of another. On these frail vessels the votaries of interest soon launched themselves upon the bosom of the mighty deep, and thus rendered their ideas of primitive traffic subservient to an expan

sion of general, and especially of geographical, knowledge.

The elements of society were undoubtedly nurtured in family compacts; and from the union of these, communities arose. Here circumstances soon favoured the views of aspiring individuals, who raised themselves to the head of their respective tribes→→→ those primitive mole-hills, from which ambition cast its penetrating glance around, to discover the weakness and wants of adjacent hordes. The unchangeable nature of this passion renders the following description of the poet always applicable :

Th' ambitious prince doth hope to conquer all,

The dukes, earles, lords, and knights hope to be kings;
The prelates hope to pushe for popish pall,

The lawyers to purchase wond'rous things.

GASCOIGNE.

Every fresh accession of power gave a new impulse to ambition. A collision of interests between the leaders of opposing parties was artfully transferred from the individuals to the communities to which they belonged, and war was the necessary consequence. In this field of contention, the most enterprising or the most fortunate tribes added conquest to conquest, till they attained sufficient importance to acquire distinction in the tradition of the times, and appeared, in these records of the memory, like so many luminous points in the night of ages.

When flocks and herds were, in some measure, domesticated, and the fruits of the soil had been partially substituted for the products of the chase, each community naturally endeavoured to set limits to the pretensions of its neighbours, which gave rise to the first cantons or countries. Agriculture imparted still more regularity and permanence to these divisions; while politics, aided by the motives to which we have already referred, augmented their numbers, extended their bounds, and multiplied their ramifica

tions, till, from the simple knowledge of a single district, we have reached that almost incomprehensible net-work of demarcations which now nearly encircle the globe.

Before we attempt to follow the march of this science, by exhibiting the outline of its gradual developement, its connexion with kindred subjects deserves to be noticed; and this we cannot do more appropriately than in the words of a recent author, who observes, In presenting a brief view of the rise and progress of Geography, it will be impossible, without doing violence to the subject, to untwist the three-fold cord which Nature herself has formed between the kindred sciences; to separate geography, navigation, and commerce, without breaking the legitimate connection between them, and stripping the facts of all that is most interesting, either in their causes or consequences. In treating, therefore, the present subject, we shall, occasionally, advert to the progress of both navigation and commerce, as they stand connected with that knowledge which it is the object of the present article to delineate. What has been observed of the march of science in general, is, indeed, particularly applicable to that of geography. When we would attempt to trace its origin and progress, instantly our eyes are directed to the east; and that quarter of the globe, first visited by the light of the natural day, is the point from which the rays of philosophy diverged, to visit the civilized world. The Chaldean seems to have borrowed from the Indian his love of science; from him it passed to the Egyptian; the Phoenician sailed with it down the Nile, and landed it on the shores of Greece. Rome plundered the States of Greece of their arts when she deprived them of their liberties. From Italy, the universal domination of the Romans extended civilization and knowledge over the western world; and philosophy found an honourable retreat