TABLE OF CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
Historical Sketch of the Progress of Discovery and of Commercial
Enterprise, from the earliest records to the time of Herodotus
CHAPTER II.
From the age of Herodotus to the death of Alexander the Great
CHAPTER III.
From the Death of Alexander the Great to the time of Ptolemy the
Geographer; with a digression on the Inland Trade between India and the
Shores of the Mediterranean, through Arabia, from the earliest ages
CHAPTER IV.
From the time of Ptolemy to the close of the Fifteenth Century
CHAPTER V.
From the close of the Fifteenth to the beginning of the Nineteenth Century
CATALOGUE.
Preliminary Observations on the Plan and Arrangement pursued
in drawing up the Catalogue
Instructions for Travellers
Collections and Histories of Voyages and Travels
Voyages and Travels round the World
Travels, comprizing different Quarters of the Globe
Voyages and Travels in the Arctic Seas and Countries
Europe
Africa
Asia
America
Polynesia
Australasia
INDEX to the Catalogue
- - - - Historical Sketch
- - - - XVII. Volumes of Voyages and Travels
CONTENTS of the XVII. Volumes
* * * * *
ERRATA.
Page 13. line 2. for _has_ read _have_.
6. for _near_ read _nearly_
28. 36. for _could sail_ read _could formerly sail_.
86. 6. for _Egypt_ read _India_.
87. 22. for _Leucke_ read _Leuke_.
102. 5. for _principal_ read _principle_.
213. 9. for _work_ read _worm_.
281. 28. for _Ebor_ read _Ebn_.
282. 20. for _Ebor_ read _Ebn_.
5O7. 22. for _as_ read _than_.
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE PROGRESS OF DISCOVERY, &c. &c.
CHAPTER I.
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE PROGRESS OF DISCOVERY, AND OF COMMERCIAL
ENTERPRISE, FROM THE EARLIEST RECORDS, TO THE TIME OF HERODOTUS. B.C. 450.
The earliest traces of navigation and commerce are necessarily involved in
much obscurity, and are, besides, few and faint. It is impossible to assign
to them any clear and definite chronology; and they are, with a few
exceptions, utterly uncircumstantial. Nevertheless, in a work like this,
they ought not to be passed over without some notice; but the notice we
shall bestow upon them will not be that either of the chronologist or
antiquarian, but of a more popular, appropriate, and useful description.
The intercourse of one nation with another first took place in that part of
the world to which a knowledge of the original habitation of mankind, and
of the advantages for sea and land commerce which that habitation enjoyed,
would naturally lead us to assign it. On the shores of the Mediterranean,
or at no great distance from that sea, among the Israelites, the
Phoenicians, and the Egyptians, we must look for the earliest traces of
navigation and commerce; and, in the only authentic history of the remotest
period of the world, as well as amidst the scanty and fabulous materials
supplied by profane writers, these nations are uniformly represented as the
most ancient navigators and traders.
The slightest inspection of the map of this portion of the globe will teach
us that Palestine, Phoenicia, and Egypt were admirably situated for
commerce both by sea and land.
