1814.
678. Pearce's true account of the ways and manners of the Abyssinians. (In
the Transactions of the Bombay Society, vol. 2.)
These two works have extended our knowledge of Abyssinia, especially of
the moral state of the people, much beyond what it might have been
expected we should have acquired regarding a country formerly so
inaccessible. Mr. Salt's zeal, and opportunities of information and
observation, have left little to be desired: and from Mr. Pearce, who
resided fourteen years in the country, many particulars may be gathered,
which only a long residence, and that intimacy and amalgamation with the
natives which Mr. Pearce accomplished, can furnish accurately, minutely,
and fully.
VIII. ASIA.
Several circumstances concurred to direct the travels of the dark and
middle ages to Asia. Pilgrimages to the Holy Land; - the wish to
ingratiate the Tartar chiefs, which was naturally felt by the European
powers, when the former were advancing towards the western limits of
Asia; and subsequently, and perhaps consequently, the spirit of
commercial enterprise, were amongst the most obvious and influential
circumstances which led to travels into this quarter of the world, from
the ninth to the fifteenth centuries. Although the travellers during
this period were by no means, in general, qualified to investigate the
physical peculiarities of the countries they visited, and are even
meagre, and often inaccurate in detailing what was level to their
information and capacities, yet, as has been justly observed, "there is
a simplicity in the old writers, which delights us more than the studied
compositions of modern travellers;" to say nothing of the interest which
the first glimpses of a newly discovered country never fail to impart.
We shall therefore annex the titles of the most interesting and
instructive of these travels, which were performed between the ninth and
fifteenth centuries, referring such of our readers who wish for a more
complete list or fuller information on the subject, to the Bibliotheque
des Voyages, Vol. I. p. 32., &c.; Murray's Asiatic Discoveries; the
Review of Murray's work in the 48th number of the Quarterly Review;
Forster's Voyages and Discoveries in the North; and Collection portative
de Voyages. Par C. Langles.
679. Ancient accounts of India and China. By Two Mahomedan Travellers in
the ninth century; translated from the Arabic by E. Renaudot. 8vo.
1733. - The authenticity of this work is established by M. de Guignes,
having found the original in the Royal Library at Paris: and the
information it contains, though mixed with much that is fabulous, is very
curious and valuable, especially in what relates to China.
680. Voyages faites principalement dans les 12, 13, 14, and 15 siecles, par
Benjamin de Tudela, Carpin, Ancilin, Rubruquis, Marco Polo, Haiton,
Mandeville, et Contarini; publies par P. Bergerin, avec des Cartes
Geographiques. La Haye, 1735. 2 vols. 4to.
This is a valuable collection, except so far as regards Marco Polos'
Travels, the translation of which is neither elegant nor faithful.
