Virginia Argus. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1796-1816, 1804-02-29

fort, !, may he fafely afirne~. tim: more
important books o! lravela and ether four
ccs of geographical information, have ap-
peared within shece lev ysarO, than at any
period whatever OF literary hi'tory.
In this wcri; ,he eisncc OF inuumerab'e
books of travels and voyages will be souad
to BE- extracted; and luca pro dud ions have
been the Eavoritr amuiementp OF the mot
diitingufhcd minds, ia all pc iods ani coun-
tries, se combining the varie'y, novelty, and
adventure, 90 poe cai and romantic nstrati-
on, with the tuty at mao and the benefits
Of praei'c ii inhruStion. !, 10 unueccAary
to repeat the ns'aes Of Mon s;gne, Locke,
Mouiei4uieu, &c. or ,hat Of my late friend
Gbbon, wholr collection of voyages and
travels formed the mott chofen parl OF his
library. why did he not write Gcogra-
ply Why has St'abo been dss;ed 10
modern times
Nor mun the rapid advanced Of Natural
Hitory be forgotten, which now confer
fuch hyperion p,eciion on the Natural Ge-
ogrsphy Of mott countries. Not oaly have
Zoology and Borary received the greatcit
Improvements bur Geology and siioerao-
gy have, within the!e twenty years, become
entirely new end grand licences the fubaan.
ces beiug accurately arranged, and delcri6-
ed with iuch clearrcfu, that throughou, the
literary world they are Exactly known and
DIFFERENTIATED.
Yet even with fuch advantages Ccogra-
ply is far from being perfect and the fa-
miliar exclamation of d'AnviIe in his old
n, -, n l. =.
there are many errors in Geography" This
fcience may indeed be regarded as Imperfect
in its very nature, as no reafonaSie hope can
be entertained that ali the habitable lands
ihell. at any period Of time, pats under a
trigonometrical furvey, the only Nandard of
complete exaarefo. The chief 6eIeGts are
the interior parts Of Africa, and many pOr-
t;ons even of the (hores Tibet, and Iome
other central regions of Alta; nay even Per-
fla, Arabia, aod Adstic Turkey the west
ern parts OF North America aud the Spa
nifa fettlemcnts in that part o! the new con-
tineut with the central end foutheru parts
OF South America. Of New Hoilssd little
is known, except the hiores and macy diC-
coveries remain to be made in the Pacific
Ocean, particularly the extent and interior
part of New Guinea, aud other large ilands
in that quarter Even in Europe the Geo
graphy Of Spain Ond Portugal. is very imper.
fecf, though not 70 detective as that of Eu-
ropean Turkey; nor can we loudly boat
while, as Major Kennel Informs ne, there is
no exaa chart or the Britilh Channel and
the trigonomstricai furvey, 70 far as it has
extended, has detected grois errora in the
maps of the countries. We have indeed
been geuerEiiJ ,nore affective TO remote re-
gions, than to our native country; and corlA
a new fY&em have been pubifhed with more
advantages, than in he kingdom which has
given birth TO the greatelt modern dilcove--
rics, aud improvement in Geography 7
The rapid progress Of Science has ALTO,
within = ike Fhsrt period. greatly improved
the maps aud chairs Of moit countries, al
ways to be ranked among the chief objea8
of Geography though unaccoun;abIy the
compilers OF mojesn lyeems fee'n 20 write
without the inspection Of any map whatever,
or at leaf never make any reference of that
nature. This 10 the more furpriGng, so &C.
curate maps and charts may be fsid to form
the very foundation of geogrs phical kaow-
ArNgIs ilN dusIOs VI WOI = nav
been Tedious to difcover the lstea and be&
maps OF all countries in which refearch hes
been liberaly afIited by cur beh pratlicsl
biographies. The fmal maps which accom-
psny the work are drawn with great care,
under the dreGtions and reyiiiop OF Mr. Ar
rowfmi:h VINO 10 wei! known by the induf-
try and attention which be employs 10 fs-
leeting the moe recent and accurate esteri-
ais and improvements, The lmslnels the
lizc will o; courle prevent them from fupply-
ing the place Of large and complete atlas /;
but they viii be fouod TO confitute IN ule.
fol Introduction 70 iuch a collection, rs they
are reduced fromthe bea large rnaps, and he
authorities added at the bottom, While they
are lluGraied with many important features
of the countries, and intereRing names, de-
rived from works of natural and civil hiRo-
ry, for which large and ezpenfve atlas may
be conlnlted in vain. The latter had bet
be formed by the reader himfelf, for which
purpofe liz of the bea maps is given at the
eud Of the fecoud volume, aHordiDg materi.
ala for q lelettion Of the great, of The middle,
or Of the fmall kiud. To the firR cals, for