PREFACE.

THE object of the present Work is to give a comprehensive History of the various Circumnavigations of the Globe, and to describe at the same time the Progress of Discovery in Polynesia.

The innumerable islands which are scattered over the vast expanse of the Pacific, have in all times excited the liveliest regard. In few regions. of the earth does Nature present a more fascinating aspect, or lavish her gifts with more bountiful profusion. Favoured by mild and serene skies, the fertile soil of these insular territories produces the most luxuriant vegetation, which, with its many rich and varied hues, clothes the whole land from the margin of the sea to the summits of the loftiest mountains. As the voyager sails along their picturesque shores, he is refreshed by perfumes borne on the breeze, from woods which at the same time display the bud, the blossom, and the mature fruit. Nor is the character of their inhabitants less calculated to inspire interest. In countries where the bread-tree affords "the unreaped harvest of unfurrowed fields," where the people neither plough nor

sow, nor do any work, their first visiters believed that they had at length discovered the happy region with which poets adorned the golden age. To later explorers, as has been remarked by Humboldt, " the state of half-civilisation in which these islanders are found gives a peculiar charm to the description of their manners. numerous suite, comes and presents the productions of his orchard; there the funeral-festival embrowns the shade of the lofty forest. Such pictures have more attraction than those which portray the solemn gravity of the inhabitants of the Missouri or the Maranon."

Here a king, followed by a

In every compendium of voyages, from the days of Purchas downwards, a prominent place has been assigned to the discoveries and exploits of those navigators whose course has led them to encompass the world,-whether in search of imaginary continents, in quest of warlike adventure, or in the peaceful pursuit of scientific knowledge. But the manner in which the History of Circumnavigation is given in most of the works alluded to, tends to repel rather than to invite the attention of the common reader. In the imperfect abridgments which have from time to time appeared, no endeavour is made to supply the deficiencies, or to illustrate the obscurities of the original narrative, by the light of more recent discovery. The mind is wearied by innumerable repetitions, and perplexed by irreconcilable discrepancies. The vast extent, too, of some collec

tions cannot fail to deter a majority of inquirers: in one of which (Bibliothèque Universelle des Voyages, par M. Albert Montémont, in-8°. Paris, 18331835), the " Voyages autour du Monde" occupy

about twenty volumes.

The excellent work of the late Admiral Burney may be said to be almost the only one in which an attempt has been made to digest this mass of crude materials in a methodical and connected narrative, possessing the advantages of perspicuous arrangement, and elucidated by the investigations of recent navigators. Of the "Chronological History of the Discoveries in the South Sea" every one must speak with respect, as of a book distinguished by great erudition and by laborious research. It chiefly addresses itself, however, to the professional and scientific student; and is, indeed, obviously rendered unfit for general perusal by the copiousness and minuteness of its technical details. Though bringing down the annals of maritime enterprise no farther than to the commencement of the reign of George III., it оссиpies five volumes in quarto,-leaving the history of the short period comprehended between that epoch and the death of Cook (undoubtedly the most interesting of the whole) to be pursued in works extending to more than three times the same amount.

Nor must it be overlooked, that however excellent the performance of Admiral Burney may have been in its own day, it has now become in some measure antiquated, from the great accessions which geogra

phical science has received since his work was submitted to the public. To our knowledge of the Archipelago of Tonga and Feejee, great contributions have been lately made by Mariner and D'Urville. Otaheite and the Society Islands have been elucidated with singular fidelity by the Reverend Mr Ellis, as well as by Messrs Bennet and Tyerman. The labours of the gentlemen just named, with those of the American missionary, Mr Stewart, of the officers of H. M. S. the Blonde, and of MM. Morineau and Botta, have greatly enlarged our acquaintance with the Sandwich group. Much light has been thrown on New Zealand by the writings of Cruise, Rutherford, Yate, Earle, D'Urville, and the contributors to the Missionary Register. The Ladrone or Marian Islands, the Navigators', and the vast range of the Carolines, have been for the first time satisfactorily illustrated by the inquiries of Freycinet and Kotzebue. The voyager last mentioned, as also his countryman Billinghausen, M. Duperrey, and Captain Beechey, have completed the discovery of the Low or Coral Archipelago; and the researches of Dillon and of D'Urville have supplied much valuable information on the state and productions of the New Hebrides.

In preparing this volume, the greatest pains have been taken to turn to advantage the important investigations of the writers just named; and while much interesting matter has been derived from the collections of Debrosses, Dalrymple, and Burney,