ASIA

flanked by the mountains which contain the sources of the Indus and Jaxartes. The inferior chains of Mountains. mountains, which diverge as radii from this centre, are the Múz-dágh, or Múz-zart (snowy mountains), on the north; the Tibetian mountains on the east; the Vind'hya hills and G'hats on the south; and the chain of Alburg, or Alborj, on the west. With the latter is connected the different ranges that traverse Persia, and join in its north-western provinces with Caucasus on the north, and the branches of Taurus and Libanus on the west and south. The latter is united by the hilly country on the west of the Jordan, with the mountains of Arabia. The direction in which the greater number of these inferior chains run, is the same as that of the central range, from east to west; and the line of the two great branches of Taurus, is a strong illustration of the doctrine laid down by M. Walckenaer, for Asia Minor; which is a peninsula appended to the rest of the continent; has its great dilatation from east to west; and the mountains of which diverging from the north east, run in lines parallel with the shores of the Mediterranean on the west. Of these chains, the Altaï, or Khattaï, is the most extensive, as it stretches quite across the continent from east longitude 60° to 140°, through 80°, for more than 3000 geographical miles. Of its highest points, which are to the south of the Russian dominions, we have no accurate accounts, but the summits of its inferior ranges are covered with perpetual snow, and can scarcely be lower than the Alps, which are nearly in the same latitude. The Himalaya, the southern bulwark of this great central level, has been more accurately observed; and if no error has crept into the estimate of Messrs. Webb and Hearsay (see Asiatic Researches, v. xii. p. 276.) its highest peaks are as much as 26,000 feet above the level of the sea, or 11,000 above the summit of Mont Blanc, and upwards of 6000 above Chimborazo, which towers over the whole Cordillera of the Andes. The extent of the Himalaya is not so great as that of the northern chain; but it is probably at a still greater elevation; for Mount Kailás, the Olympus of the Hindùs, must equal, if not exceed the D'hólá-giri, in Népàl, which reaches 26,400 feet. To the west, the Hindùkush does not appear to be very greatly lower, as one of its summits is estimated, by Mr. Elphinstone, at 20,493 feet. In point of elevation, if not of extent, the next range of mountains in Asia, is Caucasus; in which the Peak of Kari-beg, or Kazbek, is estimated by Dr. Parrott, at upwards of 15,000 feet. (Parrott and Englehardt's Reise in den Kaukasus.) To the south-west of Caucasus rises Ararat, the summit of which, though doubtless lower than those already mentioned above, is considerably above the point of perpetual congelation. Taurus, Amanus, and Libanus, all connected by intermediate links, with this great chain and each other, are, though of considerable height, much lower, and have few points at which the snow is perpetual. The Uralian mountains, which run from south to north, and terminate near Nova Zembla, are colder, in consequence of the higher latitude in which they are placed, but do not appear to attain an equal height.

The islands of Asia likewise are mountainous. Adam's Peak in Ceylon, is the loftiest summit in the island; and the favourite subject, as such remarkable peaks commonly are, of traditions and fables. But

the insular mountains are more remarkable, as being ASIA. in several instances volcanic. There is one near Brambanan, in Java, which had a violent eruption in 1586; and Gúnong ápi, in the Banda Isles, is one of the most active volcanoes known. Ternáté, the chief of the Moluccas, is nothing more than a volcanic cone; on its sides are large pits of melting sulphur, and it still occasionally emits flames from its summit. The Isles of France and Bourbon are also of volcanic origin; and the crater of the latter was visited, while in a state of eruption, by M. Borg de St. Vincens, who has given an interesting description of the phenomena which he witnessed. Whether there are any volcanoes in the unexplored parts of the continent of Asia, is yet doubtful; though accounts given by Chinese and Manchir writers make it probable that there are several.

Of the rivers descending from these mountains, Rivers. those which flow to the north have the most circuitous and extended course. On the east side of Siberia we meet with the Lena, which rises near the Lake Baikal, and after running for a considerable distance in a north eastern direction, takes a more northerly course near Yakutsk, and enters the Frozen Ocean opposite to the Borkhaya isles, having travelled over nearly 1900 miles. The Yeniséï, issuing from the Khaltaï, or Altaïan mountains, is carried by a more direct course of about 1400 miles into the same sea. The Ob, or Oby, the largest river in the Russian empire, rises from the Altúnnor of the Kalmaks, or Ozero Teletzkoï of the Russians, in lat. 51° N. and long. 87° E.; and, soon after it has entered the Arctic Circle, falls into the Obskaya Juba, or gulf of the Ob, after having run nearly 2000 miles. At a considerable distance above Tobolsk, nearly in lat. 62° N. it receives the waters of the Irtish, another large river, which takes its rise from the northern barrier of the central plateau, in lat. 46° N. and long. 92°. E. nearly. The Saghalìa, or Amùr, which rises in the country of the Kalkas, in lat. 49° N. and long. 108° E. is formed by the junction of the Kerton and Argun; it flows through Chinese Tartary, and empties itself into the sea of Okhotsk, opposite to the great island of Choka, or Saghalìn. It receives the waters of many tributary streams, the largest of which is the Sungari, from the south west. Its course can scarcely be less than

1800 miles.

China, which, from the great length of some of its rivers, must abound in extensive plains, has some streams nearly equal to the largest of those already mentioned. They rise in the eastern declivity of the central table land; the Hwang-hò, or Yellow river, watering the northern, and the Yang-tsè-kyang, or Great River, the central parts of the empire. The Mékäng, or River of Kambója, and the Irawadi, or Ava River, also descend from the same plateau, by courses long and devious, till they reach the lower country, when they advance in a direct line to the Indian Ocean. But of all the streams springing from that elevated region, none are so celebrated as those which follow next in order; the Brahmaputra, or Berhampúter, the Ganges, and the Indus. Of these, the source of the Ganges only is positively known; the two others have a longer course, and take their rise in Tibet ; that of the Indus having been found, by Mr. Moorcroft, in 31° 30' N. and 80° 35′ E.; but of their progress after they reach the plains we are not ignorant ; as the Berhampûter waters the eastern parts of

500 miles.

Besides these, which, may be called "the mighty waters" of Asia, there are others, and those not insignificant streams, descending from the inferior ranges of mountains. The Tigris and Euphrates flowing to the south, and the Araxes to the east, have their sources in the same mountainous region, and are all considerable rivers, watering a large extent of country. Near the eastern coast of the Mediterranean, the Jordan and the Orontes, rising from Mount Libanus, fertilize the vales of Syria. Anatolia, though not provided with any very large rivers, has an abundance of smaller streams; and the Halys, now called Kizil Irmàh, which nearly divides the peninsula into two equal portions, rises from Mount Taurus, and runs into the Black Sea, in lat. 41° 34′ N. and long. 36° 11′ E. The whole course must be upwards of 350 miles. If, in tracing the separate seas, or portions of the ocean into which these rivers flow, we set out from Asia Minor, we meet, in the first place, the Euxine, or Black Sea, the northern boundary of Anatolia ; a large basin, separated from the rest of the Mediterranean by the narrow strait, called the Canal of Constantinople, the Bosporus of the ancients. The Sea of Marmora, or Propontis, (which is itself connected with the Egean Sea, or Archipelago, by another and similar strait, the Dardanelles, anciently named Hellespont ;) has been supposed, not without plausible grounds, to have been anciently an inland sea, as well as the Black Sea and Mediteranean. Its most considerable islands are those called the Prince's, near Constantinople, which are large enough to produce some grain, and have a good many inhabitants; but in the Archipelago, the islands, as is well known, are numerous, fertile, and populous. The largest and most productive are those which belong to Asia; and Candia and Cyprus, more particularly deserve to be noticed. Crossing the Isthmus of Suez, that narrow neck of land, which separates the Mediterranean from the Red Sea, and following the coasts of Arabia till we reach the Persian Gulf, no island of any importance occurs till we come to the cluster, called the islands of Bahreïn, on the Arabian side of that arm of the sea. They have been for centuries celebrated for their pearlfishery, and the piratical character of their inhabitants. It may be said generally that the remaining islands in that gulf are wretched, barren spots, inhabited by fishermen as wretched, unless the feebleness of the neighbouring government suffers them to obtain by piracy the wealth which nature has denied to their soil. On leaving the Persian Gulf we come again into the Indian Ocean, and meet with no islands along the coast, except Bombay and Anjenga; the first of

which is now united with the main land, and will be fully described in another article. The crowded groups of islets, called Laccadives and Maldives, not far from the southern point of the peninsula, bring us to Ceylon, a large and productive island, remarkable for the abundance of cinnamon which it yields. The Andamans, on the eastern side of the Bay of Bengal, are the first link in that long chain of islands which occupies so large a portion of the Indian Ocean, and which has been conveniently termed the Indian Archipelago. It has been divided by geographers into a number of different groups, the first of which, the Sunda Islands, contains Sumatra, Borneo, and Java. Borneo is of great extent, but is scarcely known at all beyond the coasts; and Sumatra is very little more so; but Java, having been long in the possession of the Dutch, has been completely explored. The next group, called the Moluccas, is the most celebrated of all; as containing those islands to which the Dutch, for a long period, exclusively restricted the cultivation of the clove and nutmeg. Beyond them lies Papúa, or New Guinea, of which even the coasts have not yet been completely ascertained. The clusters, called Solomon's Islands, Queen Charlotte's, and the New Hebrides, bending round in a south easterly direction, bring us near to the two islands of New Zealand, the most southern of these seas; and immediately to the south of New Guinea is New Holland, of which the area is larger than the whole of Europe. At a considerable distance, to the east of the New Hebrides, lie the Friendly Islands; the first in that vast assemblage, commonly called "the South Sea Islands," which were discovered by Europeans, having been seen by Tasmarn in the middle of the 17th century. To the north of New Guinea are the New Carolinas and the Marianne, or Ladrones, so named by the Spaniards who discovered them, from the thievish propensities of their inhabitants. The Philippines, or Manillas, lie to the west of the latter, immediately north of the Moluccas; and Mindanas, or Magindanas, the largest of them, is populous and productive. Proceeding northward, close to the coast of China, we have Formosa, immediately above Luzon, the second of the Philippines in point of magnitude. The sea, comprehended between Borneo and Formosa, on one side, and the eastern peninsula of India, with the southern part of China, on the other, is commonly called "the Chinese Sea:" but to the east of this Archipelago lies the Pacific Ocean. Following up the Chinese sea, another group occurs at some distance, to the east of Formosa, called the Sieù-kieù, or Lùtchù Islands. Of them and their hospitable inhabitants we have a pleasing account in Captain Basil Hall's Voyage. Beyond them are Nifon and the other islands, which form the kingdom of Japan, connected by a line of small islets, called the Kuriles, with the southern extremity of Kamtschatka. Within them, and the coast of Tartary, lie Yesso and Saghalin. The Aleutian, or Fox Islands, are a chain of islets, extending in a curved line from the neighbourhood of the Kamtschatkan coast to the opposite extremity of America. These are all the islands of any magnitude which belong to Asia, unless we include Nova Zembla, at the north-western extremity of Siberia.

ASIA.

In the above enumeration of the rivers and islands, Seas. we have named most of the different seas by which Asia is bounded. Its early civilization was, doubtless,

greatly promoted by the many gulfs and bays, as well as navigable rivers, which it possesses. In this respect, the difference between Asia and Africa is very striking and while the one was the cradle of arts and civilization, the other is still, with some small exceptions, the seat of ignorance and barbarism. But Asia has also some considerable internal seas, such as are not known to exist in any other part of the globe. Of these, the Caspian is the largest. It separates the dominions of Russia from those of Persia and the independent Tatars. It is nearly in the form of an ellipse, of which the major axis is now well known to extend from north to south; though, scarcely a century ago, it was represented as passing from east to west. Its greatest length is about 10° of latitude, or 600 geographical miles. Its width varies from 100 to 200 geographical miles. It has been supposed to have had a communication anciently with the Black Sea; but a more accurate knowledge of the countries between the Don and the Volga, has shewn the fallacy of that supposition. That it once extended northwards considerably beyond its actual limits, can hardly be doubted, from the shells and sand of the Steppes which surround Astrakkán. On the eastern side, its former union with the lake Aral appears still more probable; for though the ground now rises between them, this has probably been occasioned by alluvion from the large rivers which flow into the latter. These are about 150 miles asunder at the points where they approach the nearest; but a salt lake, or lagoon, intervenes mid-way, and the adjoining deserts abound in marine productions. The lake Aral is about 250 miles in length, and 70 or 80 in breadth. The wild and desert state of the surrounding country has hitherto prevented it from being carefully examined: Another considerable body of water in the very heart of this continent, is the Lake Baikal, which extends, bending somewhat in the shape of a crescent, from long. 104. E. for nearly 300 miles. Its greatest width is between 30 and 40. Its waters are fresh, in which respect they differ from those of the Caspian and the lakes in its neighbourhood.

Before we pass from the consideration of the waters of Asia to another part of our subject, we may observe, that there are several narrow seas and straits within the limits of this quarter of the globe. The Red Sea, or Arabian Gulf, is an arm of the Indian ocean, stretching between lat. 12° and 30° N. in a north westerly direction, full of shoals, and difficult of navigation. It is about 1200 miles in length, and never more than 100 in breadth; and is connected with the ocean by the Straits of Báb-el-mandeb, about 30 geographical miles in width, but reduced to a much narrower passage by intervening rocks and islands. The Persian Gulf, or Gulf of Ormus, is another arm of the same ocean, deriving its name from Hormuz, or the Persian Coast; a great emporium in the 16th century, and once in the possession of the Portugueze. The strait by which it communicates with the Indian sea is only 24 miles wide. Ceylon is separated from the coast of Coromandel (Chóla-mandala), by the Straits of Manàr, the narrowest part of which is not above eight or ten miles in width. The islands of Ramisseram (Ráméswara) and Manàr, at the opposite sides of this strait, are connected by a singular ridge of rocks, called by the Musselmans, Adam's Bridge. The Straits of Malacca, between that peninsula and Suma

tra, are in some places not more than 24 miles across. Between that island and Java are the Straits of Sunda, about 30 miles across, but much obstructed by inter-, vening islets; they are, however, often passed by our China ships. The islands of Japan are separated from Corea by a strait, which is about 40 geographical miles in width. But the most remarkable of the Asiatic straits is that which was discovered by Behring, a Dane, in 1728, and bears his name. It separates Asia from America, as was ascertained by the immortal Cook, who named it after its original discoverer. Behring does not appear to have seen the American coast; a circumstance easily accounted for by the fogs continually occurring in those high latitudes. From East Cape, on the Asiatic side, to Cape Prince of Wales, in America, there are about 30 geographical miles; but two islands intervene, and narrow the passage. It has been lately explored by Lieutenant Von Kotzebue.

ASIA.

Though Asia is for the most part mountainous, it Plains. has, at intervals, plains of vast extent, in several places destitute of water, and bearing a strong resemblance to the sandy wastes so common in Africa. Between Syria, Jezírah, or Mesopotamia, and the central mountains in Arabia, the whole country answers to this description. In Persia, the plains, intervening between the parallel ranges of hills, are all ill supplied with water; and whole districts on the eastern side of that kingdom, are incapable of cultivation. These deserts extend beyond the Indus to the western provinces of Hindústàn. To the north cast of the Caspian and Lake Aral, there is a wide expanse of sand not admitting culture; and the elevated central level noticed above, is represented by the Manchu and Chinese writers, who call it the Desert of Kobi, or Shamo, as one vast mass of arid sand, incapable of supporting any vegetation.

Through so wide a range of country, and with such Climate. a constant change of elevation, the climate must be perpetually varying. It may be said, generally, that in the south western part it is temperate, even including Arabia, which is within the tropic: but, in the south eastern, excessive heat prevails; while throughout the northern half of the continent, excessive cold predominates. The difference of elevation has so great an effect on the temperature, that the central parts of Anatolia are colder in winter than the provinces of France which are 10 degrees of latitude farther north. Nor is this difficult to be accounted for, since Mr. Browne found the city of Erz-rùm to be 7000 feet above the level of the sea. (Whishaw's Memoir of Tennant, p.30.) This extraordinary height of level, combined with the accumulation of snow on the summits of the neighbouring mountains, will also account for the extremes of heat and cold experienced in Persia and no chains of Tatary; while in India, as there are mountains to the south of Himálaya of any considerable height, there is nothing to temper the power of the sun, and the full effect of the approximation to the equator is felt. This seems to be still more the case in a great part of the Berman empire; but China, which is more mountainous, has a cooler climate.

tions.

The productions of the earth, under equally favour- Producable circumstances with respect to soil and irrigation, will vary nearly as the climate; in Asia, therefore, we find almost every kind of vegetable in the highest perfection. The middle and western parts produce

all the sorts of grain common in Europe, with our fruits and culinary vegetables, in abundance; the southern and tropical regions afford gums and spices, oils and extracts, roots and berries, which are unknown in colder climates: In minerals, so mountainous a country cannot be deficient; and if little or nothing of the precious metals has been obtained from it in modern times, this is owing rather to the ignorance and mismanagement of its rulers, than to any real failure in the veins which were anciently productive. The rivers of Asia Minor washed down fragments of gold; and silver mines were worked on Mount Sipylus within the last century. The gold of Arabia is frequently mentioned in Scripture; and gold dust is still collected from the streams of Kábul and Kandahár. Silver and copper mines are actually worked in the neighbourhood of Tokàt; tin is found in great quantities, in the island of Banca; lead and iron seem to be most plentiful; but neither the continent nor islands are yet sufficiently known to allow of our forming any estimate of the mineral wealth of Asia. Of precious stones, the diamonds of Golconda and Samb'halpur, and the pearls of Bahrein and Manàr are well known; and rubies, sapphires, turquoises, with most other gems are brought from the same countries; some stones, as corundum, are seldom found elsewhere. We learn from sacred history, that Asia was the cradle of the human race; and that fact, combined with the fertility and climate of the country, would lead us to look for a more crowded population there, than in any other quarter of the globe. But war, with its concomitant evils, and still more the depressing action of despotism, are such powerful checks to the increase of population, that the number of the inhabitants in most of the Asiatic states is far less than in territories of equal extent in Europe. Yet, wherever the well-being of the people has been secured by a wise and beneficent government, as in British India, their numbers and increase greatly exceed the proportion of less favoured countries. In China, the government of which is far from deserving so favourable a character, freedom from foreign war, and from any change of political institutions for several centuries, has produced a redundant population; if the accounts which we have of that country are to be credited. M. De Guignes, the younger, has however endeavoured to shew that preceding writers have been grossly misled by the exaggerations of the Chinese. Nothing better than a very uncertain conjecture can be formed as to the actual number of the inhabitants of Asia; and five hundred millions, the common estimate, is probably below their real amount. The greater part of them appear to have been derived from three different stocks; families separated and distinguished from each other before the commencement of any authentic history, except that of Moses. Javan and his descendants, Togrrmah, Riphath, Ashkenaz, Elisha, Dodanim and Tarshish, are supposed to signify the inhabitants of Asia Minor. The Canaanites and Amalekites were the people of Syria and Arabia Petræa. Arabia was occupied by Ham and Cush. Persia is called Elam, and the countries between the Euxine and Caspian, Tubal. The posterity of Shem occupied the central, Japhet the northern, and Ham, a small portion of the southern part of Asia. To the Hebrews, the Indians, or the Tatars, all the principal nations of Asia must be ultimately referred, as is plain from their make

VOL. XVIII.

and features, as well as from their languages, but there are some large tribes, such as the Malays and aboriginal negroes of the Asiatic islands, and many smaller ones, as the mountaineers of Caucasus and northern Siberia, which cannot be referred to any of those three sources. For the present state, political institutions, and history, of the different Asiatic nations, we must refer our readers to their respective articles. A brief review of the different changes which the geography of Asia has undergone in ancient and modern times, is all that can be added in this place.

ASIA.

Though Moses has enumerated the different parts Progressive of the earth known to his countrymen, and Asia was geography. that division of it with which they were best acquainted, yet it is but a very small portion of the whole that his account comprehends. The names, moreover, which he assigns to the kingdoms and territories mentioned, are so different from those given by the other ancient writers, that great obscurity hangs over the whole of his geography, except that which relates to the land of Canaan itself, and the immediately contiguous states. He appears to have been acquainted with Asia Minor and Armenia to the north; Media and Persia to the east, and Arabia to the south; but to have had only an indistinct notion of nations still farther north, such as Gog and Magog; who may be placed in accordance with more modern Asiatic traditions, on the peaks and cliffs of Caucasus. Riphath recalls to our recollection the Riphæan mountains, while Rosh reminds us of the Rossi of the middle ages, and Russians of the present day. The western, central, and southern chains of mountains were well known to the ancients. To those of Asia Minor, Syria, and Armenia, we still give their ancient names. Of the Indian mountains, Paropamisus, now Hindù Kush, was the most western; and Imam, or Hemodus, was the whole of the vast central range, called Himádri, in Sanscrit, from Hima, snow; whence its other names, Himálaya (abode of snow) and Himáchal, are also derived.

But descending to a later period, when geographical knowledge, like the other branches of science, was farther advanced, we find the more northern parts of this quarter of the globe unknown to the Greeks, the most enlightened people then existing. So imperfect were their notions on the subject, that Herodotus, after mentioning the opinion of some writers, who considered the Tanais (or Don) as the common boundary of Europe and Asia, adds, that others, with whom he himself agreed, had fixed on the Phasis, in Colchis, as the limit of these two divisions. The Araxes marked the continuation of the line; and the mountains to the north of India were the utmost boundary of the knowledge which the Greeks then had of that part of Asia. The Ganges and the Indian Ocean were the eastern and southern limits; and the Red Sea, with the isthmus between it and the Mediterranean, brought them back to the western and nearest side. But many geographers included Egypt in Asia; making the Catabathmus, or western boundary of the valley of the Nile, the line of separation from Africa; while others fixed upon that river itself as the limit. Long after the age of Herodotus, Strabo and Pliny and other geographers supposed that the northern end of the Caspian Sea communicated with the ocean; but that historian was better acquainted with the truth, and

D

ASIA. knew that it was a distinct lake: he however considered the country to the north of it as belonging to Europe. That part of Asia which was tolerably well known to the ancients, was divided by them into the hither and farther Asia (Citerior and Ulterior). The former contained only Asia Minor, considered by them as a peninsula terminated by a line drawn from Sinope to the common boundary between the mountainous and the lowland Cilicia (Aspera and Campestris). The latter contained the remainder of Asia. Its great divisions were Colchis, Iberia, and Albania, between the Euxine and Caspian seas; now called Mingrelia, Georgia, and Dághistàn. Armenia, which still retains its ancient name. Media, and Parthia, the northern part of modern Persia. Margiana and Bactriana; the Merri, Balkh, and Bokhára of the Turks and Tatars. Syria, Mesopotamia, and Assyria, at present called Biládu'sh sham, Diyàr bekr, and Abjonirah. Hyrcania, Persia, and Susiana, the Iràk and Fárs of the present day. Judæa, Babylonia, and Chaldæa; the southern part of Syria and Pashalik of Bagdad. India, the country between the Indus and the Ganges. And Scythia, the remoter regions to the north east, which were merely known by name.

The conquests of Alexander and his successors added greatly to the knowledge of the eastern parts of Asia; and the embassy of Megasthenes, sent by Seleucus to Sandracottus, or Chandragupta, a prince who resided in Palibothra, or Pátaliputra, on the Ganges, made the Greeks acquainted with a considerable tract of country previously unknown. But the arts of peace are more favourable to the progress of knowledge than war and conquest; and commerce, which flourished under many of the earlier Roman emperors, led their subjects into the remoter parts of Asia, by land, and to the western peninsula of India, by sea. Even in the second century, we find that the Sinæ or eastern Indians were known to Ptolemy; as well as Taprobane, or Ceylon, and Jabadia, the Java dwipa of the Indians, or Java of our maps. The barbarism which was gradually induced by the civil and ecclesiastical despotism established in the Constantinopolitan empire, and the fatal effects of fanaticism, so widely spread over Europe and Asia in the middle ages, went far towards extinguishing the small portion of knowledge derived from more enlightened days: and the nations of Europe at the time of the crusades, knew far less of the geography of Asia than their forefathers had done several centuries before. But those wars, by establishing an European dynasty in Syria and some of the adjoining countries, renewed the intercourse between the east and west, and gave a different turn to the views, pursuits, and policy of the Christian states. A residence in the east produced a taste for arts and luxuries which were unknown in the west; and the Christian merchants were induced to encounrage the risk of distant journies in kingdoms never before explored, for the purpose of furnishing their countrymen with the productions of other climates and more civilized nations. The monks also, and other ecclesiastics, animated by a desire to reclaim heretics, and convert unbelievers to what they believed to be the true faith, exposed themselves to greater hazards; and contributed, when they had the happiness to return home, to enlarge the narrow views then entertained by the learned in Europe, of the extent and productions of Asia. Thus

in the thirteenth century, Ascelin and Jean de Plancarpin were sent by the Pope to the court of the victorious Moghols; and William de Rubruquis was despatched on a mission to the same princes, by St. Louis, King of France. On their return, they published a narrative of their travels, and were the first Europeans who gave any distinct account of the Tatarian empire. But Marco Polo, a Venetian merchant, with some of his near relations, were the most fortunate, and probably the most intelligent travellers of that and the following century. They spent six and twenty years in travelling, either as merchants, or as agents of the Great Khàn of the Tatars, and explored, in the course of that period, many parts of the east, never before heard of in Europe. Guzarát, Bengal, and Japan, are mentioned in Marco Polo's book for the first time. He also visited Java, Ceylon, and several of the Asiatic islands, as well as the coast of Malabar and the Gulf of Cambàyah. He was warmly patronized by the Tatar sovereign whom he served, and was led, by his connection with that prince, to a more extensive acquaintance with the north of Asia than had yet reached the west. The publication of his travels, therefore, forms an epoch in the history of our knowledge of Asia; and though the ignorance and credulity of his age sometimes betrayed him into absurdities, his narrative is still a very amusing and instructive work. His accounts, however, of the magnificence and wealth of the Asiatics were not received without distrust by his contemporaries, and, a few centuries afterwards, when the same nations were found reduced, by internal discord or foreign invasion, to a far less flourishing condition, it became the fashion to consider Marco Polo as little better than a romancer. A more accurate knowledge of the history and dominions of the Moghols in that age, has now restored him to his deserved credit; and his work, elucidated as it has been by the learning and acuteness of Mr. Marsden, is one of the most curious monuments we possess of the state of Europe and Asia in the middle ages. In the beginning of the next century, a Franciscan friar, named Oderico of Friuli, went by the way of Trebizonde, through Persia and India, to China, where he staid three years, and returned by the route of Tibet; which, from the spiritual government of the Lama, he took for the country of Prester John. He either made the same observations as Marco Polo, or copied his narrative; for their agreement with each other is so striking, as to give room for a suspicion of plagiarism: he however added something to that which was previously known concerning the countries which he visited. This can hardly be said of Sir John Mandeville, another traveller of the same century, who was either the dupe of persons who played upon his credulity, or, what is more probable, as bold a fabricator of wonderful adventures as Mendez Pinto or Vincent Le Blanc. In the fifteenth century improvements in navigation at once effected that which then seemed hopeless; and the nations of Europe found an easy way to the remote east, without encountering the dangers of a tedious journey by land, through tribes of fanatics continually at war with each other, and bearing an inveterate hatred to the Christian name. The discovery of the passage to India round the Cape of Good Hope, opened to the people of the west stores of knowledge which were entirely hidden from the Greeks and