Consequently, as the appropriate branches of knowledge relating to these
objects are extended, travellers must be better able, as well as more
disposed, to investigate them; and the public at large require that some or
all of them should at least be noticed in books of travels. The same
science, and many of the same instruments, which enable the seaman to
ascertain his latitude and longitude, and to lay down full and accurate
charts of the shores which he visits, are also useful to the
land-traveller; they both draw assistance from the knowledge of meteorology
which they may possess, to make observations on the climate, and from their
acquaintance with botany and natural history, to give an account of the
plants and animals. But it is evident that so far as the latter are
concerned, as well as so far as relates to the inhabitants, the land
traveller has more opportunities than he who goes on a voyage.
But there are other advantages enjoyed by modern travellers besides those
derived from superior science: foreign languages are at present better and
more generally understood; and it is unnecessary to point out how important
such an acquisition is, or rather how indispensible it is to accurate
information. The knowledge of the languages of the East which many of the
gentlemen in the service of the East India Company, and the missionaries,
possess, has been of infinite service in making us much better acquainted
with the antiquities, history, and present state of those countries, than
we could possibly have otherwise been.
Pages:
837
838
839
840
841
842
843
844
845
846
847
848
849
850
851
852
853
854
855
856
857
858
859
860
861