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FAMILY LIBRARY.
FAMILY LIBRARY.
The publishers of the Family Library, anxious to obtain and to deserve the favourable opinion of the public, with pleasure embrace the present opportunity to express their warm and sincere thanks for the liberal patronage which has been bestowed upon their undertaking, and their determination to do all that lies in their power to merit its continuance. For some time previous to the commencement of the Family Library, they had entertained thoughts and wishes of reducing the quantity of merely fic
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THE LIVES OF CELEBRATED TRAVELLERS.
THE LIVES OF CELEBRATED TRAVELLERS.
BY JAMES AUGUSTUS St. JOHN. IN THREE VOLUMES. VOL. III. NEW-YORK: PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY J. & J. HARPER, NO. 82 CLIFF-STREET, AND SOLD BY THE PRINCIPAL BOOKSELLERS THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES. 1832....
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PROSPECTUS OF THE LIBRARY OF SELECT NOVELS.
PROSPECTUS OF THE LIBRARY OF SELECT NOVELS.
Fictitious composition is now admitted to form an extensive and important portion of literature. Well-wrought novels take their rank by the side of real narratives, and are appealed to as evidence in all questions concerning man. In them the customs of countries, the transitions and shades of character, and even the very peculiarities of costume and dialect, are curiously preserved; and the imperishable spirit that surrounds and keeps them for the use of successive generations renders the rariti
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MUNGO PARK.
MUNGO PARK.
Born 1771.—Died 1806. This enterprising and distinguished traveller was born on the 10th of September, 1771, at Fowlshiels, a farm occupied by his father on the banks of the Yarrow, near Selkirk. In common with the greater number of the sons of Scottish yeomen, Mungo Park, notwithstanding that the number of his brothers and sisters amounted to no less than thirteen, received a respectable education, and at the age of fifteen was bound apprentice to a surgeon at Selkirk. At the close of this appr
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FAMILY CLASSICAL LIBRARY.
FAMILY CLASSICAL LIBRARY.
The Publishers have much pleasure in recording the following testimonials in recommendation of the Family Classical Library. “Mr. Valpy has projected a Family Classical Library . The idea is excellent, and the work cannot fail to be acceptable to youth of both sexes, as well as to a large portion of the reading community, who have not had the benefit of a learned education.”— Gentleman’s Magazine, Dec. 1829. “We have here the commencement of another undertaking for the more general distribution
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PETER SIMON PALLAS.
PETER SIMON PALLAS.
Born 1741.—Died 1811. This traveller, whose works are comparatively little known in England, was born at Berlin, September 22, 1741. His father, who was an able surgeon, entertained the design of educating him for his own profession; and at the same time caused him to learn several languages. At a very early age he was able, therefore, to write the Latin, the English, the French, and the German. His retentive memory rendered these acquirements so easy, that his great success in this department o
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CARSTEN NIEBUHR.
CARSTEN NIEBUHR.
Born 1733.—Died 1815. This traveller was born on the 17th of March, 1733, in the province of Friesland, in the kingdom of Hanover. It would be to mislead the reader to represent him, as some of his biographers have done, as the son of a peasant, in the sense in which that term is applied in England. His father and his ancestors, for several generations, had been small landed proprietors; he himself received an education, and inherited a property, which, however small, served as an incentive to a
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ADVERTISEMENT.
ADVERTISEMENT.
Dr. Southey, speaking of the works of travellers, very justly remarks, that “of such books we cannot have too many!” and adds, with equal truth, that “because they contribute to the instruction of the learned, their reputation suffers no diminution by the course of time, but that age rather enhances their value.” Every man, indeed, whose comprehensive mind enables him to sympathize with human nature under all its various aspects, and to detect—through the endless disguises superinduced by strang
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WILLIAM DE RUBRUQUIS.
WILLIAM DE RUBRUQUIS.
The conquests of Genghis Khan and his successors, extending from the Amoor and the Chinese Wall to the confines of Poland and Hungary, having excited extraordinary terror in the minds of the Christian princes of Europe, many of them, and particularly the pope and the King of France, despatched ambassadors into Tartary, rather as spies to observe the strength and weakness of the country, and the real character of its inhabitants, than for any genuine diplomatic purposes. Innocent IV. commenced th
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MARIE GABRIEL AUGUSTE FLORENT, LE COMTE DE CHOISEUL-GOUFFIER.
MARIE GABRIEL AUGUSTE FLORENT, LE COMTE DE CHOISEUL-GOUFFIER.
Born 1752.—Died 1817. I have frequently regretted, during the composition of these Lives, that the materials for the early biography of many celebrated men should be so scanty and incomplete as I have found them. It seems to be considered sufficient if we can obtain some general notion respecting their literary career, and, in consequence, criticism too frequently usurps the place of anecdote and narrative. The Comte de Choiseul-Gouffier occupied, however, too prominent a place among his contemp
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MARCO POLO.
MARCO POLO.
The relations of Ascelin, Carpini, and Rubruquis, which are supposed by some writers to have opened the way to the discoveries of the Polo family, are by no means entitled to so high an honour. Carpini did not return to Italy until the latter end of the year 1248; Ascelin’s return was still later; and although reports of the strange things they had beheld no doubt quickly reached Venice, these cannot be supposed to have exercised any very powerful influence in determining Nicolo and Maffio to un
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JOHN LEWIS BURCKHARDT.
JOHN LEWIS BURCKHARDT.
Born 1784.—Died 1817. This traveller, descended from an eminent family of Basle, in Switzerland, was born at Lausanne, in 1784. He was the eighth child of John Rodolph Burckhardt, whose prospects in life were early blighted by his adherence to the Austrian faction during the troubles in Switzerland, consequent upon the French revolution. Our traveller, led by hereditary prejudices to nourish an aversion for republican principles, or too young and hot-headed not to confound the agents with the ca
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IBN BATŪTA.
IBN BATŪTA.
This traveller, whose name and works were little known in Europe before the publication of Professor Lee’s translation, was born at Tangiers, in Northern Africa, about the year 1300. He appeared to be designed by nature to be a great traveller. Romantic in his disposition, a great lover of the marvellous, and possessing a sufficient dash of superstition in his character to enable him everywhere to discover omens favourable to his wishes, the slightest motives sufficed to induce him to undertake
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CONSTANTIN FRANCOIS CHASSEBŒUF DE VOLNEY.
CONSTANTIN FRANCOIS CHASSEBŒUF DE VOLNEY.
Born 1757.—Died 1820. This traveller, who is very justly enumerated among the most distinguished which France has produced, was born on the 3d of February, 1757, at Craon, in Anjou. His father, an able provincial barrister, was unwilling that he should bear the name of Chassebœuf (ox or bull hunter), which in his own case had been, though we are not told how, a source of a thousand uneasinesses, and therefore gave his son the name of Boisgirais, under which appellation our traveller studied at t
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LEO AFRICANUS.
LEO AFRICANUS.
The original name of this distinguished traveller was Al Hassan Ben Mohammed Al Vazan, surnamed Fezzani, on account of his having studied and passed the greater part of his youth at Fez. He was, however, a native of the city of Granada in Spain, where he appears to have been born about the year 1486 or 1487. When this city, the last stronghold of Islamism in the Peninsula, was besieged by the Christians in 1491, the parents of Leo, who were a branch of the noble family of Zaid, passed over into
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EDWARD DANIEL CLARKE.
EDWARD DANIEL CLARKE.
Born 1769.—Died 1822. Edward Daniel Clarke was born on the 5th of June, 1769, at Willingdon, in the county of Sussex. Even when a child he is said to have displayed great narrative powers, which he exercised as frequently as possible for the amusement of his father’s domestics and parishioners. In his boyish studies, however, he was wanting in application; a fault arising from the quickness and vivacity of his mind, actuated by insatiable curiosity, and characterized from the beginning by a deci
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FRANCOIS LE VAILLANT.
FRANCOIS LE VAILLANT.
Born 1753.—Died 1824. In commencing the life of this traveller I experience some apprehension that the interest of the narrative may suffer in my hands; since his exploits, as Sallust observes of those of the Athenians, appear to acquire much of their importance from the peculiar eloquence with which they are described. The style of Le Vaillant, though regarded by many as declamatory and negligent, is in fact so graceful, natural, and full of vivacity,—his sentiments are so warm,—his ideas, whet
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PIETRO DELLA VALLE.
PIETRO DELLA VALLE.
Pietro della Valle, who, according to Southey, is “the most romantic in his adventures of all true travellers,” was descended from an ancient and noble family, and born at Rome on the 11th of April, 1586. When his education, which appears to have been carefully conducted and liberal, was completed, he addicted himself, with that passionate ardour which characterized all the actions of his life, to the study of literature, and particularly poetry; but the effervescence of his animal spirits requi
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BELZONI.
BELZONI.
This able and interesting traveller, descended from a respectable Roman family, was born at Padua, whither his relations had many years previously removed. Being designed by his parents for some monastic order, he was at a very early age sent to Rome, the original abode of his ancestors, where he received his education, and spent the greater part of his youth. Here the sciences would appear to have obtained a decided preference in his mind, over every other branch of study; particularly hydrauli
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JEAN BAPTISTE TAVERNIER.
JEAN BAPTISTE TAVERNIER.
The father of Tavernier was a map and chart maker of Antwerp in Brabant, who removed with his family into France while our traveller was still in his childhood. Though born of Protestant parents, some of his biographers have imagined that Tavernier must have been a Catholic, at least in the early part of his life, before his intercourse with the English and Dutch had sapped the foundations of his faith, and left him without any! But the truth appears to be, that although educated in the dominion
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FRANÇOIS BERNIER.
FRANÇOIS BERNIER.
This distinguished traveller was born at Angers about the year 1624. Though educated for the medical profession, and actuated in an extraordinary manner by that ardour for philosophical speculation which pervaded his literary contemporaries, the passion for travelling prevailed over every other; so that, having prepared himself by severe study for visiting distant countries with advantage, and taken his doctor’s degree at Montpellier, he departed from France in the year 1654, and passed over int
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DOMINIQUE VIVANT DENON.
DOMINIQUE VIVANT DENON.
Born 1754.—Died 1825 This traveller was born at Givry, near Chalons-sur-Soane, in Burgundy. He was descended from a noble family, and commenced his career in life as a royal page. When he had for some time served in the palace in this capacity, he was nominated gentleman in ordinary to the king; not long after which he obtained the office of secretary to an embassy. In this capacity he accompanied the Baron de Talleyrand, ambassador of France to Naples, where, during the absence of the ambassado
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SIR JOHN CHARDIN.
SIR JOHN CHARDIN.
Sir John Chardin was born at Paris on the 16th of November, 1643. He was the son of a rich Protestant jeweller, who, as soon as his education, which appears to have been carefully conducted and liberal, was completed, intrusted him with the management of a commercial speculation in the East, and thus at once gratified and influenced the passion for visiting new and remote regions which had already taken possession of the mind of our traveller. Leaving Paris at the age of twenty-two, he visited H
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REGINALD HEBER.
REGINALD HEBER.
Born 1783.—Died 1826. Reginald Heber, equally distinguished for his talents and for his piety, was born on the 21st of April, 1783, at Malpas, in the county of Chester. From his earliest years religion was the predominant feeling of his mind. His passions, which would seem to have been naturally ardent, he quickly learned to hold in subjection; and was thus happily delivered from those stormy agitations and poignant regrets to which those who are formed of more fiery materials are but too freque
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ENGELBERT KÆMPFER.
ENGELBERT KÆMPFER.
This distinguished traveller was born on the 16th of September, 1651, at Lemgow, a small town in the territories of the Count de Lippe, in the circle of Westphalia. His father, who was a clergyman, bestowed upon his son a liberal education suitable to the medical profession, for which he was designed. It is probable, however, that the numerous removals from one city to another which took place in the course of his education,—his studies, which commenced at Hameln, in the duchy of Brunswick, havi
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HENRY MAUNDRELL.
HENRY MAUNDRELL.
Of the birth, education, and early life of this traveller little or nothing appears to be known with certainty. His friends, who were of genteel rank, since he calls Sir Charles Hodges, judge of the High Court of Admiralty, his uncle, seem to have resided in the neighbourhood of Richmond. Having completed his studies, and taken the degree of master of arts at Oxford, he was appointed chaplain to the English factory at Aleppo, and departed from England in the year 1695. Part of this journey was p
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JOSEPH PITTON DE TOURNEFORT.
JOSEPH PITTON DE TOURNEFORT.
Tournefort was born at Aix, in Provence, on the 5th of June, 1656. He received the first rudiments of his education at the Jesuits’ College of that city; where manifestations of his passion for botany, to the gratification of which he devoted the whole of his life, appeared at a very early age. As soon as he beheld plants, says Fontenelle, he felt himself a botanist. He desired to learn their names; he carefully observed their differences, and sometimes absented himself from his class in order t
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DR. THOMAS SHAW.
DR. THOMAS SHAW.
This curious and learned traveller was the son of Mr. Gabriel Shaw, of Kendal, in Westmoreland, where he was born in the year 1692. The first rudiments of his education, which appears to have been carefully conducted, he received at the grammar-school of his native town, from whence, in 1711, he removed to Queen’s College, Oxford. Here he took the degree of B.A. in 1716, and that of M.A. three years after. In the course of the same year he went into orders, and was appointed chaplain to the Engl
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FREDERIC HASSELQUIST.
FREDERIC HASSELQUIST.
Hasselquist was born on the 3d of January, 1722, at Isernvall, in Eastern Gothland, in Sweden. His father, Andrew Hasselquist, who was the clergyman of the place, died in great poverty while our traveller was yet a youth; and to add still further to his misfortune, his mother likewise was shortly afterward so extremely debilitated both in mind and body as to be compelled to take refuge in the infirmary of Vastona. Hasselquist would therefore in all probability have been condemned to a life of ob
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LADY WORTLEY MONTAGUE.
LADY WORTLEY MONTAGUE.
This lady, whose claims to be ranked among distinguished travellers none, I think, will be disposed to contest, was born in 1690 at Thoresby, in Nottinghamshire. Her maiden name was Mary Pierre-pont, and she was the eldest daughter of Evelyn, Duke of Kingston, and Lady Mary Fielding, daughter of William Earl of Denbigh. Having had the misfortune to lose her mother while yet only four years old, she was thrown at once among the other sex, and thus acquired from her earliest years those masculine
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RICHARD POCOCKE.
RICHARD POCOCKE.
This distinguished traveller was born at Southampton, in the year 1704. The scope of his education, which, besides those classical acquirements that usually constitute the learning of a gentleman, embraced an extensive knowledge of the principal oriental languages, admirably fitted him for travelling with advantage in the East. But previously to undertaking that longer and more important journey upon the history of which he was to rest all his hopes of fame, he resolved to visit some of the more
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JOHN BELL.
JOHN BELL.
Bell seems to have been born about the year 1690, at Antermony, in Scotland. He was possessed, even from his earliest years, by a strong passion for travel; but his passion, together with a large portion of shrewdness and sagacity, constituting the better part of his inheritance, he judiciously applied himself to the study of medicine and surgery, a knowledge of which, in all semi-barbarous countries, is frequently of more avail to the traveller even than wealth. It does not appear whether Bell
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JOHN LEDYARD.
JOHN LEDYARD.
This traveller, who for enterprise and courage has seldom been surpassed, was born in the year 1751, at Groton, a small village on the river Thames, in Connecticut, in the United States. He had, at a very early age, the misfortune to be deprived of his father; and although his mother, a woman of remarkable piety and benevolence, discharged with exemplary affection her duties towards him and her other children, notwithstanding a second marriage, this circumstance cut him off from all those advant
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GEORGE FORSTER.
GEORGE FORSTER.
It is greatly to be regretted that of the life of this able and adventurous traveller little is known, excepting that portion which was spent in acquiring his reputation. He seems to have been born about the year 1750. At the usual age he entered into the civil service of the East India Company, and was appointed to fill the office of writer at the Madras presidency. Here he gradually rose in the usual manner to offices of trust and emolument until the year 1782, when he obtained permission to v
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JAMES BRUCE.
JAMES BRUCE.
James Bruce , one of the most illustrious travellers whom any age or country has produced, was born on the 14th of December, 1730, at Kinnaird, in the county of Stirling, in Scotland. His mother, who died of consumption when he was only three years old, seemed to have bequeathed to him the same fatal disorder; for during childhood his health was bad, and his constitution, which afterward acquired an iron firmness, appeared to be particularly feeble. His father, who had married a second wife, by
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JONAS HANWAY.
JONAS HANWAY.
Jonas Hanway , equally celebrated as a traveller and a philanthropist, was born on the 12th of August, 1712, at Portsmouth, in Hampshire. His father dying while he was yet a child, he was removed with the other members of the family to London, where he received an education suited to the course of life he was intended to pursue, and at the age of seventeen was placed as an apprentice in a mercantile house at Lisbon. Here Hanway conceived a passion for a lady then renowned for her beauty and acco
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ANTONIO DE ULLOA.
ANTONIO DE ULLOA.
This great traveller, as Andiffret and Viguier observe, was one of those men, who, in the course of the eighteenth century, reflected the greatest honour upon Spain. He was born at Seville on the 12th of January, 1716. His family, already distinguished in the navy, began to prepare him from his earliest years for following the same career. His education was conducted with extraordinary care. In 1733 he entered the service, and his progress very quickly exceeded the most sanguine hopes which the
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