A General History Of Voyages And Travels To The End Of The 18th Century

Author : Robert Kerr
Publisher : Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN 13 : 9781722495077
Total Pages : 442 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (95 download)

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Download or read book A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels - Volume 14 written by Robert Kerr and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2018-07-07 with total page 442 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels - Volume 14 by Robert Kerr It is scarcely conceivable, that any men of science in the end of the 18th century, should have insisted on mathematical reasons for the supposition of a southern counterpoise; and therefore, as is mentioned by Mr Wales, in his introduction to the account of the astronomical observations made during this voyage, it must be held, that the opinion which induced his majesty to order the voyage, for the purpose of discovering a continent or large islands towards the South Pole, was founded on mere probability. That there is no necessity for such an existence, is very certain, for the preservation of the earth's motion on its axis can be readily accounted for without it; yet, reasoning from analogy, and considering the successful experiment of Columbus, there seemed sufficient grounds, independent of the alleged discoveries of Bouvet and others, to expect that some lands might be found there. After this, it required little additional excitement of fancy to believe, that if there, and if found, they might be no less important to the discoverers, than America was judged to be to the Spaniards. Men are not easily cured of their prejudices, when the foundations on which they are built, derive validity from the hope of interest. It is impossible to tell what kind and degree of advantages, certain sanguine specialists anticipated from the Terra Australis. Excepting the article of the prolongation of life ad infinitum, it is questionable, if the philosopher's stone, when discovered, could have accomplished more; and even with respect to that, it might have been imagined, that the soil and climate would so materially differ from any other before known, as to yield some sovereign elixir or plant of life-giving efficacy. That it was charitably hoped, they would be no less serviceable in another particular, of perhaps fully greater consequence, may be inferred from a passage in Dr Hawkesworth's reply to Mr Dalrymple, appended to his Account of Cook's First Voyage, &c., second edition. "I am very sorry," says he, "for the discontented state of this good gentleman's mind, and most sincerely wish that a southern continent may be found, as I am confident nothing else can make him happy and good-humoured!" Mr Dalrymple seems to have set no bounds to his expectations from the discovery, and accordingly thought that no bounds ought to be set to the endeavours to accomplish it. Witness the very whimsical negative and affirmative dedication of his Historical Collection of Voyages, &c.... We are delighted to publish this classic book as part of our extensive Classic Library collection. Many of the books in our collection have been out of print for decades, and therefore have not been accessible to the general public. The aim of our publishing program is to facilitate rapid access to this vast reservoir of literature, and our view is that this is a significant literary work, which deserves to be brought back into print after many decades. The contents of the vast majority of titles in the Classic Library have been scanned from the original works. To ensure a high quality product, each title has been meticulously hand curated by our staff. Our philosophy has been guided by a desire to provide the reader with a book that is as close as possible to ownership of the original work. We hope that you will enjoy this wonderful classic work, and that for you it becomes an enriching experience.