27G

GEOGRAPHY.

quests of Alexander and those of C®sar, the inhabitants ofthe world were extremely ignorant of its geography, as wehave seen in a former article.

Bockart's Sacred Geography , the History of the Alexan-drine Conquests by Ctesias , Arrian Be Expedit. Alexandri.and the Roman Itinerary, furnish the best ideas of thegeographical knowledge of the ancients.

The best and most approved geographical works of themoderns, arc those of Mods. B’Anville, undertaken with aview to ascertain the geography of the ancients, and to re-concile ancient with modern nomenclature. That of Majorliennell, who had for his object to establish the geographicalnotices of Herodotus. Mons. Humboldt , J. De Costa’s His-tory of America and the Indies, L’Abbe Raynall’s geogra-phical labours, particularly with respect to the interior ofAmerica . The travels of Bruce into Abyssinia: of MungoParke into the interior of Africa . Peter John Von Strah-lenberg’s Historio-Geographical Description of the Northand North-East Parts of Europe and Asia . The historiesof the conquests of Zingis Khan, and of Tamerlane , Bajazet,&c. with regard to Chinese Tartary, Great Tartary, CrimTartary , and other large Asiatic districts. And the greatlearning displaced by D. Macpherson, in his geographicallabours, is exhibited in the ancient maps which ornamentthat great monument of human industry, the Cyclopeedia ofthe learned Dr. Rees. The voyages of Captains Cook,Vancouver , and other celebrated navigators.

With regard to Africa , the moderns are, perhaps, lessacquainted with that vast country (if knowledge of its courtsbe excepted) than were the ancient Romans, who had colo-nies in many of its provinces, especially to the north, Utica ,the kingdom of ancient Carthage, Numidia , &c.

The usual divisions of the globe into geographical propor-tion, are made as hath been suggested by nature, whichdivides the earth into water and land; the former consistingof oceans, seas, gulpbs, straits, lakes, creeks, and rivers;and the latter into continents, islands, headlands, isthmuses,promontories, capes, and necks: each of the preceding-being answerable, in point of natural shape, unto the other;and civilly or politically into those divisions which thenecessities, the wants, or the policy of man may have in-duced him to consider it, as into empires, kingdoms, repub-lics, states, principalities, provinces, counties, &o.

The earth is further distinguished into the following gene-rally recognised denominations: mountains, primary and se-condary; hills, valleys, plains, champaigns, levels, flats,