PREFACE,

v

that I have been at the utmost pains to guardagainst any errors which this might occasion. Ihave consulted , with persevering industry, theworks of all the authors I could procure, whohave given any account of India; I have neverformed any decided opinion , which was notsupported by respectable authority; and as I havethe good fortune to reckon among the numberof my friends some Gentlemen who have filledimportant stations, civil and military, in India,and who have visited many different parts of it,I had recourse frequently to them, and from theirconversation learned things which I coulcl nothave found in books. Were it proper to mentiontheir names, the Public would allow that by theirdiscernment and abilities they are fully entitledto the confidence which I have placed in them.

In the progress of the work, I became sensible©f my own deficiency with respect to anotherpoint. In order to give an accurate idea of theimperfection both of the theory and practice ofnavigation among the Ancients , and to explainwith scientific precision, the manner in which theyascertained the position of places, and calculatedtheir longitude and latitude, a greater portion ofmathematical knowledge was requisite , than. my