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PROGRESS OF GEOGRAPHICAL
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PROGRESS OF See also:GEOGRAPHICAL See also:DISCOVERY
Exploration and geographical discovery must have started from more than one centre, and to See also:deal justly with the See also:matter one ought to treat of these separately in the See also:early ages before the whole civilized See also:world was See also:bound together by the bonds of See also:modern intercommunication. At the least there should be some See also:consideration of four See also:separate systems of discovery—the Eastern, in which See also:Chinese and See also:Japanese explorers acquired knowledge of the See also:geography of See also:Asia, and See also:felt their way towards See also:Europe and See also:America; the Western, in which the dominant races of the Mexican and See also:South See also:American plateaus extended their knowledge of the American See also:continent before See also:Columbus; the Polynesian, in which the conquering races of the Pacific Islands found their way from See also:group to group; and the Mediterranean. For some of these we have no certain See also:information, and regarding others the tales narrated in the early records are so hard to reconcile with See also:present knowledge that they are better fitted to be the See also:battle-ground of scholars championing See also:rival theories than the basis of definite See also:history. So it has come about that the only practicable history of geographical exploration starts from the Mediterranean centre, the first See also:home of that See also:civilization which has come to be known as See also:European, though its See also: Still more diversity of See also:opinion prevails as to the See also:southern See also:gold-exporting See also:port of See also:Ophir, which some scholars See also:place in See also:Arabia, others at one or another point on the See also:east See also:coast of Africa. Whether associated with the exploitation of Ophir (q.v.) or not the first See also:great voyage of See also:African discovery appears to have been accomplished by the Phoe-
' History of Civilization, vol. i. (1857).
2 See H. J. Mackinder in See also:British Association See also:Report (See also:Ipswich), 1895, p. 738, for a See also:summary of See also:German opinion, which has been expressed by many writers in a somewhat voluminous literature.nicians sailing the Red sea. See also:Herodotus (himself a notable traveller in the 5th century B.C.) relates that the See also:Egyptian See also: According to See also:Pliny, the only authority on this point, the See also:period of the voyage was that of the greatest prosperity of Carthage, which may be taken as somewhere between 570 and 480 B.C. The extent of this voyage is doubtful, but it seems probable that the farthest point reached was on the east-See also:running coast which See also:bounds the Gulf of See also:Guinea on the north. Himilco, a contemporary of Hanno, was charged with an expedition along the west coast of Iberia northward, and as far as the uncertain references to this voyage can be understood, he seems to have passed the See also:Bay of See also:Biscay and possibly sighted the coast of See also:England.
The sea power of the See also:Greek communities on the coast of Asia See also:Minor and in the See also:Archipelago began to be a formidable rival to the Phoenician soon after the time of Hanno and Himilco,
and See also:peculiar See also:interest attaches to the first recorded Greek The voyage beyond the Pillars of Hercules. See also:Pytheas, a
navigator of the Phocean colony of Massilia (See also:Marseilles), determined the See also:latitude of that port with considerable precision by the somewhat clumsy method of ascertaining the length of the longest See also:day, and when, about 330 B.C., he set out on exploration to the northward in See also:search of the lands whence came gold, See also:tin and See also:amber, he followed this See also:system of ascertaining his position from time to time. If on each occasion he himself made the observations his voyage must have extended over six years; but it is not impossible that he ascertained the approximate length of the longest day in some cases by questioning the natives. Pytheas, whose own narrative is not preserved, coasted the Bay of Biscay, sailed up the See also:English Channel and followed the coast of See also:Britain to its most northerly point. Beyond this he spoke of a land called See also:Thule, which, if his estimate of the length of the longest day is correct, may have been See also:Shetland, but was possibly See also:Iceland: and from some confused statements as to a sea which coukl not be sailed through, it has been assumed that Pytheas was the first of the Greeks to obtain See also:direct knowledge of the See also:Arctic regions. During this or a second voyage Pytheas entered the Baltic, discovered the coasts where amber is obtained and re-turned to the Mediterranean. It does not seem that any maritime trade followed these discoveries, and indeed it is doubtful whether his contemporaries accepted the truth of Pytheas's narrative; See also:Strabo four See also:hundred years later certainly did not, but the See also:critical studies of modern scholars have rehabilitated the Massilian explorer.
The See also:Greco-See also:Persian See also:wars had made the remoter parts of Asia . Minor more than a name to the Greek geographers before the time of See also: His armies crossed the plains the Great. beyond the See also:Caspian, penetrated the See also:wild See also:mountain passes north-west of India, and did not turn back until they had entered on the Indo-Gangetic See also:plain. This was one of the few great epochs of geographical discovery. The world was henceforth viewed as a very large place stretching far on every side beyond the Midland or Mediterranean Sea, and the land See also:journey of Alexander resulted in a voyage of discovery in the See also:outer ocean from the mouth of the See also:Indus to that of the See also:Tigris, thus opening direct intercourse between Grecian and See also:Hindu civilization. The Greeks who accompanied Alexander described with care the towns and villages, the products and the aspect of the See also:country. The conqueror also intended to open up trade by sea between Europe and India,_ and the narrative of his See also:general See also:Nearchus records this famous voyage of discovery, the detailed accounts of the See also:chief See also:pilot See also:Onesicritus being lost. At the beginning of See also:October 326 B.C. Nearchus See also:left the Indus with his fleet, and the anchorages sought for each See also:night are carefully recorded. He entered the Persian Gulf, and rejoined Alexander at See also:Susa, when he was ordered to prepare another expedition for the circumnavigation of Arabia. Alexander died at See also:Babylon in 323 B.C., and the fleet was dispersed without making the voyage. The dynasties founded by Alexander's generals, Seleucus, See also:Antiochus and See also:Ptolemy, encouraged the same spirit of enterprise which their See also:master had fostered, and extended geographical knowledge in several directions. Seleucus Nicator established the Greco-Bactrian See also:empire and continued the intercourse with India. See also:Authentic information respecting the great valley of the See also:Ganges was supplied by Megasthenes, an See also:ambassador sent by Seleucus, who reached the remote See also:city of Patali-putra, the modern See also:Patna. The See also:Ptolemies in Egypt showed equal anxiety to extend the bounds of geographical knowledge. Ptolemy Euergetes (247-222 B.C.) rendered the greatest service to geography by the See also:protection and encouragement of Eratosthenes, whose labours gave the first ap-The proximate knowledge of the true See also:size of the spherical Ptolemies. See also:earth. The second Euergetes and his successor Ptolemy Lathyrus (118—115 B.c.) furnished See also:Eudoxus with a fleet to explore the Arabian sea. After two successful voyages, Eudoxus, impressed with the See also:idea that Africa was surrounded by ocean on the south, left the Egyptian service, and proceeded to Cadiz and other Mediterranean centres of trade seeking a See also:patron who would See also:finance an expedition for the purpose of African discovery; and we learn from Strabo that the See also:veteran explorer made at least two voyages southward along the coast of Africa. The Ptolemies continued to send fleets annually from their Red Sea ports of See also:Berenice and Myos Hormus to Arabia, as well as to ports on the coasts of Africa and India. The See also:Romans did not encourage See also:navigation and See also:commerce with the same ardour as their predecessors; still the luxury of See also:Rome, The which gave rise to. demands for the varied products Romans. of all the countries of the known world, led to an active trade both by See also:ships and caravans. But it was the military See also:genius of Rome, and the ambition for universal empire, which led, not only to the discovery, but also to the survey of nearly all Europe, and of large tracts in Asia and Africa. Every new See also:war produced a new survey and itinerary of the countries which were conquered, and added one more to the imperishable roads that led from every See also:quarter of the known world to Rome. In the height of their power the Romans had surveyed and explored all the coasts of the Mediterranean, See also:Italy, See also:Greece, the See also:Balkan See also:Peninsula, Spain, See also:Gaul, western See also:Germany and southern Britain. In Africa their empire included Egypt, Carthage, See also:Numidia and Mauritania. In Asia they held Asia Minor and See also:Syria, had sent expeditions into Arabia, and were acquainted with the more distant countries formerly invaded by Alexander, including See also:Persia, See also:Scythia, See also:Bactria and India. See also:Roman intercourse with India especially led to the See also:extension of geographical knowledge. Before the Roman legions were sent into a new region to extend the limits of the empire, it was usual to send out exploring expeditions to report as to the nature of the country. It is narrated by Pliny and See also:Seneca that the See also:emperor See also:Nero sent out two centurions on such a See also:mission towards the source of the Nile (probably about A.D. 6o), and that the travellers pushed southwards until they reached vast marshes through which they could not make their way either on See also:foot or in boats. This seems to indicate that they had penetrated to about 9° N. Shortly before A.D. 79 Hippalus took See also:advantage of the regular See also:alternation of the monsoons to make the voyage from the Red Sea to India across the open ocean out of 'sight of land. Even though this sea-route was known, the author of the See also:Peri plus of the Erythraean Sea, published after the time of Pliny, recites the old itinerary around the coast of the Arabian Gulf. It was, however, in the reigns of See also:Severus and his immediate successors that Roman intercourse with India was at its height, and from the writings of See also:Pausanias (c. 174) it appears that direct communication between Rome and See also:China had already taken place. After the See also:division of the Roman empire, See also:Constantinople became the last See also:refuge of learning, arts and See also:taste; while See also:Alexandria continued to be the emporium whence were imported the commodities of the East. The emperor Justinian (483—565), in whose reign the greatness of the Eastern empire culminated, sent two Nestorian monks to China, who returned with eggs of the silkworm concealed in a hollow See also:cane, and thus See also:silk manufactures were established in the See also:Peloponnesus and the Greek islands. It was also in the reign of Justinian that See also:Cosmas Indicopleustes, an Egyptian merchant, made several. voyages, and afterwards composed his XpLO'TLavoo roiro ypa4,la (See also:Christian See also:Topography), containing, in addition to his absurd See also:cosmogony, a tolerable description of India. The great outburst of See also:Mahommedan conquest in the 7th century was followed by the Arab civilization, having its centres at See also:Bagdad The See also:Arabs. and See also:Cordova, in connexion with which geography again received a See also:share of See also:attention. The See also:works of the See also:ancient Greek geographers were translated into Arabic, and starting with a See also:sound basis of theoretical knowledge, exploration once more made progress. From the 9th to the 13th century intelligent Arab travellers wrote accounts of what they had seen and heard in distant lands. The earliest Arabian traveller whose observations have come down to us is the merchant Sulaiman, who embarked in the Persian Gulf and made several voyages to India and China, in the See also:middle of the 9th century. See also:Abu Zaid also wrote on India, and his See also:work is the most important that we possess before the See also:epoch-making discoveries of Marco See also:Polo. Masudi, a great traveller who knew from See also:personal experience all the countries between Spain and China, described the plains, mountains and seas, the dynasties and peoples, in his Meadows of Gold, an abstract made by himself of his larger work See also:News of the Time. He died in 956, and was known, from the comprehensive- ness of his survey, as the Pliny of the East. Amongst his contempo- raries were Istakhri, who travelled through all the Mahommedan countries and wrote his See also:Book of Climates in 950, and See also:Ibn Haukal, whose Book of Roads and Kingdoms, based on the work of Istakhri, was written in 976. See also:Idrisi, the best known of the Arabian geo- graphical authors, after travelling far and wide in the first See also:half of the 12th century, settled in See also:Sicily, where he wrote a See also:treatise descrip- tive of an armillary sphere which he had constructed for See also:Roger II., the See also:Norman king, and in this work he incorporated all accessible results of contemporary travel. The Northmen of See also:Denmark and See also:Norway, whose piratical adventures were the terror of all the coasts of Europe, and who established themselves in Great Britain and See also:Ireland, in See also:France and The Sicily, were also geographical explorers in their rough but Northmen. practical way during the darkest period of the middle ages. All Northmen were not See also:bent on rapine and See also:plunder; many were peaceful merchants. See also:Alfred the Great, king of the See also:Saxons in England, not only educated his people in the learning of the past ages; he inserted in the geographical works he translated many narratives of the travel of his own time. Thus he placed on See also:record the voyages of the merchant Ulfsten in the Baltic, including particulars of the geography of Germany. And in particular he' told of the remarkable voyage of Other, a See also:Norwegian of Helgeland, who was the first authentic Arctic explorer, the first to tell of the rounding of the North Cape and the sight of the midnight See also:sun. This voyage of the middle of the 9th century deserves to be held in happy memory, for it unites the first Norwegian polar explorer with the first English See also:collector of travels. Scandinavian merchants brought the products of India to England and Ireland. From the 8th to the I ith century a commercial route from India passed through See also:Novgorod to the Baltic, and Arabian coins found in See also:Sweden, and particularly in the See also:island of See also:Gotland, prove how closely the enterprise of the North-men and of the Arabs intertwined. Five-sixths of these coins preserved at See also:Stockholm were from the mints of the Samanian dynasty, which reigned in See also:Khorasan and Transoxiana from about A.D. 900 to 1000. It was the trade with the East that originally gave importance to the city of See also:Visby in Gotland. In the end of the 9th century Iceland was colonized from Norway; and about 985 the intrepid See also:viking, See also:Eric the Red, discovered See also:Green-land, and induced some of his Icelandic countrymen to See also:settle on its in-hospitable shores. His son, Leif Ericsson, and others of his followers were concerned in the discovery of the North American coast (see See also:VINLAND), which, but for the See also:isolation of Iceland from the centres of European awakening, would have had momentous consequences. As things were, the importance of this discovery passed unrecognized. The story of two Venetians, Nicolo and See also:Antonio See also:Zeno, who gave a vague See also:account of voyages in the See also:northern seas in the end of the 13th century, is no longer to be accepted as history. At length the long period of barbarism which accompanied and followed the fall of the Roman empire See also:drew to a See also:close in Europe. The See also:Crusades had a favourable See also:influence on the intellectual
state of the Western nations. Interesting regions, Close of known only by the scant reports of pilgrims, were made the darA
the See also:objects of attention and study; while religious zeal, ages. and the See also:hope of gain, combined with motives of See also:mere curiosity, induced several persons to travel by land into remote regions of the East, far beyond the countries to which the operations of the crusaders extended. Among these was See also:Benjamin of See also:Tudela, who set out from Spain in 116o, travelled by land to Constantinople, and having visited India and some of the eastern islands, returned to Europe by way of Egypt after an See also:absence of thirteen years.
Joannes de Plano See also:Carpini, a Franciscan See also: While the republics of Italy, and above all the state of See also:Venice, were engaged in distributing the rich products of India and the Far East over the Western world, it was impossible that motives of curiosity, as well as a See also:desire of commercial advantage, should not be awakened to such a degree as to impel some of the merchants to visit those remote lands. Among these were the See also:brothers Polo, who traded with the East and themselves visited Tatary. The See also:recital of their travels fired the youthful See also:imagination of See also:young Marco Polo, son of Nicolo, and he set out for the See also:court of Kublai Khan, with his See also:father and See also:uncle, in 1265. Marco remained for -seventeen years in the service of the Great Khan, and was employed on many important missions. Besides what he learnt from his own observation, he collected much information from others concerning countries which he did not visit. He returned to Europe possessed of a vast See also:store of knowledge respecting the eastern parts of the world, and, being afterwards made a prisoner by the Genoese, he dictated the narrative of his travels during his captivity. The work of Marco Polo is the most valuable narrative of travels that appeared during the middle ages, and despite a See also:cold reception and many denials of the accuracy of the record, its substantial truthfulness has been abundantly proved.
The Portuguese, following the See also:lead of See also:Prince See also: The voyages of Columbus and of Vasco da Gama were so important that it is unnecessary to detail their results in this place. See COLUMBUS, CHRISTOPHER; GAMA, VASCO DA. The three voyages of Vasco da Gama (who died on the See also:scene of his labours, at See also:Cochin, in 1524) revolutionized the commerce of the East. Until then the Venetians held the carrying trade See also:vase() da of India, which was brought by the Persian Gulf and Red Gama. sea into Syria and Egypt, the Venetians receiving the products of the East at Alexandria and See also:Beirut and distributing them over Europe. This commerce was a great source of See also:wealth to Venice; but after the discovery of the new passage See also:round the Cape, and the conquests of the Portuguese, the trade of the East passed into other hands. The discoveries of Columbus awakened a spirit of enterprise in Spain which continued in full force for a century; adventurers flocked eagerly across the See also:Atlantic, and discovery followed Spaniards discovery in rapid See also:succession. Many of the companions in of Columbus continued his work. See also:Vicente Yanez See also:Pinzon America. in 1500 reached the mouth of the See also:Amazon. In the same See also:year Alonso de Ojeda, accompanied by Juan de la See also:Cosa, from whose maps we learn much of the discoveries of the 16th century navigators, and by a Florentine named Amerigo See also:Vespucci, touched the coast of South America somewhere near Surinam, following the See also:shore as far as the Gulf of See also:Maracaibo. Vespucci afterwards made three voyages to the Brazilian coast; and in 1504 he wrote an account of his four voyages, which was widely circulated, and became the means of procuring for its author at the hands of the cartographer Waldseemiiller in 1507 the disproportionate distinction of giving his name to the whole continent. In 1508 Alonso de Ojeda obtained the See also:government of the coast of South America from Cabo de la Vela to the Gulf of See also:Darien; Ojeda landed at See also:Cartagena in 1510, and sustained a defeat from the natives, in which his See also:lieutenant, Juan de la Cosa, was killed. After another See also:reverse on the east side of the Gulf of Darien Ojeda returned to Hispaniola and died there. The Spaniards in the Gulf of Darien were left by Ojeda under the command of Francisco See also:Pizarro, the future conqueror of See also:Peru. After suffering much from See also:famine and disease, Pizarro resolved to leave, and embarked the survivors in small vessels, but outside the See also:harbour they met a See also:ship which proved to be that of See also: The great desire of the Spanish government at that time was to find a westward route to the See also:Moluccas. For this purpose Juan
See also:Diaz de See also:Solis was despatched in October 1515, and in pacific
See also:January 1516 he discovered the mouth of the Rio de la ocean. See also:Plata. He was, however, killed by the natives, and his
ships returned. In the following year the Portuguese Ferdinando Magalhaes, familiarly known as See also:Magellan, laid before See also: Thence he visited the African coast, touching at See also:Mombasa and Quiloa, and then sailed across to Ormuz and the Persian Gulf. He crossed Arabia from Bahrein to See also:Jidda, traversed the Red sea and the See also:desert to Syene, and descended the Nile to Cairo. After this he revisited Syria and Asia Minor, and crossed the See also:Black sea, the desert from See also:Astrakhan to See also:Bokhara, and the Hindu Kush. He was in the service of Muhammad Tughluk, ruler of See also:Delhi, about eight years, and was sent on an See also:embassy to China, in the course of which the ambassadors sailed down the west coast of India to See also:Calicut, and then visited the Maldive Islands and See also:Ceylon. Ibn Batuta made the voyage through the Malay Archipelago to China, and on his return he proceeded from See also:Malabar to Bagdad and See also:Damascus, ultimately reaching See also:Fez, the See also:capital of his native country, in See also:November 1349. After a journey into Spain he set out once more for Central Africa in 1352, and reached See also:Timbuktu and the See also:Niger, returning to Fez in 1353. His narrative was committed to See also:writing from his dictation. The European country which had come the most completely under the influence of Arab culture now began to send forth explorers to distant lands, though the impulse came not from the Spanish See also:Moors but from See also:Italian merchant navigators in Spanish explore- service. The peaceful reign of Henry III. of See also:Castile is tion. famous for the attempts of that prince to extend the See also:diplomatic relations of Spain to the remotest parts of the earth. He sent embassies to all the princes of Christendom and to the Moors. In 1403 the Spanish king sent a See also:knight of See also:Madrid, Ruy Gonzalez de See also:Clavijo, to the distant court of Timur, at Samarkand. He returned in 1406, and wrote a valuable narrative of his travels. Italians continued to make important journeys in the East during the 15th century. Among them was Nicolo See also:Conti, who passed through Persia, sailed along the coast of Malabar, visited See also:Sumatra, See also:Java and the south of China, returned by the Red sea, and got home to Venice in 1444 after an absence of twenty-five years. He related his adventures to See also:Poggio See also:Bracciolini, secretary to Pope See also:Eugenius IV.; and the narrative contains much interesting information. One of the most remarkable of the Italian travellers was Ludovico di See also:Varthema, who left his native land in 1502. He went to Egypt and Syria, and for the sake of visiting the See also:holy cities became a Mahommedan. He was the first European who gave an account of the interior of Yemen. He afterwards visited and described many places in Persia, India and the Malay Archipelago, returning to Europe in a Portuguese ship after an absence of five years. In the 15th century the time was approaching when the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope was to widen the See also:scope of geographical enterprise. This great event was preceded by the general See also:Porto- utilization in Europe of the See also:polarity of the magnetic guese ex- See also:needle in the construction of the mariner's See also:compass. ploration- See also:Portugal took the lead along this new path, and foremost Prince among her pioneers stands Prince Henry the Navigator Henry the (1394-146o), who was a patron both of exploration and Navigator. of the study of geographical theory. The great westward See also:projection of the coast of Africa, and the islands to the north-west of that continent, were the See also:principal scene of the work of the mariners sent out at his expense; but his See also:object was to push onward and reach India from the Atlantic. The progress of discovery received a check on his See also:death, but only for a time. In 1462 Pedro de See also:Cintra extended Portuguese exploration along the African coast and discovered Sierra Leone. Fernan See also:Gomez followed in 1469, and opened trade with the Gold Coast; and in 1484 Diogo Cao discovered the mouth of the See also:Congo. The king of Portugal next despatched Bartolomeo Diaz in 1486 to continue discoveries southwards; while, in the following year, he sent Pedro de Covilhao and Affonso de Payva to discover the country of Prester John. Diaz succeeded in rounding the southern point of Africa, which he named Cabo Tormentoso—the Cape of Storms—but King Joao II., foreseeing the realization of the long-sought passage to India, gave it the stimulating and enduring name of the Cape of Good Hope. Payva died at Cairo; but Covilhao, having heard that a Christian ruler reigned in the mountains of See also:Ethiopia, penetrated into See also:Abyssinia in 1490. He delivered the See also:letter which Joao U. had addressed to Prester John to the See also:Negus Alexander of Abyssinia, but he was detained by that prince and never allowed to leave the country.
the vast Pacific which he crossed without sighting any of its in-numerable island See also:groups. This was unquestionably the greatest of the voyages which followed from the impulse of Prince Henry, and it was rendered possible only by the magnificent courage of the commander in spite of See also:rebellion, See also:mutiny and See also:starvation. It was the 6th of See also: With Abyssinia the mission of Covilhao led to further intercourse. In See also:April 1520 Vasco da Gama, as See also:viceroy of the Indies, took a fleet into the Red sea, and landed an embassy consisting of Dom See also:Rodriguez de See also:Lima and Father Francisco Alvarez, a See also:priest whose detailed narrative is the earliest and not the least interesting account we possess of Abyssinia. It was not until 1526 that the embassy was dismissed; and not many years afterwards the negus entreated the help of the Portuguese against Mahommedan invaders, and the viceroy sent an expeditionary force, commanded by his See also:brother Cristoforo da Gama, with 450 musketeers. Da Gama was taken prisoner and killed, but his followers enabled the Christians of Abyssinia to regain their power, and a Jesuit mission remained in the country. The Portuguese also established a close connexion with the See also:kingdom of Congo on the west side of Africa, and obtained much information respecting the interior of the continent. Duarte See also:Lopez, a Portuguese settled in the country, was sent on a mission to Rome by the king of Congo, and Pope See also:Sixtus V. caused him to recount to his See also: Their missionaries were received at the court of See also:Akbar, and See also:Benedict Goes, a native of the Azores, was despatched on a journey overland from See also:Agra to China. He started in 1603, and, after traversing the least-known parts of Central Asia, he reached the confines of China. He appears to have ascended from See also:Kabul to the See also:plateau of the Pamir, and thence onwards by Yarkand, See also:Khotan and See also:Aksu. He died on the journey in March 1607; and thus, as one of the brethren pronounced his See also:epitaph, " seeking See also:Cathay he found See also:heaven."
The activity and love of See also:adventure, which became a See also:passion for two or three generations in Spain and Portugal, spread to other Bnglsh, countries. It was the spirit of the See also:age; and England, Dutch and See also: He returned to See also:Archangel and brought his ship back in safety to England. On a second voyage, in 1556, Chancellor was drowned; and three subsequent voyages, led by See also:Stephen Burrough, See also:Arthur Pet and Charles Jackman, in small See also:craft of 5o tons and under, carried on an examination of the straits which lead into the Kara sea.
The French followed closely on the track of John Cabot, and Norman and See also:Breton fishermen frequented the See also:banks of Newfound-land at the beginning of the 16th century. In 1524 See also:Francis I. sent Giovanni da Verazzano of See also:Florence on an expedition of discoveryto the coast of North America; and the details of his voyage were embodied in a letter addressed by him to the king of France from See also:Dieppe, in See also:July 1524. In 1534 Jacques See also:Cartier set out to continue the discoveries of Verazzano, and visited Newfoundland and the Gulf of St See also:Lawrence. In the following year he made another voyage, discovered the island of See also:Anticosti, and ascended the St Lawrence to Hochelaga, now See also:Montreal. He returned, after passing two winters in See also:Canada; and on another occasion he also failed to establish a colony. See also:Admiral de See also:Coligny made several unsuccessful endeavours to form a colony in Florida under See also:Jean See also:Ribault of Dieppe, Rene de Laudonniere and others, but the settlers were furiously assailed by the Spaniards and the See also:attempt was abandoned.
The reign of See also: It is from these works that our knowledge of the gallant deeds of the English and other explorers of the Elizabethan age is mainly derived. The great and splendidly illustrated collections of voyages and travels of See also:Theodorus de See also:Bry and Hulsius served a similar useful purpose on the continent of Europe. One important object of English maritime adventurers of those days was to discover a route to Cathay by the north-west, a second was to settle Virginia, and a third was to See also:raid the Spanish settlements in the West Indies. Nor was the trade to Muscovy and See also:Turkey neglected; while latterly a resolute and successful attempt was made to establish direct commercial relations with India.
The conception of the north-western route to Cathay now leads the story of exploration, for the first time as far as important and sustained efforts are concerned, towards the Arctic seas. This part of the story is fully told under the heading of POLAR REGIONS, and only the names of Martin See also:Frobisher (1576), John See also:Davis (1585), Henry See also:Hudson (1607) and See also: See also: In the interior of South America the Spanish conquerors had explored the region of the See also:Andes from the See also:isthmus of Panama to Chile. Pedro de See also:Valdivia in 1540 made an expedition into the country of the Araucanian See also:Indians of Chile, and was the first to PROGRESS] explore the eastern See also:base of the Andes in what is now See also:Argentine Patagonia. In 1541 Francisco de Orellana discovered the whole course of the Amazon from its source in the Andes to the Atlantic. A second voyage on the Amazon was made in 1561 by the mad pirate Lope de Aguirre; but it was not until 1639 that a full account was written of the great See also:river by Father Cristoval de See also:Acuna, who ascended it from its mouth and reached the city of See also:Quito. The voyage of Drake across the Pacific was preceded by that of Alvaro de Mendana, who was despatched from Peru in 1567 to Spaniards discover the great See also:Antarctic continent which was believed in the to extend far northward into the South sea, the search Pacific for which now became one of the leading motives of exploration. After a voyage of eighty days across the Pacific, Mendana discovered the Solomon Islands; and the expedition returned in safety to See also:Callao. The appearance of Drake on the Peruvian coast led to an expedition being fitted out at Callao, to go in See also:chase of him, under the command of Pedro Sarmiento. He sailed from Callao in October 1579, and made a careful survey of the Strait of Magellan, with the object of fortifying that entrance to the South sea. The colony which he afterwards took out from Spain was a complete failure, and is only remembered now from the name of " Port Famine," which Cavendish gave to the site at which he found the starving remnant of Sarmiento's settlers. In See also:June 1595 Mendafla sailed from the coast of Peru in command of a second expedition to colonize .the Solomon Islands. After discovering the See also:Marquesas, he reached the island of See also:Santa Cruz of evil memory; where he and many of the settlers died. His young widow took command of the survivors and brought them safely to See also:Manila. The viceroys of Peru still persevered in their attempts to plant a colony in the hypothetical southern continent. Pedro Fernandez de Quiros, who was pilot under Mendana and Luis Vaez de Torres, were sent in command of two ships to continue the work of exploration. They sailed from Callao in See also:December 1605, and discovered several islands of the New See also:Hebrides group. They anchored in a bay of a large island which Quiros named " See also:Australia del Espiritu Santo. ' From this place Quiros returned to America, but Torres continued the voyage, passed through the strait between Australia and New Guinea which bears his name, and explored and mapped the southern and eastern coasts of New Guinea.
The Portuguese, in the early part of the 17th century (1578-164o), were under the dominion of Snain, and their enterprise was to some extent damped ; but their missionaries extended geographical knowledge in Africa. Father Francisco See also:Paez acquired great influence in Abyssinia, and explored its See also:highlands from 1600 to 1622. Fathers Mendez and See also:Lobo traversed the deserts between the coast of the Red sea and the mountains, became acquainted with See also:Lake See also:Tsana, and discovered the See also:sources cf the See also:Blue Nile in 1624-1633.
But the attention of the Portuguese was mainly devoted to vain attempts to maintain their monopoly of the trade of India against
Rlvatry in
the powerful rivalry of the English and Dutch. The
the East. English enterprises were persevering, continuous and
successful. See also: On the 31st of December
1599 See also:Queen Elizabeth granted the See also:charter of See also:incorporation to the
East India Company, and Sir James Lancaster, one of the See also:directors,
was appointed general of their first fleet. He was accompanied
by John Davis, the great Arctic navigator, as pilot-major. This
voyage was eminently successful. The ships touched at See also:Achin in
Sumatra and at Java, returning with full ladings of See also:pepper in 1603.
The second voyage was commanded by Sir Henry See also:Middleton; but
it was in the third voyage, under Keelinge and Hawkins, that the
mainland of India was first reached in 1607. Captain Hawkins
landed at See also:Surat and travelled overland to Agra, passing some time
at the court of the Great See also:Mogul. In the voyage of Sir Edward
Michelborne in 1605, John Davis lost his life in a fight with a Japanese
See also:junk. The eighth voyage, led by Captain Saris, extended the
operations of the company to See also:Japan; and in 1613 the Japanese
government granted privileges to the company; but the British
retired in 1623, giving up their factory. The chief result of this
early intercourse between Great Britain and Japan was the interesting
See also:series of letters written by William See also: British visits to Eastern countries, at this time, were not confined to the voyages of the company. Journeys were also made by land, and, among others, the enter- taining author of the Crudities, Thomas Coryate, of Odcombe in See also:Somersetshire, wandered on foot from France to India, and died (1617) in the company's factory at Surat. In 1561 See also:Anthony Jenkin- son arrived in Persia with a letter from Queen Elizabeth to the shah. He travelled through Russia to Bokhara, and returned by the Caspian and Volga. In 1579 Christopher See also:Burroughs built a ship at Nizhniy Novgorod and traded across the Caspian to See also:Baku; and in 1598 Sir Anthony and See also:Robert See also:Shirley arrived in Persia, and 627 Robert was afterwards sent by the shah to Europe as his ambassador. He was followed by a Spanish mission under See also:Garcia de See also:Silva, who wrote an interesting account of his travels; and to Sir, See also:Dormer See also:Cotton's mission, in 1628, we are indebted for Sir Thomas See also:Herbert's charming narrative. In like manner Sir Thomas See also:Roe's mission to India resulted not only in a large collection of valuable reports and letters of his own, but also in the detailed account of his See also:chaplain See also:Terry. But the most learned and intelligent traveller in the East, during the 17th century, was the German, Engelbrecht See also:Kaempfer, who accompanied an embassy to Persia, in 1684, and was afterwards a surgeon in the service of the Dutch East India Company. He was in the Persian Gulf, India and Java, and resided for more than two years in Japan, of which he wrote a history. The Dutch nation, as soon as it was emancipated from Spanish tyranny, displayed an amount of enterprise, which, for a long time, was fully equal to that of the British. The Arctic voyages Dutch of Barents were quickly followed by the establishment of utc tiex- ex a .Dutch East India Company; and the Dutch, ousting 16th=t7th. the Portuguese, not only established factories on the mainland of India and in Japan, but acquired a preponder- centuries. ating influence throughout the Malay Archipelago. In 1583 See also:Jan Hugen See also:van Linschoten made a voyage to India with a Portuguese fleet, and his full and graphic descriptions of India, Africa, China and the Malay Archipelago must have been of no small use to his countrymen in their distant voyages. The first of the Dutch Indian voyages was performed by ships which sailed in April 1595, and rounded the Cape of Good Hope. A second large Dutch fleet sailed in 1598; and, so eager was the See also:republic to extend her commerce over the world that another fleet, consisting of five ships of See also:Rotterdam, was sent in the same year by way of Magellan's Strait, under See also:Jacob Mahu as admiral, with William Adams as pilot. Mahu died on the passage out, and was succeeded by See also:Simon de See also:Cordes, who was killed on.the coast of Chile. In September 1599 the fleet had entered the Pacific. The ships were then steered direct for Japan, and anchored off Bungo in April 1600. In the same year, 1598, a third expedition was despatched under See also:Oliver van Noort, a native of See also:Utrecht, but the voyage contributed nothing to geography. The Dutch Company in 1614 again resolved to send a fleet to the Moluccas by the westward route, and See also:Joris Spilbergen was appointed to the command as admiral, with a See also:commission from the States-General. He was furnished with four ships of See also:Amsterdam, two of Rotterdam and one from See also:Zeeland. On the 6th of May 1615 Spilbergen entered the Pacific Ocean, and touched at several places on the coast of Chile and Peru, defeating the Spanish fleet in a naval engagement off Chilca. After plundering Payta and making requisitions at Acapulco, the Dutch fleet crossed the Pacific and reached the Moluccas in March 1616. The Dutch now resolved to discover a passage into the Pacific to the south of Tierra del Fuego, the insular nature of which had been ascertained by Sir Francis Drake. The vessels fitted out for this purpose were the " Eendracht," 6f 360 tons, commanded by Jacob Lemaire, and the " See also:Hoorn," of 110 tons, under Willem Schouten. They sailed from the Texel on the 14th of June 1615, and by the 20th of January 1616 they were south of the entrance of Magellan's Strait. Passing through the strait of Lemaire they came to the southern extremity of Tierra del Fuego, which was named Cape See also:Horn, in honour of the See also:town of Hoorn in West See also:Friesland, of which Schouten was a native. They passed the cape on the 31st of January, encountering the usual See also:westerly winds. The great merit of this discovery of a second passage into the South sea lies in the fact that it was not accidental or unforeseen, but was due to the sagacity of those who designed the voyage. On the 1st of March the Dutch fleet sighted the island of Juan Fernandez; and, having crossed the Pacific, the explorers sailed along the north coast of New Guinea and arrived at the Moluccas on the 17th of September 1616. There were several early indications of the existence of the great Australian continent, and the Dutch endeavoured to obtain further knowledge concerning the country and its extent; but only its northern and western coasts had been visited before the time of See also:Governor van See also:Diemen. ' See also:Dirk Hartog had been on the west coast in latitude 26° 3o' S. in 1616. Pelsert struck on a See also:reef called Houtman's Abrolhos " on the 4th of June 1629. In 1697 the Dutch captain Vlamingh landed on the west coast of Australia, then called New Holland, in 31 ° 43' S., and named the See also:Swan river from the black swans he discovered there. In 1642 the governor and See also:council of See also:Batavia fitted out two ships to prosecute the discovery of the south land, then believed to be part of a vast Antarctic continent, and entrusted the command to Captain See also:Abel See also:Jansen See also:Tasman. This voyage proved to be the most important to geography that had been undertaken since the first circumnavigation of the globe. Tasman sailed from Batavia in 1642, and on the 24th of November sighted high land in 42° 30' S., which was named van Diemen's Land, and after landing there proceeded to the discovery of the western coast of New See also:Zealand ; at first called Staten Land, and supposed to be connected with the Antarctic continent from which this voyage proved New Holland to be separated. He then reached Tongatabu, one of the Friendly Islands of See also:Cook; and returned by the north coast of New Guinea to Batavia. In 1644 Tasman made a second voyage to effect a See also:fuller discovery of News Guinea. The French directed their enterprise more in the direction of North America than of the Indies. One of their most distinguished French in explorers was Samuel See also:Champlain, a captain in the See also:navy, North who, after a remarkable journey through Mexico and the America. West Indies from 1599 to 1602, established his historic connexion with Canada, to the geographical knowledge of which he made a very large addition. The principles and methods of See also:surveying and position finding had by this time become well advanced, and the most remarkable mission. example of the early application of these improvements See also:arses in is to be found in the survey of China by Jesuit missionaries. the Bast. They first prepared a map of the country round See also:Peking, which was submitted to the emperor Kang-hi, and, being satisfied with the accuracy of the European method of surveying, he resolved to have a survey made of the whole empire on the same principles. This great work was begun in July 1708, and the completed maps were presented to the emperor in 1718. The records preserved in each city were examined, topographical information was diligently collected, and the Jesuit fathers checked their triangulation by See also:meridian altitudes of the sun and See also:pole See also:star and by a system of remeasurements. The result was a more accurate map of China than existed, at that time, of any country in Europe. Kang-hi next ordered a similar map to be made of Tibet, the survey being executed by two lamas who were carefully trained as surveyors by the See also:Jesuits at Peking. From these surveys were constructed the well-known maps which were forwarded to Duhalde, and which D'See also:Anville utilized for his See also:atlas. Several European missionaries had previously found their way from India to Tibet. Antonio See also:Andrada, in 1624, was the first The 18th European to enter Tibet since the visit of Friar Odoric century. in 1325. The next journey was that of Fathers Grueber and Dorville about 166o, who succeeded in passing from China, through Tibet, into India. In 1715 Fathers Desideri and Freyre made their way from Agra, across the Himalayas, to Lhasa, and the Capuchin Friar See also:Orazio della Penna resided in that city from 1735 until 1747. But the most remarkable journey in this direction was performed by a Dutch traveller named Samuel van de Putte. He left Holland in 1718, went by land through Persia to India, and eventually made his way to Lhasa, where he resided for a long time. He went thence to China, returned to Lhasa, and was in India in time to be an See also:eye-See also:witness of the See also:sack of Delhi by See also:Nadir Asia. Shah in 1737. In 1743 he left India and died at Batavia on the 27th of September 1745. The premature death of this illustrious traveller is the more to be lamented because his vast knowledge died with him. Two English missions sent by See also:Warren See also:Hastings to Tibet, one led by See also:George Bogle in 1774, and the other by Captain See also:Turner in 1783, complete Tibetan exploration in the 18th century. From Persia much new information was supplied by Jean See also:Chardin, can See also:Tavernier, Charles See also: He then made a journey through Persia and Syria to Constantinople, returning to See also:Copenhagen in 1767. His valuable work, the Description of Arabia, was published in 1772, and was followed in 1774–1778 by two volumes of travels in Asia. The great traveller survived until 1815, when he died at the age of eighty-two. James See also:Bruce of Kinnaird, the contemporary of Niebuhr, was equally devoted to Eastern travel; and his principal geographical Africa. work was the tracing of the Blue Nile from its source to its junction with the White Nile. Before the death,pf Bruce an African Association was formed, in 1788, for collecting information respecting the interior of that continent, with Major Rennell and Sir See also:Joseph Banks as leading members. The association first employed John See also:Ledyard (who had previously made an extra-See also:ordinary journey into See also:Siberia) to See also:cross Africa from east to west on the parallel of the Niger, and William Lucas to cross the See also:Sahara to See also:Fezzan. Lucas went from See also:Tripoli to Mesurata, obtained some information respecting Fezzan and returned in 1789. One of the chief problems the association wished to solve was that of the exist-ence and course of the river Niger, which was believed by some authorities to be identical with the Congo. Mungo See also:Park, then an assistant surgeon of an Indiaman, volunteered his services, which were accepted by the association, and in 1795 he succeeded in reaching the town of Segu on the Niger, but was prevented from continuing his journey to Timbuktu. Five years later he accepted an offer from the government to command an expedition into the interior of Africa, the See also:plan being to cross from the See also:Gambia to the Niger and descend the latter river to the sea. After losing most of his companions he himself and the See also:rest perished in a rapid on the Niger at Busa, having been attacked from the shore by order of a chief who thought he had not received suitable presents. His work, however, had established the fact that the Niger was not identical with the Congo. While the British were at work in the direction of the Niger, the Portuguese were not unmindful of their old exploring fame. In 1798 Dr F. J. M. de Lacerda, an accomplished astronomer, was appointed to command a scientific expedition of discovery to the north of the Zambesi. He started in July, crossed the Muchenja Mountains, and reached the capital of the See also:Cazembe, where he died of See also:fever. Lacerda left a valuable record of his adventurous journey; but with Mungo Park and Lacerda the history of African exploration in the 18th century closes.
In South America scientific exploration was active during this period. The great geographical event of the century, as regards that continent{ was the measurement of an arc of the south meridian. The undertaking was proposed by the French America. See also:Academy as part of an investigation with the object
of ascertaining the length of the degree near the See also:equator and near the pole respectively so as to determine the figure of the earth. A commission left See also:Paris in 1735, consisting of Charles See also:Marie de la Condamine, See also:Pierre See also:Bouguer, See also: The operations were carried on during eight years on a plain to the south of Quito; and, in addition to his memoir on this memorable measurement, La Condamine collected much valuable geographical information during a voyage down the Amazon. The arc measured was 3° 7' 3" in length; and the work consisted of two measured bases connected by a series of triangles, one north and the other south of the equator, on the meridian of Quito. Contemporaneously, in 1738, Pierre Louis See also:Moreau de See also:Maupertuis, See also:Alexis See also:Claude Clairaut, Charles See also:Etienne Louis See also:Camus, Pierre Charles See also:Lemonnier and the See also:Swedish physicist See also:Celsius measured an arc of the meridian in Lapland. The British and French governments despatched several expeditions of discovery into the Pacific and round the world during the 18th century. They were preceded by the wonderful The and romantic voyages of the See also:buccaneers. The narratives pacific of such men as Woodes See also:Rogers, Edward Davis, George Ocean. Shelvocke, Clipperton and William Dampier, can never fail to interest, while they are not without geographical value. The works of Dampier are especially valuable, and the narratives of William Funnell and Lionel See also:Wafer furnished the best accounts then extant of the Isthmus of Darien. Dampier's See also:literary ability eventually secured for him a commission in the king's service; and he was sent on a voyage of discovery, during which he explored part of the coasts of Australia and New Guinea, and discovered the strait which bears his name between New Guinea and New Britain, returning in 1701. In 1721 Jacob Roggewein was despatched on a voyage of some importance across the Pacific by the Dutch West India Company, during which he discovered See also:Easter Island on the 6th of April 1722. The voyage of See also:Lord See also:Anson to the Pacific 'in 1740–1744 was of a predatory See also:character, and he lost more than half his men from See also:scurvy, while it is not pleasant to reflect that at the very time when the French and Spaniards were measuring an arc of the meridian at Quito, the British under Anson were pillaging along the coast of the Pacific and burning the town of Payta. But a romantic interest attaches to the See also:wreck of the " See also:Wager," one of Anson's fleet, on a desert island near Chiloe, for it bore fruit in the charming narrative of Captain John See also:Byron, which will endure for all time. In 1764 Byron himself was sent on a voyage of discovery round the world, which led immediately after his return to the despatch of another to complete his work, under the command of Captain Samuel See also:Wallis.
The expedition, consisting of the " See also:Dolphin " commanded by Wallis, and the " See also:Swallow " under Captain See also: The transit was observed on the 3rd of June 1769. After exploring Tahiti and the Society group, Cook spent six months surveying New Zealand, which he discovered to be an island, and the coast of New South See also:Wales from latitude 38° S. to the northern extremity. The belief in a vast Antarctic continent stretching far into the temperate See also:zone had never been abandoned, and was vehemently asserted by Charles Dalrymple, a disappointed See also:candidate nominated by the Royal Society for the command of the Transit expedition of 1769. In 1772 the French explorer Yves Kerguelen de Tremarec had discovered the land that bears his name in the South Indian Ocean without recognizing it to be an island, and naturally believed it to be part of the southern continent. Cook's second voyage was mainly intended to settle the question of the existence of such a continent once for all, and to define the limits of any land that might exist in navigable seas towards the Antarctic circle. James Cook at his first attempt reached a south latitude of 57° 15'. On a second cruise from the Society Islands, in 1773, he, first of all men, crossed the Antarctic circle, and was stopped by See also:ice in 71° to' S. During the second voyage Cook visited Easter Island, discovered several islands of the New Hebrides and New See also:Caledonia; and on his way home by Cape Horn, in March 1774, he discovered the See also:Sandwich Island group and described South See also:Georgia. He proved conclusively that any southern continent that might exist See also:lay under the polar ice. The third voyage was intended to attempt the passage from the Pacific to the Atlantic by the north-east. The " See also:Resolution " and " Discovery " sailed in 1776, and Cook again took the route by the Cape of Good Hope. On reaching the North American coast, he proceeded northward, fixed the position of the western extremity of America and surveyed See also:Bering Strait. He was stopped by the ice in 70° 41' N., and named the farthest visible point on the American shore Icy Cape. He then visited the Asiatic shore and discovered Cape North. Returning to See also:Hawaii, Cook was murdered by the natives. Onthe 14th of February 1779, 1}is second, Captain Edward See also:Clerke, took command, and proceeding to See also:Petropavlovsk in the following summer, he again examined the edge of the ice, but only got as far as 70° 33' N. The ships returned to England in October 1780. In 1785 the French government carefully fitted out an expedition of discovery at See also:Brest, which was placed under the command of See also:Francois La Perouse, an accomplished and experienced officer. After touching at .See also:Concepcion in Chile and at Easter Island, La Perouse proceeded to Hawaii and thence to the coast of See also:California, of which he has given a very interesting account. He then crossed the Pacific to See also:Macao, and in July 1787 he proceeded to explore the Gulf of Tartary and the shores of See also:Sakhalin, remaining some time at Castries Bay, so named after the French See also:minister of marine. Thence he went to the Kurile Islands and See also:Kamchatka, and sailed from the far north down the meridian to the Navigator and Friendly Islands. He was in See also:Botany Bay in January 1788; and sailing thence, the explorer, his ship and crew were never seen again. Their See also:fate was long uncertain. In September 1791 Captain See also:Antoine d'See also:Entrecasteaux sailed from Brest with two vessels to seek for tidings. He visited the New Hebrides, Santa Cruz, New Caledonia and Solomon Islands, and made careful though rough surveys of the Louisiade Archipelago, islands north of New Britain and part of New Guinea. D'Entrecasteauxdied on See also:board his ship on the loth of July 1793, without ascertaining the fate of La Perouse. Captain See also:Peter See also:Dillon at length ascertained, in 1828, that the ships of La Perouse had been wrecked on the island of Vanikoro during a See also:hurricane.
The work of Captain Cook bore fruit in many ways. His master, Captain William See also:Bligh, was sent in the " See also:Bounty" to convey See also:bread-fruit See also:plants from Tahiti to the West Indies. He reached Tahiti in October 1788, and in April 1789 a mutiny See also:broke out, and he, with several officers and men, was thrust into an open boat in See also:mid-ocean. During the remarkable voyage he then made to See also:Timor, Bligh passed amongst the northern islands of the New Hebrides, which he named the Banks Group, and made several running surveys. He reached England in March 1790. The " See also:Pandora," under Captain See also:Edwards, was sent out in search of the " Bounty," and discovered the islands of See also:Cherry and See also:Mitre, east of the Santa Cruz group, but she was eventually lost on a reef in Torres Strait. In 1796—1797 Captain See also: Surveys were then undertaken in several directions. In 1795 and 1796 See also:Matthew See also:Flinders and George See also:Bass were engaged on exploring work in a small boat called the " Tom Thumb." In 1797 Bass, who had been a surgeon; made an expedition southwards, continued the work of Cook from See also:Ram Head, and explored the strait which bears his629 name, and in 1798 he and Flinders were surveying on the east coast of Van Diemen's land. Yet another outcome of Captain Cook's work was the voyage of George See also:Vancouver, who had served as a See also:midshipman in Cook's second and third voyages. The Spaniards under Quadra had begun a survey of north-western America and occupied See also:Nootka Sound, which their government eventually agreed to surrender. Captain Vancouver was sent out to receive the cession, and to survey the coast from Cape Mendocino northwards. He commanded the old " Discovery," and was at work during the seasons of 1792, 1793 and 1794, wintering at Hawaii. Returning home in 1795, he completed his narrative and a valuable series of charts. The 18th century saw the Arctic coast of North America reached at two points, as well as the first scientific attempt to reach the North Pole. The Hudson Bay Company had been in- Arctic corporated in 1670, and its servants soon extended their ions. operations over a wide area to the north and west of reg Canada. In 1741 Captain Christopher Middleton was ordered to solve the question of a passage from Hudson Bay to the westward. Leaving Fort See also:Churchill in July 1742, he discovered the Wager river and Repulse Bay. He was followed by Captain W. Moor in 1746, and Captain Coats in 1751, who examined the Wager Inlet up to the end. In November 1769 Samuel See also:Hearne was sent by the Hudson Bay Company to discover the sea on the north side of America, but was obliged to return. In February 1770 he set out again from Fort Prince of Wales; but, after great hardships, he was again forced to return to the fort. He started once more in December 1771, and at length reached the See also:Coppermine river, which he surveyed to its mouth, but his observations are unreliable. With the same object Alexander See also:Mackenzie, with a party of Canadians, set out from Fort Chippewyan on the 3rd of June 1789, and descending the great river which now bears the explorer's name reached the Arctic sea. In February.1773 the Royal Society submitted a proposal to the king for an expedition towards the North Pole. The expedition was fitted out under Captains See also:Constantine Phipps and See also:Skeffington Lutwidge, and the highest latitude reached was 80° 48' N., but no opening was discovered in the heavy Polar See also:pack. The most important Arctic work in the 18th century was performed by the Russians, for they succeeded in delineating the whole of the northern coast of Siberia. Some of this work was possibly done at a still earlier date. The Cossack Simon Dezhneff is thought to have made a voyage, in the summer of 1648, from the river Kolyma, through Bering Strait (which was rediscovered by See also:Vitus Bering in 1728) to See also:Anadyr. Between 1738 and 1750 See also:Manin and Sterlegoff made their way in small sloops from the mouth of the Yenesei as far north as 75 15' N. The land from Taimyr to Cape Chelyuskin, the most northern extremity of Siberia, was mapped in many years of patient exploration by Chelyuskin, who reached the extreme point (77° 34' N.) in May 1742. To the east of Cape Chelyuskin the Russians encountered greater difficulties. They built small vessels at See also:Yakutsk on the See also:Lena, 900 m. from its mouth, whence the first expedition was despatched under Lieut. Prontschichev in 1735. He sailed from the mouth of the Lena to the mouth of the Olonek, where he wintered, and on the 1st of September 1736 he got as far as 77° 29' N., within 5 M. of Cape Chelyuskin. Both he and his young wife died of scurvy, and the See also:vessel returned. A second expedition, under Lieut. Laptyev, started from the Lena in 1739, but encountered masses of See also:drift ice in Chatanga bay, and with this ended the voyages to the westward of the Lena. Several attempts were also made to navigate the sea from the Lena to the Kolyma. In 1736 Lieut. Laptyev sailed, but was stopped by the drift ice in See also:August, and in 1739, during another trial, he reached the mouth of the Indigirka, where he wintered. In the See also:season of 1740 he continued his voyage to beyond the Kolyma, wintering at Nizhni Kolymsk. In September 1740 Vitus Bering sailed from See also:Okhotsk on a second Arctic voyage with George William Steller on board as naturalist. In June 1741 he named the magnificent See also:peak on the coast of North America See also:Mount St See also:Elias and explored the Aleutian Islands. In November the ship was wrecked on Bering Island; and the gallant Dane, worn out with scurvy, died there on the 8th of December 1741. In March 1770 a merchant named Liakhov saw a large See also:herd of See also:reindeer coming from the north to the Siberian coast, which induced him to start in a sledge in the direction whence they came. Thus he reached the New Siberian or Liakhov Islands, and for years afterwards the seekers for fossil See also:ivory resorted to them. The See also:Russian Captain Vassili Chitschgkov in 1765 and 1766 made two persevering attempts to penetrate the ice north of See also:Spitsbergen, and reached 8o° 30' N., while Russian parties twice wintered at See also:Bell Sound.
In reviewing the progress of geographical discovery thus far, it has been possible to keep fairly closely to a chronological order. But in the 19th century and after exploring work was so Gea_ generally and steadily maintained in all directions, and graphical was in so many cases narrowed down from long journeys See also:societies. to detailed surveys within relatively small areas, that it
becomes desirable to See also:cover the whole period at one view for certain
great divisions of the world. (See AFRICA; ASIA; AUSTRALIA; POLAR REGIONS; &c.) Here, however, may be noticed the development of geographical societies devoted to the encouragement of exploration and See also:research. The first of the existing geographical societies was
that of Paris, founded in 1825 under the title of La Societe de Geographie. The See also:Berlin Geographical Society (Gesellschaft See also:fur Erdkunde) is second in order of seniority, having been founded in 1827. The Royal Geographical Society, which was founded in London in 1830, comes third on the See also:list; but it may be viewed as a direct result of the earlier African Association founded in 1788. Sir John See also:Barrow, Sir John See also:Cam See also:Hobhouse (Lord See also:Broughton), Sir See also:Roderick See also:Murchison, Mr Robert See also: The See also:action of the society in supplying practical instruction to intending travellers, in See also:astronomy, surveying and the various branches of See also:science useful to collectors, has had much to do with advancement of discovery. Since the war of 1870 many geographical societies have been established on the continent of Eurcpe. At the close of the 19th century there were upwards of loo such societies in the world, with more than 5o,000 members, and over 150 See also:journals were devoted entirely to geographical subjects.' The great development of See also:photography has been a notable aid to explorers, not only by placing at their disposal a faithful and ready means of recording the features of a country and the types of inhabitants, but by supplying a method of See also:quick and accurate topographical surveying. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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