General Books

THE VOYAGE WEDNESDAY, June 26, 1754.—On this day the most melancholy sun I had ever beheld arose, and found me awake at my house at Fordhook. By the light of this sun I was, in my own opinion, last to behold and take leave of some of those creatures on whom I doted with a mother-like fondness, guided by nature and passion, and uncured and unhardened by all the doctrine of that philosophical school... more...

ACROSS EUROPE Stockholm to Berlin Our journey begins at Stockholm, the capital of my native country. Leaving Stockholm by train in the evening, we travel all night in comfortable sleeping-cars and arrive next morning at the southernmost point of Sweden, the port of Trelleborg, where the sunlit waves sweep in from the Baltic Sea. Here we might expect to have done with railway travelling, and we rather... more...

A DREAM OF ANTICIPATION The King of Cork was a funny shipAs ever ploughed the maine:She kep' no log, she went whar she liked;So her Cap'n warn't to blaime. The Management was funnier still.We always thought it dandy—Till it wrecked us on the Golden Horn,When we meant to land at Kandy. The Cap'n ran the boat ashoreIn aerated waters;The Purser died by swallowin' gas,Thus... more...

A briefe Treatise of the great Duke of Moscouia his genealogie, being taken  out of the Moscouites manuscript Chronicles written by a Polacke. It hath almost euer bene the custome of nations, in searching out the infancie and first beginnings of their estate, to ascribe the same vnto such authors as liued among men in great honour and endued mankinde with some one or other excellent benefite. Nowe,... more...

CHAPTER IX. CONTINUED. EARLY VOYAGES OF THE ENGLISH. TO THE EAST INDIES, BEFORE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF AN EXCLUSIVE COMPANY. SECTION IV. Voyage of Mr John Eldred, by Sea, to Tripoli, in Syria, and thence, by Land and River, to Bagdat and Basora, in 1583.[1] I departed from London in the Tiger on Shrove-Tuesday, 1583, in company with Mr John Newberry, Mr Ralph Fitch, and six or seven other honest... more...

CHAPTER III. SECTION I.An Eclipse of the Moon observed.—The Island Toobouai discovered.—Its Situation, Extent, and Appearance.—Intercourse with its Inhabitants.—Their Persons, Dresses, and Canoes described.—Arrival at Oheitepeha Bay, at Otaheite.—Omai's Reception and imprudent Conduct.—Account of Spanish Ships twice visiting the Island.—Interview with the Chief of this... more...

Introduction—A.D. 1486. Columbus before the conclave of Professors at Seville—His parentage and early history—Battle with Venetian galleys—Residence in Portugal—Marries widow of a navigator—Grounds on which he founded his theory—Offers his services to the King of Portugal—His offer declined—Sends his brother Bartholomew to Henry the Seventh of England—Don John sends out a squadron... more...

CHAPTER I. HISTORY OF THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA, BY CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS; WRITTEN BY HIS SON DON FERDINAND COLUMBUS[1].[1] Churchills Collection of Voyages and Travels, Vol. II. 479.INTRODUCTION. [Illustration: West Indies] The whole of this chapter contains an original record, being a distinct narrative of the discovery of America by COLUMBUS, written by his own son, who accompanied him in his latter... more...

GENERAL INTRODUCTION. Whether the unexplored part of the Southern Hemisphere be only an immense mass of water, or contain another continent, as speculative geography seemed to suggest, was a question which had long engaged the attention, not only of learned men, but of most of the maritime powers of Europe. To put an end to all diversity of opinion about a matter so curious and important, was his... more...

"This elaborate and excellent Collection, which redounds as much to the glory of the English Nation as any book that ever was published, has already had sufficient complaints made in its behalf against our suffering it to become so scarce and obscure, by neglecting to republish it in a fair impression, with proper illustrations and especially an Index. But there may still be room left for a... more...