General Books

CHAPTER I. EARLY CIRCUMNAVIGATIONS, OR VOYAGES ROUND THE WORLD. INTRODUCTION. In this fourth book of the second part of our arrangement, it is proposed to give a history of the principal Circumnavigations, or Voyages Round the World, previous to the reign of our present venerable sovereign. This book, therefore, comprises a period of 226 years, from the year 1519, when Magellan sailed from Spain on the... more...

Through Torpedoes and Ice "Osman the Victorious," as Skobeleff called the matchless Turkish pasha, had kept the Russian hordes at bay for one hundred and forty-two days. Never in the annals of warfare had the world beheld such unexpected military genius, combined with stubborn endurance, as was shown during the siege of Plevna. On December 10th, 1877, Osman came out and made a desperate... more...

INTRODUCTION Among the many didactic books which flooded England in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were certain essays on travel. Some of these have never been brought to light since their publication more than three hundred years ago, or been mentioned by the few writers who have interested themselves in the literature of this subject. In the collections of voyages and explorations, so often... more...

INTRODUCTION Nearly five years elapsed between Drake's return from his Famous Voyage and the despatch of the formidable armament commemorated in the following pages. During the last of these years the march of events had been remarkably rapid. Gilbert, who had been empowered by Elizabeth, in the year of Frobisher's last expedition, to found colonies in America, had sailed for that purpose to... more...

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...

WE COMMISSION OUR SHIP.  VISIT PORTSMOUTH.  PREPARE TO SAIL. On one of those delicious semi-tropical afternoons, which geologists tell us once bathed the whole of our island, and which even now, as though loath to part from its one-time home, still dwells lovingly in Devonia's summer, I wended my way to Devonport Park to feast my eyes once again on the familiar scenes of early days. What I... 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...

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...

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...

ART OF TRAVEL. PREPARATORY INQUIRIES. To those who meditate Travel.--Qualifications for a Traveller.--If you have health, a great craving for adventure, at least a moderate fortune, and can set your heart on a definite object, which old travellers do not think impracticable, then--travel by all means. If, in addition to these qualifications, you have scientific taste and knowledge, I believe that no... more...