A new geographical, historical, and commercial grammar; and present state of the several kingdoms of the world ... The astronomical part by James Ferguson, F.R.S, to which have been added the late discoveries of Dr. Herschel ... Illustrated with a correct set of maps, engraved from the most...

Front matter

A GEOGRAPHICAL, HISTORICAL, AND COMMERCIAL GRAMMAR. i London ; PRiS''fKt) BY MILLS, JOWfiTT, AND MILLS, HOLT- COURT, FLBKT-STKEET. A GEOGRAPHICAL, HISTORICAL, AND COMMERCIAL GRAMMAR; EXHIBITING THE PRESENT STATE OF THE WORLD ; AND CONTAINING, I. The Figures, Motions, and Distances of the Planet?, according to the Newtonian System, and the latest Observations: VI. The Zoology of each Country : VII. Observations on the Changes that have been observed upon the Face of Nature, since the most early Periods of History : II. A general View of the Earth, considered as a Planet ; with several useful geographical Definitions and Problems : VIII. The History and Origin of Nations, their Forms of Government, Religion, Laws, Revenues, Taxes, Naval aud Military Strength, &c. III. The grand Divisions of the Globe into Laud and Water, Continents and Islands : IX.

The Genius, Manners, Customs, and Habits of the People : IV. The Situation and Extent of Empires, Kingdoms, States, Provinces, and Colonies : X. Their Languages, Learning, Arts, Sciences, Manufactures, and Commerce : V. Their Climates, Air, Soil, Vegetable Productions, Metals, Minerals, Natural Curiosities, Seas, Rivers, Bays, Capes, Promontories, and Lakes : XI. The chief Cities, Structures, Ruins, and artificial Curiosities : TO WHICH ARE ADDED, I. A Geographical Index, with the Names of Places alphabeticallyarranged, and their Latitudes and Longitudes; II. A Table of Coins, and their Value in English Money; III. A Chronological Table of remarkable Events, from the Creation to the present Time; and, IV. an Obituary of eminent and illustrious Persons, of every Age and Nation. Bv WILLIAM GUTHRIE, Esq. THE ASTRONOMICAL PART BV JAMES FERGUSON, F.R.S. ILLUSTRATED WITH A NEW AND CORRECT SET OF MAPS.

THE TWENTY-FOURTH EDITION, studiously revised and carefully corrected. LONDON: Printed for C. and J. Rivington ; J. Cuthell ; Longman and Co.; T. Ca dell • Harvey and Co. ; .Iohn Richardson ; Baynes and Son ; J, and W. T. Clarke ; J. Booker; Boosey and Sons; E. Williams; W. Ginger; R. Sciioley; J.Mawman; Baldwin and Co. ; T.Tegg; Sherwood and Co.; Hamilton and Co ; J.Duncan; G. B. Whittaker; Saunders and Hodgson; Simtkin and Marshall; J. Souter; J. Hearne; J.Collingwood; G.Wilson; Smith and Co.; Baker and Fletcher; Poole and Edwards ; Wilson aud Sons, York; and Stirling and Slade, Edinburgh. 1827.

Preface

TO THE EARLY EDITIONS. To a man sincerely interested in the welfare of so ciety and of his own country, it must be particularly agreeable to reflect on the rapid progress and general diffusion of learning and civility which, within the present age, have taken place in Great-Britain. What ever may be the case in some other kingdoms of Eu rope, we, in this island, may boast of our superiority to those illiberal prejudices which not only cramp the genius but sour the temper of man, and disturb all the agreeable intercourse of society. Among us, learning is no longer confined within the schools of the philosophers, or the courts of the great ; but, like all the greatest advantages which Heaven has bestowed on mankind, it is become as universal as it is useful. This general diffusion of knowlege is one effect of that happy constitution of government which, toward the close of the seventeenth century, was confirmed to us, and which constitutes the peculiar glory of this nation.

In other countries, the great body of the peo ple possess little wealth, have little power, and conse quently meet with little respect ; in Great-Britain the people are opulent, have great influence, and claim, of course, a proper share of attention. To their improve ment, therefore, men of letters have lately directed their studies ; as the great body of the people, no less than the dignified, the learned, or the wealthy feAV, have an acknowleged title to be amused and instructed. Books have been divested of the terms of the schools, reduced from that size which suited only the purses of the rich and the avocations of the studious, and are adapted to persons of more ordinary fortunes, whose attachment to other pursuits admitted little leisure for those of knowlege. It is to books of this kind, more than to the works of our Bacons, our Locke s, and our

PREFACE.

. X Newtons, that the generality of our countrymen owe that superior improvement which distinguishes them from the lower ranks of men in all other countries. To promote and advance this improvement is the principal design of our present undertaking. No subject appears more interesting than that which we have chosen, or seems capable of being treated in a manner that may render it more generally useful. The knowlege of the world, and of its inhabitants, though not the most sublime pursuit of mankind, it must be allowed, is that which most nearly interests them, and to which their abilities are best adapted: and books of Geography, which describe the situation, extent, soil, and productions, of kingdoms ; the genius, manners, religion, government, commerce, sciences, and arts, of all the inhabitants of the earth ; promise the best assistance for attaining this knowlege.

The compendium of Geography, now offered to the public, differs in many particulars from other books on that subject. Beside exhibiting an easy, distinct, and systematic account of the theory and practice of what may be called Natural Geography, the Author has at tempted to render thefollowingperformance an instruc tive, though compendious, detail of the general history of the world. The characters of nations depend on a combination of many circumstances, which recipro cally affect each other. There is a nearer connexion between the learning, commerce, government, &c. of a state, than most people seem to apprehend. In a work of this kind, the object of which is to include moral, or political, as well as natural Geography, no one of these topics should pass unnoticed. The omis sion of any one of them would, in reality, deprive us of a branch of knowlege, not only interesting in itself, but which is absolutely necessary for enabling us to form an adequate and comprehensive idea of the subject in general.

We have thought it necessary, therefore, that this work should comprehend the history and present state of learning in the several countries we de scribe, with the characters of such persons as have been most eminentin the various departments of letters and philosophy. This will, on a little reflexion, appear requisite, when we consider the powerful in-

PREFACE.

. XI fluence of learning upon the manners, government, and general character, of nations. These objects, in deed, till of late, seldom found a place in geographical performances ; and, even where they have been intro duced, are by no means handled in an entertaining or instructive manner. Neither is this to be altogether imputed to the fault of geographical writers. The greater part of travelers, actingsolely under the in fluence of avarice, the passion which first induced them to quit their native land, were at little pains, and were indeed ill qualified, to collect such materials as are proper for gratifying our curiosity, with regard to these particulars. The geographer, then, who could only employ the materials put into his hands, was not enabled to give us any important information upon such subjects.

In the course of the eighteenth cen tury, however, men have begun to travel from different motives. A thirst for knowlege, as well as for gold, has led many into distant lands. These they have explored with philosophic attention ; and, by laying open the internal springs of action, by which the in habitants of different regions are actuated, exhibit to us a natural and striking picture of human manners, under the various stages of barbarism and refinement. Without manifest impropriety, we could not but avail ourselves of their labors, by means of which we have been enabled to give a more copious and perfect de tail of what is called Political Geography, than has hitherto appeared. In considering the present state of nations, few cir cumstances are more important than their mutual in tercourse.

This is chiefly produced by commerce, the prime mover in the œconomy of modern states ; of which,' therefore, we have never lost sight in the pre sent undertaking. We are sensible that a reader cannot examine the present circumstances of nations with much entertainment or instruction, unless he be also informed of their state during preceding ages, and of the various revolutions and events, by the operation of which they have assumed theirpresent form and appearance. This con stitutes the historical part of our Avork, in Avhich, in stead of a meagre index of incoherent incidents, we

PREFACE.

. XII have drawn up a regular and connected epitome of the history of each country ;— such an epitome as may be read with equal pleasure and advantage, and consider ed as a proper introduction to more copious accounts. Having, through the whole of the Avork, mentioned the ancient names of countries, and, in treating of their particular history, sometimes carried our researches beyond the limits of modern times, we have thought it necessary, for the satisfaction of such readers as are unacquainted Avith classical learning, to begin our his torical Introduction Avith the remote ages of antiquity. By inserting an account of the ancient world in a book of Geography, Ave afford an opportunity to the reader of comparing, not only the manners, government, and arts, of different nations, as they noAv appear, but as they subsisted in ancient ages ; AAdiich, exhibiting a general map, as it Avere, of the history of mankind, renders our Avork more complete than any geographical treatise extant.

In the execution of our design, A\re have constantly endeavoured to observe order and perspicuity. Ele gance Ave have sacrificed to brevity; happy to catch the leading features AA'hich distinguish the characters of nations, and by a few strokes to sketch, though not completely to finish, the picture of mankind. What has enabled us to comprise so many subjects Avithin the narrow bounds of this Avork, is the omission of many immaterial circumstances, and of all those fabulous accounts or descriptions, Avhich, to the disgrace of the human understanding, SAvell the works of Geo graphers ; though their falsity, both from their own nature and the concurring testimony of the most en lightened and the best-informed travelers and histori ans, has been long since detected. As to the various parts of the Avork, Ave have been more or less diffuse, according to their importance to us as men and as subjects of Great-Britain.

Our OAvn country, in both respects, deserved the greatest share of our attention. Great-Britain, though she cannot boast of a more luxuriant soil or a happier climate than many other countries, has advantages of another and superior kind, Avhich make her the delight, the em'y, and the mistress, of the Avorld : these are, the equity of

PREFACE.

. XIII her laAvs, the freedom of her political constitution, and the moderation of her religious system. With regard to the British empire Ave have therefore been singularly copious. Next to Great-Britain, Ave have been most particular upon the other states of Europe, and always in pro portion as they present us with the largest field for useful reflexion. By comparing our accounts of the European nations, the important system of practical knowlege is inculcated, and a thousand arguments will appear in favor of a mild religion, a free government, and an extended, unrestrained commerce. Europe having occupied so large a part of our vo lume, Asia next claims our attention ; Avhich, however, though in some respects the most famous quarter of the Avorld, offers, Avhen compared to Europe, very little for our entertainment or instruction.

In Asia, a strong attachment to ancient customs, and the Aveight of ty rannical power, bear doAvn the active genius of man, and prevent that variety, in manners and character, which distinguishes the European nations. In Africa, the human mind seems degraded beloAV its natural state. To dAvell long upon the manners of this country, a country so immersed in rudeness and barbarism, beside that it could afford little instruction, would be disgusting to every lover of mankind. Add to this, that the inhabitants of Africa, deprived of all arts and sciences, without Avhich the human mind re mains torpid and inactive, discover no great variety in manners or character. A gloomy sameness almost every Avhere prevails ; and the trifling distinctions Avhich are discovered among them seem rather to arise from an excess of brutality on one hand, than from any perceptible approaches toAvard refinement on the other.

But, though these quarters of the globe are treated less extensively than Europe, there is no district of them, hoAvever barren or savage, entirely omitted. America, Avhether considered as an immense continent, inhabited by an endless A^ariety of different peo ple, or as a country intimately connected with Europe by the ties of commerce and government, deserves very particular attention. The bold discovery and barbarous conquest of this iicav Avorld, and the man-

PREFACE.

. ners and prejudices of the original inhabitants, are objects which, together Avith the description of the country, deseiwedly occupy no small share of this per formance. In treating of such a A'ariety of subjects, some less obvious particulars, Avithout doubt, must escape our notice. But if our general plan be good, and the out lines and chief figures sketched Avith truth and judgement, the candor of the learned, we hope, will excuse imperfections Avhich are unavoidable in a Avork of this extensive kind. We cannot, Avithout exceeding the bounds of a pre face, insist upon the other parts of our plan. The Maps, Avhich are executed with care by the ablest artists, will, Ave hope, afford satisfaction. The science of Natural Geography still remains in an imperfect state ; and the divisions and extent of countries, for Avant of geo metrical surveys, are far from being Avell ascertained.

With respect to these Ave have, however, constantly resorted to the best authorities Avhich, in the present state of geographical science, Ave have been able to procure. DIRECTIONS FOR PLACING THE MAPS The World is to front the Title. The Sphere Page 9 Europe 48 Denmark 50 Sweden and Norway 65 Russia in Europe 89 England aud Wales 123 Scotland 248 Ireland 279 France 301 Netherlands 357 Germany, the northern part 375 • the southern part 409 Switzerland , 440 Spain and Portugal 4.53 Italy 504 Turkey in Europe 535 Asia 557 Turkey in Asia 560 Persia 587 Russian empire in Asia 602 China 614 Hindoostan 640 Africa 683 North America 757 United States 779 West Indies 815 Mexico 823 South America 834 Colombia and Peru 840 Brazil 855 Australasia and Polynesia 871 N. E. In the 454th page, not only a province is misnamed, but it is improperly amalgamated with another : for Ausiurias Leon, therefore, read Asluriits, Lton. — We take this opportunity of referring to our enumeration of the royal family of Great-Britain.

The duke of York is mentioned (in p. 239) among the living princes, because, when that sheet passed through the press, we had not lost his royal highness. We now request the reader to supersede that paragraph, and insert, at the end of the section, the following statement : — The king's next brother, Frederic duke of York, died on the 5th of January, 182/ , in the 64th year of his age, leavingno issue by the princess of Prussia, to wli om he was married in 1791. 8PBj4 IoK&,n.A}>luh«lJirayl-i*!7 fy J3Q»™m*** other sropr^rs

Introduction

.

Part I

, OF ASTRONOMICAL GEOGRAPHY. SECT. I. OF THE FIGURE AND MOTION OF THE EARTH, THE DIFFERENT SYSTEMS OF THE UNIVERSE, THE PLA- NETS, COMETS, AND FIXED STARS. J. HE science of Geography, in the more extensive signification of the word, is so intimately connected with that of Astronomy, that it will be necessary to begin this work with a summary view of the system of the world, and a brief account of the order and revolutions of the heavenly bodies. The earth was long considered as an extensive plane, of unknown thickness, beneath which were the abodes of the spirits of the dead — the regions of Elysium and Tartarus. The heavens, in which the sun, moon, and stars, appeared to move daily from east to west, were conceived to be at no great distance from it, and to be only designed for its use and ornament.

More attentive observation, however, soon showed that the earth was of a globular figure. Thus, when a ship is sailing, the tops of the masts first become visible at a distance ; the setting sun may be distinctly seen from the top of a hill, when it appears to those below to have sunk beneath the horizon ; and the shadow of the earth in a lunar eclipse i3 of a circular figure. But it is needless to insist on these proofs, since the frequent voyages of different navigators round the world, from the time of Magalhaens, or Magellan, whose ship first circumnavigated the globe between the years 1519 and 1522, to that of the repeated voyages of captain Cook, have fully demonstrated that the form of the earth is globular. The spherical figure of the earth being admitted, its motion became much more probable from the very nature of its form; and, besides, an unanswerable argument for that motion was derived from considering, that, if the earth did not move round the sun, not only the sun, but all the planets and stars, must move round the earth.

Now as astronomers, by calculations founded on the principles of geometry, can ascertain very nearly the distances of the heavenly bodies from the earth and from each other, it appears that, if we should conceive these bodies to move round the earth, we must suppose them endowed with a motion or velocity so immense as to exceed all conception, whereas all the appearances in nature may be as well explained by imagining the earth to move round the sun in the space of a year, and to turn on its own axis once in twenty-four hours. B

INTRODUCTION.

. 2 The earth, therefore, in the course of twenty-four hours, moves from west to east, while the inhabitants on the surface of it, like men on the deck of a ship, who are insensible of their own motion, and think that the banks move from them in a contrary direction, will conceive that the sun and stars move from east to west in the same time of twenty-lour hours in which they, along with the earth, move from west to east. When we have once clearly conceived this diurnal motion of the earth, we shall easily be enabled to form an idea of its annual motion round the sun ; for, as that luminary seems to have a diurnal motion round our earth, which is really occasioned by the daily motion of the earth round its own axis, so, in the course of a year, he seems to have an annual motion in the heavens, and to rise and set in different points of them, although these appearances are caused by the annual motion of the earth in its orbit or path round the sun, which it completes in a year.

Now, as we owe to the former of these motions the difference of day and night, so to the second we are indebted for the difference in the length of the days and nights, and in the seasons of the year. Different systems of the universe.] Thales, the Milesian, who, about 600 years before Christ, first taught astronomy in Greece, had made a sufficient progress in this science to calculate eclipses, or the interpositions of the moon between the earth and the sun, or ot the earth between the sun and the moon. Pythagoras, a native of Samos, flourished about fifty years after Thales, and was equally well acquainted with the motions of the heavenly bodies. He conceived an idea, which there is no reason to believe had ever been suggested before, namely, that the earth itself was in motion, and that the sun was at rest.

He found that it was impossible, in any other way, to explain consistently the heavenly motions. His system, however, was so opposite to all the prejudices of sense and opinion, that it never was widely diffused in the ancient world. The philosophers of antiquity, despairing of being able to overcome ignorance by reason, endeavoured to adapt one to the other, and in some measure to reconcile them. Ptolemy, an Egyptian philosopher, who flourished 138 years after the birth of Christ, supposed that the earth was fixed immoveably in the centre of the universe, and that the seven planets, the moon being considered as one of the prima ries, were placed near to it. Above them he placed the firmament of fixed stars, then the crystalline orbs, then the primum mobile, and, last of all, the cœlum empyrœum, or heaven of heavens.

All these vast orbs he imagined to move round the earth once in twenty-four hours, and also to perform other revolutions round it, in stated and periodical times. To account for these motions, he was obliged to conceive a number of circles, called eccentrics and epicycles, crossing and inter feting with each other. This system was universally maintained by the peripatetic philosophers, who formed the most considerable sect u Europe, from the time of Ptolemy to the revival of learning in the six teenth century. At length, Copernicus, a native of Poland, a bold and original genius, adopted the Pythagorean or true system of the universe, and published it in the year 1543. This doctrine had remained so long in obscurity, that the restorer of it was considered as the inventor ; and the system obtained the name of the Copernican Philosophy.

But Europe was still immersed in ignorance, and Copernicus had many opponents. Tycho Brahe, in particular, a noble Dane, sensible of the defects of the Ptolemaic system, but unwilling to acknowlege the motion of the earth, endeavoured, about the year 1586, to establish a new system, which was

INTRODUCTION.

. 3 still more perplexed than that of Ptolemy. It allows a monthly motion to the moon round the earth, as the centre of its orbit ; and makes the sun to be the centre of the orbits of Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. The sun, however, with all the planets, is supposed to be whirled round the earth in a year, and even once in twenty-four hours. This system, notwithstanding its absurdity, met with many advocates. Longomontanus, and others, so far refined upon it, as to admit the diurnal motion of the earth, though they insisted that it had no an nual motion. About this time, after a darkness of many ages, the first dawn of learning and taste appeared in Europe. Learned men, in different countries, began to cultivate astronomy. Galileo, a Florentine, about the year 1610, introduced the use of telescopes, which afforded new arguments in support of the motion of the earth, and confirmed the old ones.

The fury and bigotry of the clergy, indeed, had almost stifled the science in its infancy ; and Galileo was obliged to renounce the Copernican system, as a damnable heresy. The happy reformation of religion, however, placed a great part of Europe beyond the reach of the papal thunder. It taught mankind that the Scriptures were not given for explaining systems of natural philosophy, but for a much nobler purpose, — to render us just, virtuous, and humane ; that, instead of opposing the word of God, which, in speaking of natural things, suits itself to the prejudices of weak mortals, we employ our faculties in a manner highly agreeable to our Creator, in tracing the nature of his works, which, the more they are considered, afford us the greater reason to admire his glorious attributes of power, wisdom, and goodness.

From this time, therefore, noble discoveries were made in all the branches of astronomy. Not only the motions of the heavenly bodies were clearly explained, but the general law of nature, according to which they moved, was discovered and illustrated by the immortal Newton. By this law of Gravity, or Attraction, any body falls to the ground, when dis engaged from that which supported it. It has been demonstrated, that this law, which keeps the sea in its channel, and the various bodies which cover the surface of this earth from flying off into the air, operates throughout the universe, retains the planets in their orbits, and preserves the whole fabric of nature from confusion and disorder. The Copernican system.] In the solar system of Copernicus, as confirmed and demonstrated from geometrical principles by sir Isaac Newton, the sun is placed in the centre, and round him revolve the seven planets, the names of which are, beginning with the nearest to the sun, Mercury, Venus, the Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and the Georgium Sidus, by foreign astronomers called Uranus.

The last was discovered by Dr. flerschel with his telescope of great size and power, 40 feet in length, and 4^ in diameter, in the year 1781. Though it was not till then known as a planet, there are many reasons to suppose that it had been seen before, but had been considered as a fixed star. From the steadiness of its light, from the augmentation of its diameter by high magnifying powers, and from the change which he had observed in its situation, Dr. Herschel first concluded that it was a comet ; but in a little time he, with others, determined that it was a planet, from its vicinity to the ecliptic, the direction of its motion, and its being stationary at the time and in the circumstances which correspond with similar appearances in other planets. When the moon is absent, it may be seen by the naked eye ; and the discovery of six satellites attending it confers upon B2

INTRODUCTION.

. 4 it a dignity, and raises it to a conspicuous situation, among the great bodies of our solar system. It may here be observed, that another planet was discovered on the 1st of January, 1801, by Piazzi of Palermo, who called it Ferdinandia, in honor of his Sicilian majesty. It has its orbit between those ot Mars and Jupiter. According to the latest observations, its period is four years 222 days. Its distance from the sun is to that of the eartn as 267 to 100, consequently above 250 millions of miles. It is not visible to the naked eye, and is so small, that glasses of a very high magnifying power will not show it with a distinctly-defined diame ter: Dr. Herschel, however, estimated its diameter at 160 English miles. Another planet has been added to the number previously known, by Dr. Olbers of Hamburg : it is likewise situated between Mars and Jupiter.

It has been named Pallas. Its distance from the sun is to that of the earth as 280 to 100, or nearly 270 millions of miles. It is extremely small, its diameter being calculated at only 116 miles. Two other planets have been discovered, styled Juno and Vesta ; but they are so small, that they may rather be called asteroids than stars. The magnitudes, annual periods, and mean distances from the sun, of the several planets, are given in the table subjoined. Their relative distances may likewise be thus stated in a manner more compendious and easy to be remembered. If the distance of the earth from the sun be supposed to be divided into ten parts, the distance of Mercury will be four such parts, that of Venus seven, that of Mars fifteen, that of Jupiter fifty-two, that of Saturn ninety-five, and that of the Georgium Sidus one hundred and ninety.

Beside these seven planets, there are eighteen which move round four of these in the same manner as the former do round the sun. Of these our Earth has one, called the Moon ; Jupiter has four, which were discovered by Galilæus Simon Marius, a German astronomer ; Saturn has seven, of which Cassini discovered four, Huygens one, and Herschel two ; and the Georgium Sidus, as we before observed, has six. They are called moons, from their resemblance to our moon ; and sometimes secondary planets, because they are attendants of the primary orbs. The orbits described by the planets are not exact circles, but ellipses or ovals : hence the same planet is not always at the same distance from the sun ; and the distance which is exactly between the greatest and least distance is called the mean distance.

In the following table the inclinations of the axes of the planets to their orbits are given ; and the meaning of this term it may be necessary to explain. We have already said that the annual motion of the earth occasions the diversity of seasons ; but this would not happen were the axis of the earth exactly parallel to, or in a line with, the axis of its orbit, because then the same parts of the earth would be turned toward the sun in every diurnal revolution ; which would deprive mankind of the grateful vicissitudes of the seasons, arising from the difference in length of the days and nights, produced by this inclination of the axis. The axes of several others of the planets are in like manner inclined to the planes of their orbits, and the angle of their inclination is given in the following table.

INTRODUCTION.

5 A TABLE OF THE DIAMETERS, PERIODS, &c. OF THE SEVERAL PLANETS IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM. Comets.] Beside the primary and secondary planets already enumerated, there are other bodies which revolve round the sun. These are called Comets, and appear occasionally in every part of the heavens. Descending from the distant parts of the system with great rapidity, they surprise us with the singular appearance of a train, or tail, which accompanies them ; become visible to us in the lower parts of their orbits ; and, after a short stay, go off again to vast distances, and disappear. Though some of the ancients had more just notions of them, yet the opinion having prevailed, that they were only meteors generated in the air, (like those we see in it every night,) and in a few moments vanishing, no care was taken to observe or record their phænomena with precision.