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force meet us on the very threshold of such subjects, and compel us to the study of astronomy, and the observation of such phenomena as each of us may notice; in which too, very considerable differences appear, according to the various points of observation. How could any one undertake to write accurately and with propriety on the differences of the various parts of the earth, who was ignorant of these matters? and although, if the undertaking were of a popular character, it might not be advisable to enter thoroughly into detail, still we should endeavour to include every thing which could be comprehended by the general reader. 15
He who has thus elevated his mind, will he be satisfied
with any thing less than the whole world? If in his anxiety
accurately to portray the inhabited earth, he has dared to
survey heaven, and make use thereof for purposes of instruction, would it not seem childish were he to refrain from examining the whole earth, of which the inhabited is but a part,
its size, its features, and its position in the universe; whether
other portions are inhabited besides those on which we dwell,
and if so, their amount? What is the extent of the regions
not peopled? what their peculiarities, and the cause of their
remaining as they are? Thus it appears that the knowledge
of geography is connected with meteorology note and geometry,
that it unites the things of earth to the things of heaven, as
though they were nearly allied, and not separated.
As far as heaven from earth. note
Iliad viii. 16
To the various subjects which it embraces let us add natural history, or the history of the animals, plants, and other different productions of the earth and sea, whether serviceable or useless, and my original statement will, I think, carry perfect conviction with it.
That he who should undertake this work would be a benefactor to mankind, reason and the voice of antiquity agree. The poets feign that they were the wisest heroes who travelled and wandered most in foreign climes: and to be familiar with many countries, and the disposition of the inhabitants, is, according to them, of vast importance. Nestor prides himself on having associated with the Lapithae, note to whom he went, having been invited thither from the Apian note land afar.
So does Menelaus:—
Cyprus, Phoenicia, Sidon, and the shores
Odyssey iv. 83.
Of Egypt, roaming without hope I reach'd;
In distant Ethiopia thence arrived,
And Libya, where the lambs their foreheads show
With budding horns defended soon as yean'd. note
There thrice within the year the flocks produce. note
Odyssey iv. 86.
the city with an hundred gates,
Iliad ix. 383, et seq.
Whence twenty thousand chariots rush to war. note
Such information greatly enlarges our sphere of knowledge, by informing us of the nature of the country, its botanical and zoological peculiarities. To these should be added its marine history; for we are in a certain sense amphibious, not exclusively connected with the land, but with the sea as well. Hercules, on account of his vast experience and observation, was described as skilled in mighty works. note
All that we have previously stated is confirmed both by the testimony of antiquity and by reason. One consideration however appears to bear in a peculiar manner on the case in point; viz. the importance of geography in a political view. For the sea and the earth in which we dwell furnish theatres
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Strabo, Geography (English) (XML Header) [genre: prose] [word count] [lemma count] [Str.].