Chapter I: Introduction

"Hope went before them, and the world was wide."

Such was the spirit in which the exploration of the world was accomplished. It was the inspiration that carried men of old far beyond the sunrise into those magic and silent seas whereon no boat had ever sailed. It is the incentive of those to-day with the wander-thirst in their souls, who travel and suffer in the travelling, though there are fewer prizes left to win. But

"The reward is in the doing,
And the rapture of pursuing
Is the prize."

"To travel hopefully," says Stevenson, "is a better thing than to arrive." This would explain the fact that this Book of Discovery has become a record of splendid endurance, of hardships bravely borne, of silent toil, of courage and resolution unequalled in the annals of mankind, of self-sacrifice unrivalled and faithful lives laid ungrudgingly down. Of the many who went forth, the few only attained. It is of these few that this book tells.

"All these," says the poet in Ecclesiastes--"all these were honoured in their generation, and were the glory of their times ... their name liveth for evermore."

But while we read of those master-spirits who succeeded, let us never forget those who failed to achieve.

"Anybody might have found it, but the Whisper came to Me."

Enthusiasm too was the secret of their success. Among the best of crews there was always some one who would have turned back, but the world would never have been explored had it not been for those finer spirits who resolutely went on--even to the death.

This is what carried Alexander the Great to the "earth's utmost verge," that drew Columbus across the trackless Atlantic, that nerved Vasco da Gama to double the Stormy Cape, that induced Magellan to face the dreaded straits now called by his name, that made it possible for men to face without flinching the ice-bound regions of the far North.

"There is no land uninhabitable, nor sea unnavigable," asserted the men of the sixteenth century, when England set herself to take possession of her heritage in the North. Such an heroic temper could overcome all things. But the cost was great, the sufferings intense.

"Having eaten our shoes and saddles boiled with a few wild herbs, we set out to reach the kingdom of gold," says Orellana in 1540.

"We ate biscuit, but in truth it was biscuit no longer, but a powder full of worms,--so great was the want of food, that we were forced to eat the hides with which the mainyard was covered; but we had also to make use of sawdust for food, and rats became a great delicacy," related Magellan, as he led his little ship across the unknown Pacific.

Again, there is Franklin returning from the Arctic coast, and stilling the pangs of hunger with "pieces of singed hide mixed with lichen," varied with "the horns and bones of a dead deer fried with some old shoes."

The dangers of the way were manifold.

For the early explorers had no land map or ocean chart to guide them, there were no lighthouses to warn the strange mariner of dangerous coast and angry surf, no books of travel to relate the weird doings of fierce and inhospitable savages, no tinned foods to prevent the terrible scourge of sailors, scurvy. In their little wooden sailing ships the men of old faced every conceivable danger, and surmounted obstacles unknown to modern civilisation.

"Now strike your Sails ye jolly Mariners,
For we be come into a quiet Rode."

For the most part we are struck with the light-heartedness of the olden sailor, the shout of gladness with which men went forth on these hazardous undertakings, knowing not how they would arrive, or what might befall them by the way, went forth in the smallest of wooden ships, with the most incompetent of crews, to face the dangers of unknown seas and unsuspected lands, to chance the angry storm and the hidden rock, to discover inhospitable shores and savage foes. Founded on bitter experience is the old saying--

"A Passage Perilous makyth a Port Pleasant."

For the early navigators knew little of the art of navigation.

Pytheas, who discovered the British Isles, was "a great mathematician." Diego Cam, who sailed to the mouth of the Congo, was "a knight of the King's household." Sir Hugh Willoughby, "a most valiant gentleman." Richard Chancellor, "a man of great estimation for many good parts of wit in him." Anthony Jenkinson, a "resolute and intelligent gentleman." Sir Walter Raleigh, an Elizabethan courtier, and so forth.

It has been obviously impossible to include all the famous names that belong to the history of exploration. Most of these explorers have been chosen for some definite new discovery, some addition to the world's geographical knowledge, or some great feat of endurance which may serve to brace us to fresh effort as a nation famous for our seamen. English navigators have been afforded the lion's share in the book, partly because they took the lion's share in exploring, partly because translations of foreign travel are difficult to transcribe. Most of these stories have been taken from original sources, and most of the explorers have been allowed to tell part of their own story in their own words.

Perhaps the most graphic of all explorations is that written by a native of West Australia, who accompanied an exploring party searching for an English lad named Smith, who had been starved to death.

"Away, away, away, away; we reach the water of Djunjup; we shoot game. Away, away, away through a forest away, through a forest away; we see no water. Through a forest away, along our tracks away; hills ascending, then pleasantly away, away, through a forest away. We see a water--along the river away--a short distance we go, then away, away, away through a forest away. Then along another river away, across the river away. Still we go onwards, along the sea away, through the bush away, then along the sea away. We sleep near the sea. I see Mr. Smith's footsteps ascending a sandhill; onwards I go regarding his footsteps. I see Mr. Smith dead. Two sleeps had he been dead; greatly did I weep, and much I grieved. In his blanket folding him, we scraped away the earth. The sun had inclined to the westward as we laid him in the ground."

The book is illustrated with reproductions from old maps--old primitive maps, with a real Adam and Eve standing in the Garden of Eden, with Pillars of Hercules guarding the Straits of Gibraltar, with Paradise in the east, a realistic Jerusalem in the centre, the island of Thule in the north, and St. Brandon's Isles of the Blest in the west.

Beautifully coloured were the maps of the Middle Ages, "joyous charts all glorious with gold and vermilion, compasses and crests and flying banners, with mountains of red and gold." The seas are full of ships--"brave beflagged vessels with swelling sails." The land is ablaze with kings and potentates on golden thrones under canopies of angels. While over all presides the Madonna in her golden chair.

The Hereford Mappa Mundi, drawn in the thirteenth century on a fine sheet of vellum, circular in form, is among the most interesting of the mediaeval maps. It must once have been gorgeous, with its gold letters and scarlet towns, its green seas and its blue rivers. The Red Sea is still red, but the Mediterranean is chocolate brown, and all the green has disappeared. The mounted figure in the lower right-hand corner is probably the author, Richard de Haldingham. The map is surmounted by a representation of the Last Judgment, below which is Paradise as a circular island, with the four rivers and the figures of Adam and Eve. In the centre is Jerusalem. The world is divided into three--Asia, "Affrica," and Europe. Around this earth-island flows the ocean. America is, of course, absent; the East is placed at Paradise and the West at the Pillars of Hercules. North and South are left to the imagination.

And what of the famous map of Juan de la Cosa, once pilot to Columbus, drawn in the fifteenth century, with St. Christopher carrying the infant Christ across the water, supposed to be a portrait of Christopher Columbus carrying the gospel to America? It is the first map in which a dim outline appears of the New World.

The early maps of "Apphrica" are filled with camels and unicorns, lions and tigers, veiled figures and the turrets and spires of strange buildings--

"Geographers in Afric maps
With savage pictures fill their gaps."

"Surely," says a modern writer,--"surely the old cartographer was less concerned to fill his gaps than to express the poetry of geography."

And to-day, there are still gaps in the most modern maps of Africa, where one-eleventh of the whole area remains unexplored. Further, in Asia the problem of the Brahmaputra Falls is yet unsolved; there are shores untrodden and rivers unsurveyed.

"God hath given us some things, and not all things, that our successors also might have somewhat to do," wrote Barents in the sixteenth century. There may not be much left, but with the words of Kipling's _Explorer_ we may fitly conclude--

"Something hidden. Go and find it. Go and look behind the Ranges--
Something lost behind the Ranges. Lost and waiting for you. Go!"

Thanks are due to Mr. S. G. Stubbs for valuable assistance in the selection and preparation of the illustrations, which, with few exceptions, have been executed under his directions.

CONTENTS

CHAP. PAGE
I. A LITTLE OLD WORLD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
II. EARLY MARINERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
III. IS THE WORLD FLAT? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
IV. HERODOTUS--THE TRAVELLER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
V. ALEXANDER THE GREAT EXPLORES INDIA . . . . . . . . . . . 35
VI. PYTHEAS FINDS THE BRITISH ISLES . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
VII. JULIUS CAESAR AS EXPLORER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
VIII. STRABO'S GEOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
IX. THE ROMAN EMPIRE AND PLINY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
X. PTOLEMY'S MAPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
XI. PILGRIM TRAVELLERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
XII. IRISH EXPLORERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
XIII. AFTER MOHAMMED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
XIV. THE VIKINGS SAIL THE NORTHERN SEAS . . . . . . . . . . . 93
XV. ARAB WAYFARERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
XVI. TRAVELLERS TO THE EAST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
XVII. MARCO POLO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
XVIII. THE END OF MEDIAEVAL EXPLORATION . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
XIX. MEDIAEVAL MAPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
XX. PRINCE HENRY OF PORTUGAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
XXI. BARTHOLOMEW DIAZ REACHES THE STORMY CAPE . . . . . . . . 150
XXII. CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
XXIII. A GREAT NEW WORLD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
XXIV. VASCO DA GAMA REACHES INDIA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
XXV. DISCOVERY OF THE SPICE ISLANDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
XXVI. BALBOA SEES THE PACIFIC OCEAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
XXVII. MAGELLAN SAILS ROUND THE WORLD . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
XXVIII. CORTES EXPLORES AND CONQUERS MEXICO . . . . . . . . . . 205
XXIX. EXPLORERS IN SOUTH AMERICA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
XXX. CABOT SAILS TO NEWFOUNDLAND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
XXXI. JACQUES CARTIER EXPLORES CANADA . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
XXXII. SEARCH FOR A NORTH-EAST PASSAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
XXXIII. MARTIN FROBISHER SEARCHES FOR A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE . . . 245
XXXIV. DRAKE'S FAMOUS VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD . . . . . . . . . 249
XXXV. DAVIS STRAIT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
XXXVI. BARENTS SAILS TO SPITZBERGEN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
XXXVII. HUDSON FINDS HIS BAY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
XXXVIII. BAFFIN FINDS HIS BAY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
XXXIX. SIR WALTER RALEIGH SEARCHES FOR EL DORADO . . . . . . . 285
XL. CHAMPLAIN DISCOVERS LAKE ONTARIO . . . . . . . . . . . . 290
XLI. EARLY DISCOVERERS OF AUSTRALIA . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
XLII. TASMAN FINDS TASMANIA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
XLIII. DAMPIER DISCOVERS HIS STRAIT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306
XLIV. BEHRING FINDS HIS STRAIT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312
XLV. COOK DISCOVERS NEW ZEALAND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319
XLVI. COOK'S THIRD VOYAGE AND DEATH . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330
XLVII. BRUCE'S TRAVELS IN ABYSSINIA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339
XLVIII. MUNGO PARK AND THE NIGER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348
XLIX. VANCOUVER DISCOVERS HIS ISLAND . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357
L. MACKENZIE AND HIS RIVER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362
LI. PARRY DISCOVERS LANCASTER SOUND . . . . . . . . . . . . 365
LII. THE FROZEN NORTH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372
LIII. FRANKLIN'S LAND JOURNEY TO THE NORTH . . . . . . . . . . 382
LIV. PARRY'S POLAR VOYAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388
LV. THE SEARCH FOR TIMBUKTU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391
LVI. RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER DISCOVER THE MOUTH OF THE NIGER 399
LVII. ROSS DISCOVERS THE NORTH MAGNETIC POLE . . . . . . . . . 403
LVIII. FLINDERS NAMES AUSTRALIA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410
LIX. STURT'S DISCOVERIES IN AUSTRALIA . . . . . . . . . . . . 419
LX. ROSS MAKES DISCOVERIES IN THE ANTARCTIC SEAS . . . . . . 428
LXI. FRANKLIN DISCOVERS THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE . . . . . . . 432
LXII. DAVID LIVINGSTONE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 440
LXIII. BURTON AND SPEKE IN CENTRAL AFRICA . . . . . . . . . . . 450
LXIV. LIVINGSTONE TRACES LAKE SHIRWA AND NYASSA . . . . . . . 456
LXV. EXPEDITION TO VICTORIA NYANZA . . . . . . . . . . . . . 460
LXVI. BAKER FINDS ALBERT NYANZA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 467
LXVII. LIVINGSTONE'S LAST JOURNEY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 474
LXVIII. THROUGH THE DARK CONTINENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 486
LXIX. NORDENSKIOLD ACCOMPLISHES THE NORTH-EAST PASSAGE . . . . 501
LXX. THE EXPLORATION OF TIBET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 511
LXXI. NANSEN REACHES FARTHEST NORTH . . . . . . . . . . . . . 521
LXXII. PEARY REACHES THE NORTH POLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 530
LXXIII. THE QUEST FOR THE SOUTH POLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 536

DATES OF CHIEF EVENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 545
INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 549

COLOURED ILLUSTRATIONS

Ptolemy's Map of the World about A.D. 150 . . . . . . _Frontispiece_
Taken from the first printed edition of 1472 and the Rome
edition of 1508.

FACING PAGE
The Polos leaving Venice for their Travels to the Far East . . . 118
From a Miniature at the head of a late 14th century MS. of the
_Travels of Marco Polo_, in the Bodleian Library, Oxford.

The Hereford Mappa Mundi of 1280 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
The original, made by RICHARD DE HALDINGHAM, Prebendary of
Hereford, hangs in the Chapter House Library, Hereford
Cathedral.

Map of the World drawn in 1500, the first to show America . . . . 168
By JUAN DE LA COSA.

The Dauphin Map of the World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
Made by PIERRE DESCELLIERS 1546, by order of Francis I. for
the Dauphin (Henri II.) of France.

Barents's Ship among the Arctic Ice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
From a coloured woodcut in Barents's _Three Voyages_
(De Veer), published in 1598.

Ross's Winter Quarters in Felix Harbour . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404

The First Communication With Eskimos at Boothia Felix, 1830 . . . 404
From Drawings by ROSS in the _Narrative of his Expedition to
the North Magnetic Pole, A Second Voyage in Search of a
North-West Passage_, 1829-33.

Shackleton's Ship, the _Nimrod_, among the Ice in McMurdo Sound . 538
From _The Heart of the Antarctic_ (published by Heinemann), by
kind permission of Sir ERNEST SHACKLETON.

BLACK & WHITE ILLUSTRATIONS

FACING PAGE
The Unrolling of the Clouds: the World as known at the time of
Homer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

The Unrolling of the Clouds: the World as known at the time of
Ptolemy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

The Unrolling of the Clouds: the World as known at the end of
the 13th century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

The Best Portrait of Columbus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
From the original Painting by an unknown artist in the Naval
Museum, Madrid.

The Unrolling of the Clouds: the World as known at the time of
Columbus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

Amerigo Vespucci . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
From the Sculpture by GRAZZINI at the Uffizi Gallery,
Florence.

Ferdinand Magellan, the first Circumnavigator . . . . . . . . . . 198
From the Engraving by FERDINAND SELMA.

Sir Francis Drake, the first Englishman to sail round the World . 252
After the Engraving attributed to HONDIUS.

The Unrolling of the Clouds: the World as known at the time of
Drake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258

Karakakova Bay, where Captain Cook was murdered . . . . . . . . . 334
From the Engraving in the Atlas to COOK'S _Voyages_.

The Unrolling of the Clouds: the World as known at the time of
Cook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336

Mungo Park . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350
From the Engraving in PARK'S _Travels into the Interior of
Africa_, 1799.

Search for a North-West Passage: Parry's Ships cutting through
the Ice into Winter Harbour, 1819 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370
From a Drawing by WILLIAM WESTALL, A.R.A., of a Sketch by
Lieut. BEECHEY, a member of the expedition. From PARRY'S
_Journal of a Voyage for the Discovery of the North-West
Passage_.

Lhasa and the Potala . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 520
From a Photograph by a member of Younghusband's Expedition to
Thibet.

At the North Pole . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 534
From the Photograph in Admiral PEARY'S book _The North Pole_.

Captain Roald Amundsen taking Sights at the South Pole . . . . . 544
From a Photograph.

Acknowledgment is due to the courtesy of Mr. John Murray and the _Illustrated London News_ for the photograph taken at the South Pole, facing page 544; to Admiral Peary for that taken at the North Pole, facing page 534; and to Sir Ernest Shackleton and Mr. Heinemann for the colour-plate of the _Nimrod_. Permissions have also been granted by Mr. John Murray (for illustrations from Livingstone's books and Admiral McClintock's _Voyage of the Fox_); by Messrs. Macmillan (for the colour-plate of the Polos leaving Venice, from the Bodleian); and by Messrs. Sampson, Low, Marston, & Co. (for illustrations from Sir H. M. Stanley's books).

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT

PAGE
The Garden of Eden with its Four Rivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
From the Hereford Map of the World.

Babylonian Map of the World on Clay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
In the British Museum.

The oldest known Ships: between 6000 and 5000 B.C. . . . . . . . 4
From a pre-Egyptian Vase-painting.

Egyptian Ship of the Expedition to Punt, about 1600 B.C. . . . . 7
From a Rock-carving at Der el Bahari.

The Ark on Ararat, and the Cities of Nineveh and Babylon . . . . 8
From LEONARDO DATI'S Map of 1422.

A Phoenician Ship, about 700 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
From a Bas-relief at Nineveh.

Map of the Voyage of the Argonauts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

The Pillars of Hercules, as shown in a Mediaeval Map . . . . . . 20
HIGDEN'S Map of the World. 1360 A.D.

The Pillars of Hercules, as shown in the Anglo-Saxon Map of the
World, 10th century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

A Greek Galley, about 500 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
From a Vase-painting.

Jerusalem, the Centre of the World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
From the Hereford Map of the World, 13th century.

A Merchant-Ship of Athens, about 500 B.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
From a Vase-painting.

The Coast of Africa, after Ptolemy (Mercator's Edition), showing
Hanno's Voyage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

A Sketch Map of Alexander's Chief Exploratory Marches from Athens
to Hyderabad and Gaza . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Alexandria in Pizzigani's Map, 14th century . . . . . . . . . . . 44

North Britain and the Island of Thule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
From MERCATOR'S edition of Ptolemy's Map.

A Portion of an old Roman Map of the World, showing the roads
through the Empire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
From the Peutinger Table.

The World-Island according to Strabo, 18 A.D. . . . . . . . . . . 65

Hull of a Roman Merchant-Ship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
From a Roman model at Greenwich.

A Roman Galley, about 110 A.D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
From Trajan's Column at Rome.

The First Stages of a Mediaeval Pilgrimage, London to Dover . . . 78
From MATTHEW OF PARIS'S _Itinerary_, 13th century.

Jerusalem and the East . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
From MATTHEW OF PARIS'S _Itinerary_, 13th century.

Ireland and St. Brandon's Isle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
From the Catalan Map, 1375.

The Mysterious Isle of St. Brandon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
From MARTIN BEHAIM'S Map, 1492.

The World-Map of Cosmas, 6th century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
The oldest Christian Map.

The Mountain of Cosmas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

A Viking Ship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
From Professor MONTELIUS'S book on Scandinavian archaeology.

A Khalif on his Throne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
From the Ancona Map, 1497.

A Chinese Emperor giving Audience, 9th century . . . . . . . . . 100
From an old Chinese MS. at Paris.

The Scene of Sindbad's Voyages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
From EDRISI'S Map, 1154.

Sindbad's Giant Roc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
From an Oriental Miniature Painting.

Jerusalem and the Pilgrims' Ways to it, 12th century . . . . . . 109
From a Map of the 12th century at Brussels.

Two Emperors of Tartary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
From the Catalan Map, 1375.

A Tartar Camp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
From the Borgian Map, 1453.

Initial Letter from the MS. of Rubruquis at Cambridge . . . . . . 113

How the Brothers Polo set out from Constantinople with their
nephew Marco for China . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
From a Miniature Painting in 14th century _Livre des
Merveilles_.

Marco Polo lands at Ormuz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
From a Miniature in the _Livre des Merveilles_.

Kublai Khan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
From an old Chinese Encyclopaedia at Paris.

Marco Polo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
From a Woodcut in the first printed edition of MARCO POLO'S
_Travels_, 1477.

A Japanese Fight against the Chinese at the time when Marco Polo
first saw the Japanese . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
From an ancient Japanese Painting.

Sir John Mandeville on his Travels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
From a MS. in the British Museum.

An Emperor of Tartary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
From the Map ascribed to SEBASTIAN CABOT, 1544.

A Caravan in Cathay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
From the Catalan Map, 1375.

The Turin Map of the World, 8th century . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

A T-map, 10th century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

A T-map, 13th century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

The Kaiser holding the World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
From a 12th-century MS.

The "Anglo-Saxon" Map of the World, drawn about 990 A.D. . . . . 137
From the Cotton MSS. in the British Museum.

Africa--from Ceuta to Madeira . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
From FRA MAURO'S Map, 1457.

The Voyage to Cape Blanco from Cape Bojador . . . . . . . . . . . 142
From FRA MAURO'S Map, 1457.

A Portion of Africa illustrating Cadamosto's Voyage beyond Cape
Blanco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
From FRA MAURO'S Map, 1457.

Sketch of Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
From FRA MAURO'S Map of the World, 1457.

Negro Boys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
From CABOT'S Map, 1544.

The West Coast of Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
From MARTIN BEHAIM'S Map, 1492.

The Parting of Columbus with Ferdinand and Isabella, 3rd August
1492 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
From DE BRY'S account of the _Voyages to India_, 1601.

Columbus's Ship, the _Santa Maria_ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
From a Woodcut of 1493, supposed to be after a Drawing by
COLUMBUS.

Columbus landing on Hispaniola . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
From a Woodcut of 1494.

The first Representation of the People of the New World . . . . . 163
From a Woodcut published at Augsburg between 1497 and 1504.

The Town of Isabella and the Colony founded by Columbus . . . . . 166
From a Woodcut of 1494.

Vasco da Gama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
From a contemporary Portrait.

Africa as it was known after da Gama's Expeditions . . . . . . . 175
From JUAN DE LA COSA'S Map of 1500.

Calicut and the Southern Indian Coast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
From JUAN DE LA COSA'S Map, 1500.

The Malabar Coast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
From FRA MAURO'S Map.

A Ship of Albuquerque's Fleet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
From a very fine Woodcut in the British Museum.

A Ship of Java and the China Seas in the 16th century . . . . . . 187
From LINSCHOTEN'S _Navigatio ac Itinerarium_, 1598.

One of the first Maps of the Pacific . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
From DIEGO RIBERO'S Map, 1529.

Magellan's Fleet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
From MERCATOR'S _Mappe Monde_, 1569.

A Ship of the 16th century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
From AMORETTI'S translation of _Magellan's Voyage round the
World_.

"Hondius his Map of the Magellan Streight" . . . . . . . . . . . 201
From a Map by JODOCUS HONDIUS, about 1590.

The first Ship that sailed round the World . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Magellan's _Victoria_, from HULSIUS'S _Collection of Voyages_,
1602.

Hernando Cortes, Conqueror of Mexico . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
After the original Portrait at Mexico.

The Battles of the Spaniards in Mexico . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
From an ancient Aztec Drawing.

Pizarro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
From the Portrait at Cuzco.

Peru and South America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
From the Map of the World, 1544, usually ascribed to SEBASTIAN
CABOT.

Peruvian Warriors of the Inca Period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
From an ancient Peruvian Painting.

Part of North America, showing Sebastian Cabot's Voyage to
Newfoundland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
From the Map of 1544, usually ascribed to CABOT.

Jacques Cartier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
From an old Pen-drawing at the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris.

Canada and the River St. Lawrence, showing Quebec . . . . . . . . 231
From LESCARBOT'S _Histoire de la Nouvelle France_, 1609.

New France, showing Newfoundland, Labrador, and the St. Lawrence 233
From JOCOMO DI GASTALDI'S Map, about 1550.

Ivan Vasiliwich, King of Muscovie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
From an old Woodcut.

Anthony Jenkinson's Map of Russia, Muscovy, and Tartary . . . . 242-3
Published in 1562.

Greenlanders as seen by Martin Frobisher . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
From Captain BESTE'S Account of Frobisher's _Voyages_, 1578.

Sir Francis Drake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
From HOLLAND'S _Heroologia_, 1620.

The Silver Map of the World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
From Medallion in British Museum.

The Silver Map of the World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
From Medallion in British Museum.

The _Golden Hind_ at New Albion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
From the Chart of Drake's _Voyages_.

The _Golden Hind_ at Java . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
From the Chart of Drake's _Voyages_.

An Eskimo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
From a Water-colour Drawing by JOHN WHITE, about 1585.

A Ship of the late 16th century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
From Ortelius, 1598.

Nova Zembla and the Arctic Regions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
From a Map in DE BRY'S _Grands Voyages_, 1598.

Barents in the Arctic--"Hut wherein we wintered" . . . . . . . . 269
From DE VEER'S Account of the _Voyages of Barents_, 1598.

Hudson's Map of his Voyages in the Arctic . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
From his Book published in 1612.

A Ship of Hudson's Fleet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
From his _Voyages_, 1612.

Baffin's Map of his Voyages to the North . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
From original MS., drawn by BAFFIN, in the British Museum.

Sir Walter Raleigh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287

Raleigh's Map of Guinea, El Dorado, and the Orinoco Coast . . . . 289
From the original Map, drawn by RALEIGH, in British Museum.

The first Settlement at Quebec . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
From CHAMPLAIN'S _Voyages_, 1613.

The Defeat of the Iroquois by Champlain . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
From a Drawing in CHAMPLAIN'S _Voyages_, 1613.

An early Map of "Terra Australis" called "Java la Grande" . . . . 297
From the "Dauphin" Map of 1546.

The Wreck of Captain Pelsart's Ship, the _Batavia_, on the Coast
of New Holland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
From the Dutch account of PELSART'S _Voyages_, 1647.

Van Diemen's Land and two of Tasman's Ships . . . . . . . . . . . 304
From the Map drawn by TASMAN in his "Journal."

Dampier's Ship, the _Cygnet_ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
From a Drawing in the Dutch edition of his _Voyage Round the
World_, 1698.

Dampier's Strait and the Island of New Britain . . . . . . . . . 311
From a Map in DAMPIER'S _Voyages_, 1697.

Chart of Behring's Voyage from Kamtchatka to North America . . . 317
From a Chart drawn in 1741 by Lieut. WAXELL.

The Island of Otaheite, or St. George . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321
From a Painting by WILLIAM HODGES.

A Maori Fort on the Coast between Poverty Bay and Cape Turnagain 323
From an Engraving in the Atlas to COOK'S first _Voyage_.

Captain Cook's Vessel beached at the Entrance of Endeavour River 327
From an Engraving in the Atlas to COOK'S first _Voyage_.

Captain James Cook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333
From the Painting by DANCE in the Gallery of Greenwich
Hospital.

Port Jackson and Sydney Cove . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
From the Atlas to the _Voyage de l'Astrolabe_.

A Nile Boat, or Canja . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341
From BRUCE'S _Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile_.

An Arab Sheikh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343
From BRUCE'S _Travels_.

The Camp of Ali, the Mohammedan Chief, at Benown . . . . . . . . 353
From a Sketch by MUNGO PARK.

Kamalia, a Native Village near the Southern Course of the Niger . 355
From a Sketch by MUNGO PARK.

A Native Woman washing Gold in Senegal . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356
From a Sketch by MUNGO PARK, made on his last expedition.

Vancouver's Ship, the _Discovery_, on the Rocks in Queen
Charlotte's Sound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360
From a Drawing in VANCOUVER'S _Voyage_, 1798.

Parry's Ships, the _Hecla_ and _Griper_, in Winter Harbour . . . 369
From a Drawing in PARRY'S _Voyage for the North-West Passage_,
1821.

The North Shore of Lancaster Sound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371
From a Drawing in PARRY'S _Voyage for the North-West Passage_,
1821.

A Winter View of Fort Enterprise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375
From a Drawing, by WILLIAM BACK, in Franklin's _Journey to the
Polar Sea_, 1823.

Franklin's Expedition to the Polar Sea on the Ice . . . . . . . . 377
From a Drawing, by WILLIAM BACK, in Franklin's _Journey to the
Polar Sea_, 1823.

An Eskimo watching a Seal Hole . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379
From a Drawing in PARRY'S _Second Voyage for a North-West
Passage_, 1824.

Fort Franklin, on the Great Bear Lake, in the Winter . . . . . . 383
From a Drawing in FRANKLIN'S _Second Expedition to the Polar
Sea_, 1828.

Franklin's Expedition crossing Back's Inlet . . . . . . . . . . . 385
From a Drawing, by Lieut. BACK, in Franklin's _Second
Expedition to the Polar Sea_, 1828.

The Boats of Parry's Expedition hauled up on the Ice for the
Night . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389
From a Drawing in PARRY'S _Attempt to Reach the North Pole_,
1828.

Major Denham and his Party received by the Sheikh of Bornu . . . 393
From a Drawing by Major DENHAM.

The first European Picture of Timbuktu . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397
From a Drawing in CAILLE'S _Tomboctou_, 1829.

Richard and John Lander paddling down the Niger . . . . . . . . . 401
From a Drawing in the account of LANDER'S _Travels_, 1835.

The Rosses on their Journey to the North Magnetic Pole . . . . . 407
From a Drawing in ROSS'S _Second Voyage for a North-West
Passage_, 1835.

"Somerset House," Ross's Winter Quarters on Fury Beach . . . . . 409
From a Drawing in ROSS'S _Second Voyage for a North-West
Passage_, 1835.

Matthew Flinders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411

Cape Catastrophe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415
From FLINDERS' _Voyages_.

The Huts of the Crew of the _Porpoise_ on the Sandbank, Wreck
Reef . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418
From FLINDERS' _Voyages_.

Captain Sturt at the Junction of the Rivers Darling and Murray . 423
From the _Narrative of Sturt's Expedition_.

The Burke and Wills Expedition leaving Melbourne, 1860 . . . . . 425
From a Drawing by WILLIAM STRUTT, an acquaintance of Burke.

Burke and Wills at Cooper's Creek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426
From a Woodcut in a contemporary Australian account of the
expedition.

Part of the Great Southern Ice Barrier . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431
From ROSS'S _Voyage in the Antarctic Regions_.

Eskimos at Cape York watching the approach of the _Fox_ . . . . . 434
From McCLINTOCK'S _Voyage in Search of Franklin_.

The Three Graves on Beechey Island . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 435
From McCLINTOCK'S _Voyage in Search of Franklin_.

Exploring Parties starting from the _Fox_ . . . . . . . . . . . . 437
From McCLINTOCK'S _Voyage in Search of Franklin_.

Livingstone, with his Wife and Family, at the Discovery of Lake
Ngami . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441
From LIVINGSTONE'S _Missionary Travels_.

The "Smoke" of the Zambesi (Victoria) Falls . . . . . . . . . . . 447
After a Drawing in LIVINGSTONE'S _Missionary Travels_.

Burton in a Dug-out on Lake Tanganyika . . . . . . . . . . . . . 451
After a Drawing by BURTON.

Burton and his Companions on the march to Victoria Nyanza . . . . 453
From a Humorous Sketch by BURTON.

The _Ma-Robert_ on the Zambesi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 457
After a Drawing in LIVINGSTONE'S _Expedition to the Zambesi_.

M'tesa, King of Uganda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 462
From SPEKE'S _Journey to Discover the Source of the Nile_.

The Ripon Falls on the Victoria Nyanza . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463
From SPEKE'S _Journey to Discover the Source of the Nile_.

Captains Speke and Grant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 465

Baker and his Wife crossing the Nubian Desert . . . . . . . . . . 469
From BAKER'S _Travels_.

Baker's Boat in a Storm on Lake Albert Nyanza . . . . . . . . . . 471
From BAKER'S _Albert Nyanza_.

The Discovery of Lake Bangweolo, 1868 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 479
From LIVINGSTONE'S _Last Journals_, by permission of Mr. John
Murray.

Livingstone at Work on his Journal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 481
From a Sketch by H. M. STANLEY.

Livingstone entering the Hut at Ilala on the Night that he Died . 483
From LIVINGSTONE'S _Last Journals_, by permission of Mr. John
Murray.

The last Entries in Livingstone's Diary . . . . . . . . . . . . . 484

Susi, Livingstone's Servant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 485
From a Sketch by H. M. STANLEY.

Stanley and his Men marching through Unyoro . . . . . . . . . . . 489
From a Sketch, by STANLEY, in _Through the Dark Continent_.

"Towards the Unknown": Stanley's Canoes starting from Vinya
Njara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 495
From _Through the Dark Continent_.

The Seventh Cataract--Stanley Falls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 496
From _Through the Dark Continent_.

The Fight below the Confluence of the Aruwimi and Livingstone
Rivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 497
From a Sketch, by STANLEY, in _Through the Dark Continent_.

Nordenskiold's Ship, the _Vega_, saluting Cape Chelyuskin . . . . 505
From a Drawing in HOVGAARD'S _Nordenskiold's Voyage_.

Menka, Chief of the Chukches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 507

The _Vega_ frozen in for the Winter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 509
From a Drawing in HOVGAARD'S _Nordenskiold's Voyage_.

The Potala at Lhasa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 513
From KIRCHER'S _China Illustrata_.

Dr. Nansen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 525
After a Photograph.

The Ship that went Farthest North: the _Fram_ . . . . . . . . . . 527
From a Photograph.

A BOOK OF DISCOVERY