A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels - Volume 18: Historical Sketch of the Progress of Discovery, Navigation, and; Commerce, from the Earliest Records to the Beginning of the Nineteenth; Century, By William StevensonKerr, Robert
History
A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels - Volume 18: Historical Sketch of the Progress of Discovery, Navigation, and; Commerce, from the Earliest Records to the Beginning of the Nineteenth; Century, By William Stevenson
Kerr, Robert
Voyages and travels
The next Arabian geographer in point of time is Abulfeda: he wrote a very
particular description of the earth, the countries being arranged according
to climates, with the latitude and longitude of each place. In the
introduction to this work he enters on the subject of mathematical
geography, and describes the most celebrated mountains, rivers, and seas of
the world. Abulfeda was a native of Syria; and this and the adjacent
countries are described with most fullness and accuracy: the same remark
applies to his description of Egypt and the north coast of Africa. The
information contained in his work, respecting Tartary, China, &c., is not
nearly so full and minute as might have been expected, considering the
intercourse of the Arabians with those countries. Of Europe, and all other
parts of Africa except Egypt and the north coast, he gives little or no
information.
Within these very few years, some valuable notices have been received,
through M. Burckhardt, and Mr. Kosegarten of Jena, of Ibn Batouta, an
Arabian traveller of the fourteenth century. According to M. Burckhardt, he
is, perhaps, the greatest land traveller that ever wrote his travels. He
was a native of Tangier, and travelled for thirty years, from 1324 to 1354.
He traversed more than once Egypt, Syria, Arabia, Persia, the coast of the
Red Sea, and the eastern coast of Africa. Bochara, Balk, Samarcand, Caubul,
India, and China, were visited by him: he even ventured to explore several
of the Indian islands; crossed the mountains of Thibet, traversed India,
and then, taking shipping, went to Java. He again visited China, and
returned thence by Calicut, Yeman, Bagdad, and Damascus, to Cairo. After
having visited Spain, he directed his travels to Africa; reached the
capital of Morocco, and thence as far as Sodjalmasa. From this place he
crossed the Desert with the slave merchants to Taghary--twenty-five days
journey: he represents the houses here as built of rock salt, and covered
with camel skins. For twenty days more he crossed a desert without water or
trees, and the sand of which was so loose, that it left no traces of
footsteps. He now arrived at the frontier town of Soudan. After travelling
for some time longer, he reached the banks of the Niger, which, according
to the information he received, flowed into the Nile at the second
cataract. He visited Tombuctoo and other places in this part of Africa, and
finished his travels at Fez.
We shall now conclude our account of the Arabians, with a connected and
condensed view of their geographical knowledge.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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