As a companion for the fireside corner, this little book will, I hope, be welcome to all English-speaking lads and lasses, who will learn from its pages how much may be accomplished by patience, perseverance, and energy. CONTENTS. PAGE SIR MARCO POLO, THE VENETIAN, AND HIS TRAVELS IN ASIA 1 MR. GEORGE F. RUXTON, AND HIS ADVENTURES IN MEXICO AND THE 49 ROCKY MOUNTAINS DOCTOR BARTH, AND CENTRAL AFRICA 90 MR. THOMAS WITLAM ATKINSON, AND HIS ADVENTURES IN SIBERIA 157 AND CENTRAL ASIA ALEXINA TINNÉ, AND HER WANDERINGS IN THE SUDAN 229 MR. J. A. MACGAHAN, AND CAMPAIGNING ON THE OXUS 260 COLONEL EGERTON WARBURTON, AND EXPLORATION IN WEST AUSTRALIA 293 MAJOR BURNABY, AND A RIDE TO KHIVA 325 SIR SAMUEL BAKER, AND THE SOURCES OF THE NILE 335 [Picture: Map of Marco Polo’s Travels] SIR MARCO POLO, THE VENETIAN, AND HIS TRAVELS IN ASIA. WE should be inclined to consider Sir Marco Polo as one of the greatest travellers the world has ever seen. It is true he was not a man of genius; that he was not, like Columbus, inspired by a lofty enthusiasm; that he displayed no commanding superiority of character. But when we remember the vast compass of his journeys, and the circumstances under which they were carried out; when we remember, too, how close an observer he was, and how rigidly accurate, and his plenitude of energy and perseverance—we feel that he is, beyond all cavil or question, entitled to be recognized as the king of mediæval travellers. Let us take Colonel Yule’s summary of his extraordinary achievements:—