Travels in Syria and the Holy Land / By the late John Lewis Burckhardt. Published by the Association for Promoting the Discovery of the Interior Parts of Africa. [Edited by W.M. Leake].

  • Johann Ludwig Burckhardt
Date:
1822
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Travels in Syria and the Holy Land / By the late John Lewis Burckhardt. Published by the Association for Promoting the Discovery of the Interior Parts of Africa. [Edited by W.M. Leake]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    PREFACE OF THE EDITOR. It is hoped that little apology is necessary for the publication of a volume of Travels in Asia, by a Society, whose sole professed object is the promotion of discoveries in the African continent. The Association having had the good fortune to obtain the services of a person of Mr. Burckhardt’s education and talents, resolved to spare neither time nor expense in enabling him to acquire the language and manners of an Arabian Musulman in such a degree of perfection, as should render the detection of his real character in the interior of Africa extremely difficult. It was thought that a residence at Aleppo would afford him the most convenient means of study, while his intercourse with the na- tives of that city, together with his occasional tours in Syria, would supply him with a view of Arabian life and manners in every degree, from the Bedouin camp to the populous city. While thus pre- paring himself for the ultimate object of his mission, he was careful to direct his journeys through those parts of Syria which had been the least frequented by European travellers, and thus he had the opportunity of making some important additions to our knowledge of one of those countries of which the geography is not less inter- esting by its connection with ancient history, than it is imperfect, in consequence of the impediments which modern barbarism has opposed to scientific researches. After consuming near three years in Syria, Mr. Burckhardt, on his arrival in Egypt, found himself prevented from pursuing the execution of his instructions, by a