and I know not.
The species of vines which grow in North America, are named by
Linnaeus, Vitis labrusca, vulpina, and arborea.--Forst.

The propriety of the names imposed by the Norwegians on their new
discoveries is admirable. Iceland, Greenland, Helleland, Markland,
Winland, and many others; which are perfectly philosophical,
excellently systematic, and infinitely preferable to the modern clumsy
appellations, New Britain, New France, New England, New Holland,
Sandwich Islands, Society islands, and a multitude of much worse
names.--E.

CHAP. IV.

_Travels of two Mahomedans in India and China, in the Ninth Century._[1]

INTRODUCTION.

This curious remnant of antiquity was translated from the Arabic, and
published in 1718, by Eusebius Renaudot, a learned Member of the French
Academy, and of the Academy of Inscriptions and Belles Lettres. It is not
known by whom the travels were actually performed, neither can their exact
date be ascertained, as the commencement of the MS. which was translated by
Renaudot was imperfect; but it appears to have been written in the 237th
year of the Hegira, or in the year 851 of the Christian era. Though
entitled the travels of _two_ Mahomedans, the travels seem to have been
mostly performed by one person only; the latter portion being chiefly a
commentary upon the former, and appears to have been the work of one Abu
Zeid al Hasan of Siraf, and to have been written about the 803d year of the
Hegira, or A.D. 915. In this commentary, indeed, some report is given of
the travels of another Mahomedan into China. The MS. employed by Renaudot
belonged to the library of the Count de Seignelay, and appears to have been
written in the year 619 of the Hegira, or A.D. 1173. The great value of
this work is, that it contains the very earliest account of China, penned
above four hundred years earlier than the travels of Marco Polo, who was
esteemed the first author on the subject before this publication appeared.

There are many curious and remarkable passages in these travels, which
convey information respecting customs and events that are nowhere else to
be found; and though some of these carry a fabulous appearance, the
greatest part of them have been confirmed and justified by the best writers
in succeeding ages. The first portion, or the actual narrative, begins
abruptly, on account of some portion of the original manuscript being lost,
which would pro