The gentle island, and the genial soil,
The friendly hearts, the feasts without a toil,
The courteous manners but from nature caught,
The wealth unhoarded, and the love unbougnt,

* * * * *

The bread-tree, which, without the ploughshare, yields
The unreap'd harvest of unfurrow'd fields,
And bakes its unadulterated loaves
Without a furnace in unpurchased groves,
And flings off famine from its fertile breast,
A priceless market for the gathering guest;--
These, etc.-- BYRON.


The reign of George III will be distinguished in history by the great
extension and improvement which geographical knowledge received under
the immediate auspices of this sovereign. At a very early period, after
his accession to the throne of these realms, expeditions of discovery
were undertaken, 'not (as Dr. Hawkesworth observes) with a view to the
acquisition of treasure, or the extent of dominion, but for the
improvement of commerce, and the increase and diffusion of knowledge.'
This excellent monarch was himself no mean proficient in the science of
geography; and it may be doubted if any one of his subjects, at the
period alluded to, was in possession of so extensive or so well-arranged
a cabinet of maps and charts as his was, or who understood their merits
or their defects so well as he did.