PREFACE.
 

^
 

It was mj first intention to publish a second edition of a work

whicli I gave to tlie public six-and-thirty years  ago, but,  on mature

consideration, I have come to the conclusion that a subject so multifarious

as a   general description of  the Indian and   Philippine Archipelagos

would be most conveniently and compendiously treated by an alphabetic

^    arrangement.    The result is the present work; the fruit of seven years'

"^    additional local experience of India, and of a study of the subject con-

"b   tinned with little interruption from the publication of the History of the

r^    Indian Archipelago, in 1820.    Some of the articles are meagre from want

^ of materials, and others, without  doubt, imperfect and unsatisfactory

^   from defective knowledge or skill in the writer; but, upon the whole, the

book will probably be found the most comprehensive and accessible which

lyi  has yet been published on the extensive region of which it treats, while it

^  will, at all events, lay the foundation for a more perfect superstructure by

>^ those who may follow the Author in the same direction.
 

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