ABSTRACT
‘“IT was one day in conversation with the monarch of the Antarctic seas, that I dwelt largely,” said Gongunza, “on the great perfection of the agriculture, commerce, and arts, of the European nations; their astonishing productions and manufactures; and their knowledge of navigation and ship-building; by which they maintained an easy intercourse with the most distant parts of the globe, and made all men neighbours and customers. When, to my great surprise, he answered coldly, ‘That he had visited kingdoms far superior in the arts and sciences, in manufacture and civilization, to any I had described.’ I told him he must pardon / my suspending belief, as I had seen all the most accomplished nations on the surface of the globe.
