AN EPITOME OF GEOGRAPHY, With an Atlas. BY J. E. WORCESTER. BOSTON: PUBLISHED BY HILLIARD, GRAY & CO. 1837. HARVARD DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS, to wit: District Clerk's Office. BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the twenty-eighth day of September, A. D. 1826 in the fifty-first year of the Independence of the United States of America, J. E Worcester, of the said district, has deposited in this office the title of a book the right whereof he claims as author, in the words following, to wit: "An Epitome of Geography, with an Atlas. By J. E. Worcester." In conformity to the act of Congress of the United States, entitled, “An Act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies during the times therein mentioned;" and also to an act, entitled, " An Act supplementary to an act, entitled, An Act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies during the times therein mentioned; and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engrav ing, and etching historical and other prints." JNO. W. DAVIS, Clerk of the District of Massachusetts Stereotyped at the PREFACE. GEOGRAPHY is a branch of knowledge so eminently useful, that it ought to form a part of the education of all young persons of both sexes, and of every condition in life; it is also a study that may be advantageously commenced at a very early age. The work entitled Elements of Geography, Ancient and Modern, by the author of this Epitome, is adapted to the use of academies and the higher schools, and to pupils somewhat advanced in their education; and it has accordingly been adopted by several colleges among the books which are required to be studied before entering on a collegiate course. The object of the author, in preparing this Epitome, has been to furnish a manual adapted to the use of pupils of an early age, who may afterwards study the larger work, and also to a numerous class of young persons of both sexes, whose means of education are too limited to admit of their studying thoroughly, while at school, a more extended treatise. The Book, though small, is comprehensive in its design, and, in connexion with the Atlas, it will be found. to contain a great mass of interesting and important geographical information. 1 ་ The most striking features and characteristic particu lars relating to the different countries, are distinctly brought into view; and with regard to cities, towns, &c., the circumstances to which they are indebted for their importance or notoriety, or the memorable events with which their names are associated, are pointed out. The plan, which is very simple, and perfectly easy both to the teacher and pupil, will readily unfold itself, as the work is perused. The matter is all along arranged in the order in which it is deemed most advisable that it should be studied. All the sections or subdivisions are broken into short sentences or paragraphs, which are carefully numbered; and at the bottom of every page are placed questions with corresponding numbers; so that a glance of the eye will direct the pupil to the appropriate answers. The Epitome and the Atlas are made to correspond to each other, and are to be studied throughout in connexion. The natural divisions of the globe, the prominent features of the different parts, and the situations and boundaries of countries, are, in the first place, to be learned from the Atlas; recourse is then to be had to the Epitome for such information as cannot be given by maps; and, after this, the maps are again to be consulted for more minute information respecting the situation of cities, towns, &c. Questions for examination on the maps are inserted throughout in their proper order. The Atlas has been prepared with care, and, though the maps are small, yet, by omitting all names of inferior consequence, it has been rendered very complete withi regard to such as are most important. The population of countries, cities, and chief towns, together with other statistical information, is given in a series of Tables, contained in the Atlas. By this method, the book has been made considerably smaller in size, than it otherwise would have been, and the information is given in a form which will greatly facilitate the acquisition not only of exact knowledge, but also of interesting comparative views of the matters presented. As some knowledge of Ancient Geography is of essential importance to all who would have even the slightest acquaintance with history, or who would read the Bible with advantage, the maps of the Roman Empire and Palestine, together with the brief outline of Ancient and Scripture Geography, will add materially to the value of this work, for such students as have not opportunity to study a larger one. Almost all the words, with regard to the pronunciation of which the pupil would be likely to need assistance, are pronounced or accented, according to the best authorities. The book is embellished with forty-eight cuts, which exhibit a view of a variety of interesting objects of nature and art, and of the manners and customs of different countries. Some of these cuts have been adopted from the author's Sketches of the Earth and its Inhabitants; others have been prepared expressly for this work. Whether this treatise possesses any advantages over other small compendiums of geography, the public will judge. Accuracy, in works of this kind, is of more difficult attainment than may be imagined by those who are not acquainted with the contradictory statements found |