PS708 .08 1771 v.1 VOYAGEA T O CHINA AND THE EAST INDIES, By PETER OSBECK, Rector of Hasloef and Woxtorp, Member of the Academy of Stockholm, and of the Society of U?jal. Together with A VOYAGE TO SURATTE, By OLOF TOREEN, Chaplain of the Gothic Lion East Indiaman. and An Accountof the CHINESE HUSBANDRY, By Captain CHARLES GUSTAVUS ECKEBERG. Tranflated from the German, By JOHN REINHOLD FORSTER, F.A.S. To which sre addci, A Faunula and Flora Sinensis, IN TWQ VOLUMES. VOL. I. LONDON, fdated for BENJAMIN WHITE, at Horace's Head, in Fleet-ftreet. M DCC LXXI. ' THOMAS PENNANT, E% O F DOWNING, in FLINTSHIRE, Dear Sir,- TH E peculiar obligations your good- nefs has laid me under, have left me no room to hefitate one moment in the choice of a patrOn for this publica- tion. This work was undertaken with your* approbation, enriched by you with many important additions, and has often been the fubjedt. of our converfation. But my obligations to you are not confined to the affiftance you have afford- ed in me this prefent work : by your fa- vour, I, who was an utter lb-anger to a 2 this : [iv] this country, have been introduced to a number of munificent and worthy friends, whofe acquaintance is both my honour and my happinefs. The fimilitude of our ftudies was what firft recommended me to your no- tice ; but your humanity was engaged to receive me to a nearer intimacy from a circumftance, which too frequently would have been the caufe of neglect the diftrefles I. labour under affected your heart, and excited you to remove them in a moft tender and benevolent manner. Having no other way to exprefs the ftrong impreflions it has made on me, I beg leave to prefix your name to theie Voyages ; and thus publicly to acknow- ledge your great and moft ieafonable fa- vours. But I will fay no more on this fubje& ; well knowing, that thanks are Often lead pleafing where they are moft due. Permit me, however, to offer up the moft iincere and earneft wifhes of a ' ' 4 . - grateful [v] grateful heart for your happinefs. May you and your family long enjoy, in full meafure, all the bleflings of life ; and may theie be heightened by the continu- ance of every intellectual and moral pleafure. And while you are diitin- guilhed even amongft foreigners, as a patron and promoter of learning, elpe- cially of natural hiftory ; may you con- tinue to have in your own country the honour and pleafure of being a father to the afflicled and neceilitous. I am, with the truefl regard, Dear Sir, Your mofr. obedient humble fervant, John Reinhold Forster. Warrington, Dec. i, 1770. THE THE EDITOR'S PREFACE, TO a nation to enlightened as the Englijh, the following tranflation can hardly be unacceptable, and therefore I mighc well have been excufed the common appen- dage of a preface; but as there are many particulars relative to the author, which may contribute to flamp a value on this work, I mall briefly ftate them without any farther apo- logy. The author, Mr. Osbeck, chaplain to an Eajl India fhip of Sweden (his native country), was vni EDITOR'S PREFACE. '.'was a pupil of the great Linn^us, whofc name alone is a fufficient encomium. He fol ' lowed punctually and literally the rules pre- icribed by his excellent tutor in his lnjlruftb Vercgrinatorh. Nothing efcaped the atten- tion of Mr. Osbeck. The hi (lory, the anti- quities, the religion, the manners, the dreis, tfce character, the policy, the government, the military and civil eftablifhments of the coun- try, were equally objects of his attention ; and rvhat is very remarkable, and will of courle prejudice this nation in favour of our author, is, that we find the judgment of Lord Anson about the Chinefe confirmed and juftified in his obfervations on the character of that na- tion. The merchant will find a minute and ac- curate account of many commodities brought from the Eaft, with an exact delineation of the whole commerce of China, The cecono- miit and hufbandman will find many ufeful and agreeable remarks in Mr. Osbeck's and Mr. Eckeberg's accounts, which might be cfonfidefed as good hints even in this country, where EDITOR'S PREFACE. ix where agriculture and hufbandry have been improved both in theory arid in practice, to the great emolument of the inhabitants ; while many fa els here related are applicable to the Englijh colonies and plantations. In Ihort, the reader will find many remarks in the courfe of this work, that will affift him in the ftudy of medicine, hiftory, geography, and almoft every other branch of learning. BtJT the natural hiftorian will find the richefl treafures in this ufeful performance; and as a tafte for this branch of knowledge begins very juftly to attract the attention of this nation, and to fpread fo univerfally that It even finds the protection of perfons of the higheft quality, and the patronage of the fairer fex : I thought my leifure hours could not be better beftowed, than on a tranflation of a work of fo general utility. Hasselquist's journey to Egypt and Pa- Ujline has very defervedly had the approba- tion of the nation, in its Englijh drefs ; and confirmed the high opinion which the public Vol. U b had x EDITOR'S PREFACE. had before conceived of Profeflbr Linnaeus and his pupils; and it may be hoped, this per- formance will recommend itfelf equally to the reader, from the uncommon variety of objecls defcribed, and the ufefulnefs of the author's remarks. A wor d or two I rrmfl fay in regard to the tranflation, which is made from the German, and not from the original Swee/i/Jj; but as Mr. Osbeck not only revifed the German tranfla- tion, but alfo made fome additions to it which are not found in the original SweJifo edition, it is rather an advantage to the work than a prejudice. It was tranflated into German by Mr. j. Godlieb Georgi, under the direc- tion of Dr. Daniel Schreber % who both underftood the Szuedijh -language perfectly well, having fludied at Upfal for many years. The latter was a pupil and friend of Lin- \ij& us,, and well known for many ufeful pub- lications in ceconomy, husbandry, and natural * Dr. Schreber has enriched thib work with fevefal re- marks, which are masked at the end with D. S.and thuie cdirur with Ml V. hiitory, ; EDITOR'S PREFACE. xi hi (lory, and particularly a botanical and ceco- b nomical defcription of graffes . As I have met with great encouragement and generous affiflance in the tranflation of this work, from many gentlemen of great worth, whofe names would be an ornament, was I permitted to mention them ; I take this opportunity to acknowledge in a public man- ner the great obligations 1 feel myfelf under and that the remembrance of them will not be obliterated, but will ever fill my heart with the warmed fentiments of gratitude. k The firfr. part of this work, already publifhed, contains twenty coloured plates, and twenty-feven different graffo, with a large introduction to the ftudy of this branch of botany: and very accurate defcriptions of each kind, to- gether with remarks on the cultivation, ufes, and foil pro- per for each fpecies. bs PREFACE f x i" ] PREFACE O F Mr. O S B E C K. IN the year 1750 I was chofen by the Swedijh Eajl India company, to perform the functions of a chaplain to a fhip going to the Eajl Indies ; that is, to read prayers in the morning and evening, to confefs the peo- ple, to adminifter the Lord's fupper, to cate- chife, to vifit the fick, to bury the dead, and to preach on Sundays and Holidays. So tedious a voyage required fome amufe- ment : during all intermiffions from our ordi- Vol. I, c nary xlv AUTHOR'S PREFACE, nary bufmefs. Every one chofe fomething adapted to his talte ; for my part I found no- thing that could entertain more innocently both myfelf during the voyage, and my frLnds after my return, than natural hillory. The initruction I drew from the lectures in I which I had attended this fcience at Upfa 9 obliged me to be grateful. I returned with- out any money ; more of which I could have employed during my voyage in the gratifica- tion of my third after knowledge : for I knew that to fo learned a man, as Linnaeus, I could no how exprefs my obligations fo well as by fpecimens of natural hillory. I kept for my own amufement a journal of every thing worthy of obfervation during my voyage; from this I gave him fome defcriptions of new plants found in Spain, China, and other places, which were immediately incor- porated into that capital botanical book then printing under the title of Species Plantunau, c and with which my names of plants agree . c The author's animals are alfo admitted in o the Naturte, edit. 12; and where Linn, thou I r to a:tcr the genus, his names are quoted as iyutn; Ftooi AUTHOR'S PREFACE. xV In his letters from time to time he put me in mind of publishing the account of my voyage; but I always oppofed it, as believing that fuch defcriptions could only pleafe naturalifts, or lovers of natural hiftory ; but all my objec- tions were furmounted by the advice of other learned men, and efpecially by the order of a great perfonage, for whom I mall always re- tain the greateft deference.