tailieunhanh - A BOOK OF DISCOVERY

"Hope went before them, and the world was wide." Such was the spirit in which the exploration of the world was accomplished. It was the inspiration that carried men of old far beyond the sunrise into those magic and silent seas whereon no boat had ever sailed. It is the incentive of those to-day with the wander-thirst in their souls, who travel and suffer in the travelling, though there are fewer prizes left to win. But "The reward is in the doing, And the rapture of pursuing Is the prize." | 1 A BOOK OF DISCOVERY THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD S EXPLORATION FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE FINDING OF THE SOUTH POLE By M. B. SYNGE . AUTHOR OF THE STORY OF THE WORLD A SHORT HISTORY OF SOCIAL LIFE IN ENGLAND ETC. FULLY ILLUSTRATED FROM AUTHENTIC SOURCES AND WITH MAPS Illustration THE GOLDEN HIND From the Chart of Drake s Voyages LONDON T. C. E. C. JACK LTD. 35 PATERNOSTER ROW . EDINBURGH INTRODUCTION Hope went before them and the world was wide. Such was the spirit in which the exploration of the world was accomplished. It was the inspiration that carried men of old far beyond the sunrise into those magic and silent seas whereon no boat had ever sailed. It is the incentive of those to-day with the wander-thirst in their souls who travel and suffer in the travelling though there are fewer prizes left to win. But The reward is in the doing And the rapture of pursuing Is the prize. 2 To travel hopefully says Stevenson is a better thing than to arrive. This would explain the fact that this Book of Discovery has become a record of splendid endurance of hardships bravely borne of silent toil of courage and resolution unequalled in the annals of mankind of self-sacrifice unrivalled and faithful lives laid ungrudgingly down. Of the many who went forth the few only attained. It is of these few that this book tells. All these says the poet in Ecclesiastes-- all these were honoured in their generation and were the glory of their times . their name liveth for evermore. But while we read of those master-spirits who succeeded let us never forget those who failed to achieve. Anybody might have found it but the Whisper came to Me. Enthusiasm too was the secret of their success. Among the best of crews there was always some one who would have turned back but the world would never have been explored had it not been for those finer spirits who resolutely went on--even to the death. This is what carried Alexander the Great to the earth s utmost verge that drew Columbus