ciding to whom his letters should be directed, neither writer felt at any loss. They were addressed to the REV. RUFUS ANDERSON, one of the Secretaries of the Board. He had drawn up the Instructions which had guided the investigations of the journey, and was already personally acquainted with the affairs of the Mediterranean; both looked to him as a proper organ of communication with the Committee, and one had already shared with him the labors and pleasures of a similar journey of missionary investigation in Greece. The reader is requested to bear in mind, that the letters were originally composed, not for popular nor for devotional purposes, but for an official report to the executive officers of a missionary society, with special reference to their business arrangements; and if, in preparing them for the public, it has not been found easy to divest them entirely of their original character, he will, it is hoped, need no apology.
The map which accompanies the work has been compiled for the purpose; no single one being found already in existence that could be advantageously used. The greater part of Armenia is still terra incognita to the topographer; and, being divided between three great empires and in their remotest corners, it has received less attention than some others equally little known. In laying out this map, a recent Russian map of the countries between the Black and Caspian seas has been followed in the northern part; a map in Morier's Journeys to Persia has helped to settle the localities of Aderbaijan; Kinneir's journey in Armenia and Kürdistán has thrown light upon some very unfrequented parts; Niebuhr has been relied upon for some localities in Mesopotamia; and an Armenian map in Mukhitar's Armenian Dictionary has been frequently consulted, besides other more common authorities which need not be named. After all, it is to be regarded as only an approximation to an accurate delineation of the country.
Travellers from other nations have repeatedly visited the regions here described. The most important publications they have given to the world, viz. those of Chardin, Tournefort, Kinneir, Morier,