PREFATORY NOTE

Summary

As the members of the Hakluyt Society are already aware, the much-deplored death of the editor, at a period when barely a third of the text was in print, has deprived the present work of the advantage of his final revision, and also of the notes which it had been his intention to affix to the concluding chapters. As, however, the portion thus left unannotated was comparatively small, and seemed to contain few points not already touched upon in the notes to the earlier chapters, it has been deemed advisable not to introduce any additional matter, and the work, therefore, is issued in the state in which the manuscript was left at Dr. Brown's decease, with the exception of a few necessary alterations and excisions.

The task of seeing through the press the remainder of the text, together with Dr. Brown's Introduction, has been performed in a most able manner by Dr. E. Denison Ross, whose linguistic attainments, and particularly his intimate acquaintance with Arabic, have been of especial benefit to the book. Dr. Ross has also prepared the general index to the volumes.

Acknowledgments are also due to Mr. E. G. Ravenstein for the set of illustrative Maps which, together with an explanatory memorandum, he has prepared and presented to the Society for reproduction in these volumes. Founded as they are on an independent study of Leo's writings, these maps form in themselves an important contribution to African geography, and greatly enhance the value of the book.