Richard Hakluyt (circa 1552/1553 - 23 November 1616) was an English writer. He is known for promoting the settlement of North America by the English through his works, notably Divers Voyages Touching the Discoverie of America (1582) and The Principal Navigations, Voiages, Traffiques and Discoueries of the English Nation (1589-1600). Hakluyt was educated at Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford. Between 1583 and 1588 he was chaplain and secretary to Sir Edward Stafford, English ambassador at the French court. An ordained priest, Hakluyt held important positions at Bristol Cathedral and...

Der Ling (whose Christian name was Elisabeth Antoinette), was born in Beijing in June 1885 and died in Berkeley, California in November 1944. She was a Manchu, the daughter of Yu Keng. Yu Keng was a member of the Manchu Plain White Banner Corps. After serving as Chinese Minister to Japan he was appointed Minister to the French Third Republic for four years in 1899. He was known for his progressive, reformist views, as well as his firm support of the Empress Dowager Cixi (29 November 1835 - 15 November 1908). Yu Keng's daughters Der Ling and Rong Ling (1882-1973) received a Western education,...

Major-General Charles George Gordon, CB (28 January 1833 - 26 January 1885), also known as Chinese Gordon, Gordon Pasha, and Gordon of Khartoum, was a British army officer and administrator.He saw action in the Crimean War as an officer in the British army, but he made his military reputation in China, where he was placed in command of the "Ever Victorious Army," a force of Chinese soldiers led by European officers. In the early 1860s, Gordon and his men were instrumental in putting down the Taiping Rebellion, regularly defeating much larger forces. For these accomplishments, he was given the...

Major-General Charles George Gordon, CB (28 January 1833 - 26 January 1885), also known as Chinese Gordon, Gordon Pasha, and Gordon of Khartoum, was a British army officer and administrator.He saw action in the Crimean War as an officer in the British army, but he made his military reputation in China, where he was placed in command of the "Ever Victorious Army," a force of Chinese soldiers led by European officers. In the early 1860s, Gordon and his men were instrumental in putting down the Taiping Rebellion, regularly defeating much larger forces. For these accomplishments, he was given the...

Alternatively titled - "Recollections of twenty-one years passed in Java, Singapore, Australia and China," published in London in 1846, was written by the author G.F. Davidson of Hull, England during a ship passage from Hong Kong to England. The book is a personal narrative of the author's journeys to Java, Singapore, Australia and China over the course of 21 years spent in the Far East during the last century, with particular emphasis on the trade and commercial activities of these countries as well as the social behaviours of the expat communities therein.

The Voyage of the Beagle is a title commonly given to the book written by Charles Darwin and published in 1839 as his Journal and Remarks. The title refers to the second survey expedition of the ship HMS Beagle, which set sail from Plymouth Sound on 27 December 1831 under the command of Captain Robert FitzRoy, R.N.. While the expedition was originally planned to last two years, it lasted almost five-the Beagle did not return until 2 October 1836. Darwin spent most of this time exploring on land (three years and three months on land; 18 months at sea). The book, also known as Darwin's Journal...