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I-:- «: ■* 32X i - 1 2 3 4 5 6 * ■# . i fi w HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE PROGRESS OF DISCOVERY, NAVIGATION, AND COMMERCE, FROM IK THE EARLIEST RECORDS TO TKE BEGINNING OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. Bv WILLIAM ST^^.VENSON, Esg. WILLIAM BLACKWOOD, EDINBURGH: AND T. CADELL, LONDON. MDCCCXXIV. ^'iu i^ Lonvom: Prinlod by A. & R. SpottiBwoode, New-StreeuSquare. ( , Hr PREFACE. The curiosity of that man must be very feeble and sluggish, and his appetite for information very weak or depraved, who, when V i compares the map of the world, as it was known to the ancients, with the map of the world as it is at present known, does not feel himself powerfully excited to inquire into the causes which have progressively brought almost every speck of its surface completely within our knowledge and access. To develop and explain these causes is one of the objects of the present work ; but this object cannot be attained, without pointing out in what manner Geography was at first fixed on the basis of science, and has subsequently, at various periods, been extended and improved, in proportion as those branches of physical knowledge which could lend it any assistance, have advanced towards perfection. We shall thus, we trust, be enabled to place before our readers a clear, but rapid view of the surface ot the globe, gradually exhibiting a larger portion of known regions, and explored seas, till at last we in- troduce them to the full knowledge of the nineteenth century. In the course of this part of our work, deci- a2 Pi a- l\ . -^ ■....u— ^J>^ IV PKEFACE. sive ami instructive illustrations will frequently occur of the truth of these most important facts, — that one branch of science can scarcely advance, without atl- vanciuf^- some other branches, which in their turn, repay the assistancetheyhavereccived; and that, j^ene- rally speaking, the progress of intellect and morals is powerfully impelled hy every im))ulse given to phy- sical science, and can go on steadily and with full and permanent effect, only by the intercourse of civilised nations with those that are ignorant and barbarous. But oiu' work embraces another topic ; the pro- g.ess of commercial enterprise from the earliest period to the present time. That an extensive and interesting field is thus opened to us will be evident, when we contrast the state of the wants and habits of the people of Britain, as they are depicted by Caesar, with the wants and habits even of our lowest and poorest classes. In Caesar's time, a very few of the comforts of life, — scarcelv one of its meanest luxuries, — derived fi-om the neighbouring shore of Gaul, were occasionally enjoyed by British Princes : in our time, the daily meal of the pauper who obtains his precarious and scanty pittance by begging, is supplied by a navigation of some thousand miles, from countries in op})osite parts of the globe ; of whose existence Caesar had not even the remotest idea. In the time of Caesar, tiiere was perhaps no country, the commerce of which was so confined : — in our time, the commerce of Britain lays the whole world undei contribution, and surpasses in extent and magnitude the commerce of any other nation. The progress of discovery and of commercial inter- course are intimately and almost necessarily con- nected ; where commerce does not in the first in- stance prompt man to discover new countries, it is sure, if ihese countriey are not totally worthless, to lead him thoroughly to explore them. The arrange- ^ i PREFACE. merit of this work, in carrying on, at the same time, a view of the j)rogress of discovery, and of commer- cial enterprise, is, the fore, that very arrangement which the nature of the s. bject suggests. Tlie most important and permanent effects of the progress of discovery and commerce, on the wealth, the power, the political relations, the manners and habits, and the general interests and character of nations, will either appear on the very surface of our work, or, where the facts themselves do not expose them to view, they will be distinctly noticed. A larger proportion of the volume is devoted to the progress of discovery and enterprise among the ancients, than amo:ig the moderns ; or, — to express oui selves more accurately, — the period that terminates with the discovery of America, and especially that winch comprehends the commerce of the Phoeni- ceans, of the Egyptians under the Ptolemies, of the Greeks, and of the Romans, is illustrated with more ample and minute details, than the period which has elapsed since the new world was discovered. To most readers, the nations of antiquity are known by their wars alone ; we wished to exhibit them in their commercial character and relations. Besides, the ma- terials for the history of discovery within the modern period are neither so scattered, nor so difficult of access, as thos3 which relate to the first period. After the discovery of America, the grand outline of the terraqueous part of the globe may be said to have been traced ; subsequent discoveries only giving it more bo^ijiess or acciracy, or filling up the interven- ing paJis. The same observation may in some degree be applied, to the corresponding periods of the history of commerce. Influenced by these con- siderations, we have therefore exhibited the infancy and youth of discovery and commerce, while they were struggling with their own ignorance and inex- perience, in the strongest and fullest light. i VI PREFACE. At the conclusion of the work is given a select Catalogue of Voyages and Travels, which it is hoped will be found generally useful, not only in directing reading and inquiry, but also in the formation of a library. This Historical Sketch has been drawn up with reference to, and in order to complete Kerr's Col- lection of Voyages and Travels, and was undertaken by the present Editor in consequence of the death of Mr. Kerr. But though drawn up with this object, it is strictly and entirely an independent and separate work. Kerr*s Collection contains a great variety of very curious and interesting early Voyages and Travels, of rare occurrence, or only to be found in expensive and voluminous Collections ; and is, moreover, es- pecially distinguished by a correct and full account of all Captain Cook's Voyages. To the end of this volume is appended a Tabular View of the Contents of this Collection ; and it is believed that this Tabular View, when examined and compared with the Catalogue, will enable those who wish to add to this Collection such Voyages and Travels as it does not embrace, especially those of very recent date, all that are deserving of purchase and perusal. W. Stevenson. March 30, 1824. f J 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. Historical Sketch of the Progress of Discovery and of Commercial Enterprise, from the earliest records to the time of Herodotus, Page 1 CHAPTER II. From the age of Herodotus to the death of Alexander the Great '■----- 33 CHAPTER in. From the Death of ^ lexander the Great to the time of Ptolemy the Geographer; with a digression on the Inland Trade between India and the Shores of the Mediterranean, through Arabia, from the earliest ages - - - . gj CHAPTER IV. From the time of Ptolemy to the close of the Fifteenth Cen- tury - . . . . . 263 CHAPTER V. From the close of the Fifteenth to the beginning of the Nineteenth Century - - . . 357 VIII TAHLK or CONTRNTS, CATALOGUE. I'reliminary Observations on the Plan and Arrangement purs\ic(l in drawing up tlic Catalogue Instructions for Travellers .... Collections and Histories of Voyages and Travels Voyages and Travels round the World . - Travels, comprizing different Quarters of the Globe Voyages and Travels in the Arctic Seas and Countries Europe ...... Africa ...... Asia ....... America ...... Polynesia ...... Australasia - - - . . Ini?ex to the Catalogue Historical Sketch _ XVH. Volumes of Voyages and Travels Contents of the XVn. Volumes Page .'529 533 53^ 537 539 550 552 592 605 619 627 628 • 629 633 637 647 ERRATA. Page 13. line 2. for has read have. 6. for near read nearli/. 28. 36. for could sail read coxdd fornxerly suit. . . . 86. 6. for Egypt read India, 87. 22. for Leucke 'ead Leukc. 102. 5, for jmncipal read principle. ^ 213. 9. for work read worm. 281. 28. for Ebor read Ebn. 282. W. ior Ebor xeaA Ebiu 507. 22. for as read tk^n. ■ \ B •< T 4 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF TIIK PROGRESS OF DISCOVERY, i^C ^-c. I I i V 4 CHAPTER I. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THF, PROGRESS OF DISCOVEUV, AND OF COMMERCIAL ENTERPRISE, FROM THE EARLIEST RECORDS, TO THE TIME OF HERODOTUS. li. C. 4.00. 1 HE earliest traces of navigation ami commerce are necessarily involved in much obscurity, and are, besides, tew and faint. It is impossible to assign to them any clear and definite chro- nology ; and they are, with a few exceptions, utterly uncir- cumstantial. Nevertheless, in a work like this, they ought not to be passed over without some notice ; but the notice we shall bestow upon them will not be that either of the chrono- logist or antiquarian, but of a more popular, appropriate, and useful description. The intercourse of one nation with another first took place in that part of the world to which a knowledge of the original habitation of mankind, and of the advantages for sea and lantl commerce which that habitation enjoyed, would natui'ally lead us to assign it. On the shores of the Mediterranean, or at no great distance from that sea, among the Israelites, the Phoe- nicians, and the Egyptians, we must look for the earliest traces of navigation and commerce ; and, in the only authentic his- tory of the remotest period of the world, as well as amidst B Progress of Discover t^ CHAP. I. ihe scanty and fabulous materials supplied by profane writers, these nations are uniforinly represented as the most ancient navijrators and traders. The slightest ins})ection of the map of this portion of the globe will teach us that Palestine, Phre-nicia, and Egypt were admirably situated for commerce botli by sea and land. It is, indeed, true diat the Phoenicians, by the conquests of Joshua, were expelled from the greatest part of their territory, and obliged to confine themselves to a narrow slip of ground be- tween Mount Lebanon and the Mediterranean ; but even this confined territory presented opportunities and advantages for commerce of no mean importance: the} had a safe coast, — at least one good harbour ; and the vicinity of Lebanon, and other mountains, enabled them to obtain, with little difficulty and expence, a large supply of excellent materials for ship- building. There are, moreover, circumstances which warrant the supposition, that, like Holland in modem times, they were rather the carriers of other nations, than extensively engaged in the connnerce of tlieir ojvn productions or manu- factures. On the north and east lay Syria, an extensive country, covered with a deep rich soil, producing an abundant vai'iety of valuable articles. With this country, and much be- yond it, to the east, the means and opportunities of communica- tion and conime'*ce were easy, by the employment of the camel ; while, on the other hand, the caravans that carried on the commerce of Asia and Africa necessarily passed through Phoenicia, or the adjacent parts of Palestine. Egypt, in some respects, was still more advantageously situated for commerce than Phoenicia : the trade of the west of Asia, and of the shores of the Mediterranean lay open to it by means of that sea, and by the Nile and the Red Sea a commercial intercourse with Arabia, Persia, and India seemed almost to be forced upon their notice and adoption. It is certain, however, that in the earliest periods of their history, the Egyptians were decidedly averse to the sea, and to mari- time affairs, both warlike and commercial. It would be vain and unprofitable to explain the fabulous cause assigned for this aversion ; we may, however, briefly and incidentally re- mark that as Osiris particularly instructed his subjects in cul- tivating thb ground; and as Typhon coincides exactly in orthography and meaning with a word still used in the East, to signify a sudden and violent storm, it is probable that by ■ ^ CHAP. r. to the Time of Herodotus. the )Ugh west II to a a for re- :ul- in ast, by t ! Typhon murdering his brother Osiris, the Egyptians meant the damage done to their cultivated lands hy storms of wind causing inundations. As the situation of Palestine for conunei-ce was equally favourable with that of Phoenicia, it is unnecessary to dilate upon it. That the Jews did not engage more extensively in trade either by sea or land must be attributed to the peculiar nature of their government, laws, and religion. Having thus briefly pointed out the advantages enjoyed by the Phoenicians, Egyptians, and Jews for connnercial inter- course, we hall now jiroceed to notice the few particulars with which history sup})lics us regarding tlie navigation and commerce of each, during the earliest periods. I. There is good reason to believe that most of the mari- time adventures and enterprises which have rendered the Phccnicians so famous in anticjuity^ ought to be fixed be- tween the death of .Tacob, and the establishment of monarchy among the Israelites; that is, between the years 1700 and 1095 before Christ; but even before this, there are authentic notices of Phoenician commerce and navigation. In the days of Abraham they were considered as a very powerful people : and express mention is made of their maritime trade in the last words of Jacob to his children. Moses infoi-ms us that Tarshish (wherever it was situated) was visited by the Phoeni- cians. When this people were deprived of a great portion of their territory by the Israelites under Joshua, they still re- tained the city of Sidon ; and from it their maritime expedi- tions proceeded. The order of time in which they took place, as well as their object and result, are very imperfectly known; it seems certain, however, that they either regularly traded with, or formed colonies or establishments for the purpose of trade at first in Cyprus and Rhodes, and subsecjuently in Greece, Sicily, Sardinia, Gaul, and the southern part of Spain. About I'i.lO years before Christ, the Phoenician ships ventured beyond the Straits, entered the Atlantic, and founded Cadiz. It is probable, also, that nearly about the same period they ibrmed establishments on the western coast of Alrica. We have the express authority of Homer, that at the Trojan war the Phoenicians furnished other nations with many articles that could contribute to luxury and magnificence; and Scripture informs us, that the ships of Hyrani, king of Tyre, brt)ught gold to Solomon from Ophir. I'hat they traded to Ui'itain for tin at so early a period as that which w»,' u 2 I 1} 4' Progress of Discnvcjyj (HAP. I are now considering, will appear very doubtful, if the metal mentioned by Moses, (Numbers, chap. xxxi. verse 22.) was really tin, and if Homer is accurate in his statement that this metal was used at the siege of Troy ; for, certainly, at neither of these periods luid the Phoenicians ventured so far from their own country. Hitherto we have spoken of Sidon as the great mart of Phoenician commerce ; at what period Tyre was built and superseded Sidon is not known. In the time of Homer, Tyre is not even mentioned : but very soon afterwards it is repre- sented by Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the other prophets, as a city of unrivalled trade and wealth. Ezekiel, who prophesied about the year 595 B. C. has given a most picturesque de- scription of the wealth of Tyre, all of which must have pro- ceeded from her conmierce, and consequently points out and pi'oves its great extent and importance. The fir-trees of Senir, the cedars of Lebanon, the oaks of Bashan, the ivory of the Indies, the fine linen of Egypt, and the hyacinth and purple of the isles of Elishah, are enumerated among the articles used for their ships. Silver, tin, lead, and vessels of brass ; slaves, horses, and mules ; carpets, ivory, and ebony ; pearls and silk ; wheat, balm, honey, oil and gums ; wine, and wool, and iron, are enumerated as brought into the port of Tyre by sea, or to its fairs by land, from Syria, Damascus, Greece, Arabia, and other places, the exact site of which is not known.* Within the short period of fifteen or twenty years after this description vvas written, Ty:e was besieged by Nebuchadnezzar ; and ailer an obstinate and very protracted resistance, it was taken and destroyed. The inhabitants, how- ever, were enabled to retire during the siege, with the greatest part of their property, to an islpnd near the shore, where they built New Tyre, which soon surpassed the old city both in commerce and shipping. A short time previous to the era generally assigned to the destruction of old Tyre, the Phoenicians are said to have per- formed a voyage, which, if authentic, may justly be regarded as the most important that the annals of this people record : we allude to the circumnavigation of Africa. As this voyage has given rise to much discussion, we may be excused for de- * Dr, Vincent, in the 2il vol. of his Pcriplus of the Erythrean Sea, has a very elaborate connnentary on this chapter of Ezekiel, in which he satis- factorily makes out the nature of most of the articles mentioned in it, as well as tlic locality of the places from which they are said to have come. ^' CHAP. I. fo the Time of Hcmdotus. h 1, hns \ sntis- it, as Ime. % viating from the cursory ami condensed character of this part, of our work, in order to investigate its probable authenticity. All that we know regarding it is delivered to us by Herodotus ; according to this historian, soon after Nechos, king of/' Ilcrudutii^. 11 t i \ Cioiruet ; but it is evident that this is entirely conjectural history: juul we may remark, by the bye, that a work otherwise highly distinguished b" clear and philosophical views, and enriched by considerable learnin*^ and research, in many places descends to fanciful conjecture. All that we certahdy know respecting the ships of the Phcenicians, is, tliat they had two kinds ; one for tlie purposes of commerce, and tlie other for naval expeditions; and in this respect they were imitated by all the other nations of antifjuity. Their merchant-ships were called Gauloi. Accord- ing to Festus's definition of this term, the gauloi were nearly round; but it is evident that this term must be taken with considerable restriction; a ves 1 lound, or nearly so, could not possibly be navigated. It is most probable that this ilcscription refers entirely to the shape of the bottom or hold of the vessel ; and that merchant ships were built in thLs manner, in order that they niiglit carry more goods; whereas the ships for warfare were sharp in the bottom. Of other particulars respecting the construe' ion and equipment of the ships of the PJuEuicians, we are ignorant : they probably re- sembled in most things those of Greece and Rome ; and these, of which antient historians speak moi-e fully, will be described afterwards. The Phoenicians natiu'ally paid attention to astronomy, so far at least as might be serviceable to them in their naviga- tion ; and while odier nations were applying it merely to the purposes of agriculture and chronology, by means of it they were guided through the " trackless ocean," in their maritime enterprises. The C^eat Bear seems to have been known and used as a guide by navigators, even before the Phoenicians were celebrated as a sea-faring people ; but this constellation affords a very imperfect and uncertain rule for the direction of a chip's course : the extreme stars that compose it are more than forty degrees distant from tlie pole, and even its centre star is not sufficiently near it. The Phoeni.Ians, experiencing the imperfection of this guide, seem first to have discovered, or at least to have applied to mari- time pui'poses, the constellation of the Lesser Bear. But it is probable, that at the period when they first appUed this constellation, which is supposed to be about 1250 years before Christ, they did not fix on the star at the extremity of the tail of Ursa Minor, which is what we call the Pole Star ; for by a Memoir of the Academy of Sciences (1733. p. 140.) it is .f\ 12 Ptv^fjss of Di&covcnj riiAP. I. W '1 shewn, thiit il would at that i)crio(l be too distant to serve the purpose of guiding their track. * II. The gleaninp;.s in antient history respecting the mari- time and commercial enterprises, and the diicoveries and settlements of the Egyptians, during ihe very early ages, to which we are at present confining ourt^el'" c few and un- important compared with those of the . vians, and con- sequently will not detain us long. We have already noticed the advantageous situation of Egypt for navigation and conmierce : in some respects it was preferable to thut of Phoenicia; for besides the immediate vicinity of the Mediterranean, a sea, the shores of which were so near to each other that they almost prevented the possi- bility of the ancients, rude and ignorant as they were of all that related to navigation and the management of ships, de- viating long or far from their route; besides the advantages of u climate equally free from the clouded skies, long nights and tempestuous weather of more northern regions, and from the irresistible hurricanes of those within the tropics — besides these favourable circumstances, which the Egyptians enjoyed in common with the Phoenicians, they had, running far into their territory, a river easily navigable, and at no great distance from this river, and bounding their country, a sea almost equally favourable for navigation and commerce as the Mediterranean. Their advantages for land journies were also numerous and great; though the vicinity of the deserts seemed at first sight to have raised an effectual bar to those countries which they divided from Egypt, yet Providence had wisely and benevo- lently removed the difficulty arising from this source, and had even rendered intercommunication, where deserts intervened, more expeditious, and not more difficult, than in those regions where they did not occur, by the creation of the camel, a most benevolent compensation to the Egyptians for their vicinity to the extensive deserts of Africa. Notwithstanding the advantageous situation of the Egyp- tians for navigation, they were extremely averse, as we have already remarked, during tlie earliest periods of their history, to engage in sea affairs, either for the purposes of war or commerce ; nor did they indeed, at any time, enter with spirit, or on a large scale, into maritime enterprises. * In the time of Solomon, about two hundred years after the period when it is supposed the Phoenicians began to direct their course by the Lesser Bear, — it was 17A degrees from the North Pole: in the time of Ptolemy, about one hundred and fifty years after Christ, its distance had decreaiicd to lii degrees. 1 \ I ! man- es and i^cs, to lul llll- 1 COIl- CIIAP. I. to the Time ojllcrodotus. !•{ The superstitious ami fabulous reasons assigned for this antipathy of the Ej^yptians to the sea lias been noticed beil/re ; perhaps some other causes contributed to it, as well as the one alluded to Egypt is nearly destitute of timber proper for ship-building : its sea-coasts are unhealthy, and tlo not appear to have been inhabited near so early as the higher ct)untry : its harbours are few, of intricate navigation, antl fre(iuently changing their depth and direction; and lastly, the ad- vantages which the Nile presents for intercourse and traffic precluded the necessity of applying to sea navigation and commerce. Some authors are of opinion that the ancient Egyptians did not engage in navigation and commerce till the era of the Ptolemies ; but this is undoubtedly a mistake, since traces of their commercial intercommunication with other nations may be found at a very early period of history. It is probable, however, that for a long time they themselves did not engage in commerce, but were merely visited by traders from foreign countries ; for at this era it was a maxim with them, never to leave their own country. The low opinion they entertained of commerce may be gathered from Herodotus, who mentions, that the men disdained to meddle with it, but left it entirely to the women. The earliest account we possess of traffic with Egypt, is to be found in the Old Testament, where we are informed, that the Midianites and Ismaelites traded thither as early as the time of Jacob. Sesostris, who is generally supposed to have lived ab'nit 1650 years before Christ, is by most writers described as ne king who first overcame the dislike of the Egyptians to -he sea. That this monarch engaged in many enterprises both by sea and land, not only for conquest, but also for purposes of trade and colonization, there can be no doubt ; though it is impossible either to trace his various routes, or to estimate the extent of his conquests or discoveries. The concurrent testimony of Diodorus and Herodotus assign to him a large fleet in the Red Sea; and according to other historians, he had also a fleet in the Mediterranean. In order the more effectually to banish the prejudices of t le Egyptians against the sea, he is said to have instituted a n.arine class among his subjects. By these measures he seems to have acquired the sovereignty and the commerce of the greater part of the shores of the Red Sea ;, along which his ships continued their route. f. < ( ;i 14 /Vr/ovm oJ'iy„covmf fill „ 1. ('^\\^\ I. »e „|,„|e „, „,„ «.„,,,',; '"P <>"J'«'- must be „„&e,l; Hilt, I „„ „,^ p, |ea,.„'f ""^ "'■<'"»<>". tlmtlCvnt ' , ^^^^ ''• f'le city of Oci fK ^>Pf'"" conqueror Jiad \J columns the wJui extern 'of M? '"'"^'^^ ^^^ Colchis ; o L': •note fiom V ^^^°«t'-'s ietl such col, m. " '" ^''"^ ^•''•- kept up no rnPr^ "'■'■""' <"''" parts ?„'„?'""''"' «>" "- "-> "' -Solon,,,,, man,'^itir ™r,:,.:';:r ? "■^•' "^' '» • ^ '"«"S''tfi-om Egypt. < If AP. to thi' Time of Hcyoiiolus. IT) aiul, I'rom llio same nulliority, as well as from 1 ItTodoUis and Homer, we learn tliat the IMicrnicians carried on a regular and lucrative traflic wiili iliis country; and, indeed, for a long time, about this period, they were the only nation to whom the ports of Egypt, were oj)en. Of the navigation and commerce of the Red Sea they were e(jnally negligent; so that while none of their shijis were seen on it, it was covcreil with the fleets of the Syrians, I'heenicians, and other nations. Hocchoris, who lived about seven hundred years before Christ, is represented by historians as having imitated the maxims of Sesostris, with respect to maritime ailiiirs and com- merce. Some of his laws on these subjects are still extant ; and they display his knowledge of, and attention to, the improve- ment of his kingdom, liy sy King the Red he Jews king of le corn- to have arbours ground n it, or notices of the Id Tes- Ivo may About [tended CHAP. r. to the Time of Herodotus. 19 • ' ' 4 their knowledge of the globe beyond Mount Caucasus to the north, the entrance of the Red Sea to the south, and the Mediterranean Archipelago to the west, besides Egypt, Asia Minor, Armenia, Syria, Arabia, and perhaps a small part of Abyssinia. Having thus given a sketch of the progress of discovery, and of commercial enterprize by sea and land, among those nations who were the most early in directing their attention to these points, we shall next proceed to an account of the navi- gation and commercial enterprizes of the Greeks and Romans ; and as in this part of our work we shall follow a more strictly chronological arrangement, the navigation and com- mercial enterprizes of the Carthaginians will be incidentally noticed in the order of time to which they belong. Before, however, we proceed to this subject, it may be proper to enter more particularly and fully than we have hitherto done, into a description of the construction and equipment of the ancient ships, since, so far as relates to the ships of the Greeks and Romans, we possess much more ample materials for such a description, than history supplies us with re- specting the ships of the other nations of antiquity. The traditionary story of the Phoenicians, that one of their lieroes was the first man who had the courage to expose him- self upon the waters, in a half burnt tree, stript of its branches, has already l)een noticed. It is probable, however, that the first vessels had not even so much resemblance to our present boats : indeed, conjecture, as well as history, warrant us in believing that rafts were the most ancient mode of conveyance on the water ; and even in the time of Pliny they were extensively employed, especially in the naviijation of rivers. Boats formed of slender rods or hurdles, and covered with skins, seem also to have preceded the canoe, or vessel made of a single piece of timber. It is probable that a considerable time would elapse before the means of constructing boats of planks were discovered, since the bending of the planks for that purpose is not a very obvious art. The Greeks ascribe this invention to a native of Lydia ; but at what period he lived, is not known. Among some nations, leather was almost the only material used in the construction of ships ; and even in the time of Caesar, the Veneti, a people of Brittany, distinguished as a maritime and commercial tribe, made their sails of hides, and their tackle of thongs. In early ages, also, the Greeks used the common V 2 20 Proffyrss of Discover)/ CHAP. I. rushes of their country, and the Carthaginians, the spartuni, or broom of Spain. But it is to the shi})s of Greece and Rome, when they were constructed with more skill, and better adapted to navigation, that we are to pay attention ; and of those, only to such as were used for commercial pinposes. The latter were rounder and more capacious than ships used for war; they were princi- pally impelled by sails ; whereas the ships of war, though not wholly without sails, were chiefly rowed. Another difference between them was, that ships of war commonly had on hel- met engraven on the top of their masts, and ships for trade had a basket suspended on the top of their mast as a sign. There seems to have Deen great variety in the construction of the latter, according to the particular trade in which they were to be engaged ; and each ship of burden had its boat attached to it. The name of the ship, or rather of its tutelary tleity, was inscribed on the stern : various forms of gods, animals, plants, &c. were also painted on other parts. The inhabitants of l^hceacia, or Corsica, are represented as the first who used pitch to fill up the seams, and preserve the timber; sometimes wax was used for this purpose, or rather it was mixed with the paint, to prevent its being defaced by the sun, winds, or water. The principal instruments used in navigation were the rudder, anchor, sounding line, cables, oars, sails, and masts. It is evident from ancient authors, that the ships of the Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, and other people of antiquity, had frequently more than one rudder; but it is not easy to perceive in what way more than one could be applied to the same end for which the rudder of modern ships is used. Small vessels had only one. Homer in his Odyssey mentions only one, which was fastened, and perhaps strengthened, so as to withstand the winds and waves on each side, witn hur- dles, made of sallow or osier ; at the same period the ships of the Phoenicians had two rudders. MHien there were two, one was fixed at each end ; this, however, seems to have been the case only where, as was not uncim.mon, the ships had two prows, so that . ither end could go foremost. With respect to vessels of four rudders, as two are described as being fixed to the sides, it is probable that these resembled in their con- struction and object the pieces of wood attached to the sides of snuill Dutch vessels and barges on the Thames, and gene- rally all vessels that are flat -bottomed, for the piu'pose of pre- .? t CHAP. I, to the Time q/' Hcrodcfus. 21 and i venting tlieni from making much lee wat/, when they are xcor/ihig against the wind. The first anchors were not made of iron, but of stone, or even of wood ; these were loaded with lead. According to Diodorus, the Phoenicians, in their first voyages to Spain, having obtained more silver than their ships could safely hold, employed some of it, instead of lead, for their anchors. Very ancientlj'^ the anchor had only one fluke. Anacharsis is said to have invented an anchor with two. Sometimes baskets full of stones, and sacks filled with sand, were employed as anchors. Every ship had two anchors, one of which was never used, except in cases of great danger : it was larger than the other, and was called the sacred anchor. At the period of the Argonautic expedition, it does not appear that anchors of any kind but stone were known ; though the scholiast upon Apolhmius Rhodius, quite at variance with the testimony of this author, mentions anchors of iron with two flukes. It has been supposed that anchors were not used by the Grecian fleet at the siege of Troy, because " the Greek word which is used to mean an anchor, properly so called, is not used in any of the poems of Homer." It is certain that iron anchors were not then known ; but it is equally certain that large stones were used as anchors. Homer is entirely silent respecting any implement that would serve the purpose of a sounding line ; but it is expressly men- tion by Herodotus as common in his time : it was commonly made of lead or brass, and attached, not to a cord, but an iron chain. In very ancient times the cables were made of leather thongs, afterwards of rushes, the osier, the Egyptian byblus, audotheK jnaterials. The Veneti used iron cables; he' ce we see that what is generally deemed an invention entirely modern, was known to a savage nation in Gaul, in the time of Caesar. This nation was so celebrated for the building and equipment of their vessels, which were, from all accounts, better able to withstand the fury of the ocean than the ships even of the Greeks and Romans, that Cassar gave orders for the building of vessels on the Loire, similar to those of the Veneti, large, flat-bottomed, and high at the head and stern. Yet these vessels, built on such an excellent model, and supplied with chain-cables, had no sails but what were made of leather ; and these sails were never furled, but only bound to the mast. Besides cables, the ancients had other ropes to fasten ships in c 3 22 I'rogins (j/ Dhrovny (HAT. I. the harbours : the usual mode wtvs lo erect stones for this pur- pose, w'.iich were bored throntrh. In 'he time of Homer, the ships of the ancients had only one bank of oars ; afterwards two, three, four, five, and even nine and ten banks of oars are said not to have been uncom- mon : but it is not easy to understand in what manner so many oars could have been used : we shall not enter on this question, which is still unresolved. The Romans had seldom any vessels with more than five banks of oars. Such vessels as were intended for lightness, had only one bank of oars ; this was particularly the case with the vessels of the Libur- nians, a piratical tribe on the Adriatic. The sails, in very ancient times, were made of leather; afterwards of rushes. In the days of Agricohi, the Roman sails were made of flax : towards the end of the first century, hemp was in common use among them for sails, ropes, and nets for hunting. At first there was only one sail in a shij), but afterwards there appear to have been several : they were usually white, as this colour was deemed fortunate ; sometimes, however, they were coloured. At the time of the Trojan war, tlie Greek ships had only one mast, which was lowered upon the deck when the ship was in harbour : near the top of the mast a ribband was list- ened to point out the direction of the wind. In later times there seem to have been several masts, though this is denied by some authors. It remains now to speak of the materials of which the ships were built, their size, and their crews. The species of wood principally employed in the construc- of the Grecian ships were alder, poplar, and fir : cedar, pine, and cypress, were also used. The Veneti, already mentioned as celebrated for their ships, built them of oak ; but theirs are the only vessels of antiquity, that seem to have been con- structed of this kind of wood. The timber was so little sea- soned, that a considerable nuraber of ships are recorded as having been completely built and equipped in thirty days, after the timber was cut down in the forest. In the time of the Trojan war, no iron was used in the building of ships ; die planks were fastened to the ribs with cords. In the most ancient accounts of the Grecian ships, the only mode by which we can form a conjecture of their size, is from the number of men they were capable of holding. At the siege of Troy, Homer describes the ships of the Beotians as CHAP. I. to the Time of Herodotus. n ships: As Tliucydides intbrnis us that at this perioil sokliers rowers, the lunnber inentioued by Homer must the hirgest; autl they carried, he says, one hunchvd and twenty men. " served as compreliend all the ship could conveniently accommodate. In general the Roman trading vessels were very small. Cicero re- presents those that could iiold two thousand am[)hora>, or about sixty tons, as very large; there were, however, occasionally enormous ships built: one of the most remarkable for size was that of Ptolemy; it was four hundred and twenty feet long, and if it were broad and deep in proportion, its burden must have been upwards ofseven thousand tons, more than three times the burden of one of our first rates ; but it is probable that it was both flat bottomed and narrow. Of the general smallness of the Greek and Roman ships, we need no other proof, than that they were accustomed to draw them on land when in port, and during the winter ; and that they were often con- veyed for a considerable space over land. They were some- times made in such a manner that they could easily and quickly be taken to pieces, and put together again, lluicy- dides asserts that the ships which carried the Greeks to Troy were not covered ; but in this he is contradicted by Homer. The principal officer in ships intended for trade was the pilot : he was expected to know the right management of the sails, rudder, &c. the wind, and celestial bodies, the harbours, rocks, quick-sands, and course to be steered. 'J^he Greeks were far behind the Phoenicians in niany parts of nautical knowledge : we have seen that the latter at an early j)eriod changed the Greater for the Lesser Bear, for the direction of their course; whereas the Greeks steered by the Gi*eater Bear. In very early periods it was the practice to stee' all day by the course of the sun, and at night to anchor near the shore. Several stars were observed by the pilot for the purpose of foretelling the weather, the principal of which were Arcturus, the Dog Star, Orion, Castor and Pollux, &c. In the time of Homer, the Greeks knew only the four cardinal winds ; they were a long time ig- norant of the art of subdividing the intermediate parts of the horizon, and of determining a number of rhombs sufficient to serve the pui*poses of a navigation of small extent. Even so late as the date of the Periphes of the Erythraean Sea, which Dr. Vincent has fixed about the tenth year of Nero's reign, only eight points of the compass are mentioned; these are the same as are marked upon the temple of the winds at Athens. The utmost length to which the c; 4 ancients arrived in subdi- 2t Progress of Discovay CHAP. I. viding tlie compass, was by adding two intermediate winds between each of the cardinal winds. We have noticed these particidars rehitive to the winds and the constelhitions, in order to ilhistrate tlie duty which the pilot had to perform, and the dilKcuIty and responsibihty of his office, at a period when navigators possessed such a small portion of experience and knowledge. Besides the chief pilot, there was a subordinate one, whose duty it was to keep a look out at the prow, to manage and di- rect the sails and rowers, and to assist the principal pilot by his advice : th,^ directions of the subordinate pilot were conveyed to the rowers by another officer, who seems to have answered to the boatswain of our men of war. The rowers were en- abled to pull all at once, or to keep time, by a person who sung and played to them while they were employed. During the night, or in difficult navigations, the charge of the sound- ing lead, or of the long poles, which were used either for the same purpose, or to push the ship off, when she got a-ground, was committed to a particular officer. There were, besides, men whose duty it was to serve out the victuals, to keep the ship's accounts, &c. Tlie usual day's sail of a ship of the ancients was five hundred stadia, or fifty miles ; and the course rim over, when they sailed night and day, double that space. We have confined ourselves, in this account of the ships of the ancients, principally to those particulars that are con- nected with the construction, equipment, &c. of those em- ployed for commercial purposes, and shall now proceed to a historical sketch of the progress of discovery among the Greeks, from the earliest records to the era of Herodotus, the father of geographical knowledge. The first maritime expedition of tlie Greeks, of which we have a particular narration, and certainly one of the most celebrated in antient times, is the Argonautic expedition. As we purpose to go into some length on the subject of this expedition, it may be proper to (lefend ourselves fi-om the charge of occupying too much space, and giving too much attention to an enterprize generally deemed fabulous, and so obscured by fable and uncertainty, as to be little capable of illustration, and little conducive to the inprovement of geographical knowledge. This defence we shall borrow from a name deservedly high among those who have successfully illustrated ancient geography, for the happy and successful t I. CHAP. I. to the Time of Herodotus. 25 1.. i mutual adaptation of great learning and sound judgment, and not less worthy of respect and imitation for his candour and liberality: we allude to Dr. Vincent, the illustrator of the Voyage of Nearchus, and the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea. " The reality of the Argonautic expedition, (he observes in the Preliminary Disquisition to the latter work), has been questioned ; but if the primordial history of every nation but one is tinctured with the fabulous, and if from among the rest a choice is necessary to be made, it must be alloweti that the traditions of Greece are less inconsistent than those of the more distant regions of the earth. Oriental learning is now employed in unravelling the mythology of India, and recommending it as containing the seeds of primaeval history ; but hitherto we have seen nothing that should induce us to relinquish the authority we have been used to respect, or to make us prefer the fables of the Hindoos or Guebres, to the fables of the Greeks. Whatever difficulties may occur in the return of the Argonauts, their voyage to Colchis is consistent : it contains more real geography than has yet been discovered in any record of the Bramins or the Zendevesta, and is truth itself, both geographical and historical, when compared with the portentous expedition of llam to Ceylon." In discussing the subject of the Argonautic expedition, we shall successively consider its probable era — its supposed object — the voyage to Colchis, and the various tracks by which the Ai'gonauts are said to have returned. I. Archbishop Usher fixes the era of this expedition at about 1280 years before Christ: Sir Isaac Newton, on the other hand, fixes it much later, about 937 years before Christ. His opinion is grounded principally on a supposition, that the Greek sphere was invented by two of the Argonauts, who delineated the expedition under the name of Argo, one of the constellations. And as the equinoctial colure passed through the middle of Aries, when that sphere was constructed, he in- fers, by calculations of their retrograde motion from their place then till the year A. D. 1 690, that the expedition took place in 937 before Christ. To this, however, there seem to be insur- mountable objections, which it is surprising did not occur to this great man. The chief star in Argo is only 37 degrees from the south pole ; and the greatest part of the constellation is much nearer. The course of the Argonauts from Greece to Colchis, necessarily lay between 39 and 45 degreeij of J 26 2*fogrcsx of Disscovnij tllAP. I. norlli hititiule. It will be evident to nuy person acqniiinted with iistrononiVj that within these hititudes no star of the first nuignitude, or such as would attract observation, especially in those times, could be visible. But, what is still more decisive against the whole of Sir Isaac Newton's hypothesis, he takes for granted that the sphere was invented by the Argonauts : if this indeed could be proved, it would be easy to fix the era of the Argonautic expedition; but till such proof is given, all that can be fairly inferred from an inspection of this sphere is, that it was constructed 937 years before Christ. We have dwelt upon this point, because, thinking that the Argonautic expedition was not nearly so late as Newton supposes, we hence regard it as, proportionally to its antiquity, more credit- able to the Greeks, and a stronger proof of their advancement in maritime skill and enterprize. II. Its alleged object was the Golden Fleece : what that actually was can only be conjectured ; — that no connnercial advantages would tempt the people of that age is obvious, when we reflect on tlieir habits and manners; — that the precious metals would be a powerful attraction, and would be regarded as cheaply acquired by the most hazardous enter- jirizes, is equally obvious. If Sir Walter Raleigh, sound as he was for his era in the science of political economy, was so far ignorant of the real wealth of nations, as to be disap- pointed when he did not find El Dorado in America, though that country contained much more certain and abundant sources of wealth, — can we be surprized if the Greeks, at the time of -the Argonautic expedition, could be stimu- lated to such an enterprize, only by the hope of obtaining the precious metals? It may, indeed, be contended that plunder was their objec' ; but it does not seem likely that they would have ventured to such a distance from Greece, or on a naviga- tion which they knew to be difficult and dangerous, as well as long, for the sake of plunder, when there were means and oppor- tunities for it so much nearer home. We must equally reject the opinion of Suidas, that the Golden Fleece was a parch- ment book, made of sheep-skin, which contained the whole secret of transmuting all metals into gold ; and the opinion of Varro, that the Argonauts went to obtain skins and other rich furs, which Colchis furnished in abundance. And the remarks which we have made, also apply against the opinion of Eustathius, that the voyage of the Argonauts was at once a commercial and maritime expedition, to open the commerce of the Euxine Sea, and to establish forts on its shore. 1 4 f HAP. i. to the Time of ILrmlolua. \ Haviiij,^ rendered it probable, I'roni OTUS TO THE DEATH OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT. A. C. 324-. h ROM the scanty materials respecting the Phoenicians, with which we are supplied by ancient history, it is evident that tliey founded several colonies, either for the purpose of com- merce, or, induced by other motives, in different parts of Africa. Of these colonies, the most celebrated was that of Carthage : a state which maintained an arduous contest with Rome, during the period when the martial aixlour and enterprize of that city was most strenuously supported by the stern purity of republican virtue, which more than once drove it to the brink of ruin, and which ultimately fell, rather through the vice of its own constitution and government, and the jealousies and (juarrels of its own citizens, and through the operation of extraneous circumstances, over which it could have no controul, than from the fair and unassisted power of its adversary. The era of the foundation of Carthage is unknown. Ac- cording to some writers, it was built so early as 1233 years before Christ ; but the more general, as well as more proba- ble opinion, assigns it a much later foundation — about 818 years before the Christian era. If this opinion be correct, Rome and Carthage were founded nearly about the same period. The circumstances which led to and accompanied the foundation of Carthage, though related with circutiistan- tial fulness by the ancient poets, are by no means accui'ately know to authentic history. The situation of Carthage was peculiarly favourable to com- merce and maritime enterprize ; in the centre of the Mediter- ranean ; in reach of the east as well as of the west ; the most fertile, and most highly cultivated and civilized part of Africa in her immediate vicinity. Carthage itself was built at the bottom of a gulph, on a peninsula, which was about fDrty-five miles in circumference ; and its strength and security were further aided by the isthmus which connected this peninsula D .34 Progress oj' Discovery CHAP. 11. to the main land, as it was little more than three miles broad ; l)y a projection of land on the west side, which was only half a stadium in breadth ; and by^ lake or morass which lay on the opposite side : this projection, which ran out considerably into the sea, was naturally strong by the rocks with which it was covered, and was rendered still stronger by art. In one point only had this projection been neglected ; this was an angle, which fnjui the foundation of the city had been over- looked, advancing into the sea towards the western continent, as far as the harbours, which lay on the same side of the city. There were two harbours, so placed and constructed as to communicate with each other. They had one entrance, seventy feet in breadth, which was shut up and secured by strong chains stretched across it. One of these harbours was exclusively set apart for merchant ships ; and in its vici- nity were to be found every thing necessary for the accom- modation of the seamen. In the middle of the other harbovu' was an island called Cothon ; though, according to some writers, this was the name of the harbour itself. The word Cothon, we are informed by Festus, (and his etymology is confirmed by Bochart and Buxtorf,) signifies, in the oriental languages, a port not formed by nature, but the result of labour and art. The second harboui', as well as the island in it, seems to have been intended principally, if not exclu- sively, for ships of war ; and it was so capacious, that of these it would contain 220. This harbour and islan:! were hned with docks and sheds, which received the ships, when it was necessary to repair them, or protect them from the effects of the weather. On the key were built extensive ranges of wharfs, magazines, and storehouses, filled with all the requi- site materials to fit out the .ships of war. This harbour seems to have been decorated with some taste, and at some expence ; so that both it ard the island, viewed at a distance, appeared like two extens.ve and iiagnificent galleries. The admiral's palace, which commanded a view of the mouth of the harbour and of the sea, wa.s also a building of considerable taste. Each harbour had its particular entrance into the city : a dou- ble wall separated them so effectually, that the merchant ves- sels, when t!.ey entered their own harbour, could not see the ships of war; and though the admiral, from his palace, could perceive whatever was doing at sea, it was impossible that from the sea any tl^iitg in the inward harbour could be perceived. t CHAP. ir. to the Death of AlexatiiU'r the Great. 35 Nor were these advantages, though numerous and great, the only ones which Carthage enjoyed as a niarithne city; for its situation was so admirably chosen, and that situation so skilfully rendered subservient to the grand object of the go- vernment and citizens, that even in case the accidents of war should destroy or dispossess them of one of their liarbours, they had it in their power, in a great measure, to replace the loss. This was exemplified in a striking and effective man- ner at the time when Scipio blocked up the old port ; for the Carthaginians, in a very short time, built a new one, the traces and remains of which were plainly visible so late as the period when Dr. Shaw visited this part of Africa. Carthage, at a comparatively early period of its histor}', possessed a very large extent of sea coast, though in it there were but few harbours fitted for commerce. The boundaries of the Carthaginian dominions on the west were the Philaenc • rum Arae, so called from two brothers of this name, who were buried in the sand at this place, in consequence of a dispute between the Carthaginians and the Cyreneans, respecting the boundaries of their respective countries. On the other, or western side, th ■. rthaginian dominions extended as far as the Pillars of H^-Uv^^es, a distance, according to Polybius, of 16,000 stadia, or 2000 miles ; but, according to the more ac- curate observations of Dr. Shaw, only 1420 geographical miles. Next to Carthage itself, the city of Utica ■ as most cele- brated as a place of commerce : it lay a short distance to the west of Carthage, and on the same bay. It had a lai'ge and convenient harbour ; and after the destruction of Carthage, it became the metropolis of Africa Propria. Neapolis was also a place of considerable trade, especially with Sicily, from which the distance was so short, that the voyage could be per- formed in two days and a night. Hippo was a fi'ontier town on the side of Numidia ; though Strabo says, thei v^ were two of the same name in Africa Propria. The Cau" ->ginian Hippo had a port, arsenal, storehouses, and citadel : it lay between a large lake and the sea. We have already noticed the etymological meaning of the word Cothon : that this meaning is accurate may be inferred from the word being ap- plied to several artificial harbours in the Carthaginian domi- nion, besides that of Carthage itself: it was applied to the port of Adrumetum, a large city built on a pron ontory, — and to the port ofThapsus, a maritime town, situate J on a kind D 2 t S6 Progress of Discover!/ CHAP. II. If ' of isthmus, between the sea and a hike. The artificial nature of this hitter harbour is phiced lieyond all (h)iibt, as there is still remaining a great part of it built on frames: the materials are composed of mortar and small pebbles, so strongly and closely cemented, that they have the appearance, as well as durability, of solid rock. It is singular, that in the dominions of Carthage, extending, as we have seen, upwards of 1400 miles along the shores of the Mediterranean, there should be no river of any magnitude or importance for connnerce : the Bagrada and the Catada alone are noticed by ancient his- torians, and botli of these were insignificant streams. Having thus pointed out the natural advantages for com- merce possessed by the Carthaginians, we shall next proceed to notice such of their laws, and such parts of their political in- stitutions, and features of their character, as either indicated their bias for commerce, or tended to strengthen it. The mo- narchical government of Carthage was not of long continuance ; it afterwards became republican, though the exact form of the republic is not certfiinly known As late as the 1 ime of Aristotle, there seems to have been such a complete and practical coun- terpoise of the iwwers in which the supreme authority was vested, that, according to him, there had been no instance from the foundation of the city, of any popular commotions sufli- cient to disturb its tranquillity ; ncr , on the othev hand, of any tyrant, who had been able to destroy its liberty. This saga- cious philosopher foresaw the circumstance which w d de- stroy the constitution of Cartluige; for when there was a disagreement between die two branches of the legislature, the suffetes and the senate, the question in dispute was referred to the people, and their resolve became the law. Till the second and third vvai's between Rome and Carthage, no fatal effects resulted from this pi-inciple of the constitution ; but during these, the people were frequently called upon to exer- cise their dangerous authority and privileges ; the senate yielded to them ; cabals and factions took place among those who were anxious to please, for the purpose of guiding the people ; rash measures were adopted, tlie councils and the power of Carthage became disti-acted and weak, and its ruin was precipitated and completed. But though to this defect in the constitution of Carthage its ruin may partly be ascribed, there can be little doubt that commerce flourislied by means of the popular form of its govenunent. Connnerce was the pmsuit of all ranks and CHAi'. If. U) Ihc Death of Alexander the Great. 37 classes, as well as the main concern and object of the govern- ment. The most emuient persons in the state for power, talents, birth, and riches, applied themselves to it with as much ardour and perseverance as the meanest citizens ; and this similarity and efiuality of pursuit, as it sprang in some measure from the republican equality of the constitution, so also it tended to preserve it. The notices which we possess respecting the political insti- tutions of the Carthaginians are very scanty, and are almost entirely derived from Aristotle : according to him they had a custom, which must at once have relieved the state from those whom it could not well support, and have tended to enlarge the sphere of their commercial enterprize. They sent, as oc- casion recjuired, colonies to different parts, and these colonies, keeping up their connection with the mother country, not only drew oft" her supe"abundant trade, but also supplied her with many articles she could not otherwise have procured at so easy and cheap a rate. The fertility and high state of cultivation of those parts of Africa which adjoined Carthage, has already been alluded to ; and their exports consisted either of the produce of those parts, or of their own manufactures. Of the former there were all kinds of provisions ; wax, oil, honey, skins, fruits, &c. ; their principal manufactures were cables, especially those fit for large vessels, made of the shrub spartnm ; all other kinds of naval stores ; dressed leather ; the particular dye or colour, called from them punic, the preparation of which seems not to be known ; toys, &c. &c. From Egypt they imported flax, )iapyrus, &c. ; from the Red Sea, spices, drugs, perfumes, gold, pearls, &c. ; from the countries on the Levant, silk stufifs, scarlet and purple dyes, &c. ; and from the west of Europe their principal imports seem to have been iron, lead, tin, and the other useful metals. ISuch was the conmierce by sea, as far as the imperfect notices on this subject, by the ancient historians, instruct us : but they also carried on a considerable and lucrative com- merce by land, especially with the Persians and Ethiopians. The caravans of these nations generally resorted to Carthage ; the rarest and most esteeniod articles which they brought were carbuncles, which, by means of this trafllic, became so plenty in this city, that they were generally known by the appellati(;n of Carthaginian gems. The mode of selling by auction seems to have been practised by this nation ; at least tliere are I) .'{ ' 88 Progress of Discovery CHAP. II. Mi I' I' passages in tlie ancient autliors, particularly one in Poly- bius, which would naturally lead to the conclusion, that in the sale of their merchandize, the Carthjiginians employed a per- son to name and describe their various khids and qualities, and also a clerk to note down the price at which they were sold.. Their mode of trafficking with rude nations, unaccustomed to commerce, as described by Herodotus, strongly resembles that which has been often adopted by our navigators, when they arrive on the coast of a savage people. According to this historian, the Carthaginians trafficked with the Lybians, who inhabited the western coast of Africa, in the following manner : having conducted their vessels into some harbour or creek, they landed the merchandize which they meant to exchange or dispose of, and placed it in such a manner and situation, as exposed it to the view of the inhabitants, and at the same time indicated the purpose for which it was thus exposed. They afterwards lighted a fire of such materials as caused a great smoke; this attracted the Lybians to the spot, who laid down such a quantity of gold as they deem ed an adequate price for the merchandize, and then retired. The Carthaginians next approached and examined the gold : if they deemed it sufficient, they took it away, and left the merchandize ; if they did not, they left both. ' In the latter event, the Lybians again returned, and added to the quantity of gold ; and this, if necessary, was repeated, till the Cartha- ginians, by taking it away, shewed that in their judgment it was an adequate price for their goods. During the whole of this transaction, no intercourse or words passed, nor did the Carthaginians even touch the gold, nor the Lybians the mer- chandize, till the former took away the gold. The earliest notice we possess of a commercial alliance formed by the Carthaginians, fixes it a very few years before the birth of Herodotus : it was concluded between them and the Romans about the year 503 before Christ. The Cartha- ginians were the first nation the Romans were connected with out of Italy. Polybius informs us, that in his time (about 1 40 years before Christ) this treaty, written in the old lan- guage of Rome, then nearly unintelligible, was extant on the base of a column, and he has given a translation of it : the terms of peace between the Carthaginians and their allies, and the Romans and their allies, were to the following purport. The latter agreed not to sail beyond the fair promontory, (which lay, according to our historian, a very short distance i i U CHAP. ir. to the Death of Alexander the Great. 39 to the north of Carthage,) unless they were driven beyond it by stress of weather, or by an enemy's vessel. In case they were obliged to land, or were shipwrecked, they were not to take or purchase any thing, except what they might need, to repair their ships, or for the purpose of sacrifice. And in no case, or under no pretext, were they to remain on shore above five days. The Roman merchants were not to pay any higher, or other duty, than what was allowed by law to the common crier and his clerk, already noticed, who, it appears from this treaty, were bound to make a return to government of all the goods that were bought or sold in Africa and Sardinia. It was moreover provided, that if the Romans should visit any places in Sicily, subject to the Carthaginians, they should be civilly treated, and have justice done them in every respect. On the other hand, the Carthaginians bound themselves not to interfere with any of the Italian allies, or subjects of the Romans ; nor build any fort in their territory. Such were the principal articles in this commercial treaty ; from it, it ap- pears, that so early as the year 503 before Christ, the first year after the expulsion of the Tarquins, and twenty-eight years before the invasion of Greece by Xerxes, the Carthagi- nians were in possession of Sardinia, and part of Sicily ; — that they were also acquainted with, and had visited the coasts of Italy ; and there are expressions in the treaty, which render it highly probable that the Carthaginians had, before this period, attempted to establish, either for commerce or con- cjuest, colonies and forts in Italy : it is also evident that they were acquainted with the art of fortification. Though it will carry us rather out of chronological order, it may be proper to notice in this place a second treaty of com- merce between the Carthaginians and Romans, which was entered into about 333 years before Christ, during the consul- ship of Valerius Corvus, and Popilius Lsenas. The Cartha- ginians came to Rome for tnt purpose of concluding this ti*eaty : it differed in some particulars tiom the former, and was to the following effect. The Romans and their allies were to pos- sess the friendship of the people of Carthage, the Tyrians, and the inhabitants of Utica, provided they carried on no hostilities against them, and did not trade beyond the fair promontory, Mastica and Tarseium. In case the Cartha- ginians should take any town in Italy, not under the jui'is- diction of the Romans, they might plunder it, but after that they were to give it up to the Romans. Any captives taken D 4 I in 4() l*ivgir.ss of Discuvciif ciiAi'. n. Ml ill Italy, who in any Roman ix)rt should be challenged by the Romans as belonging to any state in amity with Rome, were to be immediately "estored. The Romans, in case they jiut into the harbours of the Carthaginians, or their allies, to take in water or othe; necessaries, were not to be molested or injured ; but they were not to carry on any commerce in Africa or •Sardinia ; nor even land on those coasts, except to purchase necessaries, and refit their ships : in such cases, only five tlays were allowed them, at the expiration of which they were to depart. But, in the towns of Sicily belonging to the Carthaginians, and even in the city of Carthage itself, the Romans were permitted to trade, enjoying the same rights and privileges as the Carthaginians ; and, on the other hand, the Carthaffinians were to be allowed to traffic in Rome on terms equally favourable. It is not our intention, because it would be totally foreign to the object and nature of this work, to give a history of Carthage; but only to notice such events and transactions, supplied by its history, as are illustrative of the commercial enterprise of by far the most enterprising commercial nation of jmtiquity. In conformity to this plan, we shall briefly notice their first establishment in Spain, as it was from the mines of this country that they drew gi*eat wealth, and thus were enabled, not only to equip formidable fleets and armies, but also to extend their traffic very considerably. The city of Cadiz, was founded by the Phaniicians, as well as Carthage ; and as there was a close connection between most of the Phoenician colonies, it is probable that some time before the Carthaginians established themselves in Spain, they traded with the people of Cadiz: at any rate it is certain, that when the latter were hard pressed by the Spaniards, they applied to the Carthaginians for assistance : this was readily given, and being effectual, the Carthaginians embraced the opportunity, and the pretext thus afforded for establishing themselves in the part of Spain adjoining Cadiz. It is singular, however, that though the Carthaginians were in possession of Majorca and Minorca from so remote an antiquity, " that their first arrival there is prior to every thing related of them by any historian now extant," yet they do not seem to have established themselves on the main land of Spain till they assisted the people of Cadiz. With respect to the other foreign possessions of the Cartha- ginians, we have already seen that, at the period of their i1 U il. tiiAi*. II. to Ihc Dcal/i (j/' A/cxaiulcr I he Vucal. 41 led liz. la- eir lr k first treaty with the IloiDans, they occupied Sardinia and part of Sicily ; and tiiere arc several passaj^es in the ancient historians, particularly in Herodotus, which render it hij^hly })robable that they had establishments in Corsica about the same time. Malta and its dependent islands were first peopled by the Phoenicians, and seem afterwards to liave lallen into the ))ossession of the Carthaginians. Of the particular voyages undertaken by the Cart?iatrlnians for the purpose eitlier of discovery or of conunercial enterprise we jiossess little information ; as, however, these topics are most particularly within the scojie of our work, it will be indispens- able to detail all the hiformation relating to them which can be collected. The voyages of Hamilcar or Iliniilco, as lie is called by some historians, and of Hanno, are the most celebrated, or, rather, to speak more accurately, the only voyages of the Carthaginians of which we possess any details either with regard to their object or consequences. Himiico who was an oflicer in the navy of Carthage, was senc by the senate to explore the western coasts of Earope : a journal ol* his voyage, and an account of his discoveries, were, accordin*"" to the custom of the nation, inscribed in the Carthaginian annals. But the only information respecting them which we now possess, is derived from the writings of the Latin ))oet Rufus Festus Avienus. This poet flourished under Theodosius, A. D. 450, translated the Phacnomena of Araius and Dionysius's Description of the World, and also wrote an original poem, on the sea coasts. In the last he mentions Himiico, and intimates that he saw the orifrinal journal of his voyage in the Carthaginian annals. Acconlino- to the account of Festus, the voyage of Himiico lasted fou7* months, or rather he sailed for the space of four months towards the norih, and arrived at die isl';s Ostrymnides and the coast of Albioa. In the extracts given by Avienus from the journal of Himiico, frequent mention is made of lead and tin, and of ships cased with leather (or, more probably entirely made of that material, like the coracles still used by the Greenlanders, and even in Wales, ibr crossing small rivers). In these parts, he adds, the E st llynini lived, with whom the people of Tartessus and Carthage traded : we liave given this appellation to the inhabitants of the isles Ostrym- nides, because in the first part of the latter word, the Teu- tonic word, Gist, distinctly apjiears. Hanno was sent by the senate to explore the western coast of Africa, and to eslublisii Carthaginian colonies wh'-iever he % i 4S Progress of Discovcrj/ CHAP. II. I might deem it expedient or advantageous. He sailed from Carthage with a fleet of 60 vessels, each rowed with 50 oars, and hatl besides, a convoy containing 30,000 persons of both sexes. He wrote a rehition of his voyage, a fragment of a Greek version of which is still remaining, and has lately been illustrated by the learning and ingenuity of Dr. Falconer of Bath : his voyage is also cited by Aristotle, Pomponius Mela, and Pliny. The era at which it was performed, and ihe extent of the voyage, have given rise to much discussion, (saac Vossius fixes the date of it prior to the age of Homer : Vossius the father, subsequent to it : Wesseling doubts whe- ther it was even prior to Herodotus. Campomanes fixes it about the 93d Olympiad : and Mr. Dodwell scmiewhere between the 92d and the 129th Olympiad. According to Pliny, Hanno and Himilco were contemporaries ; the latter author mentions the commentaries of Hanno, but in such a manner as if he had not seen, and did not believe ihem. "With respect to the extent of his voyage along the western coast of Africa, some modern writers assert, without any authority, that he doubled the Cape of Good Hope: this assertion is made in direct unqualified terms by Mickle the translator of the Lus ud. Other writers limit the extent of his navigation to Cape Nun ; while, according to other geo- graphers, he sailed as far as Cape Tliree Points, on the coast of Guinea. That there should be any doubt on the subject appears surprising ; for, as Dr. Vincent very justly remarks, we have Hanno's own authority to prove that he never was within 40 degrees of the Cape. That the Carthaginians, before the voyage of Hanno, had discovered the Canary IsLvuds, is rendered highly probable, from the accounts of Diodorus Siculus, and Aristotle : the former mentions a large, beautiful, and fertile island, to which the Carthaginians, in the event of any overwhelming disorder, had determined to remove their government ; and Aristotle relates that they were attracted to a beautiful island in such numbers, that the senate were obliged to forbid any further emigration to it on pain of death. . The voyages of the Carthaginians wei'e, from the situation of their territory, and the imperfect state of geography and navigation at that period, usually confined to the Mediter- ranean and to the western shores of Africfi and Europe ; but several years antecedent to the date usually assigned to the voyages of Himilco and Hanno, a voyage of discovery is said V ^ u CHAP. II. to the Death of Alexander the Great'. 4S tion md jter- but I the laid i r to have been accomplished by the king of a nation httle given to maritime affairs. We aUude to the voyage of IScyhvx, undertaken at tlie command of Darius the son of Hystasjjes, about 550 years before Cluist. There are several circum- stances respecting this voyage which deserve attention or examination ; the person who performed it, is said by Hero- dotus, (from whom we derive all our information on the subject), to have been a native of Caryandria, or at least an inhabitant of Asia Minor : he was therefore most probably a Greek : he was a geographer and mathematician of some eminence, and by some writers is supposed to have first invented geographical tables. According to Herodotus, Darius, after his Scythian expedition, in order to facilitate his design of conquest in the direction of India, resolved, in the first place, to make a discovery of that part of the world. For this purpose he built and fitted out a fleet at Cespatyrus, a city on the Indus, towards the upper part of the navigable course of that river. The ships, of course, first sailed to the mouth of the Indus, and during their passage the country on each side was explored. The direc- tions given to Scylax were, after he entered the ocean, to steer to the westward, and thus return to Persia. Accord- ingly, he is said to have coasted from the mouth of the Indus to the Straits of Babelmandel, where he entered the Red Sea ; and on the 30th month from his first embarking he landed at Egypt, at the same place from which Necho, king of that country, had despatched the Phoenicians to circumnavi- gate Africa. From Egypt, Scylax returned to Susa, where e gave Darius a full account of his expedition. The reality of this voyage, or at least the accuracy of some of the particulars it records, has been doubted. Scylax describes the course of the Indus to the east; whereas il runs to the south-west. It is also worthy of remaik, that as Darius, before the voyage of Scylax, was master of the Attock, Peukeli, and Multan, he needed no information respecting the route to India, as every conqueror has followed this very obvious and easy route. Dr. Vincent also objects to the authority of this voyage, or rather to the track assigned to it : "I cannot believe," he observes, " from the state of naviga- tion in that age, that Scylax could perform a voyage round India, from which the bravest of Alexander's navigators shrunk, or that men who had explored the desert coast of Gadrosia, should be less daring than an experienced native of Caryandria. i 41. J^rogress of Discovery CHAP. U. Thev returned with amazement from the sight of Mussenden and llas-al-had, while fScylax succeeded without a difficulty upon record. But the obstacles to such a voyage are nu- merous ; first, whether Pactzia be Peukeli, and Caspatyrus, Multan : secondly, if Darius were master of Multan, whether he could send a ship or a fleet down the sea, through tribes, wliere Alexander fought his way at every step : thirdly, whether Scylax had any knowa.'lge of the Indian C)cean, the coast, or the monsoon : fourthly, if the coist of Gadrosia were friendly, which is doubtful, whether he could jjroceed along the coast of Arabia, vhich must be hostile from port to ])ort: these and a variety of other difficulties which Nearchus experienced, from famine, from want of water, from tlie construction of his ships, and from the manners of the natives, must induce an incredulity in regard to the Persian account, whatever respect \> • may have to the fidelity of Herodotus." Such are the object'-'Ms urged by Dr. \'incent to the authority of this voyag .. In some of the particular objections there may be considevable force; hut with respect to the general ones, from the manners or hostility of the natives inhabiting the coasts along which the voyage was performed, they apply equally to the voyages of the Carthaginians along the western coasts of Africa and Eur'^^je, and indeed to all the voyages of discovery, or distant ^ o.ages of the ancients. It may be added, that accoriliig to iStrabo, Posidonius disbe- lieved the whole history cf iscyl . In the Geographi Minores of Hudson, a voyi ge iscrit'cd to Scylax is pub- lished; but great doubts are justly entertain _xl on the subject of its authenticity. Dodwell is decidedly against it. The Raron de Sainte Croix, in a dissertation read before the Academy of Inscriptions, defends the work which bears the name of Scylax as genuine. Dr. Vincent states one strong objection to its authenticity : mention is made in it of Dar- danus, llhetiun , and lUium, in the Troad ; whereas there is great doubt whether Ilhetium was in existence in the time of the real Scylax : besides, it is remarkable that nothing is said respecting India in the treatise now extant. That the original and genuine work described India is, however, undoubted, on the authority of Aristotle, who mentions that there was such a person as Scylax, that he had been in India, and that his uccount of that country was extant in his (Aristotle's) time. In fact, the work which we possess under the name of Scylax, ir > »■ i CHAP. II. to llic. Death of Alexander the Great. 45 ■f t is evidently a collection of the itineraries of ancient navio-a- tors : it may have been drawn up by the Scylax whom Darius employed, thoufi;h, if that were the case, it is very extraordinary he should not have included the journal of liis own voyage; or his name, as that of a celebrated geographer may have been put to it ; or there may have been another geographer of that name. The collection is evidently imperfect ; what is extant contains the coasts of the Paliis Ma;otis, the Euxine, the Archipelago, the Adriatic, and all tlie Mediterranean, with the west coast of Africa, as far as the isle of Cerne which he asserts to be the limit of the Carthaginian navigation and commerce in that direction. The sea, according to him, is not navigable further to the south than this island, on account of the thick weeds with which it was covered. The mention of this impediment is adduced by D'Anville to prove the reality of the Carthaginian voyages to the south : it is not, indeed, true, that the sea is impassable on account of these weeds to modern navigators, but it is easy to conceive that the timidity and inexperience of the ancients, as well as the imperfect construction of their vessels, would prevent them from proceeding further south, when they met with such a singular obstacle. If m ship has not 7nuch ivay through the water, these weeds will impede her course. It has been very juptly remarked, that if the latitude where these weeds com- mence was accurately determined, it would fix exactly the extent of the voyages of the Carthaginians in this direction. The weed alluded to is probably the fucus natans, or fj-ulf- weed. Hitherto the knowledge that the ancients possessed of the habitable world, had not been collected by any writer and is to be gathered entirely from short, vague, and evidently imperfect narrations, scattered througliout a great number of authors. Herodotus lias been celebrated as the father of history ; he may with equal justice be styled the father of geographical knowledge: he flourished about 4-74 years before Christ. In dwelling upon the advances to geographical knowledge which have been derived from him, it will be proper and satisfactory, before we explain the extent and nature of them, to give an account of the sources from which he derived his information ; those were his own travels, and the narrations or journals of other travellers. A great portion of the vigour of his life seems to have been spent in travelling; the oppressive tyranny of Lyg(hunis over Halicnrnassus, hi;! 46 Progress of Discovery CHAP. ir. native country, first induced or compelled him to travel; whether he had not also imbibed a portion of the commercial activity and enteqorize which distinguished his countrymen, is not known, but is highly probable. We are not informed whether his fortune were such as* to enable him, without entering into commercial speculations, to support the expences of his travels ; it is evident, however, fi'om the extent of his travels, as well as from the various, accurate, and, in many cases, most important information, which he acquired, that these expences must have been very considerable. From his work it is certain that he was endowed with that faculty of eliciting the truth from fabulous, imperfect, or contradictory evidence, at all times so necessary to a traveller, and indispens- ably so at the period when he travelled, and in most of the countries where his enquiries and his researches were carried on. His great and characteristic merit consists in freeing his mind fronj the opinions which must have previously occupied it ; — in trusting entirely either to what he himself saw, or to what he learned from the best authority ; — always, however, bringing the information acquired in this latter mode to the test ^ f nis own observation and good sense. It is from the united action and guidance of thef^e two quali- fications — individual observation and experience gained by most patient and diligent research and enquiry on the spot, and a high degree of perspicacity, strength oi intellect, and good sense, separating the truth from the fable of all he learnt from the observation and experience of others, that Herodotus has justly acquired so high degree of reputation, and that in almost every instance modern travellers find themselves anticipated by him, even on points in which such a coincidence was the least likely. His ti'avels embraced a variety of countries. The Greek colonies in the Black Sea were visited by him : he measured the extent of that sea, from the Bosphorus to the mouth of the river Phasis, at the eastern extremity. All that track of country which lies between the Borysthenes and the Hypanis, and the shores of the Palus Maeotis, he diligently explored. With respect to the Caspian, his information affords a striking proof of his accuracy, even, when gained, as it was in this instance, from the accounts of others. He describes it ex- f)ressly as a sea by itself, unconnected with any other: its ength, he adds, is as much as a vessel with oars can navi- gate in fifteen days : its greatest breadth as much as such a CHAP. IT. to the Death of Alexander the Great. 47 i. vessel can navigate in eight days. It may be added, as a curious proof and illustration of the decline of geographi- cal knowledge, or, at least, of the want of confidence placed in the authority of Herodotus by subsequent ancient geographers, that Strabo, Pomponius Mela, and Pliny, repre- sent the Caspian Sea as a bay, communicating with the great Northern Ocean ; and that even Arrian, who, in respect to care and accuracy, bears no slight resemblance to Herodotus, and for some time resided as governor of Cappadocia, asserts that there was a communication between the Caspian Sea and the Eastern Ocean. But to return from this digression to the geographical knowledge of Herodotus, as derived from his own travels, he visited Babylon and Susa, and while there, or perhaps in excursions from those places, made himself well acquainted with the Persian empire. The whole of Egypt was most diligently and thoroughly explored by him, as well as the Grecian colonies planted at Cyrene, in Lybia. He traced the course of the river Ister, from its mouth nearly as far as its source. The extent of his travels in Greece is not accu- rately known ; but his description of the Straits of Thermopylae is evidently the result of his own observation. All these coun- tries, together with a portion of the south of Italy, were visited by him. The information which his history conveys respect- uig other parts of the world was derived from others : in most cases, it would seem, from personal enquiries and con- versation with them, so that he had an opportunity of render- ing the information thus acquired much more complete, as well as satisfactory, than it would have been if it had been derived from their journals. Herodotus trusted principally or entirely to the information he received, with respect to the interior of Africa and the north of Europe, and Asia to the east of Persia. While he was in Egypt he seems to have been particularly inquisitive and interested respecting the caravans which travelled into the interior of Africa ; and regarding their equipment, route, destination, and object, he has collected a deal of curious and instructive information. On the authority of Etearchus, king of the Ammonians, he relates a journey into the inte- rior of Africa, undertaken by five inhabitants of the coun- try near the Gulf of Libya; and, in this journey, there is good reason to believe that the river Niger is accurately described, at least as far as regards the direction of its course. ^■A m I ' I 4S ]*>-ng7'iXl 52 Progress of Discovety CHAP. II. northern point of the horizon, and at the same time asserts that the day and night were each of six months' continuance, there in a palpable contradiction : and when he adds, that millet was cultivated in the north, of this country, and wheat in the south, and that honey abounded, he mentions productions utterly incompatible with his description of the climate and latitude. As, however, this voyage forms an important epoch in the history of discovery, it may be proper to endeavour to ascer- tain what country the Thule of Pytheas really was. We have already observed, that the day's sail of an ancient vessel was 500 stadia, or 50 miles; supposing the largest stadia of 666?f equal to one degree of the equator, if the vessel sailed during the night as well as day, the course run was, on an average, 1000 stadia, or 100 miles. Now, as the voyage from the extremity of Britain to Thule was of course not a coasting voyage, and as the nights in that latitude, at the season of the year when the voyage was made, were very short, (Pytheas says the night was reduced to two or three hours) we must suppose that he sailed night as well as day ; and conse- quently, that in six days he had sailed 600 miles, either directly nort^ or to east or west of the north, lor his exact course cannot well be made ont. What country lies 600 miles to the north or the north-east of the extremity of Britain ? None exactly in this direc- tion : if, however, we suppose that Pytheas could not fix exactly the point of the compass which he steered, (a sup- position by no means improbable, considering the ignorance of the ancients,) and that his course tended to the west of the north, 600 miles would bring him nearly to Greenland. There were, however, other stadia besides those by which we computed the day's sail of the ancients ; and though the stadia we have taken are more generally alluded to by the ancients, yet it may be proper to ascertain what results will be produced if the other stadia are supposed to hiive been used in this instance. The stadia we have already founded our calcula- tions upon will bring us to the latitude of 69° 27' : the latitude of the southernmost point of Greenland is very nearly 70". But the description given by Pytheas of the productions of the country by no means coincides with Greenland. At the same time, other parts of his description agree with this country ; particularly when he says, that there the sea, the earth, and the air, seem to be confounded in one element, In the south of Greenland the longest day is two months T mijir:_ii_ CHAP. n. to the Death of Alexan'^er the Great. 59 1 we the the ill be ed in ula- de of But the the this the ^ ^ whicli does not coincide with Pytheas' account; though this, as we have already pointed out, is contradictory with itself. Let us now consider what will be the result if we suppose that a different stadia were employed : the next in point of extent to that on which we have already founded our conjectures, (there being 700 equal to one degree of the equator) will bring him to the latitude of 66° 8'; the latitude of the northernmost part of Iceland is 66° 30', coinciding with this result as nearly as })ossible. The description of the climate agrees with Pytheas' description ; but not his account of the length of the day, nor of the productions of the country. Of the third kind of stadia, 833^ were equal to one degree of the equator ; calculating that 1000 of these were sailed during a day and night's voyage, Pytheas would arrive in the latitude of 55° 34', at the end of six days. This, however, is absolutely at variance with the fact, that he took his de- parture from the northernmost point of Britain, and would in fact bring him back from it to the entrance of the Frith of Forth. It is supposed, however, that this is the real latitude ; but that the west coast of Jutland is the country at which he arrived. But this obliges us to believe that his course fi'om the northern extremity of Britain, instead of being north or north-east, or indeed at all to the north, was in fact south-west ; a supposition which cannot be admitted, unless we imagine that the ancients were totally ignorant of the course which they steered. On the other hand, Pytheas' description of the productions of Thule agree'' with Jutland ; the culture of millet in the north, and of wneat in the south, and the abundance of honey: there is also, about a degree to the north of the latitude of 55° 34', a part of the coast still de- nominated Thyland ; and in the ancient language of Scandi- navia, Thiuland. The account of Pytheas, that near Thule, the sea, air, and earth, seemed to be confounded in one element, is supposed by Make Brun to allude to the sandy downs of .Jutland, whose hills shift with the wind ; the marshes, covered with a crust of sand, concealing from the traveller the gulf beneath, and the fogs of a peculiarly dense nature which frequently occur. We must confess, however, that the course having been north, or north-east, or north-west, for this latitude of course may be allowed in consideration of the ignorance or want of accuracy of the ancients, never can have brought Pytheas to a country lying to the south-west of I he extremity of Britain. £ S ■Ii ' ■ l> ^ V-'i I ■I 54.' I '/(j^re.ss of ' Disanci y tllAP. JI. We .nre not nssisted in finding out the truth, if, instead oK founding our calculations and conjectures on the distance sailed in the six days, we take tor their basis the distance whicli Pytheas states Thule to be from the equator. This distance, we have already mentioned, was 4(i,300 stadia ; which, according as the different kinds of stadia are calculated npon, will give respectively the latitude of the south ol' CJreenland, of the north of Iceland, or of the west coast of Jutland ; or, in other words, the limit of Pytlieas' voyage will be determiued to be in the same latitucle, whether we ascertain it by the average leugth of the day and night's sail of the vessels of the ancients, or by the distance from the equator which he assigns to Thule. It may be proper to state, that there is a district on the coast of Norway, between the latitudes t)f 60' and 62', called Thele, or I'helemarle. Ptolemy supposes this to have been the Thule of Pytheas, Pliny places it within three degrees of the pole, Eratosthenes imder the polar circle. The Thule discovered by Agricola, and described by Tacitus, is evidentlv either the (.)rkney or the Shetland! Islands. It may appear presumptuous as well as useless, after (his display of the difficulties attending the question, to ofler any new conjecture ; and many of our readers may deem it a point of very minor importance, and already discussed at too great length. It is obvious, from the detail into which we have entered, that no country exists in the latitude which must be assigned to it, whether we fix that latitude by Pytheas' statement of the distance of Thule li'om the etjuatoi', or by the space sailed over in six days, the productions of which at all agree with those mentioned by Pytheas. On the other hand, we cannot suppose that his course was south-west, and not at all to the north, which must have been the case, if the country at which he arrived in sailing from the northern ex- tremity of Britain, was Jutland. The object nuist, therefore, be to find out a country the productions of which corre- spond with those mentioned by Pytheas; for, with regard to those, he could not be mistaken : and a country cer- tainly not the least to the south of the northern part of Bri- tain. As it is impossible that he could have reached the pole, what he states respecting the day and night being each six months long must be rejected ; and his other account of the length of the day, deduced from liis own observation of the sun, at the time of the summer solstice, touching the northern tteaiet aawgi" .. CHAP. II. to the Death o/^ Alexander the Great. 55 point of (he hori/ou, must be received. 11" we suppose timt this was the limit of" the sm»'s course in that (hrectiou (which, from his statement, must be inferred), this will give us a length of day of about twenty hours, corresponding to about sixty - two (legrees of north latitude. The next point to be ascer- tained is the latitude of his departure fro-i the coast of Bri- tain. There seems no good reason to believe, what all the hypothesis we have examined assiune, that Pytheas sailed along the whole of the east coast of Britain : on the other hand, it seems more likely, that having passed over from the coast of Fnuice to the coast of Britain, he traced the latter to its most eastern point, that is, the coast of Norfolk near Yarmouth ; from which })lace, the coast taking a sudden and great bend to the west, it is ])robable that Pytheas, whose object evidently was to sail as far north as he could, would leave the coast and stretch out into the open sea. Sailing on a north course, or rather with a little inclination to the east of the north, would bring him to the entrance of the Baltic. We have already conceived it probable that the country he describes lay in the latitude of about 62", and six days' sail from the coast of Nor- folk would bring him nearly into this latitude, supj)osiiig he entered the Baltic. The next point relates to the productions of the country: millet, wheat, and honey, are nmch more the characteristic productions of the ct)untrios lying on the Gulf of Finland, than they are of Jutland; and Pytheas' account of the climate also agrees better with the climate of this part of the Baltic, than with that of Jutland. That Pytheas visited the Baltic, tliough perhaps the Thule he mentions did not lie in this sea, is evident from the follow- ing extract from his journal, given by Pliny : — "On the shores of a certain bay called Mentonomon, live a j)cople called Guttoni ; and at the distance of a day's voyage from them, is the island Abalus (called by Tima?us, Baltea). Upon this the waves threw the amber, which is a coagulated matter cast up by the sea : they use it for firing, instead of wood, tmd also sell it to the neiirlibouriiijj Teutones." The inhabitants on the coast of the Baltic, near the Frish or Curish Sea (which is probably the bay Pytheas describes) are called in the Lithua- nian language, Guddai : and so late as the periotl of the Cru- sades, the spot where amber is found was calletl Wittlaiid, or Whiteland ; in Lithuanian, Baltika. From these circumstances, as well as from the name Baltea given by Timaeus to the island mentioned In Pytht^rn, as the place where amber is cast E 4 56 I'toii^rrss o/ JJisanri 1/ (HAP. II. i I up by the waves, there appears no doubt that Pytheas was in the Baltic Sea, though his isljuul of Thule might not be there. As amber was in great repute, even so early as the time of Homer, who describes it as being used to adorn the golden collars, it is highly probable that Pytheas was in- duced to enter the Baltic for the purpose ot" obtaining it : in what manner, or through whose means, the Greeks obtained it in Homer's time, is not known. After all, the (juestion is involved in very great obscurity; and the circumstance not the most probable, or reconcileable with a country even not fiulher north than Jutland is, that, in the aj.'e of Pytheas, the inliabitants should have been so far advanced in knowledge and civilization, as to have cultivated any species of grain. Till the age of Herodotus the light of history is ctmipara- tively feeble and broken; and where it dot s shine with more steadiness and brilliancy, its rays are directed almost exclu- sively on the warlike operations of mankind. Occasionally, indeed, we incidentidly learn some new particulars respecting the knowledge of the ancients in geography : but these jjarticu- lars, as must be obvious from the preceding part of this volume, are jiscertained only after considerable difficidty ; and when ascertained, are tor tne most part meagre, if not obscure. In the history of Herodotus, we, for tlie first time, are able to trace the exact state and progress of geographical knowledge; and from his time, oin* means of tracing it become more accessible, as well as productive of more satisfactory results. Within one hundred years after this historian flourished, geography derived great advantages and improvement from a circumstance which, at first view, would have been deemed adverse to the extension of any branch of science: we allude to the conquests of Alexan- der the Great. This monarch seems to have been actuated by a desire to be honoured as the patron of science, nearly as strong as the desire to be known to posterity as the concjuerer of the world : the facilities he afforded to Aristotle in drawing up his natural history, by sending him all the unccmnnon animals with which his travels and his con(]uests supplied him, is a striking proof of this. With respev^t to his endeavours to extend geogra- phical knowledge, — this was so intimately connected with his plans of conquest, that it may appear to be ascribing to him a more honourable motive than influenced him, if we consider the improvement that geography received through his nieans as wholly unconnected w ith his ciiaracter at. a conquerer : that it CHAP. 11. /<> the Death of AUxandei- the Great. 57 an- \ Wixs so, ill some measure, however is certain ; for alonjr with him he took several geogra})hers, who were directed autl enabled to make observations both on the coasts and the inte- rior of the countries throuj^h which they passed ; and from their observations and discoveries, a new and improved nunerce flour- ishing greatly in many jjarts of it, particulai'ly in what are supposed to be the present Multau, Attock, aiidthe I'anjob. Me every where took advantage of this connneree, no( by plun- dering and thus destroying it l()i' the purpose of tilling his eoi- fers, bu' i)y nourishing and ^icreasing it, and thus at once beneflttinii himself and the inhabitants who were enaaffed in it. By means of the connneree in which the natives oftite Paiijob were engagiil on the Indus, Alexander procured the fleet with which he sailed down that rivei'. This fleet is supposed to have consisted ol ei<>ht hmulred vessels, only thirtv of which were ships of war, the remainder being such as were usually ejn- ployed in the commerce of the Indus. Even before he reached this river, he liad built vessels which he had sent down the Kophenes to Taxila. By the e<)mj)lction of his campaign Ht the sources of the Indus, and by his march and voyage down the course of that river, he had traced anil delini'd the eastern boimdary of his eonijuests : the line of his march from the Hellespont till the flnal ilefeat of Darius, and his pui'suit oi'lhal monarch, had put him in possession of tolerably accurate know- ledge of the northern antl western boundaries ; the southern provinces alone remained to be explored: they had inileed sub- mitted to his arms; but they were still, for all the jmrposes of g(;\ ernuient and connneree, unknown. " To obtain the information neci'ssary tor the objects the luKt in vii;\v, he ordered Crateru;, with the ehpliants and h»'avy CHAP. II. lo tin' Death of Alexander the Cheat. ,39 baggage, to penetrate through the centre of the empire, while he j)ersonaliy undertook the more ai'duous task of penetrating the desert of Gadrosia, and providing for the preservation of the Heel. A ghuice over the map will show that the route of the army eastward, and the double route by which it returned, intersect the whole empire by three Unes, almost from the Tigris to the Indus : Craterus joined the division under Alexander in the Karnumia; and when Ncarchus, after the completion of his voyage, came up the Posityris to Susa, the three routes through the diflerent provinces, and the navigation along the coast, might be saiil to complete the survey of the empire." The two divisions of his army wex'e accompanied on their return to Susa by Beton and Diognetus, who seem to have united the character and duties of soldiers and men of science; or, [)erhaps, were like the (|uarter-masters-general of our armies. It appears from Strabo and Pliny, in whose time the sm'veys drawn l)y Beton and Diognetus were extant, that they rfnluccd tlie provinces thn igh which they passed, as well as the nuirches of the army, to actual measinvmeut ; and tlu;s, the distances being accurately set down, and journals faithfully kept, the princi])les of geograpliical science, next in importance and utility to astronomical observations, were established. The journals of Beton and Diognetus, the voyage of Nearcluis, and tlie works of Ptolemy, afterwanls king of Egy})t, and Aristo- bnlus, who acconijianied Alexander in his ex|)e(lition and wrote his life, all prove that the authority or the example of the sovereign inlluencetl the pursuits of his officers and attendants; and it is highly to the credit of their diligence and accuracy, that every increase of geographical knowledge tends to con- iirm what they relate respecting the general a})pearance and features of the countries they traversed, as v.ell as the position of cities, rivers, and mountains. Alexander appears to have projected or anticipatetl an in- tercourse between India and the western provinces of his dominions in 10<'vi)t. nol only bv land but bv sea: for this latter [)urpose he founded two cities on the Ilydaspes and one on the Axesimes, both navigable rivers, which fall into the Indus. And this also, most probably, was one reason for his careful survey of the navii>ation t)f the Indus itself. When he re- turixnl to Susa, he surveyed uie course of the Tigris and iMiphrales. The navigation lu-ar the mouths of those rivers was obstructed by cataracts, occasioned by wiills built across them by (he ancient monarchs of Persia, in order to prevent t i ( ,1 «0 Progress of JJiscovery CHAP. II. « ;'. ,1" their subjects from tlefiling themselves by sailing on the ocean * : these obstructions he gave directions to be removed. Had he lived, therefore, the commodites of India would have been conveyed from the Persian Gulf into the interior pro- vinces of his Asiatic dominions, and to Alexandria by the Arabian Gulf. To conclude in the woids of Dr. Vincent: " The Mace- donians obtained a knowledge both of the Indus and the Ganges : they heard that the seat of empire was, where it always has been, on the Ganges oi" Indus : they acquired intelligence of all the grand and leading features of Indian manners, policy, and religion [and he might have added, ac- curate information respecting the geography of the western jiarts of that country] : they discovered all this by penetrating through countries, where, possibly, no Greek had previously set his foot; and they explored the passage by sea which first opened the commercial intercourse with India to the Greeks and Romans, through the mediimi of Egypt and the Red Sea, and finally to the Europeans, by the Cape of Good Hope." When we reflect on the character and state of the Mace- donians, prior to the reign of Alexander, and the condition into whicli they sunk after his death, we shall, perhaps, not hesitate to acknowledge that Alexander infused his own soul into them ; and that history, ancient or modern, does not ex- hibit any similiar instance of such powerful individual in- fluence on the character and late of a nation. Alexander him- ^self has always been honoured by conquerors, and is known to mankind only, as the first of concjuerors ; but if military renown and achievements had not, unfortunately for mankind, been more prized than they deserved, and, on this account, the records of them been carefully jireserved, while the records of peaceful transactions were neglected and lost, we should pro- bably have received the full details of all that Alexander tlid for geogra])hical science and commerce; and in that case his character would have been as highly prized by the philosopher iind the friend of humanity, civilization, and knowledge, as it is by the p»)werful and ambitious. * Tlie object of these dykes is siipposcil by Niflnihr to liavo bci-ii \vv\ (litllTi'iit : lu! ol)scrvL's that they were constnicLuil lor the purpose of lu'cpiiiji u|) llu- waters to iniuulate tlic contiguous Irvtl : lie f'oiiiul these (lyiies liolh in tlic Ku|)hralt'h anil 'I'ii.nir:. Anil Taxcrnier mention one, 12U tV'ct lii;^;li, in ttic tiill hi'twei'M MojuI atui the yrcat Zub. I CHAP. II. to the Death of Alexander the Great. 61 lid his ler it TV ■if no. Fortunately the details of one ot" the geographical and commercial expeditions undertaken by order of Alexander are still extant; we allude to the voyage of Nearchus. Of this voyage we are now to speak; and as it is curious and important, not 'nerely on account of the geographical know- ledffe it con* 3, but also from the insight it gives us mto the commercial transactions of the coimtries which he visited, we shall give I'ather a full abstract of it, availing ourselves of the light which has been thrown upon it by the learned and judicious researches of Dr. Vincent. It was on the banks of the Hyphasis, the modern Beyah, that Alexander's army mutinied, and refused to proceed any farther eastward. In consequence of this insurmountable obstacle to his plans, he resolved to return to the Hydaspes, and carry into execution his design of sailing down it into the Indus, and thence by the ocean to tlie Persian Gulf. He had previously given orders to his officers, when he had left the Hydaspes to collect, build, and equip a sufficient number of vessels for this enterprise ; and they had been so diligent and successful, that on his return he fouml a numerous fleet assembled. Nearchus was appointed to conmiand the fleet : but Alexander himself resolved to accompany it to the mouth of the river. On the 23d of October, 327 years before Christ, the fleet sailed from Nicoea, on the Hytlaspes, a city built by Alex- ander on the scite of the battle in which he defeated Porus. Tlie importance which he attached to this expedition, as well as his anxiety respecting its skilful conduct and final issue, are strongly painted by Arrian, to whom we are indebted for the journal of Nearchus. Alexander at first did not know whom to trust with the management of the expedition, or who would undertake it, when the length of the voyage, the difliculties and dangers of a barren and unknown coast, the want of harbours, and the obstacles in the way of obtaining provisions, were considered. In this state of anxiety, doubt, and expectation, Alexander ordered Nearchus to attend him, and consulted him on the choice of a conmiandei'. " One," said he, " excuses himself, because he thinks the danger in- superable; others are unfit for the service from timidity; others think of nothing but how to get home ; and many I cannot approve for a variety of other reasons." " U})on hearing this," says Nearchus, " I offered myself for the com- mand ; and promised tlu' king, that under the protection of I «;2 Pro(r)rss of Discovoii illAi'. if. V^ '^1 God, 1 would foiuliKl tlie Heet sale into llif Chilfof Persiji, if the sea were luivigable, and the undertaking- within tlie power of man to perform." The only objeetion that Alex- ander made ai'ose from his re<;ard for Nearehus, whom he was unwillinn- to expose to the dangers of such a voyage ; but Nearehus })ersisting, and the king being convinced that the enterprise, if jiracticable, would be achieved by the skill, courage, and perseverance of Nearehus, at length yiekletl. The chai'aeter of the commander, and the regard his sove- reion entertained lor him, removed in a great deuree the apjirehension that the projioseo expedition was desperate : a selection of the best officers and most effective men was now soon made ; and the fleet was not only su})plied with every thing that was necessary, but equij)ped in a most sjilendid manner. Onesicritus was ap})ointed pilot and master of Alexander's own sliip ; and Evagoras was secivtary ol" the fleet. The officers, includini); these and Nearehus, amounted to .S3 ; but nearly the whole of them, as well as tlie ships which they conmianded, proceeded no larther than the mouth of the Indus. The seamen were natives of Greece, or the Grecian Islands, Phoenicians, Egy})tians, Cyprians, lonians, &c. The fleet consisted of 800 ships ol war and transports, and about 1200 gallies. On b(-urd of these, one- third of the army, whicl. consisted of 120,000 men, em- barked; the remainder, marching hi two divisions, one on the left, the other on the right of the river. " The voyage down the river is described rather as a t[ ' imphal jirocession, than a military j)rogrehs. The size of the vessels, the conveyance of horses aboard, the number, and splendour of the eqnijiment, attracted the natives to be sjitc- tators of the })omj). The sound of instruments, the clang ol' ai'ins, the commands of the officers, the measured soiii>' of the modulators, the responses of the marmers, the dashing of the oars, and these somids fi'ecjuently reverberated from ovi'r- hanuiiiU' shores, are all scenerv i)resented io our iniauination by the historians, and evidently besj)eak the language of tiios..- who shared with pride in this scene of triumph and mag- nificence." No danger occurred Ui alarm them orimpede theirpassage, till they arrived at the junction of the llydaspes with the \kesines. At this place, the channel of the river became contracted, though the bulk of water was of course m-eatlv increased : and , . . . . *^ . * . I'rom this cireuuisiance, and (he rajudity with svhich the two ii if CHAP. :i. to flic Death of Alexander the iircat. 63 I'SJil, as siroiijr rivers unite, llierc is a considerable cmivnl, as we c'lldies; and the noise ot" the rushing and confined waters, is Jieard at some distance. This noise astonished or ahu'ined the seamen so much, that the rowers cer.sed to row, and the mo(hdators to (Urect and encourage them by their chant, till the conmianders inspirctl them with confidence; and they j)lied the oars with their utmost strength in order to stem the current, and keep the vessels as steady and free I'nmi danger as possible. The eddy, however, caught the gallies, which from their length were more exposefl to it than the shijis ot" war: two of them sank, many more were damaged, while Alexander's ovji ship was fortunate enough to lind shelter near a projecting })oint of land. At the junction of the Akesines with the Indus, Alexander founded a city: of which, however, no irace.; at present remain. On the arrival of Alexander at Pattala, jiear the head of the Delta of tlie Indus, he seems to •• ve })rojected the Ibrmation of a commercial city ; and for this jmrpose, oidered the adjoining country to be surveyed : his next object was to sail down the western branch of the river. With this view he leil Pattala with all his gallies, some of his half-decked vessels, and his quickest sailing trans})orts, ordeiing at the same time a small part of his army to attend his fleet. Con- siderable difficulties arose, and some loss was sustained from his not being able to procure a native pilot, and from the swell in the river, occasioned by a violent wind blowing con- trary to the stream. lie was at length c()mj)ell'.'d to seize some of the natives, and make them act as jiilois. When they arrived near the confluence of the Indus with the sea, another storm arose; and as this also blew up the river, while they were sailing down with the current and the tide, there was considerable agitation in the watei'. The Macedonians were alarmed, and by the advice of their pilots ran into one of the creeks of the river for shelter: at low tide, the vessels being left aground, the sharp-built gal es were nuich injured. The astonifhment of the Macedonians was greatly excited \\hen they saw the waters of the river and of the sea ebb and flow. It is well known, that in the Mediterranean the tides are scarcely jierceptible. The flux and reflux of the Euri- pus, a narrow strait which separates the island of Euba\i from the coast of Beotia, coukl give them no idea of the regularity of the tides: for this flux and reflux continued for el<>hteen oi- H II- m 6'4 ^^■ogr.'s, of Disrovrnj (^'11 AV. II. cf "'■"^teen days .„„l ''"'''' ^;- ^'-mlK ' i ^,,, J-;';;r-7Jy "nsettled the .est H Sir «;^='4:s:Si^5^-^ ^-s., .„"^s, xrr •'-•%«- '^-^^^^^^ '" ^t..i„„ „ fl™t„TS^< pi™™ -jT"""" ^ '"™«', n eS >™s vet unexplored T,f i V"^ '''"^"•™ brandi oVfl „ I i ^ "•g- observations on tJ . "'' *'^^^^ <'«^-' march Me.c l,e ,,g,uu nmuifet«| |,i,, ,|„jr .'l' ""•'.'.'™'l "f Ibe bay. ^ "Jial (Jenaitnro ol' A|,.. i f " ^'''^"'Klcr with his convoy CIIAl'. 11. CUAP. II. to the Death of Alexander the Great. 6.5 lie rest cf the Indus, Jw ill with tlia, in the j^henome- Juth ot'the us indeed, r ebb and ery justly Jtiinces of 'I's, w'liich ite as the )ned great nentioned were un- ! tiiat his the west • entirely, ling him- rian con- recorded, Pattala, iitending le Indus Ige of it Iseif: ac- rge bay of the The |1 to be 1. He II by it ; |in the mak- to be bay. |erina- 1 and sions Invov from Pattala, he directed Nearchus to assume the entire com- mand of the fleet, and to sail as soon as the season would permit. Twelve months, within a few days, elapsed between the departure of the fleet from Nica:a, and the sailing of Nearchus from the Indus ; the former having taken place, as we have already observed, on the 23d of October, in the year 327 before Christ, and the latter on the 2d of October, in the year 326' B. C. Only about nine months, however, had elapsed in the actual navigation of the Indus and its tributiiry streams ; and even this period, which to us appears very long, was considerably extended by the opera- tions of the army of Alexander, as well as by the slow sailing of such a large fleet as he conducted. In consequence, it is supposed, of the prevalence of the north-east monsoon, Nearchus, after having reached the ocean (which, however, he could not effect till he had cut a passage for his fleet through a sand bank or bar at the raoutli of the Indus), was obliged to lie in a harbour which he called Port Alexander, and near which he erected a fort on the 3d of November; about which time we know that the monsoon chan<;es. Nearchus ajrain set sail. About the 8th of this month he reached the river Arabis, having coasted along among rocks and islands, the passage between which was narrow and dilHcult. The distance between this river and the Indus is nearly eighty miles, and the fleet had occupied almost forty days in conipleting the navigation of this space. During the greater part of this time, they were very scantily supplied with jirovisions, and seem, indeed, to have depended princip.ally on the shell-fish found on the coast. Soon after leaving the mouth of the Arabis, they were obliged, by the nature of the shore and the violence of the wind, to remain on board their ships for two nights ; a very unusual as wpU as inconvenient and uncomfortable circumstance for the ancients. We have already described their ships as either having no deck, or only a kind of half-deck, below which the cables were coiled. Under this deck there might be accommodation for part of the crew ; but in cases where all were obliged to remain on board at night, the confinement must have been extremely ii'ksome, as well as prejudicial to their health. At the end of these two days, they were enabled to land and refresh themselves ; and here they were joined by Leonatus, one of Alexander's generals, who had been despatched with some troops to watch and protect their ( ■ r ■I 66 P>-og>rss of Discovery CHAP. II. movements, as tar on their course as was practicable. He biought a supply of provisions, which had become very necessary. On leaving this place, their progress became much more ra))id than it had been before, owing probably to the wind having become more regularly and permanently favourable. As it is nin* intention, iii giving this short absti'act of the voyage of Nearchus, to select only such pja-ticulars as illustrate the mode of navigation practised among the ancients — the progress of discovery, or the state of commerce, — we shall pass over every topic or fact not connected with these. \^^e can- not, however, refrain iVom giving an account of the transactions of the fleet at t) ^i'er 'I'omerus, when it arrived on the 21st of November, fifi^ ! ys iir^r it left the Indus ; as on reading it, our readers will imm J'Htely struck with the truth of Dr. Vincent's observation, thr ' hears a very strong resemblance to the landing of a party from the Endeavour, in New Zealand, under protection of the ship's guns. We make use of Dr. Vincent's translation, or rather abstract : — " At the Tomerus the inhabitants were found living on the low ground near the sea, in cabins which seemed calculated rather to suffocate their inhabitants than to protect them from the weather ; and yet these wretched people were not with- out courage. Upon sight of the fleet approaching, they collected in arms on the shore, and drew up in order to attack the strangers on their landing. Their arms were spears, not headed with iron, but hardened in the fire, nine feet long ; and their number about 600. Nearchus ordered his vessels to lay their heads towards the shore, within the distance of bow-shot ; for the enemy had no missile weapons but their spears. He likewise brought his engines to bear upon them, (for such it appears he hatl on board,) and then directed his light-armed troops, with those who were the most active and the best swimmers, to be ready for commencing the attack. On a signal given, they were to plunge into the sea : the first man who touched ground was to be the point at which the line was to be formed, and was not to advance till joined by the others, and the file could be ranged three deep. These orders were exactly obeyed ; the men threw themselves out of the ships, swam forward, and formed themselves in the water, under cover of the engines. As soon as they were in order, they advanced upon the enemy with a shout, which was repeated from the ships. Little opposition was experienced; for the CHAP. 11. CHAP. ir. to the Death of Alexander the Great. 67 xh\e. He ome very ss became robably to irmanently ract of the ,s illustrate ents — the e shall pass We can- raiii^actions the 21st of reading it, uth of Dr. esemblance w Zealand, use of Dr. nng on the calculated them from ! not with- hing, they n order to ^ere spears, feet long ; his vessels distance of but their [ipon them, lirected his active and Ithe attack, the first which the joined by kp. These tlves out of the water, in order, IS repeated for the natives, struck with the novelty of the attack, and the glitter- ing of the armour, fled without resistance. Some escaped to the mountains, u few were killed, and a c(msiderable number made prisoners, '^'hey were a savage race, shaggy on the body as well ?is the head, and with nails so long and of such strength, t'.it they served them us instruments to divide their food, (wh"ch consisted, indeed, almost wholly of fish,) and to separate even wood of the softer kind. Whether this cir- cumstance originated from design, or want of implements to pare their nails, did not appear ; but if there was occasion to divide harder substances, they substituted stones shaipened, instead of iron, for iron they had none. Their dress consisted of the skins of beasts, and some of the larger kinds of fish." Along the coast of the Icthyophagi, extending from Malan to Cape Jaser, a distance, by the course of the fleet, of nearly 625 miles, Nearchus was so much favoured by the winds and by the straightness of the coast, that his pi-ogress was sometimes nearly 60 miles a day. In every other respect, however, thi? portion of the voyage was very imfortimate and calamitous. Alexander, aware that on this coast, which furnished nothing but fish, his fleet would be in disti'ess for provisions, and that this distress would be greatly augmented by the scarcity of water which also prevailed liere, had endeavoured to adva^ 3 into this desolate tract, to survey the harbours, sink wells, and collect provisions. But the nature of the country ren- dered this impracticable; and his army became so straightened for corn themselves, that a supply of it, which he intended for the fleet, and on which he had affixed his own seal, was seized by the men whom he had ordered to protect and escort it to the coast. At last he was obliged to give up all attempts of re- lieving Nearchus ; and after struggling 60 days with want of water, — during which period, if he himself had not, at the head of a few horse, pushed on to the coast, and there obtained a supply, by opening the sands, his whole amny must have perished, — he with great difficulty reached the capital of this desert country. Nearchus, thus left to himself, was indebted to the natives for the means of discovering water, by opening the sands, as the king had done ; but to the Greeks, who re- garded the want of bread as famine, even when its place was supplied by meat, the fish the natives offered them was no relief. We have alreatly remarked, that the real character of Alexander will be much elevated in the opinion of men of F 2 r' ( ) fe, 1 U «8 Progress of Discovert/ tHAl'. II. luiinauity and philosophers, if the jjarticuljirs we possess of his endeavours to improve the condition of those he conquered, and to advance the interests of science, scanty and imj)erfect as they are, we^'c more attentively considereil, and had not been neglected aiul overlooked in the glare of his military achieve- ments. His march through the deserts of Gadrosia has been ascribed solely to vanity; but this imputation will be removed, and must give way to a more worthy impression of his motives on this occasion, when it is stated, that it was part of the great design which he had formed of opening a communication between his Euroi)ean dominions antl India by sea; and that as the accomplishment of this design mainly depended on the success of liie expedition jonnnitted to Nearchus, it was a paramount object with him to assist the fleet, which he thrice attempted, even in the midst of his own distress in the deserts. On their arrival at the river Kalama, which is supposed to be the ChurnuU, 60 days after their departure from the Indus, they at length obtained from the Jiatives some sheep; but the flesh of it, as well as the fowls which tliey obtained, had a very fishy taste — the sheep, fowls, and iidiabitants, all teeding on fish, there being no herbage or trees of any kind, except a few palm-trees. On the next day, having doubled a cape, tliey anchored in a harbour called Mosarna, where they found a pilot, who untlertook to conduct the fleet to the Gulf of Persia. It woukl appear from Arrian, that the intercourse between this phice and the Gulf was frequent, the voyage less dangerous, and the liarbours on the coast better known. Owing to these favourable circumstances, the skill of the pilot, and the breeze which blew from the land during the night, their course was more rapid ; and they sailed by night as well as day. The coast, however, still continued barren, and the inhabitants unable to supjjly them with any thing but fish till they arrived at Barna on the 64th day : here the inha- bitants were more civilized ; they had gardens producing fi-uit- trees, flowers, myrtle, &c., with which the Greek sailors formed garlands to adorn their hair. On the 69th day, December 9., they arrived at a small town, the name of which is not given ; nor is it possible to fix its scite. What occurred here we shall give in the words of Dr. Vincent : — " When the fleet reached this place, it was totally without bread or grain of any kind ; and Nearchus, from the appear- ance of stubble in the neighbourhood, conceived hopes of a CHAP. II. sess of his onquered, iperfect as I not been y achieve- i has been reinoveil, is motives f the great luinicatiou ; and that led on the , it was a I he thrice lie deserts. ipj)osed to from the ne sheep ; lined, had all feeding , except a !(! a cape, hey found e Gnlf of iterconrse oyage less r known, ill of the uring the 1 by night d barren, thing bnt the inha- :ing fi'uit- Ts formed a small ible to fix words of y without e appear- opes of a CHA1». II. to the Death of Alexander the Great. 09 supply, if he could find means of obtaining it ; but he per- ceived that he could not take the jilace by assault, and a siege the situation he was in renderetl iin})racticabk'. I le concerted matters, therefore vith Archias, and ordered him to make a feint of preparing the fleet to sail; while he himself, with a single vessel, pretending to be left behind, approached the town in a friendly manner, and was received hospitably by the inhabitants. They came out to receive him upon his landing, and presented hhn with baked fish, (the first instance of cookery he had yet seen on the coast,) acconijianied with cakes and dates. These he accepted with proper acknowledg- ments, and informed them he wishetl for jiermission to see the town : this reciuest was granteil without suspicion j but no sooner had he entered, than he ordered two of his archers to take post at the gate, and then mounting the wall contiguous, with two more aiul his interpreter, he made the signal for Archias, who was now under weigh to advance. The natives instantly ran to their arms; but Nearchus having taken an ad- vantageous position, uuide a momentary defence till Archias was close at the gate, ordering his inter})reter to proclaim at the same time, that if thev wishetl their city to be preserved from pillage, they must deliver up their corn, and all the pro- visions which the place afforded. These terms were not re- jected, for the gate was oj)en, and Archias ready to enter : he took charge of this post immediately with the force which at- tended him ; and Nearchus sent proj)er ollicers to examine such stores as were in the place, promising the inhabitants that, if they acted ingenuously, they should suffer no other injury. Their stores were immediately prodiiceil, consisting of a kind of meal, or paste made of fish, in great plenty, witli a small quantity of wlieat and barley. This, however iiisulH- cient for his wants, Nearchus received ; and abstaining from farther oppression, I'eturned on board with his supply." The provisions he obtainetl here, notwithstanding the con- sumption of them was protracted by occasionally landing ami cutting off" the tender shouts of the head of the wild palm-tree, were so completely exhausted in the course of a few days, that Nearchus was obliged to prevent his men from landing, under the apprehension, that though the coast was barren, their distress on board would have induced them not to return. At length, on the 14th of December, on the seventy -fourth day »)f their ile[)ar- ture, they reached a more fertile and hospitable shore, and were enabled to procure a very small suj)plv of provisions, F 3 70 P> •ogress of Disccnxry CHAP. II. \ ! i^ consisting principally of corn, dried dates, and the flesh of seven camels. Nearchus mentions the latter evidently to point out the extreme distress to which they were reducetl. As it is evident that this supply would Ix; soon exhausted, we are not surprised that Nearchus, in order to reach a better cultivated district, should urge on his course as rapidly as possible; and accordingly we find, that he sailetl at a greater rate in this part of his voyage than he ever had done before. Having sailed day and night without intermission, in which time he j)assed a distance of nearly sixty-nine miles, he at length doubled the cape, which formed the boundary of the barren coast of the Jcthy- ophagi, and arrived in the district of Karmania. At Badis, the first town in this district, which they reached on the 17th of December, after a voyage of 77 days, they were supplied with corn, wine, and every kind of fruit, except olives, the inliabitants being not only able but willing to relieve their wants. The length of the coast of the Icthyophagi is about 462 miles; and, as Nearclius was twenty-one days on this coast, the average rate of sailing must have been twenty-one miles a day. The whole distance, from the Indus to the cape which formed the boundary of Karmania, is abcmt 625 miles : this distance Nearchus was above seventy days in sailing. It must be recollected, however, that when he first set out the monsoon wjus adverse, and that for twenty-four days he lay in harbour : making the proper deductions for these circumstances, he was not at sea more than forty days with a favourable wind; which gives rather more than fifteen miles a day. The Houghton East Indiaman made the same run in thirteen days ; and, on her return, was only five days from Gomeroon to Scindy Bay. The manners ot the wretched inhabitants have occasionally been already noticed ; but Nearchus dwells upon some further particulars, which, from their conformity with modern inform- ation, are worthy of remark. Their ordinary support is fish, as the name of Icthyophagi, or fish-eaters, implies ; but why they are for this I'eason specified as a separate tribe from the Gadrosians, who live inland, does not appear. Ptolomy considers all this coast as Karmania, quite to Mosarna; and whether Gadrosia is a part of that province, or a province itself, is a mattter of no im- portance ; but the coast must have received the name Nearchus gives it from Nearchus himself; for it is Greek, and he is the first Greek who explored it. It may, perhaps, be a translation of a native name, and such translations the Greeks indulged in I I CHAP. n. le flesh of ;ly to point I. As it is we are not cultivated sible; and [ite in this ving sailed e ))assed a d the cape, the Jcthy- At Badis, d on the :hey were ept oHves, lieve their t62 miles; le average ay. The )rmed the i distance must be monsoon harbour : he was d; which loughton and, on yBay. asionally e further intbrm- sh, as the they are Jrosians, all this idrosia is )f no im- fearchus the first mslation nlged in J i I CHAP. 11. to the Death of Alexander the Great. 71 sometimes to the prejudice of geography. " But these people, though they live on fish, are few of them fishermen, for their barks are few, untl those lew very mean and u.ifit for the service. The fish they obtain they owe to the flux and reflux of the tide, for tliey extend a net upon the shore, supi)orted by stakes of more than 200 yards in length, within which, at the tide of ebb, the fish are confined, and settle in the pits or in equalities of the sand, either nuide for this purpose or accidental. The greater (luantity consists of small fish; but many large ones are also caught, which they search for in the pits, and extract with nets. Their nets are composed of the bark or fibres of the palm, which they twine into a cord, and form like the nets of other countries. The fish is generally eaten raw, just as it is taken out of the water, at least such as are small and penetrable ; but the larger sort, and those of more solid texture, they expose to tlie sun, and pound them to a paste for store : this they use instead of meal or bread, or form them into a sort of cakes or frumenty. The very cattle live (m dried fish, tor there is neither grass nor pasture on the coast. Oysters, crabs, and shell-fish, are caught in plenty ; and though this circumstance is speci- fied twice only in the early part of the voyage, there is little doubt but these formed the principal support of the people during their navigation. ISalt is here the production of nature, by which we are to understand, that the power of the sun in this latitude, is sufficient for exhalation and crystallization, with- out the additional aid of fire; and from this salt they formed an extract which th(!y used as die Greeks use oil. The country, for the most part, is so desolate, that the natives have no addition to their fish but dates : in some few places a small quantity of grain is sown; and there bread is their viand of luxury, and fish stands in the rank of bread. The generality of the people live in cabins, small and stifling : the better sort only have houses constructed with the bones of whales, for whales are frequently thrown upon the coast; and, when the flesh is rotted off, they take the bones, making planks and doors of such as are flat, arid beams or rafters of the ribs or jaw-bones ; and many of thest monsters are found fifty yards in length. Strabo confirms die report of Arrian, and adds, that "the vertebrae, or socket bones, of the back, are formed into mortars, in wh h they pound their fish, and mix it up into a paste, with th' addition of a little meal." — (Vincent's Nearchus, p. 265.) Dr. Vincent, in this passage, does not seem to be awar^that F 4 I 'J 73 P/ogifss of' Discovery CUAf. II. f w I u no whale was ever found nearly so lonfj; as fifly yards, and that lij^lf'that length is the more common size of the largest whales, even in seas more suitable to their nati're and growth. That the animal which Nearchus himself saw was a whale, there can he little doubt : while he was olF Kviza, the seamen were extremely surprised, and not a little alarmed, at perceivhig the sea agitated and thrown up, as Arrian expresses it, as if it were forcibly lifted up by a whirlwind. I'he pilot informed them that it was occasioned bv the whales blowinjj; this information, however, does not seem to have (juiete- our very apjjearance is a disguise. Let us address them once more, and inform them who we are, and learn from them on what service they aie at })resent employed." Nearchus approved of this advice, and apjiroaching them again, inquired which way they were directing their course. 'We are in search of Nearchus and his jieople," replied the officer : "And I am Nearchus," said the admiral; "and this is Archias. Take us un- der your conduct, and we will ourselves report our history to the king. They were accordingly placed in the carriages, and con- ducted towards the army w ithout delay. While they were upon their progress, some of the horsemen, impatient to carry the 74. Progress of Discovery CHAP. 11. t w news of this happy event, set off to the camp to inform the king, that Nearchus and Archias were arrived with five or six of his people; but {)f the rest they had no intelhgence. lliis suggested to Alexander that perhaps these only were preserved, and that the rest of the people had perished, either by famine or shipwreck ; nor did he feel so much pleasure in the pre- servation of the few, as distress for the loss of the remainder. During this interval, Nearchus antl his attendants arrived. It was not without difficulty that the king discovered who they were, under the disguise of their appearance; and this cir- cumstance contributed to confirm him in his mistake, ima- gining that both their persons and their dress bespoke shipwreck, and the destruction of the fleet. He held out his hand, how- ever, to Nearchus, and led him aside from his guards and at- tendants without being able to utter a word. As soon as they were alone, he burst into tears, and continued weeping for a considerable time ; till;, at length recovering in some degree his composure, — " Nearchus," says he, "I feel some satisfaction in finding that you and Archias have escaped ; but tell me where and in what manner did my fleet and my people perish?" " Your fleet," replied Nearchus, " .are all safe, — your people are safe; and we are come to bring you the account of their preserva- tion." Tears, but from a different source, now fell much faster from his eyes. "Where then are my ships?" says he. "At the Anamis," replied Nearchus ; " all safe on shore, and preparing for the completion of their voyage." "By the Lybian Ammon and Jupiter of Greece, I swear to you," rejoined the king, "I am more happy at receiving this intelligence, than in being con- queror of all Asia; for I should have considered the loss of my fleet and the failure of this expedition, as a counterbalance to all the glory I have acquired." Such was the reception of the lulmiral ; while the governor, who was the first bearer of the glad tidings, was still in bonds : upon the sight of Nearchus, he fell at his feet, and implored his intercession. It may be v/cl! imagined that his pardon was as readily granted as it was asked. — (Vincent's Nearchus, p. 312.) Sacrifices, games, and a festival ensued ; and when these were ended, Alexander told Nearchus that he would expose him to no further hazard, but despatch another to carry the fleet to Susa. " I am bound to obey you," replied the admiral, **as my king, and I take .•-. pleasure in my ol)edience; but if you, wish to gratify me in return, suffer me to retain my command, till I have completed the expedition. I shall feel it as an in- 4> CHAP. II. inform the ith five or !nce. lliis preserved, by famine I the pre- •emainder. rrived. It who they I this cir- ake, ima- hipwreck, iiul, how- ls and at- )n as they )ing for a rie degree itisfaction t tell me perish ?" teople are preserva- ich faster "At the ireparing Ammon dng, «I n^^ con- iss of my ice to all ti of the r of the earchus, mav be led as it II these expose rry the (hniral, if you, iniand, nn in- I CHAP. 11. to the Death of Alexander the Great. fg justice, if, after having struggled through all the difficulties of the voyage, another snail finish the remainder almost without an effort, and yet reap the honour of completing what I have begun." Alexander yielded to this just request, and about the end of the year Nearchus rejoined his fleet. By the 6th of January, B. C. 345, he reached the island of Kataia, which forms the boundary between Karmania and Persis. The length of the former coast is rather more than three hundred miles : the time occupied l)y Nearchus in this part of his voyage was about twelve days. He arrived at Badis, the first station in Karmania, on the 7th of December; at Anamis on the 10th; here he remained three days. His journey to the camp, stay there, return, and preparations for again sailing, may have occupied fifteen days. Three hundred miles in twelve days is at the rate of twenty-five miles a day. Hitherto the voyage of Nearchus has afforded no information respecting the commerce of the ancients. The coasts along which he sailed were either barren and thinly inhabited by a miserable and ignorant people, or if more fertile and better cultivated, Nearchus' attention and interest were too keenly occupied about the safety of himself and his companions, to gather much information of a commercial nature. The re- mainder of his voyage, however, affords a few notices on this subject ; and to these we shall attend. In the island of Schitwar, on the eastern side of the Gulf of Persia, Nearchus found the inhabitants engaged in a pearl fishery : at present pearls are not taken on this side of the Gulf. At the Rohilla point a dead whale attracted their atten- tion ; it is represented as fifty cubits long, with a hide a cubit in thickness, beset with shell-fish, probably barnacles or limpets, and sea-weeds, and attended by dolphins, larger than Near- chus had been accustomed to see in the Meiliterranean Sea. Their arrival at the Briganza river affords Dr. Vincent an opportunity of conjecturing tiie probable draught of a Grecian vessel of fifty oars. A ebb-tide, Arrian informs us, the ves- sels were left dry ; whereas at high tide they were able to sur- mount the breakers and shoals. Modern travellers state that the flood-tide rises in the upper part of the Gulf of Persia, nine or ten feet : hence it may be conjectured that the largest vessel in the fleet drew from six to eight feet water. The next day's sail brought them from the Briganza to the river Arosis, the boimdary river between Persis and Su.siana, the largest of the rivers which Nearchus had met with in the Chilf of Persia. The Hi 4! 19 Progress of' Discoirrj/ CHAP. II. I|! hi province of !"^ersis is described by Nearchiis as naturally divickf! in.c three ps i'-;, "That division wiiich lies along the .side <:>(' the Gulf is sandy, parched, and sterile, bearing little else but palm-trees." To the north and north-east, across the range of mountains, the country improves consitlerably in soil and cli- mate ; the herbage is abuiulant anil nutritious ; the meadows -well watered ; and the vine and every kind, of fruit, except the olive, flourislies. This ])art of the province is atlorned by the parks and gardens of the kings and nobles ; the rivers flow from lakes of pure water, abounding in water-fowl of all de-^criptions ; horses and cattle feed on the rich pastures, while in the woods there is abundance of animals for the chace. Tt) this the third division of Persis forms a striking contrast. This lies farther north, a mountainous district, wikl and rugged, inhabited by barbavoiis tribes : the climate is so cold, that the tops of the mountains are constantly covered with snow. The coast of Susiana, along which Nearchus was now about to sail, lie represents as dilHcult and dangerous, from the num- ber of shoals with which it was lined. As he was informed that it would not be easy to procure water while he was crossing the mouths of the streams which divide the Delta, he took in a supply for five tlays before he left the Arosis. On acctmnt of the shoals which stretch a considerable way out to sea, they could not approach the coast, and were conseijuently obliged to anchor at night, and sleep on board. In order to pass diis dangerous coast with the least risk, they formed a line by single ships, each following in order, through a channel marked by stakes ; in the same manner, Arrian remarks, as the passage between Leukas and Akarnania in Greece, except that at Leukas there is a firm sand, so that a ship takes no damage, if she runs ashore : whereas in this })assage there was deep muti on both sides, in wh'-f- a vessel grounding- stuck fast; and if her crew endeav«,use« i to get her ofl' by jroiniT overboard, tliev simk nbove tl. .aiddle in the mud. The extent of this difficult passage was thirty-seven miles, at the end of which Nearchus came to an anchor at a distance from the coast. Their coin-se next day was in deep water, M-hich continued till they arrived, alter sailing a day and a half, at a village at the mouth of the Euphrates : at this village there was a mart for the importation of the inc«"nses of Arabia. Here Nearchus learnt that Alex- ander was marching to Susa ; this intelligence determined him to return back, to sail up the Pasi-Tigris, and join him *.*~*f*«W*t-.. • C/lAP. II. illy (livickd the .side ff ;le else bi"i le ruiige of )il and cli- e nieailows except the ried by the > flow from "^criptions ; the woods is the third ies farther inhabited lie tops of now about 1 the nnin- )nned that ossing the took in a icct)unt of sea, they V obliiied ) pass dii^ a line by el marked s, as the e, except ) takes no age there grounding ler oft' by the mii(|. miles, at distance -^p water, ly and a ates : at »n of the It Alex- tennined join him CHAI-. 11. fo the Death of Alexander the Great. 77 \ > • ;: liiat city. At Aginis he entered the Pasi-Tiirris, but he proceeded only about nine miles t-i a village whi'.'h he U scribes as populous and flonrishimr ; here he determined to wait, till lie received further informativJii respecting the exact rfyute of the army. He soon learnt that Alexander with his troops was at a bridge which he had constructed over the Pasi- Tigris, at the distance of about one hurdred and twenty miles : at this place Nearchus joined him. Alexander em- braced Nearchus with the warmth of a frieiul ; and his recep- tion from all ranks was e(|uaily gratityitig and honourable. Whenever he appeared in the camp, he was saluted with acclamations: sacrifices, games, and every other kind of festivity celebrated the success of his enterprize. Nearly five months had been occupied in performing the voyage from the mouth of the Indus — a voyage which a modern vessel could perform in the cours-.i of three weeks. Immediately after the junction of the fleet and army, Alex- ander crossed the Pasi-Tigris, and proceeded to Susa : here he distributed rewards and honours amoiijrhis l()llowers for th' ir long, arduous, faithful, and triumphant services. Those olli- cers who had served as guards of Alexander's person received crowns of gold; and the same present was made to Nearchus as admiral, and to Onesicritus as navigator of the fleet. We have already mentioned that Alexander projected the circumnavigation of Arabia to the Red Sea, in order to com- plete the communication between India and Egy|)t,and through Egy})t with Eur()j)e. Nearchus was selected tor this enterprize ; its execution, however, was prevented by the death of Alexander, That he was extremely anxious for its comjiletion, is evident from the personal trouble he took in the jM-eparatioiis for it, ami in the necessary preliminary measures. In order that he might himself take a view of the Gulf of Persia, he embarked on board a divisicm of his fleet, and sailed down the same stream which Nearchus had sailed up. At the head of the Delta, the vessels which hail suflPered most in Nearchus' voyages were directed to proceed with the troops they had on board, through a canal which runs into the Tigris, Alexander himself proceeding with the lightest and best sailing vessels through the Delta to the sea. Soon after his return to Opis, where the mutiny of his troops took place, Alexander gave another proof of his attention to maritime affairs; for he despatched Ileraclides into Ilyrcania, with on'v^rs to cut timber and prepare a fleet for the purpose ^.i 78 Progresuth \.\ a safe and firm manner. A little lower down, xSy^. bcii wt; ; nuich more suitable, being strong and rocky; here th< i AUxander ordered the opening of the canal to be made: he s.fttvv/ards entereil it with his fleet, and sur- CHAP. II. CHAP. 11. to the. Death of Alexander the Great. 79 like that of Gulii was e Nearchus r his expe- :y also were had been Thapsacus. Ive of three, 3rs Hkewise only wood lected from of contain- s in propor- sive design, ia with 500 ;\r, and hire hat it seems Arabia, as Gulf; and nquest with ns in a pro- luphrates as »yage is not jacent coun- L;ut a canal into a lake, and similar r seems to s empire, it il utility, in rates might i may have may have L'hus. It is al car.al was more con- it had been abour and course, and little lower strong and of the canal t. and sur- veyed the whole extent of the lake with which it communi- cated. On the Arabian side of the Gulf, he ordered a city to be built : immediately afterwards he returned to Babylon, where he died. In the mean time, and while Nearchus was at Babylon, three vessels were sent down the Arabian side of the Gulfi to collect such information as might be useful to him in his projected voyage. One was commanded by Archias, who proceeded as far as Tylos, or Bahrein, the centre of the modern pearl fishery. A short tlistance from the mouth of the Euphrates, Archias discovered two islands ; on one of which a breed of goats and sheep was preserved, which were never killed, except for the purpose of sacrifice. The second vessel sailed a little way round the coast of Arabia. The third, which was commanded by Hiero of Soli, went much farther than either of the other two, for it doubled Cape Mussendoon, sailed down the coast below Moscat, and came in sight of Cape Kas-el-hed : this cape he was afraid to double. On his return he reported that Arabia was much more extensive than had been imagined. None of these vessels proceeded so far as to be of much service to Nearchus, or to carry into effect the grand object of Alexander : for his instructions to Hiero in particular were, to circumnavigate Arabia ; to go up the Red Sea; and reach the Bay of Hieropolis, on the coast of Egypt. All these vessels were small, having only fifty oars, and there- fore not well calculated for such a long and hazardous naviga- tion. At the time when Alexander was seized with the illness which occasioned his death, Nearchus was ready to sail, and he himself, with the army, was to accompany him as far as was jiracticable, in the same manner as he had done from the Indus to the Tigris : two days before the fever commenced, he gavt^ a grand entertainment to Nearchus and his officers. Only a very few circunistances regarding Nearchus are known after the death of Alexander : he was made governor of Lycia aiul Pamphylia, and seems to have attached himself to the fortunes of Antigonus. Along with him, he crossed the mountains of Loristan, when he inarched out of Susiana, after his combat with Eumenes. In this retreat he commanded the light-armed troops, and was ordered in advance, to drive the Cosseams from their passes in the mountains. Wl>en Antigonus deemed it necessary to march into Lesser Asia, to oppose the progress of Cas^ander, he left his son Demetrius, I.t L 80 Pfogress of Discorverif CHAP, II. i I *- with part of his army, in Syria ; and as that prince was not above 22 years old, he appointed him several advisers, of whom Nearchus was one. It is by no means improbable that the in- structions or the advice of Nearchus may have induced Deme- trius to survey with great care the lake of Asphaltes, and to form a computation of the profit of the bitumen which it afforded, and ol' the ))ahn which grew in the adjacent country, and may have contributed to his love for and skill in ship-building ; for after he was declared king of Macedonia, he built a fleet of five hundred gallies, several of which had fourteen, fifteen, and sixteen benches of oars. We are informed that they were all built by the particular contrivance of Demetrius himself, and that the ablest artizans, without his directions, were unable to construct such vessels, which united the pomp and s})lendour of royal ships to the strength and conve- niences of ordinary ships of war. The period and circum- stances of the death of Nearchus are not known. Dr. Vincent supposes that he may have lost his life at Uie battle of Ipsus, where Antigonus fell: or, after the battle, by corimand of the four kings who obtained the victory. Previous to his grand exjjeiUtion, it appears that he was a native of Crete, and enrolled a citizen of Amphipolis, it is supposed, at the time when Philip intended to form there a mart tor his conquests in Thrace. He soon afterwards came to the court of Philip, l)y whom he and some others were banished, because he thought them too much attached to the interests of Alexander in the family dissensions which arose on the secession of Olym- pias, auvl some secret transactions of Alexander in regard to u marriage with a daughter of a satrap of Caria. On the deatii of PMlip, Nearchus was recalled, and rewarded for his suf- fering ; by the favour of his sovereign. CHAP. n. ;e was not I, of whom liat the in- :ed Deme- nd to form t afforded, f, and may i-building ; uilt a fleet an, fifteen, that they Demetrius directions, 1 the pomp md conve- nd circum- 3r. Vincent e of Ipsus, )r imand of ions to his e of Crete, , at the time } conquests t of Philip, because he ' Alexander »n of Olym- I'egard to a ri the death or his suf' sj CHAPTER III. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE PUOGllESS OF DISCOVEFIY, ANO COMMERCIAL ENTERPRIZE, FROM THE DEATH OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT, ^'TO THE TIME OF PTOLEMY THE GEOGRA- PHER, A. D. 150. WITH A DIGRESSION ON THE INLAND TRADE BETWEEN INDIA AND THE SHORES OF THE MEDI- TERRANEAN, AGES. THROUGH ARABIA, FROM THE EARLIEST r* OR several centuries after the death of Alexander, die im- pulse and direction of discovery and comineicial eiiterprize continued towards the countries of the East. Of his successors, Seleucus Nicanor and some of the Ptt)lemies of Egypt [)ro- secuted his plans of commerce with this part of the world with the most zeal and success. Seleucus, after the death of Alexander, obtained })ossession of those provinces of his empire which were comprized under the name of Up})er Asia ; he, therefore, naturally regarded the conquered dis- tricts of India as belonging to him. In order to secure these, and at the same time to derive from them all the political and commercial advantages which they were capable of bestowing, he marclied iuto India; and it is supposed that he carried his arms into districts that had not been visited by Alexander. The route assiiined to his march is obscurely mven : but it seems to i)oint out the country from the Plyj^hasis to the Hysudrus, irom thence to Palibothra, at the junction of the Saone and tlie G;>nges, or, per!ia}).s, v.'hcrc PutiUi ikjw sraiids. There is no good reason to believe, with some authors, that he readied the mouth of the (mnges. .Seleucus was stopt in his pro- oTess bv the intelligence that Aiitigomis was about to invade his dominions ; but before he retraced his steps towards the Eu- phrates, he formed a treaty with the Indian king Sandracottus, who resided at Palibothra ; and afterwards sent Megs'sthenes, who had some knowledge of the country, from having ac- companied Alexander, as his ambassador It) him. In this city, Megasthenes resided sevi;ral years, and on his return he published an account of that p \vt of India ; fragments of this acc(4mt are triven bv Diodoru,- Siculus, Strabo, am] Arriitn ; |ii^—^W < \ 82 Progress of Disntvrnj CilAl'. III. H t ^\ and though it contains numy false and fabulous stories, yet these are intermixed with much that is valuable and correct. He drives a faithful picture ol'the Indian character and manners ; and his account of the geo. III. Ii> I lie /ill), iif Ptoh-mi/ ////' (ie(vxiaj>hfi\ S3 stories, yet iiul correct, ul inaiuiers ; ; of India is tliese coim- i, to the son tlie coiinec- ,'as probably •us. At the informs us, ne and Cas- dly the most who imitated I commerce, iider that we rce ; towards ly favourable 'd by Harris, ities founded eir founders ; the Orontes, the situation f which they s be of lon^ >y Alexander Paropamisus imdria on the t, after surviv- n-ished at last, jcovery which the world, tit for a situa- rival it in the ■ived the ad- of commerce he Nile. By inand at once erranean. It ;he mouths of n the highest )f the highest dYf\ a harbour <-onstantly accessible. The site of Alexandria combined all tluse advantagi's: on three sides it has the sea, or the lake jMareolis, which, according to Sirabo, was nearly 300 stadia long, and 150 broad ; the country adjoining this lake was fertile, and by means of it, and natural or artificial channels, there was a com- munication with the Delta and U))per Egy})t. Between this lake and tlu Canopic branch of the Nile, Alexander built hiiS city: to less sagacious min(l> this site would have appeared imjjroper and injudicious in some respects; for the sea-coast from Pelusium to Canopus is low land, not visible at a dis- tance ; the navigation along this coast, and the approacii to it, is dangerous, and the entrance into the mouths of the Nile, at some seasons, is extremely hazardous. Hut these disad- vantages the genius of Alexander turned to the benefit of his city, by the erection of the Pharos, and the |)laii of a double harbour, which was afterwards completed by the Ptolemies ; for he thus unitetl in a single s})ot the means of defence and facility of access. Deiii crates, a Macedonian architect, who proposed to Alexander to cut Mount Athos in the form of a statue holding a city in one hand, and in the other a bason, into which all till' waters of" the mountain should empty themselves, was emploved by that monarch to build and beautify Alexandria. Its site was on a deep and secure bay, formed by the shore on the one side, and the island of Pharos on tlie other ; in this bay numerous fleets might lie in jierfect safety, protected from the winds and waves. The form in which the city was built was that of a Macedonian chlamys, or cloak ; the two })orts, one of which only was built by Alexander, though both (as has been already observed) were jirojected by him, were Ibrnu'd and divided from each other bv a moat a mile lontr, which stretched from the Isle of Pharos to the continent: that harbour which lay to the north was called the (Ireat Ilar- liour, and the other, to tlu' west, was called Eimostus, or the Safe Return. In order to secure the vessels from the stf)rms of the Mediterranean, even more efliictually than they could be by the natural advantages of these harbours, the piers on each side were bent like a bar, so that only a small s))ace was left for the entrance of vessels. The successors of Alexander in the Egyptian empire f()l- lowed his example, in nourishing commerce and improving Alexandria. Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, as soon as he took possession of Egvpt, established the seat of government there, c, '2 .0^. \^t>^s. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) V. / 5r /^^/^ ^- 1.0 I.I 11:25 II 1.4 [2.2 1.8 1.6 Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. 14580 (716) 872-4503 V -^ s n of Dexi- of sailors," ription dis- on became ms the only lout all his inie affairs, ht be im- de himself turned his •ounded in d on tliis bosom, as tance to a session of 1 the com- this view, ital. His ' of Anti- CHAP. III. to the Time of Ptolemy the Geographer. 85 gonus, who, by extraordinary exertions, in the course of twelve months built and equipped a fleet, which was able to cope with the naval power of Ptolemy. It is foreign to our pur- pose to notice the wars between them, . except in so far as they are connected with the commercial history of Alexandria. This city was benefited by these wars, for Antigonus, in his progi'ess, had driven many of the inhabitants of Syria, Palestine, and Phoenicia from their native lands : to these Ptolemy gave great encouragement, and extraordinary privileges and im- munities, which induced them to settle in Alexandria, where they followed their mercantile or commercial pursuits. The report of these advantages granted to foreigners, led Jews, Greeks and Macedonians to flock to Egj'pt, by which means the population and wealth of that country, and particularly of its capital, were greatly augmented. Tlie foundation of the museum and library of Alexandria, both of which contributed so essentially to science and to the establishment of the Alexandrian school of philosophy, which, as we shall afterwards perceive, produced men that greatly advanced geographical knowledge, is another proof of the wise and comprehensive character of Ptolemy's mind. But Ptolemy rather prepared the way for the advancement of commerce and maritime discovery, than contributed directly to them himself: fortunately, his sun, Ptolemy Philadelphus, was a worthy successor, and emulous of treading in his father's steps. About the beginning of his reign. Tyre, the ancient station of the trade with India, again reared its head as a commercial city, and engaged extensivelj' and successfully in this lucrative traffic. It became necessary, therefore, in order to draw it fi'om Tyre and to secure its centering in Alex- andria, to extend the facilities and advantages of this city for this traffic. With this view, Ptolemy sent travellers to pene- trate into the interior of his dominions, bordering on the Red Sea, by land, while his fleet was exploring the coast : he began to make a canal, 1 00 cubits broad and 30 deep, between Arsinoe (^n the Red Sea, and the eastern branch of the Nile, in order to complete a water-communication between India and Alexandria. This canal, however, was never completed ; probably on account of the tedious and difficult navigation towards the northern extremity of the Red Sea. He there- fore altered his plaH, and instead of Arsinoe fixed on Myos Hormos, as the })ort from which the navigation to India should commence. The same reason which induced him to G 3 i \ 86 Progress q/' Discovert/^ CHAP. 111. 7 form this port, led him allerwnrcls to the establishment of Berenice ; he was further led to this, as Berenice was lower down in the Red Sea: and consequently shi})s sailing from it reached the ocean sooner and with less difficulty. It appears, however, that till the Romans concjuered Egypt, the greatest portion of the trade between Alexandria and Egypt was car- ried on through Myos Hormos. The route in the time of Ptolemy and his successors was as follows : vessels passed up the Canopic branch of the Nile to Memphis, and thence to Coptus ; from Coptus the goods were transported in caravans to Myos Hormos : from this port the vessels sailed for Africa, or Arabia in the month of September, and for India in July. As the country over which the caravans travelletl was the desart of Thebais, which is almost destitute of water, Ptolemy ordered springs to be searched for, wells to be dug, and caravanseras to be t '.'ected. In order to protect his merchant ships in the Mediterranean and the Retl Sea, he fitted out two great fleets, one of whicii he constantly kept in each sea. That in the Mediterranean was very numerous, and had several ships of an extraordinary size : two of them in particular had 30 oars on a side, one 20, four It, two 12, fourteen 11, thii'ty 9, &c., besitles u grea number of vessels of four oars and three oars on a side. With these fleets he protected the commerce of his subjects, and kept in subjection most of the maritime provinces of Asia Minor ; viz. Cilicia, Pamphylia, Lycia and Caria. The names of some of the most celebrated geographers who were pa- tronized by this mor.arch, have been lianded down to us : Pliny mentions Dalion, Bion, Boselis, and Aristocreon, as havuig visited Ethiopia, and contribtited to the geographical know- ledge of that country ; and Siinonides as having resided five years at Meroe. Timosthenes lived in this reign : he pub- lislied a description of the known sea-ports, ami a work on the meiiiiure of the earth. He sailetl tlown the coast of Africa, probably as far as Madagascar, certainly lower down than the Egyptians traded luider the Ptolemies, or even under the Romans. The reign of Ptolemy Euergetes was ecjually distinguishetl, with those of his predecessors, by attention to commerce, and a desire to extend it. As the navigation of the Red Sea had now becoine a source of great wealth to his subjects, he ileemed it necessary to free it as nnich as })ossibl(' from the pirates that inflated its coaiti. , tor this purpose, as well as to T?r— Py^ I in . il li i HlMl,.!- -^mm m«m CHAP. in. blishmeiit of ce was lower liling ii-oni it It apjjears, the greatest ypt was car- the time of s jiassed up d tlience to ill caravans 1 for Africa, itlia in July, ed WHS the er, Ptolemy i dug, and diten-aneaii le of which iliterrauean traordiuary de, one 20, es a grea on a side, is subjects, ces of Asia riie names ^vere pa- ns : Pliny as having "id know- ;.sided five : he puh- '■ work on coast of wer down or even iguishetl, ice, anci Sea had jects, he from the ''dl as to CHAP. III. lo the Time of Ptolemy the Geographer. 87 preserve a communication between Egypt and the countries which extended to its mouth; he established governors from the isthmus of Suez, along the Ai'abian and African coasts, as far as the straits of Babelmandeb ; and planted colonies oF Greeks and Egj^tians to carry on the commerce, and protect the interests of his subjects. But the most extraordinary instance of his enterprising spirit is to be found in his con- quest (evidently for the purpose of facilitating and securing the commerce of the Red Sea) of part of Abyssinia. The proof of this, indeed, rests entirely on an inscription found at Aduli, which there can be no doubt is the harbour and bay of Masuah ; the only proper entrance, according to Bruce, into Abyssinia. The inscription to which we have alluded was exttmt in the time of Cosmas (A. D. 545), by whom it was seen. From it, Ptolemy appears to have passetl to the Tacazze, which he calls the Nile, and to have penetrated into Gojam, in which province the fountains of the Nile are found. He made roads, opened a comnumication between this country and Egj'jot, and during this expedition obliged the Arabians to pay tribute, and to maintain the roads free from robbers and the sea from pirates ; subduing the whole coast from Leucke Come to Sabea. The inscription adds : " In the accomplishment of this bushiess I had no example to follow, either of tlu ancient kings of Egypt, or of my own family ; but was the first to conceive the design, and to carry it into execution. Thus, having reduced the whole world to peace under my own authority, I came down to Aduli, and sacrifi''ed to Jupiter, to Mars, and to Neptune, imploring his proteciiv,.i for all who navigate these seas." Ptolemy Euergetes was particularly attentive to the interests of the library at Alexandria. Tlie first librarian appointed by Ptolemy the successor of Alexander, was Zenodotus ; on his death, Ptolemy Euergetes invited from Athens Eratos- thenes, a citizen of Cyrene, and entrusted to him the care of the library : it has been supposed that he was the second of that name, or of an inferior rank in learning and science, becai ie he is sometimes called Beta ; but by this appellation nothing else was meant, but that lie was the second librarian of the royal library at Alexandria. He died at the age of 81, A. C. \9^. He has been called a second Platoj the cos- mographer and the geometer of the world : he is rather an astronomer and mathematician than a geogra})her, though geography is indebted to liim for some improvements in its G 4 if •lii 88 progress of Discovery, CHAP. Ill details, and more especially tor helping to raise it to the ac- curacy and dignity of a science. By means of instruments, which Ptolemy erected in the museum at Alexandria, he ascertained the obliquity of the ecliptic to be 23° 51' 20". He is, however, principally celebrated as the first astronomer who measured a degree of a great circle, and thus approximated towards the real diameter of the earth. The importance of this discovery will justify us in entering on some details respecting the means which this philosopher employed, and the result which he obtained. It is uncertain whether the well at Syene, in Upper Egypt, which he used for this purpose, was dug by his direc- tions, or existed previously. PUny seems to be of the former opinion ; but ' there is reason to believe that it had a much higher antiquity. The following observations on its structure by Dr. Horslcy, Bishop of Rochester, are ir.genious and im- portant. " The well, besides that it was sunk perpendicu- larly, with the greatest accuracy, was, I suppose, in shape an exact cylinder. Its breadth must have been moderate, so that a person, standing upon the brink, might safely stoop enough Over it to bring his eye into the axis of the cylinder, where it would be perpendicularly over the centre of the circular sur- face of the water. The water must have stood at a moderate height below the mouth of the well, far enough below the mouth to be sheltered from the action of the wind, that its surface might be perfectly smooth and motionless ; and not so low, but that the whole of its circular surface might be dis- tinctly seen by the observer on the brink. A well formed in this manner would affoixl, as I apprehend, the most certain observation of the sun's appulse to the zenith, that could be made with the naked eye ; for whon the sun's centre was upon the zenith, his disc would be seen by reflection on the water, in the v^ry middle of the well, — that is, as a circle perfectly concentric with the circle of the water ; and, I believe, there is nothing of which the naked eye can judge with so much ])recision as the concentricity of two circles, provided the cir- cles be neither very nearly etjual, nor the inner circle very f>mall in proportion to the outer." Eratosthenes observed, that at the time of the summer sol- stice this well was completely illuminated by the sun, and hence he inferred that the sun was, at that lime, in the zenith of this place. His next object v;as to ascertain the altitude of the sujii, at the :>ame oolstice, and on the very same day, at CHAP. III. fo tin- Time of Ptolcmij the Geographer. 89 Alexandria. This he effected by a very simple contrivance : he employed a concave hemispliere, with a vertical style, equal to the radius of concavity ; and by means of this he ascer- tained that the arch, intercepted between the bottom of the style and the extreme point of its shadow, was ?° 12'. This, of course, indicated the distance of the sun from the zenith of Alexandria. But 7° 12' is equal to the fiftieth part of a great circle ; and this, therefore, was the measvu'e of the celestial arc contained between the zeniths of Syene and Alexandria. Tlie measured distance between these cities be'ng 5000 stadia, it followed, that 5000x50=250,000, was, according to the ob- servations of Eratosthenes, the extent of the whole circum- ference of the earth. If we knew exactly the length of the stadium of the ancients, or, to speak more accurately, what stadium is referred to in the accounts which have been transmitted to us of the result of the operations of Eratosthenes, (for the ancients employed different stadia,) we should be able precisely to' ascertain the circumte'-ence which this philosopher ascribed to the earth, and .also, whether a nearer approximation to the truth was made by any subsequent or prior ancient philosopher. The circumference of the earth was conjectin'ed, or ascertained, by Aristotle, Cleoniedes, Posidonius, and Ptolemy respectivelj', to be 400, 300, 240, and 180 thousand stadia. It is imme- diately apparent that these various measures have some rela- tion to each other, and probably express the same extent, measured in different stadia ; and this probability is greatly increased by comparing the real distances of several places with the ancient itinerary distances. The observation of Eratosthenes respectuig the obli(]uity of the ecliptic (though undoubtedly not so inmiediately or es- sentially connected with our subject as his observation of the circumference of the earth) is too important to be passed over entirely without notice. He found the distance between the tropics less than 53" 6', and greater than 52 96', which gives a mean of 23" 5l' for the obliquity of the ecliptic. The observ- ations of Hipparchus (who flourished at Alexandria about 140 years before Christ, and whom we shall have occasion to men- tion more particularly afterwards) coincided with those of Eratosthenes. Plutarch, however, who died A.D. 119, in- Ibrms us, that, in his time, the gnomons at Syene were no longer shadowless on the day of the summer solstice. As the interval between Erato&thoncs and Plutarch wa^^ only about I) , '11 It \i j;() Progress of Discover i/ CHAP, 111. 3\2 years, Bishop Iforsley has very naturally expressed his doubts of the accuracy of" Plutarch's assertion. He says, that the change in the ohli(juity of the ecliptic in this interval was only 2' 3(5". " A gnomon, therefore, at Syene, of the length of tw^elve inches, if it cast no shadow on the day of the solstice in the time of Eratosthenes, should have cas' a shadow in the time of Plutarch of the length only of TiTiToth, or not quite T^nth part of an inch. The shadow of a perpendicular column of the height of 100 feet would have been -^)ths of an inch." As, how- ever, the ancients do not appear to have constructed gnomons of such a size, and as gnomons of inferior size would hn- e given a shadow scarcely perceptible, it is probable that I lU- tarch is mistaken in J.is assertion ; or, at any rate, that the viry small variation which did take place between his time and that of iCratosthenes (if it were observed at all) was ascertained by means of tlie well itself, which would point it out much more distinctly and accurately than any gnomon the ancients can be supposed to have used. We are also indebted to Eratosthenes for the first regular parallel of latitude, and also for tracing a meridian. His pa- rallel of latitude began at the Straits of Gibralttir, and passed eastward through Rhodes to the mountains of India ; the inter- mediate places being carefully set down. His meridian line })assed through Rhodes and Alexandria, a? far as Syene and Meroe. Meroe, on this account, became an object of the greatest interest and importance to all the succeeding ancient geographers and astronomers, and they have taken tlie utmost labour and care to ascertain its latitude accurately. Strabo informs us, that Eratosthenes constructed a map of the world ; but he does not give such particulars as will enable us to trace the extent of his geographical knowledge. At the extremity of the world to the east, bounded by the ocean, Thina was placed in the niiip of Eratosthenes, in the parallel of Rhodes ; a parallel which passes through the empire of China, within the Great Wall. Eratosthenes, according to Strabo, (to whom we are indebted for nearly all we know resjiecting this philoso- pher,) asserts that Thina had been, previously to the con- struction of his map, incorrectly placed in the more ancient maps. His information respecting Meroe or Abyssinia, is most probably derived from Dalion, Aristocreon, and Bion, who had been sent by Ptolemy Philadelphus and his succes- sors into that country, or IVoni Timosthenes, who sailed down the coast of Africa as low us Cevne. His information on the CHAP. J II. tressed lii.s i says, that iterval was the len^^;th he solstice clow in the |uit« T^/j^th limn of the As, how- ! gnomons )ulcl ha- d that I lu- t the V iry e and that tained by uch mort! Its can be it regular His pa- d passed the inter- dian line ^ene and of the ancient utmost Strabo world ; to trace ctremity ina was ihodes ; within whom )hiloso- le con- ancient inia, is Bion, succes- 1 down on the 1 CHAP. m. /o ///r Time of Ptolemi) the Gcn-in of the earth, as nnist naturally hap})en in n loose and crinnbliner found in these gold mines, sujiposed to have been used by the native Egyptians, prior to the coiujuest of Kgyjit by the Persians. The next particular mentioned by Agadiarcides, respecting the Abyssinian coast of the Red Sea, is very conclusive, with respect to his accuracy and credibility. In Meroe, or Abyssinia, he says, they hunt ele})hants and hamstring them, and afterwards cut tlie flesh out of the animal alive : he adds, that tl»e inhabitants are so extremely fond of the flesh of the elephant, thus procured, that when Ptolemy would have ))aid any price to purchase these animals alive, as he wanted then) for his army, .the Abyssinian hunters refused his ofler, declaring that not all the wealth of Egypt would tempt them to forego their favou- rite and delicious repast. It is a remarkable fact, that the credit of Bruce on this topic should thus be confirmed by a writer who lived nearly 2000 years before him, of whose writings we possess only a very short treatise, and of whose life we know scarcely fi single jiarticular. It may be added, that Strabo, in a passage, in which he is apparently copying Agatharcides, mentions Kgjonpayoj ; and as he would scarcely particularize the fact of a native eating the flesh of animals cooked, it is to be presumed, he means raw flesh. In the same place he mentions the excisio feminnrnm . Every reader of Brnce's Travels in Abyssinia must remember the fly, called Tsalp.'.alza, ai\ insect more formidable than the strongest or most savage wild beasts : " As soon as the buzzing of this insect is heard, the utmost alarm and trepidation pre- vails ; the cattle forsake their food and run wildly about the plain, till at length they fall down, worn out with terror, hunger and fatigue; even the camel, elephant and rhinoceros, are not safe from the attacks of this formidable insect." This fly is described by Agatharcides in the same manner as by Bruce. The ensete tree of Bruce, the leaves of which resemble the banana, with fruit like figs, but not eatable, with a trunk esculent till it reaches its perfect growth and is full of leaves, re- sembles in some of its particulars a tree described by Aga- \ ^ CHAP. III. to Ihf Time of Plolnni) Ihr Gcoi^vaphrr. \i-) Ided, )vinj): rcely inials the pre- the ■rror. tlmrcides. This author nlso describes the locusts, as geiurally used I'or food; the trofj;lodytes ; the rhinoceros; the canieleo- pard; what he calls sphinxes, but which are represented as tame, and are sup})()setl to be apes, distinj^uished t'roni the common ape in tiie face beiii^ smooth and without hair. lie also mentions an animal lie calls crocetta, which is described as being between a wolf and a dog, and as imitating the human voice; these particulars seem to })oint it out as the hyena, though some suppose it to be the jackall. It deserves to be remarked, that the animals enumerated by Agatharcides as natives of Abys- suiia, are all named in the same manner, as well as depicted on the celebrated Palestrine Mosaic. In !us description of the coast of the Reil Sea he commences with Arsinoe, and goes down the western side as far as Ptole- nuiis Theron ; a place so calletl, because elej^hants were there iiunted and taken, and are still, according to Bruce. Aga- tharcides adds, that the usual navigation was to this place ior elephants. He notices Myos Hormos, but not Berenice; he has even mentioned the islands at the straits of Babelmandeb, and the prmligies which in his time, and much later, were sup- posed to lie beyond them. There is, however, one part of his work, in which he seems to indicate the curvature of the African coast to the east beyond the straits ; but it is doubtful whether in this place he is speaking of the coast within or without the straits. In his description of the coast between Myos Hormos and Ptolemais, he points out a bay, which, both from the identity of the name, and the circumstances respecting it which he narrates, undoubtedly is the Foul Bay of the moderns. Strabo, who, as we have already stated, borrows freely and frecjuently ti'om Agatharcides, describes this bay as full of shoals and breakers, and exposed to violent winds ; and he adds, that Berenice lies at the bottom of it. The accuracy of our author, even when he is opposed by the testimony of Bruce, is fully proved in what he relates of the coast below Foul Bay : after mentioning two mountains, which lie calls the Bulls, he particularly adverts to the dangerous shoals which often proved fatal" to the elephant ships on their passage to and from Ptolemais. Bruce says no such shoals exist; but, as is justly observed by Dr. Vincent; the correctness of the ancients respecting them, especially Eratosthenes, Agathar- cides and Artemidorus, is fully borne out by the danger and it 9() Progress of Discovery CHAP. III. ' i loss to which many English ships have been exposed by reason of these very shoals. The description of Agatharcides of this side of the coast of the Red Sea, reaches no lower down than Ptolemais ; this cir- cnmstance is remarkable, since we have seen that, from the inscription found at Aduli there can be no doubt that Ptolemy Euergetes had conc^uered Abyssinia, and established a commerce consitlerably lower down than Ptolemais Theron. As, however, we have not the original, and perhaps not the entire work of Agatharcides, we cannot infer any thing, either re- specting his ignorance or inattention, from this omission. Agatharcides, having thus described this coast, returns from Ptolemais to Myos Hormos, and passing the Bay of Arsinoe, crosses to Phoenicum, in the Elanitic Gulf, and describes the coast of Arabia as far as Sabea. Almost the very first particular noticed by him in this part of his work, bears evidence to his accuracy as a geographer. He states that, at the entrance of the Elanitic Gulph tliere are three islands, one of wljch is dedicated to Isis : he describes them as, " covering several harbours on the Arabian shore. To these islands succeeds the rocky coast of ThamudfcJii, where, for more than 1000 stadia, there is jio harbour, no roadsted in which a vessel could anclior, no bay into which she could run tor shelter, no point of land which could protect her ; so that those who sail along this part of the coast are ex})Osed to certain destruction,. if they should be overtaken by a storm." Yet these islands lying in such a conspicuous situation, and of such importance to the mariner, awd this coast so dangerous to him, do not appear to have been noticed in any European chart or description, till, after the lapse of twenty centuries, they were restored to geography by Mr. Irwin. As one of our princi[)al objects is to do justice to the accuracy of the ancient geographers, by pointii^ out instances of the ex- treme care which many of them took to obtain correct inform- ation we shall adduce one other proof of this accuracy and care in Agatharcides. This author particularly describes the sea as having a white a})pearance off the coast of Arabia; on this })oint he was well informed though the circumstance is treated as fabulous by the ancients, and even by some of the moderns; but more observant modern travellers confirm this phenomenon. It is well observed by Dr. Vincent, that we art every day lessening the bulk of the marvellous imputed to the ancients ; » ' ■ -,b CHAP. iiT. io the Time of Ptolemy the Geographer. 97 CHAP. IH. by reason lie coast of 5 ; this cir- that, from iloubt that itabUshetl a lis Theron, It the entire either re- ission. eturns from of Arsinoe, bes the coast ular noticed ; accuracy as the Elanitic dedicated to barbours on ocky coast of there is Jio hor, no bay land which^ this part of ?y should be in such a the mariner, to have been ill, after the eography by the accuracy ces of the ex- rcct inform- acy and care lostheseaas ibia; on this e is treated as he moderns; phenomenon. re every day the ancients ; and as our knowledge of the east incfeases, it is possible that the imputation will be altogether removed. The account which Agatliarcides gives of Saboea is very curious and important- and, as we shall afterwards have occa- sion to make use of i in endeavouring to prove that, in very early ages, the Arabians supplied the western world with the productions of the east, we shall extract here what he says of Sabaea from the translation of Dr. Vincent. " Sabaea, (says Agatharcides,) abounds with every production to make life happy in the extreme : its very air is so perfumed with odours, that the natives are obliged to mitigate the fra- grance by scents that have an opposite tendency, as if natiu'e could not support even pleasure in the extreme. Myrrh, frank- incense, balsam, cinnamon, and casia are liere produced, from trees of extraordinary magnitude. The king, as he is, on the one hand, entitled to supreme honour, on the other, is obliged to submit to confinement in his palace; but the people are robust, warlike, and able mariners : they sail in very large vessels to the country where the odoriferous commodities are produced ; they plant colonies there, and import from theirce the larimna, an odour no where else to be found. In fact, there is no nation on the earth so wealthy as the Gerrheans and Sabeans, as being in the centre of all the commerce that passes between Asia and Europe. These are the nations which nave enriched the kingdom of Ptolemy : these are the nations that furnish the most profitable agencies to the industry of the Phoenicians, and a variety of advantages which are incal- culable. They possess themselves every profusion of luxury, in articles of plate and sculpture, in furniture of beds, tripods, and other household embellishments, far superior in degree to anything that is seen in Europe: their expence of living rivals the magnificence of princes : their houses are decorated with pillars glistening with gold and silver: their doors ore crowned with vases and beset with jewels : the interior of their houses corresponds with the beauty of their outv.'ard appearance, and all the riches of other countries ai'e here exhibited in a variety of profusion. Such a nation, and so abounding in sujjerfluity, owes its independence to its distance from Europe; for their luxurious manners would soon render them a prey to the European sovereigns, who have always troops on foot prepared for any conquest ; and who, if they could find the means of invasion, would soon reduce the Sabeans to the condition of their A V' i\ ^H ni \i 'It ' i\ i ' ^i^ H' \ i-i i \\ '■ 98 Progress of Discovery CHAP. III. agents and factors; whereas they are now obliged to deal with them as principals." The importance and the bearing of these curious facts, first brought to our notice by Agatharcides, as well as the inferences which may be drawn from them regai'ding the mode in which the ancients obtained their comrAodities of India, will call our particular attention afterwards: at present we shall mei'ely notice the characteristic and minute picture which Agatharcides has drawn of the Sabeans, and the just notions he had formed on the nature of a commerce, of which all the othev writers of antiquity seemed to have been utterly ignorant. Beyond Saba?a to the east, Agatharcides possessed no in- formation, though, like all the ancients, he is desirous of sup- plying his want of it by indulging in the marvellous : it is, however, rather curious that, among other particulars, undoubt- edly unfounded, such as placing the Fortunate islands off the coast beyond Saba?a, and his describing the flocks and herds as all white, and the females as pollci 1 ; — he describes that white- ness of the sea, to which we have already alluded, as confirmed by modern travellers. From these unfounded particulars, our author soon emerges again into the truth ; for he describes the appearance of the different constellations, and especially notices that to the south of Sabaea there is no twilight in the morning ; but when he adds, that the sun, at rising, appears like a column — that it casts no shadow till it has been risen an hour, and that the evening twilight lasts three hours after it l.as set; it is obvious that che information of that age (of which we may justly suppose the library of Alexandria was the great depo- sitory) did not extend beyond Sabaea. That Agatharcides had access to and made ample use of the jouinal of Nearchus (of which we have given such a complete abstract), is evident from various parts of his work ; but it is also evident, by comparing his description of those countries and their inhabitants, which had been visited and described by Nearchus, that he had access to other sources of intelligence, by means of which he added to the materials supplied by the latter. It will be recollected that Nearchus describes in a particular manner, the Iclhyophagi of Gadrosia : Agatharcides also de- scribes Icthyophagi, though it is not clear whether he means to confine his description to those of Gadrosia, or to extend it to others on the coast of Arabia and Africa. The mode prac- s ti tl tl a| CHAP. IH' deal with facts, first inferences e in which ill call our lall merely gatharcicles had formed r writers of ssed no in- 'ous of sup- llous: it is, rs, undoubt- mds off the md herds as 5 that white- is confirmed ■ticulars, our describes the cially notices he morning ; ike a column ,n hour, and has set; it is lich we may great depo- 3le use of the ;h a complete )rk ; but it is ose countries described by ' inteUigence, s supphed by n a particular ides also de- ir he means to ) extend it to mode prac- CHAP. ur. to the Time of Ptolemy the Gcograj^her. 99 tised hy the Icthyonhagi, according to him, is exactly that which was practised by them in catching fish, according to Nearchus : he also coincides with that author in various other particulars respecting the use of the bones of whales, or other larffe fish, in the construction of their houses ; their ignorance and barbarism, their dress and mode of life. All this he probably borrowed from Nearchus ; but he adds one circum- stance which indubitably p oves, that the knowledge of the eastern part of the world had considerably advanced since the era of Alexander : he expressly states, that beyond the straits that separate Arabia from the opposite coast, there are an immense number of islands, scattered, very small, and scarcely raised above the surface of the ocean, if we may advert to the situation assigned to these islands, on the sup- position that the straits which separate Arabia from the oppo- site coast, mean the entrance to the Gulph of Persia, we shall not be able to ascertain what these islands are ; but if in addi- tion to the circumstances of their being scattered, very small, and very low, we add what Agatharcides also notices, that the natives have no other means of supporting life but by the turtles which are found near them in immense numbers, and of a very large size, we shall be disposed, with Dr. Vincent, to consider these as the Maldive Islands. It may be objected to this supposition, that the Maldives ai*e situated at a very great distance from the straits that separate Arabia from the opposite coast ; but a cursory acquaintance with the geographical de- scriptions of the ancients will convince us, that their informa- tion respecting the situation of countries was frequently vague and erroneous, (as indeed it must have been, considering the imperfect means thej' possessed of measuring or even judging of dist^mces, especially by sea,) while, at the same time, their intbrmation respecting the nature of the country, the produc- tions of its soil, and the manners, &c. of its inhabitants, was surprisingly full inul accurate. In identifying places men- tioned by the ancients, we should therefore be guided more by the descriptions they give, than by the locality they assign to them. Agatharcides, it is true, adds that these islands extend along the sea, which washes Gadrosia and India ; but he probably had very confused notions of the extent and ft)rm of India ; and, at any rate, giving the widest latitude to the term, the same sea may be said to wash Gadrosia and the Maldive Islands. If these .are the islands actually meant by Agathar- cides, it is the earliest notice of thejn extant. n 2 I i ,' Ij V III I 100 Progress of Discovery CHAP. III. Our concern with Agatharcides relates only to the geogra- phical knowledge which his writings display ; and even of that we can only select such parts as are most important, and at the same time point out and prove the advances of geographical knowledge, and of commercial enterprize ; before, however, we leave him, we may add one fact, not immediately relating to our peculiar subject, which he records : after stating that the soil of Arabia was, as it were, impregnated with gold, and that lumps of pure gold were found there from the size of an olive to that of a nut, he adds, that iron 'vas twice, and silver ten times, the value of gold. If he is accurate in the proportionate values which he respectively assigns to these metals, it proves the very great abundance of gold ; since, in most of the nations of anti- quity, the values of gold and silver were the reverse of what they were in Arabia, gold being ten times the value of silver. The comparative high value of iron to gold is still more extra- ordinary, and seems to indicate not only a great abundance of the later metal, but also i great scarcity of the former, or a very great demand for it in consequence of the extended and improved state of those arts and manufactures in which iron is an essential requisite, and which indicate an advanced degree of knowledge and civilization. We are not aware of a similar fact, with respect to the proportionate value of iron and silver, being recorded of any other nation of antiquity. It is not to be supposed, however, that the cheapness of gold, measured by iron and silver, could long continue in Arabia, unless we be- lieve that their intercourse with other nations was very limited ; because a regular and extensive intercourse would soon assi- milate, in a great degree at least, the value of gold measured by iron and silver, as it existed in Arabia, to its value, as mea- sured by the same metals in fliose countries with which Arabia traded. But to return from this slight digression ; — Artemidorus has been already mentioned as a geographer subsequent to Aga- thai cides, who copied Agatharcides, and from whom Diodorus Siculus and Strabo in their turns copied. There were two ancient writers of this name born at Ephesus ; the one to whom we have alluded, is supposed to have lived in the reign of Ptolemy Lathyrus, A. C. 169; by others he is brought down to A. C. 104. Little is known respecting him; nor does he seem to have added much to geographical science or knowledge : he is said by Pliny to have first applied the terms of length and breadth, or latitude and longitude. 13y 14. CHAP. in» riiAP. iir. to the Time of Ptolcmtj the Geog>aj)hcr. 101 comparing those pai'ts of Diodorus Siculus and Strabo, which they avowedly copy from him, with the track of Agatharcides in the Red Sea, we are enabled to discover only a few additions of importance to the geographical knowledge supplied by the former: Agatharcides, it will be remembered, brings his account of the Atrican side of the liefl Sea no lower down than Ptolemais : he does not even me/ition the expedition of Pto- lemy Euergetes to Aduli ; nor the passage of the straits, though Eratosthenes, as cited by Sti'abo, proves that it was open in his time. In the time of Artemidorus, however, the trade of Egypt on the coast of Africa had reached as low down as the Southern Horn ; that this trade was still in its infancy, is apparent from a circumstance mentioned by Strabo, on the authority of Artemidorus ; that at the straits the cargo was transferred from ships to boats ; bastard cinnamon, perhaps casia lignea or hard cinnamon, is specified as one of the prin- cipal articles which the ^^gyptians obtained from the coast of Africa, when they passed the straits of Babelmandeb. The next person belonguig to the Alexandrian school, to whom the sciences on which geography rest, as well as geogra- phy itself, is greatly indebted, was Hipparchus. Scarcely any particulars are known respecting him : even the exact period in which he flourished, is not accurately fixed; some placing him 159 years, others 149, and others again bringing him down to 129 years before Christ. He was a native of Nice in Bithynia, but spent the greater part of his life at the court of one of the Ptolemies. It is supposed that he quitted his native place in consequence of some ill treatment which he had received from his fellow citizens : at least we are informed by Ain*elius Victor, that the emperor Marcus Aurelius obliged the inhabitants of Nice to send yearly to Rome a certain quantity of corn, for having beaten one of their citizens, by name Hipparchus, a man of great learning and extraor- dinary accomplishments. They continued to pay this tribute to the time of Constantine, by whom it was remitted. As his- tory does not inform us of any other person of note of this name, a native of Nice in Bithynia, it is highly probable that this was the Hipparchus, the astronomer and geographer. That it was not unusual for conquerors and sovereigi to re- ward or punish the descendants of those who had behaved well or ill to celebrated men who had flourished long previously, must be well known to those conversant with ancient history. The respect paid to the memory of Pindar, by the Spai'tans, II 3 rf WW O. I 102 Progress of Discovery CHAP. III. I I M and by Alexander the Great, when they conqi'.ered Thebes, is a strikhig instance of the truth of this observation. Hipparchus possessed the true spirit of philosophy : having resolved to devote himself to the study of astronomy, his first general principal was to take nothing for granted ; but setting aside all that had been taught by former astro'iomers, to begin anew, and examine and judge for himself: he determined not to admit any results but such as were grounded either in observations and experiments entirely new, made by himself, or on a new examinatioii of former observations, conducted with the utmost care and caution. In short, he may justly be regarded as one of the first philosophers of antiquity who had a silightg 'nipse of the grand maxim, which afterwards immor- talized Ba». )n, and which has introduced modern philosophers to a knowledge of the most secret and most sublime operations of nature. One of his first endeavours was, to verify the obliquity of the ecliptic, as settled by Eratosthenes : he next fixed, as ac- curately as possible, the latitude of Alexandria ; but it would lead us far from the object of our work, if we were even briefly to mention his J'scoveries in the science of pure astronomy. We must confine ourselves to those parts of his discoveries which benefitted geography, either directly or indirectly. After having, as successfldly as his means and the state of the science would permit him to do, fixed the position of the stars, he transferred the method wiiich he had employed for this purpose to geography : lie was the first who determined the situation of places on the earth, by their latitudes and longitudes, with any thing like accuracy. The latitude, indeed, of many places had been fixed before ; and the means of doing it were sutficiently simple and obvious : but with respect to some general and safe mode of ascer- taining the longitudes, the ancient philosophers before Hip- parchus, were ignorant of it. He employed for this purpose the eclipses of the moon. After naving ascertained the lati- tudes and longitudes of a great many places, he proposed to draw up a catalogue of terrestial latitudes and longitudes, but this he was not able to accomplish : he had set the example, however and it was followed by subsequent astronomers. He fixed on the Fortunate Islands, which are supposed to be the Canaries, for his first meridian. His principal works most probably were destroyed in the conflagration of the Alexan- drian library. His catalogue of the stars is preserved in the 13 CHAP. 111. to the Time of Vtokmy the Geographer, 103 vere even Almagest of Ptolemy ; and his commentary on Aratus and Eudoxus ". still extant. Such is a brief sketch of the advantages which geography, as founded on astronomy, derived from the labours of Hip- parchus. We possess little information respecting his ideas of the form of the earth, or the relative position or extent of the different quarters and countries on the surface of the j,!')be. He seems to have been the first who conceived the idea of a southern continent, uniting Africa and India ; lie had evidently some information, though very vague and erroneous, of India, beyond the Ganges. On the east coast of Africa, his knowledge ilid not extend beyond Cape Guardateri. On the whole, geography is more indebted to him for his dis- coveries in astronomy, and, above all, for his setting the example of carefully ascertaining facts, and not indulging, so much as his predecessors had done, in conjectures and hypo- theses, than for any actual discoveries or advances he made in it. The eulogium which Pliny has pronounced on him is very eloquent, and fully deserved. " Hipparchus can scarcely receive ttx) high praise : he has proved, more satisfactorily than any other philosopher, that man is allied to heaven, and Vis soul derived from on high. In his time, more than one new star was discovered, or rather appeared for the first time; and this induced him to believe, that future ages might witness stars for the first time moving from the immense regions of space, within the limits of our observation. But the gran- deur and boldness "bf Hipparchus's mind rested not here : he attempted, and in some measure succeeded in doing, what seems above human knowledge and power : he numbered the stars, laid down rules by which their rising and setting might be ascertained beforehand ; and, finally, he^constructed an ap- paratus on which the position of each star was accurately given, and a miniature picture of the heavens, with the motions of the celestial bodies, their rising and setting, in- crease and diminution. He thus may be said to have left the heavens as a legacy to that man, if any such were to be found, who could rival him and follow his steps." From the time of Hipparchus to that of Ptolemy the geo- grapher, the Alexandrian school, though rich in philosophers, who devo' .d their studies and labour to other branches of physical and metaphysical science, did not produce one, who improved geography, or the sciences on which it depends, with the exception of Posidonius. This philosopher, who H 4 u Ill ^ 104. P) -0^ -CSS of DiscoviTjj CJIAP. III. \ T3 4 belonged to the sect of the Stoics, was born nt Apamea hi Sjruv : he usually resided at Rhodes, and was the friend of Pompey and Cicero. The former, on his return from Syria, came thither to attend his lectures. Arriving at his housc^ he forbad his lictor to knock, as was usual, at the door ; and paid homage to })hilosophy, by lowering the fasces at the ubode of Posidonius. Pompey, being intbrmed that he was at that time ill of the gout, visited him in his confinement, and expressed himself very much disappointed that he coiHd not have the benefit of his lecti^res. Posidonius, thus honoured and flattered, in spite of his pain, delivered a lec- ture in the presence of his noble visitor ; the subject of which was to prove, that nothing is good which is not honourable. Cicero informs us, th.at he also attended his lectures; and according to Suidas Marcellus, brought Iibti to Rome in the year of the city 702 ; in this, however, Suidas is not sup- ported by other and contemporary writers. We are indebted to Cleomedes for most of what we know of his opinions and discoveries ; with such as relate to morals or to pure astronomy, we have no concern. But he was of service also to geography. He measured an arc of the terrestrial meridian ; but his operation, as far as we can judge by the details which have reached us, was far from exact, and of course his result could not be accurate; it would appear, however, that his object was rather to verify the ancient measures of tiie earth, particvdarly that of Eratosthenes, and that he foimd them to agree nearly with his own. He ex- plained the ebbing and flowing of the sea, from the motion of the moon, and seems to have been the first who observed the law of this jiheiiomenon. In order to represent the ap- pearance of the heavens, Cicero informs us that he constructed a kind of planetarium, by menns of which he exhibited the ap- parent motion of the sun, moon, and planets round the earth. It is on the authority of Posidonius, that Strabo relates the voyage of Eudoxus of Cyzicum fi'om the Persian Gulf round Africa to Cadiz, which we have already mentioned. Plaving thus exhibited a view of the discoveries in geo- graphy, the advances in tlie sciences connected with it, and the commercial enterprises of the Egyptians, while under the dominion of the Ptolemies, it will be proper, before beginning an account of the geographical knowledge and commercial enterprises of the Romans (who, by their conquest of Egypt, may be said to have absorbed all the geographical knowledge. CHAP. III. to the Time of Ptolemy the Geograp/in: 105 laniea m as well as all the commerce of the world, at that period), to recapitulate the extent of the Egyptian geography and com- merce, especially towards the east. We shall direct our retrospect to this quarter, because the commodities of the east being most i)rized, it was the grand object of the sove- reigns and merchants of Egypt, to extend and facilitate the intercourse with that quarter of the globe as much as possible. And we are induced to undertake the retrospect, because the exact limit of the geograjjhical knowledge and connnercial enterprise of the Ptolemies is differently fixed by different authors : some maintaining that the Egyptians hatl a regular and extensi. ; trade directly with India, and of course, were well acquainted with the seas and coasts beyond the lied ISea ; while other authors maintain, that they never passed the straits of Babelmandeb, and that even within the straits, their geographical knowledge and commercial enterprises were very limited. It cannot b-3 doubted that commerce and the spirit of dis- covery flourished with more vigour, and pushed themselves to a greater distance in the reigns of Ptolemy Philadclphus, and Ptolemy Euergetes, than in the reign of any of their successors. If, therefore, there are no proofs or traces of a direct and regular trade with India in their time, we may safely conclude it did not exist in Egypt, previously to the conquest of that country by tJie Romans. We are well aware, that there are great authorities op- posed to the opinion which we hold ; but these authorities are mode^ ^ ^ they are not, we think, supported by the ancient writers, and in opposition to them, we can place the authority of Dr. Vincent, a name of the very greatest weight in ques- tions of this nature. The authorities we alluded to in support of the opinion, that there was a direct trade with India under the Ptolemies, are Huet, in his History of the Commerce, and Navigation of the Ancients ; Dr. Robertson, in his Disquisition on India, and Harris, or perhaps, more pnperly speaking, Dr. Campbell, in his edition of Harris's Collection of Voyages and Travels. Huet, as is justly remarked by Dr. Vincent, drops the prosecution of the question at the very point he ought to introduce it ; and afterwards countenances, or seems to countenance, the opposite opinion. Dr. Robertson bestows much labour, ingenuity, and learning in support of the opinion, that under the Ptolemies, a direct trade was carried on with India ; yet, after all, he cojicludes in this manner : i I i i t ^'i I % nm > lOG l^rogiess u/ Discover!^ CHAP. 111. " it is probable that tJielr voyages were circumscribed within very narrow limits, and that under the Ptolemies no con- siderable pro< ia made in the discovery of India :" and when he come, u nie discovery of the Monsoon by Hippalus, and the consequent advantage taken of, it to trade directly to India, by siiling from shore to shore, he acknowledges that all proofs of a more early existence of such a trade are wanting. Dr. Campbell virtually gives up his support of the opinion, that a direct trade was carried on under the Ptolemies, in the same manner. We have already remarked, that the strongest spirit of en- teqjrize that distinguished Egypt existed in the reign of Ptole- my Philadelphus and Ptolemy Euergetes ; that these monarchs pushed their discoveries, and extended their commercial con- nections much farther than any of their predecessors ; and that therefore, if a direct and regular communication between Egypt and India did jiot take place in their reigns, we may be assured it was unknown to the Egyptians at the period of the Roman conquest. To their reigns, then, we shall principally direct our enquiries. That I'tolemy Philadelphus was extremely desirous to im- prove the navigation of the Red Sea, is evident from his hav- ing built My OS Hormos, or rather improved it, because it was more convenient than Arsinoe, on account of the difficulty of navigating the western extremity of that sea : he afterwards fixed on Berenice in preference to Myos Hormos, when the navigation and commerce on this sea was extended and im- proved, since Berenice being lower -down, the navigation towards the straits was shorter, as well as attended with fewer difficulties and dangers. But there is no evidence that his fleets, which sailed from Berenice, were destined for India, or even passed the Straits of Babelmandeb. It is, however, not meant to be asserted that no vessels passed these straits in the time of this Ptolemy. On the contrary, we know that his admiral, Timosthenes, passed the straits as low as Cerne, which is generally supposed to be Madagascar ; but commerce, which in our times, directed by much superior skill and know- ledge, as well as stimulated by a stronger spirit of enterprize and rivalship, and a more absorbing love of gain, immediately follows in the track of discovery, was then comparatively slow, languid, and timid as well as ignorant ; so that it is not sur- prizing that it did not follow the track of Timosthenes. Pto- lemy Philadelphus also pushed his discoveries by land as far as Meroc ; he opened ^h^ route between Coptus and Berenice, .HAP. 111. tiiAP. iji. lo the Time of Plolcuiij the (ieogrdji/ifi: J 07 I establishing ports and opening wells ; and from thcic and other circumstances he seems to have been actuateil by a stronger wish to extend commerce, and to liave fbrmetl more plans lor this purpose, than any of his successors. Ptolemy Euergetes directed his thoughts more to conquest than to commerce, though he rendered the former, in some degree, useful and subservient to tlie latter. After having passed the Nile, and subdued the nations which lay on the confines of Egypt, he compelled them to open a road of com- munication between their country and Egypt. Tlie frank- incense country was the next object of his ambition : this he subdued ; and having sent a fleet and army across the lied Sea into Arabia, he compelled the inhabitants of the district to maintain the roads free from robbers, and the sea from pirates — a proof that these people had made some advances in seafaring matters, and .also of the attention paid by Euergetes to the na- vigation of the Red Sea, as well as to the protection of land conmierce. Indeed the whole of his progress to Aduli, which we have more particularly mentioned in another place, was marked as much by attention to commerce as by the love of conquest ; but though by this enterprize he rendered both the coasts of the Red Sea tributary, and thus better adapted to commerce, there is no proof that he passed the Straits of Babelmandeb. It is true, indeed, that he visited Mosullon, which lies beyond the straits, but nc* by sea, having marched by land to that place, through the i iterior of Abyssinia and Adel. From the whole of this enterprize of Euergetes we we may justly infer, that though he facilitated the intercourse by land between Egypt and those parts of Africa which lay immediately beyond the straits, yet his ships did not pass the straits, and that in his reign the discoveries of Timosthenes had not been followed up or improved for the purpose of trading by sea with the coast of Africa. The navigation of the whole of the Red Sea, at least on the Arabian side, from Leuke Kome to Sabaja, was undoubtedly known and fre- quently used at th s period ; but this was its utmost limit. In the reign o/ Ptolemy Philometor, when Agatharcides lived, the commercial enterprizes of the Egyptians nad begun rather to languish ; on the Arabian side of the Red Sea, they did indeed extend to Sabaea, as in the time of Euergetes ; but ther^ is evidence that on the opposite coast they did not go so low, as in the reign of the latter sovereign. Agatharcides makes no mention of Berenice ; according to his account, Myos '-J . .^tm^ttft^itM 108 Progress of Discovcrj/ CHAP. III. M ^ }■ I ' Hormos had again become the emporium, and the only trade from that jiart seems to have been for elephants io Ptolemais Theron. It may, indeed, be in'ged that Berenice was not, properly s})eaking, a harbom*, but only an open bay, to which the shi})s did not come from Myos Hormos, till their cargoes were com})letely ready. But that Myos Hormos was the great })oint of comnmnicatkm with Coptus is evident from the account which Agatharcides gives of the caravan road between these two places. Even so late as the time of IStrabo, this road was nuich more frequented than the road between Coptus and Berenice : of the latter he merely observes, that Philadel- jihus opened it with his army, established ports, and sunk wells ; whereas he particularly describes the former road, as being seven or eight days' journey, formerly performed on camels in the night, by observation of the stars, and carrying water with them. Latterly, he adds, deep wells had been sunk, and cisterns formed for holding water. Every detail of the road to lierenice is Roman, and relates to periods con- siderably posterior fo the conquest of Egypt by the Romans — a proof that the plan of Philadelphus, ot substituting Berenice for Myos Hormos, had not been regularly adopted by his successors, nor till the Romans had firmly and permanently fixed themselves in Egypt. ' In the extract we have already given from Agatharcides respecting Arabia, he expressly mentions that the Gerrheans and Sabeans are the centre of all the commerce that passes be- tween Asia and Europe, and that these are the nations which liave enriched the Ptolemais : this statement, taken in con- junction with the fact that his description of the coast of the Red Sea reaches no farther than Sabaea on the one side, and Ptolemais Theron on the other, seems decisive of the truth of the opinion, that in the time of Philometor the Egyptians did not trade directly to India. It may be proper to add, that in the extracts from Agatharcides, given by Photius, it is expressly mentioned that ships from India were met with by the Egyptian ships in the ports of Sabea. Tlie particulars of this trafle between India and Egypt, by means of the Arabians, will be afterwards detailed, and its great antiquity traced and proved ; at present we have alluded to it merely to bear us out in our position, that Indian ships, laden with Indian commodities, frequenting the ports of Sabaea, and those ports being described by Agatharcides as the limits of his knowledge of this coast of the Red Sea, we are fully justified in cou- 14 ( irAP. rii. to the Time of Ptolcnnj the Geographer. lOf) cliuling, that, in the rei^n of Philomctor, there was not only no direct trade to India, but no inducement to such trade ; and that 146 yti"'*s "fter the death ot* Alexander, tlie Greek sove- reigns of Egypt had done little to complete what that monarch ha(l projected, and in part accomplished by the navigation of Nearchns — the commimication by seu between Alexandria and India. Under the successors ot Fhilometor, the trade inthe Rctl Sea languished rather than increased, and the full benefits of of it were not reaped till some time after the Roman con- quest. Even in the time of Strabo, the bulk of the trade still passed by Coptus to Myos Hormos. We are aware of a passage in this author, which, at first, sight seems to contradict the position we have laid down, and to prove, that at least iu his time, there was a direct and not unfrequent navigation between the lied Sea and India. He expressly states, that in the course of six or seven years, 120 ship^ had sailed from Myos Hormos to India : but on this it may be observed, in the first place, that he begins his description of India, with request- injW his readers to peruse what he relates concerning it with indulgence, as it was a country very remote, and few persons had visited it ; and even with regard to Arabia Felix, he says, that the knowledge of the Romans commenced with the expedition of his friend iElius Gallus into that country ; — facts not very consistent with his statement that 1 20 ships had sailed in six or seven years to India: secondly, he expressly mentions, that formerly scarcely twenty ships dared to navigate the Red Sea, so far as to shew themselves beyond the straits; but we can hardly suppose that skill, enterprize, and knowledge, had increased so rapidly as to ex- tend within a very few years navigation, not merely beyond the straits, but even to India; we say a few years, for cer- tainly, at the time when the Romans conquered Egypt, the straits were not usually passed : lastly, the name India was used so vaguely by the ancients, even by Strabo occasionally, that it is not improbable he meant by it, merely the coast of Arabia, beyond the straits. It is well asked by Dr. Vin- cent, in reference to this account of Strabo, might not that geographer, from knowing the ships brought home Indian commodities, have supposed that they sailed to India, when in reality they went no farther than Hadramant, in Arabia, or MosuUon, on the coast of Africa, where they found the produce of India ? h # no Progress of Discoveiy CHAP. in. ! m. I \- It is not, however, meant to be denied that a few vessels, in the time of Ptolemies, reached some part of India from the Red Sea, by coasting all the way. The author of the Periplus of the Red Sea, informs us that, before the discovery of the monsoon, by Hippalus, small vessels had made a coasting voyage from Cana, in Arabia, to the Indies. But these irregular and trifling voyages are deserving of little considera- tion, and do not militate against the position we have laid down and endeavoured to prove, that in the time of the Ptolemies the commerce of Egypt was confined within the limits of the Red Sea, partly from the want of skill and enterprize, and from the dangers that were supposed to exist beyond the straits, but principally because the commodities of India could be procured in the ports of Sabaea. Many instances have alreatly been given of the patronage which the Ptolemies bestowed on commerce, of the facilities and advantages they afforded, and of the benefits which the science of geography derived from the library and observatory of Alexandria: every instrument which could facilitate the study of astronomy was purchased by the Ptolemies and placed in that observatory, for they were fully aware of the dependency of a full and accurate knowledge of geography, as a science, on a full and accurate knowledge of astronomy. "With respect to commerce, the advancement of which may fairly be supposed to have had some weight in their patron- age of these sciences, they encouraged it as much as possible to centre in Alexandria, and with citizens of Egypt, by making it a standing law of the country, that no goods should pass through the capital, either to India or Europe, without the intervention of an Alexandrian factor, and that even when foreign merchants resided there, they should em- ploy the same agency, llie roads and canals tb.ey formed, and the care they took to keep the Red Sea free from pirates, are further proofs of their regard for commei'ce. And justly was it held by the Ptolemies in high estimation, for from it they derived their immense wealth. We are informed by Strabo, that the revenue of Alexandria, in the worst of times, was 12,500 talents, equivalent to nearly two millions and a half sterling ; and if this was the revenue under the last and most indolent of the Ptolemies, what must it have been under Ptolemy l^'iiladelphus, or Ptolemy Euev- getes ? But the account given by Appian of the treasure of the Ptolemies is still more extraordinary : the sum he mentions is CHAP. III. to the Time of Ptolemy- the Geographer. Ill 740,000 talents, or .^1 9 1, 1 66,666, according to Dr. Arbuthnot's computation ; we should be disposed to doubt the accuracy of this statement, did we not know that Appian was a native of Alexandria, and did he not moreover inform us, that he had extracted his account from the public records of that city. When we consider that this immense sum was accumulated by only two of the Ptolemies, Ptolemy Soter and Ptolemy Philadelphus, and that the latter maintained two great fleets, one in the Mediterranean, and the other in the Red Sea, besides an army of 200,000 foot, and 40,000 horse ; and that he had 300 elephants, 2000 armed chariots, and an armoury at Alexandria, stocked with 300,000 complete sui+s of armour, and all other necessary weapons and implements of war, — we shall form some idea of the extent and fruitfulness of Egyptian commerce, from which the whole, or nearly the whole, of this immense wealth must have been derived. Having thus brought our historical sketch of the progress of discovei'y and commercial enterprize among the Egji^tians down to the period of the conquest of Egypt by the Romans, we shall, in the next place, revert to the Romans themselves, in whom, at the date of their conquest of this country, the geogra- phical knowledge and the commerce of the whole world may justly be said to have centered. As, however, we have hitherto only adverted to the Romans, in our account of the discoveries and commerce of the Carthaginians, it will be proper to notice them in a much more detailed and particular manner. M^e shall, therefore, trace their geographical knowledge, theii* dis- coveries and their commerce, from the foundation of Rome, to the period of their conquest of Egypt; and in the course of this investigation, we shall give a sketch of the commerce of those countries which successively fell under their dominion — omit- ting such as we have already noticed : by this plan, we shall be enabled to trace the commerce of all the known world at that time,, down to the period when Rome absorbed the whole. The account which Polybius gives, that before the first Carthaginian war the Romans were entirely ignorant of, antl inattentive to sea affairs — if by this statement he means to assert that they were unacquainted with maritime commerce, as well as maritime warfare, is expressly contradicted by the treaties between Rome and Carthage, which we have already given in our account of the commerce of Carthage. The first of those treaties was made 250 years before the first Punic war ; and the second, al)out fiftv vears before it. Besides, it is not I 112 Progress of Discovery CHAP. in. } ;:i :/ f .1 f If! ■i > it f \ I probable that the Romans should have been enth'ely ignorant of, and inattentive to maritime commerce for so long a period, since several nations of Italy, with which they were at first connected, and which they afterwards conquered, were very conversant in this commerce, and derived great consideration, power, and wealth from it. Tlie Romans had conquered Etruria, and made themselves masters of the Tuscan powers both by sea and land, before the commencement of the first Punic war ; and though at this period, the Tuscans were not so celebrated for their com- merce as they had been, yet the shipping and commerce they did possess, must have fallen into the power of the Romans; and we can scarcely suppose that these, together with the facilities which the Tuscans enjoyed for com- merce, by means of their ports, and their skill and com- mercial habits and connections, would be entirely neglected by their conquerors. Besides, there are several old Roman coins, by some supposed to have been as old as the time of the kings, and'certainly prior to the first Punic war, on the reverses of which different parts of ships are visible. Now, as the Roman historians are diffuse in the accounts they give of the wars of the Romans, but take no notice of their com- mercial transactions, , we may safely conclude, from their not mentioning any maritime wars, or expeditions of a date so early as these coins, that the ships at that period preserved by the Romans, and deemed of such consequence as to be struck on their coins, were employed for the purposes of commerce. The Tuscans and the Grecian colonies in the south of Italy, certainly had made great progress in commerce at an early period ; and as, — if their example did not stimulate the Ro- mans to enterprises of the same kind, — the Romans, at least when they conquered them, became possessed of the commerce which they then enjoyed, it will be proper to take a brief view of it. If we may credit the ancient historians, the Etrurians or Tyrrhenians, even before the reign of Minos, had been for a long time masters of the greatest part of the Mediterranean Sea, and had given their name to the Tyrrhen.'an Sea, upon which they were situate. Piracy, as well as commerce, was followed by them ; and they became at last so expert, successful, and dangerous, for their piracies, that they were attacked, and their maritime power greatly abridged, by the Carthaginians and the Sicilians. Their most famous port was Luna, which ^^ HAP. iir. \:H.\}: irr. /j M*? Time of Plolcmy ihe Geo^^rapher. ir corn- was situated on the Macra, a river which, flowing- iroui tlie^ Apennines, divided Liguria from Eltruria, and fell into the Tyrrhenian Sea. There seems good reason to believe that Luna was a place of great trade before the Trojan war; it was extremely capacious, and in every respect worthy of the commercial enterprise and wealth of the Tuscans. Popu- lonium, a city which was situate on a high promontory of the same name, that ran a considerable way into the sea, also possessed a very commodious harbou)-, capable of receiving a great number of ships. It had an arsenal well supplied with all kinds of naval stores, and a quay for shipping or landing merchandize. One of the })rinci|)nl articles of export con- sisted in copper vessels, and in arms, machines, utensils, &c. of iron: these metals were at first supplied to the inhabitants from the island of TEthalia (now Elba) ; but the copper-mines there failing, iron alone, from the same island, was imported for the purpose of their various manufactures ; the trade in these flourished in very remote times, and continued in the days of Aristotle and Strabo. But the most direct and unequivocal testimony to the power of the Tuscans, and that that power was principally, if not entirely, derived from their maritime skill and com- merce, is to be found in Livy. This historian informs us, " that before the Roman empire, the Tuscan dominions ex- tended very far both by sea and land, even to the upper and lower sea, by which Italy is surrounded, in form of an island. Their very names are an argument for the vast power of this people ; for the Italian natives call the one the Tuscan Sea, and the other the Adriatic, from Adria, a Tuscan colony. The Greeks call them the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic Seas. This people, in twelve cities, inhabited the country extending to both seas ; and by sending out colonies equal in number to the mother cities, first on this side of the Apennines towards the lower sea, and afterwards as many on the other side, possessed all the country beyond the Po, even to the Alps, except the corner belonging to the Venetians, who dwelt round a bay of the sea." Homer, Ileraelides, Aristides, and Diodorus Si- culus, all concur in their representations of the maritime power and commercial opulence of the I'uscans at a very early period. Diodorus Siculus expressly says, that thp were masters of the sea ; and Aristides, that the Indians were the most powerful nation in the cast, antl the Tuscans in tlio west. ^ 'ii .-4--^- * lit Progress oj' Discovery (•HAK iir. \\ I /in m V Of the Grecian colonies in the south of Italy, that of Tarentuni was the most celebrated for its commerce. Polybius expressly informs us, that Tarentum, their principal city, was very prosperous and rich, long before Rome made any figure, anti that its prosperity and riches were entirely the fruit of the extensive and lucrative trade they carried on, particularly with Gi'eece. The city of Tarentum stood on a peninsula, and the citadel, which was very strong, was built on the nar- rowest and extremest part of it ; on the east was a small bay, on the west the main sea; the harbour is represented by ancient historians as extremely large, beautifid and commodious. Its vicinity to Greece, Sicily, and Africa, afforded it great opportvuiities and facilities for commerce. The inhabitants are represented by some authors as having been the inventors of a particular kind of ship, which retained in some degree the form of a raft or float. Their government, which at first was aristocratical, wafS afterwards changed to a democracy ; and it is to this popular form of government that their prosperity and wealth are ascribed. Tlie number of people in the whole state amounted to 300,000 ; Tarentum had twelve other cities under its dominion. Besides a considerable fleet in the Mediterranean Sea, they had constantly on foot a very large army, principally of mercenaries. Eighteen years before the first Punic war, the Romans had entered into a maritime treaty wiu; the Tarentines ; according to this treat}', neither party were to navigate beyond the Cape of Lacinia. Soon after- wards, however, the Roman fleet accidentally appearing near Tai'entum, the inhabitants took the alarm, sunk four of the ships, killed or took prisoners the commander and some other officers, sold the seamen for slaves, and behaved with great insolence to the ambassador whom the Romans sent to re- monstrate and demand satisfaction. They were soon, however, obliged to submit to the superior power of the Romans. In the second Punic war, it was finally subdued, and a Roman colony planted there. The Spinetes, Liburnians, and Locrians, were also cele- brated for their skill in naval affairs, and for their commerce, before Rome manifested the slightest wish to Cistinguish her- self in this manner. Indeed, the situation of Italy natmally turned the attention of its inhabitants (especially of those who were early civilized, as the Tuscans, or those who had emigrated from a civilized country, as the nations in the south of Italy,) to naval i^ffairs and maritime commerce. Washed bv three seas. 1^. n\)\ irr. /o the Time of Ptolemy the Geographn. \U tlie Adriatic on the north-east, the Tyrrhenian on the west, and the Ionian on the south, Italy enjoyed advantages pos- sessed by few nations of antiquity. Of the first of tliese seas, the Spinetes became masters, of the second the Tuscans, and of the third the Tarentines. The Spinetes, were originally Pelasgi, who had emigrated and settled by chance rather than design, oa the south banks of the Po. Spina, their capital, was situated on the north side of the southermost mouth of that We do not possess any particular account of their com- river. merce, but that it rendered them powerful and rich we are assured; and their dominion over the Adriatic is a decisive proof of the former, while their magnificent offerings to Delphos may as justly be deemed a proof of the latter. Spina was strong both by nature and art, on the sea side, but the reverse en the land side ; so that at last it was abandoned by its inhabitants not being able to withstand the attacks of their neighbours, who were either jealous of their prosperity, or at- tracted to the assault by the love of plunder. In the reign of Augustus it was reduced to a small village ; and the branch of the Po, on which it was situated, had changed its course so much, that it was then upwai-ds of fifteen miles distant from the sea, on the shore of which it. had been built. The gra- dual alteration in the coiu'se of the river, it is j^robable, con- tributed with the other cause already mentioned to reduce it to comparative insignificance. Opposite to the Spinetes across' the Adriatic, on the coast of Dalmatia, the Liburnians dwelt. In some respects their coast was preferable to that of Italy for maritime affairs, as it is studded with islands, which afforded shelter to ships, and likewise possessed mar.y excellent harbours; but the Li- burnians, as well as most of the inhabitants of lUyria, were more eager after piracy than commerce ; and, as we shall afterwards see, carried their piracies to such a daring and destruc- tive extent, that the Romans were compelled to attack them. Their devotedness to piracy explains what to Mons. Huet appears unaccountable. He observes, that it is remarkable that neither the Dalmatians, who were powerful at sea by means of their port Salona, which was their capital, nor the Liburnians themselves, according to all appearance, had the use of money among them. Commerce cannot be carried on to great extent, or in a regular and expeditious manner, by na- tives ignorant of the use of money ; but money seems to be not at all requisite to the purposes of piracy. The Liburnian I 2 ,lf: 116 Progress of Discovery CUAP. 151. k Hy m sliips, or more properly speaking, those ships which were denominated Liburnian, from having been invented and first employed by this people, were of two kinds ; one large, fit for war and long voyages, but at the same time built light and for quick sailing. After the victory of Actium, which Augustus gained in a great measure by means of these ships, few were built by the Romans of any other construction. The other Liburnian vessels were small, for fishing and short voyages ; some of these were made with osiers and covered with hides. But strength and lightness, and quick sailing, were the qualities by which the Liburnian ships were chiefly distinguislud and characterised. At what precise period the Romans directed their attenticMi to maritime affairs we are not accurately informed : that the opinion of Polybius on this subject is not well founded, is evident Irom several circumstances. He says, that before the first Punic war the Romans had no thought of the sea ; that Sicily was the first country, out of Italy, in which they ever landed ; and that, when they went to that island to assist the Mamertines, the vessels which they employed in that expedition were hired, or borrowed from the Tarentines, the Locrians, &c. He is correct in his statement that Sicily was the first country in which the Romans had any footing ; but that he is inaccurate with respect to the period when the Romans first applied themselves to maritime affairs, will appear from the following facts. In the first place, the Romans (as we have already shown in our account of the Carthaginian commei'ce,) had several treaties with the Carthaginians, which may properly be called commercial treaties, before the first Punic war. The earliest treaty, according to Polybius himself^ was dated about 250 years before the war ; and in this treaty the voyages under- taken by the Romans on account of trade to Afi-ica, Sardinia, and that part of Sicily at that time possessed by the Cartha- ginians, are expressly mentioned and regulated. The second treaty, about 100 years before the first Punic war, is not so specific respecting commerce. The third treaty, occasioned by the invasion of Italy by Pyrrhus, points out a decline in the naval power of the Romans ; for it stipulates, that the Car- thaginians should furnish them with ships., if required, either for trade or war. Secondly, seventy-four years before the first Punic war, the Romans having subdued the Antiates, and tims become masters of their fleet, among which were six CHAP. HI. to the Time of Ptolemy the Gcoi^rupher. 117 armed with beaks, the tribune was ornamented with these beaics, the ships to which they belonged were burnt, and the others were brought to Rome and laid upon the place allotted to the building and preservation of ships. Lastly, the circum- stances which gave rise to the war between tlie Romans and Tarentines, to which we have already adverted, plainly prove that Polybius is wrong in his assertion. Valerius, who com- manded the Roman fleet, which was attacked by the Taren- tines, according to Livy, was one of the duumviri navales, officers who had been already appointed nearly thirty years (that is, nearly fifty years before the first Punic war), on the motion of Decius Mus, expressly for the purpose of equipping, repairing, and maintaining the fleets. From these circumstances, it ap])ears that the Romans possessed ships both for war and conmierce, previous to the commencement of their wars with the Carthaginians, though it is extremely probable that their commerce was very limited, and for the most part carried on in vessels belonging to the other maritime nations of Italy, and that t .eir ships of war were very small and rude in their construction and equipment. It is foreign to the object of this work to enter into a detail of the wars between the Romans and the Carthaginians : but as the great efforts of the Romans to become powerful at sea were made during these wars ; as these efforts, being successful, laid the foundation of the future commerce of Rome ; and as by the destruction of Carthage, in some measure caused by the naval victories gained by the Romans, the most commercial nation of antiquity was utterly ruined, and their commerce transferred to Rr le, it will be proper briefly to notice the naval contests between these rival powers during the three wars in which they were engaged. The first Punic war was occasioned by a desire on the part of the Carthaginians to enlarge and secure their acquisitions in Sicily, and to preserve their dominion of the sea, and by a determination on the part of the Romans to check the progress of the Carthaginians in that island, so immediately ,'ljoining the continent of Italy. An opportunity soon occurred, which seemed to promise to each the accomplishment of then- respective objects : the Mamertines, being hard pursued by Hiero king of Syracuse, and shut up in Messina, the only city which remained to them, were divided in opinion ; some were for accepting the protection offered them by Hannibal, who at that time commanded the Carthaginian army in Sicily; i lib Progress of' Discovery (HAP. Jll. it' i, 'fi others were tor calling In the aid of the Romans. Both these powers gladly accepted the proffered opportunity of extending their conquests, and checking their rival. The consul Appius Claudius, was ordered by the senate to proceed to Sicily : previously to his departure, he despatched Cains Claudius, a legionary tribune, with a few vessels to Rhegium, principally, it wo dd seem, to reconnoitre the naval force of the Carthaginians. The consul himself soon followed with a small fleet, hired principally from the Tarentines, Locria^is, and Neapolitans. This fleet being attacked by the Carthaginifui fleet, which was not only much more numerous, but better equipped and manned, and a violent storm rishig during the engagement, which dashed many of the Roman vessels in pieces among the rocks, was completely worsted. The Carthaginians, however, restored most of the vessels they captured, only expostulating with the Romans on the infraction of the treaty at that time subsisting between the two republics. This loss was in some measure counterbalanced by Clautlius capturing, on his voyage Iwck to Rhegium, a Carthaginian quinquireme, the first which fell into the possession of the Romans, and which served them for a model. According to other historians, however, a Carthaginiim galley, venturing too near the shore, was stranded, and taken by the Romans ; and after the model of this galley, the Romans built many of their vessels. Claudius was not in the least discouraged by his defeat, observing that he could not expect to learn the art of navi- gation without paying dciir \ox it ; but having repaired his fleet, he sailed again for Sicily, and eluding the vigilance of the Carthaginian admiral, arrived safe in the port of Messina. After the alliance formed between the Romans and Hiero king of Syracuse, and the capture of Agrigentium, they resolved to use all their efforts for the entire subjugation of Sicily. As, however, the Carthaginians were extremely powerful by sea, they could not hope to accomplish this object, unless they were able to ccpe with them on that element. They resolved, there- fore, no longer to trust in any degree to hired vessels, but to build and equip 'c. formidable fleet of their own. Powerfully actuated by this i-esolution, they began the arduous under- taking with that ardour and spirit of perseverance, wliich so eminently distinguished them ; they deemed it absolutely necessary to liave 120 ships. Trees were ivrnnediately cut down in the forests, and the timber brought to the seu shore : [A p. III. tl) these tending thap. in. to the Time of Plolemy the Geographrt: 119 of the and the whole fleet, according to Polybius, was not only built, but perfectly equipped and ready for sea, in two months from the time the trees were felled. Of the 1 20 vessels of which it wa^ composed, 1 00 had five benches of rowers, and 20 of them had three benches. There was, however, another difficulty to be overcome. It was absolutely necessary that the men, who were to navigate and fight these ships, should possess some knowledge of their art ; but it was in vain to expect that with the Cartliaginians, so powerful and watchful at sea, the Roman ships would be permitted to cruise safely long enough to make them practised sailors and fighters. To obviate this difficulty, they had re- course, according to Polybius, to a singular but tolerably effectual mode. " While some men were employed in build- ing the galleys, others, assembling those who were to serve in the fleet, instructed them in the use of the oar after the follow- ing manner: they contrived benches on the shore in the same fashion and order as they were to be in the galleys, and placing their seamen, with their oars, in like manner on the benches, an officer, by signs with his hand, instructed them how to dip their oars all at the same time, and how to recover them out of the water. By this means they became acquainted with the management of the oar ; and as soon as the vessels were built and equipped, they spent some time in practising on the water, what they had learnt ashore." The necessity of possessing a fleet adequate to cope with that of the Carthaginians became more and more apparent; for though th«; Romans had obtained possession of uA the inland cities in Sicily, the Carthaginians compensated for this by having the ascendancy by sea, and in the cities on the coast. The Roman fleet was commanded by Cornelius Scipio, who put to sea wil h seventeen ships, in order to secure at Messina reception and security for the whole fleet ; but his enterprise was unfortunate ; for, being deceived by false in- formation, he entered the port of Lipara, where he was block- aded by the enemy, and obliged to surrender. This partial loss, however, was soon counterbalanced by a naval victory ; for the remainder of tlie Roman fleet, amounting to 103 sail, being encountered by a Carthaginian fleet under Hannibal, who despising the Romans, had advanced to the contest with only fifty galleys, succeeded in capturing or destroying the whole of tliem. In the mean time, the senate had appointed Duilius com- 1 4. 4 m if n i 120 J*rogrtss oj Discuven/ (II AT. III. niander of the fleet; aiul his first object was to survey it ac- curately, and, if possible, to improve the construction or equipment of the vessels, if they appeared defective, either for the purpose of sailing or fighting. It seemed to him, on ex- amining them, that, they could not be easily and quickly worked during an engagement, being much heavier and more unwieldy than those of the Carthaginians. As this defect could not be removed, he tried wjiether it could not l>e com- pensated; and an engineer in the fleet succeedetl in tliis im- portjuit object, by Inventing that maclune which was afterwards called corviis. The immediate purpose which this machine was to serve is clearly explained by all the ancient authors who mention it ; its use was to stop the enemy's ships as soon as the Roman vessels came up with them, and thus to give them an oppor- tunity of boarding them ; but the construction and mode of operation of these machines it is not easy to ascertain from the descriptions of ancient authors. Polybius gives the following description of them : " They erected on the prow of their vessels a round piece of timber, about one foot and a half in diameter, and about twelve feet long, on the top of which a block or pully was fastened. Kound this piece of timber a stage or platform was constructed, four feet broad, and about eighteen feet long, which was strongly fastened with iron. The en- trance was lengthways, and it could be moved about the piece of timber, first described, as on a spindle, and could be hoisted within six feet of the top. Round this there was a parapet, knee high, which was defended with upright bars of iron, sharpened at the end. Towards the top there was a ring, through which a rope was fastened, by means of which they could raise and lower the engine at pleasure. With this ma- chine they attacked the enemy's vessels, sometimes on their bow, and sometimes on their broadside. When they had grappled the enemy with these iron spikes, if the ships hap- pened to swing broadside to broadside, then tl^e Romans boarded them fiom all parts ; but when they were obliged to grapple them on the bow, they enteretl two and two, by the help of this engine, the foremost defending the forepart, and those wlio followed the flanks, keeping the boss of their buck- lers level with the top of the parapet." From tills description of the corvus, it is evident that it had two distinct uses to serve : in the first place, to lay hold of and entangle the enemy's ships; and, secondly, after it had acconi- tJiAi'. II J. lu the Time of Plokmy the Gco^niphii. 121 ring. plished this object, it served as a means of entering the enemy's vessels, and also as a protection while the boarding was taking place. With respect to the question, whether the harpagoncs or mantis fcrrcecc were the sam with the corvi^ it ajipears to iis that the former were of much older invention, as they certainly were much more simple in their construction ; and that, pro- bably* the engineer who invented the corvi, borrowed his idea of them from the harpagones, and in fact incorporated the two machines in one engine. The harpagones were undoubtedly grappling irons, but of such light construction that they could be thrown by manual force; but they were of no other service; whereas the corvi were worked by machinery, and served, as we have shown, not only to grapple, but to assist and protect the boarders. We have been thus particular in our account of the corvus, because it may fairly be regarded as having essentially contributed to the establishment of the Roman naval power over that of the Carthaginians. After Duilius had made a trial of the efficacy of this machine, he sailed in quest of the enemy. The Carthaginians, despising the Romans as totally inexperienced in naval affairs, did not even take the trouble or precaution to draw up their ships in line of battle, but trusting entirely to their own superior skill, and to the greater lightness of their ships, they bore down on the Romans in disorder. They, however, were induced, for a short time, to slacken their advance at the sight of the corvi ; but not giving the Romans credit for any invention which could counterbalance their want of skill, experience, and self-confi- denc^, they again pushed forward and attacked the Romans. They soon suffered, however, the consequences of their rash- ness : the Romans, by means of their corvi, grapjiled their ships so closely and steadily, that the fight resembled much more a land than a sea battle ; and thus feeling themselves, as it were, on their own element, while their enemies seemed to themselves no longer to be fighting in ships, the confidence of the former rose, while that of the latter fell, from the same cause, and nearly in the same proportion. Tlie result was, that the Romans gained a complete victory. The loss of the Carthaginians is variously related by the Roman writers : this is extraordinary, since they must have had access to the best possible authority ; the inscription of the Columna Ros- trata of Duilius, which is still preserved at Rome. According to this inscription, Duilius fitted out a fleet in sixty days, defeated the Cartliaginians, conunanded by Hannibal, at sea, took from 122 Progress of DIsrovfrt/ CHAP. III. 1-1 >«1 them thirty ships, with all their rig^iiifr, and the septireine which carried the admiral himself; sunk thirty, and took seve- ral prisoners of distinction. When Hannibal saw the Romans about to enter his scptireme, he leaped into a small boat and escaped. A circumstance occurred during this en^ij^ement which clearly manifested the ardour and perseverance, by means of which the Romans had already become expert, not only in the management of their ships, but also in the use of their corvi. It has already been noticed that the Carthaginians bore down on them in disorder, each s)n'p endeavouring to reach them as soon as jjossible, without waiting for the rest : among the foremost was Ilannibal. After the defeat of this part of the fleet, the rest, amounting to 120, having come up, en- deavoured to avoid the fate of their companions by rowing as quickly as possible round the Roman ships, so as not to allow them to make use of the corvi. But the Romans proved them- selves to be even more expert seamen than their enemies ; for, though their vessels were much heavier, they worked them with so much ease, celerity, and skill, that they presented the machines to tlie enemy on whatever side they approached them. The vanquished Hannibal was disgraced by his country ; whereas the victorious Roman was honoured and rewarded by the senate, who were fully sensible of all the advantages derived by a naval victory over the Carthaginians. The high and distinguished honour of being attended, when he xeturned from supper, with music and torches, which was granted for once only to. those who triumjihed, was continued to Duilius during lite. To perpetuate the memory of this victory, me- dals were struck, and the pillar, to which we have already alluded, was erected in the forum. This pillar, called Colum- na Rostrata, from the beaks of the ships which were fastened to it, was discovered in the year 1560, and placed in the capitol. In the year after this splendid victory the Romans resolved to attempt the reduction of Corsica and Sardinia ; for this pur- pose L. Cornelius Scipio sailed with a squadron under his command. He easily succeeded in reducing Corsica ; but it appears, from an inscription on a stone which was dug up in the year 1615, in Rome, that he encountered a violent storni oft' tne coast of that island, in which his fleet was exposed to i.r^miuent danger. The words of the inscription are, " He '^ ' (HAP. III. to tilt Time o/' Pi vie my the Geogiap/ur. 123 ad to 'Pie took the city of Aleria and conquered Corsica, and built ii teni- |)le to the tempests, with very good reason." This storm is not mentioned in any of the ancient authors. Scipio was obliged to be more cautious in his attempts on Sardinia, but afterwards the Romans succeeded in gaining possession of this island. The Romans having thus acquired Corsica and Sardinia, tuid all the maritime towns of Sicily, determined to invade, or at least to alarm, the African dominions of Carthage. Accord- ingly Sulpicius, who commanded their fleet, circulated a report that he intended to sail tor the coasts of Africa : this induced the Carthaginians .'o put to sea ; but after the hostile fleets had approached each otiier, and were about io engage, a storm arose and separated them, and obliged them both to take shel- ter in the ports of Sardinia. As soon as it abated, Sulpicius put to sea again, surprised the Cai'thaginians, and captured or destroyed most of their ships. Five years after the victory of Duilius, the Rouians were able to put to sea a fleet of 330 covered galiies. Ten of these were sent to reconnoitre the enemy, but approaching too near, they were attacked and destroyed. This unibrtunate event did not discourage the consul Attilius Regulus, who com- manded : on the contrary, he resolved to wipe off' this disgrace by signalizing his consulship in a remarkable mtinner. He was ordered by the senate to cross the Mediterranean, and invade Carthage. The Roman fleet, which consisted of 330 galleys, on board of each of which were 1 20 soldiers and 300 rowers, was stationed at Messina : from this port they took their de- parture, stretching along the coast of Sicily, till they doubled Cape Pachynum, after which they sailed directly to Ecnomos. The Carthaginian fleet consisted of 360 sail, and the seamen were more numerous, as well as more skilful and experienced, than those of the Romans : it rendezvoused at Heraclea, not far from Ecnomos. Between these two plac-es the hostile fleets met, and one of the most obstinate and decisive battles ensued that are recorded in ancient history. As Polybius has given a very particular account of the manner in which the respective fleets were drawn up, and, of all the incidents of the battle, we shall tranp^ribe it from him, because the issue of it may justly be regpided as having proved the Roman superiority at sea, and bofu,use the details of this accurate historian will aflbrd us a clear insight into the naval engagements of the ancients. As there were 330 ships, and each ship had on board 300 U 124 , i Piogrcss of Discovery CHAP. iir. rowers, and 120 soldiors, the total luiniber of men in the fleet amounted 14-0,000. The wliole fleet was formed into four divisions: the first was called the first legion; the second, the second ; and the third, the third legion. The fourth division had a different name ; they were called triarians : the triarii who \v'ere on board this division, being old soldiers of approved valour, who, in land battles, formed the third line of the legion, and hence obtained their appellation. The first division was drawn up on the right, the second on the left, and the third in the rear of the other two, in such a manner that these three divisions formed a triangle, the point of which was the two gallies, in which were the consuls, in front of their respective squadrons, parallel to the third legion, which formed the base of the triangle, and in the rear of the whole fleet; the triarian division was drawn up, but extended in such a manner as to out-flank the extremes of the base. Between the triarian division and the other part of the squadron, the transports were drawn up, in order that they might be protected from the enemy, and their escape ac- celerated and covered in case of a defeat ; on board of the transports were the horses, and baggage of the army. According to Polybius, the seamen and troops on board the Carthaginian fleet amounted to 150,000 men. Their admiral waited to see the disposition of the Roman fleet before he formed his own in order of battle; he divided it into four squadrons, drawn up in one line ; one of these was drawn up very near the shore, the others stretched far out to sea, apparently for the piu'pose of out-flanking the Romans. The light vessels were on the right, under the command of Hanno ; the squadi'on on the left, which was formed of heavier vessels, was under the command of Hamilcar. It is evident from this description of the order of battle of the Carthaginians, that their line, being so much extended, could easily be broken ; the Romans perceiving this, bore down on the middle with their first and second divisions. The Carthaginians did not wait the atUick, but retired imme- diately with the intention of drawing the Romans after them, and thus by separating, weakening their fleet. The Romans, thinking the victory was their own, pushed after tlie flying ene- my, thus weakenhig their third division, and at the same tivue exposing themselves to an attack while they were scattered. The Carthaginians, perceiving that their mananivre hud so lar succeeded, tacked about, and engaged with their pursuers. HAP. iir. CHAP. III. to the Time of Ptolemy the Geographer n in the Tied into I second, e fourth riarians : soldiers :he third tn. The \ on the 1 such a the point nsuls, in he third the rear lip, but les of the irt of the hat they icape ac- d of the oops on 30 men. Roman iivided it hese was ar out to Romans, ommand )rmed of i battle of X tended, lis, bore li visions, id imme- er them, Romans, 'ing cne- »me tivne cattcrcd. ; \{i\d so inrsucrs. But the Romans, by means of their corvi, whicli they were now very skilful in using, grappled with the eneftny, and as as soon as they had thus rendered the engagement similar to a land battle, they overcame them. While these things were going on between Hamilcar with the left wing of the Carthaginian fleet, and the first and second divisions of the Romans, Hanno, with his light vessels, which formed the right wing, attacked the triarians, and the ships which were drawn up near the shore, attacked the third legion and the transports. These two attacks were conducted with so much spirit and courage, that many of the triarians, transports, and third legion were driven on shore, and their defeat would probably have been decisive, had not the Ro- man first and second divisions, which had ilefeated and chased to a considerable distance the Carthaginians opposed to them, returned most opportunely from the chace, and supported them. The Carthaginians were no longer able to withstand their enemies, but susttiined a signal defeat; thirty of their ves- sels havhig been sunk, and sixty-three taken. The immediate result of thir; victory was, that the Romans landed in Africa without opposition. The next victory obtained by the Romans over the Car- thaginians was achieved soon after the defeat and captivity of Regulus, and was justly regarded by them as an ample compensation for that disaster. It was a wise and politic maxim of the Roman republic never to ajjpear cast down by defeat, but, on the contrary, to act in such a case with more than their usual confidence and ardour. Acting on this maxim they equipped a fleet and sent it towards Africa, immediately after they learnt the defeat of Regulus. The Carthaginians, who were endeavouring to take all possible advantage of their victory, by expelling the Romans from Africa, as soon as the news arrived of the sailing of this fleet, abandoned the seige of Utica, before which they had sat down, — refitted their old ships, built several new ones, and put to sea. The hostile fleets met near Cape Herme, the most northern point of Africa, a little to the north-east of Carthage. They were again unsuccessful on what they had formerly justly regarded as their own element. One hundred and four of their ships wer captured, and 15,000 men, soldiers, and rowers, were killed in the action. This victory, however, proved of little benefit to the Ro- maiis in their grand enterprise of establishing a firm and \ ■ i li 1N :/ i 1'2« Progi'ess of Diacovery • HAP. ni. permanent Iboling, in Africa; for, in consequence of their inability to obtain a regular supply of provisions for their army, they were obliged soon afterwards to evacuate Clupea and Utica, the principal places they held there, and to re- enibark their troops for Italy. In order to make up for this hard necessity, they resolved to land in Sicily on their return, and, if possible, reduce some cities which the Carthaginians still retained in that island. Such was the plan of the consuls, but it was vehemently op- posed by the pilots of the fleet, who represented to them, that as the season was far advanced, the most prudent measure would be to sail directly for Italy, and not go round the northern coast of Sicily, as the consuls wished. The latter, however, persisted in their resolution ; the consequences were ex- tremely fatal ; a most violent storm arose, during which the greater part of the fleet was destroyed or rendered com- pletely useless, either foimdering, or being driven on shore. All the sea coast from Camarina to Pachynum, was cover- ed with dead bodies of men and horses, as well as with the wrecks of the ships. The exact number of ships that were lost is differently represented by different authors, but according to the most accurate account, out of 370 which composed the fleet, only eighty escaped. Besides the de- struction of these vessels, a numerous army was lost, with all the riches of Africa, which had been amassed and deposited in Clupea, by Regvilus, and which was in the act of being • conveyed to Rome. The Carthaginians, animated by the news of this event, resolved to attempt the subjugation of Sicily, Africa being now liberated from the enemy. But tlie Romans, by in- credible efforts, fitted out a new fleet in the short space of three months, consisting of 120 ships; which, with the old vessels which had escaped, made up a fleet of 250 siiil. With these, they passed over to Sicily, where they were successfid in reducing the Carthaginian capital in that island. The next year they sent to sea a fleet of 2G0 ships to attempt the reduction of Liliboeum, but this place being found tOQ strong, the consids directed their course to the eastern coast of Africa, on which they carried on a predatory warfare. Having filled th^eir ships with the spoils, they were returning to Italy, when they narrowly escaped shipwreck. On the coast of Africa, there were two sand-banks, called the Greater and Lesser Syrtes, which were very much dreaded by \\\ ni. »f their •r their Clupea to re- olved to ce some ; island, ntly op- em, that measure lorthern lowever, •ere ex- hich the ed coiu- n shore. IS cover- as with lips that lors, but ^0 which the de- , with all deposited of being lis event, ica being , by in- space ot 1 the old 250 sail. Iiey were it island. ships to ice being •se to the predatory they were ihipwreck. called the readed by n'liAP. iir. /(J //if Time C)/' Plolcmij the Geogiup/irr. la- the ancients, on account of their frequently changing places; sometimes being easily visible, and at other times considerably below the water. On the Lesser Syrtes the Roman fleet grounded ; fortunately it was low water, and moderate wea- ther at the time, so that on the return of flood tide, the vessels floated off, with little or no damage, but the consuls were dreadfully alarmed. This, however, was only a prelude to real disaster : the fleet arrived safe at Panormus, where they remained a short time. On their departure for Italy, the wind ajid weather were favourable till they reached Cape Palinurus ; here a dreadful storm arose, in which 160 galleys, and a considerable number of transports, were lost. Tliis second storm seems to have so dispirited the Roman senate, that they resolved to con- fine their efforts to land, and accordingly a decree was issued, that, as it seemed the will of the gods that the Romans should not succeed against their enemy by sea, no more than fifty vessels should in future be equipped ; and that these should be employed exclusively in protecting the coasts of Italy, and in transporting troops to Sicily. This decree, however, was not long acted upon ; for the Carthaginians, perceiving that the Romans no longer dared to meet them at sea, made such formidable preparations for in- vading Sicily, by equipping a fleet of 200 sail, and raising an army of 30,000 men, besides 140 elephants, that the Romans, being reduced to the alternative 6f either losing that valuable island, or of again encountering their enemy at sea, resolved on the latter measure. Accordingly a new fleet was built, consisting of 2iO galleys, and sixty smaller vessels, and Lili- baeum was besieged by sea and land. This city was deemed impregnable, and as it was the only place of retreat for the Carthaginian armies in Sicily, it was defended with the utmost obstinacy. During this siege, two bold and successful enterprises were undertaken for the purpose of supplying the garrison with provisions. The Romans had shut up the port so closely, that the governor could have no commimication with Carthage r nevertheless, Hannibal, the son of Hamilcar, resolved to enter it with a supply of provisions. With this intention, he anchored with a few vessels under an island near the coast, and as soon as a strong south wind arose, he set all sail, and plied his oars with so much vigour and alacrity, that he passed safely through the midst of the Roman fleet, and landed ' 1 ■ (I J I'iS Progress of Discovery t;HAP. iir. h 10,000 men and a considerable quantit^^ of provisions. Hav- ing succeeded thus far, and being convinced that the Romans would be on the alert to prevent his sudden escape, he resolved to intimidate them, if possible, by the open boldness of the attempt ; and in this also he succeeded. Shortly afterwai'ds the harbour was again so closely block- aded, that the senate of Carthage were quite uninformed of the state and resources of the garrison. In this emergency, a llhodian, of the name of Hannibal, undertook to enter the harbour, and to come back to Carthage with the requisite and desired intelligence. The Roman fleet lay at anchor, stretched across the mouth of the harbour. Hannibal, following the example of his namesake, with a very light galley of his own, concealed himself near one of the islands which lie opposite to Lilibaiinn. Very early in the morning, before it was light, with a favourable wind blowing rather strong, he succeeded in getting through the Roman fleet, and entered the port. The consul, mortified at this second enterprise, ordered ten of his lightest vessels to lie as close as possible to each other, across the mouth of the harbour ; and that they might not be taken by surprise and unprepared, he further directed that the men should constantly have their oars in their hands, stretched out, so as to be ready to plunge them uito the water at a moment's warning. The skill iMid experience of the Rhodian, however, and the extreme lightness and celerity of his vessel, rendered all these precautions unavailing ; for, not content with securing his escape, he mocked the Romans, by often lying to till they came near him, and then rowing round them. The Cartha- ginian senate were now able to have frequent communication Avith the garrison by means of this Rhodian : his success, and the recompence which rewarded it, induced several Cartha- ginians to make the same attempt. They were all successful except one, who, not knowing the force and direction of tlie currents, was carried by them ashore, and fell into the power of the Romans. The Rhodian still continued to pass between the besieged and Carthage ; but his good fortune was near an end. Tlie Romans had fitted out the Carthaginian galley which they had captured, and " waited with impatience for a iresh insult from the Rhodian : it was not long before he en- tered the port in the night time, according to custom, and was preparing to sail out in broad day, not knowing that the Romans were now masters of a galley which was as good a sailei" as his own. He weighed anchor with great confidence, feecl thn m\t\ i '' AP. in. CHAP, n I. to the Time of Ptolemy the Geographer. 129 Hav- lomans 'esolved Si of the y block- irmed ot gency, u nter the isite and stretched vmg the his own, iposite to as light, needed in rt. The en of his sr, across be taken t the men ched out, moment's however, rendered I securing o till they e Cartha- lunication ccess, and d Cartha- luccessful ion of tlie the power ss between as near an ian galley lence for a fore he cn- istom, and ig that the as good a confidence, and sailed out of the port in sight of the enemy's fleet, but was greatly surprized to see the Romans j)ursue him close, and at length come up with him, notwithstanding the lightness of his vessel. He had now no way left but to engage them, which he did with an undaunted bravery ; but the Romans, who were all chosen men, soon put aji end to the dispute. The Rhodian vessel was boarded and taken with all her crew. The Romans being now in }X)ssession of two light galleys, shut up the port so effectually, that no Carthaginian ever after attempted to enter it." The following year the Romans were obliged to convert the siege into a blockade, in consequence of the Carthaginians having succeeded in destroying all their works. One of the consuls was P. Claudius Pulcher, an ob.«*'nate and ambitious man, who, contrary to the advice of those who were better skilled in maritime affairs, and better ac(juaintetl with the Carthaginians than he was, determined to surprize Drepanon, where the Carthaginian admiral was posted. Claudius had (uler his connnand a fine and formidable fleet of 1 20 galleys ; h these he sailed from before Liliba?um in the night time, having taken on boai'd a great number of the best troops em- ployed in the blockade of that place. At break of day, Asdru- bal, the Carthaginian admiral, was surprized to perceive the hostile fleet approaching Dreoanon : he formed his plan imme- diately, preferring an inmiediate engagement to the certtvinty of being shut up in the harbour. Accordingly, with ninety ships, he sailed out, and drew them up behind some rocks which lay near the harbour. As the Romans had not per- ceived him come out, they continue 'v.dius might still have saved his fleet by immediate flight, but tiiis he absolutely refused to do, notwithstanding the strong and urgent remonstrances of his officers. By great exertions the Roman fleet was formed into line of battle, on a lee shore, and close to rocks and shoals. It was on this occasion, that the Romans' veneration for auguries was so dreadfully shocked, by Claudius exclaim- ing, when the sacred chickens refused to feed, " If they will not feed, let them drink," at the si me time oi-dering them to be thrown into the sea. The bad omen, and tiie sacrilegious in- sult, added to the sitnntion in which ihey were pUiced, and K ' IF .: I % im Progress of Discovenj CHAP. in. ^i,>' their want of confidence in Claiiclius, seemed to have paralysed the efforts of the Romans : they fought feebly : the enemy boarded their ships without difficulty or resistance ; so that ninety vessels were either taken or driven ashore, 8,000 of their seamen and soldiers were killed, and 20,000 taken pri- sonei's. As soon as Claudius perceived the probable result of the battle, he fled precipitately with thirty vessels. The Car- thaginians did not lose a single ship or man on this occasion. This was the most signal and disastrous defeat which the Ro- mans had suffered at sea since the commencement of the war. According to Polybius, Claudius was tried, condemned, and very severely punished. The other consul, Lucius PuUus, was not more successful, though his want of success did not, as in the case of Claudius, arise from ignorance and obstinacy. He was ordered to sail from Syracuse with a fleet of ] 20 galleys, and 800 transports, the latter laden with provisions and stores for the army before LilibiEum. As the army was much pressed lor necessaries, and the consul himself was not ready to put to sea directly, he sent the quaestors before him with a small stjuadron. The Carthaginians, who were very watchful, and had the best intelligence of all the Romans were doing, having learnt that the consul was at sea with a large fleet, sent 100 galleys to cruize off Heraclea. / s soon as, the scjuadron under the quaestors came in sight, i. Carthaginian admiral, though he mistook it for the consular fleet, yet resolved to engage it : but the quaestors, having received orders not to hazard a battle if they could possibly ai-oid, took refuge behind some rocks, where they were attacked by the enemy. The Romans defended themselves so well with bahstae and other engines, which they had erected on the rocks, that the Carthaginian admiral, after having captured a few transports, was obliged to draw off his fleet. Jn the mean time, the light vessels, employed on the look- out, informed him that the whole consular fleet were directing their course for Lilibaeum; his obvious plan was to engage this fleet before it could join that of the quaestors ; he there- fore steered his course to meet them. But the consul was f qually averse with the quaestors to hazard the supply of the irmy by a battle, and he, therefore, also took shelter near some rocks. The Carthaginian admiral was afraid to attack him in this position, but resolved to watch him : while thus employed his pilots observed certain indications of an ap- .i--:' (;hap. III. to till' Time of Ptolemy the Geo^vapher. ISl proachinj^ storm, which induced him to taK^^ shelter on tl^e other side of Cape Pachynum. He had scarcely cjoiil^led the cape, when the storm arose with such violence that the whole Homau fleet was destroyed. According to Polybius, not ox\Sf vessel, not even a plank, was saved out of a fleet which con- sisted of 120 galleys and 800 transports. Two such losses occurring during the same consulate, in- duced the Romans a^ain to resolve to desist from all naval enterprizes and preparations, so that for some time no public fleet was equipped. This resolution, however, yiek?ed to the conviction that they could not hope even to retain their posse^^ sions in Sicily, or even to secure their commerce on the coasts of Italy, if they did not endeavq^r to cope with the Carthaginians by sea. But as the senate thought it would appear cjerogatory to their dignity and consistency to equip a public fleet, at^er they had a second time resolved solemnly and oflicially not to do so, they passed a decree, by which all the Poman citizeiis who were able and so disposed, were pei .nitted to build, e(juip, and arm vessels at their own expence with the^e sjiips they were directed to land on the coast of Afi-ica, for th,e purpose of pillage, the fruit of which was to be their own private gain. The senate even went further to evade, by a pitiful subterfuge their own decree, for they lent the few ships which still remained to the republic, to private citizens, on condition that they should keep Uiem in repair, and make them good if they were lost. By these measures a very con- siderable fleet was equijiped, which committed great depreda- tions on the coast of Africa. Emboldened by their predatory warfare, they resolved to attempt a more arduous enter- prize. One of the most celebrated of the Carthaginian har- bours was that of Hippo; besides tlie port there was a citadel, and large arsenals for naval stores, 3cc. As the in- habitants were much engaged in commerce, there were in tl>e town always a considerable quantity of merchandize. Thi^ port the privateer squadron determined to enter. The inhabi- tants, aware of their design, stretched a very strong chaij[^ across the harbour mouth; but it uid not avail; for tlj^ Roman ships broke through it, took possession of the town and ships, burnt most of them, and returned safe with ap immense booty. This success was quickly followed by an- other, for as they were re-entering Pnnormus, they fell in wit^ a Carthaginian fleet loaded with provisions for Hamilcar, who commnnded in Sicily, and captured several of the trans- K '2 w 132 1^'ogress of Discover i/ CHAP. rir. % ports. These advantiiges began to inspire the Romans with renewed confidence and hopes that their naval disasters were at an end, and that the gods had ut length permitted them to become masters of the sea, when the privateer fleet, after having gained a considerable victory over a Carthaginian squadron, near the coast of Africa, was almost totally destroyed in a storm. For a few years afterwards, the Romans seem to have desisted entirely from maritime enterprizes; but in the year of the city 516, they changed their plan, as it was indeed evident that unless they were masters at sea, they must be content to lose the island of Sicily. In order, however, that the Roman armies might not suffer by their losses at sea, it was decreed that the new fleet should be manned with hired troops. There was still another difficulty to overcome: the protracted war with Carthage, and the heavy and repeated losses which they had suffered during it, had nearly exhausted the Roman treasury ; from it therefore could not possibly be drawn the sums requisite for the proper and effective equip- ment of such a fleet as would be adequate to meet that of the enemy. This difficulty was removed by the patriotism of all ranks and classes of the citizens. The senators set the example ; the most wealthy of whom built, each at his own cost, a quinquereme; those who were not so wealthy joined together, three or four of them fitting out a single galley. By these means a fleet of 200 large vessels was made ready for any expedition, the state having bound themselves to repay the individuals whenever her finances were adequate to such an expence. This fleet was not only very numerous and well equipped, but most of the vessels which composed it were built on an entirely new model, which combined an extraordi- nary degree of celerity with strength. The model was taken from that light Rhodian galley, which we have already men- tioned, as having been employed by its owner, Hannibal, in conveying intelligence between Carthage and Lilibaeum, and \/hich was afterwards captured by the Romans. The command of this fleet was given to the consul Lutatius : and the great object to be accomplished was the reduction of Liliboeum, which still held out. The first step of the consul was to occupy all the sea-ports near this place : the town of Drepanon, however, resisting his efforts, he resolved rather to decide its fate, and that of Sicily in general, by a sea battle, than to under- take a regular siege. , % I i/^SSSTTL IP. iir. CHAi'. HI. to the Time of Ptolemy the Geographer. 133 IS witli s were lem to aving^ adron, in a The Carthaginians soon gave him an opportunity of acting his manner, for they f^ent to sea a fleet of 400 vessels, under the command of Hanno. In the building and equipment of this fleet, the senate of Carthage had nearly exhausted all then* means ; but though their fleet was numerically much greater than that of Rome, in some essential respects it was inferior to it. Most of the seamen and troops on board it were inexperienced and undisciplined; and the ships them- selves were not to be compared, with regard to the union of lightness and strength, with the Roman vessels, as they were now built. Besides, the Romans trusted entirely to themselves — the Carthaginians, in some measure, to their allies or to hired seamen. The Romans, though firm and determined, were not rashly confident ; whereas the Carthaginians even yet regarded their adversaries with feelings of contempt. The hostile fleets met off" Hiera, one of the iEolian islands. The Carthaginian admiral's first object was to reach Eryx, a city which had lately been taken by Hamilcar, there to unload his vessels, and after having taken on board Hamilcar and the best of his troops, to sail again in quest of the Roman fleet. But the consul preventefl this design from being carried into execution, by coming up with the Carthaginians, as we have just stated, off' Hiera, while they were steering for Eryx. As the wind was favourable for the Romans, they were ex- tremely anxious to commence the engagement immediately ; but before they had formed into order of battle, it changed, blew hard, and a heavy sea arose. The determination of the consul to engage was for a short time shaken by this circum- stance, but he reflected that though the sea was rough, the enemy's ships were heavily laden, and therefore would suffer more from it than his ships woidd ; while if, on the other hand, he delayed the engagement till the Carthaginians reached Eryx, they would then have lighter vessels, as well as a greaic number of experienced seamen and soldiers on board of them. These considerations determined him to fight im- mediately, and accordingly he gave orders for the line of battle to be formed. The battle was of very short duration, and terminated decidedly in favour of the Romans. The loss of the Carthaginians is variously stated, but, according to Polybius, who is the best authority for every thing re^atin^ to the Punic wars, the Romans sunk fifty of their vess-jls, and captured seventy, with all their crews. The remaindei would probably have been either captured or destroyed, had noi the K 3 i f'l I* 134 Progress o/' Discovaij niAP. 111. wind again changed, and enabled tliem to save themselves oy flight. The consequences of this defeat, in the capitulation of Hamilcar, which, in a manner, determined the fate of Sicily, were so disheartening to the Carthaginians, that they were obliged to submit to a disadrantageous and dishonorable peace. Among other terms, it was stipulated that they should evacu- ate all the places they held in Sicily, and entirely quit that island ; that they should also abandon all the small islands that lie between Italy and Sicily ; r.nd that they should not ap- proach with their ships of war, either the coasts of Italy or any of the territories belonging to the Romans or their allies. Soon after the cohclusion of the first Punic war, a circum- stance occurred which nearly renewed the hostilities. The Carthaginians were engagetl in a bloody and arduous contest with their Mercenaries, and the Roman merchants supplied the latter with military stores and provisions. While engaged in this unlawful enterjirize, several of them were captured by the Carthaginians, and their crews detained as prisoners of war. The senate of Carthage^ however, were not then in a condition to offend the Romans ; they therefore restored both the ships and their crews. During this war between the Carthaginians and the Mercenaries, the latter having obtained possession of Sardinia, (which though formerly conquered by the Romans, had been restored to the Carthaginians,) offered to put the Romans in possession of it. At first tl\e senate refused to oc- cupy it ; but they soon changed their mind, and accepted the offer, and moreover obliged the Carthaginians to pay the ex- pence of the armament by which it was occupied, and the fur- ther sum of 1200talente. Sicily, ^'hich immediately after the conclusion of the Pimic war, was made a Roman province, and Sardinia, were the first territories which the Romans possessed out of Italy. In con- formity with our plan, we shall enquire into the advantages they brought to the commerce of the Romans, before we proceed to the naval occurrences of the second Punic war. Sfcily was anciently called Sicania, Trinacria, and Trique- tra; its three promontories aiSe particularly celebrated in the classic authors ; viz. Lilib^um on the side of Africa ; Pachy- num on the side of Greece, and Pelorum towards Italy. Its vicinity to thte continent of Italy, and the resemblance of their opposite shores, gave rise to an opinion among the ancients that It was originally joined to Italy. Pliny particularly mentions their AP. J If. Ives »y CHAP. in. to the Time of Ptolamjj the Geographer. 135 separation, as a circumstance beyond all doubt. The dangers which were supposed to beset mariners in their passage througli the narrow strait which divides it from Italy, on one side of which was Sylla, and on the other Charybdis, sufficiently point out the ignorance and inexperience of the ancients in the construction and management of their ships. The principal town on the eastern coast of Sicily, opposite Greece, was Messana, now called Messina : it was the first which the Romans possessed in the island : it was one of the most wealthy and powerful cities in ancient Sicily. Tauro- minium stood near Mount Taurus, on the river Tauromi- nius ; the coast in its vicinity w,as anciently called Coproea, because the sea was supposed to throw up there the wrecks of such vessels as were swallowed up by Charybdis. The hills near this city were famous for the excellent grapes they pro- tluced. Oii^ a gulph in the Ionian Sea, called Catana, stood a city of the same name ; it was one of the richest and most powerful cities in the island. But by far the most celebrated city in this island for its advantageous situation^ the magnificence of its buildings, its com- merce, and tiie wealth of its inhabittints, was Syracuse. Accord- ing- to Thucydides, in his time it might justly be compared to Athens, even when that city was at the height of its glory ; and Cicero describes it as the greatest and most NVealthy of all the cities possessed by the Greeks. Its walls were eighteen miles in circumference, and within them were in fact ibur cities united into one. It seems also to have possessed three harbours : the great harbour was nearly five thousand yards in circumference, and the entrance to it five hundretl yards across ; it was formed on one side by a point of the island Ortygia, and on the other by another small island, on each of which were forts. The second harbour was divided from the ' greater by an island of inconsiderable extent ; both these weie surrounded with warehouses, arsenals, and other buildings of great magnificence. The river Anapis emptied itself into the great harbour ; at the mouth of this river was the castle of Olympia. The third harbour stood a little above the division of the city called Acradina. The island of Ortygia, which formed one of tl 3 divisions, was joined to the others by a bridge. The other maritime towns of consequence were Agrigentum, Liliba^um, and Drepanum ; though the first stood at a short distance from the sea, yet being situated between and near two K 4 y^} I Mi Progress o/' Discovtii/ CHAP. lU. 7i ^\ rivers, it oomTniently iinportod all sorts of provisions and merchandize. Lilibacum was famous for its port, which was deemed a safe retreat for ships, either in case of a storm, or to escape from an enemy. Durinji; the wars between tlie Romans and Carthaf^inians, the former repeatedly attem}>ted to ren- der it inaccessible and useless by throwing lar was the principal town in it. From the epithet applieil to it by Horace, in one of his odes, Opima, it must have been much more fertile in former times than it is at present ; anti Varro expressly calls it one of the granaries of Rome, jts air, tlien, as at present, was in most parts very unwholsome ; and it is a remarkable circumstance that the character of the Sardi, who, after the complete reduction of the island by Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, were brought to Rome in great num- bers, and sold as slaves, and who were proverbial for their worthlessness, is still to be traced in the present inhabitants ; for they are represented as extremely barbarous, and so treacher- ous, and inhospitable, that they have been called the Malays of the Mediterranean. The island of Corsica, which, indeed, genei'ally followed the fate of Sardinia, was another of the fruits of the first Punic war which the Romir/is reaped, in some degree favourable to their comii;crce. It possessed a large anti convenient harboiu', calied Syracusium. The Cartha- ginians must have reduced it at an early period, since, ac- cording to Herodotus, the Cyrnians (the ancient name foi* the inhabitants), were one of the nations that composed the vast army, with which they invaded Sicily in the time of Gelon. Dui'ing the interval between the first and second Punic wars, the Roman commerce seems to have been gradually, but slowly extending itself, particularly in the Adriatic : wg i| IMM rsmi 138 Progress of Discmery CHAP. III. V. do not possess, however, any details on the subject, except a decisive proof of the attention and protection which the re- public bestowed upon it, in repressing and punishing the piracies of the Illyrians and Istrians. These people, who were very expert and inidaunted seamen, enriched themselves and their country by seizing and plundering the merchant vessels which frequented the Adriatic and adjacent Mediter- rant \\ sea ; and their piracies were encouraged, rather than restrained by their sovereigns. At the period to which we allude, they were governed by a queen, named Teuta, who was a woman of a bold and enterjirising spirit : the Roman merchants, who traded in the Adriatic, had frequently been plundered and cruelly treated by her subjects ; upon this, the Roman senate sent two ambassadors to her, to insist that she should put a stop to these measures. The Romans had also other grounds of complaint against her and her subjects ; for tl'.t! latter extended their p'racies to the allies of Rome, as well as to the Romans themselves, and the former was at that time besieging the island of Issa, in the Adriatic, which was under the fjrotection of the republic. The inhabitants of this island seem to have been rather extensively engaged in commerce, and were celebrated for building a kind of light ships, thence called Isscei lemhi. Teutii received and treated the Roman ambassadors witk gTen> «Jco. ii and haughtiness ; , he promised, indeed, that she w juld '.:o longer authorise ttie piracies of her subjects ; but, v^it-h vt^ard to restraining tloem, she would not do it, as they et joyed a ^lertect and full r ght o benefit themselves as much as po .bible, and in every «vay they could, by their skill and superiority in ma.- itime affairs. On the ambassadors' replying in rather liireatening language, she ordered one of them to be put to death. For a short time Teuta was alarmed at the prolmble con- sequences of her conduct, and endeavoured to avert them by submisslcm ; but, the Romans being otherwise engaged, and she having experienced some successes over the Acheans, her haughtiness and confidence revived, and she sent a fleet to assist in the reduction of Issa. Upon this, the Romans re- . solved to act with immediate vigour ; and they had little difficulty in comjielling Teuta to sue for peace. It was granted to her, on condition that not more than three Whips of war should at any one time sail beyond Lyssus, on the frontier of Macedonia, and that the islands of Corcyrtv, Issa, .'I AP. III. CHAP. iij. to the Time of Ptolemy the Geographer. 139 cept a he re- ig the who 1 selves rchant editer- r than ich we who loman been , the at she d also s ; for and Pharos, together with Dyrrhachium should be given up to the Romans, It was not, however, to be supposed that the lUyrians and Istrians, who had been so long accustomed to piracy, and who in fact derived nearly all their wealth from this source, would totally abstain from it. A tew years after this treaty of peace, they resumed their depredations, which they carried on with so much audacity and disregard to the power of Rome, that they even seized the ships that were laden with corn for Rome. As this commerce was one of the greatest consequence to the Romans, in which the Roman govern- ment, as well as hidividuals, principally embarked, and on the regularity and safety of which the subsistence and tran- quillity of the city itself depended, the senate resolved to punish them more effectually ; and this resolution was strength- ened by the lUyrians having broken the terms of the peace by sending no fewer than 50 vessels of war beyond the prescribed limits, as far as the Cyclades. llie consequence of the new war which the Romans waged against them, was the reduction of Istria and of lllyricum Proper. 1 he destruction of Saguntum by the Carthaginians was the cause of the second Punic war. At what period the Carthagi- nians first established themselves in Spain, is not known. UTieir principal object in colonizing and retaining it, undoubtedly may be found in the richness of its mines, and the fertility of its soil. According to Diodorus Siculus, they were prin- cipally enabled to equip and support their numerous, and frequently renewed fleets, by the silver which they drew from these mines. And Strabo expressly informs us, that when the Carthaginians first colonized 8pain, silver was in such abundance, and so easily obtained, that their most common utensils, and even the mangers for their horses, were made of it. One mine of exUfeme richness is partiti:larly described by Pliny : according to him, it yielded 300 poun>st com- mon and natural phenomena of the sea, is strongly marked in the course of this enteqorise. Scipio knew that when the tide ebbed, the port of New Carthage would become dry and acces- sible by land ; but his soldiers, «nd even his officers, were igno- rant of the nature of the tides, and they firndy believed that Neptune had wrought a miracle in their favour, when, accord- ing to Scipio's prediction, the tide retired, and the army was thus enabled to capture the town, the walls of which on that side were extremely low, the Carthaginians having directed all their attention and efforts to the opposite side. The capture of New Carthage depressed, in a great degree, the spirits, as well as weakened the strength of the Carthagininns in Spain : eighteen 1 1 If •(i U2 Progress of Discovery CHAP. III. galleys were captured in tlie port, besides US vessels laden \vith naval stores ; 40,000 bushels of wheat, 260,000 bushels of barley, a large number of warlike machines of all descrip- tions, 260 cups of gold, most of which weighed a pound, 18,300 pounds weight of silver, principally coin, besides brass money, were among the spoils. About the year of Rome 55%^ Scipio had succeeded iu reducing all Spain. It does not appear, however, that the Romans were thus enabled greatly to extend their commerce ; indeed, at this period, we have no ev." 'ence that any other town in Spain, except Gades, possesset' iny considerable tmde. This island and city were situated in a gulph of the same name, between the straits of Gibraltar and the river Boetis; and, from the remotest period of which we possess any records, was resorted to by foreigners for the purposes of commerce. Gradually, however, the inhabitants of Spain, under e Romtm government, enriched themselves and their conquerors by their industry: large quantities of corn, wine, and oil were exported, besides wax, honey, pitch, vermilion, and wool. The oil and wool were deemed equal, if not superior, to those of any other part of the world; the excellent quality of the wool is a strong fact, against an opinion entertained by many, that the fineness of the Spanish was originally derived from the export- ation of some Englisli sheep to Spain, since it appears to have been celebrated even in the time of the Romans ; how important and lucrative an object it was considered, may be collected from the attention that was paid to the breed of sheep; a ram, accord- ing Xq Strabo, having been sold for a talent, or nearly 200/. Horace incidentally gives evidence of the commercial wealth of Spain in his time, when he considers the master of a Spanish trading vessel and a person of great wealth as synonimous terms. As Hannibal still continued in Italy, the senate of Rome resolved to send Scipio into Italy, with a discretionary power to invade Africa from that island. He lost no time in equip- ping a fleet for these purposes, and his efforts were so well seconded bv the zeal and activity of the provinces and cities, many of which taxed themselves to supply iron, timber, cloth for sails, corn, &c. that, in forty days after the timber was felled, Scipio had a fleet of thirty new galleys. Soon after he lantled in Sicily, he resolved to invade Africa : for this purpose his fleet was collected in the port of Lili- bffium. Never was embarkation made with more order and CHAP. in. to the Time of Ptolemy the Geographer. 143 solemnity : the concourse of people who came from qU parts to see him set sail, and wish him a prosperous voyage, was pro- dif'ious. Just before he weighed anchor, he appeared on the poop of his galley, and, after an herald had proclaimed silence, addressed a solemn prayer to the gods. It is foreign to our purpose to give any account of the campaign in Africa, which, it is well known, terminated in the utter defeat of the Cartha- ginians, who were obliged to sue for peace. This was granted them on very severe terms : all the cities and provinces which they possessed in Africa previously to the war, they were indeed permitted to retain, but they were stripped of Spain, and of all the islands in the Mediterr .ean ; all their ships of war, except ten galleys, were to be del' /ered up to the Romans ; and, for the future, t.iey were not to maintain above that number at one time : even the size of their fishing boats and of their trading vessels was regulated. In the course of fifty years ten thousand talents were to be paid to the Romans. During a short truce which preceded the peace, the Carthaginians had seized and plundered a Roman squadron, which had been dispersed by a storm, and driven near Carthage; as a satisfaction for this, they were obliged to pay the Romans 25,000 pounds weight of silver. The successful termination of the second Punic war gave to the Romans complete dominion of the sea, on which they maintained generally 100 galleys. Commerce flourished, particularly that most important branch, the tratle in corn, with which Pome, at this period, is said to have been so plentifully furnished, that the merchants paid their seamen with it. The power of the Romahs at sea was now so well established, that no foreign power could hope to attack, or resist them, unless they were expert navigators, as well as furnished with a numerous fleet. Under this impression, Philip king of Macedon, who hatl long been jealous and afraid of them, applied himself sedulously to maritime aflairs. As it was about this period that the Romans began to turn their thoughts to the conquest of Greece, it may be proper to take a retrospec- tive view of the maritime affairs and commerce of that country. An inspection of the map of Greece will point out the advan- tages which it possessed tor navigation and commerce. Lying nearly in the middle of the Mediterranean, with the sea washing three of its sides ; possessed of glmost innumerable inlets and bays, it was admirably adapted to ancient com- merce. Its wjint of large and navigable rivers, which will J I' progress ()J' Discovery CHAP. 11 r. 8 I always limit its cpnunerce in modei'ii times, presented no obstacle to the sm^ vessels in which the ancients carried on their trade ; as they never navigated them during the winter, and from their smallness and lightness, they could easily drag them on shore. Athens, the most celebrated state in Greece for philosophy, literature, and arms, was also the most celebrated for com- merce. The whole of the southern angle of Attica consisted of a district called Parali, or the division adjacent to the sea. In the other districts of Attica, the soldiers of the republic were found : this furnished the sailors ; fishing and navigation were the chief employments of its inhabitants. About 46 miles tUstant from the Pirajus, stood Sunium, the most considerable town in this district: it possessed a double harbour in the Mediterranean. The principal commerce of Attica, however, was carried on at Athens : this city had three harbours : the most ancient was that of Phalerum, distant from the city, according to some authors, 35 stadia ; according to others only 20 stadia. It was nearer Athens than the other two, but smaller, and less com- modious. Munichea was the name of the sv. ;ond harbour : it was formed in a promontory not far distant from the Piraeus, a little to the east of Athens, and naturally a place of great strength ; it was afterwards, at the instance of Thrasy- bulus, rendered still stronger by art. But by far the most celebrated harboin* of Athens was the Piraeus. The republic of Athens, in order to concentrate its military and mercan- tile fleets in this harbour, abandoned that of Phalerum, and bent all their efforts to render the Piraeus as strong and connnodious as possible. This occurred in the time of Themistocles ; by whose advice both the town and the harbom' werc inclosed with a wall, about seven miles and a half long, and sixty feet high. Themistocles' intention was to have made it eighty cubits high, but in this he was opposed. Before this connecting wall was built, the Piraeus was about three miles distant from the city. As the strength of the wall was of the utmost importance, it was built of immense square stones, which were fastened together with ii*on or leaden cramps. It was so broad that two waggons could have been driven along it. The Piraeus contained three docks ; the first called Cantharus, the second Aphrodisium, and the third Zea. There were likewise five porticos, and two forums. The Piriv.is WHS so celebrated tr- its commerce, that it vessd ble mor< Ir to activl havii square leaden ave been zVs; the the third forums, that it CHAP. in. to the Time of Ptolemy the Geographet: 145 became a proverbial saying in Greece, " Famine does not come from the Piraeus." The extent and convenience of the Piraeus may be judged of from this circumstance, that under the demagogue Lycurgus, the whole naval force of the nation, amounting to 400 triremes, were safely and easily laid up in its three harbours. Before the time of Themistocles, Athens does noi appear to have devoted her attention or resources to maritime affairs : but this celebrated general not only rendered the Piraeus stronger and more commodious, but also procured a decree, which enabled him to add twenty ships to the fleet annually. The sums arising from the sale of the privileges of working the mines, or the eventual profits of the mines, which had formerly been distributed among the people, were, through his influence, set apart for the building of ships. Afterwards a law was passed, which taxed all the citizens who possessed land, manufactories, or money in trade or with their bankers; these classes of the citizens were also obliged to keep up, and increase, if occasion required it, the naval force of the republic. When it was necessary to fit out an armament, as many talents as there were galleys to be built and equipped, were I'aised in each of the ten tribes of Athens. The money thus collected was given to the captains of the galleys, to be expended in the maintenance of the crew. The republic furnished the rigging and sailors: two captains were ap- pointed to each galley, who served six months each. Although the vessels employed by the Athenians both for war and commerce were small compared with those of modern days, and their merchant ships even much smaller than those of the Phoenicians, if we may judge by the description given by Xenophon of a Phoenician merchant vessel in the Pirseus, yet the expence attending thei^ equipment was very great. We learn from Demosthenes, that the light vessels could not be kept in commission, even if the utmost attention was paid to economy, and no extraordinary damage befel them, for a smaller sum than about 8000/. annually ; of course, such vessels as from their size, strength, and manning, were capa- ble of standing the brunt of an engagement, must have cost more than double that sum. In the time of Demosthenes, the trade of Athens seems to have been carried on with considerable spirit and activity ; the greater part of the money of the Athenians having been employed in it. From one of his orations 14G Progress of Disco^mj CHAH. III. we learn, that in the contract executed when money was lent for this purpose, the period when the vessel was to sail, the nature and value ol" the goods with which she was loaded, the port to which she was to carry them, the manner in which they were to be sold there, and the goods with which she was to retiu'n to Athens, were all specifically and formally noticetl. In other particulars the contracts varied : the money, lent was either not to be repaid till the return of the vessel, or it was to be repaid as soon as the outward goods were sold at the place to which she was bound, either to the agent of the lender, or to himself, he going there for that express puipose. The interest of money so lent varied : sometimes it rose as high as 30 per cent.: it seems to have depended principally on the risks of the voyage. In another oration of Demosthenes we discover glimpses of what by many has been deemed maritime insurance, or rather of the fraud at present called bariatry, which is practised to defraud the insurer : but, as Park in his learned Treatise on Marine Insurance has satisfactorily proved, the ancients were certainly ignorant of maritime insurance ; though there can be no doubt frauds similar to those practised at present were practised. According to Demosthenes, masters of vessels were in the habit of borrowing considerable sums, which they professed to invest in a cargo of value, but instead of such a cargo, they took on board sand and stones, and when out at sea, sunk the v<^ssel. As t!ie money was lent on the security either of the cargo or ship, or both, of course the creditors were defrauded : but it does not appear how they could, without detection, substitute sand or stones for the cargo. The Athenians passed a nimiber of laws respecting com- merce, mostly of a prohibitory nature. Money could not be advanced or lent on any vessel, or the cargo of any vessel, that did not return to Athens, and discharge its cargo there. The exportation of various articles, which were deemed of the first necessity, was expressly forbidden : such as timber for building, fir, cypress, plane, and other trees, which grew in the neighbourhood of the city ; the rosin collected on Mount Parnes, the wax of Mount Hymettus — which two articles, incorporated together, or perhaps singly, were used for daub- ing over, or caulking their ships. The exportation of corn, of which Attica produced very little, was also forbidden ; and v/hat was brought ftom abroad was not permitted to be sold tr AP. in. iy was i\'as to he was nanner which ;)rmally money, ssel, oi- sold at t of the mrjiose. as high J on the npses of r rather ctised to atise on ancients 3fh there present sters of e sums, t instead nes, and s lent on jurse the low they for the njj com- d not be ly vessel, ■go there, eemed ot IS timber li grew in n Mount > articles, tor daub- of corn, lien; and ) be sold CHAP. irr. io tlu Time of PtoJcmij the Gco^vaphrr. 117 any where except in Athens. V>y the laws of ►Solon, they were allowed to exchange oil for tbreign coininodilios. There were besides a great inunbei* of laws respecting cajjtains of ships, merchants, duties, interest of money, and (lii'Lrent kinds of contracts. One law was specially favourable to merchants and all engaged in trade ; by it a heavy fine, or, in some cases, imprisonment, was inflicted on whoever accused a merchant or trader of any crime he could not substantiate. In order still farther to protect commerce, and to |)revent it from sufFei'ing by litigation, all causes which respected it could be heard only during the period when vessels were in port. This period extended generally to six months — from April to September inclusive — no ships being at sea during the other portion of the year. The taxes of the Athenians, so far as they affected commerce, consisted of a fifth, levied on the corn and other merchandize imported, and also on several articles which were exported fror." Athens. These duties were generally farmed. In an oratiou of Andocides, we learn that he had farmed the duty on fo- reign goods imported for a term of three years, at twelve talents annually. In consequence of these duties, smuggling was not uncommon. The inhabitants of the district called Corydale were celebrated for illicit traffic : there was a small bay in this district, a little to the north of Piraeus, called Thieves' Harbour, in which an extensive and lucrative and contraband trade was carried on ; ships of different nations were engageu in it. Demosthenes informs us, that though this place was within the boundaries of Attica, yet the Athe- nians had not the legal power to put a stop to traffic by which they were greatly injured, as the inhabitants of Corydale, as well as the inhabitants of every other state, however small, were sovereigns within their own territory. In an oration of Isocrates an operation is described which bears some resemblance to that performed by modern bills of exchange. A stranger who brought grain to Athens, and who, we may suppose, wished to purchase goods to a greater amount than the sale of his grain would produce, drew on a person living in some town on the Euxine, to which the Athe- nians were in the habit of trading. The Athenian merchant took this draft ; but not till a banker in Athens had become re- sponsible for its due payment. The Athenian merchants were obliged, from the nature of trade in those ancient times, to be constantly travelling from L 2 ;'««Sw«wi'^i)l(iB'.'"''rfie« 148 Progress of Di sewer ij CHAP. iir. one spot to another ; eitlier to visit celebrated fairs, or places where they hoped to carry on an advantageous speculation. We shall afterwards notice more particularly the Macedonian merchant mentioned by Ptolemy the Geographer, who sent his clerks to the very borders of China ; and from other authorities we learn that the Greek merchants were accurately informed respecting the interior parts of Germany, and the course of most of the principal rivers in that country. The trade in aromatics, paints, cosmetics, &c., was chiefly possessed by the Athenians, who had large and numerous markets in Athens for the sale of these articles. Even in the time of Hippocrates, some of the spices of India were common in the Peloponnesus and Attica; and there is every reason to be- lieve that most of these articles were introduced into Greece in consequence of the journeys of their merchants to some places of V. pot, lo which they were brought from the East. We have already mentioned that the importation of corn into a country so unfertile as Attica, was a subject of the greatest moment, and to which the care and laws of the republic were most particularly directed. There were magis- trates, whose sole business and duty it was to lay in corn for the use of the city ; and other magistrates who regulated its price, and fixed also the assize of bread. In the Piraeus there were officers, the chief part of whose duty it was to take care that two parts at least of all the corn brought into the port should be carried to the city. Lysias, in his oration against the corn merchants, gives a curious account of the means employed by them to raise its price, very similar to the rumours by which the same effect is often jiroduced at pre- sent : an embargo, or prohibition of exporting it, by foreigners, an approaching war, or the capture or loss of the vessels laden with it, seem to have been the most prevalent rumours. Sicily, Egypt, and the Crimea were the countries which prin- cipally supplied Attica with this necessary article. As the voyage from Sicily was the shortest, as well as exposed to the least danger, the arrival of vessels with corn from this island always reduced the price ; but there does not appear to have been nearly such quantities brought either from it or Egypt, as from the Crimea. The Athenians, therefore, encouraged by every possible means their commerce with the Cimmerian Bos- phorus. One of the kings of that country, Leucon II., who reigned about the time of Demosthenes, favoured them very much. As the harbours were unsafe and inconvenient, he formed a new iv. iir. CHAP. III. to the Time of Ptolemy the Geographer. 149 one, called Theodosia, or, in the language of the country, Arduuda : he likewise exempted their vessels from paying the duty on corn, to which all other vessels were subject on ex- porting it — this duty amounted to a thirtieth part, — and allow- ed their merchants a free trade to all parts of his kingdom. In return, the Athenians made him and his children citizens of Athens, and granted to such of his subjects as traded in Attica the same privileges and exemptions which their citizens enjoyed in Bosphorus. It was one of the charges against Demosthenes, by his rival, the orator Dinarchus, that the sons and successors of Leucon sent yearly to him a thousand bushels of wheat. Besides the new port of Theodosia, the Athenians traded also to Panticapaeum for corn : the quan- tity they exported is stated by Demosthenes to have amounted to 400,000 mediniri, or bushels, yearly, as appearer'. from the custom books ; and this was by far [the greatest quantity of corn they received from foreign countries. Lucian, indeed, informs us that a ship, which, from his description, must have been about the size of our third-rates, contained as much corn as maintained all Attica for a twelvemonth ; but, in the time of this author, Athens was not nearly so populous as it had been : and besides, as is justly remarked by Hume, it is not safe to trust to such loose rhetorical illustrations. From a passage in Thucydides we may learn that the Athe- nians derived part of their supply of corn from Euba;a ; this passage is also curious as exhibiting a surprising instance of the imperfection of ancient navigation. Among the Inconve- niences experienced by the Athenians, from the fortifying of Dacelia by the Lacedemonians, this historian particularly mentions, as one of the most considerable, that they could not bring over their corn from Euboea by land, passing by Oro- pus, but were under the necessity of embarking it, and sailing round Cape Sunium ; and yet the water carriage could not be more than double the land carriage. The articles imported by the Athenians from the Euxine Sea, besides corn, were timber for building, slaves, sjilt, honey, wax, wool, leather, and goat-skins ; from Byzantium and other ports of Thrace and Macedonia, salt fish and timber ; from Phrygii! and Miletus, carpets, coverlet;s for beds, and the fine wool, of which their cloths were made; from the islands of Egean Sea, wine and different fruits; and from Thrace, Thessaly, Phrygia, &c., a great numlier of slaves. The traffic in slaves was, next to ^ 3 that ui corn, of l.>() PiViTirss of Di.scovirij CfMI'. III. <• the greiitest ('oiisc(|iienc't! to tlie Athoiiians, for the citizens were not in siilHcient ninnbers, and, if tlicy had been, were not by any means disposetl, to cultivate the land, work the mines, and carry on the various trades and manufactures. The number of slaves in Attica, durin<^ the most flourishin<^ period of the republic, was estimsted at 400,000: of these tlie greater part had been imported ; the rest were natives of Greece, whom the fate of arms had thrown into tlie hands of a con(jueror irritated l " 'T il ii^j iiaii 160 Progress c Discovcrif CHAP. III. by a strong chain drawn across it. The city of Byzantium was situated on a promontory, nearly of a triangular form ; on the point of the promontory stood the citadel. The walls of the city itself were very strong, but not so lofty towards the sea as towards the land, being on the former side defended by the v.'aves, and in some places by the rocks on which they were built, and which projected into the sea. Thus favoured by iiature, and strengthened by art, and situated in a territory abounding in grain and fruits, Byzan* tium was crowded with merchants, and supported and en* riched by an active and flourishing commerce : its harbour, v/riich was sheltered on every side from tempests, besides »i i' 1 easy of access and capacious, attracted to it ships from all /i . states of Greece, while its situation at the head of the ;. trait " ' .bled, and seemed to authorize it to stop and subject to heavy a^.ies, the foreign merchants who traded to the Euxine, or to reduce the nations who depended on the countries border- ing on this sea for their supplies of corn to great difficulties, and in some cases, even to famine. On these accounts the Athenians and Lacedaemonians were generally rivals for its alliance and friendship. Besides the necessai'y article of grain and abundance of rich and valuable fruit, the Byzantines derived great wealth from their fisheries : these were carried on with great spirit, enterprize, and success. A surprising quantity of fish was caught in the harbour itself, in autumn, when they left the Euxine for the Archipelago ; and in the spring, on their return to Pontus. A great many people were employed both in this fishery, and in the curing of the fish : great sums were derived from this source, as well as from the sale of salt provisions ; for the quality of which, Byzantium was in greater renown than even Panticapeum. The only dis- advantiige under which the Byzantines laboured, to counter- balance the excellence of their harbour, the fertility of their soil, the productiveness of their fisheries, and the extent of their commerce, arose from the frequent excursions of the Thracians, who inhabited the neighbouring villages. There were many other Grecian colonies on the Bosphorus and the adjacent setis. Panticapeum, built by the Milesians, ac- cording to Strabo, the capital of the European Bosphorus, with which, as has been already mentioned, the Athenians carried on a considerable trade. Theodosia, also mentioned before, was likewise formed and colonized by the Milesians : its port could contain 100 ships. Tanais, on the Cimmerian Bos- u.^m^^ . . 10 "■ . '-:> KV. III. CHAP. in. to the Time of Ptolemtj the Geographer tm [intiuni form; e walls rds the ifended which I't, and Byzan- ind en-* arbour, besides ps from I of the [bject to Euxine, border- iculties, irits the for its of grain zantines carried rprising autumn, \ in the ale were ne fish : i'om the zantium nly dis- counter- of their iXtent of s of the )sphorus iians, ac- •us, with irried on bre, was its port an Bos- '^ phorus ; Olbia and Borysthcnes, both situatctt near the mouth of the river from which the latter took its name ; Panagorea and Hermonassa on the Bosphorus, and several others. Be- sides these colonies in this part of the world, the Greeks founded others, for the express purposes of commerce ; as Syra- cuse, in Sicily; Marseilles, in Gaul, the mother of several colonies established on tne neighbouring coasts, and, as we shall afterwards notice, a place of very considerable wealth, conse- quence, and strength, derived entirely from commerce, as well as the seat of the arts and sciences : Cyrene, an opident city in Africa, and Naucratis, situated on one of the mouths of the Nile. They likewise formed settlements in Rhodes and Crete, in the islands of the Egean Sea, on the opposite coasts of Asia, &c. ; most of whicli were of importance to the mother country, from the facilities they offered to the extension of its commerce. The war between the Romans, and Phili? ';ing of Macedon, which intervened between the second an tl " cl l*unic war, first afforded the former an opportunitv anc' ^n excuse for interfering in the affairs of Greece. Tili the time of Philip, the father of Alexaniler, Macedonia does not appear to have had any connexion with the rest of this "celebrated portion of the ancient world ; the Greeks, indeed, regarded its inha- bitants as savages ; but from that pei d, Macedonia became the most important and influential state m Greece. Its bound- aries varied at different periods of its history : it seems originally to have been bounded on the east by the Egean Sea ; on the south by Thessaly and Epirus ; on the west by the Ionian Sea ; and on the north by the river Strymon, at the mouth of which, as has been already mentioned, the Athenians founded one of their most flourishing and useful colonies. The princes of Ma- cedonia viewed with jealousy, but for a long time were unable to prevent the states of Greece from forming colonies in the immediate vicinity of their dominions : their union, however, with the king of Persia, when he first fixed his ambition on Greece, was rewarded by a great accession of territory, which enabled them to contest the possession of the sea-coasts with the most powerful of the Greek republics. Tliey then ex- tended their territories to the Eastern Sea, but there were till the reign of Philip, the father of Alexander, several nations between them and the Adriatic, all of which were subdued by him ; and thus this sea became their western boundary. Some of the most celebnited cities of Macedonia were M -I i'l BaamM / 16t Progress of Diicovery CHAP. III. /ri founded by foreljifn iintions. Epidamnus, which wns seated at the entrance of the Ionian Gull', wns a colony of the Corcy- rians : it was the occasion of a fierce naval war between tlieni and the Corinthians, generally calletl the Corinthian war. ApoUonia, distant seven miles from tire sea, on the river Laus, was a Corinthian colony: it was renowned for its excellent laws. On another part of tlie coast of the Adriatic were the sea-ports of Elynia and BuUis. The district of Paraxis, which was full of gulfs and inlets formed by the Egean JSea, had several ports, but none of any repute. From this description of Macedonia and its principal sea coasts nnd ports, it is evident that ; possessed many advanttiges for commerce and naval affairs, which, however, were never embraced till the period when the Romans first turned their thoughts to Greece. Had its sovereigns been disposed to engage in commerce, the Adria- tic, with its extensive and safe haven of Epidamnus, in which tliere were several ports, would have opened the trade to Italy ; the Egean Sea, still more advantageous, would have seciu'cd the trade of Greece and Asia, by means of its spacious bays, one of which, the Sinus Thermaeus, was at least sixty miles long. The produce of Macedonia also would have favoured its commerce ; the soil was every where fruitful, and, especially near the sea, abounding in corn, wine, and oil : its principal riches, however, consisted in its mines of almost all kuuls of metals, but particularly of gold. In the district of Pieria, it is said, there were found large quantities of tliis metal in the sand, sometimes in lumps of considerable size: but by far the most productive and valuable mines of gold were in the mountain Pangaeus, in a district which Philip, the father of Alexander, added to Macedonia. The people who inhabited the country near the river Strymon derived great wealth from these mines, and it was the knowledge of tliis, as much as the facility of obtaining timber, which induced the Athenians to found their colony near this river. The Tliracians drove the Athenians from this part of Macedonia, and Philip ex- pelled them: he paid great attention to the working of the mines ; and by employing persons well skilled in this and in refining the ore, he rendered them so extremely valuable, that, according to ancient authors, he obtained the empire of Greece principally by means of the immense sums he drew from them, amounting annually, according to Diodorus, to 1000 talents of gold. When the Romans reduced Mace- we ther with! attacl agaii) in manil sea invad c»i4 p. UT. ited at :orcy- theni , war. Liius, celleiit ere the , which io, had ption of evident i naval period Had Adria- u which to Italy ; secured us ty CHAP. in. to the Time (^Ptolemy the Geographer. 1C8 bays» miles Hired its jspecinily principal kuuls ot" Pieria, it tal in the ut by far jre in the father of inhabited ;alth from much as Athenians ans drove Philip ex- ing of the his and in ' valuable, the empire sums he I Diodorus, ced Mace- donia, thev exi)rcssly forbade the inhabitants from working the mines of gold or silver, or refining either of those metals; permitting them, however, to manufacture any other metal. The princes of Macedonia previous to Philip, the father of Alexander, notwithstiinding the great advantage ibr maritime affairs and commerce affbrtled by the sea-coasts, bays, harbours, &c., neither practised nor untlerstood them : this arose in a great measure from their being continually engaged in wars, or having dieir ports occupied or blocked up by the maritime states of Greece. Philip was the first who freed his country from these evils and inconveniences ; but his thoughts were too intently and constantly fixed on othei objects to allow hi:u to^ turn his attention to maritime affairs or commerce. Alex- ander, as we have already seen, bestowed much care on his fleet, while engaged in tlie conquest of Asia; and when he died at Babylon, had formed the design of placing his fleets, in every port of his dominions, on a regular and extensive scale. But the advantages of Macedonia for commerce were neglected in the midst of his vast plans elsewhere, and the Macedonians, at the period of his death, were still inattentive to maritime affairs. Philip, the antagonist of the Romans, of whose power and success he was not only jealous but apprehensive, as soon as he resolved to engage in hostilities with them, applied himself to maritime affairs. His determination seems to have been fixed when he learnt that the Romans had been defeated at the Lake of Thrasymenus : he instantly formed the plan of in- vading lUyrium, and then crossing over to Italy. But the latter step could not be taken, nor, indeed, could he expect to cope with the Romans, till he had formed a fleet, and trained his subjects to the management of it. At this period the Macedonians seem to have had some merchant ships; foi* we are informed that a petty king of Illyria seized some of them in the port of Leucas, and also all that his squadron met with on the coast of Greece, as far as Malea. This insult and attack afforded Philip an excellent reason for declaring war against lUyricum : he began by exercising the Macedonians in the art of navigation ; he built ships after the lUyrian manner, and he was the first king of Macedonia that put to sea 100 small vessels at one time. JHe was urged still more strongly to go on with his plan of invading Italy, when he learnt the result of tJ^e battle of C^nnas; he immediately formed an alliajice witli HannibaJ» M 2 W I -ft 1' '. :^ ICA Progiesa of Dhcm^ety CHAP, nt and engaged to invade Italy with 200 sail of ships, and plunder its eastern coasts : in return for this service he was to retain all the islands in the Adriatic, lying near the coast of Mace- donia, that hi" might subdue. His first naval enterprize was the siege of Oricuin on the coast of Kpirus, and of Apollonia on the coast of Macedonia, both of which he carrieil on at the same time, with 120 ships of two banks of oars. He was, however, successfully opposed by the Roman consul Laevinus, who obliged him to burn great part of his fleet, and raise the siege of Goth the places. About twelve years afterwards, or about 200 years before Christ, Philip engaged in a maritime war with Attains, king of Pergamus, and tne Rhodians, near the isle of Chio : the fleet of Philip consisted of fifty-three decked vessels and 1 50 gallies ; besides these he had several ships called pristis, from the figure of a large fish which was affixed to, or engraved on their bows, either to distinguish them, or as a mark of their swift sailing. The fleet of his opponents consisted of sixty-five covered ships, besides those of their allies, the people of Byzantium. Notwithstanding, however, the exertions he nuide to acquire a naval force ecjual to that of the Romans, and the experience which his subjects gradually obtained in maritime affairs, he was not able to sustain their attacks, either by land or sea, but was compelled in a very few years to sue for peace. This he obtained, on the condition, that he should deliver up to the Romans all his covered gallies, and reserve to himself only a few smaller vessels : he was permitted, however, to retain one galley of sixteen banks of oars, a vessel rather for shew than use. The success of the Romans, the extent of their conquests, and the ambitious views, which seemed wider and wider in proportion to their successes, alarmed Antiochus, king of Syria, who, not intimidated by the fate of Philip, resolved to declare war ajjfainst them. They were never averse to engage in hostilities. The fleef of Antiochus consisted of 100 ships; that of the Romans was nearly equal in num- ber ; the ships of Antiochus, however, were inferior to those of his opponents in respect to strength and size, though surpassing them in swiftness. The hostile fleets met and engaged on the coast of Ionia ; that of Antiochus was defeated, and would have been utterly captured or destroyed, had it not been for the swiftness of the vessels. In order to repair his AP. IM )lunder ) retain Mace- on the •edonia, ships of (>p|)Osed to burn ilaces. before us, king lio : the 5els and 1 pristis, Migraved mark of sisted of le people o acquire cnerience ffairs, he [1 or sea, ;e. This up to the jlfonly a retain one ihew than ;onquests, wider in , king of resolved averse to insisted of [ in nuin- nferior to ;e, though met and s defeated, had it not repair his CHAP. in. to t)ic Time o/' Ptolemif the Geographer. 166 loss, Antiochus sent for additional vessels from Sicily and Phtenicia; but these were taken on their passage by the Ilhodians, who were at this time in alliance with the Romans. The Rhodians, however, in their turn were attacked and defeated by the fleet of Antiochus, near Samos, whither they had gone to join a Roman squadron. In the meantime the Romans had collected a fleet of eighty ships, and with these they fought one hundred ships of their op- ponent off' the coast of Ionia ; the victory of the former was de- cisive, all the shi))s of Antiochus being captured or destroyed. This disaster, in connection with a signal defeat he sustained by land, compelled him to submit ; and the Romans, always atten- tive to their maritime interests, which however they had not hitherto pushed nearly to the extent which they might have dcme, refused to grant him peace, except on the conditions, that he should cede all that })art of Asia which lies between the sea and Mount Taurus ; that he should give up all his vessels except ten ; and that these should not, on any account, sail beyond the promontories of Cilicia. The Rer, &(. requisite for building fifty ships. Antiochus exempted all their vessels, wliich traded to his ports, from every kind of tax and duty. They rece' l from other princes presents or privileges of equal importance and value ; so that, in a very short time, they recovered their former opulence and trade, and rebuilt their wails, ?cc. Their alliance with Attalus, king of Perpai»uis, involved them m a war with Philip king of Macedonia, and was the cause of their forming an alliance with the Romans. In this war the Rhodian fleet, in conjunction wit!i the fleets of their allies, gained several victories over the fleet of Philip. The latter was at length obliged to sue to the Romans for peace, and they, in fixing the terms, included the K!i»Klians, to whom were ceded Stratonice, and the greater part of (^iria. In the meantime Antiochus and the Romans liad commenced hostilities, and *he HLodians were again involved in them : almost at dieir \ei . • imencement, their fleet was surprized by a stratagem of / . .chus's admiral, and of thirty ships of war of which it consisted, only seven escaped. They soon, however, repairetl their losses, and fitted out an- other fleet, with which they put to sea, for the purpose of preventing the junction of Hannibal with Antiochus's ships.: the former had thirty-seven large ships; the Rhodian fleet was nearly equal in numbers, but inferior in size. The hostile fleets met off the coast of Pamphilia. The battle was obstinate : at first, bv an oversight of the Rhodian admiral, some disorder occurred in part of his fleet ; but this was soon repaired, and a decisive victory obtained. Part of Haimibal's fleet was captured, and the rest blocked up in the harbours of Pamphilia. A p. III. CHAP. III. to the Time of Ptolemy the Geographer, 171 I'ejiclful d the As the their nected these tliem their The defi It of Antioclius, both at sea and land,b;y ihe ilomans, to which we have ah*eady adverted, obHged this monarch to sue for peace, hi which the Rhodians were included. We have now arrived , at that period of the history of Rhodes when the first d fference arose between tliat city and the Romans : the latter suspected that the Rhodians favoured Perseus king of Macedon, with whom they were at war, and were moreover displeased at their presuming to interfere witli them in his favour. In order to watch tlieir inclinations and motions, the senate sent three commissioners to Rhodes : these found a fleet of forty galleys, which there was reason to believe had been intended to act against the Romans; but which, by the advice of the chief magistrate, were, on the arrival of the commissioners, ordered to sea, to act in union with them. Scarce, however, were the commissioners de- parted, when the Rhodians became lukewarm in the cause of the Romans ; and although they sent a few of their galleys to join the Roman admiral, they kept the greatest number in port, waiting the issue of the war between them and the king of Macedonia. As soon as they heard of the defeat of the former in Tliessaly, they entered into negociations with Perseus, and at the same time sent ambassadors to Rome, who com- plained, that in consequence of the war between Perseus and the Romans, the navigation and commerce of Rhodes was greatly uijured, their island deprived of provisions and other necessaries, and the customs and duties which their maritime situation fonnerly afforded them kept back, from their no longer beii.g able to sail with safety along the coo' ts of Asia, where they used to levy the most important luid pro- ductive of them. After the defeat of Perseus, they ceased to I'emonst ir, find became submissive to the Romans. It is probable, )u>w- ever, that the Romans would have seized this o})iJortunity of attacking them, had not Cato spoken very strongly in their favour: in consequence of his argument- md influence, andJy the cession of Lycia and Caria, they were again admitted to an alliance with the Romons. The advantages they derived from this alli-mce were so great, that they resisted the )iromises and the threats of Mithridatcs, when he engaged in hostilities with the Romans. This monarch, therefore, resolved to employ his whole force by sea and land against them: they were not liowever disma^xd, but placed a firm reliance on their skill hi maritime affairs. / ' 4 '%:; mm 172 Progn'ss of Discover^/ CHAP. III. They divided their fleet into three squadrons : one drawn up in a line protected the entrance of the harbour ; and the other two, at a greater distance from the shore, were stationed to watch the approach of the enemy. Mithridates also divided his fleet, which was more numerous than that of the Rhodians, into three squadrons ; one of these he himself commanded, on board of a (juinquereme, and directed to attack the squadron which was })rotecting the port. Tlie Rhodians gradually retired before the enemy, till they came close to the mouth of the harbour: Mithridates in vain endeavoured to break their line, and force an entrance ; in all his attempts he was defeated with considerable loss ; and his land forces, which he had embarked in transports, being dispersed in a storm, he was obliged to retire from before the city. Tlie Romans acknowledged the benefits they tlerived from the valour of the Rhodians on this occasion ; and they again experienced it, in the war which Pompey carried on against the Cilician pirates, though that commander took all the merit to himself. In the civil war between him and Caesar, they assisted the former with a numerous fleet, under the command of one of their best seamen, who distinguished himself above all Pompey 's captains, and gained very consi- derable advantages over Caesar's fleet. On the death of Pom- pey they joined Ca?sar : this exposed them to the hostility of Cassius; they ende cured to pacify him by promising to recal the ships tliey had sent to the assistance of Citsar, but lie demanded il»e delivery of their whole fleet, and that he should l)e put in possession ol' their harbour -iiui city. To these terms tliey would not accede, but prep, red for war, by equipping a fleet of thirty-three ships, and placing it under the cmunand of one of their best officers. A battle ensued which was ibught uii both sitles with great skill and bravery ; but the Rhodlatis were obliged to yield to the superior number of the llonian fleet, and to return to the harbour, having lost two of their sliii)s, and the rest being very nmch damaged. It is remarketl by the ancient historians who relate this battle, that it was the first time the Rhodians were fairly overcome in a sea-fight. Cassius followed uji his success by bringing against Rhodes a fit-et of eighty ships of war, and 200 transports. Against this foivnidable armament the Rhodians again put to sea, and a second battle ensued, which was nu)re obstinately contested than the first; the Roiiiuns however were again victoriouii, -*i.J&^. CHAP. III. to the Time of Ptolemy the Gcographe): 17S from and the city of Rhodes was blocked up by sea and land. Its fate was soon determined; for some of the inhabitants, dreading a famine, opened the gates to the Romans. Cassius, besides other severe terms, obliged Jie Rhodians to deliver up all their ships, and all their public treasures ; the temples were plundered, and 8000 talents extorted from private individuals, besides a fine of 500 levied on the city. From this time till the reign of Vespasian, when the island became a Roman province, it was sometimes oppressed, and sometimes favoured by the Romans ; according, as Tacitus remarks, as they obliged them with their assistance in foreign wars, or provoked them with their seditions at home. In order to complete the maritime history of Rhodes, we have rather advanced beyond the period to which we had brought down our notices of the Roman navigation and commerce : these therefore we shall now resume at the war between Perseus king of Macedonia and the Romans. Per- seus harassed the coasts of Italy, plundered and sunk all their ships, while they found it difficult to oppose him by sea, or protect their coasts, for want of a fleet. This induced them to prepare for service fifty vessels; but though their allies augmented this number, the Romans do not seem to have performed any thing of consequence by sea. This is attri- buted principally to the circumstance, that the fleet, on ex- amination, was discovered to be in bad condition, neither equipped sufficiently in stores or provisions, and the seamen who were to have navigated it were either dead or absent, • while those who did appear were ill paid and worse clothed ; these facts sufficiently demonstrate the little care which the Romans, even at this period, bestowed on maritime affairs. Tlie defeat of Perseus at Pithia, and his subsequent capture by the Romans in the island of Samothrace, rendered it unne- cessary for them to supply the deficiences of their fleet. The immense ship, which, as we have already mentioned, Philip, Perseus's father, employed in his war against die Romans, was taken on this occasion ; and Paulus Emilius, the consul, sailed up the Tiber in it: it had lt» banks of oars. Many other ships of large size were also captured ; these were brought to Rome, and drawn into tlie Campus M ; tins. One of the allies of the unfortunate Perseus was the king of IDyria, who was powerful at sea, and ravaged tW coasts of Italy opposite to his dominions. While die consail was sent U-:%' 17+ Progress of Discoveiy CHAP. in. against Perseus, the iniui.agenient of the naval war against tlie Illyrians was committed to the praetor : as he was well aware of the maritime force of his opponent, he acted with great caution ; his first success, hi capturing some of their feTiii)s, induced him to land all his forces in lllyria, where, after an obstinate battle, he compelled the kuig to surrender at dis- "retion. Macedonia and lllyria were thus reduced to the state of Roman provmces; but the Romans regarded these victories as of im}K)rtance, more on account of the accession they made to their territories, than on account of the advantages which they might thence derive to their commerce or their naviU power : so little, indeed, did they regard them in the latter jjoint of view, that they gave tjie 220 ships which were surrendered to them by the king of lllyria, to the inhabitants of Cephalonia, of Apollouia, and Dyrrhachium, who at the tune were much cele- brated for their ti*ade and navigation. Although their sea- coasts had been repeatedly ravaged, we are informed by Poly- bius, that, fi-om the time of Philip, king of Macedonia, till long after the defeat y immediately commencing hostilities, had no effect at first ; but being fre- quently repeated, and intelligence being received, that pre- parations were making at Carthage for an op(!n declaration of war, and that the Carthaginians were fitting out a fleet, contrary to the terms of their treaty with the Romans ; and this information being confirmed by the report of deputies sent to Carthage; war was declared against Carthage in the year of Rome 605. The Carthaginians endeavoured to pacify the Romans by surrendering to them their cities, hmds, rivers, &c., in short, by a complete surrender of whatever they possessed, as well as of themselves. At first the Romans appeared dis- posed to abstain from war on these conditions ; and the Car- thaginians actually delivered up all their arms and warlike engines, and witnessed the burning of their fleet; but die Romans, having thus degraded diem, and stript them in a great measure of the means of defence, now insisted that Car- thage itself should be destroyed, and that the inhabitants should build a city at die distance of five leagues from die sea. Indignant at these demands, they resolved to sustain a siege ; and, ill a very short time, they made immense preparations for defending their city. At first they gained some success over the Rormms ; for their fleet having come very near the shore, to transport the troops, who were suffering from the vicinity of the marshes, to a healthier spot, the Carthaginians fitted out a great number of fire ships, filled widi tar, sulphur, bitumen, &c., and taking advantage of a favourable wind, they sent them among the Roman fleet, great part of which was thus destroyed. But these and other successes did not ultimately avail them : Scipio who had been chosen consul, arrived in Afi-ica, and Carthage was immediately strictly blocked up by sea and land. His exertions were indeed Astonishing ; as the new port of Carthage was effectually shut up by the Roman fleet, so diat no assistance or provisions could enter by it ; and as lines of circumvallation wei'e formed on land, the consul's great object was to block up the old port. The Romans were masters of the western neck of land, which formed one side of its entrance ; from this to the other side they built a mole, ninety feet broad 17G Projovrs,? of Dlscox^ery (HAP. III. at bottom, nnd eighty fit toj) ; when tliis was completed, the old port was rendered quite inaccessible and useless. The Carthaginians on their part, imagined and executed works as surprising as those of the Romans : dej)rived of both their ports, they dug, in a very short time, a new harboiu', from which they cut a passage to the sea : and they built and equij)ped a fleet of filty ships, which put to sea through this new harbour. The Uonians were astonished when thev lie- held a fleet, of the exislence or possibility t)f which ." v had no conception, advancing out of a harbour, the fori^wui n of which equally astonishetl them, and this fleet daring to hazard an engagement. The battle continuctl dm'ing the whole day, with little advantage on either side ; but, notwithstanding all their efforts, and some partial and teinjiorar successes, Car- thage was at length coinjielled to submit to Scipio, and was at first plundered, and afterwards destroyed. The Romans burnt the new fleet which the Carthaginians had built: indeed, in general, instead of augmenting their own naval force, when they subdued any of their maritime enemies, they either de- stroyed their ships or bestowed them on some of their allies ; a certain proof, as Huet remarks, of the very little regard they paid to sea affairs. We are expressly informed, in the Life of Terence, generally ascribed to Suetonius, that before the tlestruction of Carthage, the Romans did not trade to Africa : but though his words are express, they must not be taken literally ; for we have already proved, that in the treaties between Rome and Car- thage at a very early period, the voyages undertaken l^y the Romans, on account of trade, to Sicily, Sardinia, an!' Plolcmtf Ihi Cn'O^raphcr. 177 old ?!', rtliage, words ; have hd Car- hy the larts of ople of and a that merely lomans date of onfined Africa, ;d, was andize. [k place lumber Lensible of thi' value t)f commerce, they did little to protect it; for soon after the termination of the third Punic war, the Mrdi- teiiaiiean swann»'d with jiirates, who plundered <^he nu-r- ■chtnit ships of all nations. These pirates l)elonged principnlly to the Balearic isjnntls, to Cilicia and to Crete. In or.«;of the Halearie islands, calle^cially at the time when the Romans were engaged in hostilities with. Mithridates, that tliey determined to curb them. Anthony,, the father of Marc Anthony, M-as appointed to execute their vengeance; but, too confident of success, he was beaten by the Cretans in a st-a-battle. This naturally encouraged them to carry on their piracies on a greater scale, and with more bold- ness ; but their triumph was of short duration, for Metellus^ the proconsul, having defeated their forces, united with those of the Cilician pirates, landed on the island, itnd subdued the whole of it In the meantime, Mithridates, who had been very instru- mental in encouraging the pirates to commit depredations on the Roman vessels and coasts, was vigorously preparing for war with the republic. His naval force, formed partly of his own ships, and partly from those of most of the maritime states, all of whom were jealous and afraid of the Romans, and re- garded Mithridates as their protector and deliverer, insulted ? w^, ^ I AP. in. I, when A'enient niereia) ed that would cUng to at the I, which aport of . of the y creeks re com- ^rbig its D a great h other's jmselves^ ct to one had sub- [Is in the estabUsh- At the ips to the land was and com- peditions especially ities with Anthony^ cute their en by the I them to lore bold- Metellus, ith those dued the y instru- ations on aring for tly of his me states, and re- insulted CHAP. I IK to the Time of Ptolemy the (ieographer. 179 even the coasts of Italy. We have already noticed his un- successful sea-fight with the Rhodians, almost the only people who continued faithful to the Romans. The latter, at length, were fully sensible of the absolute necessity of forming such a fleet as would enable them successfully to oppose Mithridates, who was master, not only of Asia, but of all Greece, and the adjacent islands, except Rhodes. 8ylla was employed against him ; but as he had very few ships, he sent Lucullus to Syria, Egypt, Lybia, and Cyjirus, to collect a fleet. From Ptolemy, who was afraid of the power of Mithridates, and, perhaps, jealous of the Romans, he received no vessc.s; but from the other quarters he received considerable supplies of ships and experiencep< rations. In these he was successful, gaining two victories over Mithridates's fleet, near the coast of Troy. "These defeats, and the treachery of Archelaus, nearly annihi- lated the maritime force of Mithridates. But this monarch was not easily dispirited ; in a short tune he collected ■another fleet, and invaded Bithynia. It was therefore neces- sary for the Romans to send a fleet thither, which they did, \mder the command of Cotta. This fleet, however, was flur inferior to that of the king, which consisted of 400 ships of thirty oars, besides a gieat many smaller vessels. On leai'ning this, Lucullus, who had the chief command, ordet-etl Cotta to remain in the harbour of Chalcedon ; but Mithridates, relying on his strength, sailed into the very harbour, and burnt the Roman fleet. The loss of the Romans consisted of sixty ships, and 8000 of their mariners slain, besides 4500 taken prisoners. As this succes-s of Mithridates encouraged the cities of Asia to revolt, Lucullus resolved, if possible, to counterbalance it with still more decisive success on his part by land ; he accordingly besieged him in his camp. Being reduced to great straits, Mithridates was forced to escape by sea towards Byzantium ; but on his voyage he was overtaken by a violent storm, in which sixty of his ships wprc sunk ; he N i 180 Proiiress of Discovenf CHAP, in. '1! himself must have perislied, it he had not been rescued by a pirate, who hmded him safe in Pontus. Mithridates still had a small fleet of fifty ships, on board of which were 10,000 land forces. These were at sea ; but with what object does not appear : they were met, however, near Lemnos, by a Roman squadron, and entirely dfefeuted; thirty-two of them being cap- tured, and the rest sunk. On receivhig information of this victory, the Roman senate ordered Lucullus to be paid 3000- talents to repair and augment his fleet ; but he refused them,, answering, " that with the succours he could get from their allies, he should be able to gain the dominion of the sea, and conquer Mithridates:" at the same time he sent to Rome 110 galleys, armed with beaks. Mithridates^ however, was still formidable at sea, and continued so, till the Romans^ gained another victory over him, near the island of Tenedos, in wnich they took and sunk sixty ships : after this, he was. not able to fit out another fleet. As the remainder of the war between him and the Romans was entirely confined to land operations, we shall pass it by, and proceed to the other naval enterprizes of the Romans about this period. The war with Mithridates employed the attention and the resources of the Romans so completely, that '. .le pirates again mfested the Mediterranean seas without control. Their numbers and force were greatly augmented by the destruc- tion of Carthage and Corinth ; for the inhabitants of these cities, having neither a place of retreat, nor the meanjs of subsistence, naturally turned their thoughts to piracy, having been accustomed to sea afi^iirs, and to commerce. In this they were encouraged by Mithridates, and assisted by some persons of considerable rank and wealth. The hiability of the Romans to attend to them, and the success and en- couragement they obtained, induced them to conduct their piracies qn a regular, systematic, and extensive plan. Their ships were constantly at sea : all commerce was interrupted j ^ith their 1000 galleys — for so numerous were they — they exerpised i complete sovereignty over all the coasts of the Mediterranean. They formed themselves into a kind of commonwealth, selected magistrates and oflicers, who ap- pointed each fleet its respective station and object, and built watch-towers, arsenals; and jnagazines, They depended chiefly on Cilicia for the necessary supplies for their fleets. Emboldened by their success, and by the occupation afforded fo the Romans by Mithridates, they ravnged the whole line \\- HAP. Ill, led by a still had ; 10,000 does not I Roman jing cap- II of" this aid 3000 ed them, cm their sea, and o Rome ;ver, was Romans- renedos, , he was. T of the ifined to- the other and the tes again Their destruc- of these neans of having In this Dy some jility of and en- ict their Their rupted ; — they of tlie kind of ivho ap- ct, and upended fleets. afforded ole line I 'CiiAV. 111. to the Time of Ptolemy the Geographer. I8l of the Italian coasts sacked the towns and temples, from which they expected a considerable booty; plundered the coun- try seats on the sea-shore ; carried off the inhabitants for slaves ; blocked up all the ports of the republic ; ventUied as far as the entrance of the Tiber ; sunk part of the Roman fleet at Ostia, and even threatened Rome itself, wliich ihey more than once deprived of its ordinary and necessary sub- sistence. The scarcity of provisions was, indeed, not con- fined to Rome; but no vessel venturing to sea in tha Mediter- ranean without being captured, it extended to those parts of Asia atid Africa which lie on that sea. Their inveteracy, however, was principally directed against the Roman com- merce, and the Romans themselves. " If any of their cap- tives declared himself to be a Roman, they threw themselves in derision at his feet, begging his pardon, and imploring his protection ; but after they had insolently sported with their prisoner, they often dressed him in a toga, and then, casting out a ship's ladder, desired him to return home, and wished liim a good journey. If he refused to leap into the sea, they threw him overboard, saying, " that they woilld not by any means kee]i a free-born Roman in captivity!" In order to root out this dreadful evil, Gabinius, the tribune of ihe people, proposed a law, to form, what he called, the proconsulate of the seas. This law, though vigorously op- jiosed at first, eventually was carried. The person to whom this new office was to be entrusted, was to have maritime power, without control or restriction, over all the seas, from the Pillars of Hercules to the Thracian Bosphorus, and the countries Ij^ng on these seas, for fifty miles inland : he was to be empowered to raise as many seamen and troops as he deemed necessary, and to take, out of the public treasury, money sufficienttopaytne expence ofpayingthem, equipping the ships, iind executing the objects of the law. The proconsulate of the t.he seas was to be vested in the same person for three years. As Gabinius was the known friend of Pompey, all Pompey's enemies strenuously opposed this law, as evidently intended to confer authority on him ; but the people not only passed it, but granted Pompey, who was chosen to fill the office, even more than Gabinius had desired, for they allowed him to equip /)00 ships, to raise 120,000 foot, and to select out of j^ the senate twenty senators to act as his lieutenants. • As soon as Pompey was vested with the authority conferred by this law, lie put to sea; and, bv his prudent and wise measures, Jh- 3 182 Progress of Dhcwcry CHAP. HI. not less than by his activity and vigour, within foiu' months (instead of the three years wliich were allowed him) he treed the seas from pirates, having beaten their fleet in an engagement near the coast of Cilicia, and taken or sunk nearly 1000 vessels, and made himself master of 120 places on the coast, which they had fortified : in the whole of this expedition he did not lose a single s'lip. In order effectually to prevent the pirates from resuming their depredations, he sent them to people some deserted cities of Cilicia. It might have been supposed that as the Romans had suffered so much from the pirates, and as Rome itself was dependent for subsistence on foreign supplies of corn, which could not be regularly obtained, while the pirates were masters of the seas, they would have directed their attention more than they did to ruiiritime affairs and commerce, especially after the experience ihey had had of the public calamities which might thus be averted. This, however^ was not the case, even auer the war against the pirates, which was so successfully termi- nated by Pompey; for Pompey's son, who opposed the trium- virate, by leaguing with the pirates, (of what nation we are not informed,) repeatedly, during his warfare, reduced the city of Rome to great straits for want of corn. As the operations by sea which he carried on, in conjunction with the pirates, are the last recorded in history, by means of which Rome was reduced to such straits, and as this repeated proof of the absolute necessity of rendering her independent of any maritime power for supplies of corn, seems to have been the chief inducement with Augustus to establish regular and powerful eoriii fleets, we shall notice them in this place, though rather posterior to the period of Roman history at which we have arrived. The young'jr Pompey, it would appear, was sensible that his father's fan.e and fortune had been first established by his success at sea : this induced him to apply himself to mari- time affairs, and, when he resolved to oppose the trinmvirate, to trust principally to his experience and force by sea, to oblige them to comply with his terms. Accordingly, he built several ships, soxne of which are said to have been covered with leather; he associated himself with all the pirates he could meet with ; and, when sufficiently powerful, he took possession of Sardinia, Sicily, and Corcyra, made himself master of the whole Mediterranean sea, and intercepted all the convoys which were carrying provisions and other necessaries to Rome. The occupation of Sicily enabled him to prevent any com CHAP. III. io the Time of Ptolemy the Geographer. 183 t From being shipped from that island, and to intercept all that came from the eastern ports of the Mediterranean. His pos- session of Sardinia and Corcyra enabled him to intercept all that came from the west, while he captured all that came from Africa by his squadrons, which were constiuitly cruising in that direction. It may easily be imagined, that when Rome was deprived of her supplies of corn from Sicily, Africa, and the Euxine, she could not long subsist, without being threatened with famine: this was actually the case, the inhabitants were near starving, and it became necessary for the triumvirate to relieve them, either by conquering Pompey, or comjng to terms with him. But Rome alone did not suffer : the rest of Italy was iilso deprived, in a great measure, of provisions, and its coasts insulted and plundered. Octavianus, one of the triumvirate, 4vt first resolvefl, with the advice of Anthony, to raise a naval force, and oppose Pompey ; but when he attempted to lay a tax on the inhabitants of Rome and the re!^t of Italy, though it was to prevent them from starving, they resisted it with so much violence and determination, that he was obliged to aban- don the measure. As, however, the famine still contiiuied, the triumvirate agreed to come to an accommodation with Pompey : the prin- cipal terms were, that the latter should retain possession of Sicily, Sardinia, &c.; and that he should moreover receive Peloponnesus; that he might endeavour to obtain the consulate ; that the dignity of Pontifex Maximus should be granted him ; that he should he paid 70,000 great sesterces out of his father's confiscated estate; and that such of his companions as chose should be allowed to return. On his part, he promised, that he would no longer interru})t the Roman trade and navigation ; that he would no longer build ships, nor make descents on the coasts of Italy, nor receive the slaves who fled to him ; and that he. would immediately send to Rome the corn he had detained, oblige the Sicilians to pay annually the trib-'te of corn due to Rome by that island, and clear the seas of all the pirates. From these terms it may be seen how dependent Rome, even at this period, was on foreign supplies of corn, and how weak she was at sea. Pompey and the triumvirate seem neither to have been sincere in this treaty : the former, who still retained the title of governor of the maritime coasts, had derived too great advantage from his superiority at sea, and his connection wjUi the pirates, easily to relinquish either; N 4 184- Pt -ogtrss of ' fJiscovct'ij CHAP, iir^ while, on the otliei* hand, the triumvirate could not regavrf themselves as masters of the republic, so long as Ponipey had- it in his power to starve the cityot Rome. They, therefore, soon quarrelled; upon which Ponjpey caustxl his old ships to he refitted, and new ones to be built,- and, wlien he had got a sufficient force, he again blocked n}) the ports of Italy, and reduced the inhabitants of the capital to the utmost distress for want of jirovisions. Octavianus^,^ (Augustus Caesar,) to- whom the protection of Italy was assigned, had neither the courage nor the means to oppose Pompey, who, probably, would- speedily liave forced the triumvirate, to grant him conditions still more favourable than the former ones, had it not been for the' defection of one of liis admirals. A.s he w .s an officer of great va'bur and experience in maritime affiii s, and carried ovei'' with' him the numerous fleet which he commanded, Augustus' was emboldened and rendered better able to cope with Po;npev by sea. Tlie latter, rather enraged thaa intimi-hited by this defection, sent another of his admiralfe, who had always been' jealous of the one who had gone over to Augustus, with w numerous fleet, to ravage the coasts of Italy. On his return,, he fell in with a fleet of Auguslns, on board of wh'ch was his rival. An obstinate battle ensued : at first Pompey's fleelJ was worsted; but in the issue it was victorious, and the <^reater number of Atigustus' ships were sunk, captured', or driven on* shore. As soon as Augustus learnt the issue of this b-attle, 'le resolved to sail from Tarenaim, where he then was, pass the' straits of Messina, and reinforce the shattered remains of his' squadron ; but, while he was in the straits, his ships were' attacked by Pompey himself, and most of them sunk oi- dashed to pieces: with great difficulty he escaped. He was now in i>: dreadful situation; without ships or money; while the inha- bitants of Rome 'vere on the point of rising against his authority, for want of corn. In this extremity he npplied to Anthony, who inunediately canie to his aid with 300 sail of ships. As Anthony needed land-forces, which, under the present circumstances, were of no use to August -, they agreed tt) an interchange j Augustus gave Anthony two legions; and Anthony, on his part, lel't with Augustus 100 armed gal- leys. In addition to these, Octavia obtained from her husband twenty small ships, as a reinforcement to her brother. Augustus, though now superior in r.aval force to Pompey, (for his ships were more numerous, as well as larger and stronger, though not so light and expeditious, nor so well CH AT. 1 II, lo lite Time of Plolemij the Gc();j,) (iplicr. JS.' low in p: le inlui ' inst his )lie(l ti) sail of er the , they eo-ions; tnannecl,) was not willing to expose himself any more to the ards of !i sea-fijrht ; he therefore appointed Agrippa coni- llcl/. man (ler-in-chief ot his navy, with directions t») cruise off' Mylae, a city on the northern coast of Hicily, where Poin|)ey hatl As th lati assemoled ail his naval lorces. As the possession or this important island was' absolutely necessary to the reduction of Poinpey's power, and the relief and supply of tlie city of Rome, Augustus, Lepidlis, and another general were to invade it in three different })lacesi while Agrippa was watching Poni- pey's fleet. The whole of Augustus's expeditions sailed iron) different ports of Italy at the same time; but they had scarcely -]iut to sea, when a violent storm arose, in which a great num- ber of his ships perished. On this occasion Augustus beliaved with great presence of mind and judgment: his first object and care wjis to send Maecenas to Rome, to prevent the disturb- ances which the intelligence of this disaster nn'ght occasion there: Msecenas sxicceeded in his mission cnmpletel}-. In the meantime Augustus went in person to the several })orts, into \\hicii his ships liad escaped from the storm, encouraged and T'ewarded the workmen, and soon got his fleet refitted and read}'^ for sea. In his second attempt to invade Sicily, which he put in execution as soon as his fleet was repaired, he was more successful than in his first: and Agrippa considerably weakened Pompey's naval forces, by defeating one of his ad- mirals, from whom he captured thii'ty galleys. Pompey was still so foriTjidable at sea, at least to the fears of Augustus, tliat, when he appeared unexpectedly on the coast of Sicily with Jiis fleet, the latter was completely intimidated: apprehending that Pompey ^^■ould land and attack his camp, he deserted it ann Avent on board his fleet. Pompey, however, who always pre- ferred naval eliterprizesj attacked the fleet, ])ut it to flight at the first (mset, captured most of the ships, and burnt find sunk the remainder. Augustus with difficulty escaped in a boat; but, instead of returning to his camp, in Sicily, he fled to Italy, attended only by one domestic. As soon as he recovered from his alarm, he, in conjunction witli Lepidus, determined to attack Messina, in which place Pompey had deposited all his stores, provisions, and treasure. The city accordingly was closely invested, both by sea and land. ■ Pompey, in this emergency, challenged Augustus to decide the war by a sea-fight, with 300 ships on each side. Augustus acceding to this pro}iosal, both fleets were drawn iiie of battle, between 'P My] 186 Progress of Dhcovcrij CHAP. in. l-i forces having agreed to suspend hostilities, and wait the event of the engagement. Agrippa, who commanded Au- gustus's fleet, Ibught with great bravery, and was as bravely o})posed by Pompey ; their respective officers and men emu- lated their example. For a considerable tin)e, the event was doubtful; but, at last, Pompey's fleet was defeated : only seventeen of liis vessels escaped, the rest were taken or burnt. This victory Agrippa obtained at an easy rate, not more than three of his ships being sunk or destroyed. Au- gustvis, who, according to all accounts, behaved in a most cowardly manner during the battle, was so fully sensible of the obligations he wasumder to Agrippa, that he inmiediately honoured him with a blue standard and a rostral crown, that is, a crown, the flower-work of which represented the beaks of galleys, and afterwards, when he became emperor, he raised hini, by rank and honours, above all his other subjects. According to Livy, and some other ajithors, the rostral crown had never been given in any preceding wars, nor was it afterwards bestowed ; but Pliny is of a different opinion, lie says that it was given to M. Varro, in the war against the pirates, by Pompey. After this signal antl decisive defeat of his fleet, Pompey fled from Sicily to Asia, where he attempted to raise dis- turbances; but he was defeated, taken prisoner, and put to death. We must now look back to the naval and commercial his- tory of Rome, immediately aft;er the defeat of the pirates by Pompey the Great. The inmiediate consequence of his success against them was the revival of trade among the peeple who inhabited the coasts of the Mediterranean ; but the Romans, intent on their plans of conquest, or engaged in civil wars, had little share in it. The very nature and extent, however, of their conquests, by making them masters of countries which were either commercial, or which afforded articles of luxury, gradually led them to become more commercial. Hitherto, their conquests and tlieir alliances had been confined almost entirely to the nations on the Mediterranean, or within a short distance of that sea : but Julius Cfpsar directed his ambition to another district of the world; and Gaul was added to the Roman dominions. Transalpine Gaul comprehended Flanders, Holland, Swit- zerland, and part of GermaJiy, as well as France, Its situation, having the ocean to the north and west, and the f I CHAP. I If. wait the idod Aii- is bravely neii eniu- ;hc event :ed : only taken or rate, not ed. Au- 1 a most visible of iTieditttely own, that the beaks leror, he • subjects, le rostral nor was it opinion, gainst the Ponipey nise dis- d put to cial his- irates by of his the ean; but raged in extent, isters of afforded e more illiances on the ea : but t of the , Swit- :e , Its nnd the Jong CHAi'. ii£. lo the Time oj Ptolcrn}] the Geographer. [HI Mediterranean 8ea to the south, was particularly favourable to commerce ; and though, when Cjesar concjuered it, its inhabitants in general were very ignorant and uncivilized, yet we have his express authority, that the knowletlge they possessed of foreign countries, and conmiodities from abroad, made them abound in all sorts of provisions. About 100 years before the Christian era, the Romans, under pretence of assisting the people of Marseilles, carried their arms into Gaul, ancY conquered the district, to the south of the Rhine. This part ot Gaul, long before the Romans invaded it, was celebrated for its commerce, which was carried on very extensively at the port of Marseilles. We liave already mentioned, that this city was founded, or, at least, greatly increased by the Greeks. As the colonists could not, from the narrow boundaries of their territory, and the barrenness of the soil, support themselves by their own intlustry on land, they applied themselves to the sea: at first, as fishermen; then, as pirates ; and afterwartls, as merchants. For forty years they are said to have been tlie most warlike, as well as the most commercial people who frequented tiiC Mediterra- nean, and were celebrated for the excellent consfuction and equipment, both of their merchant ships, and their ships of war. Their maritime laws and institutions were nearly as much celebrated and respected as those of the Rhodians. The wealth which the inhabitants of Marseilles had acquired by commerce, and which was contained or displayed in their fleets, arsenals, and magazines, Jind in their public build- ings, drew upon them the envy of their more savage and poorer neighbours ; and it is })robable they would have fallen a prey to their more warlike habits, had they not formed an alliance with the Romans, who sent an army to their assistance. The commander of this army, after defeating their enemies, granted them all the harbours, and the whole sea-coast, between their city and the confines of Italy ; and thus at once secured their safety and extended their territory. A short time afterwards, Marius conferred on them another benefit, not inferior in importance and utility. While he was waiting for the Cimbri in Transalpine Gaul, he was under great difficulty to procure provisions up the Rhone, in consequence of the mouth of the river being obstructed with sand-banks. To remedy this inconvenience, he undertook a great and laboriinis work, which, from him. .( IBS Progress of Disroxk'fij cww. in. was called I-'ossa Mariiui : this was u large cannl, hc//,■)■. I Hi) soon became, HCCortliii*r- 196 IHAP. Itl. 4 ^ ; others at Rome ; ami amber fo'ined a most important article of traffic. This was found in g.'eat abundance on the Baltic sljore of Gerriany : at first, it seems to have been carried the whole length of the continent, to the Veneti, who forwarded it to Rome. Afterwards, in consequence of the great demand for it there, and its high price, the Romans sent people ex- pressly to purchase it in the north of Germany : and their land journies, in search of tlis article, first made them ac- quainted with the naval powers of the Baltic. The Estii, a German tribe, who inhabited the amber country, gathered and sold it to the Roman traders, and were astonished at the price they received for it. In Nero's time it was in such high request, that that emperor resolved to send Julianus, a knight, to procure it for him in large quantities : accordingly, a kind of embassy was formed, at the head of which he was placed. ■He set out from Carnuntum, a fortress on the banks of the Danube, and after travelling, according to Pliny, 600 miles, arrived at the amber coast. There he bought, or received as a present, "or the emperor, 1 .S,000 pounds weight, among whicli was one piece that weighed thirteen pounds. The whole of th's immense quantity served ftr the decoration of one day, on \>'iich Nero gave an entertainment of gladiators. In the time of Theodoric, king of the Goths, the Estii sent tht-„ monarch a large quantity of amber, as the most likely present by means of which they could obtain his alliance. They in- formed the ambassadors, whom he sent with a letter acknow- ledging this present, that they were ignorant whence the amber Came, but that it was thrown upon their coast by the sea, a fact which exactly agrees with what occiu's at present. Whether the Estii, with whom the Romans carried on this traffic, were a maiitime nation, we are not informed ; but there was another nation or tribe of Germans on the Baltic, of whose maritime character some notices are given. These were the Sitones, who, according to Tacitus, had powerful fleets ; their ships were built with two prows, so as to steer at both ends, and prevent the necessity of putting about ; their oars were not fixed, like those of the Mediterranean vessels, but loose, so that they could easily and quickly be shifted : they used no sails. The people of Taprobane (Ceylon) — the Byzantines, and, on some occasions, the Romans also, employed vessels, like those of the Sitones, which could be steered at both ends. One of the most considerable revolutions in the maritime! H' OH A p. in, it article of the Baltic carried the forwarded at demand people ex- and their e them ac- lie Estii, a ', gathered shed at the 1 such high s, a knight, gly, a kind was placed, lanks of the , 600 miles, received as moug which he whole of of one day, ars. In the tii sent thu. kely present 'They in- ter acknow- ce the amber y the sea, a sent. rried on this but there tic, of whose ese were the fleets; their both ends, ir oars were but loose, they used Byzantines, oyeci vessels, ed at both ;he maritime* t'HAl'. HI. to the Time uj Ptolciit^ the Gaigittphcr, \9\ and commercial affairs of Rome, was brouglit about by the battle of Actium. The fleet of Anthony was composed chiefly of ships belonging to the Egyptians, Tyrians, and other na- tions of the east, and amounted, according tt) some accounts, to 200 sail, whereas the fleet of Augustus consisted of 400 sail. Other authors estimate them differently; but all agree that the ships of Anthony were much larger, stronger, and loftier, than those of Caesar : they were consequently more unwieldy. We have the express testimony of Plutarch, that it was principally this victory which convinced Caesar of the advantages and extraordinary use of the I^iburnian ships ; for though they had been employed before this time in the Roman fleet, yet they had never been so serviceable in any previous battle. Augustus, therefore, as well as most of the succeed- ing emperors of Rome, scarcely built any other ships but those according to the Liburnian model. One of the first objects of Augustus, after he had ob tained the empire, was to secure the command of the sea : he made use of the ships which he had captured from Anthony to keep the people of Gaul in subjection ; and he cleared the Mediterranean of the pirates which infested it and obstructed commerce. He formed two fleets, one at Ravenna, and the other at Misenum; the former to command the eastern, the latter the western division of the Mediter- ranean : each of these had its own proper commanders, an CHAP. 111. 'rejus, on vith 3000 leen Gaul [mtnber of oon as the he legion- s at land, ;a service, koned less roper one ,n empire; ete, it will ransactions erefore, in lie Roman condly, an xnd, lastly, le laws and ided on the ine and the )uth by the vhich it re- ritain: with lat emperor so achieved rned by his {oman em- nost limits. e that were the Roman 000: if to id children, Itj there- were twice their wives in number nan empiie lire will be ich it con- stances the ::hap. 111. io the Time (>/' Ptvljunj the Geogtuiplut: 199 extent and population of many places which were honoured with the appellation of cities. Ancient Italy is said to have contained 1 197, Gaul 1200, of which many, such as Marseilles, Narbonne, Lyons, &c. were large and flourishing; Spain 300, Africa 300, and Asia Proper 500, of which many were very populous. 2. Ail these cities were connected with one another and with Rome itself by means of the public highways : these issuing from the forum, traversed Italy, pervaded the provinces, and were terminated only by the frontiers of the empire. The groat chain of communication formed by means of them from the extreme north-west limit of the empire, through Rome to the south-east limit, was in length nearly 4000 miles. These roads were formed in the most substantial manner, and with astonish- ing labour and expence; they were raised so as to command a prospect of the adjacent country ; on each side was a row of large stones for foot passengers. The miles were reckoned from the gates of the city and marked on stones : at shorter dis- tances there were stones for travellers to rest on, or to assist those who wished to mount their horses : there were ci'oss roads I'rom the principal roads. The care and management of all the roads were entrusted only to men of the highest rank. Augustus himself took charge of those near Rome, and appointed two men of praetorian rank to pave the I'oads : at the distance of five or six miles houses were built, each of which was constantly provided with forty horses; but these could only be used in the public service, except by particular and express authority. By means of the relays thus furnished, the Romans could travel along their excellent roads 100 miles a day : they had no public posts. Augustus first introduced public couriers among the Romans; but they were employed only to forward the publicxlespatches, or to convey public intel- ligence of gi-eat and lirgent importance. Such was the facililty of communication by land from all parts of the empire to Rome, and from each part to all the other parts : nor was .he communication of the empire less free and open by sea than it was by land. " The provinces surrounde(l and enclosed the Mediterranean; and Italy, in the shape of an immense promontory, advanced into the midst of that great lake." From Ostia, situated at the mouth of the Tiber, only sixteen miles from the capital, a favourable wind frequently carried vessels in seven days to the straits of Gib- raltar, and in nine or ten to Alexandria, in Egypt. 'i. In enumerating the principal articles imported into Rome, o 4 >^ li tU ** 2v.iO Progress of' Di&covery t'HA!'. I J I. ff % i ^h for the use of its immense und luxurious population, we shall, necessarily, recapitulate, in some degree, what has already been . ated in giving an accoimt of the commerce of the different k;ountries which were conquered by the Romans. But this ob- jection, we conceive, will be abundantly counterbalanced by the connected and complete view which we shall thus be enabled to give of the connnerce of the Roman empire. Before, however, we enter on this subject, we shall briefly consider the ideas entertained by the Romans on the subject of commerce. We have already had occasion incidentally to remark that the Romans thought meanly of it, and that their grand object in all their conquests was the extension of their tei'ritory ; and that they even neglected the commercial facilities and advantages, which they might have secured by their con- tjuests. This was most decidedly the case during the time of the republic. The statue of Victory, which was erected in the port of Ostia, and the medals of the year of Rome 630, marked on the reverse with two ships and a victory, prove that at this period the Roman fleets that sailed from this port were chiefly designed for war. The prefects of tlie fleet were not employed, nor did they consider it as their duty to attend to commerce, or to the merchant ships, except so far as to protect them against the pirates. Of the low opinion enter- tained by the Romans respecting commerce we have the direct testimony of Cicero : writing to his son on the subject of pro- fessions, he reprobates and condemns all retail trade as mean and sordid, which can be carried on successfully only by means of lying. Even the merchant, unless he deals very extensively, he views with contempt ; if, however, he imports from every quarter articles of great value and in great abundance, and sells them in a fair and equitable manner, his profession is not much to be contemned; especially if, aft;er having madeafortune, be retires from business, and spends the rest of his life in agri- cultui'al pursuits : in this case, he deserves even positive praise. There is another passage of Cicero, quoted by Dr. Vincent, in his Periplus, in which the same sentiments are expressed : he says, " Is such a man, who was a merchant and neighbour of Scipio, greater than Scipio because he is richer ?" Pliny, also, though in his natural history he expatiates in praise ofagricultui'e and gardenmg, medicine, painting and statuary, passes over merchandize with the simple observation that it was invented by the Phoenicians. In the periplus of the Erythrean sea, and iu the works of Ptolemy, &c. the names of many merchants anil I H I (HA!*. ilH. , v/e shall, eiuly been 2 different It this ob- ced by the )e enabled lall briefly subject of lentally to that their :)n of their al facilities their con- ;he time of erected in Rome 630, ory, prove n this port ! fleet were y to attend L> far as to nion enter- ! the direct ect of pro- le as mean y by means xtensively, from every Jance, and ssion is not e a fortune, life in agri- Itive praise. Vincent, in ressed : he ighbour of i'liny, also, griculture lasses over nvented by sea, and in hants and CHAI». III. fo the Time of Ptulcmif Hit: Geograj)/ui. 201 navigators occur; but they are all Greeks. Even after the coiKjuest of Egypt, which gave a more commercial character to the Roman manners, habits, and mode of thinking than they previously possessed, no lioman was permitted to engage in the trade of that country. Although, however, mercantile pursuits were thus underrated and despised by the warlike portion of the nation, as well as by the philosophers, yet they were followed by those who regarded gain as the principal object of life. 1 he wealth of merchants became proverbial : immense numbers of them followed the armies, and fixed in the provinces subdued or allied, — the Italici generis homines^ who were agents, traders, and monopolizers, such as Jugurtha took in IZama, or the 100,000 Mithridates slaughtered in Asia Minor, or the merchants killed at Genabum (Orleans). In the passage quoted from Cicero de Ofliciis, he expressly mentions the merchant who imports ; but he does not once allude to exportation. Indeed, the commerce of the Romans, in the most luxurious period of the empire, was entirely con- fined to importation, and may, with few exceptions, be desig- nated as consisting in the expenditure of the immense revenue they derived from their conquests, and the immense fortunes of individuals, in the necessaries, comforts, and, above all, the luxuries of the countries which they had conquered. By far the most extensive and important trade which tlie Romans carriet, on at all periods of their history, was the conveyance of corn and other provisions to the capital. The contiguous territory at no time was sufficient to supply Rome with corn ; and, long before the republic was destroyed, even Italy was inadequate to this pui^pose. As the population encreased, and the former corn fields were converted into pleasure-grounds or pasture, the demand for corn was propor- tionally encreased, and the supply from the neighbourhood proportionally diminished. But there was another circum- stance which rendered a regular and full supply of corn an object of prime importance : the influence of the patron de- pended on his largesses of corn to his clients ; jmd the popu- larity, and even the reign of an emperor, was not secure, unless he could insure to the inhabitants this indispensable necessary of life. There were several laws respecting tlie distribution of corn : by one passed in the year of Rome 680, five bushels were to be given monthly to each of the '202 Prof^irss of Dir.covcrij (IIAI*. 111. ti i 1 K li poorer citizens, niul nioiicy was to be advanced annually from the trejisury, sulHcient to purchase 800,000 bushels of wheat, of three diflerent qualities and prices. By the Sempronian law, this corn was to be sold to the poor inhabitants at a very low price ; but by the Clodian law it was to be distributed gratis : the granaries in wliich this corn was kept were called Horrea Senipronia. The number of citizens who received corn by public distribution, hi the time of Augustus,^ amounted to 200,000. Julius Caesar had reduced the number from .'J20,000 to 1 .50,000. It is doubtful whether five bushels were the allowance of each individual or of each family; but if Dr. Arbuthnot be correct in estimating the modius at fourteen pounds, the allow- ance must have been for each family, amounting to one quarter seven bushels, and one peck per annum. We liave dwelt on these particulars for the purpose of pointing out the extreme importance of a regular and full supply of corn to Rome ; and this importance is still further proved by the special appointment of magistrates to superin- tend this article. The prefect, or governor of the market, was an ancient establishment in the Roman republic ; his duty was to procure corn : on extraordinary occasions, this magistrate was created for this express purpose, and ihe powers granted him seem to have been increased in the latter periods of the republic, and still more, after the republic was destroyed. Pompey, who held this office, possessed greater power and privileges than his immediate predecessor, and in a time of great scarcity. Augustus, himself, undertook the charge of providing the corn : it was at the same time deter- mined, that for the future, two men of the rank of praitors should be annually elected for this purpose; four were afterwards appointed. It would seem, however, that even their appointment became an ordinary and regular thing : the emperors themselves superintended the procuring of corn, for one of their titles was that of commissary-general of corn. Besides this magistrate, whose business was confined to the buying and importing of corn, there were two aediles, first appointed by .Julius Caesar, whose duty it was to inspect the public stores of corn and other provisions. Till the time of Julius Caesar, the foreign corn for the supply of Rome was imported into Puteoli, a town of Cam- pania, between Baioe and Naples, about seventy miles from ,1 ^ cHAi'. in. iimlly from I of wheat, lenipronian s at a very distributed vere called •eived corn louiited to 320,000 to ! allowance [juthnot be the allow- >ne quarter :)urpose of r and full till further to superin- le market, ublic ; his ,sions, this , and the the latter public was ed greater and in ertook the ime deter- )f praetors bur were that even ar thing : ring of ireneral of >n fined to diles, first pect the IS •n for the of Cam- liles from i CHAP. III. io the Tiinv of Ptohnrnj llw Geoy^mplia: •203 the capital. As this was very inconvenient, CV'sar formed the plan of making an artificial harbour at the mouth of the Tiber, at Ostia. This plan, however, was not at this time carried into execution : Claudius, however, in consecjiience of a dreadful famine which raged at Home, A. 1). 42, resolved to accomplish it. He accordingly dug a spacious basin in the main land ; the entrance to which was formed and pro- tected by artificial moles, which advanced far into the sea ; there was likewise a little island before the mouth of the harbour, on which a light-house was built, after the model of the Pharos of Alexandria. By the formation of this harbour, tile largest vessel could securely ride at anchor, within three deep and capacious basins, which received the northern branch of the Tiber, about two miles from the ancient colony of Ostia. Into this port corn arrived for the supply of Rome from various countries ; inmiense quantities of wheat wci'c furnished by the island of Sicily. Kgypt was another of the granaries of the capital of the world ; according to Josephus, it sup- plied Rome with corn sufficient for one-third of its whole consumi^tion : and Augustus established regular corn voy- ages from Alexandria to the capital. Great quantities were also imported from Thrace, and from Africa Proper. The ships employed in the corn trade, especially between Egypt and Rome, were the largest of any in the Mediterranean : this probably arose from the encouragement given to this trade by Tiberius, and afterwards increased by Claudius. The former emperor gave a bounty of about fourpence on every peck of corn imported : and Claudius, during the time of the famine, made the bounty so gi*eat as, at all events, and in every instimce, to secure the importers a certain rate of profit. He also used all his efforts to persuade the mer- chants to import it even in winter, taking upon himself all the losses, &c. which might arise from risking their ships and cargoes, at a time of the year when it was the invariable practice of the ancients to lay the former up. Whenever an emperor had distinguished himself by a large importation of corn, especially, if by this means a famine was avoided or removed, medals seem to have been struck commemorative oi the circumstance ; thus, on several medals there is a figure of a shij), and the words Annona Aug. or Ceres Aug. Many of these were struck under Nero, and m 204< Progress of Discoverif CHAP. III. were During struck, the time of the republic, also, with the figure of a prow of shewing the object for which Antoninus Pius. similar medals a ship, and an inscription the fleets had baen sent. Having been thus particular in describing the importation of corn, we shall notice the imports of other articles in a more cursory manner. The northern parts of Italy furnished salt pork, almost sufficient for the whole consumption of Rome, tapestry, and woollen cloths, wool, and marble ; to convey the latter, there were ships of a peculiar form and construction ; steel, crystal, ice, and cheese. From Liguria, Rome received wood for building, of a very large size, ship timber, fine and beautiful wood for tables, cattle, hides, honey, and coarse wool. Etruria, also, supplied timber, cheese, wine, and stone ; the last was ship- ped at the ports of Pisa and Luna. Pitch and tar were sent from Brutium ; oil and wine from the country of the Sabines. Such were the principal imports from the different parts of Italy. From Corsica, timber for ship builduig ; from Sardinia, a little corn and cattle; from Sicily, besides corn, — wine, honey, salt, saffi'on, cheese, cattle, pigeons, corals, and a species of emerald. Cloth, but whether linen or cotton is uncertain, was imported from Malta ; honey, from Attica. Lacedemon supplied green marble, and the dye of the purple shell-fish. From the Grecian islands, there were imported Parian mar- ble, the earthenware of Samos, the vermilion of Lemnos, and other articles, principally of luxury. Thrace supplied salted tunnies, the produce of the Euxine Sea, besides corn. The finest wool was imported from Colchis, and also hemp, flax, pitch, and fine linens : these goods, as well as articles brought overland from India, were shipped from the port of Phasis. The best cheese used at Rome, was imported from Bithynia. Phrygia supplied a stone like alabaster, and the country near Laodicea, wool of excellent quality, some of which was of a deep black colour. The wine drank at Rome, was principally the produce of Italy ; the best foreign wine, was imported from Ionia. Woollen goods, dyed with Tyrian purple, were imported from Miletus, in Caria. An inferior species of diamond, copper, resin, and sweet oil were imported from Cyprus. Cedar, gums, balsam, and .'ilabaslcr, were supplied by Syria, Phoenicia, and Palestine. Glass was importetl from Sidon, as well as embroidery and 16 CHAP. ni. to the. Time of Ptolemy the Geographer. 2or» JAP. Ill* .0, also, prow of r which lortation les in a 'urnished iiption ot irble; to form and ing, of a wood for uria, also, was ship- tar were Lry of the e diiFerent lardinia, a ne, honey, species of uncertain, ^acedemoa shell-fish, uian mar- ^mnos, and )lied salted orn. The ilso hemp, as articles the port of )orted from 3r, and the y, some of drank at jest foreign dyed with :;aria. An sweet oil alsam, and [I Palestine, oidtry and purple dye, and several kinds of fish, from Tyre. The goods that were brought from India, by the route of Palmyra, were shipped for Rome, from the ports of Syria. Egypt, besides corn, supphed flax, fine linen, ointments, marble, alabaster, salt, alum, gums, paper, cotton goods, some of which, as well us of their linens, seem to have been coloured or printed, glass ware, &c. The honey lotus, the lotus, or nym- phaea of Egypt, the stalk of which contained a sweet sub- stance, which was considered as a luxury by the Egyptians, and used as bread, was sometimes carried to Rome ; . it was also used as provision for mariners. Alexandria was the port from which all the produce and manufactories of Egypt, as well as all the ports which passed through this country from India, were shipped. In consequence of its becoming the seat of the Roman government in Egypt, of the protection which it thus received, and of its commerce being greatly extended by the increased wealth and luxury of Rome, its extent and population were greatly augmented ; according to Diodorus Siculus, in the time of Augustus, from whose reign it became the greatest emporium of the world, it contained 300,000 free people. That part of Africa which was formerly possessed by the Carthaginians, besides corn, sent to Rome, honey, drugs, marble, the eggs and feathers of the ostrich, ostriches, elephants, and lions ; the last for the amphitheatre. From Mauritania, there were exported to the capital, timber of a fine grain and excellent quality, the exact nature of which is not known ; this was sold at an enormous rate, and used principally for making very large tables. Spain supplied Rome with a very great mmiber and variety of articles ; from the southern parts of it were ex- ported corn, wine, oil, honey, wax, pitch, scarlet dye, ver- milion, salt, salted provisions, wool, &c. From the eastern part of the north of Spain were exported salted provisions, cordage made of the sportiim, silver, earthenware, linen, steel, &c. The Balearic islands exported some wine. The trade of Spain to Rome employed a great numbc* of vessels, almost as many as those which were employed in the whole of the African trade; this was especially the case in the reigns of Augustus and Tiberius. Even in the time of Julius Caesar, Spain had acquired great wealth, principally by her exports to Rome. The ports from which the greatest part of these commodities were shipped, were Cadiz, New it 206 Progress of Discovery CHAP. rir. fH I s ! I . ■ i' l- Carthage, and a port at the mouth of the Boctis, where, for the security of the shipping, a light-house had been built. Cadiz was deemed the rival of Alexandria in importance, shipping, and commerce; and so great was the resort of mer- chants, &c. to it, that many of them, not being able to build houses for want of room on the land, lived entirely upon the water. From Gaul, Rome received gold, silver, iron, &c. which were sent as part of the tribute ; also linens, corn, cheese, and salted pork. Immense flocks of geese travelled by land to Rome. The chief ports which sent goods to Rome were Marseilles, Aries, and Narbonne, on the Mediterranean ; and on the Ocean, Bourdeau, and the port of the Veneti. It appears that there were a considerable number of Italian or Roman merchants resident in Gaul, whose principal trade it was to carry the wine made in the south of this province, up the Rhine, and there barter it for slaves. From Britain, Rome was supplied with tin, lead, cattle, hides, ornaments of bone, vessels made of amber and glass, pearls, slaves, dogs, bears, &c. The tin was either shipped from the island of Ictis (Isle of Wight), or sent into Gaul : most of the other articles reached Rome through Geul. The principal article brought to Rome was amber. We now come to the consideration of the articles with which Asia supplied Rome ; these, as may be easily imagined, were principally articles of luxury. The murrhine cups, of the nature of which there has been much unsatisfactory dis- cussion, according to Pliny, came from Karmania in Parthia ; from Parthia they came to Egypt, and thence to Rome. It is probable, however, that they came, in the first instance, from India, as they are expressly mentioned by the author of the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, as brought down from the capital of Guzerat, to the port of Baragyza. These cups were first seen at Rome, in the triumphal procession of Pompey, when he returned from the shores of the Caspian Sea. They sold at enormous prices ; and were employed at the tables only of the great and wealthy, as cups for drinking ; they were in general of a small size. One, which held three pints, sold for nearly 14,000/.; and Nero gave nearly 59,000/. for another. So highly were they prized, that, in the conquest of Egypt, Augustus was content to select, for his own share, out of all the spoils of Alexandria, a single HAP. ni. lere, for !n built. )ortance, i of mer- to build upon ibe liich were ind salted me. The 2S, Aries, e Ocean, ears that • Roman it was to e, up the fid, cattle, and glass, ;r shipped nto Gaul : aul. The CHAP. irr. to the Time of Ptolemy the Geographrr. 207 tides with imagined, 3 cups, ot actory dis- n Parthia ; to Rome, the first itioned by s brought Baragyza. triumphal he shores and were ly, as cups lize. One, and Nero icy prized, it to select, |ia, a single murrhine cup.* Precious stones and pearls were imported from Persia and Babylonia ; the latter country also furnished the wealthy Romans with tnclinaria, which was furniture of some description, but whether quilts, carpets, or curtains is not ascertained. Persia supplied also incense of a very supe- rior quality. Tlie various and valuable commodities with which Arabia supplied the profusion and luxury of Rome, reached that capital trom the port of Alexandria in Egypt. We cannot enumerate the whole of them, but must confme ourselves to a selection of the most important and valuable. Great demand, and a high rate of profits necessarily draw to any particular trade a great number of merchants ; it is not surprising, therefore, that the trade in the luxuries of the east was so eagerly followed at Rome. Pliny informs us, that the Roman world was exhausted by a drain of 400,000/. a year, for the purchase of luxuries, equally expensive and superfluous ; and in another place, he estimates the rate of profit made at Rome, by the importation and sale of oriental luxuries at 1 00 per cent. Arabia furnished diamonds, but these were chiefly of a small size, and other gems and pearls. At Rome the diamond possessed the highest value ; the pearl, the second ; and the emei-ald, the third. Nero used an emerald as an eye-glass for short sight. But though large and very splendid dia- monds brought a higher price at Rome than pearls, yet the latter, in general, were in much greater repute ; they were worn in almost every part of the dress, by persons of almost every rank. The famous pearl ear-rings of Cleopatra were valued at 161,458/., and Julius Caesar presented the mother of Brutus witli a pearl, for which he paid 48,457/. Frank- incense, myrrh, and other precious drugs, were also brought to Rome from Arabia, through the port of Alexandria. There was a great demand at Rome for spices and aromatics, from the custom of the Romans to burn their dead, and also from the consumption of frankincense, &c. in their temples. At the funeral of Sylla 210 bundles of spices were used. Nero burnt, at the funeral of Poppaea, more cinnamon and cassia than the countries from which they were imported produced in one year. In the reign of Augustus, according to Horace, one whole street was occupied by those v.ho dealt in frank- * The most probable oiMi\ion is, that they wcic made of fluat of lime, or Derhj ihire spar. , • 208 Pro^irss of Dhcovcri) CHAP. \\\. % ^. incense, pepper, and other aromatics. Frankincense was also imported into Rome frome Gaza, on the coast of Palestine ; according to Pliny, it was brought to this place by a caravan, that was sixty-two days on its journey : the length of the journey, frauds, impositions, duties, &c. brought every camel's load to upwai'd of 22/. ; and a pound of the best sort sold at Rome for ten shillings. Alexandria, however, was the great emporium for this, as well as all the other produce of India and Arabia. Pliny is express and particular on this })oint, and takes notice of the precautions employed by the mer- chants there, in order to guard against adultei'ation and fraud. Cinnamon, another of the exports of Arabia to Rome, though not a production of that country, was also in high repute, and brought an extravagant price. Vespasian was the first who dedicated crowns of cinnamon, inclosed in gold filagree, in the Capitol and the Temple of Peace ; and Livia dedicated the root in the Palatine Temple of Augustus. The plant itself was brought to the emperor Marcus Aurelius in a case seven feet long, and was exhibited at Rome, as a very great rarity. This, however, we are expressly informed came from Barbarike in India. It seems to have been highly valued by other nations as well as by the Romans : Antiochus Epiphanes carried a few boxes of it in a triumphal procession: and Seleucus Callinicus presented two minae of it and two of cassia, as a gift to the king of the Milesians. In the enumeration of tlie gifts made by this monarch, we may, perhaps, trace the comparative rarity and value of the different spices of aroma- tics among the ancients : of frankincense he presented ten talents, of myrrh one talent, of cassia two pounds, of cin- namon tivo pounds, and of costus one pound. Frankincense and myrrh were the productions of Arabia ; the other ai'ticles of India ; of course the former could be procured with much less difficulty and expence than the latter. Spikenard, an- other Indian commodity, also reached Rome, through Arabia, by means of the port of Alexandria. Pliny mentions, that both the leaves and the spices were of great value, and that the odour was the most^ esteemed in the composition of all unguents. The price at Rome was 100 denarii a pound. The markets at which the Arabian and other merchants bought it were Patala on the Indus, Ozeni, and a mart on or near the Changes. Sugar, also, but of a quality inferior to that of India, was imported from Arabia, through Alexandria, into Rome. Tlie %J CHAP. in. ;cnse was coast of s place by the length ught every le best sort er, was the produce ot lar on this bythemer- i and fraud. ,me, though liffh repute, was the first rold filagree, ]ia dedicated The plant us in a case a very great ;d came fiom ^y valued by us Epipl^anes cession: and I two of cassia, lumeration of ips, trace the ces of aroma- ^resented ten lunds, of cin- Frankincense other articles ,ed with much pikenard, an- •ough Arabia, nentions, that [ilue, and that k)osition of all larii a pound, [ler merchants a mart on ov of India, was lo Rome. The cu.vp. III. to tlic Time of Ploh'mij the Geograi^her. '209 Indian sugar, wliich is expressly mentioned by Pliny, as better and higher priced, was brought to Home, but by whpt route is not exactly known, probably by means of the merchants who traded to the east coast of Africa; where the Arabians either found it, or imported it fi-om India. In the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, and likewise in the rescript of the Roman emperors, relative to the articles imported into Egypt from the East, whicli was promulgated by Marcus Aurelius and his son Commodus, about the year A. D. 1 76, it is denominated cane-honey, otherwise called sugar (sacchar). So early, therefore, as the Periplus (about the year A. D. 73,) the name of sacchar was known to the Romans, and applied by them to sugar. This word does not occur in any earlier author, unless Dioscorides lived before that period, which is uncertain. It may be remai'ked, that the nature, as well as the proper ap- pellation of sugar, must have been but imperfectly, and not ge- nerally known, even at the time of the rescript, otherwise the explanatory phrase, honey made from cane, would not have been employed. The first information respecting sugar was brought to Europe by Nearchus, the admiral of Alexander. In a passage quoted from his journal by Strabo, it is described as honey made from reeds, there being no bees in tliat part of India. In a fragment of Theoph»'astus, preserved by Pho- tius, he mentions, among other kinds of honey, one that is found in reeds. The first mention of any preparation, by which the juice of the reed was thickened, occurs in Eratosthenes, as quoted by Strabo, where he describes roots of large reeds found in India, which were sweet to the taste, both when raw and boiled. Dioscorides and Pliny describe it as used chiefly, if not entirely, for medical purposes. In the time of Galen, A. D. 131, it would appear to have become more com- mon and cheaper at Rome ; for he classes it with medicines that may be easily procured. It seems probable, that though the Arabians undoubtedly cultivated the sugar-cane, and supplietl Rome with sugar from it, yet they dei'i/ed their knowledge of it from India ; for the Arabic name, shuker, which was adopted by the Greeks and Romans, is formed from the two middle syllables of Ihe Sanskrit v/ord, ich-shu- casa. But to return from this digression to the view of the imports into Rome : Ethiopia supplied the capital with cinnamon of an inferior quality; marble, gems, ivory; the horns of the i^cu::^:;:::^: 210 J^rogrrss of Discovery CHAP. III. It ' I rhinoceros and tortoiseshell. The last article was in great demand, and brought a high price: it was used for ornament, for furniture ; as beds, tables, doors, &c. ; not only in Italy, but in Greece and Egypt : the finest sort was sold for its weight of silver. It was imported not only from Ethiopia but also from the east coast of Africa, and reached Rome even from Malabar and Malacca. The opsian stone mentioned in the Pei-iplus, and the opsidian stone desci'ibed by Pliny, are stated in both these authors to have come from Ethiopia; but whether they were -the same, and their exact nature, are not known. The opsian is described ns capable of receiving a high polish, and on that account as having been used by the Emperor Domitian to face a' portico. Pliny describes it as employed to line rooms in the same manner as mirrors ; he distinguishes it from a spurious kind, which was red, but not transparent. The dye extracted from the purple shell fish was imported into Rome from Getulia, a country on the south side of Mauritania. Rome was supplied with the commodities of India chiefly from Egypt ; but there were other routes by which also they reached the capital : of these it will be proper to take some notice. The most ancient communication between India and the countries on the Mediterranean was by the Persian Gulf, through Mesopotamia, to the coasts of Syria and Palestine. To facilitate the commerce which was carried on by this route, Solomon is supposed to have built Tadmor m the wilderness, or Palmyra : the situation of this place, which, though in the midst of barren sands, is plentifully supplied with water, and has immediately round it a fertile soil, was peculiarly favorable ; as it was only 85 miles from the Euphrates, and about 117 from the nearest part of the Me- diterranean. By this route the most valuable commodities of India, most of which were of such small bulk as to bear the expence of a long land carriage, were conveyed. From the age of Nebuchadnezzar to the Macedonian conquest, Tiredon on the Euphrates was the city at which this commer- cial route began, and which the Babylonians made use of, as the channel of their oriental trade. Afler the destruction of Tyre by that monarch, a great part of the traffic which had passed by Arabia, or the Red Sea, through Idumea and Egypt, and that city, was diverted to the Persian Gulf, and through his territories in Mesopotamia it passed by Palmyra I'.IIAP. HI' CHAP. III. to the Time of Ptolemy the Geographer. 211 ts in great ornament, Ly in Italy, r its weight I but also even from oned in the Pliny, ai'e hiopia; but ire, are not receiving a used by the scribes it as mirrors; he red, but not le shell fish mtry on the India chiefly lich also they to take some .n India and Persian Gulf, and Palestine, -d on by this ^admor in the place, which, tifuUy supplied a fertile soil, niles iVom the art of the Me- ie commodities lulk as to bear Aveyed. From jiiian conquest, [h this commer- is made use of, the destruction he traffic which [ffh Idumea and •sian Gulf, and led by Palmyra and Damascus, through Syria to the west. After the reduction of Babylon by Cyrus, the Persians, who paid no attention to commerce, suffered Babylon and Ninevan to sink into ruin ; but Palmyra still remained, and flourished as a co^iniercial city. Under the Seleucidee it seems to have reached its highest degree of importance, splendour, and wealth ; principally by supplying the Syrians with Indian commodities. For upwards of two centuries after the conquest of Syria by the Romans it remained free, and its friendship and alliance were courted both by them and the Parthians. During this period we have the express testimony of Appian, that it traded with both these nations, and that Rome and the other parts of the empire received the commodities of India from it. In the year A. D. 273, it was reduced and destroyed by Aurelian, who found in it an immense treasure of gold, silver, silk, and precious stones. From this period, it never revived, or became a place of the least importance or trade. On the conquest of Babylon by Cyrus, the commercial communication between India and Europe returned to Arabia in the south, and to the Caspian and the Euxine in the north : there seem to have been two routes by these seas, both of great antiquity. In describing one of them, the ancient writers are supposed to have confounded the river Ochus, whicii falls into the Caspian, with the Oxus, which falls into the lake of Aral. On this supposition, the route may be traced in the following manner : the produce and manufac- tuers of India were collected at Patala, a town near the mouth of the Indus; they were carried in vessels up this river as far as it wis navigable, where they were landed, and conveyed by caravans to the Oxus : being again shipped, they descended this river to the point wliere it approached nearest to the Ochus, to which they were conveyed by caravans. By the Ochus they were conveyed to the Caspian, and across it to the mouth of the river Cyrus, which was ascended to where it appi oacned nearest the Phasis : caravans were employed again, till the merchandize were embarked at Sei'apana on the Phasis, and thus brought to the Black Sea. According to Pliny, Pompey took great pains to inform himself of mis route ; and he ascertained, that by going up the Cyrus the goods would be brought within five day's journey of the Phasis. There seems to have been some plan formed at different times, and thougi^t of by the Emperor Claudius, to join Asia to p 2 ill M \ .1 n '212 I*i O'j:! rss of Discove) u CHAP. III. k V Europe and the Caspian Sea, by a canal from the Cimmerian Bosphorus to the Caspian Sea. The route which we have thus particularly described was sometimes deviated from by the merchants: they carried their good? up the Oxus till it fell into lake Aral; crossing this, they transported them in caravans to the Caspian, and as- cending the Wolga to its nearest approach to the Tanais, they crossed to the latter by land, and descended it to the sea of Azoph. Strabo describes another route : viz. across the Caucasus, from the Caspian to the Black Sea ; this writer, however, must be under some mistake, for camels, which he expressly says were employed, would be of no use in crossing the moun- tains ; it is probable, therefoi'e, that this land communication was round by the mouth of the Caspian, — a route which was frequented by the merchants of the middle ages. As the Euxine Sea was the grand point to which all these routes tended, the towns on it became the resort of an im- mense number of merchants, even at very early ages; and the kingdoms of Prusias, Attains, and Mithridates were enriched by their commerce. Herodotus mentions, that the trade of the Euxine was conducted by interpreters of seven different languages. In the time of Mithridates, 300 different nations, or tribes, met for commercial purposes at Dioscurias in Colchis ; and soon after the Romans conquered the countries lying on the Euxine, there were 130 interpreters of languages employed in this and the other trading towns. The Romans, however, as soon as they became jealous, or afraid, of the power of the Parthians, would not suffer them, or any other of the northern nations, to traffic by the Euxine; but endeavoured, as far as they could, to confine the commerce of the East to Alexandria : the consequence was, that even so early as the age of Pliny, Dioscurias was deserted. The only article of import into Rome that remains to be considered is silk : the history of the knowledge and impor- tation of this article among the ancients, and the route by which it was obtained, will comprise all that it will be necessary to say on this subject. The knowledge of silk was first brought into Europe through the conquests of Alexander the Great. Strabo quotes a passage from Nearchus, in which it is mentioned, but apparently confounded, with cotton. It is well known that Aristotle obtained a full and accurate account of all the dis- CHAT. III. 3 Cimmerian ascribed was carried their /lussing this, )ian, and a.s- the Tanais, ded it to the the Caucasus, ter, however, he expressly mg the moini- ommunication ute which was ihich all these sort of an im- ages; and the were enriched at the trade of seven different fferent nations, Dioscurias in d the countries vs of languages The Romans, afraid, of the or any other ot ut endeavoured, of the East to so early as the t remains to be ilge and impor- e route by which be necessary to It into Europe Great. Strabo i mentioned, but veil known that t of all the dis- ClIAP. Jil. lo the Time of Ptdemif the Geo^ntpher. 213 coveries in natural history which were made during the conquests of Alexander, and he gives a particular descrijjtion of the silk worm; so particular, indeed, that it is surprising how the ancients could, for nearly 600 years after his death, be ignorant of the nature and origin of silk. He describes the silk worm as a horned worm, which he calls bombyx, which passes through several transformat!^' s, and produces bombytria. It does not appear, however, that he wa^ acquaint- ed either with the native country of this work, or with such a people as the Seres ; and this is the only reason for be- lieving that he may allude entirely to a kind of silk made at Cos, especially as he adds, that some women in this island decomposed the bombytria, and re-wove and re-spun it. Pliny also mentions the bombyx, and describes it as a native of Assyria ; he adds, that the Assyrians made bombytria from it, and that the inhabitants of Cos learnt the manufacture from them. The most propable suj)position is, that silk was spun and wove in Assyria and Cos, but tlie raw material imported into these countries from the Seres ; for the silk worm was deemed by the Greeks and Romans so exclusively and pre-eminently the attribute of the Sina?, thaf from this very circumstance, they were denominated seres, or silk worms, by the ancients. The next authors who mention silk are Virgil, and Diony- sius the geographer ; Vii'gil supposed the Seres to card their silk from leaves, — Velleraque litfoliis depectimt tcnuia Seres. — Dionysius, who was sent by Augustus to draw up an account of the Oriental regions, says, that rich and valuable garments were manufactured by the Seres from threads, finer than those C'f the spider, which they combed from flowers. It is not exactly known at what period silk garments were first worn at Rome : Lipsius, in his notes on Tacitius, says, in the reign of Julius Caesar. In the beginning of the reign of Tiberius, a law was made, that no man should dishonor himself by wearing a silken garment. We have already stated the opinion entertained by Pliny respecting the native covmtry of the silk worm ; this author condemns in forcible, though affected language, the thirst of gain, which explored the re- motest parts of the earth for the purpose of exposing to the public eye naked draperies and transparent matrons. In his time, slight silks, flowered, seem to have been intro- duced into religious ceremonies, as he describes crowns, in honour of the deities, of various colours, and highly perfumed, made of silk. The next author who mentions silk is Pau- V .3 i I I 1 It m^' \i ^ 1 • I a, f 2U sanias Progress of Discovery CHAP. 111. he says, the thread from which the Seres form their web is not from any kind of bark, but is obtained in a different way; they have in their country a spinning insect, which the Greeks call seer. He supposes that the insect lived five years, and fed on green haulm : by the last particular, it is not improbable he meant the leaves of the mulberry tree. For 200 years after the age of Pliny, the use of silk was confined to the female sex, till the richer citizens, both of the capital and the provinces, followed the example of Heliogabalus, the first man, who, according to Lampridius, wore holoscriatm .• that is, a garment which was all of silk. From this ex- pression, however, it is evident, that previous to this period the male inhabitants of Rome had been in the habit of wearing garments made of silk mixed with linen or woollen. Hitherto there is no intimation in ancient authors of the price of silk at Rome; in the time of Aurelian, however, that is towards the end of the third century, we learn the high price at which it was rated, in an indirect manner. For when the wife of that Emperor begged of him to permit her to have but one single garment of purple silk; he refused it, saying, that one pound of silk sold at Rome for 12 ounces, or its weight of gold. This agrees with what is laid down in the Rhodian maritime laws, as they appear in the eleventh book of the Digests, according to which unmixed silk goods paid a salvage, if they were saved without being damaged by the sea water, of ten per cent., as being equal in value to gold. In about 100 years after the reign of Aurelian, however, the importation of silk into Rome must have increased very greatly; for Ammianus Marcellinus, who flourished A.D. 380, expressly states that silk, which had formerly been confined to the great and rich, was, in his time, within the purchase of the common people. Constantinople was founded about forty years before he wrote; and it naturally found its way there in greater abundance than it had done, when Rome was the capital of the empire. From this time, till the middle of the sixth century, we have no particular information respecting the silk trade of the Roman empire. At this period, during the reign of Justinian, silk had become an article of very general and indispensible use : but the Persians had occupied by land and sea the monopoly of this article, so that the inhabitants of Tyre and Berytus, who had all along manufactured it for the Roman market, were no longer able to procure a sufficient supply, even at an extrava* 10 CHAP. III. ;s form their in a different insect, which ect lived five ;ular, it is not •y tree. For was confined of the capital iogabalus, the ; holoscriami .• rom this ex- to this period bit of wearing len. jrs of the price tliat is towards high price at when the wife ) have but one ying, that one • its weight of I the Rhodian 1 book of the paid a salvage, e sea water, of iian, however, increased very led A.D. 380, been confined the purchase bunded about found its way when Rome iry, we have no of the Roman tinian, silk had 3leuse: but the mopoly of this ytus, who had irket, were no at an extrava» CHAP. III. fo the Time of Ptolemtf the Geogvapher. 215 i i gant price. Besides, when the manuflicliired goods were brought within the lloniaii territories, they were suhjeci to a duty ( ten per cent. Justinian, under these circumstances, very impolitically ordered that silk should be sold at the rate of eight pieces of gold for the pound, or about 3/. 4^. The consequence was such as might have been expected : silk goods were no longer imported ; and to add to tlic injustice and the evil, Theodora, the emperor's wife, seized all the silk, and fined the merchants very heavily. It was therefore necessary, that Justinian should have recourse to other mea- sures to obtain silk goods; instead, liowevei", of restoring the trade of Egypt, which at this period had fallen into utter decay, and sending vessels directly from the Red Sea to the Indian markets, where the raw material might have been procured, he had recourse to Arabia and Abyssinia. According to Suidus, he wished the former to import the silk in a raw state, intending to manufacture ' it in his own dominions. But the king of Abyssinia declined the offer; as the vicinity of the Persians to the Indian markets for silk enabled them to purchase it at a cheaper rate than the Abys- sinians could procure it. The same obstacle prevented the Arabians from complying with the request of Justinian. The wealthy and luxiu'ious Romans, therefore, nuist have been deprived of this elegant material for their dresses, had not their wishes been gratified by an unexpected event. Two Persian monks travelled to Serindi, where they had lived long enough to become acquainted with the various processes for spinning and manufacturing silk. "When they I'eturned, they communicated their information to Justinian ; and were induced, by his promises, to undertake the trans- portation of the eggs of the silk-worm, from China to Con- stantinople. Accordingly, they went back to Serindi, and brought away a quantity of the eggs in a hollow cane, and cc iveyed them safely to Constantinople. They superintended and dii'ected the hatching of the eggs, by the heat of a dui^ghill: the worms were fed on mulberry leaves : a sufficient number of butterflies were saved to keep up the stock ; and to add to the benefits already conferred, the Persian monks taught the Romans the whole of the manufacture. From Constanti- nople, the silk-worms were conveyed to Greece, Sicily, and Italy. In the succeeding reign, the Romans had improved so much in the management of the silk-worms, and in the manufacture of silk, that the Serindi ambassadors, p t 316 Piof^irss of Diacuviri/ (HAP. j;i. 1 >i i 'f i>n their arrival in Coustaiitinople, acknowledged that the llomaiis were not interior to the natives of China, in either of these res])ects. Jt may be inentloueil, iii frivther proof of the opinion already given, that the silk nianufaetures of Cos were not supplied from silk-worms in that island, that we havi the express autliority of Theophanes and Zonaras, that, before silk-worms were bronght to Constantinople, in the reign of Justinian, no person in that eity knew that silk was produced by a worm. This, certainly, would not have been the case, if there had been silk-worms so near Con- stantinople as the island of Cos is. All the authors whom we have quoted, (with the exception of Aristotle, Pliny, and Pansanias,) including a period of six centuries, supposed that silk was made from fleeces growing upon trees, from the bark of trees, or from flowers. These mistakes, may, indeed, have arisen from the Romans having heard of the silk being taken from ihe mulberry and other trees, on which the worms feed ; but, however they originated, they plainly prove that the native country of the silk-worm was at a very great distance from Rome, and one of which they had very little knowledge. Having thus brought the history of this most valuable import into Rome, down to the period, when, in consequence of the Romans having acquired the silk-worm, there existed no longer any necessity to import the raw materials ; we shall next proceed to investigate the rontes by which it was the Seres to the western parts of Asia, and It is well ascertained, that the silk manu- facture was established at Tyre and Berytus, from a very early period ; and these places seem to have supplied Rome with silk stuffs. But, by what route did silk arrive thither, and to the other countries, so as to be within the immediate reach of the Romans? — There were two routes, by which it was introduced to Europe, and the contiguous parts of Asia : by land and sea. The route by sea is pointed out in a clear and satis- factory manner, by some of the ancient authors, particularly the author of the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea. In enumerating the exports from Nelkundah, he particularly men- tions silk stuffs, and adds, that they were brought to this place from countries further to the east. Nelkundah was a town in Malabar, about twelve miles up a small river, at the mouth of which was the port uf Barake ; at this port, the vessels of the ancients rode till tneir lading was brought down brought from thence to Rome i;-"'i (IIAI*. ill. CHAP. III. to till' Time of Pfolcinij the Gcngrajt/w): 'J 1 7 {{ that the [I, m either er proof of factures of island, that 1(1 Zonaras, iitinople, in ;w that silk Id not have I near Con- ;hors whom , Pliny, and ipposed that om the bark ndeed, have being taken worms feed ; »ve that the reat distance 3 knowledge, lost valuable consequence there existed als ; we shall hich it was of Asia, and le silk manu- from a very iplied Rome rrive thither, e immediate es, by which ous parts of ir and satis- particularly Sea. In icularly men- ►ught to this undah was a rivei-, at the lis port, the ought down n from Nelkundnli. This place seems to have been the centrical mart between the countries that lie to the cast and west of Cape Coniorin, or the hither and further peninsuln of India; fleets sailed from it to Khruse, which there is every reason to believe was part of the peninsula of Malacca; and we have the authority of Ptolemy, that there was a com- mercial communication between it and the northern provinces of China. Ihit at a later peiiod than the age of the Periplus, silk was brought by sea from China to Ceylon, and thence conveyed to Africa and Europe. Cosmos, who lived in the sixth century, hiforms us, that the Tzenistae or Chinese, brought to Ceylon, silks, aloes, cloves, and sandal wood. That his Tzenisttc, are the Chinese, there can be no doubt; for he mentions them as inhabiting a country producing silk, beyond which there is no country, for the ocean encircles it on the east. From this it is evident that the T/enistat? of this author, and the Seres of the iiiicients, are the same ; and in specifying the imports into Ceylon, he mentions silk thread, as coming from countries farther to the east, [lar- tlcularly from the Chinese. We thus see by what sea route silk was brought from China to those places with which the western nations had a communication ; it was imported either into the peninsula of Malacca by sea, and thence by sea to Nelkundah, whence it wi:s brought by a third voyage to the Red Sea ; or it was brought directly from China to Ceylon, from which place there was a regular sea communication also with the Red Sea. The author of the Periplus informs us, that rav as well as manufactured silk were conveyed by land through Bactria, to Baraguza or Guzerat, and by the Ganges to Linuirike ; according to this first route, the silks of China must have come the whole length of Tartary, from the great wall, into Bactria; fi*om Bactria. they passed the mountains to the sources of the Indus, and by that river they were brought down to Patala, or Barbarike, in Scindi, and thence to Guzerat : the line must have been nearly the same when silk was brought to the sources of the Ganges ; at the mouth of this '•iver, it was embarked for Limiu-ike in Canara. All the sill , therefore, that went by land to Bactria, passed down the Ind>is to Guzerat ; all that deviated more to the east, and came by Thibet, passed down the Ganges to Bengal. A tliird land route by which silk was brought to the Per- sian merchants, and by them sold to the Romans, was from Samarcand and Bochara, through the northern provinces of ^5 J Uj I v^ Ir "I i-. f H 218 Progress of Discoverj/ CHAP. III. China, to the metropolis of the latter country : this, however, was a long, difficult, and dangerous route. From Samarcand to the first town of the Chinese, was a journey of from 60 to 100 days; as soon .as the caravans passed the Jaxartes, they entered the desert, in which they were necessarily exposed to great privations, as well as to great risk from the wandering tribes. The merchants of Samarcand and Bochara, on their return from China, ti'ansported the raw or manufactured silk into Persia ; and the Persian merchants sold it to the Romans at the fairs of Armenia and Nisibis. Another land route is particularly described by Ptolemy : according to his detail, this immense inland communication began from the bay of Issus, in Cilicia ; it then crossed Mesopotamia, from the Euphrates to the Tigris, near Hiero- polis : it then passed through part of Assyria and Media, to Ecbatana and the Caspian Pass ; after this, through Parthia to Hecatompylos : from this place to Hyrcania ; then to Antioch, in Margiana ; and hence into Bactria. From Bactria, a moun- tainous country was to le crossed, and the country of the Sacae, to Tachkend, or the Stone Tower. Near this place was the station of those merchants who traded directly with the Seres. The defile of Conghez was next passed, and the region of Cosia or Cashgar through the country of the Itaguri, to the capital of China. Seven months were employed on this journey, and the distance in a right line amounted to 2800 miles. That the whole of this journey was sometimes per- formed by individuals for the puichase of silk and other Chinese commodities, we have the express testimony of Ptolemy ; for he informs us, that Maes, a Macedonian mer- chant, sent his agent through the entire -route which we have just described. It is not surprising, therefore, that silk should have borne such an exorbitant price at Rome ; but it is asto- nishing that any commodity, however precious, could bear the expence of such a land carriage. The only other routes by land, by which silk was brought from China into Europe, seem to have corresponded, in the latter part of their direction, with the land routes from India, already described. Indeed, it may naturally be supposed, that the Indian merchants, as soon as they learned the high prices of silk at Rome, would purchase it, and send it along with the produce and manufactures o\ their own country, by the caravans to Palmyra, and by river navigation to the Euxine : and we have seen, that on the capture of Palmyra, by Aurelian, silk was one of the articles of plunder. CHAP. III. CHAP. HI. to the Time of Ptolemy the Geographer. 219 ;, however, Samarcand from 60 to artes, they exposed to wandering -a, on their ictured silk it to the y Ptolemy : munication en crossed lear Hiero- l Media, to 1 Parthia to to Antioch, ia, a moun- ntry of the ir this place :tly with the d the region Itaguri, to )yed on this ;ed to 2800 etimes per- and other istimony of .onian mer- Lch we have silk should t it is asto- could bear [as brought led, in the roni India, supposed, d the high nd it aloirg ountry, by ion to the f Palmyra, We are now to take notice of the laws which were passed by the Romans for the improvement of navigation and commerce ; and in this part of our subject we shall follow the same plan and arrangement which we have adopted in treating of the commerce itself; that is, we shall give a con- nected view of these laws, or at least the most important of them, from the period when the Romans began to interest themselves in commerce, till the decline of the empire. These laws may be cUvided into three heads : first, laws relating to the protection and privileges allowed to mariners by the Roman emperors; secondly, laws relating to particular fleets ; and lastly, laws relating to particular branches of trade. 1. The fifth title of the thirteenth book of the Theodosian code of laws entirely relates to the privileges of mariners. It appears, from this, that by a law made by the Emperor Constans, and c/)nfirmed by Julian, protection was granted to them from all personal injuries ; and it was expressly ordered, that they should enjoy perfect security, and be defended from all sort of violence and injustice. The emperor Justinian considered this law so indispensably necessary to secure the object which it had in view, that he not only adopted it into his famous code, but decreed that whoever should seize and apply the ships of mariners, against their wishes, to any other purpose than that for which they were designed, should be punished with death. In the same part of his code, he repeats and confirms a law of the emperors Valentinian, Valens, and Gratian, inflicting death on any one who should insult seafaring men. In another law, adopted into the same code from the statutes of former emperor j, judges and ma- gistrates are forbidden, on pain of death, to give them any manner of trouble. They were also exempted from paying tribute, though the same law which exempts them, taxes merchants. No person who had exercised any mean or dis- honourable employment was allowed to become a mariner ; and the emperors Constantine and Julian raised them to the dignity of knights, and, shortly afterwards, they were declared capable of being admitted into the senate. As a counterbalance to those privileges and honours, it appears, that mariners, at least such of them as might be re- quired ft I* the protection of the state, were obliged to conform themselves to certain rules and conditions, otherwise the laws already quoted did not benefit them. They were obliged to possess certain lands; and, indeed, it would seem that the profession and privileges o*" iv mariner depended on his re- >% 220 Progress of' Discovery (HAP. Ml. I tiiining these lands. Wiieii tliese luiitls were sold, the piircluisev was obliged to perform towards the state all those services which were required of a mariner, and in return he obtahied all the privileges, dignities, and exemptions granted to that class of men. This, however, was pi-oductive of great inconvenience to the state ; since, if the lands were j^urchased by persons ignorant of maritime affairs, they could not be so effective as persons accustomed to the sea. From this consideration a law was passed, that when such lands as were held on condi- tion of sea-service passed into the possession of those who were unaccustomed to the sea, they should revert to their original owners. It was also ordered, that such privileged marini s should punctually perform all services required of them by the state; that they should not object to carry any particular merchandize; that they should not take into their vessels above a certain quantity of goods, in order that they might not, by being over laden, be rendered unfit for the service of the state ; and that they should not change their employment for any other, even though it were more honour- able or lucrative. The whole shipping, and all the seamen, seem thus to have been entirely under the management and controul of the state ; there were, however, a few excep- tions. Individuals, who possessed influence sufficient, or from other causes, were permitted to possess ships of their own, but only on the express condition that the state might com- mand them and the services of their crews, whenever it was necessary. The legal rate of interest was fixed by Justinian at six per cent. ; but for the convenience and encouragement of trade, eight was allowed on money lent to merchants and manufacturers ; and twelve on the risk of bottomry. 2. There are several laws in the Theodosian code which relate to the different fleets of the empire : the Eastern fleet, the principal port of which was Seleucia, a city of Syriji, on the Orontes, by which were conveyed to Rome and Con- stantinople, all the oriential merchandize that came by the land route we have described to Syria, was particularly noticed, as well as some smaller fleets depending on it, as the fleet of the island of Carpathus. The privileges granted to the African fleet are expressly given to the Eastern fleet. In another part of the code of Justinian, the trade between the Romans and Persians is regulated : the places were the fairs and markets are to be kept are fixed and named ; these were near the confines of the two kingdoms; and these con- fines neither party was allowed to pass. A ••^^ (HAP. III. CJIA!'. Ill, to the Time of P!oUi)i>j the Gcograpltcv, 221 chants and From a law of the emperor Constans, inserted in the Theodosian code, it appears that some of the ships wliich came from Spain to Rome were freighted for the service of the state ; and these are particularly regulated and privileged in this law. There were several laws made also respecting the fleet whicii the emperors employed for the purpose of collecting the tri- bute and revenue, and conveying it to Home and Constanti- nople. The law of the emperors Leo and Zeno, which is inserted in the Justinian code, mentions the fleet which was kept to guard the treasures : and by another law, taken from the Theodosian code, we learn, that the guards of the trea- sures, who went in this fleet, wei'e officers under the super- intendant of the imperial revenue. 3. We have already mentioned the dependance of Rome on foreign nations for corn, and the encouragement given, during the republic and in the early times of the empire, to the importation of this necessary article. In the Theodo- sian and Justinian code, encouragement to the importation of it seems still to have been a paramount object, especially from Egypt ; for though from an edict of Justinian it would appear that the cargoes from this country, of whatever they consisted, were guarded and encouraged by law, yet we know that the principal freight of the ships which traded be- tween Alexandria and Rome and Constantinople was corn, and that other merchandize was taken on board the corn fleets only on particular occasions, or, where it '. as necessary, to complete the cargoes. Among the other edicts of Justinian, regulating the trade of Egypt, there is one which seems to have been passed in conse(]uence of the abuses that had crept into the trade of corn and other commodities, which were shipped fi'om Alexandria for Constantinople. These abuses arose from the management of this ti-ade being in the hands of a very few persons : the emperor therefore passed a law, dividing the management into different branches, each to be held by separate individuals. From the code of Justinian we also learn, that corn was embarked from other ports of Egypt besides Alexandria, by private merchants ; but these were not permitted to export it without permission of the emperor, and even then not till after the imperial fleet was fairly at sea. The importance of the corn trade of Egypt fully justified these laws ; for at this period Constantinople was annually supplied with 260,000 quarters of wheat from this country. .^ 1^ 5 '\ 222 Progress of Discovo-xj CHAP. III. The resource^, of the Romans were pvuicipally derived from the tribute levied on the conquered countries ; but in part also from duties on merchandize : in the latter point of view, alone, they fall under our notice. No custom duties seem to have been imposed till the time of Augustus ; but in his reign, and that of his immediate successors, duties were imposed en every kind of merchandize which was imported into Rome ; the rate varied from the eighth to the fortieth part of the value of the article. The most full and minute list of articles of luxury on which custom duties were levied, is to be found in the rescript of the emperors Marcus and Commodus, relating to the goods imported into Egypt from the East. In the preamble to this rescript it is expressly declared, that no blame shall attach to the col- lectors of the customs, for not informing the merchant of the amount of the custom duties while the goods are in transit ; but if the merchant wishes to enter thom, the officer is not to lead him into error. The chief and most valuable articles on which, by this rescript, duties were to be levied, ^^ . in- namon, myrrh, pepper, ginger, and aromatics ; precious . j; Parthian and Babylonian leather; cottons; silks, raw and ma- nufactured; ebony, ivory, and eunuchs. Till the reign of Justinian, the straits of the Bosphorus and Hellespont were open to the freedom of trade, nothing being prohibited but the exportation of arms for the service of the barbarians ; but the avarice, or the profusion of that emperor, stationed at each of the gates of Constantinople a praetoi-, whose duty it was to levy a duty on all goods brought into the city, while, on the other hand, heavy custom duties were exacted on all vessels and merchanchze that entered the harbour. This emperor also exacted in a most rigorous manner, a duty in kuad ; which, however, had existed long before his tune : we allude to the anwona, or supply of corn for use of the army and capital. This was a grievous and arbitrary exaction ; rendered still more so " by the partial injustice of weights and measures, and the expence and labour of distant carriage." In a time of scarcity, Justinian ordered an extraordinary requisition of corn to be levied on Tiuace, Bithynia, and Phrygia ; for which the proprietors, (as Gibbon observes,) " after a wearisome journey, and a perilous naviga- tion received so inadequate a compensation, that they would have chosen the alternative of delivering both the corn and price at the doors of tlieir granaries." iij i CHAP. III. f derived is; but in r point of oiu duties IS ; but in uties were i imported he fortieth lul minute ities were emperors lorted into icript it is o the col- :iant of the in transit; er is not to articles on , w^ in- Lous . j; iw and ma- jhorus and hing being vice of the It emperor, a praetor, ought into uties were ntered the it rigorous xisted long ply of corn evous and the partial and labour ian ordered on Thiace, (as Gibbon Dus naviga- they would le corn and CiiAi'. HI. to the Time of Plolcmij Ihc Geographer. 223 Having thus given a connected and general view of the Roman commerce, we shall next proceed to investigate the progress of geographical knowledge among them. In our chronological arrangement of this progress, incidental and detaclied notices respecting their commei'ce will occur, which, though they could not well be introduced in the general view, yet will serve to render the picture of it more complete. It is evident that the principal accesoions to geographical knowledge among the Romans, at least till their ambition was satiated, or nearly so, by conquest, must have been derived from their military expeditions. It is only towards the time of Augus- tus that we find men, whose sole object in visiting foreign coun- tries was to become acquainted with their state, manners, &c. Polybius is one of the earliest authors who give us a glimpse of the state of geographical knowledge among the Romans, about the middle of the second century before Christ, the period when he flourished. He was the great friend of Scipio, whom he accompanied in his expedition against Carthage. From his enquiries while in Africa, he informed himself of the geography of the northern parts of that quarter of the world ; and he actually visited the coast as far as Mount Atlas, or Cape Nun, beyond which, however, he does not seem to have proceeded. He wrote a Periplus, or account of his vojj^age, which is not in existence, but is referred to and quoted by r' iny. He possessed also more accurate information of the western coasts of Europe than was had before; derived, it would appear, from the voyages of some Romans. Yet, with all this knowledge of what we may deem distant p^rts, Polybius was ignorant of the real shape of Italy, which he describes as stretching from east to west; a mistake which seems to have originated with him, and was copied by Strabo. Varro, who was Pompey's lieutenant during the war against the p.*vot€s, and obtained a naval crown on that occasion, among J-3 almost infinite variety of topics on which he wrote, was the author of a work on navigation ; unfortunately, how- ever, only the title of it is extant : had it yet remained, it would have thrown much light on the state of navigation, geography, and commerce among the Romans in his time. Julius Cajsar's attention to science in the midst of his wars and perils is well known. He first formed the idea of a general sui^vey of the whole empire; and for this purpose obta ned a decree of the senate. Tlie survey was finished by Augustus : the execution of it was committed to three Greek / ^li ^i ii ■' '1 li 22t Progrrsx of Discovcrjj CIIAT'. HI. Is ll< il i \ geographers. The survey of the eastern portion of the empire was committed to Zenodoxus, who completed it, in fourteen years, five months, and nine days. The northern division was finished by Theodorus in twenty years, eight months, and ten days : and the southern division was finished in twenty- five years, one month, and ten days. Ttiis survey, with the supplementary surveys of the new provinces, as tlvey were conquered and added to the empive, formed the basis of the geography of Ptolemy. It appears from Vegetius, that every governor of a province was furnished with a description of it, in which were given the distance of places, the nature of the roads, the face of the country, the direction of the rivers, &c.: he adds, that all these wei'e delineated on a map as well as described in writing. Of this excellent plan for the itineraries and surveys of the Roman empire, from which the ancient geographers obtained their fullest and most accurate information, Julius Caesar was the author. Julius Cffisar certainly added much to geographical know- ledge by his conquests of Gaul and Britain : his information respecting the latter, however, as might be expected, is very erroneous. Yet, that even its very northern parts were known by name to the Romans soon after his death, is appa- rent, from this circumstance, that Diodorus Siculus, who r'ied tow. s the middle of the reign of Augustus, mentions Orkas; which, he says, forms the northern extremity of the island of Britain. This is the very first mention of any place in Scot- land by any writer. One of the first objects of Augustus, after he had reduced Egyjit, was to explore the interior of Africa, either for the purpose of conquest, or to obtain the precious commodities, especially frankincense and aromatics, which he had learned were the produce of those countries, i^i^lius Giillus was selected by the emperor for this expedition, and he was accompanied by the geographer Strabo; who, however, has not given such accurate information of the route which was pur- sued as might have been expected. This is the more to be lamented, as Pliny informs us that the places which were visited during this expedition are not to be found in authors previous to his time. Gallus was directed by the emperor to explore Ethiopia, the country of the Troglodytae and Arabia. The expedition against Ethiopia, which Gallus entrusted to Petronius, we shall afterwards examine, confining ourselves at present to the pro- i:liAi'. HI. CHAP. ill. to the Time of Ptolemy the Geographer. in fourteen •n division onths, and in twenty- y» with the tliey wei'c 3asis of the , that every tion of it, in )f the roads, ;c.: he adds, lescribed in and surveys oreograpaers ition, Julius (hical know- information cted, is very parts were ith, is appa- lls, who c^'ed tions Orkas; le island of Lace in Scot- had reduced ither for the commodities, lad leai'ned Gallus was ind he was 2ver, has not ich was pur- more to be which were d in authors re Ethiopia, e expedition lius, we shall to the pro- ceedings and progress of Gallus himself. His own force consisted of 10,000 men, to which were sulded 500, supplied by Herod, king of the Jews; and 1000 Nabathians from Petra ; besides a fleet of eighty ships of war and 1 30 transports. Sylheus, the minister of the king of the Nabathians, undertook to conduct the expedition ; but as it was not for the interest either of his king or country that it should succeed, he betrayed his trust, and, according to Strabo, was executed at Rome for his treachery on this occasion. His object was to delay the ex|>e- dition as much as possible: this he effected by persuading Gallus to prepare a fleet, whicli was unnecessary,', as the army might liave followed the route of the caravans, through a friendly country, from Cleopatris, where the expedition com- menced, to the head of the Elanitic Gulf. The troops, however, were embarked, and, as tl.e navigation of the Sea of Suez was intricate, the fleet was i teen days in arriving at Leuke Komo : here, in consequence ( .' the soldiers having become, duriuo' their voyage, afflicted with various disorders, and the year being far advanced, Gallus was obliged to remain till «^he spring. Another/lelay was contrived by Syllieus on their leaving Leuke Kome. After this, they seem to have proceeded with more celerit}', and with very little opposition from the natives, till tliey came to a city of some strength : this they were obliged to besiege in regular form ; but, after lying before it for six days, Gallus was forced, for want of water, to raise tlie siege, and to terminate the expedition. He was told that at this time he was within two days' journey of the land of aromatics and frankincense, the great object which Augustus had in view. On his retreat, he no longer trusted to Syllaeus, but changed the route of the army, directing it from tlie interior to the coast. At Nera, in Petraea, the army embarked, and was eleven days in crossing the gulf to Myos Hornios : from this })lace it traversed the country of the Troglodytes to Coptus, on the Nile. Two years were spent in this unfortunate expedition. It is extremely difi'Lult to fix on the limit of this expedition, but it is probabl J that the town which Gallus besieged, ami beyond which he did not' penetrate, was the capital of the Mineans. From the time of this expedition, the Romans always maintained a footing on the coast of the Red Sea; and either during the residence of Gallus at Leuke Kome, or soon afterwards, they placed a garrison in this place, where they collected the customs, gradually extending their conquests and their geographical knowledge down the Gulf, till they I'eaclied i r; ; 1 j '"H 226 Progress of Discovery CHAP. III. !? ^ \ ,.\ •I \ the ocean. This seems to have been the only beneficial conse- quence resuhing from the expedition of Gallus. We must now attend to the expedition of Petronius against the Ethiopians. This was completely successful, and Candake, their queen, was obliged, as a token of her submission, to send ambas- sadors to Augustus, who was at that time in the island of Samos. About this period theconmierce of the Egyptians, — which, in fact, was the commerce of the Romans, — was extended to the Troglodytes, — with whom previously they had carried on little or no trade. The first account of the island of Ceylon, imder' the name of Taprobane, was brought to Europe by the Macedonians, who had accompanied Alexander into the east. It is men- tioned, and a short description given of it, by Onesicritus and Eratosthenes. lambulus, however, who lived in the time of Augustus, is tlve first author who enters into any details regarding it ; and though much of what he states is undoubt- edly fabulous, yet there are particulars surprizingly correct, and such as confirm his own account, that he actually visited the island. According to Diodorus Siculus, he was the son of a merchant, and a merchant himself; and while trading in Arabia for spices, he was taken prisoner and carried into Arabia, whence he was carried off by the Ethiopians, and put into a ship, which was driven by the monsoon to Ceylon. The details he mentions, that are mast curious and most con- formable to truth, are the stature of the natives and the flexibility of their joints ; the lengdi of their ears, bored and pendant j the perpetual verdure of the trees; the attachment of the natives to astronomy ; their worship of the elements, and par- ticularly of the sun and moon ; their cotton garments ; the men having one wife in common ; the days and nights being equal in length ; and the Calamus, or Maiz. It is extraordinary, however, that lambulus never mentions cinnamon, whicn, as he was a dealer in spices, it might have been supposed would have attracted his particular attention. One of the most celebrated geographers among the ancients, flourished during the reign of Augustus; — we allude to Strabo; Ids fundamental principles are, the globosity of the earth, and its centripetal force; he also lays dowji rules for constructing globes, but he sgems ignorant of the mode of fixing the posi- tion of places by their latitude or longitude, or, at least, he neglects it. In order to render his geographical knowledge more accurate and complete, he travelled over most of the countries between Armenia on the east and Etruria on the CHAP. Ill* CHAP. 111. to the Time of Ptolemy the Geogi apher. 227 icial conse- ; against the itUike, their end ambas- d of Samos. -which, in nded to the ■ied on little !r the name acedoniaiis. It is men- ;sicritus and in the time > any details is undoubt- igly Gorrect, [iially visited as the son of e trading in carried into iopians, and n to Ceylon, lid most eon- the flexibility ,nd pendant; ment of the nts, and par- ;nts ; the men s being equal xtraordinarv, imon, which, ien supposed the ancients, ide to Strabo : le earth, and constructing sing the posi- , at least, he al knowledge niost of the Itruria on the west, and from his native country, on the borders of the Euxine sea, to the borders of Ethiopia. The portion of the globe whicli he describes, is bounded on the north by the Baltic, on the east by the Ganges, on the south by the mouth of the river Senegal, and on the west by S|)ain. In describing the countries which he himself had visited, he is generally very accurate, but his accounts of those he had not visiten, are frequently erroneous or very incomplete. His inform- ation respecting Ceylon and the countries of the Ganges, seems to have been derived entirely from the statements brought to Europe by the generals of Alexander. In thereign of Claudius, the knowledge of the Romans respect- ing the interior of Africa, was slightly extended by the expedi- tion of Suetonius Paulinus; he was the first Roman who crossed Mount Atlas, and during the winter penetrated through the deserts, which are described as formed of black dust, till he reached a river called the Miger. Paulinus wrote an account of this expedition, which, however, is not extant : Pliny quotes it. In the reign of Claudius,, also, the island of Ceylon became better known, in consequence of an accident which happened to the freedman of a Roman, who farmed the customs in the Red Sea. This man, in the execution of his duty, was blown off the coast of Arabia across the ocean to Taprobane, or Ceylon; here he was hospitably received by the king, and after a residence of six months was sent back, along with ambas- sadors, to Claudius. They informed the emj^eror that their country was very extensive, populous, and opulent, abounding in gold, silver, and pearls. It seems probable that the cir- cumstance of the freedman having been carried to Ceylon by a steady and regular wind, and this man and the ambassadors having returned by a wind directly opposite, but as steady and regular, had some influence in the discovery of the monsoon. As this discovery led necessarily to a direct com- munication between Africa and India, and greatly enlarged the knowledge of the Romans respecting the latter country, as well as their commercial connections with it, >t «ilJ be proper to notice it in a particular manner. This important discovery is su^^posed to have been made in the seventh year of the reign of C'audius, answering to the forty-seventh of the Christian era. The iSllowing is the account given of it by the author of the Periplus ot the Erythrean Sea, mistranslated by Dr. Vincent: « The whole navigation, such as it has been descriinid from C 2 ■^ i 228 Py-of^rcss of Disajvety CHAP. III. Ml f 1 Adan in Arabia Felix and Kane to the ports of India, was performed formerly in small vessels, by adhering to the shore and following the indention of the coast ; but Hippalus was the pilot who first discovered the direct course across the ocean, by observing the position of the ports and the g(jneral appearance of the sea; for, at the season when the annunl winds peculiar to our climate settle in the north, and blow for a continuance upon our coast from the Mediterranean, in the Indian ocean the wind is constantly to the south west ; and this wind has in those seas obtained the name of Hippalus, from the pilot who first attempted the passage by means of it to the east. " From the period of that discovei'y to the present time, vessels bound to India take their departure either from Kane on the Arabian, or from Cape Arometa on the African side. From these points they stretch out to the open sea at once, leaving all the windings of the gulfs and bays at a distance, and make directly for their several desti- nations on the coast of India. Those that are intended for Limurike waiting some time before they sail, but those that are destined for Barugaza, or Scindi, seldom more than three' days." If we may credit Pliny, the Greek nu 'chants of Egypt for some years after the discovery of the monsoon, did not venture further out to sea than was absolutely necessary, by crossing the widest part of the entry of the Persian Gulf, to reach Patala at the mouth of the Indus ; but they afterwards found shorter routes, or rather stretched more to the south, so as to i-each lower down on the coast of India : they also enlarged their vessels, carried cargoes of greater value, and in order to beat off the pirates, which then as at present infested this part of the Indian coast, they put on board their vessels a band of archers. Myos Hormos, or Berenice, was the port on the Red Sea from which they sailed; in forty days they ar- rived at Musiris, on the west coast of India. The homeward passage was begun in December or January, when the north east monsoon commenced ; this .carried them to the entrance of the Red Sea, up which to their port they were generally favored by southerly winds. As there is no good reason to believe that the ancients' made regular voyages to India, previously to the discovery of the monsoons ; yet, as it is an undoubted f;;ct that some of the exclusive productions of that country, particularly cin- namon, were obtained by them, through their voyages on the HAP. 111. CHAP. III. to the Time of Ptolemij t/ic Geographer. 229 n ; and we een Arabia and land, ith Arabia iir thoughts nbarked in to India, krabia : the I, either by e monsoons of the sea- dly be sup- dvantage of at of India. :h does not robbers, or iccidentally, carriers of that history 1 Oman, are described as the residences of navigators ; and as these places are, in tlie earliest historians, celebrated for their maritime commerce, it is reasonable to suppose that they were e(|ually so before the ancient historians ac({uired any knowledge of them. We cannot go further back, with respect to the fact of the Ambians being in India, than the voyage of Nearchus ; but in the journal of this navigator, we find manifest traces of Ara- bian navigators on the coast of jMckran, previous to his ex- pedition : he also found proofs of their commerce on the coast of Gadrosia, and Arabic names of places — a pilot to direct him, and vessels of the country in the Gulf of Persia. Large ships from the Indus, Patala, Persis, and Karmania came to Arabia, as early as the time of Agatharcides ; and it is probable that these ships were navigated by Arabians, as the inhabitants of India were not, at this time, and, indeed, never have been celebrated for their maritime enterprize and skill. The same author mentions a town, a little without the Red Sea, from whence, he says, the Sabeans sent out colonies or factories into India, and t ^ which the large ships he describes came Avith their cargoes from India. This is the first histori- ■cal evidence to prove the establishment of Arabian factories and merchants in the ports of India. In the time of Pliny, the Arabians were in such numbers on the coast of Malabar, and at Ceylon, that, acconlinf to that author, the inhabitants of the former had embraced their religion, and the ports of the latter were entirely in their power. Their settlements and commerce in India are repeatedly mentioned in tiie Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, and likewise their settlements down the coast of Africa to Rhaptum, before it was visited by the Greeks from Egypt- For, besides their voyages from India to their own country, they frequently brought Indian com- modities direct to the coast of Africa. At Sabaea, the great mart of the Arabian commerce with India, the Greeks, as late as the reign of Philometor, purchased the spices and other pro- ductions of the east. As there was a com})lete monopolv of them ut this place, in the hands of the Arabians, the Greek navigators and merchants were induced, in the hopes of ob- taining them cheaper, to pass the Straits of Babelmandeb, and on the coast of Africa they found cinnamon antl other produce of India, which had been brought hither by the Arabian traders. g 4 ■i \i £32 Progress of Discovery CHAP. III. '» The evidence of the land trade between Arabia and India, from a very early period, is ecjually clear and decisive : Petra, the capital of Arabia Petrea, was the centre of this trade. To it the caravans, iu all ages, came from Minea, in the inte- rior of Arabisi, and from Gherra, in the Gulf of Persia, — from Hadraumaut, on the Ocean, and some even from Saboea. From Petra, the trade again spread in every direction — to Egypt, Palestine, and Syria, through Arsinoe, Gaza, Tyre, Jerusalem, Damascus, and other places of less consequence, all lying on routes terminating in the Mediterranean. The Gherrheans, who were a Babylonian colony settled in that part of Arabia, which extends along the south coast of the Persian Gulf, are the earliest conductors of caravans upon record. They are first mentioned by Agatharcides, who com- pares their wealth with that of the Sabeans, and describes them as the agents for all the precious commodities of Asia and Europe : he adds that they brought much wealth into Syria, and furnished a variety of articles, which were afterwards ma- nufactured or resold by the Phoenicians. But the only route :by v^hich Syria and Phoenicia could have been supplied by .them, was through Petra. The particular articles with which their caravans were loaded, according to Strabo, were the produce of Arabia, and the spices of India. Besides the route of their caravans, across the whole peninsula to Petra, it ap- pears that they sometimes carried their merchandize in boats up the Euphrates to Baby. >n, or even 240 miles higher up, to Thapsacus, and thence dispersed it in all directions by land. The exact site of the country of the Mineans cannot be cer- tainly fixed ; but it is probable that it was to the south of Hedjaz, to the north of Hadraumaut, and to the eastward of Sabaea. According to Strabo, their caravans passed in seventy days from Hadraumaut to Aisla, which was within ten miles of Petra. They were laden with aloes, gold, myrrh, frank- incense, and other aromatics. We can but faintly and obscurely trace tlie fluctuations iu the trade of Petra, in the remote periods of history. We know that Solomon was in possession of Idumea, but whether it was subdued by Nebuchadnezzar is doubtful. This sove- reigH) however, seems to have formed some plan of depriving the Ghen-heans of the commerce of the Gulf of Persia, tie raised a mound to confine the waters; of the Tigris : he built a CHAP. III. €HAP. iji. to the Time of Ptolemy the Geographer. 23a and India, ive : Petra, this trade, in the inte- •sia, — from om Saboea. ection — to Jaza, Tyre, onsequence, an. ly settled in uth coast of ravans upon ;s, who coni- scribes them of Asia and II into Syria, erwards ma- le only route supplied by IS with which 3o, were the des the route Petra, it ap- dize in boats 38 higher up, directions by annot be cer- the south of e eastward ot ied in seventy hin ten miles lyrrh, frank- luctuations in listory. We but whether This sove- of depriving Persia, tie •is : he built a city to stop the incursions of the Arabs, and opened a com- munication between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates. After this there is no account of Idumea till some years subse- quent to the death of Alexander the Great: at this period two expeditions were sent into it against its capital, Petra, by Antigonus, both of which were uilsuccessfxd. These expedi- tions were imdertaken about the years 308 and 309 before Christ. The history of Idumea, from this period, is better ascertained : harassed by the powerful kingdoms of Syria and Egypt, — contiguous to both of which it lay, — it seems to hav' been governed by princes of its own, who were partly inde- pendent, and j)artly imder the influence of the monarchs of Syria and Egypt. About sixty-three years before Christ, Pompey took Petra ; and, from that period, the sovereigns of Idumea were tributary to the Romans. Tliis city, however, still retained its commerce, and was in a flourishing condition, as we ai'e informed by Strabo, on the authority of his friend Athenedorus, who visited it about thirtv-six years after it. He describes it as built on a rock, distinguished, however, from all the rocks in that part of Arabia, from being supplied with an abundant spring of water. Its natural position, as well as art, rendered it a fortress of importance in the tlesert. He represents the people as rich, civilized, and peaceable ; the government as regal, but the chief power as lodged in a mi- nister selected by the king, who had the title of tlie king's brother. Syllabus, who betrayed Elius Gallus, appears to have been a minister of this description. The next mention that occurs of the trade of Petra, is in the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, the date of which, though uncertain, there is good I'eason to fix in Nero's reign. Ac- cording to this woi'k) Leuke Kome, at the mouth of the Elanitic Gulf, was the point of connnunication witli Petra, the ciipi'ad of the country, ilie residence of Malachus, the king of the Nabathians. " Leuke Kome, itself, had the rank of a mart in respect to the small vessels which obtained their cargoes in Arabia, for which reason there was a garrison placed in il, under the conunand of a centurion, both for the purpose of })rotection, and in order to collect a duty of twenty-five in the lumdred." In the reign of Trajan, Idumea was reduced into the form of a Roman province, by one of his generals; after this time it not does fall within our plan to notice it, except merely to state, that its subjection does not seem to have been complete or permanent, for dnrinj': th^ lattrr ejupire, there wv.ve f U .-«r*' 234 Progress of Discmeiy CHAP. III. & w % certainly sovereigns of this part of Arabia, in some degree independent, whose influence and alliance were courted by the Romans and Persians, whenever a war was about to commence between these two powers. From this sketch of the trade of the Arabians from the earliest period, we may conclude, in the first place, that when navigation was in its infancy, it was confined, or almost entirely so, to a land trside carried on by caravans ; and that Petra was the centre to which these caravans tended from the east and the south, bringing with them from the former the commodities of India, and from the latter the commodities of the more fertile part of Arabia. From Petra, all these goods were again transported by land to the shores of the Medi- terranean and to Egypt. In the second place, when naviga- tion became more commonly known and practised, (and there is good reason to believe that it was known and practised among the Arabians, especially those near the Persian Guli^ at a very early period,) a portion of the Indian commo- dities, which before had been carried by land to Petra were brought by sea to Sabaea. It appears that in the age of Agatharcides, the monopoly of the trade between India and Europe by this route was wholly possessed by the Sabeans ; that, in order to evade the effects of this monopoly, the Greeks of Egypt found their way to Aden and Hadraumaut, in Arabia, and to Mosullon on the coast of Africa. Here they met with other Arabians, who at «his time also traded to India, and sold them Indian goods at a cheaper rate. And, lastly, we have seen that these \>oriH on the southern coast of Arabia, and on the coast of Africa, were frequented by the mer- chants of Egypt, till, by the discovery of the monsoon, their ships were enabled to sail directly to India. It is undoubtedly true that before this discovery, single ships occasionally reached India by adhering to the coast all the way, but the direct com- munication was very rare. After the nature of the monsoon was thoroughly understo«)d, and it was ascertained that com- plete dependence could be placed on its steadiness and regu- larity, nntl that by its change, the ships could be brought as safely and quickly back from India, as they had reached it, the ancients, who at first only ventured to the mouth of the Indus, gradually made their way down the western coast of the Indian peninsula. The Peripius of the 'Crythrean Sea, a work which has be n rrequentlv vel"cvr<: between Bombay and Goa. Dr. Vincent, in his learned commentary on the Periplus, gives it as his opinion, that the author of the Periplus never went further than Nelkundah himself, that is, to the boundary between the provinces of Canara and Malabar. The east coast of the Indian peninsula is not traced so minutely nor so accurately as the west coast, though there are names and descriptions in the Periplus, from which it may fairly be in- ferred, that the author alludes to Cavary, Masulapatam, Calingapatam, Coromandel, and other places and districts of this part of India. The countries beyond the Ganges, the Golden Chersonese, and the coimtries towards China, are very obscurely noticexl in the Periplus, though the information he gives respecting the trade carried on in theiie parts is much M hiii 236 Pro<^trss of Dincovcry CHAP. III. ill I. M more minute and accurate. His description of the direction of the coj'st of India, is on ti)e whole, surprisingly consonant to truth : according to him, it tends from north to south, as far as Colclios (Travancore) ; at this place it bends to the east, and aftervvaids to the north ; and tiien again a little ti> the east, as far as the Ganges. He is the fii'st author in whom can clearly be traced ihe name of the great southern division of India : his term is Dachanabades, • — Dachan signifving south, and abad a city ; and Decan is still the general name of all the country to the south of Baroche, the boundary assigned by the author. The particulars he mentions uf the bay of Cutch, of Cambay, «./f Baroche, and of the Ghauts, may also be men- tioned as proofs of his accuracy with respect to those parts of India, which he visited in person. Having thus given a sketch of the geographical >'.nowledge contained the Periplus, we shall next attend to the commercial intbrmation which it con^ ys. As this work is divided into two distinct parts, the first comprising the coast of the Red Sea, and of Africa, from Myos Hormos on the former, to Rhapta in the latter : and the second part, beginning at the same place, and including the whole coast of Arabia, both that which lies on the Red Sea, and that which lies on the Ocean, and then stretching from the Gulf of Persia to Guzerat, describ- ing the coast of Malabar, as far as Ceylon, we shall, in our ab- stract of the commercial intelligence it contains, enumerate the principal imports and exports of the most frequented marts in Africa, (including the Red Sea,) Arabia, and India. I. The Red Sea and Africa. Myos Hormos is described as the first j)oit of Egypt on the Red Sea; as it lies in twenty- seven degrees north latitude, and Rhapta, the boundary of the Periplus to the south, in nearly ten degrees south latitude, the distance belween them will be about 2,500 miles. It is to be supposed, that every thing relating to (he geography, navigation, and commerce of the Red Sea, from Myos Hor- mos to Aduli, on the western side, and Moosa, on the eastern side of it, was well known to the merchants of Egypt, as the author of the Periplus gives no circumstantial accoiuit of any port, till he arrives at these places. It appears, also, that till the ships arrived at these places, they kept the mid-channel of the Red Sea, and, conseciuently, there was no occasion, or indeed, opportunity of describing the inter- mediate ports. We have already mentioned, that Myos Ho>"i'>"^ ^^'••>' ^'^'^'^'^^ <»n by Ptolemy Philado.lphus, in prefer- i: ' CHAP. III. he direction onsoiiaut to )Utb, as far ;he east, and the east, as can clearly n of India : south, and 3 of all the assigned b}- ly of Cutch, ilso be men- ose parts of [ >-,Rowledgo commercial divided into of the Red former, to lining at the a, both that the Ocean, rat, describ- , in our ab- umerate the ted marts m a. is described s in twenty- )()undary of ith latitude, liles. It is geography, Myos Hor- the eastern of Egypt, tial account It appears, ey kept the lere was no the inter- that Myos , ill preter- CHAP. III. fo the Time of Ptolemy thf Geographer. 237 ence to Arsinoe, because the navigation of the western part of the Red Sea, on which the latter was placed, was intricate and tedious. Bei'enice was afterwards selected, as being still lower down : but it is worthy of remark, that neither Berenice, nor Ptoleinais Theron, another port of the I'tolemies, were harbour^, but merely roadsteads, though from our author's description, there were an almost infinite number of safe harbours, creeks, bays, &c. in every part of the Red Sea. Aduli, the first port on the west side of the lied Sea, and the port of conniiunication with Axuma, was, in the age of the Periplus, subject to the same prince, who possessetl +he whole coast, from Berenice. Tiie exports from this place were confined to ivory, brought from the interior on both sides of the Nile ; the horns of the rhinoceros, and tortoise-- shell. The imports were very inmierous, Ibnnuig an as- sortment, as Dr. Vincent justly observes, as specific as a modern invoice : the principal articles were, cloth, manu- factured in Egypt, unmilled, for the Barbarian market. The term. Barbaric was applied to the Egyptians, to the whole western coast of the Red Sea, and was derived from Barbar, the native name of the country inhabited by the Tro- glodytes, Icthyophagi, and shepherds : lus these were nuich hated and dreaded by the Egy})tians, Barbarii became a lerm of reproach and dread, and in this sense it was adopted by the Greeks and Romans, and has passed uito the modern European languages. But to return from this digression, — the other imports were robes, manufactured at Arsinoe ; cloths dyed, so as to inutate the Tyrian })urple; linens, fringed mantles, glass or crystal, murrhine cups, orichalchum, or mixed metal for trinkets and ct)in ; brass vessels for cooking, the pieces of which, when they happened to be broken, were worn by the women as ornaments ; iron, for weapons and other purposes ; knives, dagger*--, hatchets, &c. ; brass bowls, whie, oil, gold and silver plate, camp cloaks, and cover-lids: these formed the principal articles of im}K)rt from Myos llormos, and as they are very Junnerous, compaied with the exports, it seems surprising that coin should also have been imported, but that this was the case, we are expressly told by the author of the Periplus, wlio particularizes Roman currency, imder the name of JJenarii. I'he following articles imported into Adtdi, must have come through Arabia, from India: Indian iron; Indian cottons; coverlids, and sashes < t fC ill «^uA««u)e^rf^ 238 Progress of Discovery CHAP. 111. II u \ 11 I f I i|- made of cotton; cotton cloth, dyed the colour of the mallow- flower, and a few muslins. The Periplus next passes without the Straits of Babelman- deb : on the African side, four principal marts are mentioned, to all of which the epithet of Tapera, is applied, signifying their position beyond the straits. The first of these marts is Abalitis : as this place had no port, goods were conveyed to the ships in boats and rafts ; they were also employed by the natives, in carrying on a trade with the opposite ports of Arabia: what they imported from Arabia, is not specified; but they exported thither gums, a small quantity of ivory, tortoise-shell, and myrrh of the finest quality. This last article being purchased by the Greek merchants, in Sabaea, was regarded by them as a native production of that part of Arabia, when, in reality, as we learn from the Periplus, it was the produce of Africa. There were imported into Abalitis, from Egypt, flint glass, and glass vessels unsorted ; unripe grapes from Diospolis, which were used to make the rob of grapes ; unmilled cloths, for the Barbaric market ; corn, wine, and tin ; the last article must have come from Britain. The next mart is Malao, likewise a roadstead; the imports were the same as those of Abalitis, with the addition of tunics ; cloaks manufac- 'ired at Arsinoe, milled and dyed ; iron, and a small quantity of specie : the exports were, myrrh, frankincense, cassia, inferior cinnamon, substituted for the oriential ; gum, and a few slaves. The only article of export peculiar to the third mart, Mundus, was a fragrant gum, which seems to have grown only in its vicinity. The fourth and last mart mentioned as lying on the African side of the channel, which opens from the Straits of Babelmandeb, is MosuUon ; this was the most important mart on the whole coast, and that which gave a specific name to the trade of the ancients : the imports were numerous, comprising, besides those already mentioned, some that were peculiar to this place, such as vessels of silver, a small quantity of iron, and flint glass : the exports were, cinnamon, of an inferior quality ; the quantity of this article is noticed as so gi'eat, that larger vessels were employed in the trade of this port, expressly for conveying it, than were seen in the other ports of Africa. We are informed by Pliny, that Mosullon was a great market for cinnamon, — and it would seem, from its being conveyed in large vessels by sea, that it came from Arabia. The cinnamon mentioned in the Periplus, is, indeed, ^>^ CHAP. III. lie mallow- Babelman- mentioned, , signifying ;se marts is onveyed to (iployed by ite ports of t specified; ty of ivory, This last , in Sabtea, that part of IS, it was the balitis, fi'om ripe grapes of grapes ; wine, and the imports addition of and dyed; ports were, substituted dy article of a fragrant nig on tne le Straits of lortant mart [name to the comprising, peculiar to ity of iron, an inferior IS so great, f this port, other ports lullon was a in, from its came from L is, indeed, CHAP. HI. to the Time of Ptolemy the Gcographei-. 230 particularized as of an inferior quality, which is directly at variance with the authority of Dioscorides, who expressly states that the Mosulletic species is one of prime quality ; if this were the case, it must have been Indian. The other exports were gums, drugs, tortoise-shell, incense, frank- incense, brought from distant places ; ivory, and a small quantity of myrrh. The abundance of aromatic articles, which the Greeks procured on this part of the coast, induced them to give the name of Aromatic to the whole country, and particularly to the town and promontory at the eastern extremity of it. Cape Aromata, the Gardefan of the moderns, is not only the extreme point east of the continent of Africa, but also forms the southern point of entrance on the approach to the Red Sea, and is the boundary of the monsoon. At the marts between MosuUon and (his Cape, no articles of commerce are specified, except frankincense, in great abundance and of the best quality, at Alkannai. At the Cape itself, there was a mart, with an exposed roadsted; and to the south of it, was another mart ; from both these, the principal exports consisted of various kinds of aromatics. At Aromata, the Barbaria of the ancients, or the Adel of the moderns, terminates ; and the coast of Azania, or Agan, begins, The first mart on this coast is Opone, from which there were exported, besides the usual aromatics and other articles, slaves of a superior description, chiefly for the Egyptian market, and tortoise-shell, also of a superior sort, and in great abundance. There was nothing peculiar in the imports. In this part of his work, the author of the Perip- ius, mentions and describes the annual voyage between the coast of Afirica and India: after enumerating the articles imported from the latter country, which consisted chiefly of corn, rice, butter; oil of Sesanum; cotton, raw and manufactured sashes; and honey fi'omthe cane, called sugar; he adds, that "many vessels are em • ployed JTi this commerce, expressly for the importation of these articles, and others, which have a more distant destination, sell part of their cargoes on this coast, and take in the pro- duce in return." This seems to be the first historical evidence of a commercial intercourse between India and Africa, independent of the voyages of the Arabians ; and as the parts from which the ships sailed to India, lay within the limits of the monsoon, it most probably was accomplished by means of it, and directly from land to land, without coasting round by the Gulf of Persia. The ports on the west coast of % ■ M Wl 240 Pi ogrt 'ss q) ' Discovenf CHAP. nr. m (J \i India, to which the trade was carried on, were Ariake and Barugaza, in Guzerat and Concan. No mart is mentioned after Opone, till we arrive at Rhapta. This place was so named by the Greeks, because the ships employed by the inhabitivnts were raised from a bottom composed of a single piece of wood, and the sides were sewed to it, instead of being nailed. In order to pre- serve the sewing, the whole outside was covered over with some of the gums of the country. It is a circumstance wortliy of notice, that when the Portuguese first visited this coast, they found ships of exactly the same materials and construction. At Rhapta, the customs were farmed by the merchants of Moosa, though it was subject to one of the princes of Yeman. Arabian conniianders and supercargoes were always employed in their ships, from their experience in the navigation : tlie imports of Rhapta were, lances, principally manufactured at Moosa; axes, knives, awls, and various kinds of glass : the exports were, ivory, inferior to the Aduli ivory, but cheap, and in great abundance ; the horns of the rhinoceros, tortoise shell, superior to any of this coast, but not equal to the Indian ; and an article called Nauplius, the nature of which is not known. At the period when the Periplus was written, the coast was unknown beyond Rhapta ; at this place, therefore, the journal of this voyage terminates; but this place, there is every reason to believe that the author visited in person. The commencement of the second voyage is from Berenice : from I'lis port he conducts us to Myos f-lormos, and there across the Red Sea to Leuke Kome in Arabia. This port we have already noticed as in the possession of the Romans, and forming the point of communication with Petra. We have also stated from our author, that at I^euke Kome the Romans kept a garrison, and collected a duty of twenty-five per cent, on the goods imported and exported. From it to the coast below Burnt Island, there was no trade carried on, in conse- t)uence of tlie dangers of the navigation from rocks, the want ot harbours, the poverty and barbarism of the natives, who seem to have been pirates, and the want of produce and manufactures. In the farthest bay of the east or Arabian coast of the Red Sea, about thirty miles from the straits, was Moosa, the regu- lar mart of the country, established, protected, and privileged as such by the government. If was not a harbour, but a road' a' CHAP. iir. iVriake and arrive at ;s, because >ed from a I the sides ler to pre- r with some worthy of coast, they instruction, erchants of princes of goes were 3nce in the principally nd various o the Aduli the horns f this coast, :l Nauplius, le coast was the journal •e is every Berenice : and there lis port we omans, and We have le Romans ve per cent. the coast in conse- s, the want atives, who oduce and of the Red a, the regu- 1 privileged but a road HAP. III. fo the Time of Ptolemy the Geographer. 241 1 with good anchorage on a sandy bottom. The inhabitants were Arabians, and it was much resorted to by merchants, both on accountof the produce and manufacturesof the adjacent country, and on account of its trade to India. The imports into Moosa were principally purple cloth of different qualities and prices; garments made in the Arabian manner, with sleeves, plain and mixed ; saffron ; an aromatic rush used in medicine ; muslins, cloaks, quilts, but only a few plain, and made accord- ing to the fashion of the country ; sashes of various colours ; some corn and wine, and coin to pay for the balance of trade. In order to ingratiate the sovereigns of the country, horses, mules, gold plate, silver plate richly embossed, splendid robes, and brass goods were also imported, expressly as presents to them. One of these sovereigns was styled the friend of the Roman emperors. Embassies were frequently sent to him from Rome, and it is probable that for him the presents were chiefly designed. The exports from Moosa were myrrh of the best quality, gum, and very pure and Wi \e alabaster, of which boxes were made; there was likewise exported a variety of articles, the produce and manufacture of Aduli, which were brought from that place to Moosa. We are next directed to the ports beyond the Straits of Babelmandeb. The wind in passing them is described as violent, coming on in sudden and dangerous squalls, in conse- quence of its confinement between the two capes which formed die entrance to the straits. The first place beyond them, about 120 miles to the east, described in the Periplus, is a village called Arabia Felix : this, there is every reason to believe, is Aden. It is represented in the Periplus as having been a place of great importance before the fleets sailed directly from India to Egypt, or from Egypt to the east. Till this occurred, the fleets from the east met in this haroour the fleets from Egypt. This description and account of it exactly corresponds with what Agatharcides relates : he says it received its name of Eudaimon, {fortunate j) on account of the ships from India and Egypt meeting there, before the mer- chants of Egypt had the courage to venture further towards the eastern marts. Its importance seems to have continued in some degree till it was destroyed by the Romans, probably in the time of Claudius : the object and reason of this act was to prevent the trade, which in his time had begun to direct its course to India, from reverting to this place. About 200 miles to the east of Aden was tlie poit of Kane. h\ m m R 242 Pro a regular lating to it, )f his own, nt authors, \t to truth, the request jf maps to it were laiil gned them, ken anvl un- Arabia and [lich he first places ascer- jlemy could laces in the lis latitudes oneous, but s taking five partly from e estimate of ys employed As he took his errors in ■ latitude he length of the ctreme points truth. Thus i e* degrees untry 16*^24' ice from the t is remarked justice of the reography of lodern times. (UAK JJi. lu //u' T/nic uj' Ptolemtj the Gco^rajihci: 257 Sfniho had afTu-iiied, that nothing obstructed tin- passage fi'om Spain to India by a westerly course, but the immensity of the Atlantic ocean ; but, according to Ptolemy's errors in- lon- gitude, this ocean was lessened by sixty degrees ; and as all the Portuguese navigators were accjuainted with his work, as soon as it was resolved to atteni})t a passage to India, the difficulty was, in their idea, lessened by sixty degrees ; and when Columbus sailed from Spain, he calculated on sixty degrees less than the real distance fron> that country to India. Tims, to re|)eat the observation of D' AnvHle, tbe greatest of his errors proved eventually the efficient cause of the greatest discovery of the moderns. Beside the j)ecu!iar merit of Ptolemy, which was perceived and acknowledged as soon as his work aj)peared, he possesses another excellence, which, as far as we know, was first pointed out and dwelt u})on by Dr. Vincent. According to him, Ptolemy, in his description of India, serves as the point of comiection between the Macedonian orthography and the Sanscrit, dispersing light on both sides, and showing himself like a luminary in the centre. lie seems indeed to have ob- tained the native appellations of the places in India, in a wonderful manner ; and thus, l)y recording names which can- not be mistaken, he affi)rds the means of ascertaining the country, even though he gives no particulars regarding it. We have ap})lied this remark to India exclusively, but it might be extended to almost all the names o*' places that occur in Ptolemy, though, as respects India, his obtaining the native appellations is more striking and useful. Having offered these general remarks on the excellencies and errors of Ptolemy, we shall next proceed to give a short and rapid sketch of his geographical knowledge respecting Europe, Asia, and Africa. On the north-east of Europe he gives an accurate description of the course of the Wolga; and further to the south, he lays down the course of the Tanais, much nearer what it really is than the course assigncsd , it by Strabo. lie seems to have been acquainted with the southern shores of the Baltic from the western Dwina, or the \'istula, to the Cimbric Chersonesus : he also describes part of the present Livonia. The Chersonesus, however, he stretches two degrees too far to the north, and also gives it too great a bend to the east. He applies the name of Thuie to a country situated to the north-east of Britain ; if his usual t vS i' t: !l m 258 Progrrss of Discwefy CHAP. III. ' ? }> A- error in longifude is rectified, the position he assigns Thuie •would correspond with that ot" Norway. Such seem to have been the Hmits of his Europe, un' ss, perhaps, he had some vague idea of the south of Sweden. He begins his geograpliical tables with the British isles; and here is one of his greatest errors. According to him, the north part of Britain stretches to the east, instead of to the north : the Mull of Galloway is the most northern pro- mo.'.tory, and tlie lantl from it bends due east. The Western Islands run east and west, along the north shore of Ireland, the west being the true north point in tliem. He is, how- ever, on the whole, j)retty accurate in his location of the tribes which at that jieriod inhabited Scotland. Strabo had placed Ireland to the north of Britain, but in its ^rue latitude. Ptolemy's map, which is the first geographical document of that island, represents it to the west of Britain, but five degrees further to the north than it actually is. He delineates its general shape, rivers, and promontories with tolerable accuracy, and some of his towns may be traced in their present appellations, as Dublin in Eblana. It has alreatly been noticed that hf 'vas probably acquainted with the south of Sweden, and his four Scandinavian islands are evidently Zealand, Funen, Laland, and Falster. It is re- markable that his ge\)graphy is more accurate almost in pro))ortion as it recedes from the Mediterranean. The form which he assigns to Italy is nuich farther removed from the truth than the form of most of the other European countries ■which he describes. His fundamental error in longitude led him to give to the Mediterranean Sea a much greater extent than it actually possesses. According to him, it occupies nearly sixty-five degrees ; and it is a singular circumstance, as well as a decisive proof of tiie influence of his authority, as well of the slow progress of accurate and experimental geography, that his mensuration of this sea was reputed as exact till the reign of Louis XIV., when it was curtailed of nearly twenty- five degrees by observation. The principal points in tlie geography of Asia, as given by Ptolemy, respect the coasts of India, the route to the Seres, and the Caspian sea. His delineation o' India is equally erroneous with his delineation of the Briti h Isles : according to him, it stretches in a right line from west to east, a little to the south of a line drawn between the Ganges and the Indus. He possessed, however, information respecting \ CHAP. in. CHAP. III. to the Time of Ptolemy the Oeographe) 259 pljices in tlie fju'ther peninsula of India, the locality of several of which, by coniiiarincr his names with the Sanscrit, may be traced with considerable certainty. He assigns to the island of" Ceylon a very erroneous locality, arising from his error respecting tlie form of India, and likewise an extent far ex- ceeding the truth. He is the first author, however, who mentions the seven mouths of the Ganges. The route to the Seres, which he tlescribes, has been already noticed : it is remarkable that the latitude which he assigns to his Sera metropolis, is within little more than a degree of the latitude of Pekin, which, in the opinion of Dr. Vincent, is one of the most illustrious approximations to truth that ancient geo- graphy affords. His description of Arabia is, on the whole, accurate ; he has, however, greatly diminished the extent of the Arabian Gulf, and by at the same time increasing the size of the Persian, he has necessarily given an erroneous form to this part of Asia. The ancient opinion of Herodotus, that the Caspian was a sea by itself, unconnected with any other, which was overlooked or disbelieved by Strabo, Arrian, &c. was adopted by Ptolemy, but he erroneously describes it as if its greatest length was from east to west. The peninsula to which he gives the name of the Golden Chersonesus, and which is probably Malacca, he describes as stretching from north to south : to the east of it he places a great bay, and in the most distant part of it the station of Catigara. Beyond this, he asserts that the earth, is utterly unknown, and that the land bends from this to the west, till it jouis the promon- tory of Prasum in Africa, at which place this quarter of the world terminated to the south. Hence it appears that he did not admit a communication betw^een the Indian and Atlantic oceans, and that he believed the Erythrean sea to be a vast basin, entirely enclosed by the land. Strabo and Pliny believed that Africa terminated under the torrid zone, and that the /ttlantic and Indian oceans joined. Ptolemy, as we have just seen, rejected this idea, and follow- ing the opinion of Hipparchus, that the earth was not sur- rounded by the ocean, but that the ocean was divided into large basins, separated from each other by intervening land, maintained, that while the eastern coast of Africa at Cape Prasum united with the coast qf Asia at the bay of the Golden Chersonesus, the western coast of Africa, after form- ing a great gulf, which he named Hespericus, extended between the east ;raphy of the interior of Africa is, that he does not allow sufficient extent to the great desert of Sahara, while the southern jiarts are too much (expanded. lie places the sources of the Nile, and the Mountains of the Moon in south latitude thirteen, instead of north latitude six or seven ; but the error of latitude is not so remarkable and unaccountable as the very erroneous latitude which he assigns to Cape Aromata, on a coast wliich was visited every year by merchants lie must have seen at Alexan- dria. The most difficult point to explain in Ptolemy's cen- tral Africa is the river Gir, which he describes as e(jual in length to the Niger, and running in the same direction, till it loses itself in the same lake. What this river is, geogra-hers have not agreed. It is mentioned by Claudian, as resembling the Nile in die abundance of its waters. Agethiniedorus, a geographer of the third century, regards it jiud the Niger as the same river. VVhat then was the amount of the knowledge of the ancients, as it existed among the Romans, in the height of their power, respecting the form, extent, and surface of tl^e globe? If we view a map drawn up according to their ideas, we are immediately struck with the form they assigned the world, and perceive with what propriety they called the extent of the world from east to west longitude or lengthy ar.cl the extent from north to south latitude, or breadth. In some maps, especially .•M' ClIAI'. MI. CHAV. in. lo the Time of Ptolemy the Grnpaphcr. 2G! that drawn up from the celebrated Peutingeriaii Tables, which contain an itinerary of the whole Roman empi'o, thirty-five de observed aireaily, that the (iulf of St. Cy})rian was ]m)l)ably the limit of Ptolemy's knowledge. The coasts of Africa on the Mediterranean, and on the Red Sea, were of course well known to the Romans ; and some jioints of their inforniation respecting the interior were clear and iiccurate, but, as lor these, they trusted almost t'ntirely to the reports of merchants, they were as freijuently erroneous. '1 11 iP:' 262 Progress ()/' Discovery CHAP. HI. The northern, north-western, north-eastern, and east parts of Asia were almost utterly unknown to the Romans ; but they possessed tolerably accurate information regarding the whole hither peninsula of India, from the Indus to the Ganges, and some partial and unconnected notices of the farther peninsula and of China. CHAP. III. CHaP. IV. to the Close of the Fifteenth Century. 263 CHAPTER IV. HISTORICAL SK.KTCH OF THE PROGRESS OF DISCOVERY .\ND OF COMMERCIAL ENTERPRISE, FROxM THE TIME OF PTOLEMY TILL THE CLOSE OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. Although the period, which the present chapter embraces, extends to thirteen centuries, yet, as it is by no means rich or fruitful either in discovery or coumiercial enterprise, it will not detain us long. The luxuries and wealth of the east, which, in all ages of the world and to all nations have been so fascinating, had, as we have already seen, drawn to them the interest ami the enterprise of tiie Uomuns, in the height of their coiujuests ; and towarih the east, with few exceptions, discovery and commerce pointed, during the whole of the period which this cha})ter embraces. Yet, notwithstanding this powerful attraction, geography made comparatively little progress: the love of luxury did not benefit it nearly so much as the love of science. The geography of Ptolemy, and the ilescription of Greece by Pausanias, are, as Make Brun justly remarks, the last works in which the light of antit[uity shines on geography. We may further observe, that as circum- stances directed the i'oute to the east, during the middle ages, principally through the central parts of Asia, the countries thus explored, or visited, were among the least interesting in this quarter of die globe, and those of which we possess, even at the present iltiy, very obscure and im})erfect information. The nations to whom geography and commerce were most indebtewe(l from ere can be 1 to extend wards the emperors, 3, \ve pos- The eni- and seller irsued the profitable at sense of ired. He [)orts, har- fi;es as em- ere preiii- ;. It may ' tolerable : of Rome, by cncou- privilei^es in Rome : 2(1 all who ) different the liberty vhom per- brancli of hat micrht 1 one -/ar- •eceived a the north red to the produced 1 a bai'ba- ■nterprise, that we first became arnuain.^d with the r^oritinie usages ard practices of the Goths; a branch of whom, unde" th_ nai:i(- of Scandinavians, we shall afterwards find coiitrHtuud o much to the extension of geography and comme" e h\ ; --der to transport their armies across the Euxino, ).» ej employed • slight flat-bottomed barks, framed of ti ml, • only, without the least mixture of iron, and occasionally .ovcted with a shelving roof on the appearance of a tempest/' Their first object of importance was the reduction of Pityns, which was provided with a commodious harbour, and was situated at the utmost limits of the Roman provinces. After the reduction of this place, they sailed round the eastern extremity of the Euxine, a distance of nearly three hundred miles, to the im- portant commercial city of Trebiz(md. This they also re- tluced ; and in it they found an immense booty, with which they fdled a great fleet of ships, that \(^vc lying in the port at the time of the capture. Their success encouraged and sti- mulated them to further enterprises against such of the com- mercial cities or rich coasts of the Roman empire, as lay within their grasp. In their second expedition, having in- creased their fleet by the capture of a number of fishing vessels, near the mouths of the Borysthenes, the Niester, and the Danube, they phunlered the cities of Bithynia. And in a third expedition, in which their force consisted of five hun- di'ed sail of ships, each of which might contain from twenty- five to thirty men, they passed the Bospl.orus and the Helles- pont, and ravaged Greece, and threatened Itn.j,' itself. The extent to which some branches of trade were carried by the Romans about this time, ms } i)e dedi^ed from what is related of Firnuis, whose ruin wa,:. u 'asioij' d by endeavour- ing to exchange the security of a pr. irroM merchant fur tiie imminent dangers of a Roman c. i/t^ror. rhe commerce of Firmus seems principally to have been directed to the ea.^t ; and for carrying on this commerce, he set'led himsell at Alex- dria in I^gypt. Rousting thnt he conld ?> omtaiuan army with the produce of papier and glue, boii; of wl-ich articles he ma- nufactured very extensively, he persua^'ted the people of Egypt that he was able to deliver them from the Roman yoke, and actually had influence sufficient to prevent the usual supplies of corn from being shipjied from Alexandria to Rome, llis destructif)n was the consequence. As an in- stance of his wealth and luxury, Vopisous relates that he iiad squares of gla?;i fixed with bitumen in hir^ house. 1 n m n 'i(J6 i^t (jat -ess (// ' iJisi 'OX '( •) ■// CHAP. IV. l> I The lloniau conimevce siilfered considerably during the ni\jTi\ of Dioclesiaii by the revolt of Brittiin, under Carausius, who, by his skill and superiority, especially in naval affairs, which enabled him to defeat a powerful Roman fleet fitted out against him, obtained and secured his independence. Carau- sius was nuu'dered by Alectus : against the latter the em- peror Constaiitine sailed with a powerful fleet, and having effected a landing in Britain, Alectus was defeated and slain. This fleet re(juires to be particularly noticed from two con- siderations. In the first place, it sailed with a side wind, and when the weather was rather rough, — circumstances so lui- usual, if not unprecedented, that they were deemed worthy of an express and peculiar panegyric : and, secondly, this fleet was not ecjuipped and ready for sea till after four years' prepar- ation, whereas, in the first Punic war, " within sixty days after the first stroke of the axe had been given in the forest, a fleet of 1 60 galleys proudly rode at anchor in the sea." Soon after this event, w^ are furnished with materials, from which we may judge of the comparative o})ulence, com- merce, and shipping of the several countries which bordereil on the Mediterranean. Constantine and Licinius were con- tending for the Roman empire; and as the contest mainly de- pended on superiority at sea, each exerted himself to the utmost to fit out a formidable and numerous fleet. Licinius was em- peror of the east : his fleet consisted of 380 gallies, of three ranks of oars ; eighty were furnished by Egypt, eighty by Phoe- nicia, sixty by Ionia and Doria, thirty by Cyprus, twenty by Caria, thirty by Bithynia, and fifty by Africa. At this period there seems to have been no vessels larger than triremes. The naval preparations of Constantine were in every respect in- ferior to those of his rival : he seems to have got no ships from ItJily : indeed, the fleets which Augustus had ordereil to be permanently kept up at Misenum and Rave«ma, were no longer in existence. Greece supplied the most, if not all Constantine's vessels : the maritime cities of this country sent their respective quotas to the Piraeus; and their united forces only amounted to 200 small vessels. This was a feeble armament compared with the numerous and powerful fleets that Athens equipped and maintauied during the Pelopon- nesian war. While this republic was mistress of the sea, her fleet consisted of 300, and afterwards of iOO gal lies, of tin-ee ranks of oars, all reatly, in every respect, for innnediatc service. The scene of the naval battle between Licinius anil CHAP. IV. luring the Carausius, Lval affairs, t fitted out J. Carau- ;r the eni~ lul iiaving and shiin. 1 two con- whid, and pes so iu»- worthy of this fleet rs' prepar- days alter est, a fleet materials, !uce, coni- bordered were con- nainly de- the utmost IS was em- , of three y by Phte- twenty by his period les. The •espect in- t no ships d ordered iina, were it" not ail untry sent ted forces a feeble irful fleets Pelopon- if the sea, Ujallies, of nnnediate ;inius and CHAP. IV. to the Close of the Fifteenth Cenlurij. 267 Constantine was in the vicinity of Byzantium : as this city was in pcsession of the former, Constantine gave positive orders to force the passage of the Hellespont : tlie battle lasted two days, and terminated in the complete defeat of Licinius. Shortly after this decisive victory, the Roman world was again united under one emperor, and the im})erial residence and seat of government was fixed by Constantine at Byzantium, which thenceforth obtained the name of Constantinople. In the middle of the fourth century Anmiianus Marcel- linns gives us some impoi'tant and curious information respecting the Roman commerce with the East. According to him it was customary to hold an aimual fair at Batna*, a town to the east of Antioch, not far from the banks of the Euphrates. Merchandize from the East was brought hither overland by caravans, as well as up the Euphrates ; and its value at this fair was so great, that the Persians made an attempt to pluntler it. 'I'o the same author we are indebted for some notices respecting the countries which lay beyond the eastern limits of the Ronian empire, and also for the first clear and undoubted notice of rhubarb, as an ex- tensive article of commerce for medicinal purjioses. Towards the end of the fourth century, the naval expe- ditioiis of the Saxons attracted the notice and excited the fears of the Britons and the Gauls : their vessels apparently were unfit for a long voyage, or for encountering either the dangers of the sea or of liattle ; they were flat-bottomed and slightly constructed of timlier, wicker-work, and hides ; but such vessels possessed advantages, which to the Saxons more than compensated for their defects : they drew so little water that they could proceed 100 miles up the great rivers; and they could easily and conveniently be carried on waggons from one river to another. We have already noticed the itineraries of the Roman empire : of these there were two kinds, the annotota and the picta ; the first containing merely the names of places ; the other, besides the names, the extent of the different provinces, the number of their inhabitants, the names of the mountains, rivers, seas, &c. : of the first kii d, the." itinerary of Antoniims is the most ceiel*;ated : to it v^ have already alluded: to the second kind belong the Peutingarian tables, which are sup- posed to have been drawn up in the reign of Theodosius, about the begiiuiuiu of the fiftli century, though according to other conjecturft?, x\t^v were constructed at different periods. % ill' 2(>8 Progress of Discovery CHAP. IV. M The beginning of the tables is lost, comprising Portugal, Spain, and the west part of Africa ; only the soiith-efvst coast of England is inserted. Towards the east, the Seres, the mouth of the Ganges, and the island of Ceylon appear, and routes are traced through the heart of India. Dr. Vincent remarks, that it is a very singular circumsUnice that these lables should have the same names in the coast of India as the Periplus, but reversed. Mention is also made in them of a temple of Augustus or the Roman emperor: these cir- cumstances, Dr. Vincent justly observes, tend to prove the con- tinuance of the coumierce by sea with India, from the time of Claudius to Theodosius ; a period of above 300 years. In these tables very few of tlie countries are set down ac- cording to their real position, their respective limits, or their actual size. The law of the emperor Theodosius, by which he pro- hibited his subjects, under pain of death, from tesiching the art of sh'p-building to the barbarians, was ineffectual in tlie attainme'it of the object which he had in view; nor did any real se'vice to the empire result from a fleet of 1100 large ships tiiat he fitted out, to act in conjunction with the forces of the vestern emj)ire for the protection of Rome against Genseric, king of the Vandals. 'I'his fleet arrived in Sicily, but performed nothing ; and Genseric, notwithstanding the law of Theodosius, obtained the means and the skill of fitting out a formidable fleet. The Vandal empire in Africa was peculiarly adapted to maritime enterprise, as it stretched alonjT the coast --J" tlie Mediterranean above ninetv davs' journey fi'om Tangier to Tripoli : the woods of mount Atlas supplied an inexhaustible (juantity of ship timber; the African nations whom he had subdued, especially the Carthaginians, were skilled in ship-building and in maritime affairs ; and they eagerly obeyed the call of their new sovereign, when he held out to them the plunder of Rome. Thus, as Gibbon ob- serves, after an interval of six centuries, the fleets that issued from the port of Carthage again claimed the ernjiire of the Mediterranean. A feeble and ineffectual resistance was opposed to the Vandal sovereign, who succeeded in his grand enterprise, plundered Rome, and landed safely in Carthage with his rich spoils. Tiie emperor Leo, alarmed at this success, fitted out a fleet of 1113 ships, at the expense, it is calculated, of nearly five millions sterling. This fleet, with an immense army on board, sailed frruttium, were carefully explored and wrought. The t.bundance of the necessaries of life was so very great, that a gallon of wine was sometimes sold in Italy for less than three farthings, and a (juarter of wheat at ubout five shillings and sixpence. Towards a country thus wisely governed, and rich and fertile, commerce was naturally attracted ; and it was en- couraged and protected by Theodoric : he established a free intercourse among all the provinces by sea and land : the city gates were hover shut; and it was a common saying, "that a j)urse of gold might safely be left in the field." About this period, many rich Jews fixed their residence in the principal cities of Italy, tor the purposes of trade and commerce. The most particular iiV'onnation we possess respecting the geographical knowledge, and the Indian commerce of the ancients at the beginning of the sixth century, is derived from a work of Cosmas, surnainetl Indico Pleustes, or the Indian navigator. He was originally a merchant, and afterwards became a monk ; and Gibbon justly observes, that his work displays the knowledge of a merchant, with the prejudices of a monk. It is entitletl C/in'slian Topo^rraphij, and was com- posed at Alexandria, in the middle of the fifth century, / 270 Progi-ess of Discoi>eri/ CHAP. IV. r \ r fi \ fi:i W w ' r i about twenty yeurh after he had performed his voyage. The chief object of his work was to confute the oi)inions that the earth was a globe, and that there was a ttniperate zone on tlie south of the torrid zone. According to Cosnias, the earth is a vast plane surrounded by a wall : its extent 400 days' jour- ney from east to west, and half as much from north to south. On the wall which bounded the earth, the firmament was sup- ported. The succession of dn--- and night is occa^ion^d by an immense mountain on the north f the earth, intercepting the light of the sun. In order to ;.r oavh account. In addition to pepper from Mali on the coast of Malabar, and the articles alreatly enumerated from China, &c., copper, a •wood resembling ebony, and a variety of stuffs, were imported from Calliena, a port shut to the Egyptian Greeks at the time of the Periplus ; and from Sindu they impoi'ted nuisk, castoreum, and spikenard. Ceylon was a depot for all these articles, which wei"e exported, together with spiceries, and the precious -stones for which this island was famous. Cosmas expressly states that he was not in Ceylon himself, but that lie derived his information respecting it and its trade from Sopatrus, a Greek, who died about the beginning of the sixth century. This, as Dr. Vincent observes, is a date of some importance : for it proves that the trade opened by the iiomans from Egypt to India direct, continued upon the same footing from the reign of Claudius and the discovery of Hip- palus, down to A. D. 500 ; by which means we came within f350 years of the Arabian voyage published by Renau- dot, and have but a small interval between the limit of an- cient geogi'aphy and that of the moderns. From this author we first learn that the Persians havin"- overcome the aversion of their ancestors to maritime enter- terprise, had established a flourishino- and lucrative com- merce with India. All its pi-incipal ports were visited by Persian merchants ; and in most of the cities there were churches in which the service was performed by priests, ordained by a Persian archbishop. i % r-^V IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) ^ /^^^ 4. t 1.0 1.1 If 141 *u 1^ Ii4 1^ IL25 M 1.4 |Z2 20 1.6 Photographic Sciences Corporation ,i>^ \ \ :\ ^'\ ^scril)e(l by ('osinns, from the nccounl of Sopatrus, with nieiitioiiing a few inisceihuieoiis particulars, iHustrjitive of tlie |)r(Khice and connnerce of the island. The sovereii^nty was held by two kini>;s ; one called the king- of the Hyacinth, or the district above the Cihants, where the precious stones were found ; the other possessed liie maritime districts. In Ceylon, ele- phants are sold by their hei<>ht ; and he adds, that in India they are trained for war, wliereas, in Africa, they are taken only for their ivory. Various particulars respectiufr the natural history of Ceylon and India, &c. ai'e given, which are very accurate and complete: the cocoa-nut with its |)roperties is described: the ])epper plant, the bulllilo, the camelopard, tiie nuisk animal, i*cc. : the rhinoceros, he says, he saw only at a distance; he procured some teeth of the liij)popotannis, but never saw the animal ilsi;lf. In the palace of the king of Abyssinia, the unicorn was represented in brass, but he never saw it. It is extraordinary that he makes no mention of cinnamon, as a jmuluction of Ceylon. The most imjjortant points respecting the state of Eastern connnerce in the age of Cosmas, as established by his iji- formation, are the following : that Ceylon was the central mart between the connnerce ol" Kurope, Africa, and the west of India, and the east of India ai'd China; that none of the foreign merchants who visited C eyh)n were accustomed to |)roceed to the eastern regions of Asia, but receivetl their silks, spices, &c. as they were imported into Ceylon ; and that, as cloves are particularly specified as having been im- j)orted into Ceylon from China, the Chinese at this period must have traded with the Moluccas on the one Iiand, and with Ceylon on the other. Cosmas notir the great abundance of silk in Persia, which he attribuLos to the short land carriage between it and China. In our account of the very early trade t)f Carthage, a branch of it was described from Herodotus, which the Carthaginians carried on, without the use or intervention of worils, with a remote African tribe. Of a trade conducted in a similar manner, Cosmas gives us some information ; according to him, tlie king of the Axumites, on the east coast of Africa, exchanged iron, salt, and cattle, for pieces of gold with an inland nation, whom he describes as inlmbiting I'ithiopia. It may be remarked in confirmation of the ac- ^ ) CHAP. IV. scribed by intioning a nKhice tuul cUl by two the liistrict ,i're Ibmitl ; ;eylt)ii, ele- hal in 1»'^'" :\ are lakeii ipectitig the riven, wbicU uit wiib i*'^ bullUlo, the ros, be says, teeth of tbe In the palace nresented ni hat lie iiiaUes yU)n. te t)i' Eastern ■a by bis in- ,s the central and the west Lt none ot" the iccustonied to received their Ceylon; and ivinji; been im- xi this period iine hand, and k in Persia, between it and Cai-tl»»^'*-' 11 s, whieli the )r intervention ade conducted int'ornuition ; on the east^ e, lor pieces of Ks as inhabiting lion t)V the ac- CHAP. IV. /o the CloM' (if the Fifttcnt/i ('ctititnj. 273 curacy, both of I Ii-rodotus and of ("osnias, in what they relate on this subject, and as an ilhistration and proof of the jier- matu'iicv and ))ower of custom antonjr barbarous nations, that Dr. Shaw aiul C'adauio'^to (in I*urclias's Pilj^i iniaj^e) describe tlie same mode of trallic as carried on in tlieir tim(!s by the Moors on the west coast of Africa, with the inlial)itants of llie banks of the N'ii^er. In the middle of the sixth (ciUiny, an iunneiis{! and ex- pensive lli'et, fitted out by the Kmperor .liistinian for the j)urpose ol' invachnii the Vandals of Africa, yives ns, in the detail oi" its preparation and exploits, considerable insi()() transports of various siz(;s, which it is not easy exactly to calculate; the presmnption derivetl from the accounts we have is, that the suiallest were 30 tons, and the laru'cst .lOO tons ; and that the ai'irreo'ate tonna<|e of the whole anu)unte(l to al)out ](){),()()() tons : an innnense fleet, even compared w ith the fleets of modern times. On board of this fleet there were a.*), ()()() seamen aiul soldiers, and .TOOO horses, besides arms, i'n<>ines, stores, and an 'ide- (juate supply ol watei' and provisions, lor a |)erio(l, pi )L> «My, of two or three months. Such wi-re the transports : they were accompanied and protected by Wl lijrht bri<>aiuines, for ; the day, and by torches fixed on its mast head durinvas completed, its administration was settled, and conducted CHAP. IV, time it was nvare of llie \ ail vantages his ]nir}Kise, of liassora: the junction de and navi- mercial city ; ttention and their voyages >lace of their hicii liitherto n that island. 1, the Caliph 1(1 descrii)tion rehended the h. little to the lich is given of lich was amui- iopolis, where collected and Jerusalem by ler fair held at brought from ms, were sold. ; of Syria was timber of Li- nicia'AS, which barl s, which •pru.-,, llhodes, mtinople itself e most imjiort- nore especially 2st," as Gibbon e most arduous ty in the world uibsistence and [ill : the Greeks ie ])ossession of iquest of Egypt and c(mducted CHAP. IV. ■ to the Close of the Fifteenth Cvnturij. 'Ill on the most wise and liberal principles. In the manageiucnt of the revenue, taxes were raised, not by the simple but oj)- pressive mode of ca})itatioM, but on every branch from the clear profits oi" agriculture and counnerce. A third part of these taxes was set apart, with the most religious exactness, to the amnial repairs of the dykes and canals. At first, the corn which used to supply Constantinople was sent to Medina from Memphis by camels ; but Omrou, the conijueror of Egypt, soon renewed the maritime communication '• which had been attempted or achieved by the Pharaohs, the Ptolemies, or the Caesars; and a canal, at least eighty miles in length, was opened from the Nile to the Red Sea. This inland navigation, which would have joined the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean, was soon, however, discontinued, as useless and danger- ous ;" and about the year 775, A. D., it was sto])ped up at the end next the Retl Sea. The conijuest of Africa, though not nearly so advantiigeous to the commerce of the Arabians, was yet of some importance to them in this point of view; it gradually extended from the Nile to the Atlantic Ocean, '"ripoly was the first maritime and commercial city which their arms reduced : IJugia and Tangier were next reduced. Cairoan was formed as u station for a caravan ; a city, which, in its present decay, still holds the second rank in the kinudom of Tunis. Carthaue was next attacked and reduced ; but an attempt was maile by forces sent from Constiuitinople, joined by the ships and soUliers of Sicily, and a powerful reinforcement of (ioths from Spain, to retake it. The Arabian con(|uerors had drawn a strong chain across the harbour ; tin-, the confederate fleet broke: the Arabians for a time were com})elled to retreat ; but they soon returned, defeated their enemies, burnt Carthage, and soon afterwards comjiieted the coiu|ueNl ol' this part of Africa. T'le beginning of the t;iglith century is remarkable for their invasion of S|)ain, and lor their second fruitless attack on Cou'lantinople ; dm ing the latter, their fleet, which is said to have consisletl of 1800 vessels, was totally destroyed by the Greek fire. With regard to their con(|uest of Spain, it was .so rapid, that in a few months the whole of that great penin- sula, which for two centui"ies withstood the })ower of the Jloman re})ublic at its greatest height, was reduced, except ■r e also the mountainous districts of Asturia and Biscay. Her the Arabians displayed the same attention to science by which they were distinguished in Asia : ten years after the conquest, V 3 ,'1 I^F- \' 278 Profjiress of Discovirjf CHAP. IV. a map of the province was made, exhlhitir.g the seas, rivers, harbouiTs, and cities, accompanied with a description of them, and of the inliabitants, the cUmate, soil, and mineral produc- tions. " In the space of two centuries, the gifts of nature were improved by the agriculture, the manufactures, and the commerce of an industrious people." The first of the Om- miades who reigned in Spain, levied on the Christians of that country, 10,000 ounces of gold, 10.000 pounds of silver, 10,000 houses, &c. " The most powerful of his success'^rs derived from the same kingdom the annual tribute of about six millions sterling. Hi? royal seat of Cordova contained 600 mosques, 900 baths, and 200,000 houses : he gave laws to 80 cities of the first order, and to 300 of the second and third : and 12,000 villages and hamlets were situated on the banks of the Guadalquivir." The religious prejudices, as well as the interests of the Arabians, led them to exclude the Christians from every channel through which they had received the produce of India. That they were precluded from all commer'jial inter- course with Egypt, is evident, from a fact noticed by Macpher- son, in his Annab of Commerce. Before Egypt was conquered by the Arabians, writings of importance in Europe were executed on the Egyptian papyrus ; but after that period, at least till the beginning of the ninth century, they are upon parchment. — This, as Macpherson observes, nmounts almost to a proof, that the trade with Egypt, the only country pro- ducing papyrus, vas interrupted. In consequence o\' the -upply of silks, spices, and other oriental luxuries which Constantinople derived from the fair at Jerusalem, (still allowed by the Arabians to be annually held,) not being sufficient for the demand of that dissipated capital, and their price in consequence having very much in- creased, some merchants were tempted to travel across Asia, beyond the northern boundary of the Arabian power, and to import, by means of caravans, the goods of China and India. Towards the beginjiing of the ninth century, as we have already remarked, the commercial relations of the Arabians and the Christians of Europe conmienced, and Alexandria was no longer closed to the latter. The merchants of Lyons, Mar- seilles, and other maritime towns in the south of France, in consequence of the friendship and treaties subsisting between Charlemagne and the Caliph Haroun Al Rasched, traded with their ships twice a yeai" to Alexandria ; froia this city they CHAP. IV. seas, rivers, ion of them, eral produc- ts of nature ires, and the of tlie C)m- tians of that Is of silver, s success'^rs ute of about a contained le gave laws d and third: n the banks rests of the from every produce of lercial inter- }y Macpher- is conquered lurope were t period, at ey are upon :)unts almost ;ountry pro- , and other om the fair be annually It dissipated y much in- icross Asia, ver, and to and India. as we have rabians and dria was no yons, Mar- France, in ng between tradetl with is citv they CHAP. IV. fo the Close of the Fifteenth Century. '219 i brought the produce of Arabia and India to tlie Rhone, and by means of it, and a lanv carriage to the Moselle and ilie Rhine, France and German^ ^^ere supplied with the luxuries of the ea«t. The friendship jetween the emperor and the caliph seems in other cases to have been employed by the former to the advancement of the connnercial intercourse be- tween Asia and Europe ; for we are expressly informed, that a Jewish merchant, a favourite of Charlemagne, made frequent voyages to Palestine, and returned with pictures, — merchan- dize before imknown in the west. Hitherto we have viewed the Arabians chiefly as fostering and encouraging conunerce ; but they also deserve our notice, for their attention to geographical science and discoveries. From the period of their first conquests, the caliphs had given orders to their generals to dra\ up geographical de- scriptions of the countries conquered ; and we have already noticed some of these descriptions. In 833, A. D., the CalipL Ahnamon employed three brothers of the liame of Ben Schaker, to measure a degree of latitude, first in the desei't of Sangdaar, betweeen Racca and Palmyra, -ind afterwards near Cufa, for the purpose of ascertaining the circumference of the globe. We now arrive at the era of a most important document, illustrative of .he conunerce of the eastern parts of Indiii and of China, with which we are furnished by the Arabians : we allude to the " ancient Accounts of India and China, by two Mahomedan travellers, who went to those parts in the ninth century, translated from the Arabic by Renaudot." The genuineness and authenticity of these accounts v.'ere for a Ion*' time doubted ; but De Guignes, from the Chinese annals, has completely removed all doubt on the subject. The most vemarkable circumstance connected with this journey is, l!»at in the ninth century the Mahomedans should have been .vble to reach China ; but our surprise on this point will ce 0, when we >.onsider the extent of the Mahomedan dominions towards the east of Asia, the utmost limits of which, in this direction, approached very nearly the frontiers of China. If, therefore, they travelled by land, no serious diffici^lty would lie in their way ; but Renaudot thinks it more pro- bable, that they proceeded thither by sea. According to these travellers, the Arabian merchants, no longer confining themselves to a traffic at Ceylon for the com- modities of the east of Asia, traded to every part of that T 4 jll '280 Prntrrrss of Discovcru CHAP. IV. K J \ quarter of tlu; j^'lohe, inch as far ns tlio .south coast of China. The account li.cy of the tniiHc with this hitter coinitry, is very minute : " When foieijvn ve>sels arrive at C'anfu, which is supposed to be Canton, the Ciiinese take possession of their cargoes, and store them in warehouses, till the arrival of all the other ships which are expected : it thus hap))ens that the vessels which first arrive ai-(; detaiiied six mouths. They then take about a third j)art of all the merchandize, as duty, and jrive the rest up to the merchants: of these the emperor is the preferable purchaser, but only for ready money, and at the hiujhest juice of the market." One circum- stance is particularly noticed, which jjroves, that at this period the Arabians were numerous and respected in China ; for a cadi, or judge, of their own religion, was a})pointed to preside over them, under the emperor. The Chinese are described as sailing along the coast as far as the Persian Gulti where they loaded their vessels with merchandize from liassora. Other particulars are mentioned, res|)ecting their trade, &c., which agree wonderfully with what we know of them at pre- sent : they regarded gold and silver merely as merchandize : dressed in silk, sununer and winter; had no wine, but drank a li(juor made from rice. Tea is mentioned under the name of sa/i — an infusion of this they drank, and a large revciuie was derived from the duty on it. Their porcelaiue also is de- scribed and pr.iised, as e(|ually fine and transpju'ent as glass. Every male child was n^gistered as soon as born ; at 18 he began to pay the capitation tax ; and at 80 was entitled to a pension. 'lliese Arabian travellers likewise supply ns with some in- formation respecting the trade of the lied 8eiu The west side of it was in their time nearly deserted by merchant ships j those from the Persian (nilf sailed to .Judda on the Arabian coast of it: here were always found many small coastinji ves- sels, by means of which the goods Iroin India, Persia, &c. were conveyed to Cairo. If this jvarticular is ijccurate, it would seem to prove that at this period the canal between the Nile and the Red Sea, which had been rendered navigable by Omron, was regularly used for the purposes of commerce. In these accounts, the typhon, or whirlwind, so common in the Chinese seas, is mentioned mider that appellation : the . Hying fish and unicorn are described ; and we have notices of ambergrise, the musk, and the animal from which it is pro- duced : the last is mentioned as coming from Thibet CHAP. IV. CHAP. IV. to the Close of the FiJ'tccnth Cetitunf. 'IHi of China. country, [it Cantu, posst'ssioii [he arrival s happens i months, aiuiizo, as tlu'se the for ready le circinn- his period nu ; for a to preside described \\\\ where liassora. raile, &c., 11 at pre- chaiidize : but drank the name 13 revenue also is de- t as ghiss. at 1 8 he titled to a some in- Tlie west mt ships ; Arabian sting ves- rsia, &c. , it would the Nile milile by iierce. )mmon in tion : the . notices of t is pro- , The next Arabian author, in point of time, from whom we tlerive inlbrmation respectin«!; jreography and commerce, is Massoudi. He died at C'ah'o in 5)57: lie was the author of a work describing the most celebrated kingdoms in Kurope, Africa, and Asia ; but the details respecting Aiiica, India, and the lesser Asia, are the most accurate and laboured. The ac- count we shall aftt^rwards give of the geogra})hical knowledge of the Arabians, renders it unnecessary to present any abstract, in this place, of the geographical |)art of his work; we shall therefore confine ourselves to the notices interspersed respect- ing connnerce. The Arabians traded to nearly every jiort of India, from Caslimera to Cape Comorin ; and seem to have been protected and particularly favoured in their commercial pursirits. In the year 877 a great rebellion occurred in China, aiul the Arabian merchants had been massacred at Caiifn. According to Massoudi, however, in his time this city had recovered from its disasters ; confidence had revivetl ; the Arabian merchants from Hassora, a'^d other ports in Per- sia, resorted to it : and vessels from India and the adjacent islands. He also describes a route to China by land fre- (|ueiited by traders : this seems to have been through Korasin, Thibet, and a country he calls llestan. With re- gard to the Arabian commerce with. 'Africa, the merchants settled at Omar traded to Sofala for gold, and to an island, which is supposed to be Madagascar, where they had established colonies. Of the geographic 1 knowledge displayed by the next Arabian traveller in point of date, Kbor Ilaukal, we shall at present take no notice, for the reason already assigned; but confiiu; ourselves to his notices regarding commerce. Ac- cording to him, the most wealthy merchants resided at Siraf, where they traded very extensively and successfully in the commodities of India and China. Horinus >vas the principal trading jilace In Karmania; Daibul in Sind : the merchants here traded to all parts. The countries near the Caspian were celebrated for their manufactures of silk, wool, hair, and gold stuffs. In Armenia, hangings and carpets, dyed with a worm or insect a beautifid colour, called /,rr»iez, were made. Sa- marcand was celebrated for the excellency of its paper. Tre- bezond was the principal trading place on the Black 8ea. Alexandria is celebrated for the grandeur of its buildings ; but its trade is not mentioned. . About the beginning of the eleventh century we derive our ^M--. if . ]' '282 Proitress of Diaroxrnj CHAP. IV. earliest notice of the commerce of JSpaiii inuler its Arabian conquerors. 'J'lie port of Harcelona was at this period the princijml station for connnercial intercourse with the eastern nations horderinjr on tlie Mediterranean : and as a proof of the character which its merchants held, it n)ay be noticed, that their usages were collected into a code : by this code all ves- sels arriving at, or sailing from Barcelona, are assured of friendly treatment; and tliey are declared to be under the protection of the prince, so long as they are near the ct)ast of Catalonia. How much Spain was indebted to the Arabians for their early commerce may be judged of from the number of commercial and maritime terms in the Spanish language, evidently derived from the Arabic. In the middle of the twelfth century, Al Edrissi composed at the court of Roger King of Sicily, whose subject he was, his Geographical Auuisements. In this work we find little that relates to connnerce : its geographical details will assist us when we give our sketch of the geographical knowledge of the Arabians. In the work of Ebor Al Ouardi, which was drawn up in 1232, Africa, Arabia, and Syria are minutely described; but comparatively little is said on Europe, India, and the North of Asia. The next Arabian geographer in point of time is Abulfeda : lie wrote a very particular description of the earth, the coun- tries being arranged according to climates, with the latitude and longitude of each place. In the introduction to this work lie enters on the subject of mathematical geography, anil de- scribes the most celebrated mountains, rivers, and seas of the world. Abulfeda was a native of Syria ; and this and the ad- jacent countries are described with most fullness and accuracy : the same remark applies to his description of Egypt and the north coast of Africa. The information contained in his work, respecting Tartary, China, &c., is not nearly so full and minute us might have been expected, considering the intercourse of the Arabians with those countries. Of Europe, and all other parts of Africa except Egypt and the north coast, he gives little or no information. Within these very lew years, some valuable notices have been received, through M. Burckhardt, and Mr. Kosegarten of Jena, of Ibn Batouta, an Arabian traveller of the fourteenth century. According to M. Burckhardt, he is, perhaps, the gi'erttest land tji-oveller that ever wrote his travels. He was a •"^~:,»«^Jif'^ CIIAl'. IV. ts Arabian period tlie the eastern a proof t)t' oticeil, that j(le all ves- assured of under the the coast of le Arabians he number h language, i composed ject he was, e find little s will assist krwwledge rawn up in cribed ; but d the North s AbuHeda : the coun- the latitude to this work hy, and de- seas oi" the and the ad- l accuracy : pt and the in his work, and minute tercourse of nd all other st, he gives lotices have osegarten of fourteenth lerhaps, the He was a i.UAi>. i\. /o flu- Close of t/if Fifteenth Ceuturj/. iSH native or' Tangier, and travelled for thirty years, from 1324' to 1 354. He traversed more that) once Kgypt, .Syria, Arabia, Per- sia, the coast of the Red Sea, and the eastern coast of Africa, liochara. Balk, Samarcand, C'aubul, India, and China, were visited by him : he even ventured to explore several of the Indian islands ; crossed the mountains of Thibet, traversed India, and then, taking shipping, went to Java. He again visited China, and returned thence by Calicut, Yeman, Bagdad, and Damas- cus, to Cairo. After having visited Spain, he directed his tra- vels to Africa ; reached the capital of Morocco, and thence as far as Sodjalmasa. From this place he crossed the Desert with the slave merchants to Taghary — twenty-five days journey : he represents the houses here as built of rock salt, and covered with camel skins. For twenty days more he crossed a desert without water or trees, and the sand of which was so loose, that it left no traces of footsteps. He now arrived at the frontier town of Soudan. After travelling for some time longer, he reached the banks of the Niger, which, according to the information he received, flowed into the Nile at the second cataract. He visited Tombuctoo and other places in this part of Africa, and finished his travels at Fez. We shall now conclude our account of the Arabians, with a connected and condensed view of their geographical knowledge. It is natural to suppose that they would be best ac(juaint- ed with those countries which had embraced the faith of Mahomet; and that the prejudices and contempt with which his disciples have always regarded Christians, and, indeed, all who were of a different religion, would stand in the way of their seeking or acquiring information respecting those por- tions of the globe, the inhabitants of which were not of their faith. The exceptions to this are to be found principally in those countries, from which they derived the principal arti- cles of their connnerce; or which, though not proselytized, were conquered by them. Hence, Europe in general was scarcely known to them be- yond their dominions in Spani, and the adjacent parts of France. There are, however, exceptions to this remark ; for we find, scattered through their geographical works, notices tolerably accurate and just respecting Ireland, Paris, Anthar- vat, which seems to be England, the Duchy of Sleswig, the City of Kiov, and some other places. The whole of the north of Africa having been subdued, :] 284 Progiess of Discovery CHAP. IV. VA was thoroughly known by tlieni ; and they seem to liave ex- tended their anus, or aL least their knowledge, as tar into the interior as tlie banks of the Niger. On the east side, . their arms had penetrated to SoHila ; but on the west their knowledge does not appear to have reaehed beyond Cape Blanco, in the Bay of Arguin. The fortunate islands of the ancients were known to them, and the Pike of Tenerifle seems obscurely represented. Of the other islands and ports farther to the south on this side of Africa, it is imjiossible to ascertain their identity : or whether, as re})resented by the Ara- bians, they may not be I'egarded as among those fables in geography, in which all the ancient nations indulged. We may, however, trace some i-esemblance, in name or descri}>lion, to the Canary Islands, the River Senegal, and the Rio d'Ouro. Malte Brun is of opinio", that their knowledge extended be- yond Cape Boyador, for so long a time imi)assablc by the Portuffese. On the eastern side of Africa, the Ethiopia of the Ara- bians seems to have terminated at Cape Corrientes : their power and religion were established from the Cape to the Red Sea. In their geogra[>hical descriptions of this part oi" Africa, we may trace many names of cities which they still retain. But they adopted the error of I^tolemy in supposing that the southern parts of Africa and Asia joined ; for Edrisi describes an extensive country, extending from the coast of Africa to that of India, beyond tht; Ganges. The island of Madagascar seems to be faintly i)Ourtraved by them ; and it is certain that Arabian colonic^ and the Mahometan religion were established in it from a very early period. Massoudi mentions an island, two days' sail from ZangLiebar, which he calls Phanbalu, the inhabitants of which were Mahometans ; and it is worthy ol remark, as Malte Brur obsi;rvcs, that in the time of Aristotle a large island in this Ocean was known under a similar name, that of PheboT. It is surprizing that the island of Ceylon, with which the Ara- bians had such regular and constafit intercourse, should be placed by Eilrisi near the coast of Africa. But it was in Asia that the concjuest, and commerce, and religion of the Arabians spread most cxtensivoly ; and hence their geographical knowledge of this part of the globe is more full, accurate, and minute, than what they luul ac(]uired of the other portions. By their concjtiest of Persia, the ancient Bactriana, Transoxiana, &c. fell into their power ; and accord- .w^;-^ CHAP. IV. () have ex- as tar into 2 east side, , e west their yond Cape aiids of the )t' Tenerifle Is and ports ipossible to by the Ara- se fables in ilfjed. We ■ description, Rio d'Ouro. ixtended be- sablc by the of the Ara- ientes : their Cape to the f this part ol' ich they still in su})posing 1 ; for Edrisi the coast of ly pourtrayed nicj and the a very early iiys' siiil from Units of which LS Malte Brui island in this 1" Phcbot. It lich the Ara- se, shoukl be ^mnierce, and ly ; and hence - a countrv near Caucasus, called Sedah, remarkable for the redness of their hair. Hence, it is probable that the modern inhabitants of Red Russia, who are Sclavonic, emi- grated to it from this district of Caucasus. Some notices a})})ear ol' those parts of Russia which border on Russia : Maschput, which is represented as a city of con- sequence, probably is Moscow. On the borders of the salt plaius of Susitli, a country is described, called Boladal Rus, evidently Russia, the inhabitants of which are represented as noted for their filth. With the figure and extent of the Caspian Sea, the Ara- bian geographers were tolerably well acquainted : and they describe, so as to be recognized, several tribes inhabiting the borders of this sea, as well as the vicinity of the Wolga. One is particularly noticed and celebrated, being called the People of the Throne of Gold, the khan of whom lived at Seray, near the mouth of the Wolga, To the east of the Caspian, the Arabian concjuests did not extend farther than those of Alex- ander and his immediate successors. Transoxiana was the limit of their dominions towards the north, in this part of the world. Of many of tlie districts which the Arabians conquered, in this part of Asia, they have furnished us with such accurate and full information, that modern discoveries have been able to add or correct very little. That they were ac(]uainted with Tliibet and China, has already apjieared, from the account given of their commerce. Thibet they represent as divided into three parts, Thibet upper, central, and lower. At the (•■ 286 Progress of Discovery CHAP. IV. \i! beginning of the eighth century, Arabian ambassadors were sent to China : they passed through Cashgar. After this period, journies to China by the route of Samarcand were frequent. Besides Canfu, described by the Mahomedan travellers of Renaudot, other cities in China were visited by the Arabian merchants, most of which were in the interior ; but the Arabian geographers seem to have been puzzled by the Chinese names. We learn, however, that the provinces of the north were distinguished from those of the south; the for- mer were called Cathay and Tehar Cathar, or Cathay, which produces tea : its ca})ital was Cambalu : the provinces in the south were called Tchin or Sin. The appellation of Cathay was that under which alone China was long known to the Europeans. Under the name of Sin, given to the southern districts, the Arabian geographers frequently comprehended all the country to the Ganges. The Arabians divided the present Hindostan into two parts ; Sind and Hind : the first seems to have comprised the countries lying on the Indus ; Hind lay to the east, and comprehended Delhi, Agra, Oude, Bengal, &c. The Decan, at least the western part of it, be- longed to Sind. The coast of Coromandel, as well as the interior, was unknown to them. On the west or Malabar coast, tlieir information was full and accurate ; but it termi- nated at Cape Comorin. While part of the forces of the Caliph Walid were em- ployed in the conquest of Spain, another part succeeded in reducing Multan and Lahore; and the Arabian geographers, always ready to take advantage of the success of their arms, to promote geographical knowledge, describe their new eastern conquests, and the countries which bordered on- them, in the most glowing language. The valley of Cashmei'e, in particular, affords ample matter for their panegyrics. The towns of Guzerat, Cambay, and Narv/horra are describetl: in the last resided the most powerful king of India; his kingdom extended from Guzerat and Concan to the Ganges. The city of Benares, celebrated as a school of Indian philosophy, and the almost im})regnable fortress of Gevatior, are mentioned by them, as well as a colony of Jews in Cochin, and the Maldive islands : these they freqnentetl to obtain cowries, which then, as now, were used as money. It is supposed that the isle of Sumatra is described by them under the name of Lumery; ibr the peculiar productions are the same, and Sumatra was known under the name of Lambrv CHAP. JV. lors were ^fter this ;ancl were ihomedan k'isited bj' interior ; uzzled by oviiices of ; the for- ay, which ;es in the )f Cathay vn to the southern irehended vided the : the first le Indus ; ra, Oude, of it, be- ell as tlie Mahibar it termi- were em- :eeded in r>ra{>hers, eir arms, eir new ered on • ashniere, cs. The ibed: in cingdoni 's. The losophy, entioned and the cowries, by them :ions are Lambrv CHAP. IV. to the Close of the Fifteenth Century. 287 A in tlie time of Marc Paul, and Mandeviile. Java is evidently meant by Al DMavah : it is rejn-esented as rich iri spices, but subject to volcanic eruptions ; circumstiinces by which it is yet distinguished. A short period before the Portuguese reached these seas, Arabian colonists established themselves at Ternate and some of the other spice islands ; and their language, re- ligious opinions, and customs, may clearly be traced in the Philippine islands. From the geographical discoveries, the travels by sea and land, and the commercial enterprize of the Arabians, we pass to those of the Scandinavians; under that appellation, includ- ing not only the Scandinavians, properly so called, who in- habited the shores of the Baltic and the coasts of Norway, but also those jjcople who dwelt on the northern shores of the German Ocean ; for they were of the same origin as the Baltic nations, and resembled them in manners and pursuits. By an inspection of the map it will appear, that all these tribes were situated nearly as favorably for maritime enterprize as the nations which inhabited the shores of the Mediterra- nean ; and though their earliest expeditions by sea were not stimulated by the same cause, commercial pursuits, yet they arose from causes equally efficient. While the countries bordering on the Mediterranean were blessed with a fertile soil and a mild climate, those on the Baltic were comparatively barren and ungenial; their inhabitants, therefore, induced by their situation to attend to maritime affairs, were furtlier led to employ their skill and power by sea, in endeavouring to establish themselves in more favored countries, or, at least, to draw from them by plunder, what they could not obtain in their own. We have already mentioned the maritime expeditions of the Saxons, which struck terror into the Romans, during the de- cline of their empire. The other Scandinavian nations were acted on by the same causes and motives. Neglecting the peaceful art of agriculture, inured to the sea from their earliest years, and the profession and practice of piracy being regarded as actually honourable by them, it is no wonder that their whole lives were spent in planning or executing maritime expeditions. Their internal wars also, by depriving many of their power or their property, compelled them to seek abroad that which they had lost at home. No sooner had a })rince reached his eighteenth year, than he was entrusted by his father with a fleet ; and by means of it he was ordered and ex- pected to add to his glory and his wealth, by plunder and « A 288 Progress oj Discovert/ CHAP. JV. f 1] victory. Lands were divided into certain portions, and from each portion a certain number of ships were to be fully equipped for sea. Their vessels, as well as themselves, were admirably adapted to the jrrand object of their lives ; the former were well su})plied with stones, arrows, and strong ropes, with which they overset small vessels, and with j^rappling irons to board them ; and every individual was skilful in swimming. Each band possessed its own ))()rts, magazines, &c. Their ships were at first small, being only a kind of tweive-oared barks; they were afterwards so nnich enlarged, that they were capable of containing 100 or 120 men. It is not our intention to notice the piratical expeditions of Scandinavians, except so far as they tended to discovery, or com- merce, or were productive of permanent effects. Among the first coimtries to which theydirected themselves, and where they settled |)ermanently, were England and Ireland; the result of their settlement in England wa^ ilie establishment of the Anolo- Saxon dominit)n power in that kingdom ; the result of their expeditions to Ireland was their settlement on its eastern coasts. In the middle of the ninth century, the native Irish had been driven by them into the central and western parts of the country, while the Scandinavian conquerors, under the ap- jVellation of Ostmen, or Eastmen, possessed of all the maritime cities, carried on an extensive and lucrative connnerce, not only with their native land, but also with other places in the west of Europe. Their settlements on the Shetland, Orkney, and western islands of Scotland, are only i\ientioned, because in these last the Scandinavians seem to have established and encouraged manufactures, the forerunner and support of com- merce ; for towards the end of the ninth century, the drapery of the Suderyans, (for so the inhabitants were called, as their country lay to the south of Shetland and Orkney,) was much celebrated and sought after. About this ])eriod the Scandinavian nations began to mingle commerce and discovery with their piratical expeditions. Alfred, king of England, obliged to attend to maritime affairs, to defi^nd his territories from the Danes, turned his ardent and penetrating mind to every thing connected with this im- portant subject. Me began by improving the structure of his vessels; " the form of the Saxon ships (observes Mr. Strutt, who derives his description from contemporary drawings) at the end of the eighth cent urv. or beo t'HAP, iv. lo the Close of the Fifteenth denlurij. 289 built of stout planks, laid one over the other, in the manner as is done in the present time ; their heads and sterns are very erect, and rise high out of the water, ornamented at top with some uncouth head of an animal, rudely cut; they have but one mast, the top of which is also decorated with a bird, or some such device; to this mast is made fast a large sail, which, from its nature and construction, could only be useful when the vessel went belbre the wind. The ship was steered with a large oar, with a flat end, very broad, passing by the side of the stern ; and this was managed by the pilot, who sat in the stern, and thence issued his orders to the mariners." The bird on the mast head, mentioned in this description, appears, from the account of Canute's fleet, given in Du Cange, to have been for the purpose of shewing the wind. The same energy and comprehension of mind which iii~ duced and enabled Alfred to improve his navy so much, led him to favour geographical pursuits and commere. In his Anglo-Saxon translation of Orosius, he has inserted the information he had obtained from two Scandinavians, Ohter and Wulfstan. In this we have the most ancient description, that is clear and precise, of the countries in the nox*th of Europe. Ohter sailed from Helgoland in Norway, along the coast of Lapland, and doubling the North Cape, reached the White Sea. This cape had not before been doubled ; nor was it again, till in the middle of the 16th century, by Chan- cellor, the English navigator, who was supposed at that time to be the original discoverer. Ohter also made a voyage up tlie Baltic, as far as Sleswig. Willfstan, however, penetrated further into this sea than Ohter ; for he reached Truse, a city in Prussia, which he represents as a place of consider- able trade. Alfred even extended his views to India, whether stimu- lated by religious views, or by the desire of obtaining its luxuries, is uncertain ; perhaps both motives operated on his mind. We know that the patriarch of Jerusalem corre- sponded with him ; and that the Christians of St. Thomas, in India, would probably be mentioned in these letters: we also know, that about a century before Alfi'ed lived, the venerable Bede was possessed of pepper, cinnamon, and frankincense. Whatever were Alfred's motives, the fact is undoubted, that he sent one of his bishops to St. Thomas, who brought back ai'omatic liquors, and splendid jewels. Alfred seems to have been rich in the most precious conmiodities of the East ; fov V : H ^ V 290 Progresfi of Discovery CHaP. IV. he presented Asser, his biographer, with a robe of silk, and as much incense as a strong man could carry. Atte all, however, the commerce of England in his reign was ex- tremely limited : had it been of any importance, it would have been more specially noticed and protected by his laws. It was otherwise, however, in the reign of Athelstan ; for there is a famous law made by him, by which the rank and privileges of a thane are conferred on every merchant, who had made three voyages across the sea, with a vessel and cargo of his own. By another law passed in this reign, the exportation of horses was forbidden. From this period till the conquest, England was pre- vented from engaging in comrnv -"ce by the constant irruption of the Danes, and by the short duration of their sovereignty after they had succeeded in obtaining it. There are, however, even during this time, some notices on the subject ; as appears from the laws of Ethelred : by these, tolls were established on all boats and vessels arriving at Billingsgate, according to their size. The men of Rouen, who brought wine and large fish, and those from Flanders, Normandy, a^A other parts of France, were obliged to shew their goods, and pay the duties ; but the emperor's men, who came with their ships, were more favour'^d, though they were not exempt from duty. Irom what relates to the geographical knowledge and the commerce of the Scandinavian inhabitants of England, we shall now pass on to the geographical discoveries and com- merce of Ae other Scandinavian nations. About the year 861, a Scandinavian vessel, probably on its voyage to Shetland or Orkney, discovered the Feroe islands. This discovery, and the flight of some birds, induced the Scandinavians to believe that there 'vas other land in the vicinity of these islands. About ten years afterwards, Ice- land was discovered by some Norwegian nobility and their dependants, who were obliged to leave their native country, in consequence of the tyranny of Harold Haifragre. Ac- cording to some accounts, however, Iceland had been visited by a Norwegian pirate a few years before this ; and if the circumstance mentioned in the Icelandic Chronicles be true, that wooden crosses, and other little pieces of workmanship, after the manner of the Irish and Britons, wer^ found in it, it must have been visited before the Scandinavians arrived. The new colonists soon acquired a thorough knowledge of the CHAP. IV. CHAF. IV. to the Close of the Fifteenth Centiiri/. 291 f silk, and At'te all, rn was ex- ', it would by his laws, iielstan; for le rank and •chant, who vessel and IS reign, the id was pre- mt irruption • sovereignty ire, however, t ; as appears 6 established according to ine and large li other parts and pay the h their ships, exempt from , ledge and the England, we ries and com- •obably on its eroe islands, induced the land in the lerwards, Ice- ity and their ative country, rfragre. Ao- d been visited and if the nicies be true, workmanship, found in it, it arrived. The wledge of the size of the island -; for tliey oxpiossly state, that its circum- ference is 168 leagues, 15 to ii degree, which corresponds with the most accurate modern measurement. Iceland soon became celebrated for its learning ; the-history of the North, as well as its geography, is much indebted to its authors : nor were its Inhabitants, tiu^ugh confined to a cold and sCerile land very remote from the rest of Europe, in- attentive to commerce ; for they carried on a considerable trade in the northern seas, — their ships visiting Britain, Ire- land, France, Germany, &c. ; and there is even an instance of their having made a commercial voyage as far as Con- stantinople. To them the discovery of Greenland and of America is due. The first took place about the beginning of the tenth century : a colony was immediately established, which con- tinued till it was destroyed by a pestilence in the 14th centur}', and by the accumulation of ice, which prevented all com- munication between Iceland and Greenland. The discovery of America took place in the year 1001 : an Icelander, in search of his father who was in Greenland, was carried to the south by a violent wind. Land was discovered at a distance, flat, low, and woody. He did not go on shore, but returned. His account induced a Nor- wegian nobleman to fit out a ship to explore this new land ; after sailing for some time, they descried a flat shore, without verdure ; and soon afterwards a low land covered with wood. Two days' prosperous sailing brought them to a third shore, on the north of which lay an island : they entered, and sailed up a river, and landed. Pleased with the temperature of the climate, the apj)arent fertility of the soil, and the abundance of fish in the rivers, they resolved to pass the winter in this country ; and they gave it the name of Vinland, from the quan- tity of small grapes which they found growing. A colony was soon afterwards formed, who ti'aded with the natives; these are represented as of diminuti\'e stature, of the same race os the inhabitants of the west part of Greenland, and as using leathern canoes. The merchandize they brought consisted chiefly of furs, aables, the skins of white rats, &,c. ; and they principally and most eagerly requt aed, in exchange, hatchets and arms. It appears from the Icelandic Chronicles, thnt a regular trade was established between this counti*y and Nor- way, and that dried grapes or raisins were among the exports. In the year 1121, a bishop went from Greenland I J 2 ^4 >• ita il 292 Progrem of Discover}) tHAP. ir. for the of purpose Christian reliffion the colonists of Vinland to the ! I .»'i con /ertinf^ after this period, there is no information regarding this country. This inattention to the new colony probably arose from the intercourse between the west of Grecnlantl and Iceland having ceased, as we have already mentioned, and from the northern nations having been, about this j)<;riod, wasted by a pestilence, and weakened and dis- tracted by feuds. Of the certainty of the discovery there can be no doubt : the Icelandic Chronicles are full and miimte, not only respecting it, but also respecting the transactions which took place among the colonists, and between them and' the natives- And Adam of Bremen, who lived at this period, expressly states, tha. the king of Denmark informed him, that another island had been discovered in the ocean which washes Norway, called Vinland, from the vines which grew there ; and he adds, we learn, not by fabulous hearsay, but by the express report of certain Danes, that fruits are pro- duced without cultivation. Ordericus Vitalis, in his Ecclesi- astical Histoi'y, under the year 1 098, reckons Vinland along with Greenland, Iceland, and the Orkneys, as under the dominion of the king of Norway. Where then was Vinland? — it is generally believed it was part of America ; and tlie objections which may be urged against this opinion, do not appear to us to be of much weight. It is said that no part of America could be reached in four days, the space of time in which the first dis- coverer reached this land, and in which the voyages from Greenland to it seem generally to have been made. But the west part of Greenland is so near some part of America, that a voyage might easily be effected in that time. In answer to the objection, that vines do not grow in the northern parts of America, where Vinland, if part of this continent, must be fixed, it may be observed, that in Canada the vine bears a small fruit ; and that still further north, in Hudson's Bay, ac- cording to Mr. Ellis, vines grew spontaneously, producing a fruit which he compares to the currants of the Levant. The circumstances mentioned in the Icelandic Chronicles respect- ing the natives, that their canoes are made of skins ; that they are very expert with their bows and arrows ; that on their coasts they fish for whales, and in the interior live ' y hunt- ing ; that their merchandize consists of whalebone and furs ; that they are fond of iron, and instruments made of it ; and that they were small in stature, all coincide with what we CHAP. IV. CHAP. IV. lo the Close of the FiJ'teciilh Ceuttoi^. 293 id to the ibrmation ;w colony ; west of e already en, about and dis- there can d minute, msactions them and lis period, med him, ean whiclt hich grew arsay, but are pro- is Ecclesi- land along under the ;ved it was { be urged of much je reached first dis- ages from But the lerica, that answer to rn parts of t, must be tie bears a I's Bay, ac- troducing a trant. The es respect- ; that they it on their /e ' y hunt- e and furs ; of it; and th what we know to be characterestic of the inhabitants of Labrador. It is prdbable, therefore, that thi.s part of America, or the island of Newfoundland, was the Vinland discovered by tiie Ice- !anders. The beginning and middle of the tenth century witnessed an increasing spirit of commerce, as well as considerable at- tention to geographical pursuits in other Scandinavian nations, as well as the Icelanders. Periodical public fairs were esta- blished in several towns of Germany, and other parts of th(j North: one of the most considerable articles of traffic at these fairs consisted of slaves taken in war. Sleswig is represented as a port of considerable trade and consequence ; from it sailed ships to Slavonia, Semland, and Greece, or rather, per- haps, Russia. From a port on the side of Jutland, opposite to Sleswig, vessels traded to Frisca, Saxony, and England; and from another port in Jutland they sailed to Fionia, Scania, and Norway. Sv-'cJen is represented as, at this time, carry- ing on an extensive and lucrative trade. At the mouth of the Oder, on the south side of the Baltic, there seems to have been one, if not two towns which were enriched by commerce. For most of these particulars respecting the commerce of the Baltic and adjacent seas, at this period, we are indebted to Adani of Bremen. He was canon of Bremen iu the eleventh century : and from the accounts of the missionaries who went into Lapland, and other parts of the North, to convert the inhabitants to Christianity, the information he received from the king of Denmark, and his own observations, he drew up a detailed account of the Scandinavian kingdoms. His de- scription of Jutland is full, and ue mentions several islands in the Baltic, which are not noticed b}' prior writers. He also treats of the interior parts of Sweden, the coasts only of which had been previously made known by the voyages published by king Alfred. Of Russia, he informs us that it was a very extensive kingdom, the capital of which was Kiov ; and that the inhabitants traded with the Greeks in the Black Sea. So far his i.iformation seems to have been good ; but though his account of the south coasts of the Baltic is tolerably correct, yet he betrays great ignorance in most of what he says re- specting the northern parts of the Baltic. In his work the name Baltic fiist occurs. His geographical descriptions ex- tend to the British isles; but of them he relates merely the fabulous stories of Solinus, &c. The figure of the earth, and u 3 294- Progress of Discvverij CHAP. IV. t' ! the cause of tlie inequality of tlie length of the cluy ami night, were known to Adam of Bremen. About the middle of the twelfth '■-• Lubcck was founded ; and it soon became a place isiderable trade, being the resort of merchants from all the countries of the North, and having a mint, custom-house, &c. W^e shall afterwards be called ujion to notice it more particularly, when we come to trace the origin and history of tlie Hanseatic League. At present we shall only mention, that within thirty years after it was founded, and before the establishment of the League, Lubeck was so celebrated for its commerce, that the Genoese permitted its merchants to trade in the Mediter- x'anean on board their vessels, on the same footing with their own citizens. The success of the Lubeckers stimulated the other inhabitants of this part of the Baltic shores ; and the bishop of Lunden founded a city in Zealand, for the express purpose of being a place of trade, as its name, Keopman's haven. Chapman's haven, (Copenhagen,) implies. Towards the close of this century, Hamburgh is noticed as a place of trade. The two cities of Lubeck and Hamburgh are genei'ally re- garded as having laid the foundation of the Hanseatic League. This League was first formed, solely to protect the carriage by land of merchandize between these cities ; it is supposed to have been began about the middle of the thirteenth century. Other cities soon joined the League, and its objects became more multiplied and extensive ; but still having the protection and encouragement of their commerce principally in view. The total number of confederated cities was between seventy and eighty. Lubeck was fixed upon as the head of the League: in it the assemblies met, and the ai'chives were preserved. Inland commerce, the protection of which had given rise to the League, was still attended to; but the maritime com- merce of the Baltic, as affording greater facilities and wealth, was that with which the League chiefly occupied itself. The confederated cities were the medium of exchange between the productions of Germany, Flanders, France, and Spain ; and the timber, metals, fish, furs, &c. of the countries on this sea. The conquest and conversion of the pagan countries be- tween the Vistula and the Gulf of Finland, by the Teutonic knights, was favourable to the commercial views of the con- federated cities : for the conquerois obliged the natives to i CHAP. IV. incl nighl, beck was ble trade, ies of the M^e shall irly, when Ilanseatic thin thirty lent of the J, that the ! Mediter- with their ulated the ; and the he express [Ceopman's Towards I a place of neraliy re- ic League, carriage by apposed to ;h century, cts became ! protection ly in view, en seventy he League : preserved, v^en rise to itime com- and wealth, tself. The jetween the Spain ; and on this sea. )untries be- le Teutonic of the con- ; natives to i ciiAl'. IV. lu the Close of the F{/'tecnlh Century. 295 confine their attention and labour exclusively to agriculture, perujitting Germans alone to carry on commerce, and engage in trade. Hence Germans emigrated to these countries ; and the League, always (juicksighted to their own interests, soon connected themselves with tlie new settlers, and formed com- mercial alliances, which were recognized and protected by the Teutonic knights. Elbing, Dantzic, Revel, and Riga, were thus added to the League — cities, which, fi-om their situation, were admirably calculated to obtain and forward the j)roduce of the interior parts of Poland and Russia. The northern countries of the Baltic shore, in a great mea- sure inattentive to commerce, and distracted by wars, were supplied by the League with money, on condition that they should assign to them the sources or wealth which their mines supplied, and moreover grant them commercial privileges, im- munities, and establishments. Lubeck was chiefly benefited and enriched by the treaties thus formed ; for she obtained the working of the mines of Sweden and Noi-way, which do not seem to have been known, and were certainly not produc- tively and effectively worked before this time. The League also obtained, by various means, the exclusive herring fishery of the Sound, which became a source of so much wealth, that the " fishermen were superintended, during the season, with as much jealousy as if they had been employed in a diamond mine." Towards the close of the thirteenth century, the king of Norway permitted the League to establish a factory and t! staple of their northern trade at Bergen. A singular est* - blishment seems soon to have been formed here : at first the merchants of the League were permitted to trade to Bergeu only in the summer months ; but they afterwards were allowed to reside here permanently, and they formed twenty-one large factories, all the members of which were unmarried, and lived together in messes within their factories. Each factory was capable of accommodating about one hundred merchants, with their servants. Their importations consisted of flax, corn, biscuit, flour, malt, ale, cloth, wine, spirituous liquors, copper, silver, &c. ; and they exported ship-timbe •, masts, furs, but- ter, salmon, dried cod, fish-oil, &c. As the grand object of the League was to secure to them- selves the profits arising from the mutual supply of the north and south of Europe, with the merchandize of each, they had agents in France, Spain, &.?. as well as in the countries on u 4- \ erclmn(h/c or produce for ex- portation ; yet even hi it the I lanseatic League establislied themselves. Towards the end of the thirteentli century they had n factory in London, and were allowed to export wool, sheep's skins, and tin, on condition that they kept in repair the gate of the city called Bishopsgate : they were alst> allowed the privilege of electing an aldennan. Bruges, which is said to have hud regular weekly fairs fof the sale t)f the M-oollen manufactures of Flanders so early as the middle of the tenth century, and to have J)een fixed upon by the I lansealic League, in the middle of the thirteenth, as an entrepot for their trade, certuinly became, soon after this lat- ter period, a city ol' great trade, probably from its connection with the Hanseatic League, though it never was formally ad- mitted a member. We shall afterwards have occasion to Jioticc it in our view of the progress of the Hanseatic League. As the commerce of tlie League encreased and extended in the Baltic, it became necessary to fix on some depot. Wisby, a city in the island of Gothland, was chosen for this purpose, as being most central. Most exaggerated accounts are given of the wealth and splendour to which its inhabitants rose, in consequence of their commercial prosperity. It is certain that its trade was very r ^nsiderable, and that it was the resort of merchants and vessels from all the north of Europe ; for, as the latter could not, in the imperfect state of navigation, per- form their voyage in one season, their cargoes were wintered and lodged in magazines on shore. At this city was compiled a code of maritime laws, from which the modern naval codes of Denmark and Sweden are borrowed ; as those of Wisby were founded on the laws of Oleren, (which will be noticed when we treat of the commerce of England during this period,) and on the laws of Barcelona, of which we have already spoken ; and as these again were, in a great measure, bor- rowed from the maritime code of Rhodes. But to return to the more immediate history of the Han- seatic League, — about the year 1369 their power in the Baltic was so great, that they engaged in a successful war with the king of Denmark, and obliged him, as the price of peace, to deliver to them several towns which were favourably situated for their purpose. The Hanseatic League, though they were frequently in- volved in disputes, and sometimes in wars, with France, Flan- I UAl'. IV. (MAI'. IV. lo the Close (J' the I'ij'tcfnth CiiUtoi/. 297 ■)n much li for cx- tablished uiy thev )rt wool, ill repair > allowed fairs for > early ns cecl upon til, as an this lat- Minection mally ad- to notice lie. tended in Wisbv, purpose, are given J rose, in jrtain that ; resort of i ; for, as tion, per- wintered 1 compiled ival codes of Wisby )e noticed is period,) e already sure, bor- thc Han- the Baltic ir with the peace, to y situated uently in- iice, Flan- ders, Holland, Denmark, England, and other powers, and though they undoubtedly aimed at, not only the monopoly, but also the st)vereignty of the Baltic, and encroached where- ever they were permitted to (ix themselves, yet were of won- tlerful service to civilization and commerce. " In order to accomplish the views of nature, by extending the intercourse of nations, it was necessary to open the Baltic to commercial relations ; it was necessary to instruct men, still barbarous, in the elements of industry, and to familiarize them in the prin- ciples of civilization. These great foundations were laid by the confederation ; and at the close of the fifteenth century, the Baltic and the neighbovn'ing seas had, by its means, be- come frecjuented routes of connnunication between the North and the South. The people of the former were enabled to follow the progress of the latter in knowledge and industry." The forests of Sweden, Poland, &c. gave place to corn, hemp, and flax ; the mines were wrought ; and, in return, the pro- duce and manufactures of the South were received. Towns and villages were erected in Scandinavia, where huts only were before seen : the skins of the bear and wolf werq exchanged for woollens, linens, and silks : learning was introtluced ; and printing was scarcely rnvented before it was practised h\ Den- mark, Sweden, &c. It was at this period that the Hance towns were the most flourishing ; and that Bruges, largely partaking of their pros- perity, and the sole staple for all their goods, rose to its highest wealth and consequence, and, in fact, was the grand entrepot of the trade of Europe. The Hanse towns were at this time divided into four classes : Lubeck was at the head of the whole Ijcague ; in it the meetings of the deputies from the other towns were held, and the archives of the League were kept. Under it were Hamburgh, Rostok, Wismar, aiKl other nine towns situated in the north of Germany. Cologne was the chief city of the second class, with twenty-nine towns under it, lying in that part of Germany. Brunswick was the capital of the third class, having under it twelve towns, farther to the south than those under Lubeck. Dantzic was at the head of the fourth class, having under it eight towns in its vicinity, besides some smaller ones more remote. The four chief factories of the League were Novogorod in Russia, London, Bruges, and Bergen. From this period till the middle of the sixteenth century, their power, ihough sometimes Ibnnidablc, and their com- I \ fl 298 Progress q/' Discovery CHAP. IV. merce, thcugh sometimes flourishing, were both on the de- cline. Several causes contributed to this : they were oHen engaged in disputes, and not unfrequently in wars, with the northern powers. That civilization, knowledge, and wealth, to which, as we have remarked, they contributed so essentially, though indirectly, and without having these objects in ^new, disposed and enabled other powers to participate in the com- merce which they had hitherto exclusively carried on. It was not indeed to be supposed, that either the monarchs or the subjects would willingly and cheerfully submit to have all their own trade in the very heart of their own country conducted, and the fruit of it reaped by foreign merchants. They, there- fore, first used their efforts to gain possession of tneir own commerce, and then aspired to participate in the trade of other countries ; succeeding by degrees, and after a length of time, in both these objects, the Hanseatic League was neces- sarily depressed in the same proportion. The Dutch and the English first began to seek a participa- tion in the commerce of the North. The chief cities which formed the republic of Holland had been among the earliest members or confederates of the League, and when they threw off the yoke of Germany, and attached themselves to the house of Bourbon, they ceased to form part of the League ; and after much dispute, and even hostility with the remaining members of it, they succeeded in obtaining a part of the com- merce of the Baltic, and commercial treaties with the king of Denmark, and the knights of the Teutonic order. The commerce of the League was also curtailed in the Baltic, where it had always been most formidable and flourish- ing, by the English, who, in the beginning of the fifteenth century, gained admission for their vessels into Dantzic and the ports of Sweden and Denmark. The only port of conse- quence in the northern nations, to which the ships of the League were exclusively admitted, was Bergen, which at this period was rather imder their dominion than under that of Norway. In the middle of the sixteenth century, however, they abandoned it, in consequence of disputes with the king of Denmark. About the same time they abandoned Novogorod, the czar having treated their merchants there in a very arbi- trary and tyrannical manner. These, and other circumstances to which we have already adverted, made their commerce and power decline ; and, towards the beginning of the seventeenth century, they had ceased to be of much consequence. Though, '20 CHAP. IV. CHAi». IV. lo the Close of the Fifteenth Century. 299 >n the de- tvere often 5, with the nd wealth, essentially, :ts in ^'iew, n the com- m. It was chs or the ,ve all their conducted, Tiey, there- " their own le trade of a length of was neces- a participa- cities which the earliest I they threw Ives to the he League; e remaining of the com- the king of iled in the nd flourish- he fifteenth )antzic and rt of conse- lips of the lich at this ider tlmt of however, the king of Novogorod, a very arbi- cumstances nnierce and seventeenth Though, \ however, the League itself at this period had lost its influence and commerce, yet some cities, which had been from the first members of it, still retained a lucrative trade : this remark applies chiefly to Lubeck and Hamburgh ; the former of these cities possessed, about the middle of the seventeenth century, 600 ships, some of which were very large ; and the commerce by which Hamburgh is still distinguished, is in some measure the result of what it enjoyed as a member of the Hanseatic League. We shall now turn our attention to the Italian states: Venice and Amalfi were the first which directed their labours to the arts of domestic industry, the forerunners and causes of commercial prosperity. New wants and desires being created, and a taste for elegance and luxury formed, foreign countries were visited. Mu/atori mentions several circum- stances which indicate a revival of a commercial spirit ; and, as Dr. Robertson remarks, from the close of the seventh century, an attentive observer may discern faint traces of its progress. Indeed, towards the beginning of the sixth century, the Ve- netians had become so expert at sea, that Cassiodorus ad- dressed a letter to the maritime tribunes of Venice, (which is still extant,) in which he requests them to undertake the transporting of the public stores of wine and oil fi-om Istria to Ravenna. In this letter, a curious but rather poetical account is given of the state of the city and its inhabitants : all the houses were alike : all the citizens lived on the same food, viz. fish : the manufacture to which they chiefly applied themselves was salt ; an article, he says, more indispensable to them than gold. He adds, that they tie their boats to their walls, as people tie their cows and horses in other places. In the middle of the eighth century, the Venetians no longer confined their navigation to the Adriatic, but ventured to double the southern promontory of Greece, and to trade to Constantinople itself. The principal merchandize with which they freighted their ships, on their return-voyage, consisted of silk, the rich produce of the East, the drapery of Tyre, and furs ; about a century afterwards, they ventured to trade to Alexandria. Amalfi, Genoa, and Pisa followed their example ; but their trade never became very considerable till the period of the crusades, when the treasures of the West were in fact placed in their hands, and thus fresh vigour was given to their carrying trade, maiuiflictures, and commerce. 300 Progress of Discovery CHAr. IV. i\ There are a few notices, however, respecting the commerce of Vc.'ce, and the other states of Italy, prior to the crusades, which it may be necessary very briefly to give. About the year 969, Venice and Amalfi are represented, by contemporary authors, as possessing an equal share of trade. The latter traded to Africa, Constantinople, and, it would appear, to some ports in the east end of the Mediterranean ; and Italy, as well as the rest of Europe, entirely depended on these t'vo states for their supply of the produce of the East. At the beginning of the eleventh century, the citizens of Amalfi seem to have got the start of the Venetians in the favor and com- meice of the Mahomedan states of the East : they were per- mitted to establish factories in the maritime towns, and even in Jerusalem ; and those privileges were granted them expressly because they imported many articles of merchandize hitherto unknown in the East. lu the middle of the same century, Pisa rose into eminence for its commerce; it traded principally with the Saracen king of Sicily, and with Africa. The Genoese also, at this period, are represented as possessing a large portion of the trade of the Levant, particularly of Joppa. As the most lucrative branch of commerce of all the Italian states was that in the productions of the East, and as these could only be obtained through Constantinople or Egypt, each state was eager to gain the favor of rulers of these places. The favor of the Greek emperor could be obtained principally by affording him succours against his enemies; and these the Venetians afforded in 1082 so effectually, that, in return, they were allowed to build a number of warehouses at Constanti- nople, and were favoured with exclusive commercial privileges. Dalmatia and Croatia were also ceded to them. We now come to the period of the crusades, from which may be dated the rapid increase of the commerce and power of the Italian states. As none of the other European powers had ships numerous enough to convey the crusaders to Dalmatia, whence they marched to Constantinople, the fleets of Venice, I*isa, and Genoa were employed for this pur- pose. But before they agreed to lend their fleets, thej' bargained, that on the reduction of any city favorable to com- merce, they should be permitted to trade there without duty or molestation, and be favoured with every privilege and pro- tection which they might desire. In consefjuence of ihih :• \ .v.>i. I CHAP. IV. commerce e crusades. About the itemporary The latter appear, to and Italy, n these t'vo It. At the imalfi seeru ir and com- r were per- and even in Ti expressly ize hitherto to eminence he Saracen ilso, at this tion of the I the Italian ind as these Egypt, each places. The inclpally by these the return, they Constanti- 1 privileges. from which and power )ean powers rusaders to e, the fleets r this pur- fleets, they ble to coui- thout duty rre and pro- nce of thih CMAP. IV. to the Close of the Fifteenth Cevtwij. 301 bargain, they obtained, in some places, the exclusive right over whole streets, and the appointment of judges to try all who lived in them, or traded under their protection. A quarrel which took place between the Venetians and the Greek Emperor Manuel, in 1171, is worthy of notice, as being connected with the origin of the bank of Venice. The republic not being able to supply, from its own sources, the means of carrying on the war, was obliged to raise money from her citizens. To regulate this the chamber of loans was established : the contributors to the loan were made creditors to the chambei", and an annual interest of 4 per cent, was allotted to them. If this rate of interest was not compulsive, it is a sure criterion of a most flourishing state of trade, and of very great abundance of money ; but there is every reason to believe it was compulsive. At the beginning of the 13th century, Constantinople was conquered by the Venetians, and the leaders of the fourth crusade : this event enabled them to supply Europe more abundantly with all the productions of the East. In the par- tition of the Greek empire which followed this success, the Venetians obtained part of the Peloponnesus, where, at that period, silk was manufactured to a great extent. By this ac- cession, to which was added several of the Lirgest islands in the Archipelago, their sea coast extended from Venice to Con- stantinople : they likewise purchased the isle of Crete. The whole trade of the eastern Roman empire was thus at once transferred to the Venetians ; two branches of which par- ticularly attracted their attention, — the silk trade and that with India. The richest and most rare kinds of silk were manufactured at Constantinople ; and to carry on this trade, many Venetians settled themselves in the city, and they soon extended it very considerably, and introduced the manu- facture itself into Venice, with so much success, that the silks of Venice equalled those of Greece and Sicily. The monopoly of the trade of the Black Sea was also obtained by them, after the capture of Constantinople; and thus some of the most valuable articles of India and China were obtained by them, either exclusively, or in greater abundance, and at a cheaper rate than they could be pro- cured by any other route. In consequence of all these advantages, Venice was almost the sole channel of commerce in this part of Europe, during the period of the Latin empire \ mT. mSmSS S3E =aFs 302 Progfrss of Discovery CHAP. IV. V i| s in Constantinople. This empire, however, was of very short continuance, not lasting more than 57 years. In the interval, the merchants of Florence became dis- tinguished for their commercial transactions, and particularly by becoming dealers in money by exchange, and by bor- rowing and lending on interest. In order to carry on this new branch of traffic, they had agents and correspondents in diiFerent cities of Europe ; and thus the remittance of money by bills of exchange was chiefly conducted by them. Other Italian states followed their example ; and a new branch of commerce, and consequently a new source of wealth, was thus struck out. In the year 1261, the Greek emperor regained Constanti- nople through the assistance of the Genoese ; and the latter, as usual, were amply repaid for their services on this occasion. Pera, the chief suburb of Constantinople, was allotted to them : here they had their own laws, administered by their own magistrates ; and they weie exempted from the accus- tomed duties on goods imported and exported. These privileges raised their commerce in this part of the world above that of the Venetians and Pisans ; who, however, were still permitted to retain their factories. The Genoese soon began to aim at more extensive power and trade ; and under the pretext that the Venetians were going to attack their new settlement, they obtained pernil- sion to surround it, and their factories in the neighbouring coasts, with fortifications. The trade of the Black Sea was under the dominion of the Greek emperor, who, by the possession of Constantinople, commanded ite narrow entrance : even the sultan of Egypt solicited liberty to send a vessel annually to purchase slaves in Circassia and Lesser Tartary. The Genoese eagei iy looked to participating in the valuable commerce of this sea ; and this object they soon obtained. In return they supplied the Greeks with fish and corn. " The waters of the Don, the Oxus, ti»e Caspian, and the Wolga, opened a ira*e and la- borious passage for the gems and spices of India ; and after three months march, the caravans of Carizme met the Italian vessels in the harbours of the Crimea." These various branches of trade were monopolized by the diligence and power of the Genoese ; and their rivals cf Venice and Pisa were forcibly expelled. The Greek emperor, alarmed at their power and encroachments, was nt length engaged in a CHAP. IV. very short ;came dis- larticularly cl by bor- rry on this londents in ! of money m. Other r branch of ealth, was Constanti- the latter, is occasion, allotted to ed by their the accus- 3d. These ' the world i^ever, were !noese soon and under c their new t, and their ions. The lion of the stantinople, n of Egypt ;hase slaves evly looked is sea ; and applied the e Don, the :re and la- ; and after the Italian ese various igence and ■e and Pisn med at their aged ill :i ■N CHAP. IV. to the Close of the Fifteenth Century. SOS maritime war with them ; but though he was assisted by the Venetians, the Genoese were victorious. The Venetians, who were thus driven from a most lucrative commerce, endeavoured to compensate for their loss by ex- tending their power and commerce in other quarters : they claimed and received a toll on all vessels navigating the Adriatic, especially from those sailing between the south-point of Istria and Venice. But their commerce and power on the Adriatic could be of little avail, unless they regained at least a portion of that traffic in Indian merchandize, which at this period formed the grand source of wealth. Constantinople, and consequently the Black Sea, was shut up from them : on the latter tlie Genoese were extending their traffic ; they had seized on Caffa from the Tartars, and made it the principal station of their commerce. The Venetians in this emergency looked towards the ancient route to India, or rather the ancient depot for Indian goods, -^ Alexandria : this city had been shut against Christians for six centuries ; but it was now in the possession of the sultan of the Mamalukes, and he was more favourable to them. Under the sanction of the Pope, the Venetians entered into a treaty of commerce with the sultans of Egypt ; by which they were permitted to have one consul in Alexandria, and another in Damascus. Vene- tian merchants and manufacturers were settled in both these cities. If we may believe Sir John de MandeviUe, their merchants frequently went to the island of Ormus and the Persian Gulf, and sometimes even to Cambalu. By their enterprize the Indian trade was almost entirely in their pos- session ; and they distributed the merchandize of the East among the nations of the north of Europ , through Bruges and the Hanseatic League, and traded even directly in their own vessels to England. In the beginning of the fifteenth century, the annual value of the goods exported from Venice amounted to ten millions of ducats ; and the profits on the home and outward voyages, were about four millions. Their shipping consisted of 3000 vessels, of from 10 to 200 amphoras burden, carrying 17,000 sailors ; 300 ships with 8000 seamen ; and 45 gallies of various sizes, manned by 11,000 seamen. In the dock-yard y I'^^JOO carpenters were usually employed. Their trade to Syria and Egypt seems to have been conducted entirely, or chiefly, by ready money ; for 500,000 ducats were sent into those coun- tries annually : 100,000 ducats were sent to England. From s I 304 Progress of Dlscoxiery CHAP. IV. ^h the Florentines they received annually 16,000 pieces of cloth : these they exported to different ports of the Mediterranean ; they also received from the Florentines 7000 ducats weekly, which seeins to have been the balance between the cloth they sold to the Venetians, and the French and Catalan wool, crimson grain, silk, gold and silver thread, wax, sugar, violins, &c., which they bought at Venice. Their commerce, especially the oriental branch of it, increased ; and by the conquest c,f Constantinople by the Turks, the consequence of which was the expulsion of the Genoese, they were enabled, almost without a rival, to supply the encreasing demand of Europe for the productions of the East. Their vessels visited every port of the Mediterranean, and every coast of Europe ; and their maritime commerce, about the end of the fifteenth century, was probably greater than that of all the rest of Europe. Their manufactures were also a great source of wealth ; the principal were silk, cloth of gold and silver, vessels of gold and silver, and glass. The iscovery of a passage to the East Indies by the Cape of Good Hope, the powerful league of Cambray, and other circumstances, weakened and gradually destroyed their com- merce and power. We have said that they supplied almost, without a rival, the demand in Europe for the produce of the East. That rival was Florence : the success of her merchants in a new branch of commerce has been already noticed. The profits they derived from lending money on interest, and from negociating hills of exchange, aided by their profits on their manufactures, Lor which, particularly those of silk and woollen, they were celebrated so early as the beginning of the fourteenth century, had rendered Florence one of the first cities of Europe, and many of its merchants extremely rish. In the year 1425, having purchased the port of Leghorn, they resolved, if pos- sible, to partake in the commerce of Alexandria. A negoci- ation was accordingly opened with the sultan : the result of which was, that the Florentines obtained some share in the Indian trade ; and soon afterwards it appears that they im- ported spices into England. It is supposed, thai the famous family of the Medici were extensively concerned in the Indian trade of Florence. Cosmo de Medici was the greatest mer- chant of the age : he had agents and money transactions in every part of Etirope; and his immense wealth not only enabled him to gratify his love for literature and the fine arts^ 21 I' . * -t*l CHAP. IV. ieccs of cloth : editerraneim ; lucats weekly, the cloth they Catalan wool, wax, sugar, eir commerce, ; and by the • consequence were enabled, asing demand Their vessels every coast of the end of the n that of all were also a silk, cloth of nd glass. The y the Cape of ■ay, and other yed their com- lout a rival, the St. That rival a a new branch le profits they ;om negociating ir manufactures, lien, they were fteenth century, )f Europe, and the year 1425, •esolved, if pos- Iria. A negoci- the result of ne share in the [•s that they im- ;hat the famous id in the Indian e greatest iner- transactions in [ealth not only [\d the fine arts. CHAP. IV. fo the Close of the Fifteenth Century. S0.1 but also to influence th politics of Italy, and occasionally of the more remote parts of Europe. In the time of Lorenzo de Medici, about the close of the fifteenth century, the com- mercial intercourse between Florence and Egypt was greatly extended. Florence, indeed, was now in the zenith of her prosperity; after this period her commerce declined, prin- cipally from the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope. In these brief notices of the commerce of the principal Italian states, Venice, Genoa, and Florence, in the days of their greatest glory, we have purposely omitted any reference to the other states, except stating a fact or two relating to Amalfi and Pisa, during that period, when tliey nearly rivalled the three great states. It will be proper, however, to ■subjoin to this account of Italian commerce, as it existed prior to the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope, some important facts respecting Amalfi, Pisa, Milan, Modena, &c., in order that our sketch, though necessarily briefi may not be defi- cient. A great rivalsliip existed between Pisa and Amalfi iii the twelfth century, arising chiefly fi*om commercial jealousy ; and this rivalship leading to war, Amalfi was twice taken and pillaged by the Pisans, who, indeed, during the zenith of their power, had repeatedly triumphed over the Saracens of Africa and Spain. Amalfi, however, soon recovered ; but we possess no memorials of her commerce after this period, which deserve insertion here. Her maritime laws, the date of which is uncertain, seem to have been generally adopted by the Italian states. Towards the end of the twelfth ce.itury, the power and commerce of Pisa were at their height : it partook, with Genoa and Vciiice; of the advantages derived from the trade of Constantinople. In the begiiming of the next century, however, we find it became a mere auxiliary of Venice. Its subsequent wars with Genoa, and the factions which arose within its walls, reduced its commerce so low, about the mid- dle of the fourteenth century, that nothing respecting it worthy of notice occurs after this period. The wealth derived by Florence from a traffic in money has been already noticed. The example of this city was followed by Asti, an inland town of Piedmont, Milan, Pla- centia, Sienna, Lucca, &c. Hence the name of Lombard, or Tuscan merchant, was given to all who engaged in money trajisactions. The silk manufacture was the principal one in X f } Ux yoG Progress of Discoveri^ CHAP. IV, I J ! Italy; it seems to Iiave been introduced by the Venetians, when they acquired part of the Greek empire. In the be- ginning of the fourteenth century, Modena was the principal seat of thia manufacture ; soon afterwards Florence, Lucca, Milan, and Bologna, likewise engaged in it. Within the period to which the presen: chapter is con- fined, there are few traces of commerce in any other parts of Europe besides the Italian states and the Hanseatic League : the former monopolizing the commerce of the south of Europe and of Asia, and the latter that of the north of Europe, particularly of the Baltic, engrossed among them and the cities which were advantageously situated for inter- mediate depots, nearly all the trade that then existed. There are, however, a few notices of commercial spirit and entei- prize in other parts of Europe, during this period, which must not be omitted. In Domesday-book a few particulars are set down relating to the internal and foreign trade of England. In South- ■ wark the king had a duty on ships coming into a dock, and also a toll on the Strand. Gloucester must have en- joyed some manufactures of trade in iron, as it was obliged to supply iron and iron rods for the king's ships. Martins' skins were imported into Chester, either from Iceland or Germany. The navigation of the Trent and the Fosse, and the road to Yoi'k, were carefully attended to. If we may believe Fitz-Stephen, London, in the middle of the twelfth century, possessed a considerable portion of trade : among the imports, he mentions gold, spices, and frank- incense from Arabia ; precious stones from Egypt ; purple drapery from India, palm oil from Bagdad : but it is certain that all these articles were obtained directly from Italian mer- chants. The furs of Norway and Russia were brought by German merchants, who, according to William of Malms- bury, were the principal foreign merchants who traded to England. The same r.uthor mentions Exeter, as a city much resorted to by foreign merchants ; and that vessels from Norway, Iceland, and other countries, frequented the port of Bristol. Chester at this period also possessed much trade, particularly with Iceland, Aquitaine, Spain, and Germany. Henry I. made a navigable canal from the Trent to the Witham at Lincoln, which rendered this place one of the most flourishing seats of home and foreign trade in England. The Icelandic Chronicles inform us that Grimsby was a port CHAP. IV, le Venetians, In the be- the principal ence, Lucca, apter is con- other parts ot eatic League : the south o\ the north ot among them ated for intcr- ixisted. There airit and enter- • 1, which CHAP. IV, fo the Close of the Fifteenth Century. 307 period, t down relating a. In South- ig into a dock, must have en- , it was obhged ihips. Martins' from Iceland or I the Fosse, and in the middle of portion of trade : llces, and frank- Egypt; purple but it is certain from Italian mer- fvere brought by illiam of Malms- |s who traded to »r, as a city much [hat vessels froni lented the port of issed much trade, I, and Germany, phe Trent to the place one of the 'trade in England, ■imsby was a port much resorted by the merchants of Norway, iScotland, Orkney, and the Western Islands. Previous to the reign of Henry II., the sovereigns and lords of manors in England claimed, as their right, the pro- perty of ttU wrecked vessels ; but this monarch passed a law, enacting, that if any one human creature, or even a beast, were found alive in the ship, or belonging to her, the property should be kept for the owners, provided they claimed it in three months. This law, as politic as it was humane and just, must have encouraged foreign trade. In this reign the chief exports seem to have been lead, tin, and wool, and small quantities of honey, wax, cheese, and salmon. The chief im- ports were wine from the king's French dominions, woad for dying, spiceries, jewels, silks, furs, &c. The laws of Oleron, an island near the coast of France be- longing to England, are generally supposed to have been passed by Richard I. ; both these, however, and their exact date, are uncertain : they were copied from the Rhodian law, or rather from the maritime laws of Barcelona. Though it appears by official documents in the reign of kuig John, that the south coast of England, and the east coast only, as far as Norfolk, were esteemed the principal part of the country ; yet, very shortly after the date of these documents, Newcastle certainly had some foreign trade, particularly with the northern nations of Europe for furs. In this reign are the first records of English letters of credit. Some idea may be formed of the importation of wine at the beginning of the fourteenth century, by the following facts : in the year ending 20th Nov. 1 299, the number of vessels that arrived in London and the other ports, (with the exception of the Cinque ports,) bringing cargoes of wine amounting to more than nineteen tuns, was seventy-three; and the number in the next year was seventy-one. It is probable, however, that we may double these numbers, since the Cinque ports, being exempted from the duty on wine, would import much more than any other equal number of ports. From a charter granted to foreign merchants in 1 302, it appears that they came from the following countries to trade in England : — Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Navarre, Lombardy, Tuscany, Provence, Catalonia, Aquitaine, Thoulouse, Quercy, Flanders, and Brabant. The very important privileges and immunities granted to them sufficiently proves, that at this period the commerce of England was mainly dependent, on X 2 ,1 1^ a \^ ti M \ I i sat progress of Discovery I MAP, IV. them. That there were, however, native merchants of consi- derable wealth and importance, cannot be doubted. In the year 1318, the king called a council of English merchants on staple business : they formed a board of themselves ; and one was appointed to preside, under the title of mayor of the mer- chants, or mayor of the staple. About the middle of this century, Dover, London, Yar- mouth, Boston, and Hull, were appointed places for exchang- ing foreign money ; and the entire management was given to William de la Pole. His name deserves particular notice, as one of the richest and most enlightened of the early merchants of England. His son, Michael, was also a merchant, and was created earl of Suffolk by Richard II. " His j)osterily flou- rished as earls, marquises, and dukes ol' .Suffolk, till a royal marriage, and a promise of the succession to the crown, brought the family to ruin." "When Edward III. went to the siege of Calais, thediff*erent ports of England furnished him with ships. Fi'om the list of these it appears, that the whole number supplied was 700, manned by 14,151 seamen, averaging under twenty men for each vessel. Gosford is the only port whose vessels average thirty-one men. Yarmouth sent forty-three vessels ; Fowey, forty-seven ; Dartmouth, thirty-one ; Bristol, twenty-foin- ; Plymouth, twenty-six ; London, twenty-five ; Margate, fif- teen; Sandwich, twenty-two; Southampton, twenty-one; Winchelsea, twenty-one ; Newcastle, sixteen ; Hull, seven- i-en. In the year 1354 we have a regular account of such exports and imports as paid duty ; from which it appears, that there were exported 31,651 sacks of wool, 3036 cwt. of woad, sixty- five wool-fells, 4774 pieces of cloth, and 8061 pieces of worsted stuff*; and there were imported 1831 pieces of fine cloth, 397 cwt. of wax, and 1829 tuns of wine, besides hnen, mercery, groceries, &c. As tin, lead, and several other articles are not enumerated, it may be inferred that they paid no duty. In the year 1372 there is the earliest record of direct trade with Prussia. As the woollen manufactures of England began to flourish, the importation of woollen cloths necessarily dimi- nished; so that, in the act of 1378, reviving the acts of 1335 and 1351 for the encouragement of foreign merchants, though cloth of gold and silver, stuffs of silk, napery, linen, canvas, &c. are enumerated as imported by them, woollen cloth is not Kftentoned. The trade to the Baltic gradually increased as i I ^-'-1'^; l.ttAP. IV. lants of consi- bted. In the merchants on Ives ; and one or of the mer- London, Yar- ;s for exchang- t was given to L'ular notice, as >arly merchants •chant, and was 1 ])OSterity flou- blk, till a royal to the crown, ais, the different From the list of iplied was 700, twenty men for vessels average vessels; Fowey, pi, twenty-fom-; ;; Margate, fif- on, twenty-one ; n; Hull, seven- It of such exports pears, that there ft. of woad, sixfy- pieces of worsted es of fine cloth, les linen, mercery, er articles are not laid no duty. In direct trade with England began to ; necessarily dimi- g the acts of 1335 merchants, though lery, linen, canvas, kToollen cloth is not ually increased as CHAP. IV. /(> the. Close oj the Fifternth (Jentunj. 509 \ i the ports in the north of England, particularly Newcastle, rose in wealth. In 1378 coals and grindstones w«'re exported from this place to Prussia, Norway, Schonen, anii other ports of the Baltic. ISoon afterwards, in consequence of some dis- putes between the Prussians and English, a commercial treaty was formed between the Grand Master of Prussia and Ed- ward III., by which it was agreed that the Prussian merchants in London should be protected, and that English merchants should have free access to every part of Prussia, to trade freely, as it used to be in ancient times. In order to carry this treaty into full effect on the part of the English, a citizen of London was chosen to be governor of the English merchants in Prussia and the other countries on the Baltic. Disputes, however, still arose, and piracies were committed on both sides. Meetings were therefore held at the Hague, to hear and settle the complaints of each party. From the statements then given in, it appears, that woollen clothes now formed a considerable part of the exports of England to the Baltic. That they were also exported in considerable quantity to the south of Europe, appears from other documents. At the beginning of the fifteenth century the foreign com- merce of England had considerably increased ; for we are in- formed, that some merchants of London shipped wool and other goods, to the value of 24<,000^, to the Mediterranean ; and nearly about the same time, the English merchants pos- sessed valuable warehouses and an extensive trade at Bergen in Norway, and sent vessels of the size of 200 tons to Portu- |Tal. The freight of one of these is stated to have been worth 6000 crowns in gold. The improvement of the woollen ma- nufactures may be inferred fi'om the following circumstance : alum is very useful to fullers and dyers. About the year 1422, the Genoese obtained from the Greek emperor the lease of a hill in Asia Minor, containing alum : England was one of the chief customers for this article; ' ut it undoubtedly was imported, not in English, but in Genoese vessels. In the year 1450 the Genoese delivered alum to the value of 4000/. to Henry VI. Bristol seems to have been one of the most commercial cities in England. One merchant of it is men- tioned as having been possessed of 2470 tuns of shipping: he traded to Finmaik and Iceland for fish, and to the Baltic for timber and other bulky articles in very large ships, some of which are said to have been of the burden of 400, 500, and even 900 tons. Towards the latter end of the fifteenth cen- X 3 >• — iilB- 310 Prugress of Discovcvif ruAP. IV. '/ / I ^ I ; tury, the piirliamcnt, in order to encourage English sliipping, (as hitherto the greatest part of the foreign trade of Enghind had been carried on by foreign merchants in foreign vessels,) enacted a species of navigation law, and prohibited the king's subjects from shipping goods in England and Wales on board any vessel owned by a foreigner, unless when sufficient freight could not be found in English vessels. Such are the most instructive and important notices re- specting the state and progress of English commerce, which occur prior to the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope and America. We shall now proceed to give similar notices of the commerce of Scotland, Ireland, France, and the other countries of Europe \ these, however, shall be very brief and few. In the middle of the twelfth century, Berwick, which then belonged to Scotland, is described as having more foreign commerce than any other port in that kingdom, and as pos- sessing many ships. One of the merchants of this town was distinguished by the appellation of the optdent. Inverluth, or Licith, is described merely as possessing a harbour, but no mention is made of its trade. Strivelen nad some vessels and trade, and likewise Perth. There was some trade between Aberdeen and Norway. There were no trading towns on the west coast of Scotland at this period ; but about twenty years afterwai'ds, a weekly market, and an annual fair were granted by charter to Glasgow. It is probable that the foreign commerce of Scotland, being confined to the east coast, was principally carried on with Norway : with which country, indeed, Scotland had intimate connection ; for we do not find any notice of foreign mer- chants from other countries trading to or settling in Scotland, till towards the end of the thirteenth century, when some Flemish merchants established a factory at Berwick. Wool, wool-fells, hides, &c. were the chief articles of export; salmon also was exported. Of the importance and value of the trade of this place we may form some idea, from the circumstance, that the custom duties amounted to upwards of 2,000/. ster- ling; and of 1,500 marks a year settled on the widow of Alex- ander prince of Scotland, 1,300 were paid by Berwick. In the year 1428. foreign commerce attracted considerable attention in Scotland ; and in order to encourage the native merchants to carry it on themselves, and by their own vessels, the parliament of Scotland seem, some time pre- vious to this date, to have passed a navigation act ; for in an »ct passed this yoar, the Scotch merchants were permitted for ■s^^i^. f'HAP. IV. ;lish shipping, of Englnnd reign vessels,) ited the king's ^ales on board ifficient freight nt notices re- imerce, which [)od Hope and ilar notices of and the other very brief and lerwick, which ig more foreign , and as pos- this town was Inverluth, or irbour, but no me vessels and trade between g towns on the Lit twenty years ir were granted Scotland, being larried on with id had intimate )f foreign mer- ng in Scotland, ry, when some srwick. Wool, export; salmon lue of the trade e circumstance, of 2,000/. ster- widow of Alex- Berwick, ed considerable rage the native by their own ome time pre- act; for in an re permitted for CHAP. IV. to ///<• Cloii' ofthf Fifleenth Cenluvy. .TU a year ensuing, to ship their goods in foreign vessels, wh(M-e Scotch ones were not to be found, notAvitlistiuiding the stiiLule to the contrary. Indeed, during the civil wars in England, between the houses of York and Lancaster, when the manu- factures and commerce of that country necessarily deciinetl, the commerce of Scotland began to flourish, and was ))rotccted and encouraged by its moriarchs. The herring fishery was encouraged; duties were laid on the exportation of wool, and a staple for Scotch conmierce was fixed in the Netherlands, In the year 14'20 Glasgow began to acquire wealth by the fisheries ; but until the discovery of America and the West Indies, it had little or no foreign trade. Towards the middle ol" the fifteenth century, several acts of pi^rliament were passed to encourage jigriculture, the fisheries, and commerce ; the Scotch merchants had now acquired so much wealth and general respectability, that they were frequently employed, along with the clergy and nobles, in embassies. Even some of the Scotch barons were engaged in trade. In 1467 several acts wei'c passed: among the most important enactments were those which related to the freight of ships, the mode of stowing it, the mode of fixing the average in case goods were thrown overboard, and the time of the year when vessels might sail to foreign countries. The commerce of Ireland, when its ports were frequented by the Ostmen, has been already noticed. In the middle of the twelfth century, we are informed, that foreign merchants brought gold to Ireland, and that wheat and wine were im- ported from Bretagne into Wexford; but the exports in return are not particularized. About this period, some trade seems to have been carried on between Bristol and Dublin ; and on the conquest of Ireland by Henry II., ^hat monarch gave his city of Dublin to be inhabited by his men of Bristol. A charter granted by the same monarch, gives to the burgesses of that city free trade to England, Normandy, Wales, and the other ports of Ireland. From this time the commerce of Dublin seems to have flourished. It is certain, that at the middle of the fourteenth century the Irish stuffs were in such request abroad, that imitations of them were attemptetl by the Catalans, and they were worn as articles of luxury by the ladies of Florence. But of the mode in which they were conveyed to foreign countries, and the articles which were received in exchange for them, we have no certain information. Though France possessed excellent ports in the Mediter>- X 4 5Ki 312 Progress of' Discovert/ CHAP. IV. ^ i I I ranean, particularly Marseilles, which, as wc have seen, in very early times was celebrated for its commerce, yet she, as well as less favoured ports of Europe, was principally in- debted for her trade to the Lombards and other Italian mer- chants, during the middle ages. The political state of the country, indeed, was very unfavourable to commerce during this per-od; there are, consequently, few particulars of its commerce worth recording. About the beginning of the fourteenth century, Montpelier seems to have had a consider- able trade ; and they even sent ships with various articles of merchandize to London. Mention of Bourdeaux occurs about the same time, as having sent out, in one year, 1350 vessels, laden with 13,429 tuns of wine; this gives nearly 100 tuns in each vessel on an average. But Bourdeaux was in fact an English possession at this time. That conunerce between France and England would have flourished and extended con- siderably, had it not been interrupted by the fretjuent and bitter wars between these countries, is evident from the con- sequences which followed the truce which was concluded be- tween their monarchs in 1384. The French, and particularly the Normans, taking immediate advantage of this truce, im- ported into England an immense quantity of wine, fruits, spiceries, and fish ; gold and silver alone were given in ex- change. The Noiinans appear to have traded very extensively in spiceries ; but it is uncertain, whether they brought them directly from the Mediterranean : they likewise traded to the east country or Baltic countries. About a century afterwards, that is in 1453, France could boast of her wealthy merchant, as well as Florence and England. His name was Jacques Cceur: he is said to have employed 300 factors, and to have traded with the Turks and Persians ; his exports were chiefly woollen cloth, linen, and paper ; and his imports consisted of silks, spiceries, gold, silver, &c. In all our preceding accounts of the trade of Europe, the Italian and Flemish merchants make a conspicuous figure. Flanders was celebrated for its woollen manufactures, as well as for containing the central depots of the trade between the south and north of Europe. Holland, which afterwards rose to such commercial importance, does not appear in the an- nals of commerce till the beginning of the fifteenth century. At this period, many of the manufacturers of Brabant and Flanders settled in Holland ; and about the same time the Jlollanders engagced in maritime commerce ; but there are no .^4^€ CHAP. IV. have seen, in ce, yet she, as principally in- ev Itahan mer- al state of the nnnevce during Lrticulars of its ;yinning of the had a consider- ious articles of ux occurs about r, 1350 vessels, irly 100 tuns in was in fact an merce between I extended con- e frequent and t from the con- concluded be- and particularly this truce, im- of wine, fruits, ere iriven in ex- very extensively Y brought them se traded to the tury afterwards, ;althy merchant, s Jacques Coeur: to have traded chiefly woollen isisted of silks, of Europe, the ;[)icuous figure, actures, as well ide between the afterwards rose )ear in the an- fteenth century, f Brabant and same time the ut there are no CHAP. IV. to the Close of the Fifteenth Century. 3IS particulars respecting it, that fall within the limits of the present chapter. It remains to notice Spain. Tlie commerce of Barcelona in its eai'liest "Stage has been already noticed. The Catalans, in the thirteenth century, engaged very extensively in the commerce of the Mediterranean, to almost every port of which they traded. The earliest navigation act known was passed by the count of Barcelona about this tune ; and laws w^ere also framed, containing rules for the owners and com- manders of vessels, and the clerks employed to keep their accounts ; for loading and discharging the cargo ; for the mutual assistance to be given by vessels, &c. These laws, and others, to extend and improve connnerce, were passed during the reign of James I., king of Arragon, who was also count of Barcelona. The manufactures and commerce of this part of Spain continued to flourish from this time till the union of the crowns of Castile and Arragon, which event depressed the latter kingdom. In 1380, a Catalan ship was wi'ecked on the coast of Somersetshire, on her voyage from Genoa to Sluys, the port of Bruges : her cargo consisted of green ginger, cured ginger, I'ai^ins, sulphur, writing paper, white sugar, prunes, cinnamon, &c. In 1401, a bank of ex- change and deposit was established at Barcelona : the ac- commodation it afforded was extended to foreign as well as native merchants. The earliest bill of exchange of which we have any notice, is one dated 28th April, 1404, which was sold by a merchant of Lucca, residing in Bruges, to a mer- chant of Barcelona, also residing there, to be paid by a Florence merchant residing in Barcelona. By the book of duties on imports and exports, compiled in 1413, it appears, that the Barcelonians were very liberal and enlightened in their commercial policy ; this document also gives us a high idea of the trade of the city of Barcelona. A still further proof and illustration of the intelligence of tlie Barcelona merchants, and of the advantages for which commerce is in- debted to them, occurs soon afterwards : for about the year 1432 they framed regulations respecting maritime insurance, the principal of which were, that no vessel should be insurctl for more than three quarters of her real value, — that no mer- chandize belonging to foreigners should be insured in Barce- lona, imless freighted in a vessel belonging to I'e king of Arrugan : the words, more or /tw, iuseited frequently in poli- si I •\ % A\ ' (jH H«ka SSBSSw^SBMKSii 311' Progress of Discovery CHAP. IV. h I \ cies, were prohibited : if a ship should not be heard of in six months, she was to be deemed lost. Little commerce seems to have been cai'ried on from any other port of Spain besides Barcelona at this period : the north of Spain, indeed, had a little commercial intercourse with England, as appears by the complaints of the Spanish merchants ; complaints that several of their vessels bound to England from this part of Spain had been plundered by the people of Sandwich, Dartmouth, &c. sels are particularly mentioned : one of which. wine, wool, and iron, was bound for Flanders Seven ves- laden with the others. laden with raisins, liquorice, spicery, incense, oranges, and cheese, were bound for England. The largest of these ves- sels was 1 20 tons : one vessel, with its cargo, was valued as high as 2500/. The following short abstract of the exports and imports of the principal commercial places in Europe, about the middle of the fifteenth century, taken from a contemporary work, will very properly conclude and sum up all we have to say on this subject. Spain exported figs, raisins, wine of inferior quality, dates, liquorice, Seville oil, grain, Castile soap, wax, iron, wool, goat sk''ns, saffron, and quicksilver ; the most of these were exported to Bruges. The chief imports of Spain were Flemish woollen cloth and linen. This account, however, of the commerce of Spain, does not appear to include Barcelona. The exports of Portugal were wine, wax, grain, figs, raisins, honey. Cordovan leather, dates, salt, &c. ; these were sent principally to England. The imports are not mentioned. Bretagne exported salt, wine, cloth, and canvas. The exports of Scotland were wool, wool-fells, and hides to Flanders ; from which they brought mercery, haberdashery, cart-wheels, and barrows. The exports of Ireland were hides, wool, salmon, and other fish ; linen ; tb.e skins of mar- tins, otters, hares, &c. The trade of England is not de- scribed : the author being an Englishman, and writing for his countrymen, we may suppose, thought it unnecessary. The exports of Prussia were beer, bacon, copper, bow-staves, wax, putty, pitch, tar, boards, flax, thread of Cologne, and canvas ; tiiese were sent principally to Flanders, from which wtMc brought woollen cloths. The Prussians also imported salt from Biscay. ^wi•>;: tllAP. IV. leard of in six d on from any s period : the ial intercourse of the Spanish vessels bound •en plundered :. Seven ves- ;h, laden with rs ; the others, , oranges, and jt of these ves- was valued as and imports of lOut the middle mporary work, I have to say on • quality, dates, ax, iron, wool, t of these were of Spain were it, however, of ude Barcelona. , grain, figs, lit, &c. ; these iports are not invas. ■fells, and hides , haberdashery, Ireland were e skins of mar- aud is not de- writing for his ecessary. >er, bow-staves, Cologne, and rs, from which also imported CHAP. IV. io the Close of the Fifteenth Ccnttiry. 315 The Genoese employed large vessels in their trade ; their principal exports were cloth of gold and silver, spiceries, woad, wool, oil, wood-ashes, alum, and good : the chief staple of their trade was in Flanders, to which they carried wool from England. The Venetians and Florentines exported nearly the same articles as the Genoqge ; and their imports were nearly similar. Flanders exported madder, wood, garlick, salt-fish, woollen cloths, &c. The English are represented as being the chief purchasers in the marts of Brabant, Flanders, and Zealand ; to these marts were brought the merchandize of Hainault, France, Burgundy, Cologne, and Cambray, in carts. Tlie commodities of the East, and of the south of Europe, were brought by the Italians : England sent her wool, and after- wards her woollen cloth. From this view of the trade of Europe in the middle of the fifteenth century, it appears, that it was principally conducted by the Italians, the Hanse merchants, and the Flemings ; and that the great marts were in Flanders. Towards the end of this century, indeed, the other nations of Europe advancing in knowledge and enterprize, and having acquired some little commercial capital, each began, in some degree, to conduct its own trade. The people of Barcelona, at a very early period, form the only exception to this remark ; tliey not only conducted their own trade, but partook largely in con- ducting t!:.e trade of other nations. From the remotest period to which we can trace the oper- ations of commerce, we have seen that they were chiefly directed to the luxuries of Asia; and as the desire of obtaining them in greater abundance, and more cheaply and easily, was the incitement which led to the discovery of the Cape of Ciood Hope by the Portuguese, it will be proper, before we narrate that event, briefly to give such particulars respecting Asiatic commerce as occur within the period which this chap- ter embraces, and to which, in our account of the Arabians, we have not already alluded. This will lead us to a notice of some very instructive and important travels in the East; and the information which they convey will point out the state of the geography of Asia, as well as its commerce, during the middle ages. The dreadful revolutions which took place in Asia in tlie V Uii ill i ' I' * :'. h ''■■ n •MaSBssaa ' — ' -»'. "W --fcJi »' 316 Progress of Discovery CHAP. IV, i twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and which threatened to extend to Europe, induced the European powers, and particularly the Pope, to endeavour to avert the evil, by sending embas- sies to the Mogul potentates. So frequent were these missions, that, in the beginning of the fourteenth century, a work was composed which described the various routes to Grand Tar- tary. What was at first undertaken from policy and fear, was afterwards continued from religious zeal, curiosity, a love of knowledge, and other motives. So that, to the devastations of Genghis Khan we may justly deem ourselves indebted for the full and important information we possess respecting the remote parts of Asia during the middle ages. The accounts of India and China by the two Mahomedan travellers have been already noticed : between the period of their journey, and the embassies and missions to which we have just alluded, the only account of the East which we possess is derived from the work of Benjamin, a Jew of Tu- dela in Spain. It is doubted whether he visited all the places he describes : his object was principally to describe those places where the Jews resided in great numbers. After describing Barcelona as a place of great trade, fre- quented by merchants from Gi-eece, Italy, and Alexandria, and a great resort of the Jews, and giving a similar character of Montpelier and Genoa, he proceeds to the East. The inha- bitants of Constantinople being too lazy to carry on commerce themselves, the whole; trade of this city, which is represented as surpassing all others, except Bagdad, in wealth, was con- ducted by foreign merchants, who resorted to it from every part of the world by land and sea. New Tyre was a place of con- siderable traffic, with a good harbour : glass and sugar were its principal exports. The great depot for the produce and mtaafacturts of India, Persia, Arabia, &c., was an island in the Persian Gulf. He mentions Samarcand as a place of considerable importance, and Thibet as the country where the musk animal was found. But all beyond the Persian Gulf he describes in such vague terms, that little information can be gleaned. It is worthy of remark, that nearly all the Jews, whom he represents as very numerous in Thebes, Constanti- nople, Samarcand, &c., were dyers of wool : in Thebes alone, there were 2000 workers in scarlet and purple. After the conquest of tlie northern part of China by Genghis Khan, the city of Cmnpion in Tangut seems to have been fixed upon by CHAP. IV. Lened to extend id parncularly ending embas- these missions, •y, a woi"k was to Grand Tar- •y and fear, was )slty, a love of lie devastations es indebted for respecting the fo Mahomedan 1 the period of ns to which we East which we n, a Jew of Tu- ed all the places describe those rs. rreat trade, fre- Alexandria, and ilar character of ast. The inha- •ry on commerce I is represented vealth, was con- t from every part s a place of con- and sugar were the produce and was an island in ,d as a place of ountry where the le Persian Gulf information can ,rly all the Jews, ebes, Constanti- in Thebes alone, ir^ile. After the Mighis Khan, the ;n fixed upon by CHAP. IV. (o the Close of the Fifteenth Century. 317 him as the seat of a great mland trade. Linens, stuffs made of cotton, gold, silver, silks, and porcelain, were brought hither by the Chinese merchants, and bought by merchants from Muscovy, Persia, Armenia, &c. In the years 124'5, 1246, the pope sent ambassadors to the Tartar and Mogul khans : of these Carpini has given us the most detailed account of his embassy, and of the route which he followed. His journey occupied six months : he first went through Bohemia, Silesia, and Poland, to Kiov, at that time the capital of Russia. Thence he proceeded by the Dnieper to the Black Sea, till he ai'rived at the head quarters of the Khan Baton. To him we are indebted for the first inform- ation of the real names of the four great rivers which water the south of Russia, the Dnieper, the Don, the Volga, and the Jaik. He afterwards proceeded to the head quartei's of another khan, on the eastern shores of the Caspian. *^rter passing a country where the famous Prester John is said to have reigned, h.? reached the end of his journey, the head quarters of the khan of the Moguls. Besides the information derived from '^i« own observations, he inserts in his narrative all he had < ' ■ '*^ed ; so that he may be regarded as the first traveller who oi ought to the knowledge of western Europe these parts of Asia; but though his travels are important to geography, tiiey throw little light on the commerce of these countries. Rubruquis was sent, about this time, by rhe king of France to the Mogul emperor : he passed through the Crimea, and along the shores of the Volga and the Caspian Sea ; visited the Khans Sartach and Baton ; and at length arrived at the great camp of the Moguls. Here he saw Chinese ambassadors ; from whom, and certain documents which he found among the Moguls, he learnt many particulars respecting the north of China, the most curious of which is his accurate description of the Chinese language and characters. He returii°d by the same route by which he went. In his travels we me^' with some information respecting the trade of Asia. The Mogul khans derived a considerable revenue from the salt of the Crimea. The alum of Caramonia was a great object of traffic. He is the first author, after Ammianus Marcellinus, who mentions rhubarb as an article of medicine and commerce. Among the Moguls he found a great number of Europeans, who had been taken prisoners : they were usually employed in working the mines, and in various manufactures. He is the first ii ^1 i'' 1 ^1 m ' I « 318 Progress of Discoverj^ CHAP. IV. traveller who mentions koumis and arrack ; and he gives a very particular and accurate description of the cattle of Thibet, and the wild and fleet asses of the plains of Asia. Geography is indebted to him for correcting the error of the ancients, which prevailed till his time, that the Caspian joined the Northern Ocean : he expressly represents it as a great inland sea, — the description given of it by Herodotus, but which was overlooked or disbelieved by all the other ancient geographers. While the pope and the French monarch were thus endeavouring to conciliate the Moguls by embassies, the Emperor Frederic of Germany, having recovered Jerusalem, Tyre, and Sidon, formed an alliance with the princes of the East ; and this alliance he took advantage of for the pur- poses of oriental commerce : for his merchants and factors travelled as far as India. In the last year of his reign, twelve camels, laden with gold and silver, the produce of his trade with the East, arrived in his dominions. The part of India to which he traded, and the route which was pursued, are not recorded. Among the most celebrated travellers of the middle ages, was Marco Polo : he, his father, and uncle, after trading for some time in many of tiie commercial and opulent cities of Lesser Asia, reached the more eastei'n parts of that con- tinent, as far as the court of the great khan, on the borders of China. For 26 years they were either t -iged in mer- cantile transactions, or employed in negociations with the neighbouring states by the khan; they were thus enatjled to see much, and to collect much important information, the result of which was drawn up by Marco Polo. He was the first European who reached China, India beyond the Ganges, and the greater number of the islands in the Indian Ocean. He describes Japan from the accounts of others : notices great and little Java, supposed to be Borneo and Sumatra ; and is the first who mentions Bengal and Guzerat by their present names, as great and opulent kingdoms. On the east coast of Africa, his knowledge did not reach beyond Zangue- bar, and the port of Madagascar opposite to it : he first made known this island to Europe. Such is a sketch of the coun- tries described by Marco Polo ; from which it wi'l easily be perceived, how much he added to the geographical knowledge of Asia possessed at that period. The information he gives respecting the commerce of the 20 -^^ CMAP. IV. io the Close of the FifteeJith C'entwy. 319 Timerce of the countries he either visited himself, or describes from the reports of others, is equally important. Beginning with the more western parts of Asia, he mentions Giazza, a city in the Levant, as possessed of a most excellent harbour, which was much frequented by Genoese and Venetian vessels, for spices and other merchandize. Rich silks were manufactured hi Georgia, Bagdat, Tauris, and Persia, which were the source of great wealth to the manufacturers and merchants. All the pearls in Christendom are brought from Bagdat. The mer- chants from India bring spices, pearls, precious stones, &c. to Ormus : the vessels of this port are described as very . stoutly built, with one mast, one deck, and one saU. Among the most remarkable cities of China, he particularly notices Cambalu, or Pekin, Nankin, and Quinsai. At the distance of 2,500 Italian miles from this last city, was the port of Cauzu, at which a considerable trade was carried on with India and the spice islands. The length of the voyage, in consequence of the monsoons, was a year. From the spice islands was brought, besides other articles, a quantity of pepper, infinitely greater than what was imported at Alex- andria, though that r-ace supplied all Europe. He repre- sents the commerce and wealth of China as very great ; anil adds, that at Cambalu, where the merchants had their dis- tinct warehouses, (in which they also lived,) according to the nation to which they belonged, a large proportion of them were Saracens. The money was made of the middle bark of the mulberry, stamped with the khan's mark. Letters were conveyed at the rate of 200 or 250 miles a day, by means of inns at short distances, where relays of horses were always kept. The tenth of all wool, silk, and hemp, and all other articles, the produce of the earth, was paid to the khan : sugar, spices, and arrack, paid only 3] per cent. The inland trade is immense, and is carried on principally by numerous vessels on the canals and rivers. Marco Polo describes por- celain, which was principally made at a place he calls Trigui ; it was very low-priced, as eight porcelain dishes might be bought for a Venetian groat : he takes no notice of tea. He supposes the cowries of the Maldives to be a species of white porcelaine. Silver then, as now, must have been in great demand, and extremely si^arce ; it was much more valuable than grid, bearing the proportion to the latter, as 1 to 6 or 8. Fine skins also bore a very high price : another proof of the stability of almost every thing connected with China, He if m I _— ■■ — - 320 Progress of Discovery CHAP. IV. m was particularly struck with what lie calls black stones, which were brought from the mountains of Cathay, and burnt at Pekin, as wood, evidently meaning some kind of coal. The collieries of China are still worked, principally for the use of the porcelaine manufactures. Marco Polo seems to have regarded Benfral and Pegu as parts of China : he mentions the gold of Pegu, and the rice, cotton, and sugar of Bengal, as well as its ginger, spikenard, &c. The principal branch of the Bengal trade consisted in cotton goods. In Guzerat also, there was abundance of cotton : in Canhau, frankincense ; and in Cambaia, indigo, cotton, &c. He describes the cities on the east and west coasts of India; but he does not seem either to have pene- trated himself inland, or to have learnt any particulars regarding the interior frou» other persons. Horses were a great article of importation in all parts of India : they were brought from Persia and Arabia by sea. In the countries to the nwth of India, particularly Thibet, corals were in great demand, and brought a higher price than any other article : this was the case in the time of Pliny, who informs us, that the men in India were as fond of coral for an ornament, as the women of Rome were of the Indian pearls. In Pliny's time, corals were brought from the Mediterranean coast of France to Alexandria, and were thence exported by the Arabians to India. Marco Polo does not inform us by what means, or from what country they were imported into the north of India. The greater Java, which he represents as the greatest island in the world, carried on an extensive trade, particularly by means of the Chinese merchants, who imported gold and spices from it. In the lesser Java, the tree pro- ducing sago grows : he describes the process of making it. In this island there are also nuts as large as a man's head, containing a liquor superior to wine, — evidently the cocoa nut. He likewise mentions the rhinoceros. The knowledge of camphire, the produce of Japan, Sumatra, and Borneo, was first brought to Europe by him. The fishery of peails between Ceylon and the main land of India is described ; and particular mention is made of the large ruby possessed by the king of that island. Madagascar is particularly men- tioned, as supplying large exports of elephants' teeth. Marco Polo's description of the vessels of India is very full and minute : as he sailed from China to the Indian islands in one of these vessels, we may suppose it is perfectly accurate. 15 ^A'ji CHAP. IV. CHAP. IV. to the Close of the Fifteenth Ceuttinj. ,*]'21 ■M stones, which ind burnt at f coal. The jr for the use and Pegu as and the rice, er, spikenard, ! consisted in abundance of ibaia, indigo, ;ast and west to have pene- IV particulars tiorses were a lia: they were le countries to were in great r other article : iforms us, that I ornament, as Is. In Pliny's •anean coast of ported by the >rm lis by what orted into the represents as extensive trade, , who imported , the tree pro- is of making it. 1 a man's head, ently the cocoa The knowledge and Borneo, ishery of pearls described; and jy possessed by rticularly men- _ teeth, ndia is very full ndian islands in rfectly accurate. according to him, they were fitted up witli nmiiy cal)iiis, and each nierchaiit had his own cabin. Tliey had iVoni two lo four masts, all or any of which coukl be lowered ; the hold Was divided not merely for the })urj)ose of kee})ing distinct each merchant's goods, but also to prevent the water from a leak in one division extending to the rest of the liold. The bottoms of the vessels were double planked at first, and each year a new sheathing was added; the ships lasted only six years. Tiic}' were canlUed, as modern ships are; tlie timbers and planks fixed with iron nails, and a composition of lime, oil, and hemp, spread over the surface. They were ca})able of holding 5000 or 6000 bags of )iepper, and from 150 to 300 seamen and passengers. They were supplied with oars as well as sails: four men were allotted to each oar. Smaller vessels seem to have accompanied the larger ones, which be- sides had boats on their decks. When the power of the Romans was extinguished in Egypt, and the Mahomedans had gained possession of that country, Aden, which had been destroyed by the former in the reign of Claudius, resumed its rank as the centre of the trade between India and the Red Sea. In this situation it was found by Marco Polo. The shij)s which came from the East, did not pass the straits, but landed their cargoes at Aden ; here the tranlxies of the Arabs, which brought the produce of Europe, Syria, and Egypt, received them, and conveyed them to Assab, Cosir, or Jidda : ultimately they reached Alexandi'ia. Marco Polo gives a magnificent picture of the wealth, power, and influence of Aden in the thirteenth century. When the Christians were expelled from Syria, in the be- ginning of the fourteenth century, and, in order to procure the merchandize of the east, were obliged to submit to the exactions of the sultan of Egypt ; Sanuto, a Venetian, addressed a work to the Pope, in which he proposed to su})press the Egyptian trade by force. Tn this work are many curious pai'- ticulars of the Indian trade at u^is time ; and it is highly inter- esting both on this account, and ncmi the clear-sighted specu- lations of the author. It appears to have produced a strong sensation; and though his mode of suppressing the Egyptian trade was not followed, yet, in consequence of it, nuich more attention v>.is paid to Oriental commerce. According to him, the productions of the East came to the Venetians in two different ways. Cloves, nutmegs, pearls, gems, and other anicles of great value, and small bulk, were conveyed u|) the V \ ,n n i f' 832 Progress of Discovny CHAP. IV. Persian Gulf and the Tigris to IJnssora, nnd thence to 13a|yr- dat ; from which they were carried to some port in the Medi- terraiean. The more bulky and 'ess vahiabie articles were conveyed by Arabian nierchants to the lied Sea, nnd thence Across the desert and down the Nile to Alexandria. He adds, that ginger and cinnamon, being a})t to spoil on shii)board, were from ten to twenty per cent, better in quality, \s\w.\\ brought by land carriage, though this conveyance was more expensive. From tlie works of Sanuto, it appears that sugar and silk were the two articles from their trade in which the Saracens (derived the greatest portion of their wealth. Cyprus, Rhcnles, Amorea, and Marta (probably Malta), prmluced sugar; silk was the produce of Apulia, Romania, Crete, and Cyj)rus. Egypt was celebrated, as in old times, for the fineness of its flax ; Eurojjean flax was far inferior. The Egyptian manu- factures of linen, silk, and linen and silk mixed, and also the (dates and cassia of that country were exported to Turkey, Africa, the Black Sea, and the western ports of Europe, either in Saracen or Christian vessels. Jn return for these articles, the Egyptians received from Europe, gold, silver, brass, tin, lead, quicksilver, coral, and amber: of these, several were again exjiorted from Egypt to Ethiopia and India, particukirly brass and tin. Sanuto tVirther observes, that Egypt was de- pendent on Europe for timlxir, iron, pitch, and other mate- rials for ship building. As his plan was to ,cut off all trade with the Saracejis, and for that purpose to build a rmmber of armed galleys, he gives many curious particulars respecting the expence of fitting thein out; he estiniiites that a galley capable of holding 250 men, will cost 1500 florins, and that the whole expence of one, in- cluding pay, provisions, &c. for nine months, would be 7000 florins. The seamen he proposes to draw from the following places, as affording tlie most expert: Italy, the north of Germany, Frlesland, Holland, Slavia, Hamburg}), Denmark,' Sweden, and Norway. In the year 1335, Pegoletti, an Italian, wrote a system of commercial geography ; in this, the route taken by the mer- <;hants who brought protluce and manufactures from China to Azof is particularly described. " In tlie first place," he says, ** from Azof to Astracan it is twenty-five days' journey with wag- gons drawn by oxen ; but with waggons by horses, only ten or twelve. From Astracan to Sai'a, by tke river, one day; frojn I CHAP. IV. lence to Bag- ili the Medi- artkles were a, mul thence ria. He acUls, on shiiihoard, quality, when ance was more sugar nTu\ silk [\ the Saracens yprus, Rhwles, ced sugar ; silk ?., and Cy})rus. ; fineness of its ■Egyptian mann- ed, and also the ted to Turkey, >f Europe, either )V these articles, ilver, brass, tin, se, several were ivdia, particulivrly it Egypt ^'^^ ^^^' and other mate- [ic Saracens, and galleys, he gives ice of fitting them olding 250 men, pence of one, in- ,s, would be 7000 I'oni the following aly, the north of burgli, Denmark, ' wrote a system of taken by the mer- ires from China to ■St place," he says, ' journey with wag- y horses, only ten er, one day ; Irom CHAP. IV. to the Close oj the Fifteenth Century. .323 Sura to Siiracanco, on the north-east coast of the Caspian Sea, eigiit days by water ; thence to Luke Aral, twenty days' journey with camels. At Organci oii this lake tliere was nuich traffic. To Oltrarra on the Sihon, thirty-five or I'orty days, also with camels^ to Ahnaley with asses, tliirty-five days ; to Camexu, seventy diiys with asses ; to a river, supposed to be the Houn- gho, in Chinu, fifty days with horses j from this river the traveller may goto Cassai, to dispose of his loading of silver there, and from this place he travels througJi the whole of Cathay with the Chinese money lie receives for his silver; to Gambelecco, CambaUi, or Pekin, the capital of Catluiy, is thirty days' journey." So that the whole time occupied about 300 days, lilach merchant generally carried with him silver and goods to the value of 25,000 gohl diicats ; the exponce of the whole joiu*ney was iVoin 300 to 350 ducats. The other travellers of the fourteenth century, from whom we derive any information respecting Eastern geography and commerce, are Haitlu), Oderic, and Sir Jolm Mandeville; they add little, however, to the full and accurate details of Marco Polo, on which we can depend. Haitho's work, comprehends the geography of the princi- pal states of Asia ; his inforinatioa was derived from Mogul writings, the relation of Ilaitho I. king of Armenia, who had been at the head quarters of Mangu Khan, and from his own 'Personal knowledire. Oderic is the first missionary upon record in India ; the date of his journey is ISS*; among much Unit is marvellous, his relations contain son:e extraordinary truths. He went, in company with other nu)nks, as far as China, There is litde new or valuable till he reaches the coast of Malabar : of the pe|oper trade on this coast he gives a clear and rational ac- count. He next descril>es Sumatra and the adjacent islands, and mentions the sago tree. Respecting China, he informs us, among otliev things which are fabulous, that persons of high rank keep 4ieir nails extremely long, and that the feet of the women are very small. He expresses great surprise and admiration at the wealth of the cities through which he passeS. Clavigo returned to Spain in l+OG. He passed through Constantinople, wliich he rejiresents as not one-third inhabited, uj) the Black Sea to Trebizond. Hence he traversed Armenia, the north of Persia, and Khorasan. Tauris, according to him, enjoyed a lucrative commerce : in its warehouses were an abundance of pearls, silk, cotton goods, and perfumed oils. Sultania also was a great mart for Indian comniodities. Every year, between June and August, cara- vans arrived at this place. Cotton goods of all colours, and cotton yarn were brought from Khorasan ; pearls and pre- cious stones from Ormus ; but the principal lading of the caravans consisted of spices of various khids: at Sultunia these were always found in great abundance, and of the best quality. From Tauris to Samarcand there were regular sta- tions, at which horses were always ready to convey the orders of the khan or travellers. We are indebted to Clavigo for the first information of this new route of the conmierce be- tween India and Europe, by Sultania: it is supposed to have been adopted on the destruction of Bagdat by the Moguls ; but we learn from other travellers that, towards the end of the fifteenth century, Sultania was remarkable for nothing besides the minarets of a mosque, which were made of metal, and dis- played great taste and delicacy of workmanship. Tamerlane lived in excessive magnificence and luxury at Samarcand; hither he had brought all his captives, who were expert in any kind of manufacture, especially in the silks of Tl / CHAV. IV -whifh sailed Ut to {j;ratify 5, served as iv nuul Khan of leiuu, )pia, Tartavy, iitbnnation m •nts the Vene- l)Ut sonietunes ta, in Cypvns, ercial places in )ns, Christians \ the subject ot of Clavigo, who I. of Castile to Spain in l+OG. •epresents as not Vizond. Hence and Khorasan. e commerce : in Ik, cotton goods, I mart for Indian ul August, cara- all colours, and pearls and pre- ,al lading of the ids: at Sultania and of the best were regular sta- convey the orders >d to Clavigo for be commerce be- supposed to have t by the Moguls ; irds the end of the or nothing besides I of metal, and dis- jhip. nee and luxury at captives, who were ially in the silks of riiAr. IV. lo the Close of the Fifteenth Cenliinj. I. 325 Damascus, and the sword cutlery of Turkey. To this city the llussians and 'J'tu'ljirs brought leather, hides, furs, aud cloth : silk goods, musk, pearls, precious stones, and rhubiub, were broutrht from Cliinn, or Catliav. Six months were occupied in bringing nierchandi/e Irom Camltahi, the capital of Cathai, to Samaicand ; two of these were spent in the deserts. Samarcaiul had also a trade with India, from which were received niac(; and other fine spices. Clavigo reniarks, that such s))ices were never brought to Alexandria. Scliildeberger, a native of Munich, was taken })ris()ner by the Turks in J 39 i : he afterwards accompanied Tamerlane in his campaigns till the year HOG. During this period, and his subsecjuent connexion with other Tartar chiefs, he visited various parts of central Asia. But as he had not an opportunity of writing down at the lime what he saw and learnt, his narrative is neither full, nor altogether to be de- pended ujion for its accin-acy. He was, besides, illiterate, nnd tliereforo it is often extremely diflicult to ascertain, from his orthography, what [jlaces he actually means to name or describe. With all these drawbacks and imperfections, how- ever, there are a few points on which he gives credible nnd curious information. He jiarticularizes the silk of Straua, and of Schirevan ; and add , that from the last the raw silk is sent to Damascus, and liiere mamifactured into the stuffs or damasks, for which it was already so celebrated. Fine silk was produced at Bursa, and exported to Venice and Lucca, for the manufacture of velvet. It ought to be men- tioned, that he takes no notice of Saray and Astrakan, the latter of which was taken and destroyed by Tamerlane, in 1395. The wild asses in the mountainous deserts, and the dogs which were harnessed to sledges, ai*e particularly men- tioned by this traveller. The interior parts of the north of Asia were visited, in l^SO, by the ambassadors of the Emperor Tamerlane';; son; and their journey is described in the Book of the Wonders of the W^orld, written by the Persian historian. Emir Khoiul, from which it was translated into Dutch by Witscn, in his Norden Oste Tartarye. Their route was through Samar- cand to Cathay. On entering this country, we are in- formed of a circumstance strikingly characteristic of Chinese policy and suspicion. Cathayan secretaries took down, in writing, the names of the ambassadors, and the number of their suite. This was repeated at another place, the ambas- Y 3 326 Progress of Discovery CHAP. IV^ N sadors being earnestly requested to state the exact number of their servants; and the merchants, who were with him, having been put tlown by him under the description of servants, were, on that account, obliged to perform the par- ticular duties under which they were described. Among the presents made by the emperor to the ambassadors, tin is mentioned. Paper- money seems, at this period, to have given place to silver, which, however, from several circmn- stances mentioned, must have been very scarx^e. From the travels of .Tosapliat Barbaro, an ambassador frora Venice, first to Taim (Azof), ajul then to Persia, some in- formation may be drawn respecting the commerce of these parts of Asia, nuout the middle of the fifteenth century. He particularly describes the Wolgii as being navigable to within three days' journey of Moscow, the inhabitants of which sail down it everv year to Astrakan for salt. Astrakan was formerly a place of consequence and trade, but had been laid waste by iameriane. Kussia is a fertile country, but extremely cold. Cxen and other beasts ar« carried to mar- ket in the vlnter, sla*ightered, witli their entrails taken out, and fro;-en so hard, tluit it is impossible to cut them up: they arc very numerous and cheap. The only fruits are apples, nuts, and walnuts. Bossa, a kind of beer, is made in Kussia. This liquor is still drank in Russia.: it is made from millet, and is very inebriatii>g. The drunkenness of the Russians is {^xpr. ^sly and pointedly dwelt upon. Bar- baro adds, th -^^t thi train! duke, in order to check this vice, ordered thai \\v nsore beer should be brewed, nor mead made, nor hops used. The H;ussians formerly paid tribute to Tar- tary; but they hr I laioty conquered a country called Casaii, to the left of the Woiga, in its descent. In this country :a considerable trade is cuiried on, especially in furs, which are sent by way of Moscow to Poiautl, Prussia, and Flander.s. The furs, howevei", are not the produce of Kasan, but of countries to the north-ea.st, at a great distance. Baa'baro is very minute and circmnstantial in his desciip- tion of the manners, dress, food, &c. of the Georgians, He visited the principal towns of Persia. Schiraz contained 200,000 inhabitants. Yczd was distinguished and enriched by its silk nuuiufactures. ~)^if. CHAP. V. to the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century. 32 7 CHAPTER V. ariod, to have everal circum- ibassador from in his desciip- HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE PIf OGRESS OF DISCOVERY AND COMMERCE, FRO.M THE MIDDEE OF THE FIFTEENTH TO THE BEGINNING OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. The improvement of mankind in knowledge and civilization evidently depends on the union of three circumstances, — en- larged and increased desires, obstacles in the way of obtainhig the objects of these desires, and practicable means of over- coming or removing these obstacles. The history of man- kind ill all ages and countries justifies and illustrates the truth of this remark ; for though it is, especially in the early periods of it, very imperfect and obscure, and even in the later periods almost entirely confined to war and politics, still there are in it sufKcient traces of the operation of all those three causes towards their improvement in knowledge and civilization. That they operated in extending the progress of discovery and commerce is evident. We have already remarked that from the earliest periods, the commodities of the east attracted the desires of the western nations : the Arabians, Carthagi- nliuis, Greeks, and Romans of the ancient world; the Italian and Hanseatic states of the middle ages, all endeavoured to enrich themselves by trading in commodities so eagerly and universally desired. As industry and skill inci'eased, and as the means as well as the desire of purcl'.ase and enjoyment spread, by the rise of a initldle class in Europe, the demand for these commodities extended. Tlie. productions and ma- nuliictures of the north, as well as of the south of Europe, having been increased and improved, enabled the inhabitiujts of these counti'ies to jiarticipate in those articles from India, which, among the ancients, had been confined exclusively to the rich and powerful. On the other hand, even at the very time that this enlarged denuuid for Iniliun commodities was taking place in Europe, and was accompanied by enlarged means as well as extended skill and expei'ieiice in tliscovery and commerce, — at this very lime obstacles arose which tlneatened tlie almost entire ex- y 4 L>p^ S28 Progress of Dhcovcnj CHAP. V. \ elusion of Europeans from the luxuries of Asia. It may well be doubted, whether, if the enemies of the Christian faith had not gained entire possession of all die routes to India, and nu)reovei', if these routes liad been rendered more easy of access and passage, they could have long suppHed the in- creased tlenuinds of improving Europe. l?ut that Europe should, on the one hand, improve and teel enlarged desires as well as means of purchasing the luxuries of the east, while on the other hand, the practicability of acquiring these luxuries should diminish, formed a coincidence of circumstances, which was sure to produce important results. As access to India by land, or even by the Arabian Gu'f by sea, was rendered extremely difficult and hazardous by the enmity of the Mahometans, or productive of little commercial benefit by their exactions, the attention and hopes of Euro- pean navigators were directed to a passage to India along the western coast of Africa. As, however, the length and diffi- culties of such a voyage were extremely formidable, it would probably have been either not attempted at all, or have re- quired nuich longer time to accomplish than it actually did, if, in addition and aid of increased desires and an enlarged, com- mercial s,pnMt, the means of navigating distant, extensive, and unknown seas, had not likewise been, about this period, greatly imj)roved. We allude, principally, to the discovery of the mariners' compass. Tlie first clear notice of it appears in a Provencal poet of the end of the twelfth century. In the thirteenth cen- tury it was used by the Norwegians in their voyages to and from Iceland, who made it the device of an order of knight- liood of the highest rank ; and from a passage in Barber's Bruce, it must have been known in Scotland, if not used there in 1375, the period when he wrote. It is said to have been used in the Mediterranean voyages at the end of the thirteenth or beginning of the fourteenth century. With respect to the nations of the east, it is doubted whe- ther they derived their knowledge of it from the Europeans, or the Europeans from them. When we reflect on the long and perilous voyages of the Arabians, early in the Christian era, we might be led to think that they could not be per- formed without the assistance of the compass ; but no mention of it, or allusion to it, occurs in the account of any of their voyages; and we arc expressly iiHbrmed by Nicolo di Conti, who sailed on board a native vessel in the liulian seas, about tilt' year H20, that ihc Arabians lind no compass, but sailcrl . .* .>■- CHAP. V. CHAP. V. to the. Beginning of the Nineteenth Centuri/. 329 It may well 111 taitli had , India, and ore easy of ilicd the ni- hat Europe u-ged desires c east, while nese hixuries ances, which Arabian Gu't irdous by the e commercial :)pes of Euro- ulia along the a;th and difli- xble, it would , or have re- ctually did, if, enlarged corn- extensive, and period, greatly the mariners* ni a Provencal thirteenth cen- oyages to and der of knight- ge in Barber's ■'not used there to have been f the thirteenth s doubted whe- the Europeans, ect ou the long the Christian Id not be per- but no mention of any of their Sicolo di Conti, iMU seas, about but sailol by the stars of tlie southern pole ; and that they knew how to measure their elevation, as well as to keep their reckoniinr, by dav and night, with their distance from place to place. With resj)ect to the Chinese, the point in dispute is not so easily determined: it is generally imagined, that they derived their knowledge of the conij)ass from Europeans : but Lord Macartney, certainly a coni})etent judge, has assigned his rea- sons for believing that the Chinese comj)ass is original, and not borrowed, in a dissertation annexed to Dr. V^incent's Periplus of the Erythrean Sea. At what period it was first known among them, cannot be ascertained ; they pretend that it was known before the age of Confucius. That it was not brought from China to I']urope by Marco Polo, as some writers assert, is evident from the circumstance that this tra- veller never mentions or alludes to it. The first scientific account of the properties of the magnet, as ajijjlicable to the mariner's compass, ajjpears in a letter written by Peter Ad- siger, in the year 1269. This letter is preserved among the manuscripts of the university of Leyden ; extracts from it are given by Cavallo, in the second edition of his Treatise on Mag- netism. From these extracts \l is evident that he was ac- quainted with the attraction, repulsion, and polarity of the magnet, the art of communicating those properties to iron, the variation of the magnetic needle ; and there are even some indications that he was acquainted with the construction of the azimuth compass. Next in importance and utility to the mariners' compass, in preparing the way for the great discoveries by which the fifteenth century is distinguished, maps and charts nuiy be placed. For though, in general, they were constructed on very imperfect and erroneous notions of the form of the world, ancl the relative size and situation of different countries, yet occasionally there appeared ma})s which corrected some long established error, or supplied some new information ; and even the errors of the maps, in some cases, not improbably held out inducements or hopes, which would not otherwise have been entertained and realized, as we have already re- marked, after D'Anville, that the greatest of Ptolemy's errors proved eventually the efficient cause which led to the greatest discovery of the moderns. Make Brun divides the maps of the middle ages into two classes : those in which the notions of Ptoh'my ancl other an- cient geographers are implieilly copietl, and those in which ! V iass. J 330 Progress of Discova-y CHAP. V. new countries are inserted, which had been either discovered, or wei'e supposed to exist. In most of the maps of the first description, Europe, Asia, and Africa are Uiid down as forminir one innnense island, and Africa is not carried so far as the e(|uator. One of the most celebrated of these maps was drawn up by Marin Sanuto, and inserted in his m'nnorial presented to the pope and the prin- cipal sovereigns of Europe, for the purpose of persuading and shewins; them, that if they would oblige their merchants to trade only through the dominions of the Caliphs of Bagdat, they would be better supplied and at a cheaper j te, and would have no longer to fear the Soldans of Egypt. This memorial with its maps was inserted in the Gesta Dei per Francos, as we are assured by the eilitor, from one of the ori- ginal copies presented by Sanuto to some one of the princes. Hence, as Dr. Vincent remarks, it probably contains the oldest map of the world at this day extant, except the Peutin- gerian tables. Sanuto, as we have already noticed, in giving an abstract of the commercial information contained in his memorial, lived in 13'J4. In the monastery of St. Michael di Murano, there is a plani- sphere, said to be drawn up in 1459, by Fra Mauro, which contains a report of a ship from India haviag passed the ex- trenie point south, 2000 miles towards the west and south- west in 1420. llamusio describes a map, supposed to be this, which he states to have been drawn up t()r the elucidation of Marco Polo's travels. On this map, so far as it relates to the circunmavigation of Africa, Dr. Vincent has given a dissertation, having procured a facsimile copy from Venice, which is deposited in the British Museum; the substance of this dissertation we shall here compress. He divides his dissertation into three parts. First, whether this was the map noticed by llamusio, and by him supposed to be drawn up to elucidate the travels of Marco Polo. On this point he concludes that it was the map re- ferred to by Ranuisio, but that his information respecting it is not correct. The secoutl point to be determined is, whether the map procured from Venice was really executed by Mauro, and whether it existed previous to the Portuguese discoveries on the west coast of Africa. Mauro lived in the reign of Al- phonso the Filth, that is between 1438 and 1480; the whole of this nmp, theivlbre, is prior to Dmz ami Oama, two CHAP. V. iscovered, ape, Asia, sland, and f the most anuto, and 1 the prin- Luvdhig and erchants to of Bagdat, t- , ve, and ryy,i. This sla Dei per e of the ori- the princes, lontains the ; the Peutin- ed, in giving ained in his n-e is a pUvni- Lauro, which issed the ex- ,t and south- ns. which he on of Marco mavigation of viiifr procured in the British re shall here parts. First, and by him els of Marco s the map rc- respecting it led is, whether ted by Mauio, esc discoveries le reign of Al- 80 ; the whole I C>ama, two CHAP. V. to the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century. 931 celebrated Portuguese navigators. Consequently, if it can be proved that the map obtained by Dr. Vincent is genuine, it must have existed previous to the Portuguese tliscoverics. The proof of the genuineness of the map is derived from tlie date on the planisphere, 1459; the internal evidence of the work itself; and the fact that Alphonso, or Prince Henry of Portugal, who died in 1463, received a copy of this map from Venice, and deposited it in the monastery of Alcobaca, where it is still kept. The sum paid ibr this copy, and the account of expenditure, are detailed in a MS. account in the monastery kh St. Michael. The third, and by far the most important part of Dr. Vincent's dissertation, examines what the map contains respect- ing the termination of Africa to the south. On the first inspec- tion of the n)ap it is ..vident, that the author has not implicitly followed Ptolemy, as he professes to do. The centre of the habitiible world is fixed at Bagdat. Asia and Europe he de- fines rationally, and Africa so tiir as regai'ds its Mediterranean coast. He assigns two sources to the Nile, both in Abyssinia. On the east coast of Africa, he carries an arm of the sea be- tween an island which he represents as of immense size, and the continent, obliquely as far nearly as the latitude and longitude of the Cape of Good Ho)ie. This island he calls Diab, and the termination on the south, which he makes the extreme point of Africa, Cape Diab. The great object of Mauro, in drawing up this map, was to encourage the Portuguese in the prosecution of their voyages to the south of Africa. This is known to be the fact from other sources, and the construction of the map, as well as some of the notices and remarks, which are inserted in its margin, form additional evidence tjiat this was tlie case. Two })assages, as Dr. Vincent observes, will set this in the clearest light. The first is inserted at Cape Diab ; " here," says the author, about the year 1420, " an Indian vessel, on her passage across the Indian ocean was caught by a storm, and carried 2000 miles beyond this Cape to the west and south-west ; she was seventy days in returning to the Cape." This the author regards as a full proof that Africa was circumnavigable on the south. In the second pafssage, inserted on the nuirgh), after observ- ing that the Portuguese had been round the continent of Africa, iuore than 2000 miles to the south-west beyond the Straits of Gibraltar; that they found the navigation easy and safe, and had mado charts of their discoveries: ho adds, tlmt he hnd % 332 Progress of Discovrnj CHAP. V. 1'> n f E f talked with a person worthy of credit, who assured him he had been carried by bad weather, in an Indian ship, out of the Indian Ocean, for forty days, beyond Ca})e Sofaia and the Green Islands, towards the west and aiUi-west, and that in the opinion of the astronomer on L^ard, (such as all Indian ships carry,) they had been InuTied away 2000 miles. He concludes by expressing his firm belief that the sea surround- ing the southern and south-eastern part of the world is navi- gable ; and that the Indian Sea is ocean, and not a lake. We may observe, by the bye, that in anotlier passage inserted iu the margin, he expressly declares that the Indian ships had no compass, but were directed by an astronomer on board, who was continually making his observations. It is evident that the two accounts are at variance, as the first asserts that the passage was round Cape Diab, at the termination of Africa, and the second that it was round Cape Sofala, fifteen degrees to the north of the extremity of this quarter of the world ; but without attempting to reconcile this contradiction, it is abundantly evident that Mauro, by notic- ing the Portuguese navigators, as having reached 2000 miles to the south of Gibraltar, and adding that 2000 miles more of the coast of Africa had been explored by an Indian ship, meant to encourage the further enterprises of the Portuguese, by the natural inference that a very small space of unsailed sea must lie between the two lines, which were the limits of the navigation of the Portuguese and Indian vessel. The unexplored space was indeed much greater than Mauro estimated and represented it in his map to be ; but, as Dr. Vincent remarks, his error in this respect manifestly contributed to the prosecution of the Portuguese designs, as the error of the ancient geographers, iu approximating China to Europe, produced the discovery of America by Columbus. We have dwelt tluis long on the map of Mauro, as being by far the most important of the maps of the second descrip- tion, or those in which were inserted real or su()posed dis- coveries. The rest of thi.^ description rocjuire little notice. A map of the date of 13i6, in Castilian, represents Cape IJojada in Africa as known, and having been doubled at that ])oriod. A manuscript, })reserved at Genoa, mentions that a ship had sailed from Majorca to a rivoi- called Vedamel, or Rui Jaura (probably Rio-do-Ouro,) but her fate was not known. The Genoese historians relate that two of their countrymen in 1291, attempted to reach India by the west; 1 CMAP. V. •ed him he ), out of the ila and the and that in IS all Indian miles. He ia surround- orld is navi- a lake. We e inserted in ships had no L board, who iance, as the Diab, at the ; round Cape remity of this reconcile this iro, by notic- ed 2000 miles miles more of m ship, meant jguese, by the ailed sea must the navigation ^ ored space was d represented cs, his error in lecution of the t geographers, the discovery luro, as being econd descrip- supposed dis- itlle notice, presents Cape [loubled at that leiitions that a d Vedamel, or fate was not two of their lii by the west ; CHAP. V. /o the Beginning of the Nifietcenth Cenlunj. 333 the fate of this enterprize is also unknown. The Canary Is- lands, the first discovery of which is supposed to have taken place before the Christian era, and which were never after- wards completely lost sight of, being described by tlie Arabian geographers, appear in a Castilian niaj) of 134(). Teneriffe is called in this map Inferno, in conformity with the popular notion of the ancients, that these islands were the seat of the blessed. In a map of 1384, there is an island called Isola-di- legnanie, or the Isle of Wood, which, from this appellation, and its situation, is supposed by some geographers to be the island of Madeira. It would seem that some notions respect- ing the Azores were obscurely entei'tained towards the end of the fourteenth century, as islands nearly in their position are laid down in the maps of 1 380. In the library of St. Marc, at Venice, there is a maj) drawn by Bianco, in 1436. In it the ancient world is represented as forming one great continent, divided into two unequal parts by the Mediterranean, and by the Indian Ocean, which is carried from east to west, and comprises a great number of islands. Africa stretches from west to east parallel to Europe and Asia, but it terminates to the north of the equator. The peninsula of India and the Gulf of Bengal scarcely appear. The eastern part of Asia consists of two great peninsulas, divided by an immense gulf. Then appear Cathai, Samarcand, and some other })laces, the names of which are unintelligible. All the kingdoms of Europe are laid down except Poland and Hungary. To the west of the Canaries, a large tract of country is laid down under the appellation of Antitia ; some geogra})hers have maintained that by this America was indicated, but there does not appear any groinid for this belief. Having offered these preliminary and j)reparatory ob- servations, we shall now proceed to the discoveries of the Portuguese. From the slight sketch which has aheady been given of the progress of geography and commerce, between the time of Ptolemy and the fifteenth century, it appears that the Portuguese had distinguislu.d themselves less, perhaps, than anyother European nation, in these pursuits; but, long before the beginning of the fifteenth century, circumstances had occurred, connected with their history, which were prejiaring the way for their maritime enterprizes. So early as the year 1250, the Portuguese had succeeded in driving the Moors out of their country; and, in order to prevent them from again % xAM*. .t ,mmmemmmm 334 Progress of Discoveiy CHAP. V. disturbing them, they in their turn invaded Fez and Morocco, and having concjuered Ceuta in HIS, fortified it, and several harbours near it, on the shores of the Atlantic. So zealous were the Portuguese in their entei'prizes against the Moors, that the ladies ot" Lisbon partook in the general enthusiasm, and refused to bestow their hand on any man who had not signalized his courage on the coast of Africa. The spirit of the nation was largely participated by Prince Henry, the fifth son of John L, king of Portugal, who took up his residence near Cape St. Vincent, in the year 1406. The sole pas- sion and object of his mind was to further the advancement ■of his country in navigation and discovery : his regard for religion led him to endeavour to destroy or diminish the j)ower of the Mahometans ; and his patriotism to acquire for Portugal that Indian commerce, which had enriched the maritime states of Italy. He sought every means and op- portunity by which he could increase or render more accurate his information respecting the western coast, and the interior of Africa : and it is probable that the relations of certain Jews and Arabs, respecting the gold mines of Guinea, xveighed strongly with him in the enterprizes which he planned, en- couraged, and accomplished. It is not true, however, that he was the inventor of the astrolobe and the compass, or the first that put these instru- ments into the hands of navigators, though he undoubtedly was an excellent mathematician, and procured the best charts and instruments of the age : the use and application of these, he taught in the best manner to those he selected to command his ships. With respect to the compass, we have already stated all that is certainly known respecting its earliest application to the purposes of navigation. The sea astrolobe, which is an instrument for taking the altitude of the sun, stars, &c., is described by Chaucer, in 1391, in a treatise on it, addressed to his little son, Louis ; and Purchas informs us, that it was formerly applied only to astronomical })urposes, but was ac- commodated to tlie use of seamen by Martin Behaim, at the command of John II., king of Portugal, about the year 1487. Al:>out the year 1418, when Prince Henry first began his plan of discovery. Cape Nun, in latitude 28° 40', was the limit of European knowledge on the coast of Africa. With this pai't of the coast, the Portuguese had become acquainted in consequence of their wars with the Moors of Barbary. CHAP. V. CHAP. V. to the Beginning of the 'Nineteenth Century, 33.5 Morocco, ind several So zealous the Moors, sntliusiasm, ho had not 'he spirit of ry, the fifth is residence e sole pas- dvancement regard for liminish the 3 acquire for ;nriched the [vns and op- lore accurate I the interior ■ certain Jews Ilea, xveighed planned, en- ventor of the ; these instru- ! undoubtedly le best charts tion of these, to command ;ady stated all application to ;, which is an stars, &c., is t, addressed to that it was ,, but was ac- iehainij at the he year 1487. irst began his " 40', was the Africa. With ►me acquainted s of Barbary. In 1418, two of Henry's commanders reached Cape Bovada in latitute 26° 30' ; but the Cape was not actually doubled till 1434. The Canary islands were visited during the same voyage that the Cape was discovered : Madeira was likewisu visited or discovered ; it was first called St. Laurence, after the saint of the day on which it was seen, and afterwards Madeira, on account of its woods. In 1420, the Portuguese set fire to these woods, and afterwards planted the sugar cane, which they brought from Sicily, and the vines which they brought from Cyprus. Saw mills were likewise erected on it. About the year 1432, Gonzalos was sent with two small vessels to the coast of Africa on new discoveries. In 1434, Cape Boyada was doubled: in 1442, the Portuguese had advanced as far as Rio-do-Ouro, under the tropic of Cancer. On the return of the ships from this voyage, the inhabitants of Lisbon first saw, with astonishment, negroes of a jet black complexion, and woolly hair, (juite different from the slaves which had been hitherto brought from Africa ; for, before this time, they had seized, and sold as slaves, the tawny Moors, which they met with on the coast of Africa. In the year 1442, however, some of these had been redeemed by their friends, in exchange for negroes and gold dust. This last article stimulated the avarice of the Portii<£iiese to greater exertions, than Prince Henrv had been able to excite, and an African company was immediately formed to obtain it, slaves, &c. ; but their commerce was exclusively confined to the coast of Africa, to the ^ _ ath of Sierra Leone. Dr. Vin- cent justly remarks, that Henry had stood alone for almost forty years, and had lie fallen before these few ounces of gold reached his country, the spirit of discovery might have pe- rished with him, and his designs might have been condenmed as the dreams of a visionary. The importation of this gold, and the establishment of the African company in Portugal, to continue the remark of the same author, is the primary date, to which we may refer that turn for adventure which sprung up in Europe, which pervaded all the ardent spirits in every country for the two succeeding centuries, and which never ceased till it had united the four quarters of the globe in commercial intercourse. In 1445, the Portuguese reached Senegal, where they first saw Pagan negroes: in 1448 and 1449, their discoveries ex- tended to Cape Verd. The islands of that name were dis- covered in 1 456. The exact extent of their discoveries from i 1 33G P)ugn:ss of Discuvcrij CHAP. V. U'* 1 this time till 1 IGS, when Prince Henry died, is not certainly known. Accoi'dino; to some, Cape Vtn'd, or llio drande, was the limit; according to others, one navigator reached as lar as the coast ot" (luinea, and Cape Mesanado : some extend the limit even as far south as the ecjuator. Assuming, how- ever, llio Grande as the limit of the discoveries made in I'rince Henry's time, Kio Cirande is in latitude 1 1 north, and the straits of Gibraltar in latitude 3G north ; the Por- tuguese had therefore advanced 25 degrees to the south ; that is l.'jOO geographical, or 1750 Britisii miles, which, witjj the circuit of the coast, may be estimated at 2000 miles. For nearly 20 years after the death of Prince Henry, little • progress was made by tiie Portuguese in advancing to the south. At the time of the death of Alonzo, in 1481, they liad passed the ecjuator, and readied Cape St. Catherine, in lati- tude S. 2° 30'. Tiie island of St. Thomas under the line, which was discovered in 1471, was immediately planted with sugar cane; and a fort, which was built the same year on the gold coast, enabled them Lo extend their knowledge of tliis part of Africa to a little distance inland. Portugal now began to reap the fruits of her discoveries : bees' wax, ostrich feathers, negro slaves, and particularly gold, were imported, on all of which the profits were so great, that John II., who succeeded Alonzo, immediately on his accession, sent out 12 ships to Guinea ; and in 1483, two other vessels were sent, which in the following year reached Congo, and penetrated to 22^ south. The river Zaire in this part of Africa was dis- covered, and many of the inhabitants of the country through which it flows embarked voluntarily for Portugal. Benin was discovered about the same time ; here they found a species of spice, which was imported in great quantities into Europe, and sold as pepper : it was, however, nothing else but grains of paradise. The inhabitants of Benin must have had con- siderable traffic far into the interior of Africa, for from them the Portuguese first received accounts of Abyssinia. By the discovery and conquest of Benin ;,nd Congo, the Portuguese traffic in slaves was much extended, but at the same time it took another character for a short time ; for the love of gold being stronger than the hope of gain they might derive from the sale of negroes, (for which, indeed, till the discovery of the West Indies there was little demand,) the Portuguese used to exchange the natives they captiired for gold with the Moors, till John II. put an end to this traffic, under the pre- tence that by means of it, the opportunity of converting (he lu^-, CllAl'. V. , certainly aiuU', wa^ hcil iis lav ne extend how- , made in 11 noidi, ; the Pol- south ; that 1, with the es. lenry, little cing to the n, they had ine, in lati- er the line, pUuited widi year on the ledge of this ortugal now wax, ostrich jre impovted, ohn II., wli" on, sent out els were sent, jd penetrated Ifrica was dis- >utrv through luga'l. Benin ,und a species into Europe, ,se but grauis luvve had con- fer tVoni them linia. By tl»e ic Portuguese same time it ^ love of gold [t derive from discovery of fe Portuguese [gold with the UidGr the pre- [onverting tlie I'HAP. V. h> the lir'nntiinii of Use Sim/voith CcN/nri/. '.VM r nctrroes \\:is lost, as (licv \\c\v tluis (Iclivered into tlie liands of Infidels. About eighty years after Prince I leiu'v began his discoveries, John I. sent out Diaz with tince ships: this was in I486, and in the i'ollowing year '^'ovilliain was sent by tlic same monarch in search of India, by the route «)f Egypt and the Red Sea. The king displayed great judgment in the sehiciion of both these persons. Diaz was of a lamily, several members of wiiicli had already signalized themselves by tlie discoveries on tlie coast of Africa. Mis mcftle of condiictino- the enter- prize on which he was sent, ])roved at once his confidence in himself, his couiage, and his skill ; after reaching '24^^ south latitude, 120 leagues beyoiul any former navigator, he stood I'ifjht out to sea. and never came witMn siiiht of the coast again, till he had readied 40 degrees to the eastward of the Cape, which, however, he was much too far out at sea to discover. He jiersevered in stretching still farther east, after he made land, till at length he reached the river Del Infante, six degrees to the eastward of the most southern jioint of Africa, and almost a degree beyoiul the Ca))e of (ukkI rio})e. lie then resolved to return, for what reason is not known ; and on his return, lie saw the Cape of Ciood Mo|)e, to which, on account of the storms he encountered on his passage round it, he gave the appellation of Cabo Tormentoso. John II., however, augured so well from the doubling of the extremity of Africa having been accomplished, that he changed its name into that of the Cape of Good Hope. As soon as John II. ascended the throne, he sent two friars and a layman to Jerusalem, with instructions to gain what- ever information they could respecting India and Prester John from the pilgrims who resorted to that city, and, if necessary, to proceed further to the east. As, however, none of this party understood Ai'abic, they were of little use, and in fact did not go beyond .lerusalem. In 1487, the king sent Covil- liam and Paayva on the same mission : the former had served in Africa as a soldier, and was intimately ac(|uainted with Arabic. In order to facilitate this enterprise, Covilham was entiusved with a maj), drawn up by two Jews, which most probably was a co})y of the ma)) of Mauro, of which we have alread}- spoken. ()n this map, a passage round the south of Africa was laid down as having been actually accomplished, and Covilham was directed to reach Abyssinia, if ])ossible ; and ascertain there or elsewhere, whether such a jjassage did z .*• <0Bk MMK :i,'}8 Proiffc'ss of Discuvei'i) CHAl'. V. lit li •II n i ) I i ivally exist. Covilham went from Naples to Alexandria, and thence to Cairo. At this city he t'orn'ied an ac(|uaiiitance with some merchants of Fez and liarbary, and in their company went to Aden. Here he embarked and visited (ioa, Calient, and other c-onnnercial cities of India, wliere he saw pepper and irinjrer, and heard of cloves and cinnamon. From India he returned to the east coast of Africa, down which he went as low rts >jolala, " the last residence of the Arabs, and the limit of their knowledj^e in that age, as it had been in the age of the Periplus." He visited the gold mines in the vicinity of this phice : and here he also leanit all the Arabs knew respecting the southern part ol' Africa, viz. that the sea was navigable to the south-west (and this indeed their coun- trymen believed, when the author of the Periplus visited them); but they knew not where the sea terminated. At Sofala also Covilham gained some information respecting the island of the Moon, or Madagascar, He returned to Cairo, by Zeila, Aden, and Tor. At Cairo, he sent an account of the intellijience to the kin on the history of this man, — wliom Alvarez, the almoner, describes still as a brave soldier and u devout Christian ; — when I reflect upon what nnist have been his sentiments on hearing the success of his countrynien, ip consc(jueiice of the thscovery to which he so essentially contributed. T/in/ were sovereigns of the ocean from the Cape of Good Hope to the straits of Malacca : lie was still a prisoner in a country of barbaritui.s." It might have been supposed, that after it had been uscer- taiuetl by Diaz that the southern promontory of Africa could l>e doubled, luid by Covilham, that this was the only diificulty to a passage by sea to India, the court of Portugal would have lost no time in prosecuting their discoveries, and com- pleting the grand object they had hiul in view for nearly a century : this, however, was not the case. Ten years, and another reign, and great debates Iji the council of J'ortugal were requisite before it was resolved that the attempt to pro- secute the discovery of Diaz to its completion was expedient, or could be of any advtuitage to the nation at large. At last, when Emanuel, who was their sovereign, had determined on pnxsecuting the discovery of India, hi*' choice of a person to conduct the enter})rise fell on Giuna. As he hail armorial bearings, Ave may justly suppose that he was of a good family ; and in all respects he appears to have been well (jualifted for the grand enterprise to which he was called,, and to have re- solved, from a sense of religion ami loyalty, tO have devoted himself to death, if he should not succeed. Diaz was appointed to a command under him, but he had not the satisfaction of witnessing the results of his own discovery; for lip returned when the fleet had reached St. Jago, was employed in a secondary command imder Cabral, in the expedition in which Brazil was discovered, and in his passage from that country to the Cajje, four ships, one of which he commanded, ))t rished with all on board. As soon as the fleet which Gama was to take with him was ready for sea, the king, attended by all his court, and a great body of the jjeople, formed a solemn procession to the shore, where they were to embark, and Gama assumed the com- mand, under the auspices of the most imposing religious cere- monies. Nearly all who witnessed his emi^arkation I'esarded him and those who accompanied him " rather as devoted to destruction, than as sent to the acquisition of renown." The fleet which was destined to accomplish one of the z 2 340 Pr our ess of Dlscovet-u CHAP. V. Mi objects (the discoverv of America is the otlier) — which, as Dr. Robertson remarks, "finally estabhshed tliose cominerciul ideas and arrangements wjjich constitnte the chief distinction between the iDaimers and policy of ancient and modern times," — consisted only of three small ships, and a victualler, manned with no more than 16'0 souls : the principal officers were Vusco de Gania, and Paul his brother : Diaz and Diego Diaz, his brother, who acted as purser: and Pedro Alanquer, who had been pilot to Diaz. Diaz was to accompany them only to a certain latitude. They sailed from J^isbon on the 18th of July, lA^Ol : in the bay of St. I lelena, wliich they reached oii the 4th of November, they found natives, who were not understood by any of the negro interpreters they hatl on board. I'Voin the description of the })eculiarity in their mode of utterance, which the journal of the voyage calls sighing, and from the circum- stance that the same people were found in the bay of St. Bias, 60 leagues beyond the Cape, there can be no doubt that they ..ere Hottentots. \v conse([uence of the ignorance or the obstinacy of the })il .L, and of tempestuous weather, the voy; ge to the Cape was long and dnngerous : this promontory, however, was doubled on the 20th of November. After this the wind and weather proving favourable, the voyage was more prosper* ous and ra})id. On the 11th of Jan uarv. 14 98, they reached that part of the coast where the natives were no longer Hottentots, but Caffres, who at that })eriod dis])layed the same marks of superior civilization by which they are distinguished from the Ilottentots at present. From the bay of St. Helena till they ])as.sed Cape Corrien- tes, there had been no trace of navigation, — no symptom that the natives used tlie sea at all. J^ut after they pas.sed this cape, they were visited by the natives in boats, the sails of which seem to have l)een mat'e of the fibres of the cocoa- palm. A nnich nioie encouraging circun.stance, however, occurred : some of the natives that came off in these boats were clothed in cotton, silk, and suttin, — evident prools that intercom'se, either direct or indirect, was j)racticable, and had in iiict been held between this country and India. The lan- guage of these people was not understood : but from their signs ii was inferred that they had .seen ships as large as the Portiiguese, and that tluy had come i'rom the north. 'I'his part of Africa lies between latitudes 19° and 18' south ; and as (iama had the corrected chart of CoviIh:un on board. CHAP. V. A\\ch, as nimerciiil lislinctiou I niodern victualler, )al officers and l^iego Alanquer, pany them , U97: in^ tlie 4-tb of ^^erstood by From the ance, which the circum- I of St. Bias, ibt that they ance or the ,.. the vov: ge promontory, ,.. After this voyat2;e ^vas mniiVy, l+9S» itives were no •iod displayed lifh they are L'ape Corncn- no symptom ,. thev \)assed icnits, "the sails of the cocoa- ,Ko, however, n these boats .Mit prools that cable, and had Ua. TheUm- ,ut from then- as larjrc as the noith. and 1H' south; h;\m on board, CHAP. V. /u ///(• /ii\i!;/ii/iinromiuidel and •ly at ml ec^ual iKlia, rendered by possessing lips must pass had the mo- |)mmerc.e com- :onquefit of the CHAP. V. t(> the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century. fj+S Mohiccas ; and by achieving this, secured the monopoly of spices. Their attempt to open a comnuuiication and trade with China, which was matle about the same time, was not then sue Jul r but by j^erseverance they succeeded in their object, a.iv.1 before the middle of the sixteenth century, ex- changed, at the island of Sitnclan, the spices of the Moluccas, and the precious stones and ivory of Ceylon, t()r the silks, por- celain, drugs, and tea of China. ISoon aftei'wards the emperor of China allowed them to occupy the island of Macao. In 15+2 they succeeded in forming a commercial intercourse with Japan, trailing with it for gold, silver and copper; this trade, however, was never extensive, and it ceased altogether in 1638, when they wei'e driven from the .lapanese territories. As the conunodities of Iiulia could not he purchased except with large (piantities of gold, the Portuguese, in order to ob- tain it, as well us tor other connnercial advantages, prosecuted their discoveries^ on the east of Africa, at the same time that they were extending their power and conmierce in India. C)u the east of Africa, between Sofala and the Red ISea, Arabian colonies had beesi settled ibr many centuries : these the Portu- guese navigators visited, anti gradually reduced to tribute ; aiul the remains of the empire they established at this period, may still be traced in the few and feeble settlements they possess between Sofala smd Melintla. In 1506 they visited and exploretl the island of Madagascar; in 1513, by the ex- })ulsion of the Arabs from Aden, the Red Sea was opened to their ships ; and they quickly examined its shores and harbours, and made themselves ac(]uainted with, its tedious and dangerous navigation. In 1520 they visited the ports of Abyssinia, but their ambition and the security of their conunerce were not yet conijiletely attained ; the Persian Gulf, as well Jis the Red Sea, was explored ; stations were fonned on the coasts of both : and thus they were enabled to obstruct the juicient commercial intercourse between Egypt and India, and to conmiand the entrance of those rivers, by which Indian gmxls were conveyed not only through the iiUerior of Asia, but also to Constanti- nople. 13y the conquest of Ormus, the Portuguese mo- nopolised that extensive trade to the J^iist, which had been in the hands of the Persians for several centuries. " In the hands of the Portuguese this island soon became the great n)arl from which the Persian empire, and all the pro- vinces of Asia to the west .ii' il, were supplied with the pro- ductions of India: and a city which they built on that Imrieu "z -1. ■> A 3H Progress of Disro-yrjj ("HAP. V. i.slaiul, destitute of water, was leiuler'xl one oF the chief seats of opulence, splendour, and luxury in the eastern world." The Venetians, who I'oresaw the ruin of their oriental coni- merce in the success of the l'ortu<^uese, in vain endeavoured to stop the prt)nress of their rivals in the middle of the six- teenth centiM'v : the latter, masters of (he east coast of Africa, of the coasts of Arabia and l*ersia, of the two peninsulas of India, (;f the Molucca islantis, and of the tratle to China and Japan, supj)lied every part of Kuroi)e with the ))r()ductions of the east, by the Cape of (iood Mope ; nor was their power and connnerce subverted, till Porturess of the I'or(u<>uese connnerce in the East, any notice of the smaller discoveries which they made at the same time. These, however, it will be proper. to advert to before we proceed to another subject. In tjje year 1512, a Portuguese navie, and the cowries, which circulated as monev from I}enly barely discovered. iSunuitra was ex- amined with great care, anil from it they exported tin, pepper, sandal, camphire. &c. In 1513, they arrived at Borneo: of it, however, they saw ai"l learned little, except that it also produceil camphire. In he same year they had made them- selves well acquainted with Java; here they obtained rice. (MIAP. V. CHAP. V. to fill- Iicginnint of the southern Phi- li})pines. Tiie fourth archipelago was formed of the Banda isle, Amboyna, &c. ; the largest of these were discovered by the PortU!>-uese in the year f511 : fro. ; Amboyna they drew their supplies of cloves. The Portuguese knew little of the fifth archipelago, be- cause the inhabitants were ignorant of conmierce, and totally savaye and uncultivateil. l''rom the description ;eogra})hy and conuTierce, and which mainly contributed to raise Europe to its present high rank in know- ledge, civilization, wealth, and power,) we must now turn to tiie discovery of America, the second grand cause in the pro- duction of the same effects. For the discovery of the new world we are indebted to Columbus. This celebrated ])erson was extremely well (jua- lified for enterprizes that retjuired a combination of foresight, comprehension, decision, perseverance, and skill. From his earliest youth he had been accustomed to regard tiie sea as his peculiar and hereditary elemenl ; for the family, from which he was descended, had been navigatoi's for many ages. And though, from all that is known respecting them, this line of life had not been attended with much success or emolu- ment, yet Columbus's zeal was not thereby damped ; anil his parents, still anxious that their son should pursue the same line which his ancestors had done, strained every nerve to iiive him a suitable education. He was accordintrlv tau«jht geometry, astronomy, geography, and drawing. As soon as )»is time of life and his education ({ualified him ibr the busuiess he had chosen, he went to sea ; he was then fourteen years old. His first voyages were from Genoa, of which city he was a native, to different ports in the Mediterranean, with which this republic traded. His ambition, however, was not long to be confined to seas so well known. Scarcely had he attained the age of twenty, when he sailed into the Atlantic ; iuid steering to the north, ran along the coast of Iceland, and, according to his own journal, penetrated within the ai'ctic cir- cle. In another voyage he sailed as i'ar south as the Portu- guese fort of St. George del Mina, under the equator, on the coast of Africa. On his return from this voyage, he seems to have engaged in a piratical warfare with the Venetians and Turks, who, at this period, disputed with the- Genoese the sovereignty and commerce of the Mediterranean; and in this warfare he was greatly distinguished for enterprize, as well as for cool and undaunted courage. At this period he was attracted to Lisbon by the fame which Pruice Heiny had acquired, on account of the encou- ragement he afforded to maritime discovery. In this city he married the daughter of a person who had 1 eeii employed in the earlier navigations of the prince ; and from his lafhrr-iu- ■»1 CHAP. V, 1 by Prince irit, (results liicli mainly ik in know- low turn to in the pro- indebted to ly well <]ua- :)t' foresight, From his (1 the sea as lunily, from • many ages, icm, this line s or eniolu- )cd ; and his ue the same ery nerve to iinirly taught As soon as the bushiess urtcen years vhich city he ranean, with iver, was not ircely had he tlie Atlantic ; Iceland, and, le arctic cir- s the Portu- uator, on the , he seems to enetians and Genoese the ; and in this ;e, as well as by the lame )t' the encou- this city he employed in lis iiither-in- CHAP. V. to the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century. 34-7 law he is said to have obtained possession of a number of journals, sea charts, and other valuable papers. As he had ascertained that the object of the Portuguese was to reach India by the southern part of Africa, he concluded, that, un- less he could devise or suggest some other route, little atten- tion would be paid to him. Tie, therefore, turned his thoughts to the j)racticability of reaching India by sailing to the west. At this time the rotundity of the earth was gene- rally admitted. The ancients, whose o})inions on the extent and direction of the countries which formed the terrestrial globe, still retained their hold on the minds even of scientific nen, had believed that the ocean encompassed the M'hole earth; the natural and unavoidable conclusion was, that by sailing to the west, India would be reached. An error of Ptolemy's, to which we have already adverted, contributed to the belief that this voyage could not be very long ; for, ac- cording to that geographer, (and his authority was implicitly acceded to,) the space to be sailed over was sixty degrees less than it actually proved to be, — a space ecjual to three-fourths of the Pacific Ocean. From considering Marco Polo's ac- count of his travels in the east of Asia, Columbus also derived great encouragement ; for, according to him, Cathay and Zepango stretched out to a great extent in an easterly direc- tion ; of course they must approach so much the more to- wards the west of Europe. It is probable, also, that Colum- bus flattered himselt^ that if he tlid not reach India by a western course, he would, perhaps, discover the Atlantis, which was placed by Plato and Aristotle in the ocean, to the west of Europe. Columbus, however, did not trust entirely to his own prac- tical knowledge of navigation, or to the arguments he drew from a scientific acquaintance with cosmography : he heard the reports of skilful and experienced pilots, and corresj)onded with several men of science. He is said, in a particular maimer to have been confirmed in his belief that India might be reached by sailinjT to the west, by the communications which he had with Paul, a physician of Florence, a man well known at this ])eriod for his accjuaintance with geometry and cosmography, and who had paid particular attention to the discoveries of the Portuguese. He stated several facts, and offered several in- genious conjectures, and moreover, sent a chart to Columbus, on which he pointed out tiie course which he thought would lead to the desired object. 348 Progress of Discoxrn/ VAIW. V. I 'ffll As Colinnbiis was at the oiirt of Lisbon, when he had resolved to undertake his great enterprise, and, in fact, re- j^arded himself as in some deiiree a PortiUL^nesc subject, he naiurally applied in the first instance to Joim- II., recjuesting that monarch to let him have some ships to carry him to Marco Polo's island of Zepango or Japan. The kinif referred him to the Bisho)) of Ceiita and his two physicians; but they hav- ing no faith in the existence of tliis island, rejected tlie ser- vices of Columbus. ]'\)r seven years afterwards he solicited the court of Spain \a send him out, while, during the same pe- riod, hi- br.)ll)f r, ijartholomew, was soliciting the court of Englai '^1'.' latter was unsuccessful, but Columbus himself at lengti -ersu led Isabella to grant 40,000 crowns for the service ot he ex| ■■tion. He accordingly sailed \\o\\\ Palos, in Andalusia, on the 3d of August, 1492; and in tiiirty-three days landed on one of the Bahamas. He had already sailed nine hundred and fifty leagues west from the Canaries : after touching at the Bahamas, he continued his course to the west, and at length discovered the island of Cuba. He went no farther on this voyage; but on his return liome, he discovered Hisjjaniola. The variation qf the compass was first observed in this voyage. In a second voyage, in 14-9'2, Columbus dis- covered Jamaica, and in a third, in 14D4, he visited Trinidad and the continent of America, near the mouth of the Orinoco. In 1502, he made a fourth and last voyage, in which he ex- plored some })art of the shores of the Gulph of Mexico. The ungrateful return he met witli from his country is well known: worn out with fatigue, disappcMntment, and sorrow, he died at Valladolid, on the 20th of May, 1506, in the fifty-niiuh year of his age. In the mean time, the completion of the discovery of America w;is rapidly advancing. In 1499, Ogeda, one of Columbus's co-n})anions, sailed for the new workl : he was accompanied by Amerigo Vespucci: little was disccnered on the voyage, except some part of the coast of Cluana and Terra Firma. But Amerigo, having, on his return to Spain, published the first account of the New VVorld, the whole of this extensive quarter of the globe was. called after him. Some audiors, however, contend that Amerigo visited the coasts of Guiana and Terra Firma before C(;luml)us ; the more probable account is, that he examined them more carefully two years after their discovery by Columbus. v\merigo was treated by the court of Spain with aii little attention and giatitiidc us 11, when lie hail ncl, in fact, re- iicsic subjecl, he L- II., requestinfT •ry him to Marco wjr referred him s; but they i»av- rejected the ser- k-ards he solicited •ing the same pe-^ ing the court of olumbus himself )0 crowns for the ;ailed from Palos, nd in thirty-three lad already sailed le Canaries : alter course to the west, ba. lie went no me, he discovered was first observed i<2, Columbus dis- e visited Trinidad th of the Orinoco, hi which he ex- of Mexico. The itry is wt'U known : d sorrow, he died in the fifty-nintii the discovery ot 9, Ogeda, one of iw world: he was e was discovered last of Ciuana and is return to iSjiain. 'orld, the whole of ;d after him. Some •isiteil the coasts of the more probable carefully two years •ioo was treated by x'lmd gratitude as ^*, cn.AP. V. tu the lic;j,iitniii;^ (>) Ihc Siiwlccnlh Ciii/iaij. 31^) Columbus had been : lie therefore ofl'ercd his services to Por- tu Tiujia: on his voyage thither, a tempest drove him so far to the west, that lie reached the shores of America. He called it the Lantl of the I loly Cross ; but it was afterwards called Hra/il, from the quantity of red wood of that name found ox\ it. For some time alter the discovery of America it was supjiosed to be part of India: and hence, the name of the \\'est Indies, still retained by the islands in the (lulph of Mexico, was given to all those countries. There were, how- ever, circumstances which soon led the discoverers to doul ' of the truth of the first conceived opinion. The Portuguese ..ul visited no part of Asia, either continent or island, from tlu coast of iNIalabar to China, on which they had not loun. :ia- tives highly civilized, who had made considerable j)rogress in the elegant as well as the useful arts of life, and who were vi- dently accustomed to intercourse with strangers, and aciuiainted with commerce. In all these respects, the New \Vor\ 'brmcd a striking contrast': the islands were inhabited by savages, naked, unae(]uainted with the rudest arts of life, and iiulebted tor their sustenance to the spontaneous productions of a fertik; soil and a fine climate. The continent, l()r the most part, ])re- sented immense forests, and with the exception of Mexico and Peru, was thinly inhabited by savages as ignorant and low in the scale of human nature as those who dwelt on the islands. The natural productions and the animals differed also most essentially from those, not only of India, but also of Europe. There were no lemons, oranges, pomegranates, (juinces, figs, olives, melons, vines, nor sugar canes : neither aj)ples, j)cars, plumbs, cherries, currants, gooseberries, rice, nor any other corn but maize. There was no poultry (except turkeys), oxen, sheep, goats, swine, horses, asses, camels, elephants, cats, nor dogs, except an animal resembling a dog, but which did not bark. Even the inhabitants of Mexico and Peru were unac- (|uainted with iron and the other useful metals, and destitute of the atldress re{|uisitc i'or acquiring such command of the in- ferior animals, as to derive any consid«M'able aitl from their labour. In addition to these most mai'ked and decided points of dif- ference between India and the newly discovered quarter of the 350 PiVi^reas of Discovtri/ CM AT. V. r ' .' a (f' globe, it was iialiirally interred that a roast exttiulirifi;, as Ame- rica was soon ascertained to do, many hundred miles to the northward and to the southward of the e(|uator, could not pos- sibly be that of the Indies. At last, in the year l.'Jl.S, a view of the Grand Ocean having been attained from the mountains of Darien, the supposition that the New World fornied part of India was abandoned. To this ocean the name of the South Sea was given. In the mean ti"ie, the Portuguese had visited nl! the islands of the Malay Arcnipelago, as far as the Moluccas. Portugal had receiveil from the Pope a grant of all the countries slie miglit discover : the Spaniards, after the third voyage of Co- lumbus, obtained a similar grant. As, however, it was neces- sary to draw a line between those grants, the Pope fixed on 21^^ west of the meridian of the island of Ferro. The sove- reigns, for their mutual benefit, allowed it to 370 leagues west of the Cape Verd islands: all the countries to the east of this line were to belong to Portugal, and all those to the west of it to Spain. According to this line of demarcation, supposing the globe to be ecjually divided between the two powers, it is plain tliat the Moluccas were situated within the hemis))hfcre which belonged to Spain. Portugal, however, would not yield them uj), contending that she was entitled to the sovereignty of all the countries she could discover by sailing eastward. This dispute gave rise to the first circumnavigation of the globe, and the first practical proof that India could be reached by sailing westward from Europe, as well as to other results of llie greatest importance to geography and commerce. ■ During the discussions which this miexpected and em- barrassing difliculty })roduced, Francis Magellan came to the court of Si)ain, to offer his services as a navigator, suggesting a mode by which he maintained that court would be able to decide the question in its own favour. Magellan had served under Albucjucrque, and had visited the Moluccas : antl he l)roposed, if the Spanish monarch would give him ships, to .sail to these islands by a westerly course, which would, even according to the Portuguese, establish the Spanish right to their possession. The emperor Charles, who was at this period king of Spain, joyfully embraced the proposal, although a short time previous, Solis, who had sailed in quest of a westerly passage to India, had, after discovering the Rio de la Plata, perished in the attempt. It is maintained by some authors that Magellan's confidence iu the success of his own plan arose from the information he CHAV. V. .a niUes to the ., couUliiotpos- ^ the wounttuns •Ul fonued pn>;^ ,me of the South ed f^U the isUinds ccas. Portugal the countries she (l voyage ot ^o- ■ver, it was ueces- ,e Pope fixed on rerro. The sove- , 370 leagues west to the east of this to the west ot It to Lion, suppo^!"g IZ , powers, it »s y)lam . hemisphere which [ouldnotyiehHhem e sovereignty o a „v eastward. 1"»^ aTion of the globe, ndd be reached by ; to other results ol commerce, nexpected and em- lugcUan came to tne navigator, f ggf/'"g ,n vvould be able to Vlagellan had served e Moluccas : and He a aive him ships, to ie, vvhich would, even Spanish right to their ,o was at this period proposal, although a a in quest of a westerly ^hellio de la Plata, Magellan's confidence 3m The information he <:hap. V. to the Jicginnitig of llw Nineteenth Century. a.'jl received from u cliarl (h'awii up hy Martin liehaiiu, in which the straits tli'it were afterwards explored by Miigclhui, and named after uini, were hiid down; anil that he carried the information lie derived from it to Spair., and by means of it obtained the protection of Caixhnal Ximenes, and the com- mand of the fleet, with which he was tlie iiiat to circinmiavigato tl le woi id. As this is a point which lias been a good deal discussed, and as il. is of importance, not only to the liinie of Magellan, but to a right uiulerstaiuling of the actual state of geographical know- ledge, with respect to the New World, at this era, it may be pro|)er briefly to consider it. The claim of Hehaim rests entirely on a passage in Pigafet- ta's journal of the voyage of Magellan, in which it is stated that Maiiellan, as skilful as he was conraijeous, knew that he was to seek for a passage through an obscure strait: this strait lie had seen laid down in a chart of Martin IJehaim, a most excellent cosmograplier, which was in the possession of the king of Portugal. In describing the nature of the majis and charts which, iluring the whole of the middle ages, were drawn up, we observed that it was very usual to insert countries, &c. which were merely supposed to exist. The (juestion, therefore, is — allowing that a strait was laid down in a chart drawn np by Behaim, whether it was a conjectural strait or one laid down irom good authority ? That Behaim himself did not discover such a strait will be evident from the followino- cir- cumstanccs: in the Nuremberg globe, lormed by Behaim, it does not appear; there is nothing between the Azores and Japan, except the fabulous islands of Aulitia and St. Bran- don ; no mention of it is made in the archives of that city or in his numerous letters, which are still preserved. The date of the Nuremberg globe is 1492, the very year iu which Columbus first reached the West Indies : Behaim therefore cannot be supposed to have contributed to this discovery. It is said, however, that he made a long voy- age in 1483 and 1 184 : but this voyage was in an easterly ilirection, for it is expressly stated to have been to Ethiopia; probably to Congo, and the cargo he brought home, wliich consisted of an inferior kind of pepper, proves that he had not visited America. Besides, if he had visited any part of Ame- rica in 1483 or 1484, he would have laid it down in his globe in 1492, whereas, as we have remarked, no country appears on it to the west of St. Brandon. We may, therefore, safely ^ I ii 3-)'J Piv<^irss ()f' JJ/srovcn/ (JIAf. V. 'Ji' / concliMlc tliiit Ik; (lid not liinisill' discover iiiiy p!i"sn«(0 roiiiid the south point of iVmcrica. IJut all the other ;j;ri'at diseoverii's of tlic I'ortiiyiK'sc and .Spaniards (except tliat of Diaz in 1 tSO) were made hetweeii 1492, the date of the Xin-enilx njr (Hohe, and ir>()(i, the dale ol' the death ol' Hehaini, and between these periods, he constantly resided at Fayai. It is nuieh more probable that he inserted this strait in his chart on supposition, tliinkin Ibuna it n^ Uxti- l to lit Uh' iistro- ,.re round South l,'7 chvvv, ^vU\. an .^l,nve ships: he Vis uauAo, on ^^'^^ f slor>n^, ana Uh_ MU liU the ;2Bth oi IV no lunch In • nolhev in 9 south. action, he arrive a a Luscoutmueathu Iccu ishuuls. 1 K^c tu t\u>v ohtmnea u t ^vlnch ll^ey had I Gooa llo\>e, ml L oue ship reiurnea, %reserveaasamo- ^^ruativccouutn, to (ind tlial they liad ^ainicl a day in tlicir icekoniuu; — a pioof ol ih .' scanty knowledge at lliat tiine possessed, res|)ectinjj; oni* olthe plainest and most (.hvions rcsidts ol'tlie diurnal motion oi'tiie earth. Tlie voya;o in 1051 days: the next cir- ciujniavigator sailed ronnd (he spheres: his stnilies, as well as his business as a niercliaiit, induced him to feel nmch interest in the discoveries which were at that pe- riod makinfi;, Ileseemsto have applied to Henry \'ll. ; who iicconlinirly empowered him to sail from Kn^land under the royal flag, to make discoveries in the east, the west, and the north, suul to take }K)ssession of countries inhabited by Pagans, and not previously discovered by other l^uro})ean nations. The king gave him two shi|)s, and the merchants of Hristol three or lour small vessels, loaded with coarse cloth, caps, and other small goods. The doubt respecting the j)recise date of this vovaije seems to receive the most satisfactory solution from the following contemj)orary testimony of Alderman labian, who says, in his Chru)iiclc of Kii^^land and France, that Cabot sailed in the beginning of May, in the mayoralty of John Tate, that is, in 11-97, and returned in the subse(|uent mayoralty of William Purchase, bringing with him three Av/mv/^ffi' from New- foundland. This fixes the date of this voyage: the course he steered, and he limits of his voyage, are however liable to un- certainty. 1j hin)self informs us, that he reached only 5G" north latitude, and that the coast of America, at that part, windeil to the east: but there is no coast of North America A A I f ij J If 11 1 l( Progress of Discovcrij CHAP. V. • From tl»is land »« ^'"^ ,, . .u^ long tude ot Cuba, » „„d „ new route t;.ta f,,„,.,, ..M 'l-'^^^vto'^iL.a.ex. ""' "" r T^'thisl^ F-'-«' '!•'- «Se°r' As .e"la- to i)t\ter ac- .\s U the coast t\,ese accounts t reach iavther veved- To tl.s ..vudBacca^o-^' svfoundlancl stiU la small island t till he veacbed fCuba;inh'^« d nearly as iav as lllged him to re- , Spain had made „..t of America, jw part oi i^' iniafjined a passiu, J A to exp ore vt ^ u..ue the impov- [Hudson's »tuni, u mm ,v Mendow, sc'it p :nhe coast as iav as .. ^ Wed farther than 36 dc CHAP. V. fo the Begiwmig of the Nineteefith Ce}itufy. 355 "j^rees. The Spanish court itself" now uiulertook the en- terprize ; and in the year 15V2, Cahrillo, a Portuguese in the service of that court, sailed from Spain. He went no far- ther than to 44 degrees north latitude, where he found it A-ery cold. He coasted the countries which at present are calletl New California, as far as Cape Blanco : he discovered, like- wise, Cape Mendocino ; and ascertained, that from this place to the harbour De la Nadividad, the land continued without the intervention of any strait. In 1582, Gualle was directed by the king of tSpaiji to examine if there was a passage to the east and north-east of Japan, tliat connected the sea of Asia with the South Sea. He accordingly steered from Japan to the E. N. E. about 300 leagues : here he found the current setting from the north and north-west, till he had sailed above 700 leagues, when he reckoned he was only 200 leagues from the coast of California. In this voyage he discovered those parts of the north-west coast of America which are called New Georgia and New Cornwall. At the beginning of the seven- teenth century, the Spaniards, alarmed at the achievements of Sir Francis Drake on this.part of America, and still anxious to discover, if possible, the Straits of Anian, sent out Sebastian Viscaino from Acapulco : he examined the coasts as far as Cape Mendocino, and discovered the harbour of Mon- tery. One of his ships reached the latitude of 43 degrees, where the mouth of a strait, or a large river, was said to have been discovereil. The expedition of Sir Francis Drake, though expressly under- taken for the purpose of distressing the Spaniards in their new settlements, must be noticed here, on account of its having contributed also, in some degree, to the geographical know- ledge of the north-west coast of America. He sailed from Plymouth on the 15th Novemberj 1577, with five vessels, (the largest only 10(. h)ns, and the smallest 15,) and 164 men. On the 20th of Aug'ist, 1578, he entered the Strait of Magel- lan, which he cleared on the (jth of September : " a most extra- ortlinary short passage," observes Captain Tuckey, " for no navigator since, though aided by the in\mense improvements in navigation, has been able to accomplish it in less than 36 days." After coasting the whole of South America to the ex- tremity of Mexico, he resolved to seek a northern passage into the Atlantic. With this intention, he sailed along the coast, to which, from its white cliffs, he gave the name of New Albion. When he arrived, however, at Cape Blanco, the cold was so A A 2 ■ <(■ i Pro^m^ of i^^'''''''^ cu.vr. V. 356 ' L' ,vchin^;,u latitude. I ^ is .^^^^^^^^ j^^^^.,,^ n me ^^ ^^^ /;;::;"' Towards tbe end ^J^^^, ,,,.n to ^>rnied any J^^>;,enteenlb ce'^V^^:;,u AnuM^cu. Virgnna Ue.vinning ot die sc ,ts ot Noit»» ' ,-\^, this name .vas examined b; ^„, ,vtncb tbe L- V ^^^^^^^ ^^, j,^,,, .VIS .nvLn to all t\.e ^.^^^^i Lai on states Oenerat oi CllAV- V. cilAP. V. to the lieginning of the Niiirtrr/if/i Cciitin-i/. 357 the ovu^^^>^^ • DraWe, ^»'^: ,\nvou be IS , vbcNVCSievn ,\wva^ -'^^'^ ,covcv\es made ,, CovnNVuU NN^^** t\.e coasts of tUe hose of Vi^'^-"^% r."''' 'throe of tl^ose viAma, St-- ,vivucv\\av\y nuu-y vvf V' -n»e euuclScboulU; ^^^a-u. VoVAAici' ail Coinpanv, in order to .secure to it the inono})oly of liie Indian trade, proliihited all imlividuals from navi; to the Indian Ocean, cither round the Cape of Ciood I lope or throuirh the kStraits of Ma^rellar. It was therefore an object of j|;reat import- ance to discover, il" jjracticable, any passage to India, which would enable the Dutch, without incurring the penalties of the law, to reach India. This idea was first suggested by La Maire, a mci'chant of Amsterdam, and William Schouten, a merchant of Horn. They had also another object in view: in all the maps of the world of the sixteenth century, a great M)uthern continent is laid (!t)\vn. In l()()(i, Quiros, a Spanish navigator, had searched in vain for this continent ; and La Maire and Schouten, in their voyage, resolved to look for ir, as Mcli as tor a new ])assage to India. In 161,3 they sailed from Holland with two shi})s : they coasteii Patagonia, dis- covered the strait whicli bears the name of La Alaire, and ^taten Island, which joiiis it on the east On the ;Mst of January next vear, thev doubled the southern iioint of America, having sailed almost into the sixtieth degree of .south latitude; this point tl;ev named Cai)e I lorn, afler the town of which Schouten was a native. From this ca])e they steered riuht across the great southern ocean to the north- west. In their course they discovered several small islands; but (inding no trace of a continent, they gave up the search ibr it, and steering to the south, ])as^etl to the east of the Papua Archi])elago. Theythenchangedtheircour.se to the west; discovered the east coast of the island, afterwards called New Zeahuul, as well as the north side of New Guinea, They afterwarils reached Patavia, where they were seized by the president of the Dutch East India Company. This voyage \vas important, as it com})letod the navigation of the coast of South America from the Strait i>f Magellan to Ca[)e Horn, and ascertained tiiat the two great oceans, the Pacific and the Atlantic, Joined each other to thn south of America, by a great austral sea. This .)yage added also considerably to maritime geography, " though many oi" the islands in the Pacific thus discovered have, from the errors in their estimated longitudes, been claimed as new discoveries by more recent navigators." In the year IG'2'3, tl'e Dutch found a shorter passage into the Pacific, by the Straits of Nassau, north-west of La Maire's Strait; and another still shorter, by Brewer's Straits, in the year Kil:;. The success of the Portuguese and Spaniards in their dis-* A A '^ S/nr~T r.-JTrTi 358 Progtcss of DiscovtTi/ CMAP. V, Ft f-'-j I 1^ I coveriPs ota passage to India by the Cape of Good Hope, and of America, induced, as we have seen, the (rther imiritfinc nations to turn their attention to navigation and conu7^ercu. Av however, the riches derived from the East India commerce were certain, and the commodities which supplied them had long been in regular demand in Europe, the attempts to discover new routes to India raised greater energies dian tJiose whicli were made to complete the discovery of America. In fact, as we have seen, the east coast, both of South and Nortli America, in all probability would not have been visited so frequently, or so soon and carefully examined, had it not been with the hope of finding some passage to Indui in that direction. Rut it was also supposed, that a passage to India might be made by sailing round the north of Europe to the east. Hence arose the fre- (juent attempts to find out what are called the north-west and north-east j)assages; the most important of w'-uch, that were made during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, we shall now proceed to notice. We have already mentioned the earliest attempts to find out the Straits of Anian ; the idea that they existed on the north- west coast of America seems to have been abandoned for soi)u* time, unless we suppose, that a voyage undertaioeii by tlic, French in 153.) had for its object the discovery of th' se straits: it is undoubted, that one of the objects of 'his voyage was to find a passage to India. In this voyage, the river at. Lawrence was examined as far as Montreal. In 1536, the English in vain endeavoured to find a north-west passage to India. 'I'he result of this voyage was, however, iinp«»r;i(iit in one resi)ect; as it gave rise to the very beneficial fisrserv of the English on the b:uiks ;of Newfoundland. The French had already engaged in this ^y^cry. In 1576, the idea of a norii. > ast jiassage having been rev vived in England, I'robisher v. .s ^ent ui search of it, with two barks of twenty-five tons each, and one pinnace of ten tons. Me entered the strait, leading into what wiis afterwards called Hudson's Bay : this strait he named ailer himself. He dis- covered the southern coast of Greenland ; and picking up there some stone or ore which resembled gold, Jie returned to lOngland. 'Hie London goldsmiths having examined this, they reported tliat it contained a large jiroportion of gold. This induceil the Jlussian Company to send him out a second time, in 1577; but during this voyage, and a third ia 157«, no discoveries of coniiequeuce were made. In the years I.' » lope, jr*'3 uei-ce were , h^A Ion}; to cVvscovey tltose whtcU In fact, as rth America* -enuetitiy, or ;ith t\ie hope But it was .aebysaiVmg arose the \re- orth-west an.^- , of 'his voyage +'u.^ viver r'h.i^6,thc -west pa^-'^S^ ^^» ,er, impV''"' rf ^eficiul lisnery <^ ^\. The Irene h \vaving i^e^n re- chofit,>vvthtwo ,nace of ten tons. 'Uerwards called c\ picking nptheie ' *he returned to ;. exmnined tins loportiou ot gold. 'send l^^"\^^" :f, Jo-e, and a thn'd u. Ta'. In the years I i k H.u'. V. to the Beginnings of the Nineteenth Cenlunj. ;;59 1585, 86, and 87, Caj)taiii Davis, who was in the service of an English company <^t' .idventureis, made three voyages in search of a north-west passage. In the first he proceded as far north as sixty-six degrees forty minutes, visited the south- west coast of Greenland, and gave his own name to the straits that separate it from America. At tin?, time the use of a kind of harpoon was known, by which they were enabled to kill porpoises; but though they saw many whales, they knew not the right maimer of killing them. In his second voyage an unsuccessful atte;n})t was luade to penetrate between Iceland and Greenland, but tlie ships were unable to penetrate beyond sixty-seven degrees north latitude. The west coast of Green- land was examined ; but not being able to sail along its north coast, he stretched across to America, which he examined to latitude fifty-four. In his last voyage, Davis reached the west coast of Greenland, as tar as latitude seventy-two. All his endeavours, however, to find a nortli-west passage were inefiectual. In 1607, Hudson, an exj)erienced seaman of great know- ledge and intrepidity, sailed in search of this j)assage. lie di- rected his course strai<>;ht north, and reached the ei"i)tv-second ilegree of latitude, and the seventy-third degree of west longi- tude. During this voyage more of tlie eastern coast of Green- land was discovered than had been jireviously known. In his second voyage, which was undertaken in 1608, he endeavoured to sail between Nova Zembla and Spitzbergen, but unsuccess- fully : of this and his first voyage we have very imperfect ac- counts. His third voyage was undertaken for the Dutch : in this lie discovered the river in Americn which bears his name. His fourth anil last voyage, in which he perished, and to which he owes his ])rincipal fame as a navigator, was in tiie service of the Russia Company of EngUuul. In this voyage he reached the strait which bears his name : iiis crew nmtinied at tiiis place, and setting him on shore, returned to England. As soon as the Russia Company learned the late of Hudson, they sent one Captain Ikitton in search of him, and also to exploi e the straits which he had discovered : in this voyage Hudson's Bay was discovered. Mutton's journal was never published : it is said, however, to have contained some im- portant onservations on the tides, and other objects of natural philosophy. The existence of such a bay as Hudson's was describetl to l)e, induced the merchants of EiiglantI to helii-ve ihiii they A A 4 i'il Pro^irrr.ss of Discovrn/ ClIAl'. V. had at leiijirtli I'oiiiul ont the ciitiaiicf to a passage whirh would lead them (o the ICast Iiidi(!s : many voyages were therefore iiiiderlaken, in a very short time alter this bay had been discovered. The most important was that of 15ylot and Balhn : thev advanced throuifh Davis's Straits into an ex- tensive sea, which tiiey called IJailhrs ]}ay : they ])roceeded, according to their account, as I'ar north as the latitude VH"". riie nature and extent of this discovery was very much doubted at the time, and subse(juen(lv, till the discoveriivs of Captains Ross and Parry, at the beginning ot" llio nineteenth century, proved that Hallin was substantially accurate and faitliFul. Biffin's voyage took jilace in the year IfilG : after this there was no voyage undertaken with the same object, till the year iG.Sl, when Caj)tain Fox sailed from Deptford. He had been used to the H?a from his youth, and had employed his leisure; time in collecting all the inlbrmation he could possibly obtain, respecting voyages to the north. ] le was besides well ac(]naintcd witli some celebrated mathematicians and cosmo- graphers, particuhnly Thomas ITerne, who liad carefully '/olleried all the journals and charts of the former voyages, with a view to iiis business, which was that of .a maker of globes. When I'\)x was jiresented to Charles I., liis majesty gave him a map, containing all the discoveries which had l>een made in the north seas. I le discovered several islands during the voyage, but not the passage lie sought for ; though lio is of fipinion, that if •' passage is to be found, it must be in Sir Thomas l{o(>'s Welcome, — a bay he discovered near an isJHfid of that name, in north latitude ()4° 10', not liu' from the niaui hand, on the west side of Hll(lson'^i Ray. He pub- lished '. onall treatise on the \oyage, cdlcd The North.-west F()x> wfiich contains many important facts and judicious observations on the ice, the tides, compass, northern liglits, &c. Ca)>tain .fames sailed on the same enter])rise nearly at th'; *,ame time that Fox did. His account was })rinted by King Ciiarles's connnand, in 1(533: it coiitains some remarkable phy.;ical observation.-, respecting the intenscness of the cold, and tJie occmnulation of ice, in northern latitudes; but no dis- . iv I'f moment. He was of opinion, that no north-west passn.<,n' i >:iste(h Tiic ]:;>i voyage in the seventeenth century, in search of this passiige, was ini- ^'>iv, ra-cs Nvevc '\atinu\e 7H". verv i^^vtcU Wscovonos o\ , cov.Ul IH.SM\)\ ,vasbcs-u\osveU lans anil , luul carelva\> tormev vov^.J^-;. ,at of a uu^^V^ ;; cd sevevu\ >s\ana. tbu.ul, a nu..t c »e a\scovcriHl neai ts ana jm\unous as printed by K„ , some venyavk. »^ • 1 . \H\t no (bs- thai no noiin . -.n search of n •nee oi i- . • ... tho same i.ni'-i. ciiAi'. V. /a the lici^iiniin;^ of the ^'inctcciilh ('ciiIhii/. :}(jl })r()cee(le(l tlio estahlislnnent of the Hudson's IJiiy Compaiiy by tliat iiioiiarih. Canada was at this lime coloiii/ed hv ^lie I'Veiuli ; and a )■ reiicli settler then !).( iroiisseliers, an eiiterj)nsni<>; and spf. riihilive man, alter traveUinir in various (hrections, reached (.'omUry, where he received inl'ormation respecting I ludson's Jiay : he therefore resolved to attenipl to reach this bay hv sea. In the course of this undertakinijf he met with a tew ICnolish, who had settled themselves near l*ort Nelson lliver: tliese he attacked, and by their defeat became master of tin- country. I le afterv.ards explored th(! whole district, and ri'turned to (^uehec with a larne (juantity of valuable furs and lOnoTish merehandi/e ; but meetiufr with ill-treatment in (Quebec, and afterwards at the eourt of I'Vance, he eanu' to I'ain-land, where he v.as introduced to the Count Palatine iiupert. The prince patroni/ed all landabli" and useful en- terprises ; and perhuailed the kintj to send out Captain (lillam, and the l-'renchman with him. The ship was loaded with goods to trallic for furs. 1 hey passed through 1 ludson's Straits to Uafhn's liav, as far as 7,5 dei>Tces north latitude : they aflei'wards sailed as far to the south as Fyl tiegrees, where, near the banks ol' a river, called afti'r Prinee Rupert, they bu'lt Charles Fort. This was the first attempt to carry ou conmierce in tins I't of America. We nnist now return to the ])eiiod of the first attempt to find out a north-east i)assa<''e to bidia. A soeietv ol' mer- chants had been formed in London for this purpose. Sebastian Cabnt. either the son or the grandson of John Cahot, and who held the situation of grand pilot of England under KdwanI W., was chosen <2;overnor of this soeietv Tl n"ee vessels kvere fitteil out : one of them is jiarticularly nolicetl \\\ he contemiiorarv accounts, as liavni<>- heen shea Ihed with I'lin }dates of lead. Sir Hew Willoughby had the chief connnmul: Captain Richard Chanceller and Captain Durfovill conniianded the other two vessels under him. Willonghbyj having reached 72 degrees of north latitude, was obliged by the severitv t)f the season to run his shiji into a small har- bour, where he and his crew were frozen to tleatli. Captain Durlbvill returned to I'^ngland. Chanceller was more '"' v- tunate; lor he reached the White Sea, antl winterotl in ilie Dwina, near the site of Archangel. While his ship lay up frozen, Chancelli'r proceeded to Moscow, where hi obtaini-il from (he Czar privilege- for the i'aiglisli nuM'chant'^. and lf«'ir* V ^^ MM 'i i I, (I r 362 Pf ogress oj ' Discovcnj CHAP. V, to King Edward : as the Czar was at thin period engaged in the Livonian war, which greatly interrupted and embarrassed the trade of the Baltic, he was the more disposed to en- courage the English to trade to the Wiiite JSea. We have already remarked, in giving an account of the voyage of Ohter, in Kin}.' Alfred's time, that lie had penetrated as far as the White >Sea. This part of Europe, however, seems afterwards to have been entirely lost sight of, till the voyage of Chanceller ; for in a ma}) of the most northern parts of Europe, given in Munstet's Geographia, wiiich was printed in 1540, Greenland is laid down as jouied to the north part of Lapland ; and, consequently, the northern ocean appears merely as a great bay, enclosed by these countries. 'I'hree years afterwartls, the English reached the coasts of Nova Zembla, and heard of, if they did not arrive at> the Straits of W^aygats. The next attempts were made by the Dutch, who were tlesiroiis of reaching India by a route, in the course of which they would not be liable to meet with the Spaniards or Portuguese. They accordingly made four attempts between 1594 and 159G, but unsuccessfully. In the lj'.st voyage they reached Spitzbergen ; but after striving in ^ lin to penetrate to the north-east, they were obliged to winttr on the north coast of Nova Zembla, in 76° latitude. Her; they built a smaller vessel out of the remains of the one they had brought from Holland, and arriveil the following sunnner at Kola, in Lapland. In 1653, Frederic III., king of Denmark, sent three vessels to discover a north-east psissjige : it is said that they actually ];.issed through Waygats' Straits; but that in the bay beyond these straits they found insurmountable obstacles from the ice and cold, and consequently were obliged to return. The last attejnpt made in the seventeenth century, was by the English : it was proposed and undertaken by John Wood, an experienced seaman, who had paid particular attention to the voyages that had been made to the north. His arguments in favour of a north-east passage were, that whales litul been found near Japan, with English and Dutch harpoons in them ; and that the Dutch had found temjjerate weather near the Pole, and haxl sailed 300 leagues to the east of Nova Zembla. The first argument only proved, that there was sea between Nova Zembla and Japan ; but not that it was navigable, though passable for whales : the other two positions were unfounded. \V oo'.l, however, persuaded the Duke of York cMap. v. gaged in jarrassea i\ to eu- We UttV®, voyage of ited as tar ,er, seenv-i the voyage •a parts ot ,as prii»tecl nortli part ;au appei"'^ ies. 'Hnee ,ts of ^'ova be Straits ot , Dutch, %vl^« t\ie course ot Spaniards or ^pts between ^ ioyage they 1 to penetrate on the mirth they hudt a V had brought LratKola,"^ L three vessels U they actually the bay beyond \es from the ite i-entury, ;v^;- ^y bv .lohn Wood, \ln- attention to Vlis arguments^ vbales h.d been pveather neai the tt- Nova ZenibU . t was navigable, [o positions were CHAP. V. /() the Beginning of the Nineteenth Cent mi/. 36.'{ to send him out in 1676. He doubled the North Cape, and reached 76 degrees of north latitude. One of the ships was wrecked off the coast of Nova Zenibhi, and Wood retu w d in the other, with an o))inion that a north-east passage is impracticable, and that Nova Zenibhi is a part of the con- tinent of Greenland. But we must turn from these attempts to discover a north- west or north-east |)assage to India, which, from the accounts given of tliem, it will be evident, contributed very little to the progress of geographical knowledge, though they necessarily increased the skill, confidence, and experience of navigators. While these unprofitable voyages were undertaken in the north, discoveriesof consequence were making in the southern ocean. These may be divided into two classes ; vi/., such as relate to what is now called Australasia; and those which re- late to the islands which are scattered in the southern ocean. We have already sUited that there is reason to believe some part of New Hollaiui was first discovered by the Portuguese: two ancient ma})s in the British Museum are supposed to confirm this opinion ; but the date of one is uncertain ; the other is dated ] .'>4'2, and certainly contains a countrj', which, in form and position, resembles New Holland, as it was laid down prior to the voyage of Tasman. But allowing this to be New Holland, it only proves, that at the date of this map it was known, not that it had been discovered by the Por- tuguese. The Dutch, however, certairdy made several voyages to it between 1616 and 164'4: the western extremity was explored in 1616. The same year Van Dieman's Land was discovered. In the course of the ten following years, the western and north- ern coasts were visited. "^J'he southern coast was first dis- covered in 1627, but we have no particulars respecting the voy- age in wliich it was discovered. In 1642, Tasman, a celebrated Dutch navigator, sailed fn-m Batavia, and discovered tlie south- ern part of Van Dieman's Land aiul New Zealand. From this time to the beginning of the ei;iii' of iioti.v!: tliis naviiralor t'xainiiicd willi ^reat caiX' and atli'iilioii many l)ay.s and liarbouiN on llie west side; and lie is the first wlio mentions tlu; black swans oi' this c'oimtrv. Papna, or New (ininea, another })art of Austiahisia, was discovered by the l\)iln^nese in 1,328. Tlie passa: Mendana, a .Si)anish captain, sailed from I^ima to the westward, and in steerin« j,\.\i cainain, .jr across ih^ ,ul voyage l>^ uc lo contivicv .uUieemonc r\\ev tvve sn\)- ^ipelajio, »»<^''- Ucv nav\-aU)rs. ij provip ol is- le 'Menilo/ii. ,, of l\^e ^'^^^^'\ ,vore cWsecTevecl .pvosed to lune •cct Nvas to avs- ^•1,^, aiscoveries I SaivUtana, i\na L Sancto, ^vlu^^ 0/' llic 'Simhritlli (Vii/ui i/. :Ui'} nuHlatcd to the usi' of niaiiiicrs l)y Martin Hcliaini, tounrds the end of the fifteenth ciMitury. Me was n schohu' of Miillcr, of Koninjisbertr, better known nnder tlie name of Heifionioii- taniis, who piiblislied tlie Ahnaj^est of Ptolemy. The (Ien^a^^ werq at tliis time the best matln'matieians of Kiirope. M'aUher, who was of tliat nation, ami the friend and ihsciple of Ui'jfio- montamis, was the iirst who made nsi' of clocks in his astrt)- iioinifid observations. He was sncceedeil by M'lriur, ot' Nuremberfr, who pnhlished a translation of I'tolemy's Clt>o- gra})hy, with a connnentary, in which he explains the method of iimlini; the lonjjitnde at sea bv the distance of a fixed star frt)in the nioon. The astronomical instrnments hitherto nsed were, with the excej)tion of the aslrolobe, those which had been employed by Plolemy antl the Arabians. The (juadrant of Ptolemy resembled the nnn'al (|nadrant of later times; which, however, was improved by the Arabians, who. at tlic end of the tenth centnry, emj)loyeil a (|iiadrant twenty-one feet and eight inches radius, and a sextant fifty-seven feet nine inches radius, and divided into seconds. The use of the sextant seems to have been forj^otten after this time ; for Tycho Brahe is said to have re-inventeil it, and to have cm- ployed it for mcasuriiiii; the distances of the planets I'rom the stars. The (]uadrant was about the same time ini})roveden. ^^'e nuist now turn to the projiress of commerce durini*' the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The discovery of a })assage to India by the Cape of Good Hope, gave inanediately a great impulse to connnerce ; ol >H. CHAV. V. u\ liydrotvi-a- ^, drawn in> .n \ie accom- \o\i\aiuls and ;"audi«"^^'^^' ■b his hibtovy, ,ev nations of ly Jeukinson, c result of his •idencc ni vluit .rcneval or of eutui-y .upphes ulse which was ,v. As nti^^' '^"*'' ; 'in niap>^ ^^^''"^ •ute positions as- ,,,,X and relative av veckous C hi- fi uiostceicbrat d , ,, nvau of exten- di to the ihustva- ,u Jesuit, devoted .ematics, and the ronomy; and was , ihe hi-her parts kbvatcd name ui atica\ geography, ,,her branches ot ;;,, to geography-, , be published n ,e vepviblished and .\i pains on ancient svhich pays uun-e ,^s uiuc\i udvanced ; and Bvineus, m If commerce during , tlie Cape of Good Le to conunerce, CHAP. V. fo the Beginning of the Ninetcmth Centxiry. 369 whereas, it was a long time after the discovery of America before commerce was benefited by that event. This arose from the different state and circumstances of the two countries. The Portuguese found in India, and the other parts of the East, a race of people acquainted with commerce, and accus- tomed to it ; fully aware of those natural productions of their country which were in demand, and who had long been in the habit of increasing the exportable commodities by various kinds of manufactures. Most of these native productions and manufactures had been in high estimation and value in Europe for centuries prior to the discovery of the Cape. The monarchs of the East, as well as their subjects, were desirous of extending their trade. There was, therefore, no difficulty, as soon as the Portuguese arrived at any part of the East ; they found spices, pi'ecious stones, pearls, &c., or silk and cotton stuffs, porcelaine, &c., and merchants will- ing to sell them. Their only business was to settle a few skilful agents, to select and purchase proper cargoes fol- their ships. Even before they reached the remote countries of the East, which they afterwards did, they found depots of the goods of those parts, in intermediate and convenient situations, between them and the middle and western parts of Asia and Europe. It was very different in America : the natives here, ignorant and savage, had no commerce. " Even the natural produc- tions of the soil, M'lien not cherished and multiplied by the fostering and active hand of man, were of little account." Above half " century elfipsed before the Spaniards reaped any benefit trom their coiiquests, except some small quantities of gold, chiefly obtained from plundering the persons, the houses, and temples of the Mexicans and Peruvians. In 1545, the mines of Potosi were discovered; these, and the principal Mexican mine, discovered soon afterwards, first brought a permanent and valuable revenue to Spain. But it was long after this before the S^^aniards, or the other nations of Europe, could be convinced that America contained other treasures bes. Jes those of gold and silver, or induced to apply that time, labour, and capital, wliich were requisite to unfold all the additions to the comforts, the luxuries, and the health of man, which the New World was capable of bestowing. When, however, European skill and labour were expended on the soil of America, the real and best wealth of this quarter of the world was displayed in all its importance and extent. n n V ' i"'i n ! 'J !^i!'9san!i S70 Piogirss of D/scoverjj CHAP. V. I III addition to tlie native pjoductions ol" tobacco, indigo, cochineal, cotton, ginger, cocoa, pimento, drugs, woods tor dying, the Europeans cultivated the sugar cane, and several other jiroductions of the Old World. The only articles of commerce supplied by the natives, were turs and skins ; every thing else imported from the New World consists at present, and has always consisted of the produce, of the industry of l^uropeans settled there. But though it was long before Europe derived much direct benefit from the discovery of America, yet in one important rcsj)ect this discovery gave a great stimulus to East India connnerce. Gold and silver, especially the latter, have always been in great demand in the East, and consequently the most advantageous articles to export from Europe in exchange for Indian commodities. It was therefore absolutely necessary for the continuance of a conmierce so much extended as this to India was, in consequence of the Portuguese dis- coveries, that increased mrans of purchasing Indian com-; modities should be given ; and these were supplied by the gold and silver mines of America. If these mines had not been discovered about the time when trade to India was more easy, expeditious, and frequent, it could not long have been in the power of Europe to have availed herself of the advantages of the Portuguese discoveries ; gold and silver would have become, from their extreme scarcity, more valuable in Europe than in India, and conse- quently would no longer have been exported. But the supply of the precious metals and of Indian commodities increasing at the same time, Europe, by means of America, was enabled to reap all possible advan '.age from the Portuguese discoveries. The gold and silver of ]\Texico and Peru traversed the world, in s[)itc of all obstacles, and reached that part of it where it was most wanted, and purchased the productions of China and Hindostan. Yet, notwithstanding the effectual demand for East India commodities was necessarily increased by the increased sup- ply of the precious metals, yet the supply of these commo- dities being increased in a much greater proportion, their price was much lowered. This lowering of price naturally arose from two circumstances : after the passage to India by the Cape, the productions and manufactures of the East were purchased immediately from the natives ; and they were brought to Europe directly, and all the way, by sea. Whereas, :IS CHAP. V. ceo, indigo, s, woods tov and sevevai Iy article!* ot I skins ; every ^ts at presei^*'. he industry ol .d nnioli direct one important 5 to East India ter, have aUays mently the most \u exchange toi Autely necessary ,ch extended .1. . Portuguese Uis- iine Indian com- elpphed by the .d about the time Uous,andtrequent, of Europe to have iucmese discoveries , Cm their extreme f India, and conse- ed But the supply Uties increasing a^ nerica, was enabled .nuguese discoveries. t af ersed the world, t navt of it where it ;Xf.ons of Chma Uand for East Indjjv f the increased sup Sly of these commo- uresot tne ^^^^ CHAP. V. fo the Beginning of the Nineteenth Crnti/it/. ,171 before tlie discovery of the Cape, they were purchased and repurchased frequently ; consequently, repeated additions were made to their original price ; and these additions were made, in almost every instance, by persons who had the monopoly of them. Their conveyance to Europe was long, tedious, and mostly by land carriage, and consequently very expensive. There are no data by which it can be ascertained in what proportion the Portuguese lowered the price of Indian com- modities; but Dr. Robertson's supjwsition appears well founded, — that they might afford to reduce Uile it is acted e, in its turn .age; this^vas ,ts had indeed ,nce with tins d by the large vigivtior and th^ ^moderns had ,e comp^s^' ail imerce g'^^'*^/' f, rortngnese from ,ere allo^^■ed^« , a tnne as tuey n-ves, n.ay be ac- iees in the state o sion as vwals tU^ ^, the accession o a conquests m the sstul enterprize ot Quctedbyanew .chvvasthesea^of trade carried on o^ ,^le effect to aval k it migbt have de; L of the crown « lCUXs to Italy; Lfand policy "f Le civil w.rs THAP. V. /« //i^ Dcginnhig of the Nineteenth Ceiitiin/. 373 years, that It coi neither bestow much attention on commerce, nor engage in any erheme of distant enterprize. The Venetians, how sensibly soevei hey might feel the mortifying reverse of being ex- "huled ai.nost entirely- from tlie Indian trade, of which their capital had been formerly the chief seat, were so debilitated and humbled by the league of Canibray, that they were no longer capable of engaging in any imdertaking of magnitude. England, weakened by the long contests between the houses of York and Laiicaster, and just beginning to recover its proper vigoui*, was restrained from active exertions during one ])art of the sixteenth century, by the cautious maxims of Henry \T I., and wasted its strength, during another part of it, by engaging inconsiderately in the wars between the princes on the conti- nent. The nation, though destined to acquire territories in India more extensive and valuable than were ever possessed by any European powei', had no such pre:;entiment of its future emineiice there, as to take an early part in the commerce or transactions of that country, and a great part of the century elapsed befor*i it began to turn its attention to the East. " While the most considerable nations in Europe found it necessary, from tlie circumstances which I have meiitioned, to remain inactive spectators of what passed in the East, the seven United Provinces of the Low Countries, recently formed into a small state, still struggling for political exist- ence, and yet in the infancy of its power, ventured to appear in the Indian Ocean as the rivals of the Portuguese ; and, despising their pretensions to an exclusive right of commerce with the extensive countries to the eastward of the Cape of Good Hope, invaded that monopoly which they had hitherto guarded with such jealous attention. The English soon fol- lowed the example of the Dutch, and both nations, at first by the enterprizing industry of private adventurers, and after- wards by the more powerful eftbrts of trading comjianies, under the protection of public authority, advanceil with astonishing ardour and success in this new career opened to them. The vast fabric of power which the Portuguese had opened in the East, (a superstructure much too large for the basis on which it had to rest) was almost entirely o\ erturned in as short time, and with as much facility, as it had been raised. England and Holland, by driving them from their most valuable settlements, and seizing the most lucrative branches of their trade, have uttained to that pre-eminence of naval power a.i'l commercial opulence by which they are ilis- 13 u 3 1 W 374 Progn'xs oj' Dixcoviti/ t'HAl'. V. '4 tinguished among the nations of Europe." (Robertson's India, pp. 177 — 9. 8vo. edition.) Before, however, we advert to the commerce of the Dutch in India, it will be proper to notice those circumstances which gave a commercial direction to the people of the Netherlands, both before their struggle with Spain, and while the result of that struggle was uncertain. The early celebrity of Bruges as a commercial city has already been noticed ; its regular fairs in the middle of the tenth century ; its being matle the entrepot of the Hanse Association towards the end of the thirteenth. It naturally partook of the wealth and commercial improvement which Flanders derived from her woollen manu- factures, and was in fact made the emporium of that country at the beginning of the fourteenth century; and within 100 years afterwards, the staple for English and Scotch goods. When the increased industry of the north of Europe induced and enabled its inhabitants to exchange the produce of their soil, fisheries, and manufactures, for the produce of the south of Europe, and of India, Bruges was made the great entrepot of the trade of Europe. In the beginning ot the sixteenth century its commercial importance began to decline, but the trade which left it, did not pass beyond the limits of the Netherlands ; it settled in a great measure at Antwerp, which, as being accessible by sea, was more convenient for commerce than Bruges. This city, however, would not have fallen so easily or rapidly before its rival, had it not beeh distracted by civil commotions. From it the commerce of the Netherlands, and with it of the north of Kurope, and the interchange of its commodities with those of the south of Europe and of Asia, gradually passed to Antwerp; and about the year 1516, most of the trade of Bruges was fixed here, the Portuguese making it their entrepot for the supply of the northern kingdoms. Even before this time the ships of the Netherlands seem to have been the carriers of the north of Europe; for in 1503, two Zealand ships arrived at Campveer, laden with sugars, the produce of the Canary Islands. Antwerp, however, con- tinued till it was taken by the Spaniards, and its port destroyed by the blocking up of the Scheldt, to be most distinguish- ed for its commerce, and its consequent wealth : — its situ- ation, its easy access by sea, joined to the circumstance of its being made the Portuguese entrepot for spices, dnigs, and other rich productions of India, nuiinly contributed to itii CHAl'. V. ;rtson's Ind'ui, of the Dutch istances which e Netherlands, le the result ot rity of Bruges d; its regular being made the he end of the jvnd commercial ; woollen manu- of that country ami within 100 I Scotch goods. Europe induced produce of their produce of the , made the ^reat beginning ot the began to dechne, ond the limits ot ,asure at Antwerp, re convenient tor .V, would not have had it not beeh he commerce ot JLurope, and the of the south ot itwerp ; and about es was fixed here, the supply of the etherlands seem to ■ope; for in 1503, laden with sugars, erp, however, con- d its port destroyed K most distinguish- wealth: — its situ- he circumstance ot ^ spices, di-ugs, and contributed to its (MAP. V. /n the Jiri;^! lining of (lie Xine/rrnf/i Ceiifun/. i/.> I ronimiircc, Mcrchaiils iioin every part of tlic north of lMiro{)e setlled here, and even many of the nierchanls of H niges remov cd to it, after the decline of th eir own city. commerce, two of which histed each time lants from all parts, as they could Its free fairs for six weeks, attracte bring their merchandise into it duty free, and were here ilso bills of certain of finding a market tor it. In it also l)ilis oi ex- change on all parts of Europe could be easily and safely negotiated. We have already mentioned the most wealthy merchants of England and France, in the fifteenth century ; there existed at Antwerp, in the sixteenth, a firm of the name of Fiigger, whose wealth was very great, and indicates the extent of their commercial dealings. From this firm the Em- peror Charles V. had borrowed a very large simi, in order to carry on an expedition against Tunis. In the year 1534', Charles, being at Antwerp, Fngger invited him to an enter- tainment at his liouse, made a fire in his hall with cinna'r.on, and threw all the em)ieror's bonds into that fire. About eleven years aftei ards, the same merchant gave an ac- quittance to Henry VIII. of England, lor the sum of 152,180/. Flemish, which the king had borrowed of liim. The Fuggers had a licence from the king of Portugal to trade to India; and they used to send their own factor in every ship that sailed thither, and were the owners of part of every cargo of pepper imported. In the year 1511, it contained 100,000 inhabitants: soon rfterwards the persecutions on account of religion in Germany, England, and France, drove many people thither, and of course increased both its population and wealth. If we may believe Huet, in his History of Dutch Commerce, it was, at this time, not uncommon to see 2500 ships at once lying in the Scheldt. The picture, however, which Guicciardini draws of Antwerp in 1 560, when it had reached the zenith of its prosperity and wealth, — being that of a contemporary author, and entering into detail, — is at once much more curious and interesting, and may be depended on as authentic. It is also valuable, as ex- hibitmg the state of the manufactures, commerce, &c. of most of the nations of Europe at this period. " Besides the natives and the French, who are here -^ery numerous, there arc six principal foreign nations, who reside at Antwerp, both in war and peace, making above 1000 mer- chants, including factors and servants, viz. Germans, Danes, B B 1 n ) 376 Progress of' Discoverij (,IIAl». V. ^i»: ./; and Easterlings — that is, people lioin the ports in the souili »hures of the Baltic, from Denmark to Livonia — Italians, Spaniards, English, and Portuguese of these six nations ; the Spaniards are the most numerous. One of those foreign mer- chants, Fugger, of Augsburg, died worth above six millions of crowns ; there are many natives there with from 200,000 to 400,000 crowns." '* They meet twice a day, in the mornings and evenings, one hour each time, at the English bourse, where, by their inter- preters and brokers, they buy and sell all kinds of merchan- dize. Thence they go to the new bourse, or principal exchange, where, for another hour each time, they transact all matters relating to bills of exchange, with the above six nations, and with France ; and also to deposit at interest, which is usually twelve per cent, per annum." " They send to Rome a great variety of woollen drapery, linen, tapestry, &c. : the returns are in bills of exchange. To Ancona, English and Flemish cloths, stuffs, linen, tapestry, cochineal ; and bring in return such spices and drugs as the merchants of Ancona procure in the Levant, and likewise silks, cotton, Turkey carpets, and leather. To 13ologne they export serges, and other stuffs, tapestry, linen, merceries, &c. and bring in return for it, wrought silks, cloth of gold and silver, crapes, caps, &c. To Venice they send jewels and pearls, English cloth and wool, Flemish drapery, cochineal, &c. and a little sugar and pepper : thus, with respect to these two latter articles, sending to Venice what they formerly ob- tained from her. For, prior to the Portuguese discovery of the Cape, the merchants of Antwerp brought from Venice all sorts of India spices and drugs : and even so late as the year 1518, there arrived in the Scheldt, five Venetian ships, laden with spices and drugs, for the fair at Antwerp. In 1560, however, the imports from Venice consisted of the finest and choicest silks, carpets, cotton, &c. and colours for dyers and painters." " To Naples they export great quantities of Flemish and English cloths and stuffs, tapestry, linens, small wares of metal, and other materials : and bring back raw, thrown and wrought silk, fine furs and skins, sani'on and manna. The exports to Sicily are similar to those of the other parts of Italy : the imports from it are galls in great quantity, ciimamon, oranges, cotton, silk, and sometimes wine. To Milan, Antwerp exports pepper, sugar, jewels, musk, and other perfumes, Eng- ^ I llAV. V. in the south ^ __ Itivliausj nations; the ;tbiei};umer- s\x luUlions ot ,n '200,000 to evenhigs, one by their inter- s of merchan- inal exchange, ait all matters X nations, ami hich is usually ooUen ilrapeiy* exchange. A« linen, tapestry, id drugs as the ,it, and likewise . .. To Bologne iinen, merceries, cloth of gold and 1 send jewels and apery, cochmeal, X respect to these ley formerly ob- uese discovery ot ^t from Venice all late as the year etian ships, laden :werp. In 1560, ■ of the finest antl ,urs for dyers and ,o of Flemish and lall wares of metal, •own and wrought _na. The exports er parts of Italy : antity, cinnamon, Po Milan, Antwerp icr perfumes, Eug- CHAP. V. to the lii'ginnin^ of the Nineteenth Cenlnri/. 877 lish and Fleml.Jj woollen manufactures, English and Spanish woollinens, and cochineal. The imports are gold and silver, thread, silks, gold stuffs, dimities, rich and curious draperies, rice, nuiskets and other arms, high priced toys and small goods ; ami Parmesian cheese. The exports to Florence are nearly the same as to the other parts of Italy, hut in addition, fans are sjjccified. Besides the usual imports of silks and gold stufFs, there are also fine furs. Household furniture is ex- ported to Genoa, besides the usual ai'ticles : velvets, which were then the best hi the world ; satins, the best coral, mithri- tlate, and treacle, are the principal or the peculiar imports, Genoa is the port through which Antwerp trades with Man- tua, Verona, Modena, Lucca, &c." " Besides all these articles, Antwerp imports from Italy by sea, alum, oil, gums, leaf senna, sul|)hur, &c. aiul exported to it by sea, tin, lead, madder, Brazil wood, wax, leather, flax, tallow, salt fish, timber, and sometimes corn. The imports from Italy, including only silks, gold and silver, stuffs, ami thread camblets ancl other stuffs, amount to three millions of crowns, or G00,000/. yearly. " Antwerp exports to Germany precious stones and pearls, spices, drugs, saffron, sugars, English cloths, as a rare and curious article, bearing a high price : Flemish cloth, more common and not so valuable as English, serges, tapestry, a very large quantity of linen and mercery, or small wares of all sorts : from Germany, Antwerp receives by land carriage, silver, bullion, quicksilver, immense quantities of copper, Hessian wool, very fine, glass, fustians of a high price, to the value of above 600,000 crowns annually ; woad, madder, and other dye stufFs ; saltpetre, great quantities of mercery, and household goods, very fine, and of excellent quality: metals' of all sorts, to a great amount ; arms ; Rhenish wine, of which Guicciardini speaks in the highest terms, as good for the health, and not affecting either the head or the stomach, though drunk in very large quantities : — of this wine 40,000 tuns were brought to Antwerp annually, which, at thirty-six crowns per tun, amounted to 1,444,000 crowns." " To Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Eastland, Livonia, and Poland, Antwerp exports vast quantities of spices, drugs, saffron, sugar, salt. English and Flemish cloths, fustians. linens, brought silks, gold stuffs, tapestries, precious stones, Spanish and other wines, uluni, Brazil wood, merceries, and household goods. From these countries, particularly from I I' ''I I r '1 \i H 378 Pwgrrss of Discuvcni CJIAP. V. Eastland and Poland, that is, the countries on the south shore of the Baltic, Antwerp receives wheat and rye to a large amount ; iron, copper, brass, saltpetre, dye-woods, vitriol, flax, honey, wax, pitch, tar, sulphur, pot-ashes, skins and furs, leather, timber for ship building, and other purposes ; beer, in high repute ; salt meat ; salted, dryed, and smoked fish ; amber in great quantities, &c." *' To France, Antwerp sends precious stones, quicksilver, silver bullion, copper and brass, wrought and unwrought, lead, tin, Vermillion ; azure, blue, and crimson colours, sulphur ; saltpetre, vitriol, camblets, and Turkey grograms, English and Flemi£,h cloths, great quantities of fine linen, tapestry, leather, peltry, wax, madder, cotton, dried fish, salt fish, &c. Ant- werp receives her returns from France, partly l)y land and partly by sea. By sea, salt to the annual value of 180,000 crowns : fine woad of Thoulouse, to the value annually of 300,000 crowns ; immense quantities of canvass and strong linen, from Bretagne and Normandy i about 40,000 tuns of excellent red and white wines, at about twenty-five crowns per tun ; saffron ; syrup, or sugar, oc perhaps capillaire ; tur- pentine, pitch, paper of all kinds ir great quantities, primes, Brazil wood, &c. &c. By land, Ant^^ erp receives many curious and valuable gilt and gold articles, and trinkets ; very fine cloth, the manutiicture of Rouen, Peris, Tours, Champagne, &c. ; the threads of Lyons, in high repute ; excellent verdi- grise from Montpelier, merceries, &c." " To England, Antwerp exports jewels and precious stones, silver bullion, quicksilver, wrought silks, cloth of gold and silver, gold and silver thread, camblets, grograms, spices, drugs, sugar, cotton, cinnamon, galls, linens, serges, tapestry, madder, hops in great quantities, glass, salt fish, small wares made of metal and wood, arms, am unition, and household furniture. From England, Antwei-j; imports immense quan- tities of fine and coarse woollen goods ; the finest wool ; ex- cellent saffron, but in small quantities; a great quantity of lead and tin ; sheep and rabbit skins, and other kinds of fine peltry and leather ; beer, cheese, aqd other sorts of provisions, in great quantities ; also Malmsey wines, which the English import from Candia." Guicciardini observes, that Antwerp exported but little to Scotland, as that country was principally supplied from Eng- land and France : some spiceries, sugars, madder, wrough» lailks, camblets, serges, linen, and merceries, are exported. 17 I>« CllAP. V. soulli shore to a large ods, vitriol, 3, skins and 2r purposes ; mid smoked , quicksilver, /rought, lead, jvs, sulpl""*; , Englisli and estry, leather, ih, &c. Ant- by land and ue of 180,000 le annually ot iss and strong 4-0,000 tuns ol ity-five crowns capillaive; tur- tntities, prunes, es many curious ikets ; very fine •s, Champagne, excellent verdi- pvecious stones, th of gold and •ograms, spices, serges, tapestry, ■^sh, small wares and household , immense quan- finestwool; ex- rreat quantity ot her kinds ot fine ,rtsofpvovisions^ lich the English Irted but little to ^plied from Eng- tdtler, wrougW are exported. CHAP. V. to the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century. 379 In return, Antwerp received from Scotland vast quantities of peltry of various kii'^s, leather, wool, cloth of coarse quality, fine large pearls, bi not of quite so good a water as the orien- tal pearls. The exports to Ireland were nearlj' the same as to Scot- land : the returns were skins and leather, some low-priced cloths, and other coarse and common articles of little value. The exports to Spain consisted chiefly of copper, brass, and latten, wrought and unwrought ; tin, lead ; much woollen cloth, both Flemish and English ; serges, tapestry, linens, flax- thread, wax, pitch, madder, tallow, sulphui', wheat, rye, salted meat and fish, butter, cheese, merceries, silver bullion and wrought, arms, ammunition, furniture, tools ; and every thing also, he adds, produced by human industry and labour, to which the lower classes in Spain have an utter aversion. From Spain, Antwerp received jewels, pearls, gold and silver in great quantities ; cochineal, sarsaparilla, guiacum, saffron ; silk, raw and thrown ; silk stuffs, velvets, taft'eties, salt, alum, orchil, fine wool, iron, coi'dovan leather, wines, oils, vinegar, honey, molasses, Arabian gums, soap ; fruits, both moist and dried, in vast quantities, and sugar from the Canaries. The exports to Portugal were silver bullion, quicksilver, vermilion, copper, brass, and latten ; lead, tin, arms, artillery and ammunition ; gold and silver thread, and most of the other articles sent to Spain. From Portugal, Antwerp re- ceived pearls and precious stones, gold, spices, to die value of above a million of crowns annually ; drugs, amber, musk, civet, great quantities of ivory, aloes, rhubarb, cotton, China rqot, (then and even lately much used in medicine,) and many other rare and valuable Indian commodities, with which the greatest part of Europe is supplied from Antwerp; also, sugars from St. Thomas, under the line, and the other islands belonging to the Portuguese on the Ati-ican coast ; Brazil wood, Guinea grains, and other drugs from the west coast of Africa; Ma- deira sugar and wines. Of the produce of Portugal itself, Antwerp imported salt, wines, oils, woad, seeds, orchil, fruits, &c. &c. To Barbary, Antwerp exported woollen goods, linen, mer- ceries, metals, &c. ; and received from it sugar, azure or anil, gums, coloquintida, leather, peltry, and fine feathers. From this sketch of t!ie commeice of Antwerp, when it was at its height, we see, that it embraced the whole cujinnercc of the world : and that in it centered all the commodities siip- -p. 5 if l1 t , 380 Progress of Discovery CHAP. V, I I plied by Asia, America, Africa, and the south of Europe on the one hand, and England, the Baltic countries, Germany, and France on the other. The account given by Guicciardini is confirmed by Wheeler, who wrote ir 1601. He observes, tliat a little before the troubles in the Low Countries, the people of Antwerp were the greatest traders to Italy in English and other foreign merchandize ; and also to Alexandria, Cy- prus, and Tripoli in Syria; " beating the Italians, English, and Germans, almost entirely out of that trade, as the) also soon did the Germans in the fairs of their own country." He adds, that the Antwerp merchants, being men of immense wealth, and consequently able to supply Spain for the Indies at long credit, set their own prices on their merchandize. Antwerp also supplied Germany, Spain, Portugal, and Eastland with the wares, which France was wont to supply them. He adds, " It is not past eighty years ago, fthat would be about 1520,) since there were not, in London, above twelve or sixteen Low Country merchants, who imported only stone pots, brushes, toys for children, and other pedlar's wares ; but in less than forty years after, there were, in London, at least one hundred Netherland merchants, who brought thither all the commo- dities which the merchants of Italy, Germany, Spain, France, and Eastland, (of all which nations there were, before that time, divers famous and notable rich merchants and com- panies,) used to bring into England out of their own country directly, to the great damage of the said strangers, and of the natural born English merchants." Guicciardini informs us, that in his time the port of Ar- muyden, in the island of Walcheren, was the place of ren- dezvous for the shipping of Antwerp : in it have often been seen 500 large ships lying at one time, bound to, or returning from distant parts of the world. He adds, that it was no un- common thing for 500 sliips to come and go in one day; that 10,000 carts were constantly employed in can-ying merchan- dize to and from the neighbouring countries, besides hundreds of waggons daily coming and going with passengers ; and 500 coaches used by people of distinction. In his enumeration of the principal trades, it is curious that there were ninety-two fishmongers, and only seventy-eight butchers ; there were 1 24' goldsmiths, who, it must be recollected, at that time acted as bankers, or rather exchangers of money. The number of houses was 13,500. With respect to the shipping, which, according to this author, were so numerous at the port of "in CHAP.V. ■Europe on , Germany, GuicciartVmi ^e observes, ountries, the ly in English xandria, Cy- , English, and he) also soon .» He adds, tnense wealth, iidies at long ize. Antwerp Eastland with •vn. He adds, e about 1520,) or sixteen Low pots, brushes, out in less than tst one hundred all the commo- , Spain, France, ;re, before that mnts and com- iir own country [gers, and of the the port of Ar- le place of ren- liave often been to, or returning lat it was no un- Lu one day ; that vying merchan- .esides hundreds ingers ; and 500 i enumeration ot were ninety-two I; there were 124- lat time acted as The number ot shipping, which, s at the port ol CHAP.V. fo the Beginnmg of the Nineteetith Century. 381 Antwerp, comparatively few of them belonged to this city, as most of its commerce was carried on by ships of foreign nations. This circumstance, of its having but few ships of its own, may be regarded as one cause why, when it was taken and plundered by the Spaniards in the year 1585, it could not re- cover its former commerce, as the shipping removed with the nations they belonged to. The forts which the Dutch built in the Scheldt wei*e, however, another and a very powerful cause. The trade of Holland rose on the fall of Antwerp, and settled principally at Amsterdam ; this city had indeed become considerable after the decline of the Hanseatic con- federacy ; but was not renowned for its commerce till the destruction of Antwerp. The commerce of Holland was extended and supported by its fisheries, and the manufactures of Flanders and the adjoining provinces, which in their turn received support from its commerce. Guicciardini informs us, that there were in the Netherlands, in time of peace, 700 busses and boats employed in the herring fishery : each made three voyages in the season, and on an average during that period, caught seventy lasts of herring, each last containing twelve barrels of 900 or 1000 herrings each barrel; the price of a last was usually about Ql. sterling : the total amount of one year's fishery, was about 294,000/. sterling. About sixty years after this time, according to Sir Walter Raleigh, the cod and ling fishery of Friesland, Holland, Zea- land, and Flanders, (the provinces included by Guicciardini in the maritime Netherlands) brought in 100,000/. annually: and the salmon-fishing of Holland and Zealand nearly half that sum. The woollen manufactures of the Nethei'lands had, about the time that Guicciardini wrote, been rivalled by those of England : yet he says, that, though their wool was very coarse, above 12,000 pieces of cloth were made at each of the fol- lowing places : Amsterdam, Bois-le-duc, Delft, Haarlem, and Leyden. Woollen manufactures were carried on also at other places, besides taflFeties and tapestries. Lisle is particularised by him as next in commercial importance to Antwerp and Amsterdam. Bois-le-duc seems to have been the seat of a great variety of manufactures; for besides woollen cloth, 20,000 pieces of linen, worth, on an average, ten crowns each, were annually made ; and likewise great quantities of knives, fine pins, mercery, &c. By the taking of Antwerp, the Spa- .1' 1 r--_=ra-ii 382 Profyrrxs of Discovery CHAP. V. n t i nish or Catholic Netherlands lost their trade and manufactures, great part of which, as we have aheady observed, settled in tlie United Provinces, while the remainder passed into Eng- and and other foreign countries. The destruction of the Hanseatic league, which benefited Amsterdam, seems also to have been of service to the other northern provinces of the Netherlands: for in 1510, we are hiformed by Meursius, in his History of Denmark, there was at one time a fleet of 250 Dutch merchant ships in the Baltic : if this be correct, the Dutch trade to the countries on this sea must have been very {^reat. The circumstance of the Dutch, even before their revolt from Spain, carrying on a great trade, especially to the Baltic, is confirmed by Guic- ciardini ; according to him, about the year 1559, they brought annually from Denmark, Eastland, Livonia, and Poland, 60,000 lasts of grain, chiefly rye, worth 560,000/. Flemish. They had above 800 ships from 200 to 700 tons burden: fleets of 300 ships arrived twice a year from Dantzic and Livonia at Amsterdam, where there were often seeing lying at the same time 500 vessels, most of them belonging to it. He mentions Veer in Zealand (Campveer) as at that time being the staple port for all the Scotch shipping, and owing its principal commerce to that circumstance. The destruction of Antwerp brought to Amsterdam, along with other branches of commerce, the valuable trade which the former city had with Portugal for the produce and manu- factures of India, ; these the Dutch merchants resold to all the nations of the north. As soon, however, as Philip II. had ob- tained possession of the throne of Portugal in 1580, he put a stop to all further commerce between Lisbon and the Dutch. The latter, having tasted the sweets of this commerce, resolved to attempt a direct trade to India. We have already men- tioned the voyages of Barentz in search of a north-east pas- sage; these proving unsuccessful, the Dutch began to despair of reaching India, except by the Cape of Good Hope ; and this voyage they were afraid to undertake, having, at this time, neither experienced seamen nor persons acquainted with In- dian commerce. A circumstance, however, occurred while Barentz was in search of a north-west passage, which deter- mined them to sail to India by the Cape. One Houlman, a Dutchman, who had been in the Portuguese Indian service, but was then confined in Lisbon for debt, proposed to the merchants of Rotterdam, if ihev could liberate him, to put ciiAr.v. nufoctuves, , settled in [ into Eng- h benefited [O the other 510, we are k, there was the Baltic: ries on thi«i ance of the rrying on a 2d by Guic- hey brought md Poland, lO/. Fleunsh. ons burden: Dantzic and ^eing lying at ng to it. He it time being nd owing its <:HAP. V. /(> the Beginning of ihc Ninetecniii C'cndinj. 383 :erdam, along ; trade which ce and manu- ;old to all the fip II. had ob- 11580, he put Ind the Dutch, ferce, resolved already men- |orth-east pas- kan to despair fd Hope; and g, at this time, inted with In- [ccurred while which deter- . Houlman, a ndian service, [)sed to the bpc him, to pnt them in possession of all he knew respecting Indian com- nierce ; Jjis offer was accepted, and four ships were sent to India in 1.'j94< under his command. The adventiu'ers met with much opposition from the Portuguese in India, so that tlioir voyage was not very successful or lucrative : they re- turned, however, in twenty-nine months with a small quantity ol pepper from Java, where they had formed a friendly com- munication with the natives. The arrival of the Dutch in India, — the subjugation of Portugal by Spain, which cir- cumstance dispirited and weakened the Portuguese, and the greater attention which the Spaniards were disposed to pay to their American than their Indian commerce, seem to have been the causes which produced the ruin of the Portuguese in India, and the establishment of the Dutch. The Dutch pushed their new commerce with great vigour and zeal. In the year 1600 eight ships entered their ports laden with cinnamon, pepper, cloves, nutmegs, and mace : the pepper they obtained at Java, the other spices at the Moluccas, where they were permitted by the natives, who had driven out the Portuguese, to establish factories. In consequence of a wild and ruinous spirit of speculation having seized the Dutch merchants, the government, in 1602, formed all the separate companies who traded to India, into one ; and granted to this extensive sovereignty over all the es- tablishments that might be formed in that part of the world. Their charter was tor twenty-one years : their capital was 6,600,000 guilders (or about 600,000^.) Amsterdam sub- scribed one half of the capital, and selected twenty directors out of sixty, to whom the whole management of the trade was entrusted. From this period, the Dutch Indian commerce flourished extremely : and the company, not content with having drawn away a large portion of the Portuguese trade, resolved to ex- pel them entirely from this part of the world. Ships fitted, either to trade or to fight, and having on board a great number of soldiers, were sent out within a very few years after the establishment of the company. Amboyna and the Moluccas were first entirely wrested from the Portuguese : factories and settlements were in process of time established from Balsora, at the mouth of the Tigris in the Persian Gulf, Jilong the coasts and islands of India, as far as Japan. Al- liances were formed with many of the Indian princes: and in many parts, particularly on the coasts of Ceylon, and at I r h iqpM#«M«««ik« m fi i ( I « K 384. Progress of Discover^/ CHAP. V. Pulicat, Masulipatam, Negapatam, and other places along the coasts of Coromandel and Malabar, they wore them- selves, in fact, the sovereigns. 7 he centre of all their indian commerce was fixed at Batavia in Java, the greatest part of this island belonging to them. From this general sketch of the extent of country, which was embraced, either by their power or their commerce, it is evident thtt the Indian trade was almost monopolized by them ; and as they wisely em- ployed part of the wealth which it produced, to establish and defend their possessions, they soon became most formidable in this part of the world, sending out a fleet of 40 or 50 large ships, and an army of 30,000 men. Tlv. ' were not, however, content, but aimed at wrest- ing fro. ' the Portuguese almost the only trade which re- mained to them ; viz. their trade with China. In this attempt they did not succeed ; bnt in the year 1624, they esta- blished themselves at Formosa. Soc>n after this, the con- quest of China by the Tartars, induced or compelled an immense number of Chinese to leave their native country and settle in Formosa. Here they carried on a very extensive and lucrative ti*ade ; a».'l Formosa became the principal mart of this part of Asia. Vessels from China, Japan, Siam, Java, and the Philippines, filled its harbours. Of this commerce the Dutch availed themselves, and derived great wealth from it, for about forty years, when they were driven out of the island. In 1601, the Dutch received permission to trade to Japan, but this privilege was granted under several very strict conditions, which were, however, relaxed in 1637, when they discovered a conspiracy of the Spaniards, the object of which was to 'dethrone the emperor, and seize the government. The jealousy of the Japanese, however, soon revived ; so that by the end of the seventeenth century, the lucrative com- merce which the Dutch carried on with this island for fine tea, porcelaine, lacquered or Japan ware, silk, cotton, drugs, coral, ivory, diamonds, pearls, and other precious stones, gold, silver, fine copper, iron, lead, and tin ; and in ex- change for linen and woollen cloths, looking-glasses, and other glass ware ; and the merchandize of India, Persia, and Arabia, was almost annihilated. Before proceeding to naiTate the events which arose from the arrival of the English in the East Indies, and the effects produced on the Dutch power and commerce there, by tlieir arrival, it will be proper to take a short notice of the com- 21 SI S( ti tc fii ta bv cc '•> ^f i^' 38(i J^rof^rcss oj' Di^anerij CHAP. V. il M r })u.slicd witli their national industry and perseverance, so that in 1689 they had 200 factors in this place. In the year 1621 the Dutch formed a West India Com- pany : their first objects were to reduce Brazil and Peru : in the latter they were utterly unsuccessful. By the year 1636 they had conquered the greater part of the coast of Brazil : they lost no time in reapin^s^o th» ^^^ „,,,, ■"«trr-™^^^^^ andlihemsn^^ Leyden, tne "'^^ i Vinen, "'Srl Si^^^halr, gold^^^a J^- • "aerle^n' ware; jonsoisiun, gofers J Delft, "^^^^i, .„„. Friezeland, urn tot France, Spa-n, J,f • t Sade of .the nor*em makes them so S'-fJ.^^lf; Poland, Pomerama, andaU Ae - o»rts of Europe, as MlscOTy, j. ^j„g and turo- t cHAr. V. id, by per- security to ivted Slates; in religious be regarded ^ards as the fe He next ,rs of trade m which caused . purposes ot .. ind to dram es money, ami the sale by re- severity ot jus- the convoys ot l,e nation credit of their custom lered their cities xactness in ma- e particular com- gleatest height , llburgh, French ,e English staple , ami Scotch trade manufacture of aU . Haerlem, hnen, \a earthen vrare ; shery;Friezeland, :ast India, Spanish, )le mentions other whole province to e the Dutch made 3f the East Indies. « besides what it •aits, and Germany, de of the northern .nerania, and all the lian drug and Euro- ies of those countries corn;andtonaviga- ron." CHAP. V. fo the Brfii'nn/'ng oftht Nineteenth Cenlunf. 389 The next question that Sir William Tcmjile discusses is, what are the causes which made the trade of 1 lolland enrich it? for, as he remarks, " it is no constant rule that trade makes riches. The only and certain scale of riches arising from trade in a nation is, the proportion of what is exported for the consumption of others, to what is imported for their own. The true ground of this proportion lies in the general industry and parsimony of a people, or in the contrary of both." But the Dutch being industrious, and consequently pro- ducing much, — and parsimonious, and consequently consum- ing little, have much left for exportation. Hence, never any country traded so much and consumed so little. " They buy infinitely, but it is to sell again. They are the great masters of the Indian spices, and of the Persian silks, but wear plain woollen, and feed upon their own fish and roots. Nay, they sell the finest of their own cloth to France, and buy coarse out of England for their own wear. They send abroad the best of their own butter into all parts, and buy the cheapest out of Ireland or the north of England for their own use. In short, they furnish infinite luxury which they never practise, and traffic in pleasures which they never taste." " The whole body of the civil magistrates, the merchants, the rich traders, citizens, seamen and boors in general, never change the fashion of their cloaths ; so that men leave off' their cloaths only because they are worn out, and not because they are out of fashion. Their great consumption is French wine and brandy ; but what they spend in wine they save in corn, to make other drinks, which is brought from foreign parts. Thus it happens, that much going co, stantly out, eitlier in commodity or in the labour of seafaring .nen, and little coming in to be consumed at home, the rest returns in coin, and fills the country to that degree, that more silver is seen in Hol- land, among the common hands and purses, than brass either in Spain or in France ; though one be so rich in the best na- tive commodities, and the other drain all the treasures of the "West Indies." (Sir W. Temple's Obsei'vations on the Ne- therlands, Chapter VI.) Having thus sketched the progress and nature of Dutch commerce, during that period when it was at its greatest height, and brought c ur account of it down to the commence- ment of the eighteenth century, we shall next proceed to con- sider the English commerce from the time of the discovery c c 3 m Jl ' l' • 1 * 1 1 I'll 1 l>t *.l iA 390 Progress of Dtscoverj^ CHAP. V. 'i i'i' of the Cape and America, till the beginning of the same century. From the sketch we liave alread} given of P^nglish com- merce prior to tlie end of the fifteenth century, it is evident that it was of very trifling extent and amount, being confined cliiefly to a lew articles of raw ))roduce, and to some woollen goods. The improvement of the woollen manufacture, the establishment of corporations, and the settlement of foreign merchants, as well as the gradual advancement of the English in the civilization, skill, and industry of the age, — in the wants which the first occasions, and in the means to su})ply those wants afltbrded by the two latter, — these are the obvious and natural causes which tended to improve English commerce. But its pi'ogress was slow and gradual, and confined for a long time to coinitries near at hand ; it afterwarils ventured to a greater distance. Companies of merchant adventurers were formed, who could connnand a greater capital than any individual merchant. Of the nature and extent of their foreign conmierce at the close of the fifteenth century we are informed by an act of parliament, passed in the 12 Hen. VII. (1497.) From this act it ajipears, that England traded at this time with Spain, Portugal, Bretagne, Ireland, Normandy, France, Seville, Venice, Dantzic, Eastland, Friesland, and many other parts. The woollen cloth of England is particularly specified as one of the greatest articles of commerce. In a licence granted by Henry VII. to the Venetians, to buy and sell at London, and elsewhere in England, Ireland, and Calais, woollen cloth, lead, tin, and leather, are enumerated as the chief exports. From this document it also appears, that there resided in or traded to England, the following foreign merchants : Genoese, Florentines, Luccans, Spaniards, Por- tuguese, Flemings, Hollanders, Brabanters, Burgundians, German, Hanseatic, Lombards, and Easterlings. From these two documents, the nature and extent of Eng- lish commerce at this period may be inferred: its exports were sent as far north as the southern countries of the Baltic, and to all the rest of Europe, as far south and east as Venice ; but this export trade, as well as the import, seems to have been almost entirely carried on by foreign capital and ships ; the merchant adventurers having yet ventured very little fi'om home. •4 CHAP. V. r the same uglisli coni- it is evident ini^ confined onie woollen utacture, the It of foreign f the EngUsh - in the wants supply those 3 obvious and 5h commerce, onfined f<>v a Is ventured to t adventurers ipital than any itent of then- ;entury we are ; 12 Hen. VII. \ed at this time uandy, France, nd, and many is particularly mimerce. I" "• ans, to buy and and, and Calais, imerated as the o appears, that jUowing foreign Spaniards, Por- Burgundians, ngs. i extent of Eng- •red: its exports ries of the Baltic, (least as Venice; rt, seems to have capital and ships ; ed very little from (MAI'. V. to the negiiininif of the Nineteenth Centnnj, .'J91 III I.GIJ, iMij^Iisli coiiiineiTt', in Kiinlish ships, oxtfiided into the Levant, chiefly Iroin London, Ihistol, and iSoiitliainp- ton. Chios, vvliicli was still in the possession of the (n-noesi', was the port to which they tcjided. 'I'liis hraiicli of trade fh)iirislie(l so niuch in a lew years, tliat in XFA'A a consdl, or protector of all the merchants and other English subjects in Chios, was appointed. 'J'lie voyages were gnuliiully length- ened, uiid reached Cyprus, aiul Tripoli, in Nyria. 'I'lie exports were woollen goods, calf-skins, ivc. ; and the imports were silks, camblets, rlinbarb, malmsey, imiscadel, and other wines: oils, cotton wool, Turkey carpets, galls, and Indian spices. 'J'lie conmierce was in a small degree carried on by English ships, but chiefly by those of Candiii, Uagusa, Sicily, Cienoa, Venice, kS}iain, and Portugal. 'I'lie voyages to and from England occu]ued a year, and were deemed very dilHciilt and dangerous. So long as Chios remained in the jiossession of the Genoese, and Caiulia in that of the Venetians, England traded with these islands ; but ceased to trade when the Turks con(|nere(l them. From L553, to Lj7.'5, the Levant conunerce was quite discontinued by England, though during that |)eriod, the French, Genoese, Venetians, and Florentines, continneil it, and had consuls at Constantiiioj^le. The small and temjiorary trade with the Genoese and Venetian possessions in the Levant, seems to have been attended with such profit, and to have opened uj) such further prospects of advantage, as to have given rise to a dii'ect trade with Turkey, and the formation of the Turkey Com- paii}'. The enlightened ministers of Elizabeth effected these objects : they first sent out an English merchant to the Sultan, who obtained for his countrymen all the conunercial advantages enjoyed by the Venetians, French, Germans, and Poles. Two years afterwards, in 1581, the Turkey Com- pany was established. Sir William Monson, in his Naval Tracts, assigns the following as the causes and reasons why England did not sooner embark in the Tin-key trade for Persian and Indian merchandize : 1 . That there was not suf- ficient shipping ; 2. the hostility of the Turks ; and, lastly, England was supplied with Levimt goods by the Venetian ships, which came annually to Southampton. He adds, " the last argosser that came thus from Venice was unfortunately lost near the isle of Wight, with a rich cargo, and many Turkey jiassenger lany ( on their concern with so much spirit, that the queen publicly >1£ i *i 1 ! ( ■ c !• 11 oni 392 Progress of Discovcrif CHVP. V. n /' I thanked tliem, with many encouragements to go forward for the kingdom's sake : she particularly commended them for the ships they then built of so great burden. The commodi- ties of Greece, Syria, Egypt, Persia, and India, were now brought into England in greater abundance, and sold much cheaper than formerly, and yet the returns of this trade are said to have been, at its commencement, three to one. It is not our object, nor would It be compatible with our limits, to trace the progress of commerce minutely, in any of its branches, but rather to point out, as it were, its shootings in various directions ; and any special causes which may have given vigour to its growth, or have retarded it. In con- formity with this plan, we shall only notice some of the more marketl and important eras of our Levant trade, prior to the commencement of the eighteenth century. The trade to the Levant, in its infancy, like all other trades, at a time when there was little capital and commercial knowledge, re- quired the formation of a company which should possess ex- clusive privileges. Charters were gi'anted to such a company tor a term of years, and renewed by Elizabeth. In 1605 king James gave a perpetual charter to the Levant Com- pany : the trade was carried on with enci'casing vigour and success : our woollen manufactm-es found a more extensive market : the Venetians, who had for many years supplied Constanthiople and other ports of the Levant, were driven from their markets by the English, who could afford to sell them cloths cheaper ; and English ships began to be preferred to those of Venice and other nations, for the carrying trade in the Mediterranean. According to Sir W. Monson, England exported broad cloth, tin, &c. enough to purchase all the wares we wanted in Turkey; and, in particular, 300 great bales of Per- sian raw silk yearly: " whereas a balance of money is paid by the other nations trading thither. Marseilles sends yearly to Aleppo and Alexandria at least 500,000/. sterling, and little or no wares. Venice sends about 400,000/. in money, and a great value in wares besides : the Low Countries send about 50,000/., and but little wares ; and Messina 25,000/. in ready money : besides great quantities of gold and dollars from Germany, Poland, Hungary, &c. ; and all these nations take of the Turks in return great quantities of camblets, grograms, raw silk, cotton wool and yarn, galls, flax, hemp, rice, hides, sheep's wool, wax, corn, &C." The fust chock whitli the Levant trade received was CllU'. V. 3rvvavcl for . them tor commodi- were now sold much s trade are one. le with our iy, in any ot Its shootings :h may have it. In con- of the move prior to the ; trade to the a time when 3wledge, re- el possess ex- -h a company th. In 1605 Levant Corn- er vigour and lore extensive -ears supplied ■were driven 'afford to sell to be preferred carrying trade 5nson, England se all the wares ;at bales of Per- ouey is paid by sends yearly to L'ling, and little n money, and a lies send about 5,000/. in ready ul dollars from lese nations take iblets, grograms, nip, vice, hides, c received was I \ CUAP. V. io the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century. 393 given by tlie East India Company : about tlie year 1670 the Levant Company complained that their trade in raw silk was much diminished ; they had formerly imported it solely from Turkey, whereas then it was imported in great quantities direct from India. In 168), the complaints of the one company, and the defence of the other, were heard before the Privy Council. The Levant Company alleged, that for upwards of one hundred years they had exported to Turkey and other parts of the Levant, great qualities of woollen manufactures, and other English wares, and did then, more especially, carry out tliither to the value of 500,000/.; in return for which they imported raw silks, galls, grograms. drugs, cotton, &c. ; whereas the East India Company exported principally gold and silver bullion, with an inconsiderable cjuantity of cloth; and imported calicoes, pepper, wrought silks, and a deceitful sort of raw silk ; if tlie latter supplants Turkey raw silk, the Turkey demand for English cloth must fail, as Turkey does not yield a sufficient quantity of other merclian- dize to return for one fourth part of our manufactures carried thither. The East India Company, on the other hand, alleged that the cloth they exported was finer and more valuable than that ex- ported by the Turkey Company, and that, if they were rightly informed, the medium of cloths exported by that company, for the last three years, was only 19,000 cloths yearly: it is admitted, however, that before there was any trade to China and Japan, the Turkey Company's exportation of cloth did much exceed that of the East India Company. With respect to the charge of exporting bullion, it was alleged that the Turkey Company also export it to purchase the raw silk in Turkey. The East India Company further contended, tliat since their importation of raw silk, tiie English silk manufac- turers had much eiicreased, and that tlie plain wrought silks from India were the strongest, most durable, aiul clieai)est of any, and were generally re-exported from England to tbreign parts. We have been thus particular in detailing this dispute be- tween these companies, partly because it points out the state of the Levant Company and their commerce, at the close of the seventeenth century, but principally because it unfolds one of the principal causes of their decline ; for, though some little notice of it will afterwards occur, yet its eflbrts were feeble, I' r r.. m 39* ft f Progress of Discover}) CHAP. V. and its success diminished, chiefly by the rivahy of the East India Company. The Levant trade, as we have seen, was jrraduallv obtained by the EngUsh from the hands of the Venetians and other foreign powers. The trade we are next to notice was purely of English origin and growth ; — we allude to the trade between England and Russia, wliich began about the middle of the sixteenth century. The discovery of Archangel took place, as we have already related, in 1553. Chanceller, who discovered it, obtained considerable commercial privileges from the Czar for his countrymen. In 1554', a Russian Company was esta- blished ; but before their charter, the British merchants had engaged in the Russian trade. The first efforts of the com- pany seem to have lieen confinetl to attempts to discover a north-east passage. Finding these unsuccessful, they turned their attention to commerce : they fortunately possessed a very enterprising man, peculiarly calculated to foster and strengthen an infant trade, who acted as their agent. He first set on foot, in 1558, a new channel of trade through Russia into Persia, for raw silk, &c. In the course of his commercial en- quiries and transactions, he sailed down the Volga to Nisi Novogorod, Casan, and Astracan, and thence across the Cas- pian Sea to Persia. He mentions that, at Boghar, which he describes as a good city, he found merchants from India, Per- sia, Russia, and Cathay, — from which last counti'y it was a nine months' journey to Boghar. He performed his journey seven different times. It appears, however, that this channel of trade was soon afterwards abandoned, till 1741, when it was re- sumed for a very short time, during which considerable quan- tities of raw silk were brought to England by the route followed by the Russian agent in the sixteenth century. The cause of this abandonment during the sixteenth century seems to have been the length and danger of the route ; for we are informed that one of the adventures would have proved exceedingly pro- fitable, had not their ships, on their return across the Caspian, with Persian raw silk, wrought silks of many kinds, galls, car- pets, Indian spices, turquois stones, &c., been plundered by Corsair pirates, to the value of about 40,000/. The final aban- donment of this route, in the eighteenth century, arose jiartly from the wars in Persia, but principally from the extension of India commerce, which being direct and by sea, would of course supply England much more cheaply with all eastern 'I '4 ciiAr. V. )f the East ly olitained and otber was purely ide between ddle of the ,ok place, as discovered om the Czar my w"!* esta- erchauts had i of the corn- to discover » ,, they turned ssessed a very md strengthen e first set on 1 Russia uito onnnercial en- Volga to ISisi cross the Cas- rhar, which he pm India, P^r- nintry it was a led his journey : this channel ot when it Avas re- siderable quan- e route followed The cause ot y seems to have AC are informed ixceedingly pro- oss the Caspian, chuls, galls, car- n plundered by The final aban- vy, arose partly the extension ot )v sea, would ot %ith all eastern ( CHAP. V. io the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century. 395 goods than any land trade. Beside the delay, difficulty, and danger of the route fi-om the Volga, already described, the route followed in the sixteenth century, till the merchants reached the Volga, was attended with great difficulty. The practice was to transport the English goods, which were to be exchanged, in canoes, up the Dwina, from Archangel to Vo- logda, thence over land, in seven days, to Jeroslau, and thence down the Volga, in thirty days, to Astracan. The Russians having conquered Narva, in Livonia in 1 558, the first place they possessed in the Baltic, and having establish- ed it as a staple port, the following year, according to Milton, in his brief history of Muscovia, the English began to trade to it, " the Lubeckers and Dantzickers having till then concealed that trade from other nations." The other branches of the Baltic trade also encreased ; for it appears by a charter granted by Elizabeth, in 1579, to an Eastland Com})any, that trade was carried on between England and Norway, Sweden, Po- land, Lithuania, Prussia, Pomerania, Dantzic, Elbing, Konigs- berg, Copenhagen, Elsinore, and Finland, This company was established in opposition to the Han&eatic merchants; and it seems to have attained its object; for these merchants com- plained to the Diet of the Empire against England, alleging, that of the 200,000 cloths yearly exported thence, three-fourths went into Denmark, Sweden, Poland, and Germany ; the other fourth being sent to the Netherlands and France. It was not to be supposed that our commerce with Archan- gel and Narva would long remain without a rival. The Dutch, aware of its importance, prevented by their influence or pre- sents, the Czar from renewing the Russian Company's privi- leges. As this trade was become more extensive, and carried off, besides woollen goods, silks, velvets, coarse linen clotli, old silver plate, all kinds of mercery wares, serving for the ap- parel of both sexes, purses, knives, &c. Elizabeth used her efforts to re-establish the company on its former footing ; and a new Czar mounting the throne, she was successful. The frequent voyages of the English to the White Sea made them acquainted with Cherry Island, of which they took pos- session, and where they carried on for a short time the capture of morses : the teeth of these were regarded as nearly equal in quality and value to ivory, and consequently afforded a lucra- tive trade ; oil was also obtained from these animals. Lead ore is said to have been discovered in this island, of which thirty tons were brought to England in 1606. The Russia. J 'r 396 Progress of Discovery CHAP. V. Mi ¥'■ m 1/ Company, however, soon gave up the morse fishery for that of whales. They also carried on a considerable trade with Kola, a town in Russian Lapland, for fish oil and salmon : of the latter they sometimes brought to England 1 0,000 at one time. But in this trade the Dutch likewise interfered. The fishery for whales near Spitzbergen was first under- taken by the company in 1597. In 1613, they obtained from King James a^i exclusive charter for this fishery ; and under this, fitting out armed ships, they expelled fifteen sail of French, Dutch, and Biscayners, besides some private English ships. But the Dutch persevered, so that next yetir, while the Russian Company had only thirteen ships at the whale fishery, the former had eighteen. The success of their whale fishery seems to have led to the neglect of their Russian trade, for, in 161 5, only two vessels were employed in it, instead of seventeen great ships formerly employed. From this period, the com- merce carried on between Russia and England, by the Rus- sian Company, seems gradually to have declined. The commerce between England and the other parts of Europe, daring the sixteenth and seventeenth centiu'ies, pre- sents little that calls for notice; as the manufactures and ca- pital of England encreased, it gradually encreased, and was transferred lirom foreign to English vessels. Tlie exports con- sisted principally of woollen goods, prepared skins, earthen-ware, and metals. The imports of linens, silks, paper, wines, brandy, fruits, dye-stuffs, and drugs. The woollen cloths of England were indeed the staple export to all parts of England during the whole of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries ; as our cotton, earthen-ware, and ii'on manufactures sprung up and encreased, they supplied other articles of export; — our imports, at first confined to a few articles, afterwards encreased in number and value, in proportion as our encreased industry, capital, and skill, enlarged our produce and manufactures, and thus enabled us to purchase and consume more. A very remarkable in- stance of the effect of skill, capital, and industry, is mentioned by Mr. Lewis, a merchant, who published a work entitled. The Merchant's Map of Commc) ce.^ in 1641. " The town of Man- chester," he says, " buys the linen yarn of the Irish in great quantity, and, weaving it, returns the same again, in linen, into Ireland to sell. Neither doth her indistvy rest here, for they buy cotton wool in London, that comes first from Cyprus and Smyina, and work the same into fustians, verniiUons, CHAP. V. y for that trade with salmon: ot 000 at one red. first under- itained from and under il of French, iglish ships. ; the Russian fishery, the fishery seems foi', in 1615, of seventeen od, the com- by the Rus- ther parts of enturies, pre- Lures and ca- ised, and was e exports con- earthen-ware, wines, brandy, hs of England and during the as our cotton, and encreascd, iports, at first in number and ^, capital, and id thus enabled remarkable in- y, is mentioned •k entitled, The ; town of Man- e Irish in great igain, in linen, •y rest here, for rst from Cyprus ans, vermilions, CHAP. V. to the Bi'gijining of the Niiieteenth Centnrxf. 397 dimities, &c., which tLey return to London, where they are sold, and from thence not seldom are sent into such foreign parts where the first materials may be more easily had for that manufacture." How similar are these two instances to that which has occurred in our own days, when the cotton- wool, brought from the East Indies, has been returned thither after having been manufactured, and sold there cheaper than the native manufactm'es. But though there are no particulars relative to the com- merce between England and Europe, which call for our no- tice, as exhibiting any thing beyond the gradual extension of commercial intercourse already established ; yet in the six- teenth and seventeenth centuries, there were other commer- cial intercourses into which England entered, that deserve attention. These may be classed under three heads : the trade to Africa, to America, and India. I. The trade to Afi-ica. — The first notice of any trade be- tween England and Africa occurs in the year 1 526, when some merchants of Bristol, which, at this period, was undoubtedly one of our most enterprising cities, traded by means of Spanish ships to the Canaries. Their exports were cloth, soap, for the manufacture of which, «ven at this early period, Bristol was celebrated, and some other articles. They imported drugs for dyeing, sugar, and kid skins. This branch of commerce answering, the Bristol merchants sent their factors thither from Spain. The coast of Africa was, at this period, mono- polized by the Portuguese. In 1530, however, an English ship made a voyage to Guinea for elephants' teeth: the voy- age was repeated; and in 1536, above one hundred pounds weight of gold dust, besides elephants' teeth, was imported in one ship. A few year? afterwards, a trade was opened with the Mediterranean coast of Afi'ica, three ships sailing from Bristol to Barbary with linens, woollen cloth, coral, amber, and jet ; and bringing back sugar, dates, almonds, and molasses. The voyages to Guinea from the ports of the south and south- west of England, particularly Portsmouth, Plymouth, and Bristol, were frequently repeated : the returns were uniformly gold dust and elephants' teeth. But it does not appear that other ports followed the example of these, that these sent many ships, or that the commerce became very regular and lucrative, till the west coast of Africa was resorted to for slaves. This infamous trade was first entered upon by the English 4 MSL'i. It! i 398 in Progress of Discover)/ CHAP. V. the year 1 562. Mr. John Hawkins, with several other merchants, having learnt that negroes were a good commo- dity in Hispaniola, fitted out three ships, the largest 120, the smallest forty tons, for the coast of Guinea. Here they bought slaves, which they sold in Hispaniola for hides, sugar, ginger, and pearls. The other branches of the African trade con- tinued to flourish. In 1577, English merchants were settled in Morocco ; Spanish, Portuguese, and French merchants had been settled there before. In this year, Elizabeth, always at- tentive so whatever would benefit commerce, sent an ambas- sador to the Emperor of Morocco, who obtained some com- mercial privileges for the English. In 1588, the first voyage to Benin was made from London, by a ship and a pinnae: : in 1590, a second voyage was made from the same port with the same vessels. Their exports were linen, woollen cloths, iron manufactures, bracelets of copper, glass beads, coral, hawks' bells, horses' tails, hats, &c. They imported Guinea pepper, elephants' teeth, palm oil, cotton cloth, and cloth made of the bark of trees. An Afi'ican Company had been formed in Elizabeth's reign ; but neither this, nor two others succeeded ; their ruin wag oc- casioned by war, misconduct, and the interference of what were called interlopers. In 1672, a fourth company was established, whose efforts at first seem to have been great and successful. They bought the forts the former companies had erected on the west coast : instead of making up their assort- ments of goods for export in Holland, as the former com- panies had been obliged to do, they introduced into England the making of sundry kinds of woollen goods not previously manufactured. They imported large quantities of gold dus^ out of which 50,000 guineas were first coined in one year, 1673. Tlieir other imports were red wood for dyes, elephants* teeth, wax, honey, &c. The value of the English goods ex- ported to them averaged annually 70,000^. This company was broken up at the Revolution. II. Though the Portuguese and Spaniards were very jealous of the interference of any nation with their East India com- merce; yet they were comparatively easy and relaxed with regard to their American possessions. Accordingly, we find that, in 1530, there was some little trade between England and Brazil : this is the first notice we can trace of any com- mercial intercourse between this country and the New World. The first voyage was from Plymouth: in 1540 and 154'2 the 'lO CIIAP.V. ral other commo- t I'iO, the ey bought ir, ginger» racle con- 2re settled :hants had always at- an ambas- some com- irst voyage a pinnae. : e port with dlen cloths, ;ads, coral, rted Guinea . cloth made jeth's reign ; ruin wag oc- ice of what topany was ;n oreat and npanies had leir assort- brmer com- nto England )t previously ,f gold dust, 11 one year, ;s, elephants' h goods ex- his company - vei*y jealous jt India corn- relaxed with Ay, we find een England of any corn- New World. Lnd 1542 the oiiAP. V. /() the Beginning of the Nineteenth Centuri/. 3f)9 mercliants of Southampton and London also traded to Brazil. We are not iniormed what were the goods imported ; but most probably they were Brazil wood, sugar, and cotton. The trade continued till 1 580, when Spain, getting possession of Portugal, put a stop to it. The next notice of any trading voyage to America occurs in 1593, when some English ships sailed to the entrance of the St. Lawrence for morse and whale fishing. This is the first mention of the latter fishery, or of whale fins, or whale bones by the English. They could not find any whales ; but on an island they met with 800 whale fins, the remains of a cargo of a Biscay ship which had been wrecked here. In 1602, the English had suspended all intercourse with America for sixteen years, in consequence of the unsuccessful attempts of Raleigh. But, at this time, the intercourse was renewed : a ship sailed to Virginia, the name then given to the greater part of the east coast of North America ; and a traffic was cai'ried on with the Lidians for peltry, sassafras, cedar wood, &c. Captain Gosnol, who commanded this ves- sel, was a man of considerable skill in his prol.,ssion, and he is said to have been the first Englishman who sailed directly to North America, and not, as before, by the circuitous course of the West Lulies and the Gidf of Florida. Li the subse- quent year there was some traffic carried on with the Indians of the continent, and some of the uncolonized West India islands. Prior to the year 1606 several attempts had been made to colonize different parts of the new world by the English, but they all proved abortive. In this year, however, a per- manent settlement wa " established near James River, within the Chesapeake. It is not our plan to detail all the particular settlements, or their progress to maturity : but merely to point out the beginnings of them, as evidence of our exteriding commerce, and to state such proofs as most strikingly display their improvement and the advantages the mother country derived from them. In conformity with this plan, we may mention that sugar plantations were first formed in Barbadoes in 1641 : this, as Mr. Anderson, in his History of Commerce, justly observes, " greatly hastened the improvement of our other islands, which soon afterwards followed it in planting sugar to very great advantage. And, as it was impossible to manage the planting of that commodity by white people in so hot a climate, so neither could sufficient numbers of such be had at if 400 Progress of Discover}/ CHAP. V. any rate. Necessity, therefore, and the example of Portugal, gave birth to the negro slave trade to the coast of Guinea ; and it is almost needless to add, that such great numbers of slaves, and also the increase of white people in those islands, soon created a vast demand for all necessaries from England, and also a new and considerable trade to Madeira for wines to supply those islajids." The immediate consequence of the spread of the sugar culture in our West India islands was, that the ports of London and Bristol became the great maga- zines for this commodity, and supplied all the north and mid- dle parts of Europe ; and the price of the Portuguese-Brazil sugars was reduced from 8/. to '21. 10s. per cwt. The rapid growth of the English colonies on the continent and in the islands of A merica, during the seventeenth century, is justly ascribed by Sir Josiah Child, to the emigration thither, occasioned by the persecution of the Puritans by James I. and Charles I. ; to the defeat of the Royalists and Scotch by Cromwell ; and, lastly, to the Restoration, and the consequent disbanding of the army, and fears of the partizans of Crom- well. It may be added, that most of the men who were driven to America from these causes, were admirably fitted to form new settlements, being of industrious habits, and accus- tomed to plain fare and hard work. The American plantations, as they were called, increased so rapidly in commerce that, according lo the last author re- ferred to, they did, even in the year 1G70, employ nearly two- thirds of all our English shipping, " and therefore gave con- stant sustenance, it may be, to 200,000 persons here at home." At this period New England seems to have directed its chief attention and industry to the cod and mackerel fisheries, which had increased their ships and seamen so nmch as to excite the jealousy of Sir Josiah Child, who, however, admits that what that colony took from England amounted to ten times more than what England took from it. Tlie New- foundland fishery, he says, had declined from 250 ships in 160o, to eighty in 1670: this he ascribes to the practice of eating fisl: alone on fast days, not being so strictly kept by the Catholics as formerly. From Carolina, during the seven- teenth century, England obtained vast quantities of naval stores, staves, lumber, hemp, flax, and Indian corn. About the end of this century, or at the very commencement of the next, the culture of rice was introduced by the accident of a vessel from Madagascar happening to put into Cai*olina, which a s ir m 1)1 si dc sis C] ■ Portugal, )f Guinea ; lumbers ot ose islands, n England, a for wines lence of the slands was, great maga- •th and mid- guese-Bra/u he continent entli century, •ation thitlier, 5 by James I. iid Scotch by he consequent sans of Crom- len who were avably fitted to its, and accus- b. ied, increased last author re- oy nearly two- fore gave con- here at home, ected its chief kerel fisheries, so much as to iowever, admits mounted to ten t. Tlie New- ,m 250 ships in the practice ot ictlykeptbythe ving the seven- ntities of naval ,n corn. About .ncement of the the accident Ota Carolina, which ciiAi'. V. fo the Beginning of' the Nineteenth Ccntunj. 401 had ji little rice left; this the captain gave to a gentleman, who sowed it. The colon)' of Virginia seems to have flourished at an earlier j)eriod than any of the other English colonies. In the year 1618, considerable (jnantities of tobacco were raised there ; 'and it appears, by l)roclnniations of James I. and Charles I., that no tobacco was allowed to be imported into England, but what came from Virginia oi- the Bermudas. The colony of Pennsylvania was not t Htlud by Pen till the year 1680: he found there, however, many English families, and a considerable number of Dutch and Swedes. The wise regulations of Pen soon drew to him industrious settlers ; but the commerce in which they engaged did not become so considerable as to demand our notice. III. The connnercial intercourse of England with India, which has now grown to such extent and importance, and from which has sprung the anomaly of merchant-sovereigns over one, of the richest and most populous districts of the globe, began in the reign of Elizabeth. The English Levant Company, in their attempts to extend their trade with the East, seem first to have reached Hindostan, in 1584-, with English merchandize. About the same time the queen granted introductory letters to some adventurers to the king of Cambaya ; these men travelled through Bengal to Pegu and Malacca, but do not seem to have reached China. They, however, obtained much useful information respecting the best mode of conducting the trade to the East. The first English ship sailed to the East Indies in the year 1591 ; but the voyage was rather a warlike than a commercial one, the object being to attack the Portuguese ; and even in this resoect it was very unfortunate. A similar enter})rize, undertaK-en in 1593, seems, by its success, to have contributed very materially to the commercial intercourse between England and India ; for a fleet of the queen's shij)s and some merchant ships having captured a very large East India carrack belong- ing to the Spaniards or Portuguese, brought her into Dart- mouth : if she excited astonishment at her si/e, being of the burthen of 1600 tons, with 700 men, and 36 brass cannon, she in an equal degree stimulated and enlarged the commercial desires and hopes of the English by her cargo. This con- sisted of the richest spices, calicoes, silks, gold, pearls, drugs, China ware, ebony wood, &c., and was valued at 1 50,000/. The increasing commercial spirit of the nation, which led it D D \ •' yf. -^■ 402 Progress of Discoveiy CHAP. V. to look forward to a regular intercourse with India, was grati- fied in the first vear of the seventeenth century, when the queen granted the first charter to an East India Company. She seems to have been directly led to grant this in conse- quence of the comj)hiints among her subjects of the scarcity and high price of j)epper ; this was occasioned by the mono- poly of it being in the power of the Turkey merchants and the Dutch, and from the circumstance that by our war with Portu- gal, we could not procure any from Lisbon. The immediate and principal object of this Company, therefore, was to ob- tain pepper and other spices ; accordingly their ships, on their first voyage, sailed to IJantam, where they took in pepper, to the Banda isles, where they took in nutmeg and mace, and to Amboyna, where they took in cloves. C)n this expedition the English established a factory at Bantam. In 1610, this Company having obtained a new charter from James I., built the largest merchant ship that had ever been built in England, of the burthen of 11 00 tons, which with three others they sent to India. In 1612 the English factory of Surat was estab- lished with the pei'mission of the Great Mogul ; this was soon reirarded as their chief station on the west coast of India. Their first factoi-y on the coast of Coromandel, which they formed a few years afterwards, was at Masuli'patani : their great object in establishing this was to obtain more readily the cloths of Coromandel, which they found to be the most advantageous article to exchange for pepper and other spices. For at this time their trade with the East seems to have been almost en- tirely confined to these latter commodities. In 1613, the first English ship reached a part of the Japan territories, and a factory was established, through which trade was carried on with the Japanese, till the Dutch persuaded the emperor to expel all Europeans but themselves. The year 1614 forms an important era in the history of our commercial intercourse with India; for Sir Thomas Roe, whom James sent ambassador to the Mogul, and who re- mained several years at his court, obtained from him im- portant privileges for the East India Company. At this time, the following European commodities were chiefly in repute in India ; knives of all kinds, toys, especially those of the figures of beasts, rich velvets and satins, fowling pieces, polished ambers and beads, saddles with rich furniture, swords with iine hilts inlaid, hats, pictures, Spanish wines, cloth of gold and silver, French shaggs, fine Norwich stuffs, light armour. CHAr. V. was gvati- -vvheu tne ^ in conse- [,e scarcity r the mono- ^nts and t\^e witli rortu- e immeamte wastoob- ^ips, on their n pepper, to a mace, and ,\s expedition In 1610, this i\t in England, ,thers they sent vat was estab- . vhis was soon ,'andia.Tb-v btbeyform^^la u.u- aveat object ; the cloths of I advantageoy "For at this been almost en- Ir, 1613, the h territories, anci ]l .vas carried on ;c\ the emperor to ,the history of ouj k\r Thomas Hoe, &, and who re- ed from him im- C. At this tune, hmeu> figures Ihose ot "^*^'f v_,i I pieces, poh^^ff \ture, swords with nes? cloth of gold plight armour. CHAP. V. /() the Bcginuing of the Nindccnth Ccninyij. 403 emeralds, and other precious stones set in enamel, line arras hangings, large looking glasses, bows and arrows, figures in brass and stone, line caniuets, embroidered purses, needle- work, French tweezer ca es, perfumed gloves, belts, girdles, bone lace, dogs, plumes oi" feathers, comb cases richly set, prints of kings, cases of strong waters, drinking and per- spective glasses, fine basons and ewers, &c. i^c. In conse- quence of the privileges granted the East India Company by tlie Mogul, and by the Zamorine ol' Calicut, their factories were now numerous, and spreail over a large extent of coast. If we may trust the controversial pamphlets on the East India Company which were published in 161.5, it appear.; that up to this year they had employi'd only twtuily-lour ships ; four of which had been lost; the largest was 1293 tons, and the smallest \f>0. Their priiicii)al imports were still pepper, cloves, mace, and nutmegs, of which 615, OOOlbs. were con- sumed in England, and the value of 218,000/. exported: the saving in the liome consumption of tlnse articles was estimated at 70,000/. The other imports were indigo, calicoes, China silks, benzoin, aloes, &c. Porcelain was first imported this year from Bantam. The exports consisted of bays, kersies, and broad cloths, dyed and dressed, to the value of 14,000/. ; lead, iron, and foreign merchandize, to the value of 10,000/.; and coin and bullion, to the value of 12,000/. ; the outfit, pro- visions, &c. of their ships cost GljOOO/. The Dutch, who were very jealous of the successful inter- ference of the English in Iheir eastern trade, attacked them in every part of India ; and though a treaty was concluded be- twet.i the English and the Dutch East India Company, yet the treachery and cruelty of the Dutch, especially at Amboyna, and the civil wars into which England was plunged, so in- jured the affairs of the English East India Compaiiy, that at the death of Charles I. its trade was almost annihilated. One beneficial consequence, however, resulted from the hos- tility of the Dutch; the English, driven from their old factories, established new ones at Madras and in Bengal. Before, however, this decline of the English trade to India, we have some curious and interesting documents relating to it particularly, and to the effects produced on the cost of East Indian commodities in Eui'ope generally, by the discoveiy of the Cape of Good Hope. These are supplied by Mr. Munn, in a treatise he published in 1621, in favour of the East India trade. We have already given the substance of his remarks D n 2 40i Jh-ogrcsa of Jyiscovrrij CHAP. V. Tl: so fin- as they relate to ^^^^^^ 1>l^^S;!wSf 2^ nuulities, but as )--'";;'^ '^ "^v,*;. ish connnerce with Inam, and illustrative ol the state " ^ -() some of his details. :; this thne, we ^md »-- - ^ ^ ,,uion pounds ot pepper Aceorduifftothem,th.tvseu^ ^^^^^^ ^^^ t^ ^ ui annually consumed "\ ^'^\' ^ ' ov.r huul thither trom I.uh, purchased at M^^Pir.' .^^^""^^ . i '\vhereas it now cost, pur- ^ the rate of two shdhngs F ^•(^^j^,,,,^ per lb. : the con^ chased in India, ordy t ^o-P^^^^,^. . [,,,, at Aleppo fou shd- . sumption of cloves wus 450^00 ^ -..e-pence : he n [nvri and nine-pence \.ox lb-, ' ^ ^^ ^i.e same sumption of mace was ^^^^^^^^^^^..^Ut at eight-pence jjer per lb. as the ^-^^[^l^^^^^s^^^ 4')0,0()() lbs.; the puce 11 . t»,o ronsumption ot nuuiit„ _ . India oniy Sion lbs. the price o -hich ;at^f ^^ ^^.^^ ^^ ,emarked that 1 er lb., and in India eight ^^^ f ^ ^^j .^,^ „ rate not nearly so SiTs last article was purchased m Indm, ^^^^^^. ^^^^^^^^ , mt^c below its Aleppo pvice as any <^t^^^^.,e than a^^ "pper,onthe other l^-<^;:-X-crof all the articles, when Uthe other articles. Vr4^"oOO/. fwheu purchased m In ha, pnrclu.sedatAlepiM,,was ,4.65,0«^^^^,^^^^^^ ^^^^^.^j. ^ lade '-, 1 ^ ec/ . the once in tne lauei ^ however, tne Good Hope cost us but about na rivnl m\ia" goo.ls ">'^''^"S^,^"t L Engk"'' i """''T ° ";S the price"eacl. avUcle -^"l ™e ««> 25O,000lte., wlucl., !!!llo,000 lbs. of nutmegs, bough^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^ ^^,,g^, ^^ ^ight- shillings and sixpence: -50,0 / L HAV. V. m com- ii\)\e to, \i liuVw, lUs. it, ^v\wu •ost, P"'- tlie con- four sliil- . • t\\e cou- )tUe sivnie -pence per .; tl^e pvice ^ India only )00lbs.;t|»« b.; in Ind'^^ silk >vtts one elve shillings jmavUed that not nearly so ther articles: Kvice than any rticles, >vhen fore, ^^'as htUe , ho>^ever, the nno, it added, * to the cost oyage. Even ^ the conclusion by the Cape ot vvbich they vN'dl ,n of the pvin- India Company, £. according to I OOOlbs., ^vYf^; 1 in England for lof cloves, ;^^nch forsixshilhngs: lence, sold for two fbovght for eight- / CHAP. V. I(> Ihi' Hf'^inn'nv^ of the Xiiicfrt'iifJi Ciii/in-if. 105 peiur, sold for six shilliiiifs : — 200,000 lbs. ofiiuliojo, hunirlit ibr one sliilliiier 2 period St India 10,000 md 120 I, we re- lies, the I to em- ners. mdestine BS which were the 1, woollen es edged ands, felt iron, and per, white kI ginger lull sorts, mbergris, tin taftety» affeties of ills, sugar are speci- ally direct ne, viz. in ny sent out ccas ; their these ships articles ini- m of 1631, onds, &c. ate of their years they HcIk — that pel mission OCiV. : that Bav, scvci* CHAP. V. /(J the Beginning of' the Nineteenth Century. iO? ships and six permission ships, theircargoesvalued at 570,000/.: that they had seven ships for China and the iSouth 8eas, wliose cargoes amounted to 1 00,000/. That they had goods in India unsold, to tlie amount of 700,000/. About this period, Sir .John Child, being what would now be called governor gene- ral of India, and his brotiier, Sir Jonah, leading member of the Court of Comniittees, the policy vvas introduced through their means, on which the sovereign power, as well as the immense empire of the East India Company was founded ; this policy consisted of the enlargement of the authority of the Company over IJritish subjects in India, and in attaining political strength and dominion, by retaliating by force of arms, on those Indian princes who o})pressed their settlements. In the year 1698, in consequence of comjilaints against the P^ast India Company, and their inability to make any dividend, they thought it necessary to give in a statement of their pro- perty in India. In this they asserted that they had acquired, solely at their own expence, revenues at Fort St. George, Fort St. David, and Bombay, as well as in Persia, and elsewhere, to the amount of 4'4',000/. per annum, arising from customs and licenses, besides a large extent of land in these places ; they had also erected forts and settlements in Sumatra, and on the coast of Malabar, which were absolutely necessary to carry on the }iep{)er trade; they had a strongfort in Bengal, and many factories, settlements, &c. in other places. The result of the , complaints against the Company was, that a new company was established this year; the two companies, however, united in the beixinnin"- of the eiohteenth century. We shall conclude our account of the state of English commerce during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, with some more general and miscellaneous topics. I. Exports. In the year 1534, the total value of our ex- ports did not exceed 900,000/. of the present value of our money : the balance of trade was estimated at 700,000/. : this aros'.j priiicipally from the very great exportation of woollen iroods, tin, leather, &c., on which ar. export duty was laid, bringing in 21-6,000/. ; whereas, the duty on imports did not pjoduce more than 1700/. In the year 1612, according to Missenden, in his Circle of Commerce, the exports to all the world amounted to 2,090,640/., and the imports to 2, 14 1,1 51/. ; OP the latter, however, t' e custoui duties are charged; the cust(mi duties on the exports were 86,791/.; the impost paid outwards on woollen goods, tin, lead, pewter, &c. 10,000/. ; D D 4 I i; 408 Progress of Discovery CHAP. V. I 1 1 and the iiici-clmnts' ^aiiis, iieiglit, aiul other charjijes, to 300,000/. : — it' these be addeil to the vahie of the exports, the toud ainount will be 'J,l'87,l'35/.5 — tVom which the im- ports, including custom duty on thcni, being deducted, leaves 34'6,283/., — which Missenden regards as the balance gained that year by the nation. The principal articles of export have been enumerated : the principal articles of import were silks, Venice gold and silver stullii, Spanish wines, lijien, &c. At this time, London paid nearly three times as nuich for ' custom duties as all the rest of England together. In the year 1662, according to D'Avenant, the inspector general of the customs, our imports amounted to i,0U),019/., and our exports only to 2,022,812/.; the balance against the nation being nearly two millions. In the last year of the seventeenth century, according to the same official authority, there was exported to England from all parts, 6,788,166/. : of this sum, our woollen manufactures were to the value of 2,932,292/. ; so that there was an increase of our exports since 1662, of 4,765,534/. The yearly average of all the merchandize hn- porteil from, and exported to the nortli of Europe, from Michaelmas, 1697, to Christmas, 1701, is exhibited in the following table : Coiintriis, Denmark and Sweden IiHiJorted from. Lxportt'd to. t il 76,215/. YX5\'^l. 36,6121. Eaj,252 R Sweden 212,094 Total annual average los.'^. 31,403 53,568 154,539 275,982/. II. IShips. In the year 1530, the ship which first sailed on a trading voyage to Guinea, and thence to the Brazils, was regarded as remarkably large ; her burden amounted to 250 tons. And in Wheeler's Treatise of Commerce, pub- lished in 1601, we are informed, that about 60 years before he wrote (which would be about 1541), there were not above four ships (besides those of the royal navy) that wore above 120 tons eacl>^ in the river Thames; and we learn from Monson, in his Naval Tracts, that about 20 years later, most of our ships of burden weie purchased from the east country- men, or inhabitants of the south shores of the Baltic, who likewise carried on the greatest trade of our merchants in their own vessel ;. He adds, to bid adieu to that trade and tho.se ships, the Jesus of Lubec. a \ essel then esteemed of great r. V. ;, to lortSj 3 ini- eaves uinecl xport ; were 11, &c. ^ :h lor '^ In the erul of kI our nation iteenth ;re WU8 is sum, 52/. ; so 562, of lize im- ;, from in the Annual Loss. 36,672/. 31,403 53,568 54,539 it sailed 15razils, tinted to :e, pub- js before lot above •e above |rn from [er, most jcountry- Jtic, who Is in their ]nd those i)f great cilAl'. V. lo the B.Liiin!ii>. In 1615, it ap- pears, that the East Intlia Company, i'rum the befrinniner of tlie sliii)s, or the ton- nage. The small number of men em{)loyeci at Hull arose from eighty of their ships being at that time laid up. III. During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the ffreat rivals of tlie English in their commerce were the Dutch : they had preceded the English to most countries ; and, even where the latter had preceded them, they soon insinuated themselves and becauie formidable rivals : this was the case particularly witli respect to the trade to Archangel. Some curious and interesting particulars of this rivalry are given by Sir Walter Raleigh, in his Observations concerning the Trade and Commerce of England with the Dutch and other foreign Nations, which he had laid before King .James. In this work he maintains that the Dutch have tlie advantage over the English by reason of the privileges they gave to foreigners, by making their country the storehouse of all foreign com- modities ; by the lowness of their customs ; by the structure of their ships, wiiich hold more, and recpiire fewer hands than the English ; and by their fishery. Mc contends that Eng- land is better situated for a jjeneral storehouse for the rest of Europe than Holland : yet no sooner does a dearth of corn, wine, lish, &c. happen in England, than forthwith the Hol- landers, Embedners, or Hambnrghers, load 50 or 100 ships, and bring their articles to England. An>stordani, he observes, is never without 700,000 (juarters of corn, none of it the growth of Holland; and a dearth of only one year in any other part of Europe enriches Holland for seven years. In the course of a year and a half, during a scarcity in England, there was carried away from the ports of Southampton, Bris- tol, and Exeter alone, nearly 200,000/. : and if London and the rest of England were included, there nnist have been 2,000,000 more. The Dutch, he atlds, have a regular trade to England with 500 or 600 vessels annually, whereas we trade, not with fifty to their country. After entering into de- tails respecting the Dutch fishery, by means of which, he says, they sell herrings annually to the value of upwards of one mil- lion and a half sterling, whereas England scarcely any, he re- verts to the other branches of Dutch connnerce, as compared with ours. The great stores of wines and salt, brought from France and Spaii), are in the Low Conntries : they send nearly t) vv. V. '. had ■nine, these e ton- avose js, the )utch : , even nuated le case Some Iven by e Trade foreign iis work ner the •eigners, [rn coni- Cctvne of utls than luit Kng-^ le rest ot of corn, the Hol- 00 ships, observes, of it t\ie IV in any ears. In England, ton,' Bris- ulon and luive been liar trade Ihereas we into de- |ii, he says, oncnn he re- knv lU-ec conip Lu'dit from lend nearly cuAi'. v. /o //ic licginniug of the Nineteenth Centunj. Ill 1,000 ships yearly with these commodities into the east coun- tries alone ; wliereas we send not one ship. The native country of timber for ships, &c. i:; within the Baltic ; but the storehouse for it is in Holland ; they have 500 or GOO Ir.rge sliips employed in exporting it tv) England and other parts : we not one. The Dutch even interfere with our own connnodities; for our wool and woollen cloth, which <;oes out ronjdi, undressed, and undyed, they mamdactin-e and serve themselves and other nations with it. We send into the east countries yearly but 100 ships, and our trade chiefly depends upon three towns, Elbing, Kcmingsberg, and Diuitzic ; but the Low Countries send thither about 3,000 ships : they send into France, Spain, Por- tugal, and Italy, about 2,000 ships yearly with those east country connnodities, and we, none in that course. 1'hey trade into all cities and port town.'- of France, and we chiefly to five or six. The Low Countries have as many ships and vessels as eleven kingdoms of Christendom liave ; let England be one. For seventy years together, we had a great trade to Russia (Narva), and even about fourteen years ago, we sent stores of goodly ships thither; but three years past we sent out four thither, and last year but two or three ships; whereas the Hollanders are now increased to about thirty or forty ships, each as large as two of ours, chiefly laden with English cloth, lierrings, taken in our seas. En' 'ish lead, and pewter made of our tin. He adds, that a great loss is suttered by the kingdom from the undressed and undyed cloths being sent out of the king- dom, to the amount of 80,000 pieces annually; and that there had been ainnially exported, (luring the last fifty-three years, in baizes, northern and Devonshire kersies, all white, about 50,000 cloths, counting three kersies to one cloth. Although there is undoubtedly much exaggeration in the comparative statement of tlu Dutch and English commerce and shijjping in the details, yet it is a curious antl interesting tlocument, as exhibiting a general view of them. Indeed, (hroutrh the whole of the seventeenth, century, the most cele- brated and best informed writers on the commerce of England dwell strongly on "the superior trade of tiie Dutch, and on their being able, by the superior advantages they enjoyed from greater capital, industry, and perseverance, aided by the jrreater encourai>ement thev u'ave to foreiiiucrs as well as their O o o c" ^ own people, to sup[)ly th • greatest part of Europe with all their want^, thoui'li their own counti'v was small and unfertile. \ u y L '-■ HW - ii w . ' "r9 i m ^ . 4-12 Progirs.'i of Diy.covenj CHAP. V. ) A similar comparative statement to tliar of Kaieij:;h is .«>'iveii by Child in 165,>; he asserts that in the j)!ece(iiiig' year the J)iitch had twenty-two sail of great sliips in the Russia trade, — England but one: that in the Greenland whale fishery, Hollanil and llamburi>h had ainuiallv 100 or /iOO sail, — and Enoland bu'c one last vear: that the Dutch have a ureat trade for salt to France and Portugal, with which thev salt fish caught on our coasts ; that in the Baltic trade, the lOuglish have fallen off, ajul the Dutch increased tenfold. England has no share in the trade to China and Japan: the Dutch a great trade to both countries. A great })art of the plate trade from Cadiz has passed fiom England to Holland. They have even bereaved us of the trade to Scotland aiid Ireland. lie concludes with pointhig out some advantages England pos- sesses over Holland : in the Turkey, Italian, JSpanish, and Por- tuguese trades, we have the natural advantage of our wool : — our provisions and fuel, in country places, are cheaper than with the Dutch ; — our ]iative commodities of lead and tin are great advantages : — of these, he says, as well as of our manufactures, we ship off one-third more than we did twenty years ago ; and he adds, that we have now more than double the nmnber of merchants and shipping that we had twenty years ago. He me:^tions a circumstance, which seems to in- dicate a retrograde motion of commerce, viz., that when he wrote most payments wer ' j ready money ; whereas, formerly, there were credit payments at three, six, nine, twelve, and even eighteen months. From ar.other part of his work, it. appears that the tax-money v as brought uj) in waggons from the country. The gradual advancement of a nation in knowledfre and civilization, which is in part the result of commerce, is also in part the cause of it. But besides this advancement, in which England participated with the rest of Europe, during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, there were other cir- cumstances }5ecu!iar to this country, some of which were favourable, and others unfavourable to the increase of its commerce. Among the favourable circumstances may be reckoned the taking away of the exclusive ;)rivileges of the steelyard mer- chants by Edward VI., by which native mercluuits were en- couraged, private companies of tliem formed, and the benefits of commerce more extensively diffused : — the encourajrcment l>ii\cn by Elizabeth, particularly by lier minister Cecil, to lAl'. V. piveu ;ar tlie ti-iule, ishery, — and It inule Lvlt fish KnglisU England Jutch a tc trade d: lie m\ pos- Liid Por- ,vo()l : — ■ per than and tin IS ot" ouv d twenty n double d twenty ms to in- when ho formerly, elve, and work, it rons from edge and , is also enient, in )e, during other cir- lich were ase of its :kor.ed the yard mer- s were en- he benefits nragcment ■ Cecil, to tiiAP. V. /() I lie Bt'gitming of the Ninctrciith Coitiiyij. \\S commerce; this was so great and well ilirected, that the cus- toms wiiich had been farmed, at the beginning of the reign, for 14,000/. a year, towiU'ds its close were farmed ioY 50,000/. ; — the pacific character of James L, and the consequent tran- quillity enjoyed by England during his reign ; — the strong and general stimulus which was given to individual industry, by the feeling of their own importance, which the struggle be- tween Charles I. and the I'arliament naturally infused into the great mass of the peo})le ; — the increased skill in mari- time affairs, which was produced by our naval victories under Cromwell; — the great vigour of his government iii his rela- tions with foreign powers ; and the passing of the navigation act. The Restoration, bringing a great fondness for luxury and expence, naturally {)r()duced also exertions to gratify that fondness. If to these and other causes of a similar nature, we add the introduction of East India commodities direct to Enaying the interest of that debt produced exertions of industry, and improvements in manutiictures, which would not otherwise liave been called forth ; while, on the other hand, the funds absorbed all the superfluous capital, which, otherwise, as in Holland, must have had a bad effect on commerce, either by reducing its profits very low, or by being transferred to other countries ; and the interest, which so many individuals felt in the stability of the funds, induced them most steadily and strongly to support government. The commerce of Scotland and Ireland during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, supplies us with very few materials. In the j'ear 1544, Scotland must have had no inconsiderable foreign trade, as in the war which took place at this time be- tween that country anil England, twenty-eight of the principal ships of Scotland, laden with all kinds of rich merchandize, were captured by the English, on their voyage from France, Flanders, Denmark, &c. : and in the same year, when the lAP. V. icUtious :t: the ns, &c. fects of nunica- s inter- lem will instance II made, •atoi y to a. This nmercial 56 habits the pre- ence avul Litio than superior nneut, its ry, those iftusion of T system, I of Eng- powerful not mean but it [st of that ;ments in ^eu called fed all the ^nd, must [ducing its jcountries ; he stability wrongly to le sixteenth materials, tnsiderable is time be- principal jrchandize, |m France, when the CHAP. V. /o ///(• Beginning of the Nineteenth Cent an/. 4 15 Englisli took Leith, they found more riches in it than they had reason to expect. While Scotland and England were at peace, however, tiie former was principally supplied through the latter with the connnodities which Antwerp, during tho sixteenth century, dispersed over all Europe. The exports of Scotland to Antwerp, &c. were indeed direct, and consisted principally, as we have already remarked from Giiicciardini, of peltry, leather, wool, indifferent cloth, and pearls. The earliest account which occurs of the Scotch carrying on commerce to any I'ort out of Europe, is in the year 1589, when three or four Scotch sliips were found at the Azores by the earl of Cumberland. In the year 1598, it appears, from ft letter of king James to Queen Elizabeth, that some Scotch merchants traded to the Canaries. There is evidence that the Scotch had some commerce in the Mediterranean in tlie be- ginning of the seventeenth century; for in the "Cabala," under the year 1624, the cimfiscation of three Scotch ships at Malaga is noticed, for importing Dutch commodities. The principal articles of export from Scotland to foreign countries consisted of coarse woollen stuffs and stockings, linen goodsy peltry, leather, wool, pearls, &c. The principal imports were wine and fruits from France, wine from Spain and Portugal, the finer woollen goods from England, timber-, iron, &c. from the Baltic, and sugars, spices, silks, &c. from Antwerp, Por- tugal, &c. The following statement, with which we shall conclude our (account of Scotch commerce, is interesting, as exhibiting a view of the commercial intercourse by sea between England ftnd Scotland, from the commencement of the inspector general's accounts in 1697, to the Union in 1707. Scotland received from Eii{,'. land merchandize to the value of £73,203 58,043 66,303 85,194 56,802 58,688 57,338 87,536 50,0:^5 60,318 17,779 England received from Scot- land merchandize to the value of 1697. £91,302 1698. 124,835 :699. 86,309 1700. 130,087 1701. 73,988 1702. 71,428 1703. 76,448 1704. 54,379 ] 705. 57,902 1706. 50,1>09 1707. 6,733 * ' : • i if'i n' If > I f ' k ; i\G Pronrcsii of I)/sco7Wi/ CIJAV. V. The earliest notices of Irish trade, to wliich we have ahetuly adverted, particularly mention linen and woollen cloth, as tv.o of the most considerable articles of export from that cciuitry. Hides, wool, fish of different kinds, particularly salmon, and the skins of martins, otters, I'abbits, sheep, kids, &c. are also s})ecified, as formin I spices, ousiil*'"'- -ulceutU vrancaii. Ivelaiul, 3 of Ivc- j, butler, es; pipe II as pipe extensive le middle isiderablc ve already ittle from have been .IS c)f the ig a heavy neffecliial, ure of all jacon, im- bcfore this leland was Itinie. Sir Ihe state of jiers of the industry, adds, that jell as our AV, bread, [and could , exported anufacture as having flourished middle of on it with Ihester and liii Ireland, and ill that state it formed the chief article of its commerce, l^he woollen manufactures of Ireland, which were always viewed with jealousy by England, and were checked in every possible manner, gradually gave way to the restraints laid on them, and to the rising and unchecked linen manufacture, and of course ceased to enter into the exports. The connnerce of Scotland 'lurmg the sixteenth and seven- teenth centuries was kept low, by ignorance and want of in- dustry, by the disturbed state of the country, by disputes between the king and nobility, and, till the union of the ci'owns, by wars with England. The connnerce of Ireland had still greater difficulties to struggle with ; among which may be mentioned the ignorant oppression of the English government in every thing that related to its manufactures or trade. The commerce of France, during the sixteenth century, presents few particularii worthy of notice ; that, which was car- ried on between it arid England, was principally confined to the exportation of wines, fruit, silk and linen, from France ; and woollen goods, and tin and lead, from England. There seems to have been a great exchange between the woollens of England and fhe linens of Bretagne. The French, however, like all the other nations of Europe at this period, were igno- rant of the principles, as well as destitute of the enterprize and capital essential to steady and lucrative commerce ; and amply deserve the character given of them by Voltaire, that in the reign of Francis I., though possessed of harbours both on the ocean and Mediterranean, they were yet without a navy ; and though immersed in luxury, they '.ad only a few coarse manufactures. The Jews, Genoese, Venetians, Portuguese, Flemings, Dutch, and English, traded successively for them. At the very close of this century we have a very summary account of the commerce of France by Giovani Botero. France, says he, possesses four magnets, which attract the wealth of other countries ; — corn, which is exported to Spain and Poi'tugal ; — wine, which is sent to Flanders, England, and the Baltic ; — salt, made by the heat of the sun on the Mediterranean coast, and also on that of the ocean, as far north as Saintoigne; and hemp and cloth, of 'which and of cordage ;.;reat quantities are exported to Lisbon and Seville : — the exportation of the articles of diis fourth class, he adds, is incredibly great. In the middle of the seventeenth century, the finer ma- nufactures of woollen and silken goods having been carried E E tl \ %,■■ ■ \ 418 Progress of Discovery CHAP. V. to gi-eat perfection in France, lier exports in these articles were greatly increased. In the political testament of Richelieu, we are informed that a considerable and lucrative trade in these articles was carried on with Turkey, Spain, Italy, &c., and that France had driven, in a great measure, out of those markets the serges of Milan, the velvets of Genoa, and the cloth of gold of Italy. Early in the reign of Louis XIV., Colbert directed his at- tention to the improvement of manufactures and connnerce ; and though many of his plans were frustrated from the oper- ation of causes over which he had no control, and principally because he went before the age in which he lived, yet there can be no doubt that to him France was indebted foi* the consolidation, extension, and firm footing of her commerce. Immediately before the revocation of the edict of Nantes, her commerce was at its greatest heighth, as the following esti- mates of that she carried on with England and Holland will prove. To the former country the exportation of manufac- tured silks of all sorts is said to have been to the value of 600,000^. ; — of linen, sail-cloth, and canvass, about 700,000/. ; — in beaver hats, watches, clocks, and glass, about 220,000/. ; — in paper, about 90,000/. ; — in iron ware, the manufacture of Auvergne, chiefly, about 40,000/. ; — in shalloons, tammies, &c. from Picardy and Champagne, about 150,000/.; — in wines, about 200,000/. ; and brandies, about 80,000/. The exports to Holland, shortly before the revocation of the edict of Nantes, in silks, velvets, linen, and paper, are estimated at 600,000/. ; — in hats, about 200,000/. ; — in glass, clocks, watches, and household furniture, about 1/^0,000/. ; — in small articles, such as fringes, gloves, &c., aliiout 200,000/. ; — in linen, canvass, and sail cloth, about 160,000/.; and in saffron, ns, tammies, ),ooo/. ; -r}^^ ),000/. The I, of tlie edict p estimated at Mass, clocks, V. — ■ in small 0,000^. ; — i" Hid in saftVon, [constituted in of state and IS of the king- Ideaux, Lyons, Bayonne, and 16 information iccording to it, Guinea trade too. Theprin- sugar, indigo, cotton, cocon, f^inj^er, &c. The exdusive trades formed in 16G1, wlien France was little versed in conunerce and nuvi- pition, are (ii!|)recate exports were .. Ti, ■.T-^rr.agr— : ented n any le be- ndent, was in jreign, len the - ts con- entury, ued for 3t com- ;red the consoU- j princi- Pleskow, ecame a tury was Sannatia, , English, irst inter- Lirope, for lied, was e facilities of the city itire np-.i- )ssing the tions into ong them, 1568 they formed a altic sea. mart from near the Icrease the salmon, le Caspian Astracan irned with gia money. gtiU more with the Ipovtf. were CHAP. V. to the Beginning of the Nineteenth Centm-y. 4-25 valued ot the 660,000 rubles, two i-ubles at that period being equal to one pound sterling. The principal articles were potash, caviare, tallow, hides, sables, and cable yarn; the other articles of less importance, and in smaller quantities, were coarse linen, feathers for beds, tar, linen yarn, beef, rhubarb, Persian silk, cork, bacon, cordage, skins of squirrels, and cats ; bees' wax, hogs' birstles, mice and goats' skins, swan and geese down, candles, &c. Peter the Great became emperor in 1689 ; he soon unfolded and began to execute his vast plans of conquest, naval power, and commerce. He gained for his country a passage into the Black Sea, by i..jucing Asoph, at the mouth of the Don, and he soon es- iblished a navy on this sea. His personal ex rtions in Holland and England, to make himstlf acquainted with ship-building, are well known. The event of his reign, however, which most completely changed the relative situation of Russia, and established her as a commercial nation, was the conquest from Sweden of Livonia, Ingri^^, and Carelia. Scarcely were these provinces secured to him, when he built, first Cronstadt, and then St. Petersburg!!. The erection of this city, and the canals he constructed in the interior for the purpose of facilitating the transportation of merchandize from the more southerly and fertile districts of his empire to the new capital, soon drew to it the greater portion of Russian commerce. Archangel, to which there had previously resorted annually upwards of one hundred ships from England, Holland, Ham- burgh, ?;c. declined; and early in the eighteenth century Petersburgh, then scarcely ten years old, beheld itself a commercial city of great importance. Having now brought tne historical sketch of the progress of discovery and of commercial enterprise down to the com- mencement of the eighteenth century, it will be necessary, as well as proper, to contract the scale on which the remainder of this volume is to be constructed. For, during nearly the whole of the period which intervenes between the commence- nient of the eighteenth century and the present time, the materials are either so abundant or so minute, that to insert them all without discrimination and selection, would be to give bulk, without corresponding interest and value, to the work. So far as discovery is coiicerned, it is evident, from the sketch of it already given, that nearly the entire outline of the globe had been traced before llie period at which we are i ' I*. 1^' ' ' fcMC ' .-g^ML-TtT^ -m S o T ttib imA 426 Progress of Discovery CHAP. V. 1 ' I arrived : what remained was to fill up this outhne. In Asia, to gain a more complete knowledge of Hither and Farther India, of China> r*^ the countries to the north of Hindostan, of the north ar«- north-east of Asia, and of some of the Asiatic islands. In Africa, little besides the shores were known ; but the nature of the interior, with its burning sands and climate, uninhabitable, or inhabited by inhospitable and barbarous tribes, held out little expectation that another century would add much to our knowledge of that quarter of the world ; and though the perseverance and enterprise of the eighteenth century, and what has passed of the nineteenth, have done more than might reasonably have been an- ticipated, yet, comparatively speaking, how little do we yet know of Africa ! America held out the most promising as well as extensive views to future discovery ; the form and direction of her north-west coast was to be traced. In South America, the Spaniards had already g. V. CHAi*. V. to the Beginninrr of the Nineteenth (Jentury. 427 Asia, vther istan, .f the were sands le and nother rter of J of the teenth, en an- we yet .sing as vm and n South iderable ntic and lists had 311 which 1 habita- irely un- )resented itury but [arvest to )mise has ly portion )e ahuost century ; [nd extent md most the eigh- ^ve trust, Ire general lion of our Ir altering hi its great ledge from Rigour, by Led civih- Irld, it was able to advance with rapid strides, and no longer confining it- self to geography, strictly so called, to embrace the natural history of those countries, the existence, extent, and form of which it had first ascertained. The great object and design of the connnercial part of this work was similar ; to trace the progress of commercial enter- prises from the rudest ages of mankind, the changes and trans- fers it had undergone from one country to another, the causes and effects of these, as well as of its general gradual increase, till, having the whole of Europe under its influence, and aided by that knowledge and civilization with which it had mainly contributed to bless Europe, it had gained its maturity and vigour, and by its own expansive force pushed itself into every part of the globe, in which there existed any thing to attract it. At the beginning of the eighteenth century, commerce had not indeed assumed those features, or res'.ched that form and dimensions by which it was distinguished at the end of this century; but as its dimensions gradually enlarge, it will be necessary to be less ])articular and more condensed. Our ])lan indeed of being more minute in the early history (>f geographical science and commercial enterprise, is founded on an obvious as well as a just and important principle. In the infancy of j^eography and connnei'ce, every fact is im- portant, as reflecting light on the knowledge and stiite of man- kind at that period, anil as bearing on and conducing to their future progress ; whereas when geography and commerce have been carried so far as to proceed in their course as it were by their own internal impulse, derived from the motion they have been acquiring for ages, their interest and importance is much diminished from this cause, as well as from the minuteness of the objects to which, — all the great ones having been previ- ously occupied by them, — they must necessarily be confined. Severc^l circumstances co-operated to direct geographical discovery, during the eighteenth century, principally towards the north and north-east of Asia, and the north-west of Ame- rica. The tendency and interest of the Russian empire to stretch itself to the east, and the hope still cherished by the more commercial and maritime nations of Europe, that a pas- sage to the East Indies might be discovered, either by the north-east round Asia, or by the north-west, in the direction of Hudson's Bay, were among the most powerful of the causes - '7 428 Progress of Discovery CHAP. V. which directed discovery towards those parts of the globe to which we have just alhided. The extent of the Russian discoveries and conquests in the north and north-east of Asia, added much to geographical knowledge, though from the nature of the countries disco- vered and conquered, the importance of this knowledge is comparatively trifling. About the middle of the seventeenth century, they ascertained that the Frozen Ocean washed and bounded the north of Asia : the first Russian ship sailed down the river Lena to this sea in the year 1636. Three years afterwards, by pushing their conquests from one river to an- other, and from one rude and wandering tribe to another, they reached the eastern shores of Asia, not far distant from the present site of Ochotsk. Their con(juests in this direction had occupied them nearly sixty years ; and in this time they had annexed to their empire more than a fourth part of the globe, extending nearly eighty degrees in length, and in the north reaching to the 160" of east longitude; in breadth their conquests extended from the fiftieth to the seventy-fifth degree of north latitude. This conquest was completed by a Cossack ; another Cossack, as Make Brun observes, effected what the most skilful and enterprising of subsequent naviga- tors have in vain attempted. Guided by the winds, and fol- lowing the course of the tides, the current and the ice, he doubled the extremity of Asia from Kowynia to the river Anadyn. Kamschatcka, however, which is their principal settlement in the east < ^ Asia, was not discovered till the year 1 690 ; five years afterwards they reached it by sea from Ochotsk, but for a long time it was thought to be an island. The Kurile Islands were not discovered till the beginning of the eighteenth century. The direction of discovery to this part of the world, as well as the plan by which it might be most advantageously and successfully executed, was given by Peter the Great, and affords one proof, that his mind was capacious, though his manners, morals, and conduct, might be those of a half- civilized tyrant. Peter did not live to carry his plan into execution : it was not, however, abandoned or neglected ; for certainly the Russian government,, much more than any other European government, seems to pursue with a most steady and almost hereditary predilection, all the objects which have once occupied its attention and warmed its a)nbition. On his t c o Si A ii ki as B CHAP. V. fflobe to !sts ill the graphical ies disco- wledge is venteenth ished and iled down n-ee years ver to an- other, they t from the 3 direction time they ,oart of the and in the in breadth 2venty-fifth pleted by a es, effected lent naviga- js, and fol- the ice, he |o the river X principal ill the year sea from [e an island, leginning of world, as mtageously Great, and |us, though |e of a half- plan into Elected; for fi any other nost steady Iwhich have 1,1. On his CHAP. V. :o the Bcginnivg of the Nineteenth Ccnturij. 429 death, his empress and her successors, particularly Anne and Elizabeth, contributetl every thing in their power to carry his plan into full and complete execution. They went from Archangel to the Ob, from the Ob to the Jenesei. From the Jenesei they reached the Lena, partly by water and partly by land ; from the Lena they went to the eastward as far as the Judigirka : and from Ochotsk they went by the Kurile Islands to Japan. One of the most celebrated men engaged in the Russian dis- coveries in the early part of the eighteenth century was Beh- ring : he was a Dane by birth, but in the service of Catherine, the widow of Peter the Great, who fixed upon him to carry into execution one of the most favourite plans of her husband. During Peter's residence in Holland, in the year 1717, the Dutch, who were still disposed to believe that a passage might be discovered to the East -Indies in the northern pjirfs of America, or Asia, urged the Em})eror to send out an expe- dition to determine this point. Tliei-e was also another point, less interesting indeed to commercial men, but on which geo- graphers had bestowed much labour, which it was stated to the Emperor might be ascertained by the same expedition ; this was, whether Asia and America were united, or divided by a sea, towards their northern extremities. When Peter the Great returned to Russia, he resolved to attempt the solution of these problems ; and with his own hand drew up a set of instructions for the proposed voyage ; ac- cording .J these, the vessels to be employed were to be built in Kamschatka; the unknown coasts of Asia and America were to be explored, and an accurate journal was to be kept. It is not known whether the Emperor was induced to plan this expedition solely on the representations which were made to him in Holland, or from a belief that the close vicinity of the two continents of Asia and America had already been as- certained, or at least rendered highly probable, by some of his own subjects. It is certain that the Russians and the Cos- sacks in their service had reached the great promontory of Asia opposite to America ; and it is said that the islands lying in Behring Straits, and even the continent beyond them, were known to them by report. Peter, however, did not live to accomplish his design ; and, as we have already noticed, his widow Catherine fixed upon Behring to conduct the expedition. After building a vessel in 430 Progress of Discovcrj/ CHAP. V. Kamschatka, he sailed in 1728: his first object wps to exa- mine the coast of tliis part oF Asia. He was the first who as- certained Kamschatka to be a peninsula, and he framed an accurate chart of it, which is still regarded as one of the best extant. After reaching a Cape in north latitude G7^ 18', and being informed by the inhabitants that beyond it the coast bended to the west, he resolved to alter his course to the south. This was accordingly done, but he did not discover the opposite coast of America; several circumstances were noticed, however, which indicated that there was land to the east, at no great distance, such as floating piue branches and other species of plants, unknown on the coast of Asia ; these were always driven ashoi'c when easterly winds prevailed, The inhabitants also informed him, that, in very clear weather, they were able, from the top of their Jiighest mountains, to descry land to the east. Encouraged by these circumstances, Behring resolved to under* \e a second voyage from Kamschatka ; m this voyage he was accompanied by a Russian, named TchirikofF. They steered east, and first sought for land, which was said to have been discovei*ed between the latitude of 40° and 50"; but finding none, they separated, and steering further north, the Russian discovered the continent of America in about 56^*^, and Behring 2^ further north. On his return, the latter was wi'pcked in the island which bears his name, where he died. About four years after the death of this navigator, which happened in 1741, the sea between Asia and America was visited by some Russian merchants, who obtained permission from the government to make discoveries, hunt and trade; the vessels employed for this purpose were formed of a few boards fastened together with leathern thongs ; yet in these were discovered the Aleutian Islands, Soon afterwards an- other group of islands were discovered ; and then a third group, the Black Fox Islands, which are near the American continent. It was not, however, till the year 1760, that the Russians learnt that Ochotsk was only separated from America by a narrow strait; and it is said that in 1764, a Russian niercantile company sent out some vessels, which passed through a strait to some inhabited islands in 64° north latitude ; these were supposed to belong to the continent of America ; but if a strait was discovered by these adventurers, there must HAP. V. to exa- \\\o as- ined an :he best 18', and le coast i to llie discover ;es were id to the ches and in; these ed, The her, they to descry solved to is voyage ff. They id to have 50"; but lorth, the bout 56^", the latter where he or, which lerica was )ermission nd trade; 1 of a few t in these wards an- ;n a third American I, that the 1 America Russian ;h' passed a latitude ; America ; here must CHAP. V. /() the Beginning of the Ninelcenth Centwy. 431 be an error in the hititude, as in 64-" there is no opening known to exist. It was reserved for an Eiifj^lish navigator to ascertain the truth of the report which the Russians had received from the inhabitants of C^_ljotsk, that their country was separated from America only by a narrow strait. This was done during the thirtl and last voyage of Captain Cook; the principal design of which was to ascertain the existence and practicability of a passage between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, either to the north-cast or north-west. For this purpose he carefidly examined the north-west coast of America, beginnhig this examination in the latitude of 4''t° 33' north. Previously to this voyage an act of Parliament was jiassed, granting a reward of '20,000/. to any person who should discover o.iy northern passage by sea between the At- lantic and Pacific Oceans, in any parallel to the northward of of the 52° of northern latitude. This voyage of Cook began in 1778; on the 9tli of August, in that year, lie ascertained the position and latitude of the western extremity of America, and soon afterwards he determined the width of that strait which divides the two continents. He then steered to the north, and coqtinuing up the strait till lie was in the latitude 70° 41', he found himself " close to the edge of the ice which " was as compact as a wall," and ten or twelve feet high. He was of course obliged to return to the south, and in this part of his voyage he observed, on the American side; a low point in latitude 70° 29', to which he gave the name of Icy Cape. After the death of Cook, Captain Clarke entered the strait on the Asiatic side, and reached the latitude of 70° 33' ; he after- wards got sight of the land on the American side in latitude 69" 34'. Such were the results of the last voyage of Captain Cook, respecting the proximity of Asia and America, and the nature of the strait by which they were divided. Although the Spaniards seemed to be most interested in whatever concerned the west coast of America, yet they made no attempt to explore it from the commencement of the seventeenth century till the year 1774. In 1769, indeed, being alarmed at the evident design of the Russians to settle in the north-west coast, they formed establishments at St. Diego and Montory. In 1774' they traced the American coast from latitude 53° 53' to latitude 55P, and it is said discovered Nootka Sound. In the following year an expedition was sent il s^ 432 Pt'ot^ress of Discaveiy CHAP. V. |v r I from St. Bias, which proceeded along the north-west coast, and reached to latitude 57" 58'. I'he voyage of Cook rousetl the Russian government to further exertions ; and tiiey accordingly fitted out an expedi- tion to explore the sea between Asia and America : the com- mand of it was given to an Englishman of the name of Billings, who had served as a petty officer under Captain Cook. He was, however, by no means qualified for his situation, and abandoned the enterprise in the latter end of July, having proceeded only a few leagues beyond Cape Barrenoi : the whole amount of the information i)rocured during this voyage being confined to a few of the Aleutian Islands, and some points in the coast of America and Asia. A few years afterwards the Empress Catherine sent out a secret ex})edition ; the principal object of which was to ascer- tain the situation of the islands between the two continents. Little is known respecting this expedition, except that some ob- servations were made on Behring's Straits, which, however, were not })assed. The distance between the continents was estimated at forty-eight miles. About the same time, the great profits which it was expected would be derived from the fur trade on the north-west coast of America, inducetl several commercial vessels to visit it ; and during their voyages, nearly all the })arts of it which had not been visited by Cook, were examined as far as the inlet which vas named after him, in latitude 61^ 15'. This extent of coast was found to consist of a vast chain of islands ; and the ap))earance and nature of it revived the hope which Cook's last voyage had extinguished, that in this part of the coast there might be a practicable passage from the Pacific to the Atlantic ocean. This hope was a»ain extinguished in the opinion of most people, by the result of two of the most celebrated voyages which have been performed since the death of Captain Cook : we allude to the voyages of La Perouse, and of Vancouver : the former sailed with two frigates from Brest on the 1st of August, 1 785 : the object of this voyage was very comprehensive and important, being no less than to fill up whatever had been left deficient or obscure by former navigators, and to dete. nine whatever was doubtful, so as to render the geography of the globe as complete and minute as possible : he was directed to supply the island in the South Seas with useful European HAP. V. I coust, iient to cxpecli- le com- Sillings, ik. He on, and , having he whole ge being points in ent out a to ascer- Mitinents. some ob- however, iients was J expected st coast of t it; and h had not nlet which extent of ; and the :h Cook's the coast lific to the ii of most |l voyages vin Cook: incouver : [he 1st of Vehensive • had been lete. nine Ihy of the lirected to [European CHAP. V. /n the nefrititn'ng of the Nivetrenth Cctitmi/. 4S.1 vegetables. At present we shall confine our notice of this voyage to what relates to the more immediate object of this part of our work, the coast of North-west America. The north-west coast of America was made by La Perouse, in latitude sixty degrees north : from this latitude he carefully traced and examined it to the Spanish settlement of Monterey. — an extent of coast of which Cook had had only a transient and imperfect view. Of this he constructed a chart, which at the time was justly regarded as extremely accurate and com- plete, but was subsequently rendered much more so by the survey of particular points and bays made by the vessels en- gaged in the fur trade, and especially by that which was con- structed by Vancouver, from a close and careful examination of the numerous channels with which this coast abounds, principally performed in boats, and therefore descending into very minute details. The accessions made by him to geography in other parts of the globe, as well as his unfortunate fate, will be afterwards related. In the year 1790, a dispute arose between Britain and Spain, respecting Nootka Sound: on the adjustment of this dispute, the British government determined to ':end out an officer to secure possession of the settlement, and also to de- termine the question respecting the existence of a navigable passage between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Captain Vancouver was selected for these purposes : his instructions were, after accomplishing his mission at Nootka Sound, to examine that part of the coast occupied by the chain of islands, disccveretl by the vessels in the fur trade, " and to as- certain, with the greatest exactitude, the nature and extent of every communication by water which might seem to tend to facilitate commercial relations between the north-west coast and the countries on the east of the continent, inhabited by British subjects or claimed by Great Britain;" and in par- ticular to search for the strait of John de Fuca, and to examine if Cook's River had not its source in some of the lakes fre- quented by the Canadian traders, or by the servants of the Hudson's Bay Company. He sailed from England with a sloop and brig on the 1st of April. 1791. He began his examination of the west coast of America, in latitude 39° 27' north, and continued it as far as Nootka : finding that the Spaniards raised difficulties to the restoration of this settlement, he proceeded to carry into F F ' ^\ 1' 434 Progress of Discover}^ CHAP. Vr execution the other objects of this voyage. During tliree summers, he surveyed the north-west coast of America as fai' as Cook's River, v/ith a diligence, attention, and accuracy which could not have been surpassed. Every opening which presented itself was explored, and never left till its termination was determined ; so that on a very careful and minute inspec- tion of every creek and inlet ot a coast consisting almost entirely of creeks and channels, formed by an iimumerable nuiltitude of islands, he thought himself justified in pro- nouncing, that there is no navigable paesag*^ between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, unless there may be a possibility of sailing through the strait between Asia and America, antl navigating the Frozen Ocean. The surveys which were made during this voyage, may justly be said to have rendered per- fix't the geography of that part of the north-west coast of America to which it extended, and indeed to have completed the whole geography of this coast, which, from the multitude of its creeks, inlets, islands, &c., presents formidable as well as petty and troublesome difficulties in the way of its accurate and complete survey. Captain Vancouver, however, was ex- tremely fortunate in tlie weather wliich attended him during the whole of the three summers which he spent on this coast. Upwards of twenty years elapsed after the voyage of Vtm- couver, before another attempt was made to find out a passage from the north Pacific into the Atlantic Ocean. This attempt proceeded from Russia : not however from the government, but an individual. Count Romanzoff", a Russian nobleman, is well known for iiis liberal and judicious encouragement of every thing v.iiich can promote useful knowledge, especially in what relates to the improvement and benefit of his country. His first design was to fit out an expedition to explore the north-west passage by Hudson's Bay or Davis' Straits ; but learning that the Jiritisli government were making preparations to attempt it by that route, he changed liis })lan, and resolved to fit out an expedition to attemjjt the discovery of a passage from the ea.stward. A ship \.as jvccordingly built and equipped, and ihc com- mand given to T.ieutcnanl Kolzebue. He sailed from Russia iji the autunni of 1815, and on the 19th of .June in the l()llow- ing year he reached Kainachulka. This he left on the l.^th of July and on the '2()th of that month, Hehring's Islands v xre idecu to the northward of Cape I'rince of Wales. A tract of low land was ascertained to be an island about seven miles f \ CHAP. Vr iig three ica as fav accuracy ing which rminatioii lie inspec- ng ahnost iiunicrablp 1 hi pro- tween the possibility . erica, anil were made tiered per- st coast ot conii)leted ; multitude e as well as its accurate 'er, was ex- him during 1 this coast, ge of Vun- ut a passage 'his attempt rovernment, I nobleman, ragement ot especially in uis country, explore the Straits ; but preparations m\ resolved ,f a passage Ind the com- froui llussiu in the lollow- on the ir)th Islands v ere A tract of seven miles CHAP. V, to the BeginningStf the Nineteefith Century. 435 long, and a mile across, in the widest part : beyond it was a deep inlet running eastward into the continent. Lieutenant Kotzebue, animated and encouraged by this appearance, pro- ceeded in a northerly direction, and found that the land con- tinued low, and tended more to the eastwards. On the 1st of August the entrance into a broad inlet was discovered, into which the current ran very rapidly. The opening of this inlet was known before, and is indeed laid down in the charts attached to Marchand's Voyage round the World ; but Kot- zebue is certainly the first person who explained it. As it was perfectly calm when he reached this inlet, he resolved to go on shore, and examine from some eminence the direction of the coast. " We landed," he observes, " without difliculty, near a hill, which I immediately ascended ; from the summit I could no where perceive land in the strait : the high moun- tains to the north either formed islands, or were a coast by themselves ; for that the two coasts could not be connected together was evident, even from the very great difference between this very low and that remarkably high land. It was my intention to continue the survey of the coast in the boats, but a number of baydares coming to us along the coast frouT the east, withheld me." He afterwards had an interview with the Americans who came in these baydares: he found that they prized tobacco very highly, and that they received this and other European goods from the natives of the opposite coast of Asia. It was probably the first time in their lives that these Americans had seen Europeans. They were of the middle size ; robust and healthy ; ugly and dirty ; with small eyes, and very high cheek bones : they bore holes on each side of their mouths, in which they wear morse bones, ornamented with blue glass beads, which give them a most frightful appearance. Their dresses, which are made of skins, are of the same cut as the Parka, in Kamtschatka; only that there they reach to the feet, and here hardly cover the knee : besides this, they wear pantaloons, and small half boots of seal skins." Tl latitude of this place, or rather of the ship's anchor- age, at the time this survey was made, was 66"^ 42' 30", and the longitude 164° 12' 50". There were several ch-cumstan- ces which induced Kotzebue to hope that he had at length found the channel which led to the Atlantic: nothing was seen but sea to the eastward, and a strong current ran to th«» north-east. Under these circumstances, thirteen days I' I- 2 4 36 Progress of Discovety CHAP. V. * (' I were occupied in examining the shores of this opening; but no outlet was discovered, except one to the south-east, which seemed to communicate with Norton Sound, and a channel on the western side, which of course ould not be the one souglit for. Kotzebue, however, remarks, " I certainly hope that tliis sound may lead to important discoveries next year ; and though a north-cast passage may not with certainty be depended on, yet I believe I shall be able to penetrate much farther to the east, as the land has very deep indentures." The name of Kotzebue's Sound was given to this iulet. Next year he returned to prosecute his discovery; but in consequence of an accident which happened to the ship, and a very dangerous blow which Jie received at the same time, he abandoned the attempt. That there is an opening, either by Kotzebue's Inlet or near to it, lo the Frozen Ocean, is probable, not only from the circumstances we have mentioned of an opening anil a strong cui'rent to the north-east having been observed, but also from other circumstances noticed in the account of this voyage. This current brings large quantities of drift wood into Kotzebue's Sound : and in the breaking up of the ice in the sea of Kamscliatka, the icebergs and fields of ice do not drift, as in the Atlantic, to the south, nor do they drive to the Atlantic islands, but into the strait to the north. The direction of the current was always north-east in Behring's Straits ; and it was so strong and rapid, as to carry the ship fifty miles in twenty-four hours ; that is, above two miles an hour. On the Asiatic side of the strait it ran at tho rate of three miles an hour ; and even with a fresh north wind, it ran equally strong from the south. The inference drawn by Kotze- bue is as follows : " The constant north-east direction of the current in Behring's Straits, proves that the water meets with no opposition, and consecjuently a passage must exist, though perhaps not adapted to navigation. Observations have long been made, tlmt the current in Baffin's Bay runs to the south ; and thus no doubt can remain that the mass of water which flows into Behring's Straits takes its course round America, and returns through Baffin's Bay into the Ocean." In IS 19 the Russian government sent out another expedi- tion, whose object was to trace the continent of America to the northward and eastward. .Tuly, ney Behring's Straits, and were su}ipt)sed to hav(* passed them in that year ; in the winter they returned to some of the llussian V CHAP. V. 1 ; but no it, which (.Imnnel ! the one mly hope ext year; rtainty be rate much ientuves." this iulet. y; but in ship, and same time, 's Inlet or only 1V»^»» )ening and served, bijt unt of this drift wood f the ice in I of ice do Ley drive to orth. The [1 Behrinf^'s vy the ship ivo miles an . tho rate of [wind, it ran |n by Kot/e- ition of the meets with ist, though IS have long the south ; ater which id America, > llher expcdi- lAmerica to liey reached Ised them hi llhe Russian U CHAP. V. to the Beginning of the Nineteenth Cenlurt/. 4:51 settlements on the coast of America : what they have since done or discovered is not known. Such is the result of what has hitherto been discovered by sea, with respect to the contiguity of Asia and America, the northern parts of these continents, and the probability of a passage from the Pacific to the Atlantic. Very lately some attempts have been made to reach the north-eastern exti-emity of Asiaby land. "In February, 1821, Baron Wrangel, an officer of great merit and of considerable science, left his head-quarters in the Nishney Kolyma, to settle by astronomical observations the position of Shatatzkoi Noss, or the North-east Cape of Asia, which he found to lie in latitude 70'' 5' north, considerably lower than it is usually placed in the maps. Having crossed this point, he undertook the hazardous enterprize of crossing the ice of the Polar Sea, on sledges drawn by dogs, in search of the land said to have been discovered in 1 762 to the northward of the Kolyma. He travelled directly north eighty miles, without perceiving any thing but a field of interminable ice, the sur- face of which had now become so broken and uneven, as to prevent a further prosecution of his journey. He had gone far enough, however, to ascertain that no such land had ever been discovered." (Quarterly Review, No. LII. p. 342.) Another attempt, still more extraordinary and hazardous, has lately been made to explore the north-east of Asia, and particularly to determine whether the two continents of Asia and America do not unite at the North-east Cape, or in some other point. This enterprize was undertaken by Henry Dundas Cochrane, a commander in the British navy ; who received assurances from the Russian government that he should not be molested on his journey ; that he should receive any assistance, protection, and facilities he should recjuire ; and that he might join an expedition sent by the Russian government toward the Pole, if he should meet it, and ac- company it as far as he might be inclined. He left Peters- burgh in the beginning of the summer of 1820, and in one hundred and twenty-tlu'ee days reached the Baikal, having traversed eight thousand versts of coimtry, at the rate of forty- three miles a day. He seems afterwards to have gone as iar as the Altai Mountains, on the frontiers of China. As, however, his prmcipal object >tas to explore the extreme north-east of Asifi, he went down the Lena, and rei.ahed Jakutzk on the IGth of October, 1820. On the Kolynjii, whore he arrived on i il i i3B Progress of Discover^/ t'lIAP. V, f I the 30th of December, in longitude 164-°, he met the Russian polar expedition. From Jakutzk to this place he travelled four hundred miles, without meeting a single human being. At the fair held at Tchutski, whither he next directed his steps, he received much information respecting the north- east of Asia. He ascertained the existence of this cape ; all doubts, he says, being now solved, not by calculation, but by ocuiar demonstration. Its latitude and longitude, are well ascertained : he places this cape half a degree more to the northward than Baron Wrangel ; but it is doubtful whether he himself reached it, and if he did, whether he had the means of fixing its latitude, or whether he depends entirely on the inform- ation he received at the fair of Tchutski. His expressions, in a letter to the President of the Royal Society, are, " No land is considered to exist to the northward of it. The oast side of the Noss is composed of bold and perpendicular cliffs, while the west side exhibits gradual declivities ; the whole most sterile, but presenting an awfully magnificent appearance." From the fair he seems to have returned to Kolyma, and thence proceeded to Okotsk, a dangerous, difficult, and fatiguing journey of three thousand versts, a great part per- formed on foot, in seventy days. From this last place h^ proceeded to Kamschatka, where it is supposed he was obliged to terminate his investigations, in consecjuence of an order or intimation from the Russian government not to pro- ceed further. We must next direct our attention to what has been done since the commencement of the eighteenth century, toward dis- covering a passage in the north-east of America, from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. One of the conditions on which the Hudson's Bay Com- pany obtained their charter, in the year 1670, from Charles II., was, that they should prosecute their discoverijs ; but so far from doing this, they are accused, and with great appearance of reasoU) or not only suffering their ardour for discover^' to cool, but also of endeavouring to conceal, as much as possible, the true situation and nature of the coast about Hudson's Bay, partly in order to secure more effectually their monopoly, and partly from the dread they entertained, that if a passage to the Pacific were discovered by this route, go'-ernment would recal their charter, and grant it to the Ei.-.t India Company. They were irdeed roused, but very inefleclively, from their torpor, by one of their captahis in- CHAP. V. t^liAP. V. fo ihe Beginning of the Nineteenth Cent my. isg 2 Russian travelled an being, reeled his be north- cape; all )n, but by 1, are well >re to the whether he ; means of he inform- :pressions, « No land :ast side of ifFs, while hole most pearance." lyma, and icult, and : part per- ; place h^ 1 he was 2nce of an lot to pro- tean done oward dis- from the Bay Com- liiulcs II., but so far jearance of scovcrj' to much as oast about ;ually their lined, that ills route, it to the but very iptains in- timating, that if they refused to fulfill the terms of their charter, by making discoveries, and extending their trade, he viould himself apply to the crown. In onler to silence him, they sent him and another captain out in two vessels, in 1719 or 1720; but they both perished, it is supposed, near Marble Island, without effecting any thing. Two years afterwards they sent out another ship under thecom- mand of a person, who, destitute of the requisite knowledge and enterprize, was totally imfit for such an undertaking: the result was such as might have been anticipated — nothing was effected. An interval of twenty years passed over, and the company again sank into apathy on the subject of a north-west passage, when the attention of government wa.s directed to the subject by the en- thusiasm of an Irish gentleman of the name of Dobbs. Having well considers ' what preceding navigators had ascertained, aiul especially the remarkable circumstance particularly noticed by Fox, that the farther he removed from Sir Thomas Roe's Welcome the smaller was the height to which the tide rose, and who thence inferred, that if a passage were practicable, it must be in this direction, this gentleman applied to the company to send out a vessel. Accordingly, a vessel was sent ; but all that is known of this voyage, and probably all that was done, amounts merely to this, that the vessel reached 62° 30' north latitude : here they saw a number of islands, and of white whales, and ascertained that the tide rose ten or twelve feet, and carae from the north. Mr. Dobbs next applied to government, who at his request sent out two vessels under Captain Middleton. Rut Middle - ton, who had been in the service of the company for many voyages, returned after having sailed up the Welcome to Wager's River, and looked into, or perhaps sailed round, a bay, which he ramed Repulse Bay. Mr. Dobbs accused him of having misrepresented or concealed his discoveries ; antl there seems good ground for such an accusation, which indeed was confirmed by the evidence of his officers, and not explicitly denied by himself. Government was undoubtedly of opinion that the voyage of Middleton had not determined the non-existence or impractical'lity of a passage ; for the next year an act of jiarliament was passed, granting a reward of 20,000/. to the person or ))ersons who should discover a north- west passage through fludson's Straits to the western and southern ocean of America. Stimulated by the hope of oblahiing this large sum, n ]•• I- t (" \i .1 ■1 440 Prog) ess of Discovery CHAP. V company was formed, who raised 10,000/., in shares of 100/., with which they fitteil out two ships; the Dobbs, commanded by Captain More; and the California, by Captain Smith. They sailed from London on the 20th of May, 1746. When they reached the American coast near Marble Island, they made some observations on the tides, which they found flowed from the north-east, and consequently followed the direction of the coast ; they likewise ascertained that the tide rose to the height of ten feet. While they were in their winter quarters at Port Jackson, they received little or no assistance from the servants of the Hudson's Bay Company. On resum- ing tlieir voyage, and reaching the vicinity of Knight's Island, the needles of tlieir compasseslost their magnetic quality, which they did not recover till they were kept warm. Proceeding northwards, they examined Wager's Strait; but in conse- quence of a difference of opinion between the commanders, they returned to England. The only points ascertained by this voyage were, that Wager's Strait was a deep bay, or inlet, and that there existed another inlet, which, however, they did not explore to the termination, named by them Chesterfield's Inlet. The fresh buffalo's flesh, which was sold to them by the Esquimaux, was probably the flesh of the musk ox. After this voyage nothing was done, either by the Hudson's Bay Company, government, or individuals, towards the ex- j)loring of a passage in the north, till the year 1 762, when the company, coinciding with the opinion that was then prevalent, that Chesterfield's Inlet ought to be examined, as affording a fair prospect of a passage into the Pacific Ocean, sent a vessel to determine this point. The report of the captain, on his re- turn, was, that he had sailed up the inlet in a westerly direction for more than one hundred and fifty miles, till he found the water perfectly fresh ; but he acknowledged that he did not go farther, or reach the head of it. As the result of this voyage was deemed unsatisfactory, still leaving the point which it had been its object to determine doubtful, the same captain was again sent out, in company with another ship, with express directions to trace the inlet to its western limits, if practicable. They ascertained that the fresh water, which had been discovered in the former voyage, was that of a rivei", which was the outlet of a lake, and this lake they lono', tnd SIX or seven explored ; it was twenty-four miles broad; they likewise found a river flowing into the lake from the CHAP. V CHAP. V. to the Beginning of the Nineteenth Ccntunj. 441 I U jf 100/., nded by Tliey len they ey made red from ction of rose to r winter ssistance 1 resum- s Island, ty, which oceeding 1 conse- nanders, lined by bay, or bowever, by them was sold li of the ludson's the ex- vhen the revalent, brding a a vessel n his re- lirection und the did not t of this le point le same er shi}), n limits, which at of a ke they »r seven Vom the west, but they were prevented from exploring it to any great distance by falls, that intercepted the progress of their boats. These particulars are detailed in Golclson's Observa- tions on the Passage between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans ; the voyages themselves were never published, do not seem to be generally known, and have escaped the notice of Forster, the author of the History of Voyages and Discoveries in the North. Forster is likewise silent respecting an expedition that was equipped and sent out by some gentlemen of Virginia in 1772, to attempt a north-west passage. The captain on his return reported that he reached a large bay in latitude 69° 11', which he supposed hitherto unknown; that from the course of the tides, he thought it probable there might be a passage through it, but that as this bay was seldom free from ice, the passage could seldom if ever be practicable. In the year 1770 the Hudson's Bay Company, more alive to the prospect of gain than to the interests of discovery and geographical science, having received some information from the Indians that copper might be obtained in great quantity far to the west of Fort Prince of Wales, resolved to dispatch Mr. Hearne, belonging to that fort, in search of it. This gentleman made four different excursions for this purpose, but it was only during the fourth that he reached to any great distance from the fort. In this excursion he penetrated to what he conceived to be the mouth of the Coppermine River, in the Frozen Ocean, about the latitude of 72*^ north. Accord- ing to his account, Chesterfield Inlet is not the north-west passage, and the American continent stretches very consider- ably to the north-west of Hudson's Bay. The whole extent of his journey was about thirteen hundred miles. It was however doubted, whether what he deemed to be the mouth of the Coppermine River was actually such. It is certainly singular, that though he staid there for twenty-four hours, he did not actually ascertain the height to which the tide rose, but judged at that circumstance from the marks on the edge of the ice. There are other points in the printed account, as well as discrepancies between that and his MS., which tended to withhold implicit belief from his assertion, that he had reached the Frozen Ocean. In the year 1 789 the North-west Company having received information from an Indian, that there was at no great distance from Montreal, to the northward, a river whicli ran u H'2 Progress o/' J^iscovcty CtlAV. V. the partners of that into the sea, Mr. M'Kenzic, one company, resolved to ascertain the truth ot this report, by going himself on an expedition for that purpose. He set out, attended hy a few Indians ; and after traversing the desert and inhospitiiblc country in which the posts of the company are established, he reached a river which ran to the north. He followed the course of this river till he arrived at what lie conceived to be the Frozen Ocean, were he saw some small whales among the ice, antl determined the rise and fall of the tide. This river was called after him, Mackenzie's River, and to the island he gave the name of Whale Island. This island is in latitude •69'' 14'. In 1 793 Mr. M'Kenzie again set out on an inland voyage vl geographical and commercial discovery, taking with him the requisite astronomical instruments and a chronometer. His course he directed to the west. After travelling one hundred miles on foot, he and his companicms embarked on a river, running westward, which conveyed them to an inlet of the Pacific Ocean. Here he observed the rise and lall of the tide, and saw porpoises and sea otters. The claim of the discovery of the Frozen Ocean by a north-west route, to which Mr. M'Kenzie lays claim, has been ques- tioned, as well as Mr. Hearne's claim. It has been re- marked, that he might have ascertained beyond a doubt whether he had actually reached the sea, by simply dipping his finger into the water, and ascertaining whether it was salt or not. The account he gives of the rise of the tides at the mouth of Mackenzie River serves also to render it very doubtful whether he had reached the ocean ; this rise he does not estimate greater than sixteen or eighteen inches. On the whole, we may conclude, that if Mr. Hearne actually traced the Coppermine River to its entrance into the sea, or Mr. M'Kenzie the river that bears his name, they have not been sufliciently explicit in their proofs that such was really tlie case. At the time when the British government sent out Captain Cooke on his last voyage of discovery, Lieutenant Pickers- gill was also sent out by them, to examine the western parts of Baffin's Bay, but he never entered the bay. Government were equally unfortunate in their choice of Lieutenant Young, who w^as sent with the same object the following year : he reached no farther than the seventy-second degree of latitude ; antl instead of sailing along the western side of the bay, lAP. V. rHAK V. lo the licgi/ining of the Nineteenth Centnrtj. i\$ if that ort, by ;et out, ert and mpany : nortli. it what V some ind fall ienzie's Island. voyage ith him lometer. ,ng one nbarked 1 to an ■ise and . The rth-west n ques- keen re- ft doubt dipping was salt js at the it very rise he inches, actually e sea, or lave not as really Captain Pickers- rn parts ernment Young, ear : he latitude ; Lhe bay, khich orally free fr( fifenerailv tree trom ice, he clung to the eastern ays firmly attached. Indeed, if Dr. Douglas's character of him was just, he was T' ^tted for the enLerprize on which he was sent ; for his talei .s, he observes, were more adapted to contribute to the gl 'i ^ of a victory, as commander of a line-of-battle ship, than to add to geographical discoveries by encountering mountains of ice, and exploring unknown coasts. Notwithstanding the unsuccessful issue of all these attempts to discover a north-west passage, the existence and practica- bility of it still were cherished by many geographers, who had particularly studied the subject. Indeed, nothing had resulted from any of the numerous voyages to the Hudson's or Baffin's Bay, which in the smallest degree rendered thd existence of such a passage u ,k( 'v. Among those scientific men who cherished the idea cf si h a passage with the most enthusiasm and confidence, i id w'lo brought to the investiga- tion the most extensive and minute knowledge of all that had been done, was Mr. Dalrymnle, hydrographer to the Ad- miralty, " He had long been of opinion, that not only Green- land, but all the land s n by Baffin on the northern and eastern sides of the great K>ay bearing his name, was composed of clusters of islands, and that a passage through the Fretum Davis, round the northern extremity of Cumberland Island, led directly to the North Sea, from the seventy to the seventy- first degree of latitude." This opinion of Mr. Dalrymple was grounded, in part at least, on the authority of an old globe, one of the first constructed in Britain, preserved in the library of the Inner Temple : this globe contains all the discoveries of our early navigators. Davis refers to it ; and Hackluyt, in his edition of 1589, describes it " as a very large and most exact terrestrial globe, collected and reformed according to the newest, secretest, and latest discoveries, both Spanish, Portugal, and English, composed by Mr. Enmieric Moly- neaiix, of Lambeth, a rare gentleman in his profession, being therein for diverse years greatly supported by the purse .and liberality of the worshipful merchant Mr. William San- derson." Mr. Dalrymple prevailed on the Hudson's Bay Company to send out Mr. Duncan, a master in the navy, who had displayed considerable talent on a voyage to Nootka Sound. This gentleman was very sanguine of success, and very zealous in the cause in which he was employed. But thi^ ■II 44- 4- Progress of Discovay CHAP. V. ]' attempt also was unsuccessful : Mr. Duncan, after a con- siderable lapse of time, reaching uo farther than Chesterfield Inlet. The attention of scientific men, and of the public at large, was called again to this important problem in the geography of the northern seas, by some elaborate and well Informed articles in the Quarterly Review, which are generally sup- posed to be written by Mr. Barrow, the under secretary of the Admiralty, who also published an abstract of voyages to the Northern Ocean. The British government, influenced by a very laudable love of science, and perhaps regarding the discovery of a north-west passage as of the same importance to commerce as the reviewer evidently did, resolved to send an expedition for the purpose of attempting the discovery. Accordingly, on the 8th of April 1818, two ships, the Isabella and Alexander, well fitted by their construction, as well as strengthened and prepared in every possible manner for such a voyage, sailed from the Thames. Captain Ross had the principal command. It is not our design here to follow them during their voyage to their destination: suffice it to say, that on the 18th of August, exactly four months after they sailed from the Thames, the ships passed Cape Dudley Digges, the latitude of which they found to agree nearly with that assigned to it by Baffin, thus affijrding another proof of the accuracy of that old navigator, whose alleged discoveries have been latterly attempted to be wrested from him, or rather been utterly denied. The same day they passed an inlet, to which Baffin had given the name of Wolstenholme Sound. Captain Ross, in his account of his voyage, says it was completely blocked up with ice ; but in the view taken of it, and published by him, there is a deep and wide opening, completely free from ice. In fact, on this occasion, as well as others of more consequence, to which we shall presently advert, Captain Ross, unfortunately for the accomplishment of the object on which he was sent, contented himself with conjecture where proof was accessible ; for all he remarks respecting this sound is, that it seemed to be eighteen or twenty leagues in depth, and the land on the east side appeared to be habitable. When it is considered that in these high and foggy latitudes much deception of sight takes place, it ought to be the absolute and undeviating rule of the navigator to explore so far, and to examine so carefully and closely, that he may be -!«- CHAP. V. ;r a con- liesterfield c at large, jreof^raphy Intbrnied rally sup- icretary of oyages to laudable •very of a nmerce as edition for iingly, on Llexander, jened and ige, sailed command. sir voyage e 18th of from the e latitude ned to it icy of that n latterly m utterly ch Baffin ain Ross, •^ blocked lished by free from of more Captain ■object on where mg this jaijues in abitable. latitudes be the :plore so may be re I HAP. V. to the Ih'ginnivii of the Nineteenth Cerittni/. 4't5 certain, at least, that his sight docs not deceive him. The same negligence attended the examination of Whale Sound : all the notice of it is, that they could not approach it in a direct line, on account of ice ; it was, in fact, never approached nearer than twenty leagues. Captain Ross does not seem to have been fully sensible of the nature of the object on which he was sent out. If there existed a passage at all, it must be in a strait, sound, or some other opening of the .ea: it could exist no where else. Every sucii .)pening, which exhibited the least ajijiearance, or the smallest symptoms of stretching far, especially if it stretched in the proper direc- tion, ought to have been practically and closely examined, not merely viewed at a distance in a foggy atmosphere. As for the impediments, they were what were to be expected, what the ships were sent out to meet and overcome ; ami till persevering and even highly hazardous efforts had proved that they could not be overcome, they ought not to have been suffered to weigh the least with the captain or his men, and especially not with the former. But to proceed : about midnight on the 19th of August, the sound described by Baffin to be the lai'gest of all the sounds he discovered, and called by him Sir Thomas Smith's Sound, was distinctly seen ; and the two capes which formed its entrance were called by Captain Ross after the two ships Isabella and Alexander. " I considered," he informs us, " the bottom of this sound to be about eighteen leagues distant, but its entrance was completely blocked up by ice." Here again, a sound which seemed to promise fair to lead tliem into the great Polar Sea was left undiscovered, and in fact unapproached ; for at the distance of eighteen leagues, in that deceptive climate, nothing could be really known of its real state or practicability. Had Captain Ross made the attempt; had he spent but a couple of days, and actually encountered serious obstacles, even though he had not experienced that those obstacles were insurmountable, he would have had some excuse ; but it is impossible not to censure him for approaching no nearer than eighteen leagues to a sound such as this, and pronouncing at this distance that the ice blocked it up completely. His reasoning to support his belief that this sound afforded no passage, and to defend his not having explored it, is weak and inconclusive ; but we shaU not examine it, because the commander to whom such an expeilition is entrusted, should never reason, where he 446 Progress of D'ncoxm'ij CHAP. V. u can prove by actual observation and experiment. It is unsafe in him to reason, because he will most assuredly be tempted to make his line of conduct bend to his hypothesis and reasoning. Captain Ross returned down the western side of Baffin's JJay. On the 21st an opening was seen, which answered to the description of Alderman Jones Sound, given by BaiTin ; but here again the ice and fog prevented them from approaching near ; as if the fog might not have cleared up in a day or two, and the ice might not either have been drifted off in as short a space, or, if it could not, have been passed by the crew, so far, at least, as to have gained a nearer and better view of this sound. Baffin describes this sound as a large inlet, and adds, that the coast tended to the southward, and had the appearance of a bay. This is confirmed by Captain Ross ; for lie informs us that the land was obsei'ved to take a southerly direction. On the 28th of August the sea became more clear of ice, and no bottom was found with three hundred fathoms of line : in the afternoon of that day they succeeded in getting completely clear of the ice, and once more found themselves In Jie open sea. Baffin and Davis both mention that the northern parts of Baffin's Bay were clear of ice when they were there, so that it is probably generally the case. On the 29th a wide opening was descried in the land ; this they entered on the following day. " On each side was a chain of high mountains ; and in the space between, W. S. W., there appeared a yellow sky, but no land was seen, nor was there any ice on the water, except a few icebergs ; tlie opening therefore took the appearance of a channel, the entrance of which was judged to be forty-five miles ; the land on the north side lying in an E. N. E. and W. S. W. direction, and the south side nearly east and west." " As the evening closed, the wind died away, the wetither became mild and warm, the water much smoother, and the atmosphere clear and serene." Even those who are little ac4,'ainted with the symptoms which in thie high latitude indicate an open sea, must be struck with the wide difference between these circumstances and those which had met the navigators in almost every other part of their voyage, since they had approached the place where a passage might possibly exist and be found. Yet, even at this time and place, when expectation must have been high, and not without good reason, and when we are 21 i\ . m »» t* tsas nd )ening lowing and yellow on the aok the ged to in an nearly id died much are t:HAP. V. to the Deghmhig of thf Ninetefuth Cenliinf. \A1 expressly infornie'' 36' 49 "west; that he sailed five hundred and fifty miles alons its shores to the eastward, and then re- turned to Fort lilntcrprizr. I i i'l n /' '\r>o Progress of Discox^erij CHAP. V. I i \)f' ocean, and at the distance of forty-seven leagues from any other land." About the middle of July he reached the latitude of 1^,^, after liavin=- if not navi- Pacific antl nterin^- this this was not the breathli es: through ing, heaving ce, even with of half a mile as tried, and 3d of August the eastward, all felt," says ige which was tion, accord- ■especting the . It is more es) the almost every counte- gale, we ran _;()wded by the and an uncon- iiconcernc.d oa , the eagerness ■ow's-nest were niost sanguine resting and im- and 'the ships wo shores of tho miles asunder, was discerned ^ v»^ CHAP. V, to the Beginning of the 'Nineteenth Cenfurii, 4-51 to tlie westward. In fact, there seemed no obstacle ; none of those mountains witli which, according to Captain Ross, the p^^ssage of the sound was eternally blocked up, nor even any ice, an object of a less serious and })ermanent nature. Other circumstances were also encouraging ; the whole surface of the sea was completely free from ice, no land was seen in tlie direction of their course, and no bottom could be reached with one hundred and seventy fathoms of line, so that " we began," observes Captain Parry, " to flatter ourselves that we had fairly entered the Polar Sea, and some of the '^.ost sanguine among us had even calculated the bearing rnd distance of Icy Cape, as a matter of no very difficult or im- probable accomplishment. This pleasing {irospect was ren- dered the more flattering, by the sea having, as we thought, regained the usual oceanic colour, and by a long swell which was rolling in from the soiUhward and eastward." The first circumstance that threw a damp over their sanguine expectations, was tlu; discovery of land a-head ; they were however renewed by ascertaining that this vvas only a small island : but though the insurmountable obstacle of a land termination of the sound was thus removed, another appeared in its place ; as they perceived that a floe of ice was stretched from the island to the northern shore. On the southern shore, however, a large inlet was discovered, ten leagues broad at its entrance, and as no land could be seen in the line of its direction, hopes were excited that it might lead to a passage into the Polar Sea, freer from ice than the one above described. At this period of the voyage a singular cir- cumstance was remarked : during their passage down Sir James Lancaster's Sound, the compass would scarcely tra- verse, and the ship's iron evidently had great influence over it : both these phaenomena became more ajiparent and power- ful, in proportion as their westerly course encrcased. When they were arrived in the latitude of 73", the directive power of the needle became so weak, that it was completely over- come by the attraction of the iron in the ship, " so that the needle might now be said to point to the north pole of the shij). And by an experiment it was found, that a needle suspeiided by a thread, the movements of which were of course scarcely affected by any friction, always pointed to the head of the ship, in whatever direction it might be. To this inlet, which Captain Parry was now sailing down, lie gave the name of tie Prince Regent. The j)rospect w;:» ti (J 2 11 fi^l I ,,'", V.' . 452 Progres. i>f Discovem l.HAr V I 1 ». ! 'f still very flattering : the v idth iiiC! e is<,d «s they proceeded, and the land inclinetl more and rox to the ^outh-westward. But their expectations were again d-^strcyed : a floe of ice stretched to the southward, beyond which no sea was to be descried. Captain Parry therefore resolved to return to the wide westerly ]:)assage which he had quitted. On the 22d ot" August, being in longitude 92i", they opened two fine channels, tl;e one named alter the Fuke of Welling- ton; this was eight leagues in width, and neither land nor ice could be seen from tiie mast head, thou'.di the weather was extremely clear ; this channel tended to the N. N. V/. Hie other stretched nearly west ; and though it was not so open, yet as it was more directly in the course which it was their object to pursue, it was preferred by Captain Parry, By the 25th they had reached 99"^ west longitude, about 20 de- grees beyond Lancaster Sound. On the 30th they made the S. E. point of Melville Island. By the 4th of "f^ptember they had passed the meridian of 110" west longitude, in latitude 7¥^ 44' 20" : this entitled them to the fust sum in the scale of rewards granted by jjarliament, namel5' 5000/. * as at this part of their course they were opposite a point of land lying in the 8. E. of Melviile Island ; this point was called Bounty Cape. On the 6th of September they anchored, for the first time since they had left England, in a bay, called after the two ships. During the remainder of the season of 1819, which how- ever contained only twenty mot ■> days, in which any thing- rould be done. Captain Parry {jjosecuted with much perse- verance, and in the midst of infiiiite difticulties and obstacles, n plan which had suggested itself to him some time before ; this w.v *r> conduct the ships close to the shore, within the main body of the ice ; but their progress was so extremely slow, t:.>.t, during the remainder of the year they did not advance more than forty miles. On the 21st Captain Parry abaridoned the undertaking, and returned to the bay which was called after the two ships. Here they lay ten months ; and the arrangements made by Captain Parry for the safety of the vessels, and for the health, comfort, and even the amusement of the crew, were planned and effected witli such admirable good sense, that listlessness and fatigue were strangers, even among sailors, a class of men who, above all others, it would have been apprehended, would liave soon wearied of such ii monotonous life. The' commencement of I ■oceeiied, westward, t floe of sea was to return id. On y opened Welling- id nor ice 'atlier was as not so ; which it tain Parry, bout 20 de- y made the "f>ptember iigitude, in vst Sinn in lely 5000/. ■ > a point oi i point was py anchored, I bay, called which how- li any thing much perse- nd ol;)stacles, time before; e, within the so extremely t'.iey did not :aptain Tarry le bay which ten months ; or the safety 1, 1(1 even the olVected with I fatigue were ho, above all (1 liave soon u(Micement ot ♦ HAV. V. fu t/ic Beginnt'ng nf the Nineicentk (\^nlu)y. 4.j? IV inter was justly daf-^vl from tli'j 14-th o*" kSeptembei, ■ !(cu *he ihenn. -meter suddenly fell to 9". On the 4th of Noveiiibcr the sun descended btlow the horizon, and did not up'^-ear araiii till the 8th of February. A little before and a or what in other places is called the shortest day, but v'.":h to them wa the middle of their long night, there v. as much light as enabled them to read small print, when ' cid towards the south, and to walk comfortably for two liours, Kxcessive cold, as indicated by the thermometer, took pl:;ce in January : it then sunk from 30*^ to 40" below Zero : on the 11th of this numth it was at 49"; yet no disease, or even pain or inconvenience was felt in consequence of this most excessive cold, provided the proper precautions were used ; nor did any complaint arise from the extreme and rapid change of temperature to wliich they were exposed, when, as was often the case, they passed from the cabins, which were Ixcpt heated up to 60^ or 70°, to the open air, though the change in one minute was in several instances 120" of temperature. Cold, however, as January was, yet the following month, though, as we have already observed, it again exhibited the sun to them, was much colder; on the 15th of Februarj' the thermometer fell to 5S^ below Zero, and remained for fifteen hours not higher than 54". Within the next fifteen hours it gradually rose to 34". But though the sun re-ajipeared early in February, they had still a long impristmment to en- dure ; and Captain Parry did not consider it safe to leave their winter quarters till the 1st of August, when they again sa.'ed to the westward : their mode of proceeding was the same as that nhich they had adopted the precedii .?• year, iz. crawling along the shore, within the fast ice; i?> t' is manner thev got to the west end of Melville Island. ^ i al! their efforts to proceed further were of no avail. , -tain i^arry was now convinced, that somewhere to the soui.i;-"'est o'i this there must be an innnoveable obstacle, which j . ,> ented the ice dispersing in that direction, as it had been iinuul o .lo in every other part of the voyage. At last, on the IGth of August, further attempts were ffiven up, and Captain Parry determined to return to the eastward, along the edge of the ice, in order that he might push to the southward if he could find an opening. Such an opening, however, could not be found ; but by coastuig south- ward, along the west side of Baffin's Bay, Captain Parry convinced himself that there are other passages into Prince (; (^ 3 . m —Yt%0ittBSm 45't I'rogress q/' Discovery CHAT. V. I Regent's Inlet, besides that by Lancaster Somul. The farthest point in the Polar sea readied in this voyage was latitude 7t"26'23", and longitude 113" 46' 43:5". On the 26th of September they took a final leave of the ice, and about the middle of November they arrived in the Thames. In every point of view this voyage was extremely creditable to Captain Parry ; A is not surpassed by any for the admir- able manner in which it was conducted, for the presence of mind, perseverance, and skill of all the arrangements and operations. It has also considerably benefited all those branches of science to which the observations and experi- ments of Captain Ross and his companions were directed, and to which we have already adverted. Perhaps in no one point has it been of more use to mariners, than in proving the minute accuracy of going to which chronometers have been brought. As this expedition very naturally encouraged the hope that a north-west passage existed, and might be discovered and effected, and as Captain Parry was decidedly of this opinion, government very properly resolved to send him out again ; he accordingly sailed in the spring of the year following that of liis return. He recommended that the attempt should be made in a more southern latitude, and close along the northern coast of America, as in that direction a better climate might be expected, and a longer season by at least six weeks ; and this recommendation, it is supposed, had its weight with the admiralt' in the instructions and discretionary powers which they gave him. We must now direct our attention to the southern polar regions. Geographers and philosophe-s supposed that in this portion of the globe there must h'^ some continent or very large island, which would serve, as it were, to counterbalance the immense tracts of land which, to the northward, stretched not only as near the pole, as navigation had been able to proceed, but also west and east, the whole breadth of Europe and Asia. The second voyage of Captain Cook was planned and undertaken for the express purpose of solving the (juestion respecting the Terra Australis which occupied the older maps. He sailed on this voyage in July 1772, having under his command two ships, particularly well adapted and fitted up for such a service, the Resolution and Adventure ; he was accompanied by a select band of officei's, most of whom were not only skilful and experienced navigators, but also scientific a^tronon^ers and geographers; tlicrc were also <\vf) pi'ofessetl CHAP. V. ud. Tlie oyafi;e was . On the e ice, and 'hannes. 1 creditable the adniir- iresence ot" ments and all those ind experi- rected, and 3 one point the minute brought, e hope that overed and bis opinion, t again ; he ving that of ; should be he northern mate might tveeks ; and ;ht with the iwers which thern polar that in this r very large )alance the stretched ;en able to I of Eurojie anned and le (juestion the older iving under and fitted re ; lie was whom were so scientific () professed CHAP. V. to the Beginning of the Ninttctnth Cent tin/. A'yo astronomers, two gentlemen who were well skilled in every branch of natural history, and a landscape painter. On the 1 2th of December, Captain Cook entered the loose and floating ice, in latitude G2'' 10'; on the 21st he met with ice- bergs in latitiide 67°; and by the end of the month he returned to latitude 58°. On the 26th of January in the following year, he again penetrated within the Antarctic circle, and on the 3()th, liad got as far as latitude 71° 16'. This was the utmost point to which he was able to penetrate ; and he was so fully per- suaded, not only of the impracticability of being able to sail further to the south, but also of remaining in that latitude, that he returned to the northward the very same day, deem- ing it, as ho expresses it, a dangerous and rash enterprize to struggle with fields of ice. " I," he continues, " who had ambition not only to go farther than any one before, but as far as it was possible for man to go, was not sorry to meet with this interruption." The existence of u southern continent was thus considered by Captain Cook, and all other geographers, as disproved to an almost absolute certainty. In this voyage Captain Cook also obtained a correct know- ledge of the land discovered by La lloclie in 1675, and gave to it the name of New Georgia ; he discovered, too, Sandwich land, which was then supposed to be the nearest land to the South Pole ; he ascertained the extent of the Archipelago, of the New Hebrides, which had been originally seen by Quiros, and superficially examined by Bougainville. New Caleilonia, and many of the islands among the groupe to which he gave the name of the Friendly Islands, were also among the fruits of this voyage. The French government had sent out an expedition, about the same time that Captain Cook sailed in (juest of a southern continent, on a similar pursuit. A French navigator some time before had stated that he had discovered land, having been driven far to the south, off" the Cape of Good Hope. This supposed land the exjjedition alluded to was also to look after. The person selected to conduct it, M. De Kerguelen, tloes not seen: to have been well chosen or (jualified for such an enterprize; for after having discovered land, situated in 49® south latitude, and 69° east longitude from Cireenwich, he re- turncvl rather precipitately tr "ranee, witho; , having explored this laml, concluding very rasiily, and without any suilicient grounds, that the Terra Australis was at length ascertaineil to exist, and its exact situation ^ietermiuetl. He was received ^1 45G Progress of Uiscovfrt/ Itl.W. V. and treated in France as a second Columbus : but as the French court seems to have hud some doubts on the extent and merit of his alleged discoveries, notwithstanding the re- ception which it gave him, he was sent out a second time, with two ships of war of 64 and 32 guns each, and 700 men, to com- plete his discovery and take possession oi' this new continent. But he soon ascertained, what indeed he might and ought to have ascertained in his first voyage, that what he deemed and represented to be the Terra Australis was only a di-eary and inhospitable island, of small size, so very barren and useless, that it produces no tree or even shrub of any kind, and very little grass. On such an island, in such a part of the globe, no mhabitants could be looked for ; but it is even almost en- tirely destitute of animals ; and the surrounding sea is repre- sented as not more productive than the land. The French navigator was unable to find safe anchorage in this islatul, though it abounded in harbours; to this miserable spot he gave his own name. It was afterwards visited by Captain Cook, in his third voyage, and also by Peyrouse. As the southern ocf.an, in as high a latitude as the climate and the ice rendered accessible and safe, had been as it were swept carefully, exte.isively, and minutely, by Captain Cook, and some subsequent navigators, without discovering land of any considerable extent it was naturally sujiposed that no southern continent or even large island existed. In the year 1819, however, this disbelief was partly de- stroyed by an unexpected and singular discovery. Mr. Smith, who commanded a vessel trading between Rio Plato and Chili, was naturally desirous to shorten, as much as possible, his passage round Cape Horn. With this object in view, he ran to a higher- latitude than is usual in such voyages ; and in lati- tude 62'^ 30' and in longitude 60*^ west, he discovered land. This was in his voyage out to Chili ; but as he could not then spare the time necessary to explore this land, he resolved to follow the same course on his return voyage, and ascertain its extent, nature, &c. This he accordingly did ; and likewise on a subsequent voyage. " He ran in a westward direction along the coasts, either of a continent or numerous islands, for 200 or 300 miles, forming large bays, and abounding with the sper- maceti whale, seals, &c. He took numerous soundings Hnd bearings, draughts and charts of the coast." He also landed and took possession of the country in the name of his sovereign, and called his acquisition New South iShetland. He repre- I criAi*. V. ut as t he- he extent g the re- time, with n, to corn- continent, ought to jemed and h'eary and ul useless, , and very the globe, ^vlniost en- is repre- le French lis island, e spot he y Captain lie climate as it were ain Cook, UT huul of that no artly de- . Smith, iiul Chili, sible, his he ran id in lati- ed land, not then solved to ertain its ewise on on along r 200 or he sper- ings and ) landed vcrcign, repre- tiiyvi'. V. Ho the Beginning oj' the. Nineteenth Century. 4-57 Bents tlie climate as temperate, the coast mountainous, ap- parently uninhabited, but not destitute of vegetation, ;is he observed firs and pines in many n'.ices ; and on the whole, the country appeared to him very .p jch like the coast of Norway. It may seem extraordinary that hind of this extent should not have been discovered by any former navigator ; but the surprise will cease, when we reflect tliat though Captain Cook penetrated much further to the south than tlie latitude of New -South Shetland, yet his meridian was 45 degrees farther io the west, and that lie thus left a large expanse of sea unex- plored, on the parallel of GS'' between that and Sandwich land, the longitude of which is 22" west. He indeed likewise reached 67*^ south hititude : but this was in longitude from 1 37^^ to 1 47"^ west. Now the longitude of New South Shetland being 60" west, it is evident that Captain Cook in his first attempt, left unexplored the whole extent of longitude from 28", the longitude of Sandwich land, to 60", the longitude of New South Shetland ; and in his second attem})t, he was still further from the position of this new discovered land. Pey- rouse reached no higher than 60° 30' latitude, and Vancouver only to 55°. Thus we clearly see that this land lay out of the track, not only of those navigators, whose object being to get into the Pacific by the course best known, pass through the Straits of Magellan and Le Maire, or keep as near Cape Horn as possible, but also of those who were sent out expressly to search for land in a liigli southern latitude. The intelligence of the discovery of New South Shetland, and that its coasts abounded in Spermaceti whales, and in seals, quickly and powerfully roused the commercial enter- prise both of the British and the Americans. In the course of a short time, numerous ships of both these nations sailed to its coasts ; but from their observations and experience, as well as from a survey of it w'liich was undertaken by the orders of one of His Majesty's naval officers, commanding on the south- west coast of America, it was soon ascertained that it was a most dangerou,- land to approach and io continue near. Its sterility and bleiik and forbidding appearance, from all the accounts published respecting it, are scarcely equalled, cer- tainly are not surpassed, in the most inhospitable countries near the North Pole ; while ships arc suddenly exposed to most violent storms, from which there is little chance of escaping, and in which, durhig one of the seal-catching seasons, a great number were lost. i I 'l-fiS Pfoji^irys of Discuvcnj tHAl'. V. Tliere are, however, couiiterhixlanclnf the Nineteenth Cen/uri/. i.^O this voyage of our celebrated navigator, was to examine the coast of New Holland ; and he performed this object most com- pletely, so far as the east coast was concerned, from tlie ;}Sth degree of latitude to its northern extremity; he also provt-d that it was separated fnmi New (Juinea, by passing through the channel, wliich he called after his ship. Endeavour Strait. In the year 1791, Captain Vancouver explored 110 leagues of the south-west coast, where he tliscovered King George's Sound, and some clusters of small islands. In the same year two vessels were dispatched from France in search of La iVyrouse ; in April 1792, they made several observations on Van 1 .Ne- man's Land, the south cape of which they thought was sepa- rated from the main land; they also discovered a great harbour. In tlie subsecjuent year 1793, they again made the coast of New Holland, near Lewin's Land, and they asceitained that the first discoveries had been extremely accurate in ihe lati- tudes wiiich they had assigned to this part of it. In consequence of the British forming a settlement at Botany Bay, nuich additional information was gained, not only re- gartling tlie interior of New Holland, in the vicinity of the settlement, but also regarding part of its coast : the most interesting and important discovery I'elative to the latter was made towards the end of the year 1 797, by Mr. Bass, surgeon of His Majesty's ship Reliance. He madt an excursion in an open boat to the southward of Port Jackson, as far as 40 de- grees of south latitude, and visited every opening in the coast in the course of his voyage : he observed sufficient to induce him to believe that Van Dieman's Land was no part of New Holland. Soon after the return of Mr. Bass, the governor of the English colony sent out him and Captain Flinders, then employed as a lieutenant of one of His Majesty's ships on the New South Wales station, with a view to ascertain whether Mr. Bass's belief of the separation of Van Dieman's Land was well founded. They embarked on board a small-decked boat of 25 tons, built of the fir of Norfolk island. In three months they returned to Port Jackson, after having circunmavigated Van Dieman's I^and, and completed the; survey of its coasts. The strait that separates it from New Holland was named by the governor, Bass's Strait. The importance of this discovery is undoubted. In voyages from New Holland to the Cape of Good Hope, considerable time is gained by passing through it, instead of following the former course. In the year 1800, Captain Flinders was again sent out by the governor, to ex- i> -^t^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I ^ lifi IIIIIM IL25 i 1.4 1.8 1.6 V] <^ /} / VI c*: c^^ ^^ ^ '=F ^'^ /y '/ ^, Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WIST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. K.SSO (716) 872-4503 V iV ;\ \ %' # <^ IGO Progress of Discovcri^ CHAP. X. r amine ihe coast to the northward of Port Jackson ; of this nothing more wa.^ known but what tlie imperfect notices given of it by Captain Cook suppUed. In this voyage he completely examined all the creeks and bays as far to the northward as the 25th degree of latitude, and more particularly Glasshouse and Harvey's Bays. The English government at length re- solved that they would wipe off' the reproach, which, as Cap- tain Flinders observes, was not without some reason at- tributed to them, " that an imaginary line of more than 2.50 leagues of extent, in the vicinity of one of their colonies, should have been so long suffered to remain ti'aced upon the charts, under the title of unknown coast," and they accordingly appointed him to the command of an expedition fitted out in England for this purpose. Before giving an account of this voyage of Captain Flinders, we shall abridge, from the Introduction prefixed to it, his clear and methodical account of the progressive discoveries which have been made on the coast of New Holland, and of what was still to be explored. He particularly dwelt on the ad- vantages that would result from a practicable passage through Torres' Strait ; if this could be discovered, it would shorten the usual route by the north of New Guinea, or the Eastern Islands, in the voyage to India and Ciiina. The immense gulf of Caipentaria was unknown, except a very small portion of its eastern side. The lands called after Arnheim and Van Dieman also required and deserved a minute investigation, especially the bays, shoals, islands, and coasts of the former, and the north.n-n part of the latter. The north-west coast had not been examined since the time of Dampier, who was of opinion that the northern portion of New Holland was separated from the lands to the northward by a strait. The existence of such a strait. Captain Flinders completely disproved. With respect to the south coast, at least 250 leagues were unexplored. Captain Flinders had examined with consider- able care and minuteness the east coast and Van Dieman's Land ; but there were still several openings which required to be better explored. Such were the principal objects which Captain Flinders had in view in his voyage ; and no person could have been found better qualified to accomplish these objects. On the 18th of July, 1801, he sailed from England in the Investi- gator, of 334 tons: tiiere were on board, beside the proper CHAP. V. ; of this ces given ampletely Kward as lasshouse length ra- , as Cap- •eason at- than 250 es, should he charts, xordingly ted out in I Flinders, t, his clear fies which d of what )n the ad- re through Id shorten lie Eastern ; immense all portion 1 and Van estigation, he former, west coast pier, who Holland y a strait, ompletely rues were , considei'- I Dieman's required Flinders lave been On the le Investi- lie proper CHAP. V. to the Beginning of the Nineteenth Centini/. 4G1 and adequate complement of men, an astronomer, a naturalist, a natural history painter, a landscape painter, a gardener, and a miner. As soon as he approached the south coast of New Holland, he immediately began his examination of the coasts, islands, and inlets of that large portion of it, called Nuyts' Land ; he particularly examined all that part of the coast, which lies between the limit of the discoveries of Nuyts and Vancouver, and the eastern extremity of Bass' Straits, where he met a French ship, employed on the same object. In the month of July, 1802, he left Port Jackson, whither he had gone to i*efit, and sailing through Torres' Straits in 36 hours, he ai'rived in the Gulf of Carpentaria in the latter end of the season. In the course of this part of his voyage, he examined Northumberland and Cumberland islands, and the great barrier reefs of coral rock ; and every part of the eastern side of the Gulf of Carpentaria ; not a cape, creek, bay, or island on this coast of the gulf escaped his notice and examination. It was his intention to have pursued the same mode of close and minute examination : " following the land so closely, that the washing of the surf upon it should be visible, and no opening nor any thing of importance escape notice ; " but he was prevented by ascertaining that the vessel was in such a crazy state, that, though in fine weather she might hold together for six mo^^lts longer, yet she was by no means fit for such an undeilaking. After much deliberation what conduct he ought to pursue under these circumstances, as it was impossible, with such a vessel, he could at that season return to Port Jackson by the west route, in conse- quence of the monsoon (and the stormy weather would render the east passage equally improper) he resolved to finish the survey of the Gulf of Carpentaria. This occupied him three months : at the end of this period he was obliged, by the sickness of his crew, to sail for Timor, which he reached on the 31st of March, 1803. As the Investigator was no longer fit for service, she was condemned. Captain Flinders resolved, as he could not finish the survey, to return to England, in (-rder to lay his journals and charts before the Admiralty ; he accordingly em- barked on board the Porpoise store ship, which, in company with the Cato and Bridgwater, bound to Batavia, sailed in August, 1803. The Porpoise and Cato were wrecked on a reef of rocks nearly 800 miles from Botany Bay : most of the charts, logs, and astronomical observations were saved : but < .-. A-6'2 Progress of Discover}) C I!AP. V. the rare plants, as well as the dried specimens, were lost or destroyed. On the 26th of August, Captain Flinders left the reef in the cutter, and after a })assage of considerable danger, reached Port Jackson on the 8th of September. As he was extremely anxious to lodge his papers as soon as pos- sible with the Lords of the Admiralty, he embarked from Port Jackson in a vessel, something less than a Gravesend passage boat, being only 29 tons burden. Even in such a vessel. Captain Flinders did not lose sight of the objects nearest his heart : he passed through Torres' Straits, ex- amined Pandora's entrance, explored new channels among the coral reefs, examined Prince of Wales Island, crossed the Gulf of Carpentaria, and after anchoring at some islands on the western side of the gulf, directed his route to Timor : here he refitted his vessel, and then sailed for the Isle of France, where it wa-- absolutely necessary ho should touch, in order that she might undergo a repair, as she was very leaky. Though he possessed passports from the French government, he was detained at the Isle of France, imder the absurd pretence that he was a spy. All his books, charts, and papers were seized ; and he himself was kept a prisoner in a miserable room for nearly four months. He was aftei- wards removed to the garden prison, a situation not so uncomfortable and prejudicial to his health as that from which he was taken ; at length, in consequence of an appli- cation from the Royal Society to the National Institute, the French government sent an order for his liberation ; but it was not received, or, at least, it was not acted upon till the year 1810; for it was not till that year that Captain Flinders was permitted to leave the Isle of France: he arrived in England on the 24th of October of that year. There are few voyages from which more important ac- cessions to geographical knowledge have been derived, than from this voyage of Captain Flinders, especially when we reflect on the great probability that New Holland will soon rank high in population and wealth. Before his voyage, it was doubtful, whether New Holland was not divided into two great islands, by a strait passing between Bass' Straits and the Gulf of Carpentaria. Captain Flinders has put an end to all doubts on this point : he examined the coast in the closest and most accurate manner : he found indeed two great oj)enings ; these he sailed up to their termination ; and, con- secjuently, as there were no other openings, and these were 15 CHAP. V. re lost or iclers left isulerable iher. As 511 as pos- ked ftoni 3ravesend in such a lie objects Itraits, ex- els among id, crossed )me islands to Timor : the Isle of ould touch, lie was very the French ance, under )oks, charts, It a prisoner le was after- vtion not so ts that from of an appli- [nstitute, the •fition ; but it upon till the that Captain France : he lat year, mportant nc- derived, than tUy when we ind will soon his voyage, it divided into . Bass' Straits rs has put an le coast in the deed two great ion ; and, con- ,nd these were I cuAv. V. fo the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century. \(\',i mere inlets, New Holland can no longer be supposed to hv. dividetl into two great islands, but must be regarded as forming one very large one; or, rather, from its immense size, a species of continent. He made another important and singular discovery, viz. that there are either no rivers of any magnitude in New Holland, or that if there be such, they do not find their way to the sea coast. This country seems also very deficient in good and safe ports : in Ins survey of the south coast, he found only one. He completed the survey of the whole eastern coast ; of Bass's Straits and Van Dieman's Land, observing very carefully every thing relative to the rocks, shoals, tides, winds, currents, &c. Coral reefs, which are so common in most parts of the Pacific, and which, owing- their origin entirely to worms of the minutest size, graduallv become extensive islands, stretch along the eastern coast of New Holland. These were examined with iireat care by Captain Flinders : he found that they had nearly blocked up the passage through Torres' Straits, so that it required great care and caution to pass it with safety. But one of the most important results of this voyage respects tlie survey of the Gulf of Carpentaria ; previously the extent and bearings oi' this gulf were not known ; but from Captain Flinders's geo- graphy we have received an accurate and full survey of it. Its extent was ascertained to be 5}, degrees of longitude, and 7 de- grees of latitude ; and its circuit nearly 400 leagues. On the coast of this gulf he found a singular trade carried on. Sixty proas, each about the burden of 25 tons, and carrying as many men, were fitted out by the Rajah of Boni, antl sent to catch a small animal which lives at the bottom of the sea, called the ^ slug, or biche de met: When caught, they are split, boiled, and dried in the sun, and then carried to Timorlaot, when the Chinese purchase them: 100,000 of these animals is the usual cargo of each proa, and they bring from 2000 to 4000 Spanish dollars. Notwithstanding the English had had settlements in New Holland for upwards of 26 years, little progress had been made in exploring the interior of the country even in the im- mediate v'cinity of Botany Bay. It was supposed that a pas- sage across the Blue Mountains, wliich are within sight of tliat settlement, opposed insurmountable obstacles. At length, about the end of the year 18 J 3, the Blue Mountains were crossed for the first time, by Mr. Evans, the deputy surveyor of the colony. He found a fertile and pleasant district, and ' *• \ y ^* A«J4. Progress of Di'scoveri/ CHAP. V. the streams winch took their rise in the Bhie Mountains, running to the westward ; to one ol" the most considerable of these he gave the name of Macquarrie river ; the course of this river he pursued for ten days. On his return to the colony, the governor, Mr. Macquarrie ordered that a road should be made across the mountains ; this extended 1 00 miles, and was completed in 1815. Mr. Evans soon afterwards discovered another river, which he called the Lachlan. As it was of great consequence to trace these rivers, and likewise to examine the country to the west of the Blue Mountains more accurately, and to a greater distance than it had been done, the governor ordered two expeditions to be undertaken. Lieutenant Oxiey, the surveyor-general of the colony had the command of both. It does not fall within our plan or limits to follow him in these journeys ; we shall there- foi"e confine ourselves to an outline of the result of his dis- coveries. He ascertained that the country in general is very unfertile: the Lachlan he traced, till it seemed to loose itself , in a multitude of branches among marshy flats. " Perhaps," observes Lieutenant Oxley, " there is no river, the history of which is known, that presents so remarkable a termination as the present : its course, in a strait line from its source to its termination, exceeds 500 miles, and including its windings, it may fairly be calculated to run at least 1 200 miles ; during all which passage, through such a vast extent of country, it does not receive a single stream in addition to what it derives from its sources in the Eastern mountains." — " One tree, one soil, one water, and one description of bird, fish, or animal, pre- vails alike for ten miles, and for 100." There were, how- ever, tracks, especially where the limestone formation prevailed, of great beauty and fertility ; but these were comparatively rare and of small extent. Le>el, bare, sandy wastes, desti- tute of water, or morasses and swamps, which would not sup- port them, formed by far the greatest part of the country through which they travelled. The second object Lieutenant Oxley had in view was the survey of the course of the Macquarrie river; this he knew to be to the north-west of the Lachlan. In ci'ossing from the banks of the latter in search of the former, they reached a beautiful valley ; in the centre of which flowed a clear and strong rivulet. This they traced till it joined a large river, which they ascer- tained to be the Macquarrie. From this point to Bathurst Plains, the country was rich and beautiful. .^.if^feffS?^ CUAP. V. Mountains, siderable of mrse of this the colony, d should be les, and was i discovered J rivers, and of the Blue listance than editions to be sneral of the all within our ,'e shall there- It of his dis- reneral is very 'to loose itselt « Perhaps," the history of termination as ts source to its its windings, it miles; during country, it does it derives from tree, one soil, )r animal, y^re- ere were, how- ation prevailed, comparatively u wastes, desti- would not sup- of the country in view was the is he knew to be from the banks ched a beautiful d strong rivulet, lich they ascer- ,int to Bathurst CHAP. V. to the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century. 4^5 As from the size of the Macquarrie where they fell in with it, it seemed probable that it either communicated with the sea itself, or flowed into a river which did, the governor sent Lieutenant Oxley on another expedition to trace its course, and thus settle this point. For twelve days the country was rich and beautiful : the river was wide, deep, and navigable. The country then changed its character: no hill was to be seen; on all sides it was as level and uninteresting as that through which they had traced the Laclilan in their former journey. Soon afterwards it overflowed its banks ; and as the country was very flat, it spread over a vast extent. Under these circumstances, Lieutenant Oxley proceeded down it in a boat for thirty miles, till he lost sight of land and trees. About four miles farther it lost all appearance of a river ; but he was not able to continue his route, and was obliged to re- turn, without having ascertained whether this great inland lake, into which the Macquarrie fell, was a salt or fresh water lake. On his return he crossed the highest point of the mountains which divides the waters running west from those which run into the east ; the most elevated peak he cail^ulates to be from 6000 to 700( eet. Here he found a river rising, which flowed to the east ; and following it, he arrived at the plcwe where it fell into the ocean. It is pretty certain from these expeditions, that no river of any size empties itself into the sea, on the northern, western, or southern coasts of New Holland. Captain Flinders and the French navigators had examined all the line of coast on the western side, except from latitude 22° to 11° south ; it might therefore be supposed that the Macquarrie, after freeing itself from the inland lake to which Lieutenant Oxley had traced it, might fall into the sea, within these limits. This, however, is now proved not to be the case. In the year 1818, Lieutenant King was sent by the Board of Admiralty, to sur- vey the unexplored coast, from the southern extremity of Terre de Witt. He began his examination at the north-west cape, in latitude 21° 45', from this to latitude 20° 30', and from longitude 114° to 118°, he found an archipelago, which he named after Dampier, as it was originally discovered by this navigator. Dampier had inferred, from a remarkable current running from the coast beyond these islands, that a great strait, or river, opened out behind them. Lieutenant King found the tide rimning strong in all the passages of the archi- H H IS-. II I Ua 'I - '^ J' > )? 1^' [.-V ^1 466 Pro:fress of Di^roveri/ ClfAP. V pelago, but there was no iipj)earjinco ofii rivor: the coast was in general low, and beyond it he descried an extensive tract of 'inundated marshy country, similar to that described by Lieu- tenant Oxiey. Cape Van Dienien, Lieutenant King ascer- tained to be the northern extremity of an isliind, near which •was a deep gulf Although we have not learnt that Lieutenant • King has completed his survey, 8 or 9 degrees of latitude on the north-west coast still remaining to be explored, yet we think it may safely be inferred that no great river has its exit into the ocean from the interior of New HoUantl. This circum- stance, added to the singular nature of the country through which Lieutenant Oxley journeyed, and the peculiar and unique character of many of its animals, seems to stamp on this portion of the globe marks which strongly and widely . separate it from every other jiortion. It is remarked in the Quarterly Reviev,, that, beiore Cap- tain Flinder's voyage, "the great Gulf of Carpentaria had as yet no definite outline on our nautical charts. It was tl e imaginary tracing of an undulating line, intended to denote the limits between land and water, without a promontory, or an island, a bay, harbour, c/r inlet, that was defined by shape or designated by name. This blank line was drawn and copied by one chart maker from another, without the least authority, and without the least reason to believe that any European had ever visited this wide and deeply-indented gulf; and yet, when visited, this imaginary line was found to approximate so nearly to its true form, as ascertaine(| by survey, as to leave little doubt that some Eurojiean irivigator must at one time or other have examined it, though his labours have been buried, as the labours of many thousands have been before and since his time, in the moukly archives of a jealous ami selfish governnjent." This remark maybe extended and applied to other parts of the globe beside Australasia; but it is particularly appli- cable to this portion of it. There can be i.o doubt that many islands and points of land were discovered, which were never traced in maps, even in the vague and indistinct maimer in ■which the Gulf of Carpentaria was traced ; that many dis- coveries were claimed to which no credit was given ; antl that owing to the imperfect mode formerly used to determine the longitude, some, from being laid down wrong, were afterwards claimed as entirely new discoveries. We have stated that this remark is particularly applicable covd Loi it raJlj Afte Boul he a| a| voye norti an o] that 1 t _j CllAP. V. [\e coast was isive tract ot ,ea by Ueii- K'w?, ascer- near wUit^li It Lieutenant atituile on tlie vet we think ,; its exit into This circum- ,untry througli peculiar a"" IS to stamp on ,t\v anti widely at, betore Cap- nentaria had as ^* It was tie ied to denote the omontory, or an nod by shape or av-n and copied le least authority, ,t any European ed tv^^t'; and yet, fo approximate so jrvey, ^« *" ^'^^'''' Lust at one time bours have been have been before of a jealous and ll to other parts of larticvilarly apph- I doubt that many which were never Llistinct manner m that many diS" ,s ffiven ; and that [l to determine the Lr, were afterwards licularly applicabh' eiiAp. V. /(; t/ic Bt'ginnin<; of (he Nineteenth Centuri/. 1G7 to Australasia : to the projrress of geoi L \ K i\ culiir fineness of the weather, and serenity of the heavens in these seas. Their greatest discovery undoubtedly consisted in a great archij)ehifro,wliich they named after Bonaparte: the ishuids that composed it were in general small; some volcanic or basaltic ; others sandy. After examining these, they were obliged to return to Timor, in consetjuence of the sickness of their crews. After they were recovered, they returned to the grand object of their expedition, which, though interesting and important to the navigator, or to the minute researches of tlie geo- grapher, presents nothing that recjuires to be noticed in this place. Such is the sum of the additions to our geographical knowledge of Australasia which hiis resulted from the voyages of discovery during the last one hundred years. The great outline, and most of the subordinate parts, are filled up ; and little remains to be discovered or ascertained which can greatly alter our maps, as they are at present drawn. Addi- tions, however, will gradually be made; errors will be cor- rected; a stronger and clearer light will be thrown on obscure points. Much of this will be done by the accidental dis- coveries and observations of the many ships which are constantly sailing from England to New Holland ; or which trade from the latter country to New Zealand or other parts of Australasia, to India, or to China. By means of these voyages, additions have already been made to our knowledge, especially of New Zealand ; and its inhabitants are beginning to feel and acknowledge the benefits which must always be derived from the intercourse of civilized people with savages. Polynesia, extending from the Pelew Isles on the west, to the Isle of All Saints on the north-east, and the Sandwich Isles in the east, and having for its other boundaries the latitude of iJO" north, and of 50" south, near the latter of which it joins Australasia, is the only remaining division of the glol>e which remains to come under chu* cognizancCj as having been explored by maritime expeditions ; and as it consists entirely of groups of small islands, we shall not be detained long in tracing the discoveiies which have been made in these seas. The Pelew Islands, one of the divisions of Polynesia, though they probably had been seen, and perhaps visited by Europeans before 1783, were certainly first made completely CHAP. V. to (he lirginniuiy of the Nineteenth Century. Mi the heavens 'i known to tlicin at this jjoriod, in consetiuence of the shipwreck ol" Captain Wilson on thcni. The Sandwich Isles, the next ^ronp, have been discoveretl within the last centniy by C'aptain Cook, on his last voyn^e. The Mar(]ne.sas, dis- covered by Mandana, were visited by Captain Cook in l??!, by the French in 17H9, and particularly and carefully ex- tMuined tlurin, the African us man were true and accurate, the African Institution sent out Major Houghton : he was instructed to ascertain the course, and, if possible, the rise and termination of the Niger ; to visit Tombuctoo and Housa, and to return by the Desert. Ac- cordingly he sailed up the Gambia to Pisania, and thence he proceeded to Medina, the capital of the Mandingo kingdom. His course from this city was north-east, which led him be- yond the limit of European discovery, to the uninhabited frontier which separates Bondou and Mandingo. After some time spent in endeavouring to ingratiate himself with the king of the latter country, but in vain, he resolved to proceed into Bambouk. On arriving at Firbanna, tthe capi- tal, he was hospitably treated by the king. He!c he formed a plan to go with a merchant to Tombuctoo ; but on his way he was robbed, and either perished of hunger, or was mur- dered : the exact particulars are not known. To Major Houghton we are indebted for our first knowledge of the kingdom of Bondou ; and for the names of several cities on the Niger, as well as the course of that river. Mr. Park was next employed by the African Association ; and what he learnt, obsei'ved, did, and suffered, fully justified them in the choice of such a man. " His first journey was unquestionably the most important which any European had ('ver i^erformed in the interior of Africa. He established a num- ber of geographical positions, in a direct line of eleven hundred miles fi'om Cape de Verde : by pointing out the positions of the sources of the Senegal, Gambia, and Niger, he has given a new aspect to the pliysical geography of this continent; he has fixed the boundaries of the Moors and Negroes; un- folded to us the empire of Ludamar; and described, from personal observation, some important towns on the banks of the Niger, or Joliba. The information which he has com- municated concerning this part of Africa, and their manners, is equally new aiul interesting. He has traced with accuracy the distinction betwixt the Mahometans and Pagans." This journey was accomplished between the 2d of December, 1795, when he left Pisania, a British factory two hundred miles up the Gambia, and the 10th of June, 1797, when he returned to the same place, an interval of eighteen months. Notwithstanding the dangers and fatigues which he had un- dergone ; notwithstanding that, on his return to his native coun- try, he had married, and entered on a life which promised him « »* r 476 Progress of Discover!/ CHAP. V. f r. end a beeii pub- it. The territories, is Coom- [ay, 1817. and rich- ; gorgeous polished., ost seems ation and couiits of resting or re, indeed, res or the Ashantee, The most the route and it is road for near that ntly come resent the urhood of igerous. f Africa, the north bstacle to ity of the to the in- jry, Leo ;rn parts ; \byssiuin, CHAP. V. to the Beginning of the NineteentJ: Centnrij. -iTO , ])ublished au account of that country. In the subsc(|uent century, this part of Africa was illustrated by Lobo, Telle/, and Poncet; the latter was a chemist and apotiiecary, sent by Louis ]l^ IV. to the reigning monarch of Abyssinia ; the former were missionaries.* From their accounts, and those of the Portuguese, all our information resjjccting this country was derived, previously to the travels of Mr. Bruce. Pocock and Norden are the most celebrated travellers in Egy])t in the beginning of the seventeenth century ; but as then- object was rather the discovery and description of the antiquities of this country, what they published did not much extend our geographical knowledge : the former spent five years in his travels. The latter is the first writer who pub- lished a picturesque description of Egypt; every snbsequent traveller has borne evidence to the accuracy and fidelity of his researches and descriptions. He was the first European who ventured above the cataracts. The great ambition and object of Mr. Bruce was to dis- cover the source of the Nile ; for this purpose he left Britain in 1 762, and after visiting Algiers, Balbec, and Palmyra, he prepared for his journey into Ab} ssinia. Lie sailed up the Nile a considerable way, and afterwards joined a caravan to Cosseir on the Red Sea. After visiting part of the sea coast '.j'i Arabia, he sailed for Massoucut, by which route alone an entrance into Abyssinia was practicable. In this country he encountered many obstacles antl difficulties, and after all, in consequence of wrong information he received from the inhabitants, visited only the Blue River, one of the interior streams of the Nile, instead of the White River, its I'eal source. This, however, is of trifiing moment, when con- trasted with the accessions to our geographical knowledge of Abyssinia, the coast of the Red Sea, &c., for which we are indebted to this most zealous and persevering traveller. Since Mr. Bruce's time, Abyssinia has been visited by Mr. Salt, who has likewise added considerably to oiu' knowledge of this country, t^hough on many jioints he differs from Mr. Bruce. The most important and interesting accession to our know- ledge of the north of Africa was made between the years 1792 and 1795, by Mr. Browne. This gentleman seems to have equalled Mr. Bruce in his zeal and ardour, but to have surpassed ..im in the soundness and utility of his views ; fqr I i\ ■' ?i 3, ^l 4L0 ! {.' [i. ^} r '' 1 Progress of Discovety ch; p. v. while the former was principally ambitious: of discovering the sources of the Nile, — a point of little real moment in any point Oi view, — the latter wished to penetrate into those parts of the north of Africa which were unknown to Europeans, but which, from all accounts of them, promised to uiterest and benefit, not only commerce, but science. His precise and immediate object was Darfur, some of the natives of which resided in Egypt : from their manners and account of their country, Mr. Browne concluded the inhabitants were not so hostile to Christians and Europeans as M.ahometans are in general. He therefore resolved to go thither ; as from it he could either proceed into Abyssinia by Kordofan, or traverse Africa from east to west. He therefore left Assiou in Egypt witii the Soudan caravan in 1793, passed through the greater Oasis, and arrived at Sircini in Darfur : here he resided a considerable time, but he found insurmountable obstacles opposed to his grand and ulterior plan. He ascertained, however, the source and progress of the real Nile or White River. The geography of Darfur and Kordofan is illustrated by him in a very superior and satisfactory manner. Tho geography of Afi'ica to the west of these countries is likewise elucidated by him : he mentions and describes a large river which takes its rise among the mountains of Kumri, and flows in a north-west course. This river is supposed to be that described by Ptolemy under the name of Gir, and by Edrisi as the Nile of the Negroes. The fate of Mr. Browne, who from all the accounts of him seems to have been admirably fitted by nature and habits for a traveller, was very melan- choly. After his return to England from Darfur he resolved to visit the central countries of Asia : he accordingly set out, but on his way thither he was murdered in Persia. At the commencement of this century, circumstances oc- curred which rendered Egypt and the countries adjacent more accessible to Europeans than they had ever been before. In the first place, the French, who most unjustly invaded it, took with their invading army a nimiber of literary and scientific men, by whom were published several splendid works, principally on the antiquities of this ancient country. In the second place, the English, by driving out the French, and by their whole conduct towards the ruling men and the natives in general, not only weal jned in a very considerable degree the dislike to Europeans and Christians which the CH. P. V. jovering the n any point ise parts of apeans, but interest and precise and Bs of which lunt of their were not so jtans are in IS from it he or traverse ou in Egypt 1 the greater he resided a >le obstacles ascertained, ile or White is illustrated anner. Th -. es is likewise 1 large river Kumri, and pposed to be Gir, and by Mr. Browne, en admirably very melan- he resolved cordingly set r^ersia. instances oc- djacent more before. In invaded it, literary and jral splendid ient country, the French, men and the considerable s which the CHAP. v. to the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century . \S\ Mahomedans here, as elsewhere, had ever entertained, but also created a grateful sense of obligation and oi favour to- wards themselves. Lastly, the j)acha, who obtained the power in Egypt, was a man of liberal and enlightened views, far above those who had jireceded hiin, and disposed to second and assist the researches anil journies of travellers. In consequence of these favourable circumstances, and the additional circumstance, that by the couijuests and influence of Bonaparte English travellers were shut out from a great part of Europe, they directed their course towartis I'^gypt. Their object was chiefly to investigate the numerous, stupen- dous, and interesting antiquities. In the year 181" Mr. Legh, a member of the House of Commons, })erformed a journey in this country, and beyond the cataracts. Above the cataracts he entered Nubia, and proceeded to Dehr, its capital. These travels are, however, chiefly interesting and instructive for that which indeed nmst give the chief interest to all travels in Egypt and Nubia — the description of antiquities. The second cataract continued the limit of the attempts of European travellers, till it was reached and passed, first by Mr. Burckhardt, and afterwards by Mr. Banks. No modern traveller has excelled Mr. Burckhardt in the importance of his travels ; and few, in any age, have equalled him in zeal, perseverance, fortitude, and success. Ke v.'as employed by the African Association to explore the interior of Africa. Having perfected himself in the know- ledge of the religion, manners, and language of the Mahome- dan Arabs, by fr^^nuent and long residences among the Be- douins, he proceeded to Cairo. Here, finding tliat the opportunity of a caravan to Fezzar. or Darfur was not soon likely to occur, he resolved to explore Egypt and the couiUry above the cataracts. He accordingly " performed two very arduous and interesting journies into the ancient Ethiopia; one of them along the banks of tlie Nile from Assouan to ,Dar al Mahas on the frontiers of Dongola, in the n'onths of February and March, 1813, during which he discovered many remains of ancient Egyptian and Nubian architecture, with Greek inscriptions ; the other between March and J uly in the following year, through Nubia to Souakun. The de- tails of this journey contain the best notices ever received in Europe of the actual state of society, trade, manufactures, and I 1 1^ i' if :C I: V'-' II I < I i 482 Process of Discovery CHAP. V. once the cnuUe of all the know- government, in wlial was ledge of the Egyptians." Although it will carry us a little out of our regular and stated course, to notice the other travels of this enterprisujg man in this place, yet «"> orefer doing it, in order that our readers, by having e before them a brief abstract of all lie performed for geography, may the better be enabled to appreciate his merits. Soon after his second retiuii to Cairo, he resolveil, to penetrate into Arabia, and to visit Mecca and Medina. In order to secure his own safety, and at the same time gain such information as could alone be obtained in the character of a Mahoniedan, he assumed the dress, and he was enabled to personate the religion, manners, and language of the native Hudje, or pilgruns. Thus secure and privileged, he resided between four and five months in Mecca. Here he gained some autlientic and curious information respecting the rise, history, and tenets of the Wahabees, a Mahomedan sect. These travels have not yet been published. The last excursion of Mr. Burckhardt was from Cairo to Mount Sinai and the eastern head of the Red Sea. This journey was :published in 1822, along with the travels in Syria and the Holy Land ; the latter of which he accom- plished while he was preparing himself at Aleppo for his pro- posed journey into the interior of Africa. These travels, therefore, are prior in date to those in Nubia, though they were published afterwards. He spent nearly three years in Syria : his most important geographical discoveries in this country relate to the nature of the district between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Elana ; the extent, conformation, and detailed topography of the Haouran; the situation of Apanea on the river Orontes, which was one of the most important cities of Syria under the Macedonian Greeks ; the site of Petraea ; and the general structure of the peninsula of Mount Sinai. Perhaps the most original and im- portant of these illustrations of ancient geography is that which relates to the Elanitic Gulph : its extent and form were pre- viously so little known, that it was either entirely omitted, or very erroneously laid down in maps. From what he observed here, there is good reason to believe that the Jordan once dis- charged itself into the Red Sea; thus confirming the truth of Uiat convulsion mentioned and described in the nineteenth ; •*? CHAP. V. CHAP. V. to the beginning of the Nineteenth Century. 489 II the know- regular and enterprising •der that our abstract of all )e enabled to resolved, to Medina. In me time gain the character 3 was enabled e of the native ;d, he resided lere he gained cting the rise, homedan sect, from Cairo to ed Sea. This the travels in lich he accom- po for his pro- These travels, ia, though they nost important k) the nature of fof Elana; the )ftheHaouran; i^hich was one of le Macedonian structure of the )riginal and im- hy is that which form were pre- •ely omitted, or hat he observed fordan once dis- iU)£ th« truth of me nineteenth chii|)tcr of Genesis, which interrupted the course of this river, converted the phiiii in which Sodom and Gomorrah stood into a lake, and civanged the valley to the southward of this dis- trict into a sandy desert. But Mr. Burcklmrdt, considering all these excursions, and their conse(j.uent numerous and important accessions to geo- graphical knowledge, as only preludes to the grand expedition for which he had expressly come to the East, still looked for- ward to the interior of Africa. This, however, he was not des- tined to reach ; for while at Cairo, waiting for a caravan, which was to proceed by Mourzouck, — a route which he had long decidetl on as the most likely to answer his purpose, — ho was suddenly seized with a dysentery, on the .5th of Octt>ber, 1817, and died on the 1 .5th. Travellers in Egypt and Nubia have been numerous since the time of Mr. Hurckhardt ; but as they chiefly directed their investigations and incjuiries to the antiquities of the coun- try, they do not come within our proper notice ; we shall therefore merely mention the names of Belzoni, (whose anti- quarian discoveries have been so numerous and splendid,) Mr. Salt, Mr. Bankes, &c. To this latter gentleman, how- ever, geography is al.^.o indebted tor important additions to its limits ; or, rather, for having illustrated ancient geography. He penetrated, as we have already mentioned, as far as the second cataract : he visited some of the most celebrated scenes in Arabia, and made an excursion to Waadi Mooza, or the Val- ley of Moses. He also visited Carrac ; but the most important discovery of this gentleman relates to the site ' the ancient Petrsea, which was also visited by Burckhardt. Our readers will recollect that this city has been particularly noticed in our digression on the early commerce of the Ai'abians, as the common centre for the caravans in all ages ; and that we traced its ancient history as far down as there were any notices of it. Its ruins Mr. Bankes discovered in those of Waadi Mooza, a village in the valley of the same name. Since Mr. Burckhardt travelled, geographical discoveries have been made in this part of the world by Messrs. Ritchie and Lyon, Lord Belmore PXicl Dr. Richardson, Messrs. Wad- dington and Hanbury, Messrs. Caillaud and Drovetti, Sir Archibald Edmonstone, Sir Frederick Henniker, and by an American of the name of English. The travels of Messrs, Ritchie and Lyon were confined to Fezzan, and are chiefly curious for the notices they give, derived from native mer* I I 2 1/4'' r -fl i fl 1 ' i> 484 Proi^/rss of lYiscoverii CIIAI'. V. chants, of the course of the Niger. By means of the travels of Lord Belniore and Dr. Richardson, the hititudes and lon- gitudes on the Nile have been corrected from Assouan to the confines of Dongola. Mr. Waddiufrton and Mr. Hnnbury, taking advantage of an expedition sent into Ethiopia by the pacha of Egypt, examined this river four hundred miles be- yond the place to which Burckhardt advanced. The travels of the two French gentlemen extended to the Oasis of Thebes and Dakel, and tlie deserts situated to the east and west of the Thebaid. In the Thebaic Oasis some very interesting remains of antiquity were discovered : the great Oasis was well known to the ancients ; but the Thebaic Oasis has sel- dom been visited in modern times. Brown and Poncet passed through its longest extent, but did not see the ruins observetl by Mr. Caillaud. This gentleman, who was employed by the pacha to search for gold, silver, and precious stones, after a residence of five months at Sennaar, traversed the province of Fazocle, and followed the Arrek, till it entered the kingdom of Bertot. At a place called Singue, in the kingdom of Dar-foke, which is the southern boundary of Bertot, situated on the tenth paral- lel of latitude, and five days' journey to the westward of the confines of Abyssinia, the conquests of Ishmael Pacha termi- nated. Only short notices of these travels of Mr. Caillaud ha/e as yet been published. Sir A. Ednionstone's first intention was to visit the The- baic Oasis; but understanding from Mr. Belzoni thai Mr. Caillaud had already been there, but that there was another Oasis to the westward, which had never been visited by any European, he resolved to proceed thither. This Oasis was also visited by Drovetti much about the same time : he calls it the Oasis of Dakel. It seems to have escaped the notice of all the ancient authors examined by Sir Archibald, except Olympiodorus. Speaking of the Thebaic Oasis, he mentions an interior and extensive one, lying opposite to the other, one hundred miles apart, which corresponds with the actual dis- tance between them. The American traveller accompanied the expedition of the pacha of Egypt as far as Sennaar. He commences the ac- count of his voyage up the Nile at the second cataract; and as far as the pyramids of Meroe, where the voyage of Messrs. Waddington and Hanbury terminated, his accounts corres- pond with what they give. He did not, however, follow the CHAP. V. to the B('}iinninrt of the Nineteenth Ceiituri/. 485 ^rcjit bend of the river aljove Doiigolu : this he describes as 250 miles long, and full of rocks and rapid. lie again reached the Nile, having crossed the peninsula in a direct line, at Shendi. Near this place he discovered the remains of a city, temples, and fifty-four pyramids, which are supposed, by u writer in the Quarterly Review, to be the ruins of the cele- brated Meroe, as their positicm agrees with that assigned them by a draughtsman employed by Mr. Bankes. The army halted on the western bank of the Nile, opposite Halfaia: about five hours' march above this jilace the Rahr el Abiad, or White River, flows into the JJahr el Azreck, or Nile of Bruce. In thirteen days from the junction of these two rivers, the army, marching along the left, or western branch of the Azreck, reached 8emiaar. In the year 1817, Delia Cella, an Italian physician, accom- })anied the army of the bashaw of Tripoli as far as Bomba, on the route towards Egypt, and near the frontiers of that country. He had thus an opportunity " of visiting one of the oldest and most celebrated of the Greek colonies, esta- blished upwards of seven hundred years before the birth of Christ ; and in being the first European to follow t'.ie foot- steps of Cato round the shores of the Syrtis, and to explore a region untr'^dden by Christian foot since the expulsion of the Romans, the Huns, and the Vandals, by the enterprising dis- ciples of Mahomet." In this journey he necessarily passed the present boundary between Tripoli and Bengaze, the same which was anciently the boundary between Carthage and Cyrene; and our author confirms the account of Sallust, that neither river nor mountain marks the confines. He also con- firms the description given by Herodotus of the dreadful storms of sand that frequently arise and overwhelm the cara- vans in this part of the Syrtis. At the head of the Syrtis the ground is depressed, and this depression, our author supposes, continues to the Great Desert. Soon after he left this barren country, he entered Cyrenaica, the site of Cyrene : that most ancient and celebrated colony of the Greeks was easily ascer- tained by its magnificent ruins. From Cyrene the army marched to Derna, and from this to the gulf of Bomba, an extensive arm of the sea, where the expedition terminated. Such are the most recent discoveries in this portion of Africa. The settlement of the Cape of Good Hope, originally established by the Dutch, and at present in possession of the 1 1 3 I i I t: 486 Progress of Dhcuoery CHAP. V. English, was naturally the })oiiit from which European travel- lers set out to explore the southern parts of Africa. Their progress hitherto has not been great, though, as far as they have advanced, the information they have ac(jnired of the face of the country, its productions, the tribes which inhabit it, and their habits, manners, &c. may be regarded as full and accu- rate. Tlie principal travellers who 1 we visited this part of Africa, and from whose travels the best information may be obtained of the settlement of the Cape, and of the country to the north of it for about 900 miles, are Kolbein, Spaitnan, Le VaiUant, Barrow, Lichtenstein, La Trobe, oan)pbell, and Bm'chell. To the geography of the east coast of Africa, and of the atljacent districts, little or no addition has been made for a very considerable length of time. II. The discoveries in Asia may in general be divided hito those which the vast possessions of the Russians in this quarter of the globe, and the corresponding interest which they felt to become better acquainted with them, induced them to make, a«d into those to which the English were s^timnlated, and which they were enabled to perform, from the circumstance of their vast, important, and increasing possessions in Hindostan, The most important and instructive travels which spring from the first source, are those of Bell of Antermony, Pallas, Gmelin, Guldenstedt, Lepechin, &c. Bell was a Scotch- man, attached to the Russian service : his work, which was published about the middle of the last century, contains an account of the embassy sent by Peter the Great to the emperor of China, and of another embassy into Persia ; of an expedition to Derbent by the Russian army, and of a journey to Con- stantinople. Of the route in all these directions he gives an interesting and accurate account, as well as of the manners, &c. of the people. Indeed, it is a valuable work, especially that portion of it which conducts us through the central parts cf Asia, —an immense district, which, as we have already re- Boarked, is not much better known at present, (at least con- siderable portions of it,) than it was three or four centuries ftgo. The travels of Pallas, &c. were undertaken by order of the Russian government, for the purpose of gaining a fuller and more accurate account of the provinces of that immense empire, especially those to the south, which, from climate, soil, and productions were most valuable, and most capable of improvement. 'rhc English possessions in Hindostan have led the way to CHAP. V. ropean travel- Vfrica. Their as far as they retl of the liice I inhabit it, and full and accu- id this part of ination may be the country to I, Spaitnan, Le Campbell, and 3ast of Africa, ition has been be divided hito s in this quarter lich they felt to them to make, s^timulated, and 16 circumstance iisinHindostan. Is which spring erniony, Palla«, was a Scotch- ork, which was iry, contains an ; to the emperov of an expedition ourney to Con- on s he gives an f the manners, v'ork, especially he central parts lave already re- , (at least con- four centuries iken by order of raining a fuller that immense from climate, most capable of led the way to CHAP. V. to the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century, 4.87 two sets of disccTveries, or rather advancements in geographical knowledge : one which was derived from the journies frequently made overland from India to Europe ; and the other, which was derived from embassies, &c. from Calcutta to the neighbour- ing kingdoms. In general, however, the journies overland from India, having been undertaken expressly for the pur- pose of expedition, and moreover being through countries which required the utmost caution on the part of the travellers to preserve them from danger, did not admit of much obser- vation being made, or much information being acquired, re- specting the districts that were passed through. The travels of .Jackson, Forster, and Fitzclarence, are perhaps as valuable as any which have been given to the public respecting th? route from India to Europe, and the countries, and their inhabit- ants, passed through in this route. From the eiabassies and the wars of the British East India Company in Hindostan, we have derived much valuable in- formation respecting Persia, Thibet, Ava, Caubul, &c. ; and from their v/ars, as well as from the institution of the Asiatic Society, and the facilities which their conquests afforded to travellers, the whole of the peninsula of Hindostaii, as well as the countx'y to the north of it, as far as Cashmere and the Himaleh mountains, may be regarded as fully explored. Perhaps the most valuable accession to geographical know- ledge through the English conquests, relates to these mountains. They seem to have been known to Pliny under the name of Imaus : they are described by Plotemy ; and they were crossed by some of the Jesuit missionaries about the beginning of the seventeenth century ; but they were not thoroughly explored till the beginning of the nineteenth. Mr. Moorcrott was the first European, after the missionaries, who penetrated into the plains of Tartary through these mountains. The fullest ac- count, however, of the singular countries which lie among them, is given by Mr. Frazer, who in 1814 passed in a straight line, in a direction of this chain, between 60 and 70 miles, and alsc visited the sources of the Ganges. Our commerce with China for tea, and the hope of extend- ing that commerce to other articles, produced, towards the end of the last century and the beginning of this, two embassies to China, from both of which, but especially from the first, much additional information has been gained respecting this extensive country, and its singular inhabitants ; so that, re- gardijig it mid them, from these embassies, and the works I I 4 H li f : * I 1 ft 488 Progress of' Discoveiy CHAP. V. of the Jesuit missionaries, we possess all the knowledge which we can well ex})ect to derive, so long as the Chinese are sa extremely jealous of strangers. The British embassies to China, besides making us better acquainted with this country, added no little to our inform- ation respecting those places which were visited in going to and returning from China. Perhaps the most important correction of geography is that v.hich was made by Captains Maxwell and Hall, who took out the second embassy : we allude to what they ascertiiined respecting the kingdom of Corea. They found a bay, which, according to the charts of this country, would be situated 120 miles in the interior; and at the same time they ascertained, that along the southern coast of Corea there was an archipelago of more than 1000 islands. These discoveries ; the valuable additions which were made during the voyage of Captain Maxwell to the geography and hydrography of the Yellow Sea ; the correction of the vague and incorrect notions which were long entertained respecting the isles of Jesso and the Kuriles, by the labours of La Perouse, Broughton, Krusentein, &c., and the full and minute information given to the public re- specting Java, and other parts of the southern Indian archi- pelago, by Raffles, Craufurd, &c. seem to leave little to be added to our geographical knowledge of the eastern and south- eastern portions of Asia. III. We come now to America; — and though Africa is one of the most ancient seats of the human race, and of civilization and science, and America has been discovered only about 350 years, yet we know much more respecting the coasts and in- terior of the latter than of the former portion of the globe. Although the Spaniards and Portuguese, who, till very lately, possessed nearly the whole of South America, guarded their jiossessions strictly from the curious intrusion of foreigners, and were themselves very sparing in giving to the world the information respecting them which they must have acquired, — yet, even during their power there, the geography of this part of America was gradually developed and extended ; • the face of tlu> country; the great outline of those immense mountains, which, under the torrid zone, are visited by the cold of the Pole; the nature of the vast plains which lie between the offsets of these mountains ; and the general direction of the rivers, not less remarkable for their size tliun (he mountains and })lains, were generally known. 7'he geography of South America, however, taking the term in CHAP. V. to the Begifining of the Nineteenth Century. 489 the most philosophical and comprehensive sense, has been principally enriched within these few years, by the labours of Humboldt and his fellow-traveller Bompland, of Depons, Koster, Prince Maximilian, Luccock, Henderson, and by those Englishmen who joined the Spanish Americans during their struggle with the mother country. From the observ- ations, enquiries, and researches of these travellers, our inform- ation respecting all those parts of South America which constituted the Spanish and Portuguese dominions there, especially of Mexico, Terra Firma, Brazil, and Buenos Ayres, and generally the eastern and middle portions, has been much extended, as well as rendered more accurate and particular. Humboldt, especially, has left little to be gleaned by any future traveller, from any of those countries which he has visited and described. The rapid and wonderful increase in the territories and in- habitants of the United States, has necessarily laid open the greater part of North America to our acquaintance. The United Stati. , limited in their wish and endeavours to extend themselves on the north by the British possessions there, and on the south by the Spanish territories, and moreover drawn towards the interior and the shores of the Pacific by the grand natural navigation which the Mississippi and its numer- ous streams afford for inland lommerce, and by the com- mercial access to the wealth of the East which the possession of the shores of the Pacific would open to them, have pushed their territories towards the west. First, the Alleghany Moun- tains, a feeble barrier to an encreasing population, and a most enterprising as well as unsettled people, were passed ; then the Mississippi was reached and crossed ; and at present the government of the United States are preparing the \vay for extending their territories gradually to the Western Ocean itself, i»nd for spreading their population, as they go westwards, to the north and the south, as far as their limits will admit. All those countries, over which they have spread them- selves, are of course now well known, principally from the accounts published by Europeans, and especially Englishmen, who have been tempted to explore them, or to settle there. The government of the United States itself has not been backward in setting on foot exploratory travels into the immense districts to the west of the Mississippi : to these en- terprizes they seem to have been particularly directed and fi ^ fi rji « t. 490 Progress of Discovery CHAP. V. stimulated by the acquisition of Louisiana from France, a country " rich and varied in its soil, almost inexhaustible in natural resources, and almost indefinite in extent." This acquisition was made in the year 1 803, and within four years of this period, three exploratory expeditions were sent out by the United States. The principal object of the first, which was under the direction of Major Pike, was to trace the Mississippi to its source, and to ascertain the direction of the Arkansa and Red Rivers, further to the west. In the course of this journey, an immense chain of mountahis, called the Rocky Mountains, 'vas approached, which appeared to be a continuation of the Andes. The ulterior grand object, how- ever, of this expedition was not obtained, in consequence of the Spaniards compelling Major Pike to desist and return. A second attempt was made by another party, but the Spaniards stopped them likewise. In the years 1 804, 5, and 6, Captains Lewis and Clarke explored the Missouri to its source, crossed the Rocky Mountains, and proceeding to- wards the North Pacific Ocean, ascertained the origin and course of the River Cohimbia. In the years 1819 and 1 820, several persons, well qualified for the imdertaking by their science, spirit, and enterprize, accom- panied by riflenien, hunters, and assistants, were sent out by the government oi the United States, for the purpose of gaining a more full and accurate knowledge of the chain of the Rocky Mountains, nnd of the rivers, which, rising there, flowed into the Mississippi. After passing through a great extent and variety of coimtry, and gaining some curious information re- specting various Indian tribes, especially of those who inhabit the upper course of the Missouri, they reached the Mountains : these and the adjacent districts they carefully examined. They next separated, one party going towards the Red River, and the other descending the Arkansa. The former party were misled and mishiformed by the Indians, so that they mistook and followed the Canadian River, instead of the Red River, till it joined the Arkansa. The}' were, however, too exhausted to remedy their error. The latter party were more successful. The great outline of the coast, as well as of the ^eater por- tion of the vnst continent of America, is now filled up. In the northernmost parts of North America, the efforts of the British government to find a north-west passage, the spread- ing of the population of Canada, and the increasing import- CHAP. V. to the Beginning of the Nineteenth Cmtunj. 491 tince of the fur trade, bid fair to add the details of this portion ; the spread of the population of the United States towards the west, will as necessarily give the details of the middle portion; while, with respect to the most southern portions of North America, and the whole of South America, with the exception of the cold, bleak, and barren territory «)f Patagonia, the changes which have taken place, and are still in operation, in the political state of the Spanish and Portu- guese provinces, must soon fill up the little that has been left unaccomplished by Humboldt, &c. What portions, then, of Asia, America, and Afi-ica, are still xmknawn P — and what comparison, in point of extent and importance, do they bear to what was known to the ancients? In Asia, the intei'ior of the vast kingdom of China is very imperfectly known; as well as Daouria and other districts on the confines of the Chinese and Russian emjiires ; central Asia in general, and all that extensive, populous, and fertile region which extends from the southern part of Malaya, nearly under the equator, in n northerly direction, to the fortieth degree of latitude, are still not explored, or but very partially so, by European travellers. This region compre- hends Aracan, Avti, Pegu, Siam, Tsiompa, and Cambodia. The south and east coasts of Arabia still require to be more minutely and accurately surveyed. In the eastern archipe- lago, Borneo, Celebes, and Papua, are scarcely known. Though all these bear but a small propoi'tion to the vast extent of Asia, yet some of them, especially the country to the north of the Malay peninsula, and the islands in the eastern archipelago, may justly be regarded as not inferior, in that importance which natural riches bestows, to any part of this quarter of the globe. Still, however, we possess some general notice, and some vague reports of all these countries ; but it is otherwise with respect to the unknown portions of Africa. The whole of" this quarter of the world, from the Niger to the co?ifines of the British settlement at the Cape of Good Hope, may, with little limitation, be considered as unknown. Travellers have indeed penetrated a short distance from the western coast into the interior, in some parts between the latitutle of the Niger and the latitude of the extreme northern boundary of the Cape settlement ; and a very little is known respecting some small portions of the districts closely adjoining to the eastern coast ; but the whole of cjutral Africa is still unex- i, liT 'c^ f .,.!- ^ fi \if I *,. I t 492 Progress of Discovery CHAP. V. plored, and presents difficiilties and dangers which it is ap- prehended will not be speedily or easily overcome. To the north of the Nigei lies the Sahara, or Great Desert ; of this, probably, sufficient is known to convince us that its extent is such, that no country that would repay a traveller for his fatigue and risk, is situated to the north of it. To the east of the Niger, however, or rather along its course, and to the north of its course, as it flows to the east, nuich remains to be explored; many geographical details have been indeed gathered from the Mahomedan merchants of this part of Africa, but these cannot entirely be trusted. The course and termination of the Niger itself is still an unsolved problem. Captain Scoresby, a most intelligent and active captain in the whale fishery trade, has very lately succeeded in reaching the eastern coasts of Greenland, and is disposed to think that the descendants of the Danish colonists, of whose existence nothing is known since this coast was blocked up by ice at the beginning of the fifteenth century, still inhabit it. ITie northern shores of Greenland, and its extent in this direction are still unknown. Notwithstanding the zeal and success with which the go- vernment of the United States prosecute their discoveries to the west of the Mississippi, there is still much unexplored country between that river and the Pacific Ocean. It is possible that lands may lie within the antartic circle, of which we have hitherto fvs little notion as we had of South Shetland ten years ago ; but if there are such, they must be most barren and inhospitable. It is possible alsp, that, notwith- standing the care and attention with which the great Pacific has been so repeatedly swept, there may yet be islands in it undiscovered ; but these, however fertile from soil and climate, raust be mere specks in the ocean. But though comparatively little of the surface of the globe is now utterly unknown, yet even of those countries with which we are best acquainted, much remains to be ascertained, before the geography of them can justly be regarded as complete. Perhaps we are much less deficient and inaccurate in our knowledge of the natural history of the globe, than in its geo- graphy, strictly so called ; that is, in the extent, direction, latitudes and longitudes, direction and elevation of moun- tains, rise, course, and termination of rivers, &c. How grossly erroneous geography was till very lately, in some even of its most elementary parts, and those, too, in relation CHAP. V. to the Beginning of the Nineteenth Centwy. 493 to what ought to have been the most accurately known portion of Europe, may be judged from these two facts, — that till near the close of the last century, the distance from the South Foreland, in Kent, to the Land's End, was laid down in all the maps of England nearly half a degree greater than it actually is ; and that, as we have formerly noticed, " the length of the Mediterranean was estimated by the longitudes of Ptolemy till the eighteenth century, and that it was curtailed of nearly twenty-five degrees by observation, no farther back than the reign of Louis XIV." To speak in a loose and general manner, the Romans, at the height of their conquests, power, and geographical know- ledge, were probably acquainted with a part of the globe about equal in extent to that of which we are still ignorant ; but their empire embraced a fairer and more valuable portion than we can expect to find in those countries which re- main to reward the enterprise of European travellers. The fertile regions and the beautiful climate of the south of Europe, of the north of Africa, and above all of A.iia Minor, present a picture which we can hardly expect will be ap- proached, certainly will not be surpassed, under the burning heats of central Africa, or even the more mitigated heats of the farther peninsula of India. The short and easy access of all portions of the Roman Empire to the ocean, gave them advantages which must be denied to the hitherto un- explored districts in the interior of Asia and Africa. The farther peninsula of India is infinitely better situated in this respect. At that very remote period, when sacred and profane history first displays the situation, and narrates the transactions of the human race, the countries, few i:^ number, and compa- ratively of small extent, that were washed by the waters of tlu; Mediterranean, comprised the whole of the earth which was then known. Asia Minor, which possessed the advan- tage of lying not only on this sea, but also on the Euxine, and which is moreover level in its surface, and fertile in its soil, seems to have been the first additional })ortion of the earth that became thoroughly known. The commercial en- terprize of the Phoenicians, and their colonists the Cartha- ginians, — the conquests of Alexander the Great, and of the Romans, gradually^ extended the knowledge of the earth in all directions, but principally in the middle regions of )i'' r 494 Progress of Discovertj CHAP. V. If m Euroi^, in the north of AfHca, and in Asia towards the Indus. At the period when the Roman empire was destroyed, little mere was known ; and during the middle ages, geography was feebly assisted and extended by a desire to ))Ossess the luxuries of the East, (which seems to have been as powexful and general with the conquerors of the Romans as with the Romans themselves,) by the religious zeal of a few priests, and by the zeal for knowledge which actuated a still smaller number of travellers. The desire of obtaining the luxuries of the East, however, was die predominating principle, and the efficient cause of the extension of geography. Actuated by it, the passage of the Cape of Good Hope was accomplished; the eastern limits of Asia were reached ; America was discovered, and even the Frozen Seas were braved and carefully examined, in the hope that by them a speedier passage might be found to the countries which produced these luxuries. At length the love of conquest, of wealth, and of luxury, which alone are sufficiently gross and stimulating in their nature to act on men in their rudest and least intellectual state, and which do not loose their hold on the most civilized, enlightened, and virtuous people, was assisted by the love of science ; and though when this union took place, little of the globe was un- known, as respected its grand outline, and the general extent and relative situation of the seas and lands which compose its surface, yet much remained to be accomplished in determining the details of geography ; in fixing accurately and scientifically the situation of places ; in exhibiting the surface of the land, as it was distinguished by mountains, plains, lakes, rivers, &c. ; in gaining a full and accurate knowledge of the natural history of each country, and of the manners, cus- toms, institutions, religion, manufactures and commerce of its inhabitants. Before we give a sketch of the progress of commercial en- terprize during the last hundred years, it will be proper to notice the advancement of geographical science during the same period, and the assistance which was thus affi^rded, as well as from other sources, to those who travelled both by sea and land, for the purpose of discovering or exploring foreign and distant countries. This part of our subject seems natu- rally to divide itself into three parts ; viz. tlie improvement of maps, which was equally advantageous to sea and land travellers ; those particulars which rendered navigation more CHAP. V. wards the destroyed, geography |)Ossess the s powerful s with the ew priests, till smaller it, however, it cause of ! passage of the eastern )vered, and xaniined, in be found to At length ivhich alone ire to act on ud which do rhtened, and icience ; and obe was un- the general ands which implished in icurately and the surface ^ilains, lakes, [ledge of the iners, cus- ;ommerce of [nmercial en- >e proper to during the afforded, as both by sea )ring foreign seems natu- jrovement of [a and land igation more CHAP. V. to the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century. 495 safe, easy, and expeditious ; and those j)articulars which be- stowed the same benefit on land travellers. The science of geography dates its origin, as we have already mentioned, from Mercator, though he was unable to point out and explain the law, according to which the projec- tion which liears his name might be laid down on fixed principles : this was eifected by an Englishman of tlie name of Wright. Mathematical get)graphy, strictly so called, seems to have owed its origin to the discussion respecting the flatten- ing of the Poles, which took place, in the beginning of the eighteenth century, ampng Newton, Huygens, and Cassini, and which was afterwards continued by some of the most dis- tinguishes! mathematicians and natural jihilosophers of France and England. Still, however, the construction of maps derived little advantage from the application of strict science to geo- graphy, till Delisle, in France, and Haase, in Germany, di- rected their attention and talents to this particular subject: their efforts were indeed gieat, but in stmie measure unavail- ing, in consequence of the want of sufficient materials. The same impediment lay in the way of IBusching, notwithstand- ing he brought to the task the characteristic patience and re- search of a German. To him, however, and the more illus- trious D'Anville, accurate delineatipns and descriptions of the countries of the globe may first justly be ascribed. D'Anville possessed excellent and ample materials, in authentic relations, and plans and delineations made on the spot : with these he advanced to the task, calling to his aid mathematical principles. He first exhibited in his maps the interior of Asia free from that confusion and error by which all former maps had obscured it ; and struck out from his map of Africa many imaginary kingdoms. Ancient geogra- phy, and the still more involved and dark geography of the middle ages, received from him the first illumination ; and if subsequent geographers have been able to add to and correct his labours, it has been chiefly owing to their possessing materials which did not exist in his time. Busching confined himself entirely to modern geography ; and though his minuteness is generally tiresome and super- fluous, yet we can pardon it, for the accuracy of his details : he was patronized and assisted in his labours by all the governments of the north, who gave him access to every document which could fiirther his object. Since the time of D'Anville and Busching, the description M iT^ i^ {' 1 •> ' 1 1 1 ' < i ^ ' t ■-1/' > ' 'Li - ;r r" -J t f^ ( 496 Progress of Discoveiy CHAP. V. of countries, and the construction of maps, have proceeded with a rapidly encreasing degree of accuracy. In ancient geography, Gossehn, Rennell, Vincent, and Make Brun, are among the most celebrated names. Two Germaus, Voss and Munnert, have directed their labours to illustrate and explain the geographical details and hints of the Greek poets. It would be almost endless to enumerate those to whom modern geography, and the construction of modern maps are principally indebted. Gaspari and Zimmerman, among the Germans, have thrown into a philosophical and interesting form the labours and heavy details which were supplied them by less original but more plodding men. The English, though, as Malte Brun observes, they are still without a system of geography which deserves the name, are rich in excellent materials, which have been supplied by the extent of their dominions and their commerce in various parts of the globe ; by their laudable and happy union of conquest, commerce, and science; and by the advantage which Dal- rymple, Arrowsmith, and other geographers have derived from these circumstances. The French, Russians, Spaniards, Danes, and indeed most nations of Europe, sensible of the vast importance of accurate maps, especially such as relate to their respective territories, have contributed to render them much more accurate than they formerly were; so that at present there is scarcely any part of the globe, which has been visited by sea or land, of which we do not possess accurate maps ; and no sooner has the labour of any traveller filled up a void, or corrected an error, than the map of the country which he has visited becomes more full and accurate. The most direct and perfect application of mathematical and astronomical science to the delineation of the surface of the globe, so as to ascertain its exact foi'm, and the exact extent of degrees of latitude in different parts of it, has been made by the English and French ; and much to their honour, by them in conjunction. The first modern measure- ment of degrees of latitude was made by an Englishman of the name of Norwood : he ascertained the difference of lati- tude between London and York in 1635, and then measured their distance: from these premises he calculated, that the length of a degree was 122,399 English yards. At this time there was no reason to suppose that the earth was flattened at the Poles. Shortly afterwards, it having been discovered that the weights of bodies were less at the equator than at led^i how the lon^ rate ence he to 't{r i CHAP. V. proceeded In ancient lalte Brun, mans, Voss ustrate and ireek poets, e to whom rn maps are among the I interesting ire snpphed rhe English, [I without a are rich in ly the extent ous parts of of conquest, which Dal- have derived IS, Spaniards, nsible of the h as relate to render them >; so that at (6, which has not possess any traveller e map of the and accurate, mathematical le surface of nd the exact of it. has nuch to their ern measure- .nglishman of irence of lati- hen measured ited, that the At this time as flattened at in discovered uator than at CHAP. V. to the Brfrjnning of the Nineteenth Century. \S)1 l^iris, Huygens and Cassini directed their attention, as we have already stated, to the subject of the figure of the earth. In 1670 Picard measured an arc of flie meridian in France ; and in 1718, the whole area extending through France was measured by Cassini and other philosophers. The results of this measurement seemed to disprove Newton's theory, that the curvature of the earth diminisiied as we recede from tlie equator. To remove all doubts, an arc near the equator was measured in Peru, by some French and Spanish astronojuers ; and an arc near the arctic circle by some French and Swedish astronomers ; the result was a confirmation of Newton's theory, and that the equatorial diameter exceeded the polar by about ,x\^-n part of the whole. Since this period, arcs of the meridian have been measured in several countries. In 1787 it was determined by the British and French governments to connect the observatories of Greenwich and Paris by a series of triangles, and to compare the differences of latitudes and longitudes, ascertained by astronomical observations, with those ascertained by actual measurement. The measurement in England was extended to a survey of the whole kingdom ; and the accurate maps thus obtained have been since published. Arcs of the meridian have also l)een measured lately from Dunkirk to Barcelona, — in Lapland, by which an error in the former measurement there was corrected ; — and in India. We have been thus particular in our notice of this subject, because it is evident that such measurements must lie at the foundation of all real improvements in the construction of maps. Let us next turn our attention to the improvements in navigation which have taken place during the last and present centuries ; these seem to consist, principally, in those which are derived from physical science, and those which are derived from other sources. The grand objects of a navigator are the accurate know- ledge oi where he exactly is, in any part of his course, and how he ought to steer, in order to reach his destination in the shortest time. The means of ascertaining his latitude and longitude, of calculating how far he has sailed, and at what rate he is sailing, and the direction of his course with refer- ence to the port to which he is desirous to proceed, are what he principally requires. We do not intend, by any means, to enter at any length, or systematically, on these subjects ; K K ^8 Progress of Discovt^rjj CHAP. V. ■t-M f' 11 but a brief and popular notice of them seems proper niul necessary in such a work as this. Astronomy here comes essentially to tlie f the year, and in various jiarts of the ocean : the means of foretelling changes of weather; and, i)rir.cij)ally, a knowledge of the direction and force of the currents must be regarded as of essential advantage to the seaman. When to these we add, the coppering of ships, which was fust practised about the year 17(jJ, and other improvements in their buih iiud rigging, we have enumerated the chief causes v. hich enable a vessel to reach the I'.ast Indies in two-tiiirds of tiie time whicli was occupied in such a voyage half a century ago. Nor nmst we lijrget that the health of the seamen has, during the same jjeriod, been rendered infinitely more sectire; so that mortality and sickness, i)i the longest voyages, and under great and fretjuent changes of climate, and other cir- cumstances usually affecting health, will not exceed what would have occurred on land during the same time. The great advantages which the very improved state of all branches of physical science, and of natural history, bestow on travellers in modern times, are enjoyed, though not in , an equal degree, by navigators and by those who journey on land. 'J\) the latter they are indeed most important, and will principally account for the suj)eriority t)f modern travels over those which were published a century ago, or even fifty years since. It is plain that our knowledge of foreign countries relates either to animate or inaninuite nature : to tlie soil and ueolouv, the face of the surl'ace, and what lies below it ; the rivers, lakes, mountains, climate, and the plants ; or to the natural history, strictly so t.alled: — and to the manners, institutions, government, religion, and statistics of the inhabitants. Consequently, as the appropriate branches of knowledge relating to these objects are extended, travellers must be better able, as well as more disposed, to investigate them ; and the public at large require that some or all of them should at least be noticed in books of travels. The \>:m-'-mf: CHAP. V. istvuctiou iU]d .■ntlnge to the a of'tlic six- ;ts in nautical ration at ]) re- in it lonncrly wliicli tend to iuinute know- ■s of the year, of Ibretellint!; wledge of the^ vetraTdcd as <>^ ; tbesc we add, tised about the ilt and riggiiig' able a vessel to iiue which was It seamen has, Iv more seclne ; St voyagey, and \, and other cir- \t exceed what thne. :)ved state of all [history, bestow though not in kvho journey on important, and niodern travels ago, or even ledge of foreign luile nature : to ;, and what lies mate, and the jj: — and to the .nd statistics of i])riale branches fnded, travellers 1, to iuvesligate some or all "^ f travels. Hie CHAP. V. /o the Beginning of the Nivc/coillt CcntKrij. 501 same science, and many of the same instruments, which en- able the seaman to ascertain his latitude and longitude, and to lay down full and accurate charts of the shores which he visits, are also useful to the land-traveller ; they both draw assistance from the knowledge of meteorology which they may possess, to make observations on the climate, and from their acc(uaintance with liotany and natural history, to give an ac- count of the plants anil aniuuds. But it is evident that so far as the latter are concerned, as well as so far as relates to the inhabitants, the laud traveller has more opportunities than he who goes on a voyage. But there are other advantages enjoyed by modern tra- vellers besides those derived from superior science: foreign languages arc at present better and more geneially under- stood ; and it is unnecessary to point out how important such an acquisition is, or rather how indispensible it is to accurate information. The knowledfje of the lanffiiaaes of the East u'ufh many of the gentlemen in the service of the East India Company, and the missionaries, possess, has been of iuiiiiite service in making us nmch better acquainted with the anti(juities, history, and present state of those countries, than we could possibly have otherwise been. There is at present greater intercourse among even remote nations ; and prejudices, which formerly operated as an almost insur- mountable barrier, are now either entirely destroyed, or greatly weakened : in proof of this, we need only refer to the numerous travellers who have lately visited Egypt, — a country which it would have been extremely dangerous to visit half a century ago. At the same tlistance of time, natives of Asia or Africa, especially in their appropriate costume, were seldom or i ever seen in the streets of London, or, if seen, would have been insulted, or greatly incommoded by the troublesome curiosity of its inhabitants ; now there are many such, who walk the streets mnnolested, and scarcely noticed. Commerce, >vhich has derived such advantages from the progress of geographical knowledge, has in some measure re})aid the obligation, by creating a nuich greater, more inti- mate, and more frecjuent mutual intercourse among nations ; and \y- doing away with those prejudices and antipathies wliieh f«)ruierly closed many countries ellectually against Chri'tian a!ul Knropeau travellers: and to the zeal and perse- verance of iiiodeni travellers, assisted as they nre by com- i; \i 3 ' VI 'A .A 4 I h ' I I, (i « . .r »j' 502 Progress of' Discover ij CHAP. V. mercial intercoiu'se, we may reasonably hope that we ^liall,^ before long, be indebted for a knowledge of the interior ot Africa. Those countries still imperfectly km)\vn in the south-east of Asia will, probably, from their vicinity to our possessions in Hindostan, be explored from that quarter. The encreasing population of the United States, and the in- dependence of South America, will necessarily bring us acquainted with such parts of the new world as are still unknown. But it is difficult to conjecture from what sources, and under what circumstances, the empires of China and Japan will be rendered more accessible to Euroj)ean travel- lers : these countries, and some parts of the interior of Asia, are cut off' from our communication by causes which probably will not speedily cease to operate. The barriers which still enclose all other countries are gradually yielding to the causes we have mentioned ; and as, along with greater facilities for penetrating into and travelling within such countries, travellers now possess greater capabilities of making use of the oppor- tunities thus enjoyetl, we may hope that nearly the whole world will soon be visited and known, and known, too, in every thiiTg that relates to inanimate and animate nature. The progress of commerce during the last hundred years, the period of time to which we are at present to direct our attention, lias been so rapid, its ramifications are so compli- cated, and the objects it embraces so various and numerous, that it will not be possible, within the limits to which we must confine ourselves, to enter on minute and full details respecting it; nor would these be consonant to the nature of our work, or generally interesting and instructive. Durijig the infancy of commerce, as well as of geographi- cal science, we deemed it proper to be particular in every thing that indicated their growth; but the reasons- which proved the necessity, or the advantage, of such a mode of treating these subjects in the former parts of this volume, no longer exist, but in fact give way to reasons of an opposite nature — reasons foi* exhibiting merely a general view of them. Actuated by these considerations, we have been less minute and particular in what lelates to mcxlern geography, than in what relates to ancient; and we shall follow the same plan in relation to what remains to be said on the subject of commerce. So long as any of the causes which tended to advance geography and commerce acted obscurely and iui- perfecj'iy ~ - so long as they were in such a weak state that the ^ I CHAP. V. that we shall,^ the interior ot knx)\vn in the vicinity to our . that quarter. es, and the in- arily bring us •Id as are still 11 what sources, of China and uropean travel- nterior of Asia, which ])robably •iers which still ng to the causes Iter facilities for ntries, travellers e of the oppor- early the whole ,wn, too, in every iiture. hundred years, nt to direct our are so conipli- s and numerous, its to which we and liiU details to the nature of ctive. as of geographi- rticular in every reasons- which^ such a mode of this volume, no of an opposite Tciicral view of have been less ern geography, follow the same on the subject of which tended to jscurely and im- nk state that the CHAP. V. fo the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century. 503 continuance of their progress was doubtful, we entered pretty fully into their history ; but after a forward motion was communicated to them, such as must carry them towards perfection without the possibility of any great or permanent check, we have thought it proper to abstain from details, and to confine ourselves to more general views. Guided by this principle, which derives additional weight from the vhstness to which commerce has reached within the last hundred years, we shall now proceed to a rapid and general sketch of its })rogress during that period, and of its present state. From the first and feeble revival of commerce in the middle ages, till the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope, the Italian republics, and the Hanseatic League, nearly monopo- lized all the trade of Europe ; the former, from their situation, naturally confining themselves to the importation and cir- culation of the commodities supplied by the East, and by the European countries in the south of Europe, and the districts of Africa then known and accessible ; while the latter directed their attention mid industry to those articles which the middle and north of Europe produced or manu- factured. The discovery of the Cape of Good Hope gave a different direction to the commerce of the East, while at the same time it very greatly extended it ; but as it is obvious that a greater quantity of the commodities supplietl by this part of the world could not be purchased, except by an increase in the produce and manufactures of the purchasing nations, they also pushed forward in industry, experience, skill, and capital. The Portuguese and Spaniards first reaped the fruits of the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope ; subsecjuently the Dutch ; and at the period at which this part of our sketch of commerce commences, the English were beginning to assume that hold and superiority in the East, by which they are now so greatly distinguished. The industry of Europe, especially of the middle and northern states, was further stimulated by the discovery of America, and, indirectly, by all those causes which in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries tended to increase in- formation, and to secure the liberty of the mass of the people. The invention of printing; the reformation; the destruction of the feudal system, at least in its most objectionable, degrad- ing, and parali/,iiig features ; the contentions between the nobility and the sovereigns, and between the latter and the people; gave a stimulus to the human mind, and thus en- K K 4 n i:ri t A l> ■ v, 504. Progress of Discovcrij CHAP. V. larged its capacities, desires, and views, in such a man- ner, that the character of the human race assumed a loftier port. From all these causes commerce benefited, and, as was natural to expect, it benefited most in those countries where most of these causes operated, and where they operated most powerfully. In Holland we see a memorable and gratifying instance of this : a comparatively nnall population, inhabiting a narrow district, won and kept from the overwhelming of the ocean, by most arduous, incessant, and expensive labour, — and the territory thus acquired and i)reserved not naturally fertile, and where fertile only calculated to produce few articles, — a people thur: disadvantageously situated, in respect to territory and soil, and moreover engaged in a most peril- ous, doubtful, and protracted contest for their religion and liberty; with by far the most potent monarch of Eui'ope, — thia people, blessed with knowledge and freedom, forced to become industrious and enterprizing by the very adverse cir- cumstances in which they were placed, gradually wrested from their opponents — the discoverers of the treasures of the East and of the new world, and who were moreover blessed with a fertile soil and a luxurious climate at home, — their possessions in Asia, and part of their possessions in America. Nor did the enterprising spirit of the Dutch confine itself to the obtaining of these sources of wealth : they became, as we have already seen, the carriers for nearly the whole of Europe ; by their means the productions of the East were distributed among the European nations, and the bulky and mostly raw produce of the shores of the Baltic was exchanged for the productions and manufactures of France, England, Germany, and the Italian states. From the middle of the eighteenth century, the commerce of the Dutch began to decline ; partly in consequence of })olitical disputes among themselves, but principally because other nations of Europe now put forth their industry with effect and perseverance. The English and the French, especially, became their great rivals; first, by "onducting themselves each their own trade, which had been previously carried on by the Dutch, and, subsequently, by the possessions they acquired in the East. The American war, and soon afterwards the possession of Holland by the French during the revolutionary war, gave a fatal blow to the leiiniant of ihcir commerce, from which it has not recovered, nor is W- CHAP. V. CHAP. V. to the Beginning of the Nineteenth Centurif. 505 ucli !i man- ned a loftier and, as was ntries where perated most nd gratifying n, inhabiting^ •whelming ot live labour, — - not naturally produce i'ew ed, in respect a most peril- religion and Europe, — this n, forced to y adverse cir- ually wrested measures of the reover blessed at home, — possessions iti of the Dutch es of wealth : iers for nearly luctions of the itions, and the ; of the Baltic mufactures of ites. the commerce onsequence of cipally because industry with the French, )y conducting )een previously the possessions war, and soon ;nch during the u; renuiant of .ovcrcd, nor is likely at any time to recover, at least nearly to its former flourishing state. For, as we have remarked, the Dutch were flourishing and rich, principally because other nations were ignorant, enslaved, and destitute of industry, skill, and capital. England took the place of the Dutch in the scale of com- mercial enterprize and success : the contest between them was lontr and arduous: but at lenjjth Endand attained a decided and permanent su})eriorrty. She gradually extended her possessions in the East; and after expelling the French from this part of the world, became in reality the only European sovereign power there. The manufactures of England, those real and abundant causes and sources of her inmiense commerce, did not begin to assume that importance and extent to wli' li they have at present reached, till the middle, or ratberthe latter part of the eighteenth century ; then her potteries, her hardware, her woollen.'-:, and above all her cotton goods, began to im- prove. Certainly the steam eJigine is the grand cause to v., I England's wealth and commerce may be attributed i. . . ^reat degree ; but the perfection to which it has been brought, the multifarious uses to which it is applied, both presuppose skill, capital, and industry, without which the mere possession of such an engine would have been of little avail. At the termination of the ^iinerican war, England neemed completely exhausted : she had come out of a long and ex- pensive contest, d(>prived of what many regarded as her most valuable possessicms, and having contracted an enormous debt. Yet in a very few years, she not only revived, but flourished more than ever ; it is in vain to attribute this to any other causes but those alone which can [)roduce either individual or national wealth, viz. iwlustry, enterprize, know- ledge, and economy, and capital ac(ji. "-^d by means of them. But what has rendered Britain more industrious, intelligent, and skilful than other nations ? — for if we can answer this question, we can satisfactorily account for her ac(juisition of ca})ital ; and capital, industry, and skill existing, connnerce and wealth nuist necessarily follow. Britain enjoys greater political freedom, and greater security of jirojierty than any other European nation; and without political freedom, the mass of the people never can be intelligent, or pe^sess either comprehensive ^hj >t|. M 'i !.: iHTT I i f r H i 506 I'lvgress of Discovcni CHAP. V. views or desires; and wliere views and desires are limited, there can be no regular, general, and zealous industry. Unless, however, security of property is enjoyed, as well as political liberty, industry, even if it could spring up under such cir- cumstances, must soon tlroop and decay. It is a contradiction in terms to suppose that comprehensive views and desires can exist and lead to action, when at the same time it is ex- tremely doubtful whether the objects of them coidd be re- alized, or, if realized, whether they wouUl not immediately be destroyetl, or torn from those whose laboui*, and skill, and anxious tiiought had atHjuired them. But there are other causes to which we nmst ascribe the ex- tension of British maiuitactures and commerce ; of these we shall only enumerate what we regard as the principal and the most powerful : the stinudus which any particular improvement in manufactures gives to future and additional im})rovements, or rather, perhaps, the necessity which it creates for such addi- tion il improvements ; the natural operation of enlarged capital ; the e(iually natural operation of encreased wealth among the various classes of the community ; the peculiar circumstances in which Britain has been placed since the termination of the war which deprived her of her American colonies; and, lastly, her national debt. A short view of each of these par- ticulars will, we believe, sufficiently account for the present unpariiileled state of Britis ' lanufactures and commerce. The direct effect of in)pn)vement in the mode of manufac- turing any article, by the introduction of a more powerful machinery, is to encrease the (juantity, and to lower the price of tliat article. Hence it follows, that those who manu- lacture it on the okl plan must be imdersold, unless they also adopt such machinery ; and as knowledge, both speculative and practical, has greater chance to improve in proportion as it is spread, from this cause, as w^ell as from the more power- ful cause of rival interests, wherever improvements in manu- facture i have begun and been extended, they are suie to advance. That this is not theoretical doctrine requires only an appeal to what has been effected, and is yet effecting in Britain, to prove. A very curie 'is, interesting, and instruc- tive work might be written on the improvements in tlie cotton machinery alone, which have been made in this country during the last forty years : we mean interesting and instructive, not merely on account of the lacts relative to mechanical in- i\ « i CHAP. V. are limited, stry. Unless, ;ll as political ider such cir- contradiction s and desires Lime it is ex- could be ve- nmediately be ind skill, and iscribe the ex- fthese we shall L and the most uprovement in )rovements, or tor such addi- larged capital ; ilth amonjr the circumstances (lination of the colonies ; and, 1 of these par- ur the present commerce, le of manufac- more powerful to lower the i)se who manu- nless they also th speculative proportion as e more power- lents in manu- !y are sme to luu-es only an |et effecting in and instruc- ts in the cotton Icountry during ustruclive, not Imcchanical iu- ciiAP. V. to the Beginning of the Nineteenth Centunj. 507 gcnuity which it would unfold, but ou account of the much liigher history which it would give of the mechanism of the human mind, and of tiie couucctions and ramifications of the various branches of human kuowled_ if,' ' pi iflf^^^ 508 Pro(^n'ss of Discovmj CHAP. V. •^ I! .1 '' n- ir? I r rv, H ■ li ■= ) sell cheaper, or give longer credit, or both; iiiul this must en- sure an increase of trade. Il enables him innnetliately to take advantage of any inii)rovcnient in the mode of manufacturing any article ; and to push the sale of any article into countries where it was before nnknown. 8uch arc some of tlie more im[)ortant effects on conmierce of large capital; and these effects have been most obviously and strikingly shewn in the connnercial iii;tory of Britain for the last thirty years, and thus give a practical confirmation to the doctrine, that capital, originally the creature of trade, in its turn gives nourishment, vigour, and enlarged gnn^th to it. 3. Encreased wealth amou;.)- the various classes of the com- miniity, may be vicwetl in the same light as capital ; it flows from increased trade, and it produces a still further increase of trade. The views, and desires, and habits of mankind, are like their knowledge, they are and must be progressive : and if accompanied, as thev uenerallv are, bv increased means, they must give birth to increased industry and skill, and their necessary consecjuences, increased trade and wealth. Had the views, desires, and habits of mankind, and especi- ally of the inhabitants of Europe and the United States, continued, as they were fifty years ago, it is absolutely im- possible that one half of the goods manufactured in Great Britain could have been disposed of; and unless these addi- tional and enlarged views, desires, and habits, had been accompanied with commensurate means of gratifying them, our manufactures and commerce could not have advanced as they have done. Minutely and universally divided as human labour is, no one country can render its industry and skill additionally productive, without, at the same time, the industry and skill of other countries also advance. No one nation can acquire additional wealth, unless additional wealth is also acquired in other nations. Before an additional quantity of , commodities can be sold, additional means to purchase them nmst be obtained ; or, in other words, increased commerce, supposes increased wealth, not only in that country in which commerce is increased, but also in that wliere the buyers and consumers live. 4. Since the termination of the American war, Britain has been placetl in circumstances favoiu'able to her commerce : the human mind cannot long be depressed ; there Is an elasticity about it which prevents this. Perhaps it is rather disposed to rebound, in proportion to the degree and time of- its restraint. It i:; certain, however, that the exhaustion pro- CHAP. V. to tiic rtc<\inmnit^ oftltc Xiiicfec7i/// CciUiini. .GOJ) diicod by the American war speedily gave place to woiideifid activit}' ill our inaiuiracturos and commerce; and tliat. at the commencement of" the fii'st French revolutionary war, they had both taken wonderful and raj)id strides. 'J'he circumstances, indeed, of such a country as Britain, and such a people as the Britiftii, must be essentially chan<>ed, — -chanf>;ed to a degree, and in a manner, which we can hardly suppose to be brought about by any natural causes, — before its real wealth can be annihilated, or even greatly or permanently dinunished. The climate and the soil, and all the improvements and ameliora- tions which agriculture has jjroduccd on the soil, nuist reniain : the knowledge and skill, and rieal capital of the inhabitants, are beyond the reach of any destroying cause : interest must always operate and a})ply this knowletigc and skill, unless we can supj)ose, what seems as unlikely to happen as the change of our climate and soil, the annihilation of our knowledge and skill, or that interest should cease to be the stimulating cause of industry ; unless we can suppose that j)olitical and civil freedom should be rooted out, and individual property no lonijer secure. Circumstances, however, though they cannot destroy, must h)fluence, beneficially or otherwise, the wealth and commerce of a country ; and it may happen that circumstances ap- parently unfavourivl)le may become beneficial. This was the case with Britain : during the American war, her manu- factures and commerce languished ; during the French wars they increased and throve most wondei'fully. The cause of this difference must be sought for principally in the very arti- ficial and extraordinary circumstances in which she was placed during the French war: and of these circumstances, the most powerfully operative were her foreign loans; her paper circulation ; the conquests and subsequent measures of Bonaparte on the continent; and her su{)eriority at sea. Foreign lou.^'; necessarily rendered the exchange unfavourable to Britain ; an nnfavourable exchange, or, in other words, a premium on bills, in any particular country, enabled the merchant to sell his goods there at a cheaper rate than for- merly, and consequently to extend his conimerce there. The paper circulation of Britain, — though a bold and hazardous step, and wliich in a less healthy and vigorous state of publii', credit and wealth than Britain enjoyed could not have been taken, or, if taken, would not have produced nearly the beneficial effects it did, and would have left much more fatal Y '1.1 t r i Mf ; 1 ' |L' , i ^ wJ ^ ' ■ ' ' 1 i f I ■* i i ■:.i 1 i 510 2^rn<^iTSs of Hhcovcrii CHAl'. V. coiise(iuence.s than we arc at present experiencing^, — mulonbt- ecUy tended to increase iier coninierce ; and the very stinndns which it gave to all kinds of speculation lias been tsivoiMiible to it. The ruinons conseqnences of such s})eculativMi, though dreadful, are conijiaratively of short duration • whereas it is impossible that s})ecuhition should be active and vigorous, with coininensurate means, without improving manufactures, and opening new channels for connnerce; and these effects must remain. In what manner the measures of Bonaparte on tlie continent, and our superiority at sea, were favourable to our commerce, it is unnecessary to explain. Lastly. It only remains to explain how our national debt has been beneficial to our connnerce. Necessity, if it is not absolutely overpowering, nuist act as a stimulus to industry as well as interest : the desire to avoid evil, and the desire to obtain good, are equally powerful motives to the human mind. In the same manner as an increase of family, by creating additional expense, spurs a man to additional in- dustry; so the certainty that he must pay additional taxes produces the same efl'ect. Individuals may contrive to shift the burthen from themselves, and pay their taxes by spending less ; but there can be no doubt that the only general, sure, and permanent fund, out of which additional taxes can be paid, must arise from the fruits of additional in- dustry. We wish to uuard against bein<; taken for the advocates for taxation, as in anj' shai)e a blessing : we are merely stating what we conceive to be its eflfect. But we should no more regard taxation as a blessing, because it in- creased connnerce, than we should regard it as a blessing lo a man, that, from any cause, he was obliged to work four- teen hours a day instead of twelve. In both cases, increased laboin* might be necessary, but it would not the less be an evil. The only other nation, the commerce of which has, in- creased very materially and rapidly, is the United States of America ; and if we trace the chief and most powerful causes of their commercial prosperity, we shall still further be con- firmed in the opinion, that at least some of the causes which we have assigned for the extension of British commerce are the true ones ; and that, in fact, commerce cannot generally or permanently increase where these causes do not exist, and that where they do they must encourage and extend it. It is not our intention to enter into a detail of the causes Iv . Y CHAP. V. lo the Bciiiiiniir.' (if the Niiirlct-xllt ('nil my. 11 of Aniericaii jirosperity, except so ihr as tliey are connected with its commerce. 'I'liey iiiay, however, be summed up in a lew words. An inexhaustible (]iiantily of hind, in a '! i.l ! >l \i "W IMI J P S14 Progress of Discovery THAP. V. Ma !l \ The most important commercial port on the southern shore of the Baltic is Dantzic, which l>elongs to Prussia. This town retained a large portion of the commerce of the Baltic after the fall of the Hanseatic League, and with Lubec, Ham- burgh, and Bremen, preserved a commercial ascendency in the Baltic. It suffered, however, considerably by the Priis- Jans acquiring possession of the banks of the Vistula, until it was incorjiorated with the kingdom in 1793. Pantzic ex- ports nearly the whole of the produce of the fertile country of Poland, consisting of corn, hides, horse-hair, honey, wax, oak, and other timber ; the imports consist principally of ma- nufactured goods and colonial produce. Swedish Pomera- nia, and Mecklenburgh, neither of which possess any ports of consequence, draw the greater pai't of their exports from the soil, as salted and smoked meat, hides, wool, butter, cheese, corn, and fruit ; the imports, like those of Dantzic, are prin- cipally manufactured goods and colonial produce. The inunense extent of Russia does not afford such a variety, or large supply of articles of commerce, as might be exj)ected : this is owing to the ungenial and unproductive nature of a very large portion of its soil, to the barbarous and enslaved state of its inhabitants, and to the comparatively few ports which it possesses, and the extreme distance from the oa .in or navigable rivers of its central parts. We haN'ie -already mentioned the rise of Petersburgh, and its rapid in- crease in. population and commerce. The subsequent sove- rCi; lis of Russia have, in this as in all other respects, followed the objects and plans of its founder ; though they have been more enlivhtened and successful in their plans of conquest thai; in those of commerce. The most important advantage which they have bestowed on commerce, arises from the canals and inland navigation which connects the southern and the northern provinces of this vast empire. The principal com- merce of Russia is by the Baltic. Petersburgh and Riga are the only ports of consequence here ; from them are exported corn, hemp, flax, fir timber, pitch, tar, potash, iron and cop- per, hides, tallow, bristles, honey, wax, isinglass, caviar, furs, &c. The principal imports consist of English manufactures and colonial produce, especially coffee and sugar, wines, silks, &c. The commerce of the Black Sea has lately increased much, especially at Odessa. The principal exports are, corn, furs, provisions, &c. ; its imports, wine, fruit, coffee, silks, &c, Russia carries on a considerable internal trade with Prussia, rHAP. V. uthern s\iore ussia. This of the BaUic Lubec, Ham- iscendency m by the Pnis- istula, until it Pantzic ex- tile country of , honey, ^'^'^^ icipally of nia- edish Pomera- ;ss any ports ot snorts from the butter, cheese, Lnt'/.ic, are prm- lice. t afford such a •ce, as might be id unproductive ic barbarous and omparatively tew listance from the irts. We have and its rapid in- subsequent sove- respects, followed rh they have been plans of conquest H)rtant advantage ies from the canals ■ southern and the 'he principal com- i.vgh and Riga are them are exporteil |ash, iron and cop- ifflass, caviar, tnrs, blish manufactures lugar, wines, silks, as lately increased I exports are, corn, fit, coffee, silks, &c. rade with Prussia, CHAP. V. to the Beginning of the Kineteenih Centmy. 515 Persia, and China, especially with the latter. Nearly the whole of her maritime commerce is in the hands of foreigners, the Russians seeming rather averse to the sea ; and the state of vassalage in the peasants, which binds them to the soil, preventing the formation of seamen. Latterly, however, she has displayed considerable zeal in posecuting maritime disco- veries ; and as she seems disposed to extend her possessions in the north-west coast of America, this will necessarily pro- duce a commercial marine. 2. The next portion of Europe to which we shall direct our attention consists of Germany, the Netherlands, and France. Germany, though an extensive and fertile country, and in- habited by an intelligent and industrious race of people, pos- sesses few commercial advantages from its want of ports : those on the Baltic have been already mentioned ; those on the German Ocean are Hamburgh and Embden, of which Hamburgh is by far the most important, while, to the south, the only port it possesses is Trieste. It is, however, favoured in respect to rivers : the Elbe, Weser, Rhine, and Danube, with their tributary streams, affording great facilities, not only for inland commerce, but also for the export and import of commodities. The chief political disadvantage under which Germany labours, affecting its commerce, arises from the number of independent states into which it is divided, and the despotic nature of most of its governments. As might l)e expected from such a large tract of country, the produc- tions of Germany are various. Saxony supplies for export- ation, wool of the finest quality, corn, copper, cobalt, and odier metals, thread, linen-lace, porcelain, &c. Hanover is principally distinguislied for its mines, which supply metals for exportation. The chief riches of Bavaria arise from its corn and cattle : these, with pottery, glass, linen, and silk, are the exports of Wurtemburgh. Prussia Proper affords few things for exportation : the corn of her Polish provinces has been already mentioned, as affording the principal export from Dantzic. Silesia supplies linen to foreign countries. Austria, and its dependant states, export quicksilver, and other metals, besides cattle, corn, and wine. The commerce of the Netherlands, including Holland, though far inferior in extent and importance to what it for- merly was, is still not inconsiderable. Indeed, the situation L L 2 ! vl t *'] H I i: :f '■ I i: i u 516 Progress of Discovery CHAP. V. of Holland, nearly all the towns and villages of which have a communication with the sea, either by rivers or canals, and through some part of the territory of which the great rivers Rhine, Meuse, and Scheld e.npty themselves into the sea, must always render it commercial. The principal ports of the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Antwerp. The exports of the Netherlands consist either of its own pro- duce and manufactures, or of those which are brought to it from the interior of Germany : of the former, butter, cheese, madder, dover-seed, toys, &c. constitute the most important ; from Germany, by means of the Rhine, vast floats of timber are brought. The principal imports of ihe Netherlands, both for her own use and for the supply of Germany, consist of Baltic produce, English goods, colonial produce, wines, fruits, oil, &c. There is perhaps no country in Europe which possesses greater advantages for commerce than France : a large extent of sea coast, both on the Atlantic and the Mediterranean ; excellent harbours ; a rich soil and genial climate, adapted to a great variety of valuable productions ; and some manufac- tures very superior in their workmanship, — all these present advantages seldom found united. Add to these her colonial possessions, and we shall certainly be surprized that her com- merce should ever have been second to that of any other country in Europe. Prior to the revolution it was certainly great ; but during and since that period it was and is vastly inferior to the commerce of Great Britain, and even to that of the United States. , The extent of sea coast on the Atlantic is 283 leagues, and on the Mediterranean eighty leagues : the rivers are numerous, but none of the first class. The canal of Languedoc, though from its connecting the Atlantic and the Mediterranean it would naturally be supposed highly advantageous to com- merce, is not so ; or rather, it is not turned to the advantage to which it might be applied. In England such a canal would be constantly filled with vessels transporting the produce of one part to another. It is not, however, so ; and this points to a feature in the French character which, in all pro- bability, will always render them indisposed, as well as unable, to rival Britain, either in manufactures or commerce. Besides the want of capital, >vhich might be supplied, and would in- deed be actually supplied by industry and invention, tlie i J, CHAP. V. vhich have a canals, and 2 great rivers into the sea, ;ipal ports of and Antwerp, f its own pro- ■ brought to it lutter, cheese, Dst important ; [oats of timber herlands, both my, consist of e, wines, fruits, hich possesses a large extent VIediterranean ; imate, adapted some manuft^c- 11 these present ese her colonial d that her com- it of any other it was certainly as and is vastly even to that of 83 leagues, and rs are numerous, guedoc, though editerranean it ageous to corn- to the advantage ch a canal would the produce of and this points ch, in all pro- is well as unable, imerce. Besides d, and would in 1 d invention, tlie CHAP. V. to the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century. 517 French are destitute of the. stimulus to industry and inven- tion. As a nation, they are much more disposed to be con- tent with a little, and to enjoy what they possess without risk, anxiety, or further labour, than to increase their wealth at such a price. The princi}>al commercial ports of France on the Atlantic are Havre, St. Maloes, Nantes, Bourdeaux, and Bayonne : Marseilles is the only commercial port of consequence in the Mediterranean. The principal exports of France are wines, brandy, vinegar, fruit, oil, woollen cloth of a very fine quality, silk, perfumery, &c. : the imports are Baltic produce, the manufactures of England ; fruits, drugs, raw wool, leather, &c. from Spain, Italy, and the Mediterranean states. 3. The next division of Europe comprehends Spain, Por- tugal, Italy, and Greece. Spain, a country highly favoured by nature, and at one period surpassed by no other kingdom in Europe in civili- zation, knowledge, industry, ancL power, exhibits an instruc- tive and striking instauce of the melancholy effects of political degradation. Under the power of the Arabians, she flou- rished exceedingly ; and even for a short period after their expulsion, she retained a high rank in the scale of European kingdoms. The acquisition of her East Indian and American territories, and the high eminence to which she was raised during the dominion of Charles V. and his immediate succes- sors, — events that to a superficial view of things would have appeared of the greatest advantage to her, — proved, in fact, in their real and permanent operation, prejudicial to her industry, knowledge, and power. It would seem that the accjuisition of the more precious metals, which may be likened to the power of converting every thing that is touched into gold, is to na- tions what it was to Midas, — a source of evil instead of good. Spain, having substituted the artificial stimulus of her Ameri- can mines in the place of the natural and nutritive food of real industry, on whicli she fed during the dominion of the Moors, gradually fell off in conmiercial importance, as well as in poli- tical consequence and power. The decline in her commerce, and in her home industry, was further accelerated and in- creased by the absurd restrictions which she imposed on the intercourse with her colonies. All these circumstances con- curring, about the period when she fell into the power of the house of Bourbon, — that is, about the beginning of the 1, L 3 i tt ! I m i 518 Progress of Discover}) CHAP. V. B n r;v!J' (* !H eighteenth century, — she sunk very low in industry and com- merce, and she lias, since that period, continued to fall. And yet, as we have observed, she possesses great natural .id'antages : a sea coast on the Atlantic and Mediterranean of considerable extent; a great variety of climate and soil, and consequently of productions, — she might become, under a wise and free government, distinguished for her political power and her connnerce. On the Atlantic, the first port towards the north is Saint Sebastian ; then succeeds Bilbo St. Andero, Gijon, Ferro), and Corumia; but, though soiiiv, of these, especially Ferrol and Corunuji, possess excellent harbours, yet the poverty of the adjacent country prevents them from having much trade. To the south of Portugal is Seville, on the Guadalquiver, sixteen leagues from the sea; large vessels can ascend to this city, but its commerce was nearly destroyed I the transfer of the colonial trade to Cadiz. This last town, one of the most ancient commercial places in the world, is highly fa- voured both by nature and art as a port; and before the French revolutionary war, and the separation of the American colonies from the mother state, was undoubtedly the first commercial city in Spain. The exports of the northern pro- vinces consist principally in iron, wool, chesnuts a id filberts, &c.; the imports, which chiefly come from England, Hol- land, and France, are woollen, linen, and cotton goods, hard- ware, and salted fish. On the Mediterrai^ean, Malaga may be regarded as the third commercial city in Spain, though its harbour is not good ; the other ports in this sea, at which trade is carried on to any considerable extent, are Carthagena, Alicant, and Barcelona, which ranks after Cadiz in commercial importance, and now that the colonial trade is destroyed, may be placed above it. The principal exports from these Mediterranean towns are wines, dried fruits, oils, anchovies, wool, barilla, soap, kermes, antimony, vermilion, brandy, cork, silk, &c. Barcelona formerly exported an immense number of shoes to the colonies. The imjiorts consist chiefly of Baltic produce, the articles enumeratetl as forming the imports of the north of Spain, and some articles from Italy and Turkey. Portugal, not nearly so extensive as Spain, nor blessed with such a fertile territory, is before her in commerce : she possesses two sea-ports of the first consideration, Lisbon and Oporto ; nnd five of the second class. There are few cities that sur- S H CHAP. V. stry and com- to fall. great natural Mediterranean II ate and soil, jeconie, under • her political north is Saint Gijon, Ferro), pecially Ferrol the poverty of ig much trade. Guadalquiver, I ascend to this the transfer wn, one of the , is highly fa- and before the f the American )tedly the first e northern pro- uts a id filberts, England, Hol- 3n gootls, hard- c«^rded as the harbour is not de is carried on I, Alicant, and cial importance, , may be placed Mediterranean i, wool, barilla, cork, silk, &c. liber of shoes to Baltic produce, ts of the north urkey. nor blessed with [;e : she possesses ion and Oporto ; / cities that sur- est AP. V. to (he Begmning of the Nineteenth Century. 519 l^ass Lisbon in commerce. The principal trade of Portugal is with England; from this country she receives woollens and other manufactures ; coals, tin, salted cod, Irish linen, salt provisions, and butter: her other imports are iron from the north of Spain ; from France, linens, silks, cambrics, line woollens, jewellery ; from Holland, corn, cheese, and drugs for dying ; from Germany, linens, corn, &c. ; and from Denmark, Sweden, and Russia, Baltic produce. The prin- cipal exports of Portugal are wine, oil, fruits, cork, &c. The Italian States, the origin of the conmierce of the middle ages, are no longer remarkable for tlicir trade ; the prin- cipal ports for commerce are Leghorn, Naples, Venice, Genoa, Messina, and Palermo, "^'^he exports of Leghorn arc silk, raw and manufactured; straw hats, olive oil, fruits, marble, ivc. : its chiiif tra( e, however, consists in the importation of English merchandize, which it distributes to all parts of the Mediter- ranean, receiving in return their jiroduce to load the British ships on their home voyage. The greatest import to Naples consists in European ijianufactured goods, and salt fish ; its exports are those of Leghorn, with capers, wool, dye stuffs, manna, wax, sulphur, poiash, macaroni, &c. V^enice has de- clined very much, from the influence of political circumstan- ces : her exports are olives, looking-glasses, rice, coral, N'enice treacle, scarlet cloth, and gold and silver stuff's ; the imports are similar to those of Leghorn and Naples. The exports and imports of Genoa, consisting principally of those already enumerated, do not require particular notice. Sicily, a very rich country by nature, and formerly the granary of Rome, has fallen very low from bad government: her exports are very various, including, beside those already mentioned, barilla, a great variety of dying drugs and medicines, goat, kid, and rabbit skuis, anchovies, tunny fish, wheat, &c. : its chief imports are British goods, salted fish, and colonial produce. The principal trade of Greece is carried on by the inhjibi- tants of Hydra, a barren island. The commerce of the Hydriots, as well as of the rest of Greece, was very much benefited by the scarcity of corn which prevailed in France in 1796, and subseciuently by the attempts of Bonaparte to shut British manufactures from the continent. These two causes threw the greatest part of the coasting trade of the Medi- terranean into their hands. The chief articles of exjiort I'rom Greece are oil, fruits, skins, drugs, volonia, and gall nuts, L L 4 ■''^.11 r •TT* 520 Progress of Discovery CHAP. V. > t cotton and wool. The imports are principally English goods^ and colonial produce, tin, lead, &c. We have already dwelt on the causes which produced the immense commercial superiority of England; and we shall, therefore, now c 'ine ourselves to an enumeration of its principal ports, and the principal articles of its export and import. London possesses considerably above one-half of the commerce of Great Britain ; the next town is undoubtedly Liverpool ; then may be reckoned, in England, Bristol, Hull, Newcastle, Sunderland, Yarmouth, &c. ; in Scotland, Green- ock, Leith, Aberdeen, Dundee, &c. ; in Ireland, Cork, Dublin, Limerick, Belfast, Waterford, &c. From the last return of the foreign trade of Great Britain it appears, that by far the most important article of export is cotton manufac- tures and yarn, amounting in real or declared value to nearly one-half of the whole amount of goods exported ; the next articles, arranged according to their value, are woollen manufactures, refined sugar, linen manufactures, iron,' steel and hardware, brass and copper manufactures, glass, lead, and shot, &c. &c. ; of colonial produce exported, the principal articles are coffee, piece goods of India, rum, raw sugar, indigo, &c. &c. The principal imports of Great Britain are cotton wool, raw sugar, tea, flax, coffee, raw silk, train oil and blubber, madder, indigo, wines, &c. &c. The principal imports into Ireland consist of old drapery, entirely from Great Britain ; coals, also entirely from Great Britain ; iron wrought and unwrought, nearly the whole from Great Britain ; grocery, mostly direct from the West Indies ; tea, from Britain, &c. &c. In fact, of the total imports of Ireland, five- sixths of them are from Great Britain ; and of her exports, nine-tenths are to Great Britain. The principal articles of export are linen, butter, wheat, meal, oats, bacon, pork, &c. &c. On the 30th September, 1822, there belonged to the United Kingdom 24,64'2 vessels, making a total of 2,51 9,04* tons, and navigated by 166,333 men; of the vessels employed in the foreign trade, including their repeated voyages, in the year ending the 5th of January 1823, there were about 12,000, of which upwards of 9,000 were British and Irish, and the rest foreign vessels. The coasting trade of England is calculated to empioj' 3000 vessels. We have already stated the proportion which the trade of Ireland to Britain CHAP. V. to the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century. 521 bore to her trade with the rest of the world ; this point may be still further elucidated by the following fact: that the number of vessels, (including their repeated voyages,) which entered the ports of Ireland, from all parts of the world, in the year ending the 5th of January, 1823, was 11,561, and that all these, except 943, came from Great Britain. From this rapid view of the commerce of the European states, it appears that, with the exception of Great Britain, by far the largest portion and greatest value of the exports of each country consist in the produce of the soil, either in its raw and natural state, or after having undergone a change that requires little industry, manual labour, or mechanical agency. Britain, on the contrary, derives her exports almost entirely from the produce of her wonderful mechanical skill, which effects, in many cases, what could alone be accomplished by an immense population, and in a few cases, what no manual labour could perform. In reviewing the commerce of the remaining parts of the world, we shall find the articles that constitute it almost ex- clusively the produce of the soil, or, where manufactured, owing the change in their form and value to the simplest con- trivances and skill. We shall begin with Asia. Turkey possesses some of the finest portions of this quarter of the globe ; countries in which man first emerged into civilization, literature, and knowledge ; rich in climate and soil, but dreadfully degraded, oppressed, and impoverished by despotism. The exports from the European part of Turkey are carpets, fruit, saffron, silk, drugs, &c. : the prin- cipal p(»rt is Constantinople. From Asiatic Turkey there are exported rhubarb and other drugs, leather, silk, dye stuffs, wax, sponge, barilla, and hides: nearly the whole foreign trade is centered in Smyrna, and is in the hands of the Eng- lish and French, and Italians. The imports are coffee, sugar, liqueurs, woollen and cotton goods, lead, tin, jewellery, watches, &c. China, from the immense number of its population, and their habits, possesses great internal commerce ; but, with the exception of her tea, which is taken away by the English and Americans, her export trade is not great. She also carries on a traffic overland with Russia, to wiiich we have already alluded, and some maritime commerce with Japan. Besides tea, the exports from China are porcelain, silk, nankeens, &c. ; the imports are the woollen goods, and tin and copper of 1: I M '11 522 Progress of Discovery CHAP. V. England ; cotton, tin, pepper, &c. from the British settle- ments in India ; edible birds* nests, furs, &c. The trade of Japan is principally with China : the exports are copper, lackered ware, &c. ; the imports are raw silk, sugar, turpentine, drugs, &c. The trade of the Birman em- pire is also principally with China, importing into it cotton, amber, ivory, precious stones, betel nuts, &c., and receiving in return raw and wrought silk, gold leaf, preserves, paper, &c. European broad cloth and hardware, Bengal muslins, glass, &c. are also imported into this country. But by far the most important commerce that is car/ied on in the eastern parts of Asia, consists in that which flows from and to Calcutta, Bombay, and Madras. Tn fact, the English country trade there, as it is called, is of great value, and embraces a very great variety of articles. Bombay is the grand emporium of the west of India, Persia, and Arabia ; here the productions of those counti'ies are exchanged against each other, and for the manufactures, &c. of England. The principal articles of export from Bombay to these places, as well as to England, are cotton piece goods, sugar, and salt- petre, received from Bengal ; pepper from Sumatra ; coffee from the Red Sea. The imports from Europe are woollens, tin, Iqad, &c. A very lucrative trade is carried on from Bom- bay to China, to which it exports cotton in very great quantity, sandal wood, &c., and receives in return sugar, sugar-candy, camphire, nankeens, &c. There is also considerable traffic between Bombay and Bengal, Ceylon, Pegu, and the Malay archipelago. The exports of Ceylon are cinnamon, arrack, coir, cocoa nuts : the imports are grain, piece goods, and European merchandize. The commerce of the eastern coast of Ilindostan centers in Madras : the exports from this place are principally piece goods, grain, cotton, &c. ; the imports, woollen manufactures, copper, spirits, pepper, and other spices. The trade of Bengal may be divided into four branches : to Coromandel and Ceylon, the Malabar coast,' Gulph of Persia and Arabia, the Malay archipelago and China and Europe. The principal exports by the port of Calcutta are piece goods, opium, raw silk, indigo, rice, sugar, cotton, grain, saltpetre, &c. : the principal imports are woollen goods, copper, wine, pepper, spices, tea, nankeen, camphire, &c. A considerable trade is carried on in the Malay archipelago from Prince of Wales Island, which, since it was settled by .> f V \ CHAP. V. to the Beginning of the Nineteenth Centur.i. 523 the English, has become the emporium of this trade. — Bata- via, Bencoolen, and Achen ; the principal articles of export from these islands are cloves, nutmegs, camphire, pepper, sago, drugs, bichedemer, birds' nests, gold dust, ivory, areca nuts, benzoin, tin, &c. : the imports are tea, alum, nankeens, silks, opium, piece goods, cotton, rice, and European manufac- tures. Manilla is the depot of all the productions of the Philippines, intended to be exported to China, America, and Europe. The exports of these islands are birds' nests, ebony, tobacco, sugar, cotton, cocoa, &c. The commerce of New Holland is still in its infancy, but it promises to rise rapidly, and to be of great value: a soil very fertile, and a climate adajited to the growth of excellent grain, together with the uncommon fineness of its wool, have already been very bene- ficial to its commerce. The external commerce of Persia is principally carried on by the foreign merchants who reside at Muscat, on the Persian Gulph : into this place are imported from India, long cloths, muslins, silks, sugar, spices, rice, indigo, drugs, and European manufactures ; the returns are copper, sidphur, tobacco, fruits, gum-arabic, myrrh, frankincense, and all the drugs which India does not produce. The Red Sea, washed on one side by Asia, and on the other by Africa, seems the natural transit, from this consider- ation, of the commerce of the former quarter of the globe to that of the latter. Its commerce is carried on by the Arabians, and by vessels from Hindostan : Mocha and Judda are its principal ports. The articles sent from it are coffee, gums and drugs, ivory, and fruit : the imports are the piece goods, cotton, and other produce of India ; and the manuflictures, iron, lead, copper, &c. of Europe. Egypt, in which anciently centered all the commerce of the world, retains at present a very small portion of trade : the principal exports from Alexandria consist in the gums and drugs of the east coast of Africa, Arabia, Persia, and India; rice, wheat, dates, oil, soap, leather, ebony, elephants' teeth, coffee, &c. The imports are received chiefly from France and the Italian States, and England ; and consist in woollen and cotton goods, hardware, copper, iron, glass, and colonial produce. The commerce of the Bflrbary States is trifling : the exports are drugs, grain, oil, wax, honey, hides and skins, live bullocks, ivory, ostrich feathers, &c. ; the im- ports, colonial produce, (which indeed finds its way every ki' .' /•' I; I '•V II ■1 i r.H 52* Progress of Discover!/ CHAP. V. where,) cutlery, tin, woollen and linen goods, &c. The ex- ports of the rest of Africa are nearly similar to those enumer- ated, viz. gums, drugs, ivory, ostrich feathers, skins, gold tlust, &c. From the British settlement at the Cape are ex- ported wine, wheat, wool, hides, &c. The United States claim our first notice in giving a rapid sketch of the commerce of America : we have already pointed out the causes of their extraordinary progress in population and wealth. American ships, like English ones, are found in every part of the world : in the South Sea Islands, among people just emerging into civilization and industry ; among the savages of New Zealand; on the north-west coast of America ; and on the dreadful shores of New South Shetland. Not content with exporting the various productions of their own country, they carry on the trade of various parts of the globe, which, but for their instrumentality, could not have obtained, or ever have become ac(|uainted with each other's produce. The exports from America, the produce of their own soil, are corn, flou ', timber, potash, provisions, and salt fisk from the northern States ; corn, timber, and tobacco from the middle States ; and indigo, rice, cotton, tar, pitch, turpentine, timber, and provisions, to the West Indies, from the southern States, The imports are woollen, cotton goods, silks, hard- ware, earthen-ware, wines, brandy, tea, drugs, fruit, dye- stuffs, and India and colonial pi-oduce. By far the greatest portion of the trade of the United States is with Great Britain. The principal ports are Boston, New York, Phila- delphia, Baltimore, and New Orleans. The British settlements in America export, chiefly from Quebec and Halifax, corn, potash, wheel timber, masts, lumber, beaver and other furs, tar, turpentine, and salted fish from Newfoundland. The imports are woollen and cotton goods, hardware, tea, wine, India goods, groceries, &c. The exports of the West India Islands are sugar, coffee, rum, ginger, indigo, drugs, and dye stuffs. The imports are lumber, woollen and cotton goods, fish, hardware, wine, groceries, hats, and other articles of dress, provisions, &c. Brazil, and the late Spanish settlements in America, coun- tries of great extent, and extremely fertile, promise to supply very valuable articles for commerce; even at present their exports are various, and chiefly of great importance. Some of the most useful drugs, and finest dye stuffs, are the produce of South America. Mahogany and other woods, sugar, CHAP. V. ciiAP. V. to the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century. >25 coffee, chocolate, cochineal, Peruvian bark, cotton of the finest quality, gold, silver, copper, diamonds, hides, tallow, rice, indigo, &c. Carthagena, Porto Cabello, Pgrnamhucco, Bahia, Rio de Janeiro, and Buenos Ayres, are the principal ports on the east coast of South America; and Valparaiso, Calloa (the port of Lima), Guayaijuil, Panama, and Acapulco, on the west coast. Our sketch of commerce would be incomplete, did it not comprehend a short notice of the manner in which the trade of great part of Asia and Africa is conducted, by means of caravans. This is, perhaps, the most ancient mode of com- munication between nations ; and, from the descriptions v/e possess, the caravans of the remotest antiquity were, in almost every particular, very similar to what they are at present. The human race was first civilized in the East. This district of the globe, though fertile in various articles which are well calculated to excite .he desires of mankind, is intersected by extensive tieserts ; these must have cut off all communica- tion, had not the camel, — which can bear a heavy burden, en- dure great famine, is very docile, and, above all, seems made to bid defiance to the parched and waterless desert, by its internal formation, and its habits and instinct, — been civilized by the inhabitants. By means of it they have, from the re- motest antiquity, carried on a regular and extensive com- merce. The caravans may be divided into those of Asia and tliose of Africa : the great centre of the former is Mecca : the pilgri- mage to this place, enjoined by Mahomet, has tended decidedly to facilitate and extend commercial intercourse. Two cara- vans annually visit Mecca; one from Cairo, and the other from Damascus. The merchants and pilgrims who compose the former come from Abyssinia, from which they bring elephants' teeth, ostrich feathers, gum, gold dust, parrots, monkies, &c. Merchants also come from the Senegal, and collect on their way those of Algiers, Tunis, &c. - This divi- sion sometimes consists of three thousand camels, laden with oils, red caps, fine flannels, &c. The journey of the united caravans, which have been known to consist of 100,000 per- sons, in going and returning, occupies one hundred days: they bring back from Mecca all the most valuable productions of the East, coffee, gum arabic, perfumes, drugs, spices, pearls, precious stones, shawls, muslins, &c. The caravan of Damascus is scarcely inferior to that of Cairo, in the variety I Siii'^ :• I i Ki. : w ' .• ' ^ i. '!» '^ lii l[ flff l. 526 Progress fif Discover]/ CHAP. V. and value of the produce which it conveys to Mecca, and brings buck from it, or in the number of camels and men which compose it. Almost every province of the Turkish emj)ire sends forth pilgrims, merchants, and connnodities to this caravan. Of the Asiatic caravtms, purely connnercial, we know less than of those which unite religion and com- merce ; as the fqrmer do not travel at stated seasons, nor follow a marked and constant I'oute. The great object of those caravans is to distribute the productions of China and Iliu- dostan among the central parts of Asia. In order to su])ply them, caravans set out from Baghar, ISamarcand, Thibet, and several other places. The most extensive commerce, however, carried on in this part of Asia, is that between Russia and China. We have already alluded to this commerce, and shall only add, that the distance between the caj)itals of those kingdoms is 6378 miles, upwards of four hundred miles of which is an uninhabited desert; yet caravans go regularly this immense distance. The Russians and Chinese meet on the frontiers ; where the furs, linen and woollen cloth, leather, glass, &c. of Russia, are exchanged for the tea, porcelain, cot- ton, rice, &c. of China. This intercourse is very ancient. There are also caravans of independent Tartars, which arrive on the Jaik and Oui, and bring Chinese and Indian commo- dities, which they interchange for those of Russia, Tombuctoo is the great depot of central Africa : with it the maritime states of Egypt, Tripoli, Algiers, Tunis, and Mo- rocco carry on a very extensive and lucrative trade by means of caravans. They take 129 days in travelling to Tombuctoo from the borders of the desert, but only fifty-ibur are spent in actual travelling. There is also another caravan which sets off' from Wedinou, and after collecting salt at West Tagossa, proceeds to Tombuctoo. This goes as far as the White Mountains, near Cape Blanco, and is occupied five or six months in its journey. The nverchandize carried by these x;aravans is German linens, Irish linens, muslins, woollen .cloth, coral beads, pearls, silk, coffee, tea, sugtu", shawls, brass Tuiils, &c. &c. In exchange they bring back chiefly the pro- 4luce of Soudan, viz. gold dust, gold rings, bars of gold, ele- iphants' teeth, gum, grains of paradise, and slaves. There are ^Iso sevei'al caiav^ns that trade between Cairo and the interior .of Africa, which are solely employed in the traffic of slav^. There can be no doubt that caravans arrive at Tombuctoo from pa*t» of Africa very distant from it, fond not only inac- cirA?. V. to the Beginning of the Nineteenth Centnrj/. 527 cessihle, but totally unknown, I'ven by report, to Kuropenns, and even to the inlmbitants of North Allien. What a picture does modern conunerce present of the boundless desires of man, and of the advancement he makes in intellect, knowledge, and })()vver, when stiimdated by these desires I Thinfrs familiar to use cease to attract our surprise and investigation ; otherwise we should be struck with the fjict, till i. the lowest and ))oorest jieasant's breakfast-table is sup- pli:id from countries lying in the remotest parts of the world, of which Greece and Rome, in the plenitude of their |)ower and knowledge, were totally ignorant. But the benefits which mankind derives from commerce are not confined to the ac(|ui- sition of a greater share and variety of the comforts, luxuries, or even the necessaries of life. Commerce has repaid the benefits it has received from geogrni)hy : it has opened new sources of industry ; of this the cotton manufactures of Britain are a signal illustration andjiroof : — it has contributed to preserve the health of the human race, by the introduction of the most valuable drugs employed in medicine. It has removed ignorance and national prejudices, and tended most materially to the diffusion of political and religious knowledge. The natural philosopher knows, that whatever affects, in the smallest degree, the remotest body in the uni- verse, acts, though to us in an imperceptible manner, on every other body. So commerce acts ; but its action is not momentary ; its impulses, once begun, continue widi aug- mented force. And it appears to us no absurd or extravagant expectation, that through its means, either directly, or by en- larging the views and desires of man, the civilization, know- ledge, freedom and happiness of Europe will ultimately be spread over the whole globe. I i 'i f f .n CATALOGUE QF VOYAGES AN]) THAVELS. Prelimi7iary Observations on the Plan and Arrangement ptirsued in drawing np this Catalogue. It is obvious, that whoever undertakes to draw up a cata- logue of books on any particular subject, must proceed on one or other of these two plans, — eitlier to give a complete cata- logue of all the works publishetl on that subject, or a select catalogue of what seems to him the best works. It is scarcely necessary to point out the objection to the first plan, arising from the impracticability of making any catalogue absolutely complete ; but it may be said, though not absolutely complete, it may, by sufficient information and diligence, be rendered nearly so. Let us suppose, then, that by unwearied assiduity and research, aided and guided by the requisite knowledge, a catalogue is rendered as perfect as it practically can be made^ — is the utility of such a catalogue enhanced in a proportion any thing approaching to the labour, research, and time ex- pended upon it; or, rather, would not such a catalogue bo much less useful than one within smaller compass, drawn up on the plan of selection ? On all sul)jects there are more bad or indifferent works publishetl than good ones. This remark applies with peculiar justice and forc^ to modern works of voyages and travels. A very extensive catalogue, therefore, must contain a large por- tion of bad or nitlilferent books, which are not worth the purchasing, the consulting, nor the perusing ; consequently, if such works appear in a caiulogue drawn up for the purpose MM i HI s» iJ., 530 Catalogue of Voyages a?ul Travels. of guiding those wlio purpose to travel iu particular countries, to write on the subject of them, or merely to lead respecting them for the sake of information, it is plain that such a cata- logue cannot be trusted as a safe and judicious guide; as if the persons consulting it select for themselves, there is an equal chance of selecting useless books as g<^:Kl ones ; and if they attemj)t to peruse all, they must waste ii great deal of time. It may be said, however, that this objection can easily be obviated, by distinguishing such works as are bad or indifferent from such as are good, cither by a short notice, or by a par- ticular mark. Tlie first plan necessarily must increase the si/e of the catalogue ; and it really ap|)ears a piece of super- fluous labour to introduce works not worthy to be perused, and then, either by a notice or mark, to warn the reader from the perusal of them. Is it not much more direct to omit such works altogether? As the object in view in the prt-sent catalogue is to render it useful to the generality of readers, and not valuable to the bibliographer, those works are omitted which have no other recommendation but their extreme scarcity. For such works are of coin-se accessible only to very few, and when obtained, coiivey little interest or information. A select catalogue then appears to be the most useful, and of course nuist occupy less room. But to this objections start up, which it will be proper to consider. In the first place. What is the criterion ttf good works of voyages and travels? The antiquarian will not allow merit to such as pass over, or ilo not enter, am amove, and at great length, into the details of the anti(|uities of a country : the natural historian is decidedly of opinion, that no man ought to travel who is not minutely and accurately accjuainted with every branch of his favourite science, and complains that scarcely a single work of travels is worthy of purcluise or pe- rusal, because natural history is altogether omitted in them, or treated in a popular and suj)erficial manner. Even those who regard man as the object to which travellers ought especially to direct their attention, differ in opMiion regarding the points of view in which he ought to be studied in foreign countries. To many the travels of Johnson and Moore seem of the highest merit and interest, because these authors place before their readers an animated, philosophical, and vivid picture of the human character ; whereas other readers consider such works and 4 f I \ii n Catalogue of Voyngcs and Travels. 581 as triflin10. 4to. 50. Fiuinell's Voyage round the World. London, IG07. Hvo. In Harrif, vol. 1. 51. Description du penible Voyage fait autour de I'lJnivers. Par O. du Nord. Anisfcidam, 1602, in folio. This is translated fro;n the Dutch. An English translation is given in Harris, vol.1. .32. Voyage de .Jac()ues rilermite autour du Monde. Amster- dam, 1705 — 12. — This also is translated from the Dutch. 5.'}. Dampier's New Voyage round the World. London, 1711. 3 vols. 8vo. The Trench translation in 5 vols. I2mo. contains alsc the voyages of Wafer, Wood, Cowley, Itobert, and Sharp. Dampier's and Cowley's are in Harris, vol. 1. 5 k A Voyage round the World. By Captain (1. Shelvocke. London, 1757. 8vo. This is also in Harris, vol. 1. .'35. Voyage round the World, by Wood Rogers. London, 1728, 8vo. In Harris, vol. 1. 50. Voyage round the World, by Lord Anson. By Walter, corrected by Kobins. London, 17ty. 4to. 57. Hawicsworth's Account of the Voyages for making Dis- coveries in the Southern Hemisphere, performed by liyron, Wallis, Carteret, and Cook, 177;i. 3 vols. 4to. 58. Captain Cook's Voyage towards the South Pole, and round the World, 1777. 2 vols. 4to. 59. Captains Cook, Clarke, and Gore's Voyage to the Pacific^ Ocean. By Co(»k and King, with an introduction by Bishop Douglas, 1784. 3 vols. 4to. GO. (t. Forster's Voyage round the World, with Captain Cook, during 1772-75-77. 2 vols. 4to. 61. Bougainville's Voyage round the World, translated from the French. By J. H. Forster, 1772. 4to. 62. Voyage round the World, more particularly to the North- west Coast of America, in 1785-88. By Captain Dixon, 1789; 4to. 63. Captain Portlock's Account of the same Voyage, 1789. 4to. 64. A Voyage round the World in 1785-88. By De la Perouse, translated fronj the French. 2 vols. 4to. aud Atlas of Prints, 1799. (j5. Account of a Voyage in search of La Peyrouse, translated from the French of Labellaidiere. 2 vols. 8vo. and Atlas in 4'to. 1800. Q6. Marchand's Voyage round the World, 1790-92. 2 vols. Ito. Translated from the French. 67. A Voyage of Discovery into the North Pacific Ocean, and round the W-irld in 1790-5. By G. Vancouver. 3 vols. 4to. and an Atlas, 1798. Catalogue of' Voyages and Travels. )39 i 68. A Missionary Voyage to the South Pacific Ocean in 17})()-H. 4to. 179;). 69. Flinder's Voyage to Terra Australis in 1801-15. '2 vols. ito. with an Atlas, IHM. 70. Liansky's Voyage round the World, l80;}-,5, pcrfbriued by order of Alexander the First. Ito. 71. Langsdorffe's Voyages and Travels in various Parts of the World, lH0;}-7. 'i vols. Ito. Translated from the German. 7'J. Krusenstern's Voyage round the World, 1S0;5-G. 2 vols, 4to. Translated from the (jcrnian. 73. A Voyage of Discovery into the South Sea, and Behving's Straits, in 1H1.M8. By Kotzebue. 3 vols. 8vo. 1821. Trans- lated from the (Jerman, but badly. 7i. Voyage Fittoresciue autour dii Monde. Par Choris. Li- vraison, I — 9. Paris, 1821. This splendid work illustrates Kot- zebue's Voyage, by engravings of the savages of the different parts he visited ; their arms, dresses, diversions, &c. On this account alone, however, we should not have given it a place here ; but it is recommended to the natural historian, by the descriptions which Cuvier has added to the engravings of animals ; and to the craniologist, by the observations of (Jail, on the engravings of human skulls. 7.5. Peregrinacion que ha hecho de la mayor parte del Mundo. Par D. P. S. Cubero. Sarragoss. 1688. folio. 76. (jriro del Mondo del G. F. Gemelii Carreri. Naples, 1699. 7 vols. 8vo. IV. 2 vols. 4to. TRAVELS COMPRISING DIFFERENT QUARTERS OF THE GLOBE. 77. Letters from Barbary, France, Spain, and Portugal. By an Enghsh Officer (Jardine),. 1794. 2 vols. 8vo. 78. Cor. de Jong lleisen naer de Cap de Goede Hop, lerland en Norwi'gen. Haarlem, 1802. 8vo. 79. Friedrich, Briefe au einen freund, eine reise von Gibraltar nach Tangcr und von da durch Spanien, und Frankreich, Zurich, nacu Deutschland, betreffend. (In the Historical Magazine of Gottingen, 4tli year. 1st cahier.) 80. Voyage to the Levant in 1700, by Tournefort. Translated from the French, fi vols. 8vo. These travels bear too high a character to be particularly pointed out. They comprise the Archipelago, Constantinople, the Black Sea, Armenia, Georgia, the Frontiers of Persia and Asia Minor ; and are rich and valuable in the rare junction of antiquarian and botanical knowledge. 81. Le Bruyn's Voyage to the Levant, and Travels into Mus- I ti ! . 1 : 1. ''1 ■ i. 11 1 ■( rAO Cafahi^iw of VorfO'^es and Travels. covy, Persia, and the East Indies. Translated from the Frcncii. 17'20. .'i vols. fol. 82. Description of the North and ICastern Parts of Europe and Asia. Transhited from tlie (iernian of Haron Strahleiioerg. 1738. 4to. 83. Historical .\ccount of tlie British Trade over the Caspian Sea, with a .lourney of Travels from London, through Hussia, Germany, and HoUand. By James Hanway. 1751'. 'i vols. Ito. 81-. Hell of Antermony's 'IVavels from St. Petersburgh in Russia to several Parts of Asia. CJIasgow, 17().'}. 2 vols. 4to. 85. Memoirs of B. H. Bruce, containing an Account of his Travels in Germany, Russia, Tartary, and the Indies. 1782. 4-10. HG. A Journey from India to England, in the year 1797. By John Jackson. 1799. 8vo. 87. Histoire des Decouvertes faites par divers Voyageurs, Pallas, Gmelin, Guldenstedt, et Lepechin, dans plusieurs Contrees de la Russe et dc la Perse. La Haye, 1779. 2 vol. 4to. & 6 8vo. 88. Nouve'.lcs llo'iations du Levant. Par Poullet. Paris, 1688. 2 vols. 12mo. This is a scarce and valuable work, especially that part of it which relates to Asiatic Turkey, Georgia, and Persia : there is likewise in it a particular account of the com- merce of the English and Dutch in the Levant at this period. 89. Le Voyage du Sieur Duloir. Paris, 1654!. 4to. This work, beside much historical information respecting Turkey, and the Siege of Babylon in 1639, contains many particulars regarding the Religion, &c. of the Turks. It comprises the Ar- chipelago, (ireece, European Turkey and Asia Minor. It is likewise particular in the description of antiquities. 90. Les Voyages de Jean Struys en Moscovie, en Tartaric, en Perse, aux Indes. Traduits du Hollandais. Amsterdam, 4to. 1681. Rouen, 3 vols. 12mo. 1730. The Travels of Struys, who was actuated from his earliest youth with an insatiable desire to visit foreign countries, are especially interesting from the account he gives of Muscovy and Tartary at this period. 91. Voyages tres Curieux et tres Renommes, faits en Moscovie, Tartaric et Perse. Par Adam Olearius, Traduits d'Allemagne. Amsterdam, fol. 92. Voyages en different Endroits d'Europe et d'Asie. Par leP. Avril. Paris, 1692. 4to. The object of this voyage, which was commenced in 1635, princ-oaliy consisted in the dis- covery of a new route to China. Turkey, Armenia, European and Asiatic Russia, Tartary, &c. are comprised in these Travels. 93. Voyage en Turquie et en Perse. Par M. Otter. Paris, 1748. 2 vols. 12nio. The chief merit of this work consists in the exactitude of its descriptions of places, and in the dttcr- n\ination of their distances and true positions, which arc further illustrated by maps. Ct. Beschreibung der lleisc cincs Polnischen Hernn Boths- r-if. Catalogue of Voyages and Travels. 541 cimfters gen Constantinople und in die Tartary. Nuremberg, 157 \: Ito. 95. Sal. Schweiger Ueise-bescliriebung .lus Ueutschland nach (.'onstantinopel und Jerusalem. Nuremberg, KiOH. Ito. 96. Ileise von lirfurt nacb dem gelobten land, uucb Spanien, rranckreicii, Holland und England. ICrf'urt, KiO,'). 4to. 97. Muntzer von Babenbergli, Iteise von \'enedig nacb Jeru- salem, Damascus und ("onstantinopel, \55(i. Nurcmbergli. 4to. 9H. Brand, lleisen durcb Brandenburgb, I'reussen, C'urland, Liefiand, Plescovien und Muscovien. Nebst, A. Dobbins He- scbriebung von Siberien, &c. Wesel, 1702. Hvo. 99. Itinera Sex a diversis Saxonije Ducibus et Autboribus, diversis Temporibus, in Italiam, Pahestinam et Terram Sanctani, Studio Bait. Mincii. Wirtemberg, H)12. I'Jmo. 100. Edwin Sandy's Travels into Turkey, Palestine, Egypt, and Haly, begun in KJIO. fol. 1658. 101. Travels tbrougb Europe, Asia, and into several parts of Africa, containing Observations especially on Italy, Turkey, Greece, Tartary, Circassia, Sweden and La])land. By De la Mottraye. 1723. 2 vols. fol. Veracity and exactness, particu- larly so far as regards tbe copying of inscriptions, characterise these travels. They are also valuable for information respecting the mines of the North of Europe. 102. Travels of Thevenot into Turkey, Persia, and India. Translated from the French, 1687. fol. The 4th edition of the original in 3 vols, is very rare ; the more conmion one is that of Amsterdam in 5 vols. 12mo. These travels comprise Egypt, Arabia, and other places in Africa and Asia, besides those places indicated in the title page. The chief value of them consists in his account of the manners, government, &c. of the Turks. This author must not be confounded with the Mel. Thevenot, the author of a Collection of Voyages. 103. A View of the Levant, particularly of Constantinople, Syria, Egypt and Greece. By Ch. Parry. 1743. fol. 1770. 3 vols. 4to. This work is much less known than it deserves to be : the author of the BibliothCHjue des Voyages justly remarks, that the circumstance of its having been twice translated into German is a pretty certain indication that it is full of good matter 104. Description of the East, and some other Countries : Egypt, Palestine, Arabia, Syria, (Jreece, Thrace, France, Italy, Ger- many, Poland, reparatory knowledge. 1()(S. Chateaubriantl's Travels in Greece, Palestine, Egypt, and Barbary, lS0()-7. 2 vols. 8vo. Those who admire this author's manner anU style will be gratified with these travels : and those who dislike them, may still glean nmch information on aMti(|uities, manners, customs, religion, h he lived ; and the accompanying plates are very accurate. 111. Voyage a Constantinople, en Perse, en Egypte, dans I'annee 154(), et les annees suivantes. Par G. Lues (I'Aramon, Ambassadeur de Prance a Constantinople. Paris, 17fi9. I) vols. 4to. This relates chieHy to the manners and customs ; other pieces are contained in these volumes, which relate, in a manner more minute than important ai\d edifying, the various journies in prance, of the Kings of Prance, from Louis the Young to Louis XIV. incl'isive. 112. Les Navigations. Peregrinations, et ^'oyages, faits en Turquie. Par Nicholas Nicholai, Antwerp, fol. 157<). This also is instructive, relative to the maimers, &c. of man) pans of Europe, Africa, and Upper Asia: the plates are engraved on wood, after the designs of Titian. 113. Relations des Voyages de M. de Breves, tant en Grece, Terre Sainte, Egypte, qu'aux Uoyaumes de Tunis et Alger. Paris, 1628. 4to. De Breves was ambassador from Henry IV. to the Porte, and sent afterwards on a special mission to Tuni$ Catalogue of Vuyages and Travels. .54..S and Algiers. What he relates regarding these states is the most curious and valuable part of iiis work. Ilk Les Voyages et Observations du Sieur Labouiaye-le- Goux, oil sont decrits les Religion, (louvernnient, et Situation, des Ktats et Royaumes ditalie, (irece, Natolie, Syrie, Perse, Palestine, &c ; Grand Mogul. ludes Orientales des Portugais, Arable, Afrique, Hollande, (irande Hretagne, &c. Paris, 1(),57. 4to. This work bears a high character ibr veracity and exact- ness; and is very minute in its account oi" the casts and reiigions ofiiidia. Prefixed to it is a short critical notice of travellers who preceded him, written with great judgment and candour. 11,5. Voyage de Paul Lucas au Levant. Paris, ITOl. 2 vols. 12mo. IHj. Voyage de Paul Lucas, dans la (irecc, I'Asie .Mineure, la Macedoine, et I' Afri(|ue. Paris, ITI'i. 2 vols, l^nu) . The credit and veracity of this author, which was long suspected, has, in many of his most suspicious parts, been confirmed by modern travellers. 1 17. Memoire du Chevalier D'Arvieux : conteiuint ses S'ova.<"fes h Constantinople, dans I'Asie, la Palestine. I'Egypte, la Rarbarie, &c. Paris, XliMi. 6 vols, I'imo. — — This author was well (jiiali- fied from his knowledge of the oriental languages, and from the official situations he filled, to gain an accurate and ininuti- know- ledge of the people among whom he resided. His accouiu. of his sojourn among the Redouin Arabs is particularly curious. lis. Viaggi di P. della Valle dall Anno Kill, fin al' MVIQ. Venice, IGTl. t vols. 4to. These travels comprehend Turkey, Egypt, Palestine, Persia, and the East Indies. They are wriiten in a pleasant, lively manner ; what relates to Persia is most valuable. They have been translated into French, English, and German. 119. Schult?:, Reisen durch Europa, .\sien, und Africa. Malle, 1771-7.5. .'J vols. 8vo. 120. Lajflingii Petri iter Ilispanicum. Stockholm, 175S. 8vo. — This work, originally published in Sw dish, was translated by C. Linnicus into German, under the following title: Reise nach den Spauischen Laudern in Europa und Anu'rika. 17.)1 — .'K!. Rerliii, 177.2. Par Fred. Hasselquist. Paris, 1769. 1 vol. I'Jmo. This, originally published in Swedish by Linna;us, and translated into German and Dutch, is unconunonly valuable to the natural historian. 140. Itin'raire de Paris a Jt'rusaleisi, et de Jerusalem a Paris, en allant par la Grece. Par Chateaubriand. 3 vols. 8vo. Paris,1810. Ml. Le Nouveau Monde, et Navigations faites par vVnieric. \ espuce, dans les Pays nouvellemont trouves, tant en Ethiopia qu'en Arabic. Paris, 4to. Translated from the Italian : both are rare. The claims and merits of Vespucius may be judged of from Jie ibllowing works : Cant)vai Elogio di Amerigo Vespucci. Florence, 179S. ; Tiraboschi Storia dell Litt. vol. 1. p. 1. lib. 1. c. 6. ; ti'C Letters of Americo in Ranmsio, 1. l'J8. ; Bandini Vita del Amerigo, and an article in the North American Review, for \S9J2. \V1 Voyage d'un Philosophe(M.Poivre). Paris, 1797. 18mo This little work, which embraces remarks on the arts aiul people of Asia, Africa, and America, deserves the title it bears better than most French works which claim it. 14;}. Langstadt, Reisen nach Sud- America, Asien, und Africa. Hildesheimri789. 8vo. 144. Recueil de divers Voyages faites en Afrique et Am^rique. Paris, 1674. 4to. N N 546 Catalogue of Vo}iages fui 'irr.r.7.'. f »4 I 1 f ! 14:5. Voyages du Clieval. Marcliais en Cainrj, isJor 'oisines, et a Cayenne. Par I^abat. Paris, 1780, 4 ^>'!y. '2i.;o= 146. Voyage en (iuinee et dans les iKle?. Caralbes. Par Isert. 1793. Hvo. Translated from the Ciernian. 147. Voyage on the Coast of" Africa, in the Straits of Magel- lan, Brazil, &c. in 1695-97. Translated from the Frencli of Froger. London, l(j9S. Hvo. 148. Hans Sioane's Voyage to Madeira, Barbadoes, S<^. Christo- phers, &c. London, 2 vols, folio. 1707. Tliis work, generally knoivn under the title of Sir Han? Sioane's History of Jamaica, is a rich mine of natural history, auxl contains upwards of 1200 engravings of plants, &c. 149. The Four Years' \'oyage of Captain G. Roberts to the Islands Canaries, Cape Verde, and the Coast of Guinea, and Barbadoes. l'7'25. Hvo. 150. Voyage to Guinea, Brazil, the West Indies, Madagascar, &c. By John AtkiuH. 1737. Hvo. 131. Vo3'agc aux Indes OrieiUales, Maldives, Moluccas, -^t Bresil. Par Fr. Pyrard. Paris, 1619. Hvo.. There voyaj^.i, which occupied the author from 1600 to 16)1, are uncommonly well written, accurate, faithful, and circumstantial, especially regarding the Maldives, Cochin, Trpvancore, and Calicut. There is appended a particular and methodical dt'srription of the animals and plants of the East Indies. 15'2. Curiositt's de la Nature et de I'Art, apportes dans deux Voyages dans Indes: Indes Occ. 1698-9; Iml. Orient. 1701-2. Par C. Biron, Chirurgeou Major. Pari.s, 1703. 12nio. Valu- able for its natural history, and its account of the implements and arts of the inhabitants. 153. The Historv of Travels in the W» «t and East Indies. By Eden and Willi.s. 1577. 4to. 154. Reise nach Ost und West Indien. \'on R. C. Zimmer- man. Hiimburg^li, 1771. 8vo. 155. Variorum ir^ Europa Itinerum delici*. Clytaeo. Bre.nen f(-05. Hvo. 156. Ponz \ i.t.v ' u'ra de Espana in Europa. 2 vols. 12mo. 157. Moryscn's Travels tiirough I'-urope. 1617. curious work. 15H. Itinera through the twelve Dominions of (iermany, Bo- hemia, Prussia, Sweden, Turkey, France, Britain, S:c. 1617. fol. 159. Ray's Observations, made in a Journey througli Part of the Low Countries, (iermany, Italy, and France. 1738. 2 vols. Hvo. ■ Valuable for its botanical researches. 160. Travels in Hungary, Macedonia, Austria, Germany, the Low Countries, and Lombardy. By E. Browne, M.D. 1685. fol. Natural history, the mines, mineral waters, as well as manners and customs, are described in this work, which bears a good cha- Collecta? ab. A. Madrid, 1785. — A very fol ^^■-■■'■jm:' i Catalogue of Voyages and Travels, 54-7 iT voisines, et raybes. Par its of Magel- le French of ?, S^ Christo- jrk, generally y of Jamaica, ^ards of 1200 oberts to the Guinea, and , Madagascar, Moluccas, "t icie voyaj^.i, » uncommonly iai, especially ilicut. There iption of the •ti's dans deux Irient. lTOl-2. ,10. Valu- iplements and East Indits. [. ('. Zinuner- oHecta' ab. A. Madrid, 1785. ,)!. A very iermany, Ho- c. 1617. fol. rougli Part of S. 'J vols. 8vo. Germany, the 1685. fol. II as manners s a good cha- racter. The autlinr was physician to t harles II., to Bniti-io! )mew Hospital, and iifterward., Pr(\sident of the College of Phy.-^icians. 161. B)sh(.p liu: net's Letters on Switzerland and Italy. 1686. 8vo. 162. Travels through Holland, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. By De Rlainville. 1749. .S vols. Ito. 163. Smollet's Travels through France and Italy. 1766. 2 vols. Svo. 164. Barretti's Journey from London to Genoa, through Portu- gal, Spain, and France. 1770, 2 vols. 8vo. 165. Dr. Moore's View of the Customs and Manners of France, (rerniany, and Switzerland. 2 vols. Svo. 166. Stolberg's (Count) Travels in Germany, Italy, and Sicily. 1791. 2 vols. 4to. 167. Dr, C, J, Smith's Sketch of a Tour on the Continent in 1786-7. 3 vols. 8vo. 1807 The travels of this celebrated botanist are not by any means confined to his favourite science, but comprehend well-drawn and interesting sketches of manners, as well as notices of the antiquities, fine arts, &c. Holland, the Netherlands, France, and Italy, were the scene of his travels. 168. Beaumont's Travels from France to Italy, through the Lepantine Alps. 1800. fbl, 169. Travels in Sicily, Greece, and Albania. By the Rev. T, S.Hughes. 1820. 2 vols. 4to. Classical, antiquarian, and de- scriptive of the state of society, political, civil, religious, and do- mestic; bearing marks of much information and enquiry, a sound judgment and good education. 170. Letters from the Mediterranean. By Ed. Blaquiere. 1814. 2 vols. Svo. The information in these volumes chiefly relates to the civil and political state of Sicily, Malta, Tunis, andTripo'i. 171. The Diary of an Invalid, 1817—1819. By H.Matthews. 8vo. 1820, IJght and pleasant sketches of manners, and other popular information, on Portugal, Italy, Switzerland, and France. 172. Travels through Holland, Germany, and Part of France, in 1819. By W.Jacob, Esq, Ito, 1820 Agriculture, Statis- tics, and Manufactures. 173. Journal du Voyage de Montaigne en Italic, par la Suisse et I'Allemagne, en 158(V-81. Paris, 1774. 4to. Italy and the Tyrol are particularly the objects of those travels, which are in- teresting, much more on account of the name of 1 le author, and of the insight they afford into his temper and feelings, than from the information they convey. 174. Lcttres du Baron de Bu.sbec. Paris, 1748. 3 vols. 12mc. These arc written from Turkey, whither the author was sent as ambassador by Ferdinand King of Hungary, and from France, where he resided in an official character. Tlu' original is in Latin. There is a translation in English ; but this comprises only the embassy to Turkey. They are rich in political information, and N N 2 I it M8 Calologue of Voyages and Travels. h'i'- '1 if *!-(*! ill depicting the manners, Sec. «)f the people lie visited, especially those inhabiting the neighbourhood of the Don, &c. 175. Relations Historiques des Voyages en Alleniagnc, Angle- terre, Holland, Bohenie, et Suisse. Par C, Patiii. Lyon, 1674'. 16ino. This author was son of the celebrated physician, Guy Patin, and distinguished for his knowledge of medals : his travels principally relate to antiquities. 176. Relation d'un Voyage de Paris, en Espagne, en Portugal, et en Italic, 1769, 1770. Par M. Silhouette. Paris, 1770. 4vols. 12nio. This is the minister of finance, whose measures of eco- nomy were so much ridiculed by the Parisians, and from whom the portraits, called Silhouettes, took their name : his travels in- dicate considerable acquaintance with the arts and political affairs. 177. Lettres sur difFerens Sujets, ecrites jiendant le Cours d'un Voyage en Allemagne, en Suisse, dans la France ^Meridionelle, et en Italic. Par Ik'rnouilli. Basle and Berlin, 1777. 3 vols, 8vo. The author of tliese letters, one of the celebrated family of mathematicians of that name, has borrowed the greater part of his work that relates to natural history from a Spanish work, en- titled, " Cartas fauiiliares del Abbatb Juan Andres," of which there is an edition published in Madrid, in 6 vols, small ito. Ber- nouilli has, however, added much inlbrmation and interest to his letters, by his description and account of collections of paintings. 178. Tableau de rAngleterre et de I'ltalie. Par Archenholz. Strasburgh, 1788. .3 vols. 12mo. This work is translated from the (ierinan. 179. Voyage de Deux Fran<;;ais en Allemagne, en Daneniarck, en Subde, en I'.-sse, et en Pologne, 1790-1. Par Portia de Piles. Paris, 1796. .'5 vols. 12mo. This is a valuable work for all kinds of .statistical information. 180. Voyage Philosophique e( Pittorescjue sur les Rives da Kliin, uLeige, dansla I'lundre, Ic Brabant, la HoiJande, augnientee d'une Voyage en Angleterre, et en France. Par G. Forster. Paris, .'} vols. 8v(). TIk' author (whose acquirements in natural history, and ill general science and philosophical research, as well as whose peculiar temper, are well known from his connection M'ith CapJiiia Cook during his second voyage, and his works on this voyage) has here produced an ir.teresting and instructive work ; particularly so far as relates to his favourite study : it is also in- teresting us depicting the political state of the countries he visited, and his strong, ardent, and sanguine views at the coumieiicenient of the French Revolution. 181. Voyages en Sicile dans la Grande Grece et au Levant. Par le Baron de Riedesel. Paris, I80'2. 8vo. This edition comprises all his travels, which were previously published sepa- rately. The travels in Sicily are the most valuable. \S'2. Voyages de Guibert dans diverses Parties de la France et id, especially uif^nc, Angle- Lyon, 1674'. hysician, Guy Is : his travels , en Portugal, , 1770. 4 vols, asures of eco- d from whom his travels in- ana political le Cours d'un Meridionelle, 1777. 3 vols, ebrated family greater part of nish work, en- es," of which lall I'to. Ber- interest to his is of paintings, ir Archenholz. ranslated from n Danemarck, Par Portia de valuable work les Rives du ide, augnientee "orster, Paris, latural history, ;h, as well as annection M'ith works on this itructive work ; f : it is also iii- tries he visited, ;oiuniciicement et au Levant. — This edition published sepa- ie la France et Catalogue of Voyages and Travels. 519 de la Suisse, 177.5. 178,5. Paris, 1805. 8vo The celebrated author of the " Essai sur la Tactique" was employed to visit the different military hospitals in Fra"cc ; his journeys with this ob- ject, as well as when he went to join his regiment, were the oc- casion of these travels, in which there is much animated descrip- tion of nature, and several well-drawn portraits of public men. 183. Voyage en Allemagne, dans le Tyrol et en Italic. 4 vols. 8vo. Paris. 1818. This work is translated from the German of Mad. de la llecke, by Madame de Montelieu, and possesses much of that pleasing narrative and description which charac- terize female writers of talent. 184. Pauli Hertneri Itinera GermaniaE, Galliae, Italiae. Basle, 1611. 4to. 185. Job. Bernouilli Reisen durch Brandenburgii, Pommern, Preussen, Curland, Russland, und Pohlen, 1777-8. Leips. 1779-80. 6 vols. 8vo. 186. Sulzer Reisen nach Schweitz, und Hieris, und Nice. 1775. 8vo This author is well known for his " Universal Theory of the Fine Arts ;" and these travels, as well as those in the middle states of Europe, and among the Alps, which he also published, are worthy of him. 187. Baunian, Reise durch Deutschland und Walschland. Augsb. 1782. 8vo. These travels in Germany and Italy con- tain observations on a subject little attended to by travellers ; but one which they might much benefit : we mean domestic economy, or the different modes, plans, &c. pursued by different nations in domestic life, as regards food, houses, clothing, &c. 188. F>ed. Nicholai, Beschriebung einer Reise durch Deutsch- land imd de Schweitz, 1781. Berlin, 1783. 12 vols. 8vo. This work is swelled beyond all due proportion with political dis- quisitions ; but though bold and severe, it is a just picture, 189. Italien und Deutschland. Von C. P. Moritz. Berlin, 1790. Manners, literature, and arts are the topics of this work. The same author published " Travels of a German in England." 190. Reisen durch Deutschlantl, Danemarck, Schweden, Italien, 1797 — 99. Von Kuttner. Leip. 4 vols. 8vo. Statistical and political information, derived from authentic and official sources, especially as relates to Austria and Saxony, distinguishes this work. 191. Streifzuge durch Inner Oestreich, &c. Vien. 1800. 4to. ——The quicksilver mines of Idria, the manners, &c. of the peo- ple of Trieste and Venice, and the principal objects of arts and industry in all the countries described, give tt, this work a m-erit greater than its brevity would seem to desen e. 192. Briefe wa'hrend meinis Aufenhalts en Englund unU Por- tugal. Hamb. 1802. 8vo Tins work, by Mad. Barnard, ig written with that peculiar charm and \ivac)'f5 of styl- , which it K y 3 550 Catalogue oj Vonjages and Travds. would seem females only can attain. There are in it curious no- tices of Berlin, Hanover, and Cuxliaven, besides those on Eng- land and Portugal. IdX Benierkungen gesanuDelt auf einer Reise durch Holland, und einin Theil Franchreichs, 1801. Von J. V. Droysen. Gcetting. 1803. 8vo Literary establishments and societies, especially those of Paris, and the state of muthcniatical, physical, and che- mical science, are particularly attended to by this author. 194, Arndt, llei^en durch einer Theil Deutschlands, Ungaren, Italien, und Franckreichs, 1798, 1799. 4 vols. 8vo. Leip. 1804. i9!y. Reisen durch das Osterreich, Illyrien, Dalmatien, und Albanien, 1818. 2 vols. 8vo. Meissen, \H'2.2. 196. Reisea durch einen Theil Deutschlands. die Schweitx, Italien, und / J'oijiigrs and Ttuvcls, \.. r' t' tive of sound judgment, presfiice of mind, perseverance and passive courage, characterize this volume. *21't. Narrative of a Journey from the Sliores of Iludsons Bav to the Mouth af the Copper Mine Kiver, &c. Hy Captain .1. Franklin, iS'jy. 4to A work of intense and indeed painful interest, from the sufferings of those who performed this journey; of value to geography by no means proportional to those sutt'er- ingfi ; hut instructive in meteorology and natural history. 215. Geschicte der Schitt'ahrten /ur eiideckung des Nc.rdeest- Hchen Wegs nach Jajian und China. \'on J.C. Adti^ jr. Halle, 1768. 4-to. Some of the above works, as well as ublished by Crantz, in German, 1770, which has not been trans- ated. VI. EUROPE. LAPLAND AND THE SCANDINAVIAN COLINTKIE;S. 223. Canuti Leemii de Lapponibus. Copenhagen, 1767. 2 vols. ^to. This work, containing a rich mine from which travellers ip J^ap.lftnd, pjarticidarly Acerbi, have drawn valual)lu Uiaterials, in s b t e Catahgiic ojl'oijitfics and 'J'ravi'ls. 553 severuiice and Iludson.s Bav V>y Captain .1. iiuleed painful ;d tills journey; to tluKSL' suffer- listory. dos N(.ideest- di-i. jr. Halle, as JTKie;s. n, 1767. 2 vols, vhicli traveller* l)le materials, Ik seldom met with complete and with all the plates: there should be 100 of them. 221'. Ilistoire de la Lapponie, traduite du Latin dc M. .SclueH'er. Paris, 1678. 4-to. '2,'25. Journal d'un Voyage au Nord, 17J56-7. Ainsterdam, 17 KJ. 12mo. This work, though principally and professedly an ac- count of the labours of Maupertuis, to ascertain the hgure of the earth, is interesting to the general reader, from the descriptions it gives of the manners, tic. of the natives of Laplaiul, Ike. '226. Mcnioires sur les Samoyedes et les Lappons. ("open- hagen, 1766. 8vo. 'J27. Voyage dans le Nord de I'Europe, 1807. Par La Motte. 4to. Paris. - Norway and part of Sweden were visited by this traveller on foot, and he gives details of scenery, &c. which only a foot traveller could procure. 228. The natural History of Iceland. By Horrebow, 1758. folio. '229. Von Troll's Letters from Iceland. 1780. 8vo. This translation is not nearly so accurate as that into iTcuch, pub- lished in Paris, 1781. 8vo. 230. Travels in Iceland during the Summer of IMO. By Sir G. Mackenzie, 1811. 4to. Almost every topic on which a traveller is expected to give information is here treated of: the history, religion, natural history, agriculture, manners, &c. ;and all evidently the result of inucli previous knowledge, good sense, and information collected on the spot. 231. Hooker's Journal of a Tour in Iceland in 1809. 2 vols. Bvo. Natural History, especially Botany; the travels of this author, Mackenzie, and Henderson, would seem to leave nothing to be desired on the subject of this extraordinary island and its inhabitants. 232. Journal of a Residence in Iceland, 1814-15. By Hen- derson. 2 vols. Bvo. The state of society, manners, domestic habits, and religion, are here treated of; but there is too much minuteness, and a tediousness and dryness of style and manner. 233. Voyage en Islande. Par Olafsen et Povelsen. Paris, 1801. 5 vols. 8vo. This work, translated from the Danish, though tedious and prolix, supplies many curious particulars respecting the natural history of the country and the manners of the people. 234'. Qiconomisclie Ileise durcli Island. V^on Olavius. Leip. 4.to, 235. Landt's Description of the Feroe Islands. Translated from the Danish. 8vo. This work, which was published at Copen- hagen in 1800, is the only accurate account of these islands since the Feroe lleserata of Debes in 1673 ; but it is too minute and long for the subjects it describes. 236. Coxes's Tra\els in Poland, Russia, Sweden and Den- mark. 5 vols. 8vo. The substantial merits of this work are well known. I ,«). v>. ^ <>«> IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 7 /. :/ 1.0 I.I ? lis IIIIIM IL25 i 1.4 1.8 1.6 I%otographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY 14580 (716) 872-4503 4(^ V iV \ \ ^^"^^ <>A '^^ # dS-i: Catalogue of Voyage:, and Travels. \\ ^ ^ '2.^1. Acerbi's Travels through Sweden, Finland, and Lapland, to the North Cape, in 1798-9. 2 vols. 4to. 1801. These travels are interesting and attractive ; but they bear evident marks of having been made up by an editor. The author has been attacked by Ribs, a Swede, for misrepresenting the Swedes, and tor hav- ing borrowed largely without acknowledgment from Leemius ; and by his fellow-traveller, Skieldebrand, with having appropriated the views and designs which he made. The latter published in French a Picturesque Tour to the North Cape. 233. Lachesis Lapponica, or a Tom* in Lapland. By Lin- naeus, 1811. 2 vols. 8vo. These travels were performed in 1732, when Linnaeus was verj^ young. Botany of course forms the principal subject ; but the work is also instructive and interesting from the picture it exhibits of the character of the author, and of the manners of the Laplanders. 239. Travels through Norway and Lapland. By Baron Von Buch ; with Notes by Professor Jameson, 1818. 4to. This work, translated from the (ierman, contains much ncM' and valu- able information, chiefly on mineralogy and geology. 210. Thomson's Travels in Sweden, during the Autumn of 1812. ito. Mineralogy, geology, satistics, and politics form the chief topics : the work is carelessly written. 24 1. Travels tln-ough Sweden, Norway, and Finmark, to the North Cape, 1820. liy A. de Capell Brocke. 4to. 1823. Pictu- resque. 242. Nouveau Voyage vers le Septentrion. Amsterdam, 1708. 12mo. The customs, religion, character, domestic life, &c, of the Norwegians and Lapbnders are here sketched in an interesting and pleasant manner. 243. Lettres sur le Danemark. Par Mallet. Geneve, 1767. 2 vols. 8vo. ^^'This work is worthy of the author, whose intro- duction to the History of Demnark is so advantageously known to English readers, by Bishop Percy's excellent translation of it. It gives an excellent and faithful picture of this country in the middle of the eighteenth century, and comprises also tl.j southern provinces of Norway. 244. Voyage mi Allemagne et en Suede. Par J. P. Catteau. Paris, 1810. 3 vols. 8vo. Sensible and judicious on arts, manners, litcralure, literary men, statistics and ccononncs ; but more full and valuable on Sweden than on Ciermany. Indeed ^cw authors have collected more information on the North of Europe than M. Catteau ; his Tableau des Etats Danois, and his Tableau Geni'ral de la Suede, are excellent M'orks, drawn up with great accuracy and judgment. The same may be said of his Tableau de la Mer Balticjue ; in which every kind of information relative to the Baltic, its shores, islands, rivers, ports, produce, ancient and modern connnerce, is given. 245. Voyage en Norwege, traduit de lAllvmand do J. Fa- ind Lapland, These travels ent marks of )een attacked and for hav- jcemius ; and appropriated published in I. By Lin- nied in 1732, se forms the id interesting ; author, and r Baron Von 4to. This lew and valu- r- Autunm of politics form mark, to the 1823. Pictu- Amsterdam, domestic life, cetched in an enevc, 1767. whose intro- jously known islation of it. luntry in the thj southern T. P. Catteau. )us on arts, iionn'cs; but Indeed few h of Europe his Tableau p with great his Tableau tion relative uce, ancient d de J. Fii- Catalogue of Voijagis and Travels. ."jo.t bricius. Paris, 1803. 8vo. This too is an excellent work, especially in what regards the natural history and economics of the country. 246. lleise en die Marschlander au der Nordsee. Von J. N. Tetens. Leip. 1788. 8vo. Holstein, Jutland, and Sleswick, countries in which we possess few travels, are accurately described in this work. 247. lleise durch einige Schwedische Provinzen. Von J. W. Schmidt. Hamburgh, 1801. These travels contain curious particulars respecting the Nomadic Laplanders. 248. Arndt, lleise durch Schweden, 1804. 4 vols. 8vo. Berlin, 1806. There are several travels by Linnaeus (besides the one pub- lished by Sir J. Smith, already noticed) and his pupils into differ- ent provinces of Sweden, relating to their natural history, which botanists will value highly; but we omit them, as interesting only to them. They are written in Swedish, but German translations have appeared of most of them. There are also valuable travels by Germans, especially Huelfer and Gilberg, which give full and accurate details of the coi>i)er mines, and the processes pursued in them ; but these also we omit for a similar reason. UUStJIA AN'U POLAND. Whatever object has once been pursued by a Ilujsian sovereign, seems to descend as a hereditary pursu't >;o his successors. This is true, not only of their plans of c»^ n ■ quest, but also of their means of improving their country ; but it is evident of all countries, and especially of such a vast exteit of country as Russia exhibits, where new dis- tricts are from time to time added, the very limits of which are scarcely known, that no sure and regular means of im- provement can be adopted, until the actual state and the capabilities of eacli district are fully known. The Empress Catherine gave great attention and encouragement to these enquiries : a number of men, well qualified for the under- taking, were sent to investigate the state of each district, especially its natural history, and the addition to the national strength and wealth which might be drawn from it. When the name of Pallas is men'tioncd as one of the scientific men employed for this purpose, and empowered to direct the enquiries of his associates', and to revise them, in it a sullicient pledge is given of the accuracy and value of their labours. 249. Michalonis Lithuani de Moribus Tartarorum, Lithuanoruni et Moschorum Fragmenta. Basle, IfJlo. 4to. We notice this work as exhibiting a lively picture of the nianners of tliese nations at this period. The san>e reason induces us to notice the follow - \\\ 556 Catalogue of I'oyagcs and Travels. \y ing. Indeed, the chief interest of these old works, and it is no languid one, is derived from being introduced into the midst of ancient maimers and people. 250. Ulfedii Legatio Moscovitica. Franck. 1617. ^to. This work, which particularly notices the Tartar tribes at that time subject to Russia, proves, by a comparison with what Pallas relates of them, that their manners, customs, and acquirements had been quite stationary for nearly 1,50 years. '251. State of Russia. By Captain Perry. London, 1716. 8vo. Captain Perry, who visited Russia in 1706-12, at the request of Peter the Great, to assist in the formation of a fleet, navi- gable canals, &c., has in this work given an accurate account of this vast empire ; the first indeed that may be said to have in- troduced a knowledge of it into England. 252. View of the Russian Empire during the reigi\ of Ca- therine II. By tile Rev. W. Tooke. 3 vols. 8vo. As this work is drawn up from a personal knowledge of the country, and aided by access to the best authorities, we have admitted it into the Catalogue, though not exactly falling within the de- scription of travels. It is full of matter, physical, statistical, political, commercial, &c. ; but heavily written, and displaying rather extent and accuracy of research, than a perspicuous and profound mind. ^ The f. Mowing are the principal works by Pallas and his • associates, or works undertaken with similar objects. They require no particular criticism, after the general notice we have given of them. 253. Reisen durcli verschiedene Provinzen des Russischen Reichs, 1768. 1773. Peters. 3 vols. 4to. 254'. Bcmerkungen auf einer Reise in die Sudlichen Statthal- terschaften des Russischen Reichs, 1793, 1794-. Of these travels by Pallas, the last is more particularly devoted to science, and therefore is interesting to general readers. Both have been translated into French, and the travels in 1793-4, into English. 255. Georgi Benierkungen auf einer Reise im Russischen Reichs, 1772—1774. Peters. 1755. 2 vols. 4to. 256. Georgi Beschriebung alter Nation des Russischen Reichs, Leipsic. 2 vols. 4to. 257. Georgi Geographische, Physical ische undxiaturhistorische, Beschriebung des Russischer; Reichs. Koning. 3 vols. 4to. This work of uncommon labour and research, treats of the geography, physical, and natural history of Russia, divided into zones, each of which will be separately described, when the work is completed. 258. Gmelin, Reisen durch Russland. Peters. 1770-4. 3 vols. 4lo. Of the Travels of Lepechin, the other associate ot' Pal- ks, and it is no ito the midst of 1617. 4to. ,r tribes at that with what Pallas id acquirements idon, 1716. 8vo. 2, at the request )f' a fleet, navi- jrate account of said to have in- le reign of Ca- 'o. - — - As this of the country, lave admitted it within the de- iical, statistical, and displaying n a perspicuous ' Pallas and his similar objects, "ter the general des liussischen lichen Statthal- k Of these :ited to science, Both have been into English. im liussischen • isischen Reichs. uturhlstorische, i vols. 4eto. treats of the lussia, divided ibed, when the 1770-4. '^ vols, ssociate ot Pal- Cntalogue of Voijages and I'nivds. 557 las, which were perfor.ned 1768-1771, and publishfd m Russian, there is a German translation. Altenburgh, 177t. 3 vols. 4 to., of which we have not been able to procure the exact title. 259. Reise von Volhynien nach Cherson en Russland, 1787. Von J. C. Mjeller. Hamb. 8vc. 260. Bemerkungen uber Russland en rucksicht auf wissen- schaften Kunst, Religion. VonJ. J. Bollernian. Erfurt. 1788. 8vo. 261. Mineralogische, Geographische, und andere vermischte, Nachrechten von der Altaischen Gebirgen. Von H. M. Reno- vanz. Freyberg. 1789. Ito. 262. Tableau Historique et Statistique de I'Empire Russie a la fin du 18'"e siecle. Par H. Storch. Paris, 1800. 2 vois. 8vo This work, by the author of the Picture of Petersburgh, well known to the English reader, is admitted here for the same reason which gave insertion to Tooke's Russia. It is, however, we believe, not yet complete, according to the original plan of the author ; and the French translation only comprises what re- lates to the physical and civil state of the inhabitants. Storch's Work, in conjunction with that of Georgi, on the geography and natural history of Russia, will comprise all that is interesting respecting this vast country. 263. Polonia, sive de Situ, Populis Moribus, &c. Poloniie a Mart. Cromero. Cologne. 1578. 4to. 264. Sarmatiae Europea; Descriptio. ab Alex. Gaguin. Spire, 1581. fol. 265 Reise durch Pohlnisclie Provinzen. \'on J. H. Carosi. Leip. 8vo. These triivels are chiefly nnneralogical. 266. Nachrichten uber Pohlen. Von J. J. Kau.si li. Saltz. 1793. 8vo. 267. Letters, Literary and Political, on Poland. 1823. 8vo. ■Rather feebly written, and too minute on uninteresting points ; in other respects valuable, as relating to, a country of which we know comparatively little TURKEY, (iUKECE, DALMAIIA, &C. The countries of Europe, the travels into which we have hitherto enumerated, do not present very various and numerous objects of research. In Scandinavia the na- tural historian, especially the mineralogist, will be chiefly interested. The vast extent of the Russian empire also affords objects of curious and novel research to the bo- tanist and zoologist, few to the mineralogist. The Salt Mines of Poland aftbrd the principal objects of investi- fation to scientific travellers . in this country. Manners, abits, political institutions, and religion, of course, are interesting in all; and to those whose studies and en- r" 558 Catolognc of Voi/atrrs and Travels. v.i 1' M <|uiries lead them to investigate tli't difterenccs in the different families of tlie Iiuman race, the opportunities afforded them by the (Jothic Nations of Scandinavia ; the Shivonic nations of Russia and Pohmd ; and the totally distinct and singular races which inhabit Lapland and Finland, must be valuable and useful. When we enter Turkey, the scene changes, or riither ex- pands. Within its European, as well as its Asiatic empire, travellers of all descriptions, however %arious their ob- jects, will find rich and ample materials. Situated in a mild climate, with great variety of soil, in it are found plants remarkable for their uses in medicine and the arts, or for their beauty : its mountainous districts con- tain treasures for the mineralogist ; and to the politician and student of human nature, it exhibits the decided effects of the Mahometan religion, and of Asiatic des- potism. But what principally distinguishes it from the oiher countries which have hitherto occupied us, must be sought in its ruins of Grecian magnificence and taste : in the traces and evidences it affords of ancient times, man- ners, and acquirements : in the hold it possesses over our feelings, and even over our judgment, as being classic ground — the soil which nourished the heroes of Ma- rathon and the bard of Troy. — The language, the man- ners, the customs, the human form and countenance of ancient Greece, are forcibly recalled to our recollection. The travels in this part of the w^orld have been so numerous, that we nuist be strict and limited in our selection, having regard principally to those which exhibit it under its various aspects with the greatest fidelity, at various periods. 268. Nicholai Clenard Epistoln de Rebus Mahomediis, in Itinere scriptis. Louvain, 1551. cSvo. 269. Petrus (lyllius de Bosphoro Thracio, Elzerc, 1561. 4to. — This is one of the first travellers who describos the antiquities of this part of Turkey : manners and natural lii^tory, such as it was in his time, also come under his notice. Diallaway praises him. 270. Sandy's ((jeo.) Travels, containing the State of the Turkish Empire, of Greece, Egypt, and the Holy Land. 1673. fol. Sandys was an accomplished gentleman, well prepared by previous study for his Travels, which are distinguished by erudition, sagacity, and a love of truth, and are written in a pleasant style. 271. Ricault's History of the Present State of the Ottoman Empire. 1689. 8vo. Ricault was secretary to the English Embassy at the Porte in 1661. The Mahometan religion, the Catalogue of Voyages and Travels. 559 rcnces in the opportunities nuiinavia ; the id the totally Lapland and or rather ex- Vsiatic empire, ous their ob- Situated in a it are found cine and the districts con- the politician i the decided P Asiatic des- s it from the d us, must be and taste : in It times, man- lossesses over s being classic ;roes of Ma- age, the man- ountenance of recollection. so numerous, eclion, having it under its at various diis, in Itinere zere^ 1561. [lescfibos the tural i;, tory. e. Diallaway State of the Land. 1673. ell prepared inguished by written in a the Ottoman the English religion, the seraglio, the maritime and land forces of Turkey are particularly noticed by him. An excellent translation into French, with most valuable notes, by Bespier, M^as published at Rouen, in IG"!!. 2 vols. I'imo. '272. Lady Mary Wortley Montague's Letters. A great num- ber of editions of these Letters have been published. In 180.5, her Works were published in 5 vols. 12mo., containing Letters which had not previously appeared. The character of her work, which principally relates to Turkey, is well known. 273. Porter's Observations on the Religion, Laws, (Jovernment, and Manners of the Turks. 1768. 2 vols. 12iiio. Sir James Porter was British ambassador at the Porte ; his work is faithful and accurate, and is chiefly illustrative of the political state, manners, and habits of the Turks. 274. Eton's Survey of the Turkisli Empire. 1801. 8vo. This work is divided into four parts : government, finances, re- ligion, arts, manners, commerce, and population ; state of the provinces, especially Greece ; causes of the decline of Turkey ; and British commerce with Turkey. As it is the result of per- sonal observation, and of excellent opportunities, it falls within our notice. Many of the opinions, however, and some of the statements of the author, have been controverted, particularly by Thornton in his Present State of Turkey. 2 vols. 8vo. 1809. ' In a note to the preface, Mr. Eton enume ites the best authors who have written on Turkey. 275. History of the Itussian Embassy to Constantinople. By M. Reimers, Secretary to the Embassy, ISO^. 3 vols. ito. This work is translated from the German. Though the title in its original language would lead the reader to suppose that it prin- cipally related to the Russian provinces traversed by the embassy on its going and return, this is not the case: the Turkish empire, and chiefly Constantinople, form the most extensive and impor- tant division of these volumes ; in all that relates to the Turks there is much curious information ; the work is also interesting from the picture it exhibits of the manner in which the embassy, consisting of a caravan of 650 persons, travelled. They were six months in going from one capital to the other. 276. Tour in 1795-6 through the Crimea. By Maria Guthrie. 1800. 2 vols. 4to. This work contains a lively description of the various tribes that inhabit the Crimea ; their manners, insti- tutions, and political state ; the antiquities, monuments, and natu- ral history, and remarks on the migrations of the Asiatic tribes. That part of the work which relates to antiquities was written by her husband. Dr. Guthrie. 277. Walpole's Memoirs relative to European and Asiatic Tur- key. Edited from MS. journals. 278. Travels in various Countries of the East, being a Con- tinuation of the Memoirs. 2 vols. 4to. 1817 and 1820. The ^ ■A U i f" ,^-- 560 Cofalogue of J'oi/ages and Travels \h I i •f i r- infonuation in tliese volumes is very various, classical, antiqua- rian, and statistical : on natural history, manners, religion, politics ; and most of it valuable. 279. Wheeler and Spon's Travels into Greece, 1681. fol.- This work relates chieHy to the antiquities of Greece and Asia Minor, and is valuable for its plates of them, and of medals, in- scriptions, &c. 280. A Journey into Greece, &c. By Wheeler, 1688. fol.* This work (which embraces, in some degree, the same countries as? the former, but which takes in also Dalmatia) is also devoted to antiquities, descriptions, and medals, and bears a good character in these respects. 281. Travels in Asia Minor, &c. By Richard Cha-^dler, 1775-G. 2 vols. 4to. These are valuable travels to the anti- quarian. The author, guided by Pausanias, as respects Greece, Strabo for that country and Asia Minor, and Pliny, has described with wonderful accuracy and perspicuity the ruins of the cities of Asia Minor, its temples, theatres, &c. 282. Savary's Letters on Greece. Translated from the French, 8vo. Rhodes and Candia i>re most particularly described in this volume, — islands of which we previously had meagre; accounts. 283. Fortis' Travels in Dalmatia. 4to. The geology, natu- ral history, and antiquities of this country, with cu nous and in-< structive notices on the singular races which inhabit it, form thet subject of this volume, which is translated from the Italian. 284. Travels in Hungary. By Rob. Townson, M.D. 1796. 4to. This is a valuable work to the natural historian, particularly the mineralogist : it also contains a very particular account of the ■ Tokay wines. 285. Travels in the Ionian Islands, Albania, Thessaly, and Greece, 1812-13. By Dr. Holland. 4to. 1815. Classical, antiquarian, and statistical inrrirmation is here intermixed with valuable re- marks on the natural history, manners, political state, &c. of the countries visited, especially Albania. 286. Dodwell's Classical and Topographical Tour through Greece, 1801. 1805 and 6. 2 vols. 4^o. 1819. This work dis- plays great research, aided and directed by much preparatory knowledge, and a sound judgment and good taste. 287. Hobhouse's Journey through Albania and other Provinces of Turkey, to Constantinople, in 1809-10. 4to. 1813.— —Classi- cal, antiquarian, and statistical, with sketches of manners, national character, &c. 288. Tableau General de I'Empire Ottoman. Of this splendid and celebrated work 2 volumes folio were published in 1787, which comprised the religious code of Turkey. The 3d volume was published in 1821, divided into two parts: the first part on the political, military, civil, and judicial code; the second, part Caiahi!;ue of I'oi/ages and Travels. .561 isical, antiqua- ligion, politics ; 1681. fol. — - reece and Asia of medals, in- 1688. fol.* nae countries as' ilso devoted to good character lard Cha'^dler, Is to the anti- jspects Greece, , has described . of the cities of rom the French, ly described in r had meagre: geology, natu- cu nous and in- Dit it, form thet le Italian. I.D. 1796. 4to. m, particularly • account of the ■ ily, and Greece, al, antiquarian, 1 valuable re- ate, &c. of the Tour through This work dis- ch preparatory )ther Provinces 13.— — Classi- muers, national Df this splendid ished in 1787, The 3d volume le first part on second part on the state of the Ottoman empire. This completes the plan of the author D'Ohsson. Under all the heads, into which he has divided his work, he has introduced authentic and cuilous notices of the agriculture, arts, maimers, domeh:ii: life, 8zc. of the Turks. The third volume was published "der the superintendance of his son. 289. Voyage dans la Grcce Asiatique. Par Sestini. Paris, 1789, 8vo. This work, translated from the Italian, comprises an ac- count of the environs of Constantinople, the peninsula of Cyzicum, formerly an island m the Propontis, to which it was united by Alexander the Great ; and the districts of Brusa and Nice. The antiquities of the peninsula, but especially tue botany of the coun- tries he visited, are treated of in a masterly manner. Voyage de Vienne a Belgrade. -1770. Neufchatel, 1780. 8vo. Par N. E. Kleeman, -This work, translated 290. fr m the German, comprehends an account of the Crimea, and of th^ Tartar tribes who inhabit it, full, minute, and accurate. 291. Traits sur le Commerce de la Mer Noirv Par M. de Pey- sonnel. Paris, 17S3. 2 vols, 8vo. Besides the commerce of the Crimea, its soil, agriculture, and productions, and its political state before it was annexed to Russia, are treated of in these volumes. 292. Description Physique de la Tauride. La Haye. 8vo. This work, translated from the Ituss.an, is intended to com- plece the survey of the Russian empire : it relates chiefly to natu- ral history in all its three branches. 293. Voyage en Crimea, 1803. Par J. Reuilly. Paris, 1806. Svo. The author was assisted by the celebrated Pallas, who, at this time, lived in I'-e Crimea. The physical as well as political state of this country are comprised in this work. 294'. Les Ruins des plus beaux Monumens de la Gr^ce, consi- deres du cote de I'Histoire et du cote de I'Architecture. Par M. Le Roi. Paris, 1770. fol. 295. Voyage Litteraiie de la Grece, ou Lettres sur les Grecs Anciens et Modernes, avec un parallele de leurs Moeurs Par M. Guys. Paris, 1783. 4 vols. Svo. The peculiar nature of these two works is sufficiently indi- cated by theii respective titles : they are both interesting. 296. Voyag ?;i Grece et en '""urquie. Par Sonnmi. Paris, 1801. 4to. This work, which is translated into English, is rich in na- tural history, commerce, and manners, particularly regarding some of the islands of the Archipelago, Rhodes, Macedonia, the Morea, and Asia Minor. 297. Voyage en Morea, a Constantinople, en Albania, &c. 1799 — 1801. Par Pouqueville. 298. Voyage dans la Grece. Par Pouqueville. vol. 1. 4to. Paris, 1820. The first work has beer translated into English : o o f'^ r .5ti2 Catalogue ct/' Voyages and Tiuvels. they are both full of information, especially respecting Albania, though more accurate ihvestigations, or perhaps different views and opinions, have irxduced .subsequent travellers to differ from him in some respects. 299. r»artholdy, Voyage en Grece, 1803-4. 2 vols. 8vo. Paris, 1807. 30Q. Mceurs, Usages, Costumes des Ottomans. Par Castellan. Paris, 1812. 6 vols. 12mo. The value of this work is enhaaced by the illustrations supplied by Langles from oriental authors. 301. Lettres sur la Grece. Par Castellan. Paris, 1810. 8vo. The Hellespont and Constantinople are the principal subjects of these letters, which are lively and amusing in their pictures of manners and life. The same character applies to his " L^ettres sur ritalie." Paris, 1819. 3 vols. 8vo. 302. Voyage a I'Embouchure de la Mer Noire. Par Andreossy, .Paris, 1818. 8vo. ■■' .A valuable work on physical geography, ■and to the engineer and architect, and such as might have been .expected from the professional pursuits and favourable opportu- i ni;ties of the author. 303. Lettres sur le Bosphore, 1816—19. 8vo. 1821. . ap^. Voyage Pittoresque et PJistorique de I'lsl^rie et de la Pal- rnwtJ.eii redige d'apres ITtin^raire de L. F. Cassas, peintre. Par J. -Lavallee. Paris, 1802. fol.- — -Thi^ splendid work, as its title in- dicates, principally relates to antiquities : there are, however, in- terspersed notices on manners, commerce, &c. Zara, celebrated for its ma^usquin, is particularly described. 305. Scrofani, Reise en Griechei^land, 1794-5. Leip. 1801. 8vo. .. The German translation of this work, originally published • jn Italian, is superior to the original, and to the French translation, by the addition of valuable notes by the translator, and the omis- sion of irrelevant matter. Scrofani pays particular attention to .commercial details respecting the Ionian Isles, Dalmatia, the Morcja, &c. ■ The Germans were celebrated for their skill in metallurgy, and their knowledge of mineralogy, ata period when the rest of Europe paid little attention to these subjects ; and Ger- man travels in countries celebrated for their mines are, xiierefore, valuable. Of the German travels in Hungary and Transylvania, the greater part are nunerajogic.al. We shall select a few. 306. Born, Briefe uber Mineralogische gegenetande auf einer Reise durch den Temeswarer Bannat, &c. Leip. 1774. 8vo. This mineralogical tour in Hungary and Transylvania by Born, and published by Ferber, possesess a suficient guarantee of its ac- curacy and value from the names of the author and editor. It is, bowever^ not confined to mineralogy, but contains curious notices Catalogue of Vovagcs and Travels. 563 :tiiig Albania, lifferent views to differ from 8. gyo. Paris, Piir Castellan, rk i-s onhaaced tal authors, ris, 1810. 8vo. ncipal subjects leir pictures of a his " Uettr.es Par Andreossy, cal geography, ght have been irable opportu- 1821. ie et de la Pal- leintre. Par J. c, as its title in- •e, however, in- ;ara, celebrated 5. Leip. 1801. inally published ench translation, r, and the pmis- alar attention to Dalnmtia, the in metallurgy, od when the rest ects ; and Ger- leir mines are, els in Hungary eralogic^l. We .tandfe auf einer 1774. 8vo. Ivania bjr Born, iranteeofits ac- id editor. It is, curious notices on some tribes inhabiting Transylvania and the adjacent districts, very little known : it is translated into French. 307. Ferber, Physikalisch-nietallurgische Abhandlunger uber die Gebirge und Hergewecke in Ungarn. Berlin, 1780. 8vo. 308. Balthazar Hacquet, Ueise von dem Berge Terglou in Krain, au den Berg Glokner in Tyrol, 1779—1781. Vienne, 1784-. 8vo. 309. Neueste Reisen, 1788 — 1795, durch die Daceschen und Sarmateschen Carpathen. Von B. Hacquet. Nuremb. 1796. 4- vols. 8vo. 310. Brief'e uber Triestes, Krain, Ksernthen, Steyermark, und Saltzburgh. Franck. 1793. 8vo. 311. Briete uber das Bannet. Von Steube, 1793. 8vo. 312. F. Grisselini, Lettere dj Venetea, Trieste, Carinthia, Car- nioU e Temeswar. Milan, 1780. ^to. Na,tural history and maimers axe here described. GERMANY. This large district of Europe offers, not only i\on\ its extent, but also from numerous causes of diversity among its parts, — some established by nature, and othr*-? introduced by man — various numerous and important oojects to the re- search and observation of the traveller. Its mines, — the productions of its soil and its manufactures, — the shades of its expressive, copious, and most philosophical language, — from the classical idiom of Saxony, to the compara- tively rude and uncultivated dialect of Austria, — the effects on manners, habits, feeling, and intellectual and moral ac- quirements, produced by the different species of the Chris- tian religion professei , — and the different forms of govern- ment prevailing in its different parts; — all these circum- stances, and others of a more evanescent and subtle, though still an influential nature, render Germany a vast field for enquiry and observation. The travels in this country, especially by its native inhabit- ants, are so numerous, that we must content ourselves with &, scrupulous and limited selection ; — referring such of our readers as wish to consult a more copious catalogue, to *' Ersch's Literatur der Geschichte und deren Hulfswissen- schaften." We shall follow our usual plan, selecting those travels which give the best idea of the country, at remote, intervening, and late periods. 313. Martini Zeilleri, Itinerarium Germaniaj nov-antiquae. Strasb. 1632. 4to. 314. Christ. Dorrington's Reflections on a Journey through some Provinces of Germany in 1698. Lond. 1699. 8vo. o o 2 .1 564 Catalof^nc of Foyages and Travels. f. - M 315. The German Spy. Ry Thomas Lcdyart. 1 71-0. fivo, MK). Kcysler's Travels tliroufjii (icrmany, liolicniia, Hunj^'ary, Switzerland, Italy, and Lorraiii. Translated from the (Jerman, \15(y. '2 vols. tto. Keysler, thongh a (ierman, was educated at St. Edmund's Hall : he travelled with the Count ofClleieh and other noblemen. His tiivourite study was antiipiities ; but his judf^ment, in those parts of his travels which relate to them, has been (|uestioned. llis work, thouj^h heavy, is interestinfr from the picture it exhibits of (Jermany, dvc. in the middle of the 18th century. 'Ml. Adams's Letters on Silesia, during a Tour in 1800-2. Philadelphia, ;J vols. 8vo. Mr. Adams was and)assador from the United States to Berlin : his work contains some interesting information, especially on the manufactures of Silesia. ;}18. Cogan's Journey up the llhine, from Utrecht to Frank- fort- 2 vols. 8vo. 17J)i. The style of this work is lively and interesting: its pictures of manners and scenery good; and it contains u learned distjuisition on the origin of printing. Dr. Cogan resided the greater part of his life in Holland. JJ19. Travels in the North of Germany. By Thomas Hodg- skin, Esq. 2 vols. Hvo. 1820, That part of (Jermany be- tween the Elbe and the frontiers of Holland is here described: tile topic is rather new ; and Mr. H. has given us much inform- ation on the agriculture, state of society, politicUl institutions, manners, &c. ; interspersed with remarks, not in tlie best taste, or indicating the soundest judgment or principles. ;j20. Letters from Mecklenberg and Holstein, 1820. By G. Downes. 8vo. This being a part of Germany seldom visited, every thing relating to it is acceptable. Mr. Downes's work is, however, not so full and various as might have been expected : on manners and German literature it is most instructive. 321. An Autumn near the Khine, or Sketches of Courts, Scenery, and Society, in Germany, near the Rhine, 1821. 8vo. . The title indicates the objects of this volume, which bespeaks an observant and intelligent mind. 322. Travels froni Vienna, through Lower Hungary. By Dr. Bright. 1817. 4-to. Agriculture and statistics form the prin- cipal topics of this volume, which would have been equally valu- able and much more interesting if the matter had been more compressed. 323. Historical and Statistical Account of Wallachia and Mol- davia. By W.Wilkinson. 1820. 8vo. Mr. Wilkinson, from his situation as British Consul, has been enabled to collect much information on these portions of Europe, chiefly such as the title indicates, and also of a political nature. 324. Voyages de Ileisbeck en Allemagne. Paris, 1793. 3 vpls. 8vo, —— This work was originally published in German, under the title of Briefe eines reisenden Franzosen durch Deutschland ; 17 to. fivo. Mniix, Hiin<;^ary, in the (lerman, I, was educated t ofdleieli and |uities ; but his to to them, has interesting from ddle of the 18th our in 1800-2. mhassador from # # u J 572 Caialoguc of Fm/ages a?id Travels. 389. Sharp's Letters on Italy. 1769. 4 vols. 8vo. — Barretti's Account of the Manners and Customs of Italy. 1770. 2 vols. 8vo. These works are noticed prhicipally because they afford a curious and instructive proof of the very different views v hich may be taken of the same objects, according to the extent and accuracy of the knowledge, and the preconceived opinions and feelings of the observer. Barretti's work is certainly more ac- curate t!ian that of Sharp, but in opposing him, he has sometimes gone into the opposite extreme : from comparing both, perhaps the reality may often be extracted. Manners and national cha- racter are their chief topics. 390. View of Society and Manners in Italy. By Dr. Moore, 1781. 2 vols. 8vo. The peculiar felicity of description and style with which this author paints manners, render these travels, as well as his others, extremely teresting. 391. Observations on Mount Vt. Mvius, Mount Etna, and other Volcanoes. By Sir W. Hamilton. Naples, 1776. 2 vols, folio. London, 1772. 8vo. 392. Travels in the Two Sicilies. By H. Swinburne, 1790. 4 vols. 8vo. 393. Denon's Travels in Sicily and Malta, translated from the French. 8vo. Denon, an artist, accompanied Swinburne in his excursions to the vicinity of Naples, and into Siciiy These works are historical, geographical, and antiquarian, but heu,"'ily written. Sgi'. Spallanzani's Travels in the Two Sicilies, and some parts of the Apennines, 1798. 4 vols. 8vo. Translated from the Italian. Natural history forms the principal subject of these volumes, which are worthy of the author, who was esteemed one of the first natural historians of his age. 395. Boisgelin's Ancient and Modern Malta. 3 vols. 4to. trans- lated from the French. Only the first part of this work is descriptive, and it certainly contains an interesting account of Malta and the Maltese ; the rest of the work is historical. 396. Brydon's Tour through Sicily and Malta. 2 vols. 8vo. 1776. Liveliness of description of scenery and manners, couched in an easy and elegant style, has rendered these volumes fixtremely popular, notwithstanding they do not display much learn- ing or knowledge, and are even sometimes superficial and inac- curate. 397. Boswell's Account of Corsica. 1768. 8vo. Interesting details respecting Paoli, as well as on the island and its inhabit- ants. 398. Eustace's Classical Tour through Italy. 4 vols. 8vo. 399. Classical Tour through Italy and Sicily. By Sir R.C.Hoare, Bart. 1819. 4to. Mr. Eustace's work is very full and minute in the subject which the title indicates ; it is written "n good taste, but in rather a prolix style ; his statements, however, are not always to be depended on, especially where his political or re- ^' Barretti's 0. 2 vols, ley afford ws V hich xtent and nions and more ac- ometimes perhaps onal cha- Moore, )tion and se travels, and other ols. folio. le, 1790. from the irne in his ese works y written, onie parts from the of these enied. one to. trans- i work is ;count of 1. i'ols. 8vo. nianrers, ! volumes ich learn- and inac- teresting inhabit- Vo. i\ Hoare, iiinute in :k1 taste, are not .1 or rc- ^'ataloguc of J'oj/ages and Travels. 73 ligious opinions Interfere. Sir R. Hoare's work is meant as a sup- plement to Mr. Eustace's. 400. Uemarks on Antiquities, Arts and Letters, during an ex- cursion in Italy, in 1802-3. By JosOj 'i Forsyth. ISKi. Svo. This is an admirable work, giving in a sliort compass nmch inform- ation, and indicating strong powers of mind, and a correct taste. -tOl. Sketches Descriptive of It ^Iy, 181(j-l7. 4 vols. 12mo, 1820. 402. Letters from the North of Italy. By W. S. Rose, 1819. 2 vols. Svo. Free and judicious remarks on the political degra- dation of this fair portion of Italy, with notes on manners, the state of society, &c. 403. Three Months passed in the Mountains East of Rome, in 1819. By Maria Graham, 8vo. An interesting and well-written picture of manners and character, together with notices on the productions of the soil, &c. 404. Voyage to the Isle of Elba. By A.T. de Berneaud, 1814. 8vo. This work, translated from the French, contains a very accurate survey of this island. 405. Tour through Elba. By Sir R. C. Hoare, bart. 1814. 4to. Only seventeen pages are devoted tc the journal , the re- mainder of the books consists of 8 views and a map : and a sketch of the character of Buonaparte. 406. Le Voyage et Observations de plusieurs Choses qui se peuvent remarquer en It' lie. Par le Sieur Adi?lier. Paris, 16.36. 8vo. Interesting, from exhibiting a well-drawn picture of the manners of Italy at this period ; with greater attention to natural history than was usual when Adelier wrote. 407. Voyage en Italic. Par M. de Lalande. Geneve, 1790. 7 vols. 8vo. This large work embraces a vast variety of sub- jects, and in general they are treated in a masterly manner ; manners, government, commerce, literature, the arts, natural history, antiquities, sculpture, paintings, &c. His narration of the building of St. Peters is very full, curious, and interesting. 408. Voyage en Italie. Par. M. Duclos. Paris, 1791. 8vo. Chiefly remarks on the government and political situation of the various states of Italy, with anecdotes and facts relating to these topics ; expressed with an open and unshrinking boldness, not to have been expected from one who was the historiographer of France at the period when Duclos travelled, 1766-7. 409. Lettres Historiqucs et Antiques de Charles de Brosses. Paris, 1799. 3 vols. 8vo. These letters by the celebrated De Brosses, author of L'Histoire des Navigations aux Terres Aus- trales, and other works, hardly are equal to the literary reputation of the author ; they paint with cor'-'derable force, though some- times in too strong colours, the imperfections, follies, and vices of the Italians ; and display good taste and judgment respecting the fine arts. F (i t •■'I M ir ,,.l^ ^ 57't \.r f '\ '?' Catclogiic of Voyages and Travels. 410. Voyage en Italic. De M. I'Abbo Barthelemi. Paris, 1802. 8vo. The author of the travels of Anacharsis has here ex- hibited himself in the midst of his favourite pursuits ; the precious remains of antiqu!;;y arc described with an accuracy seldom equalled, and in a style which renders the description attractive, even to those who are not particularly conversant or interested in these topics. The work is grounded on letters written to Count Caylus ; and contains, in an Appendix, some remprks of Winkel- man, Jacquier, ^c. This work has been translated into English. The travels of De Brosses and Barthelemi were performed in the middle of the eighteenth century. 411. Voyage da,ns le Montaniata et le Siennois. Par G. Santi. Lyons, 1802. 2 vols. 8vo. This work, translated from the Italian, relates to. mineralogy, botany, agriculture, and statistics. 412. Voyage sur la Scene des six derniers livres de I'Eneide. Par C, V. de Bonstetten. Geneva, 1805. 8vo. The first part of this work, the nature of which is expressed by the title, is much superior to the travels of Addison, in extent of classical research, in originality of views, and in clearness of description : in this part there are also interesting particulars respecting Latium. In the second part, the author principally dwells on the Campagna, the causes of its depopulation, and its agriculture ; this introduces some excellent observations on the agriculture of the ancient Romans, anc' the connection between it and their manners and religion ; other topics a.re introduced, and treated in an able manner. 413. Voyages Physiques et Lithologiques dans la Campagna. Par Scipion Brieslack. Pafis, 1800. 2 vols. 8vo. facts and conjectures on the formation of the Campagna, and on the soil of the territory and neighbourhood of Rome; on the extinct craters betwixt Naples and Canna, and on that of Vesuvius, render this work instructive and interesting to the geologist, while the picture of the Lazaroni must I'ender this portion of his work attractive to the general reader. 414. Voyage en Sicile et dans la Grande-Grece. Par le Baron de Riedesel. Paris, 1773. 12mo. This work, translated from the German, is fbrmed of letters addressed to Winkelman, describ- ing minutely, and with great taste, learning, and accuracy, the magnificent views with which the scene of liis travels abounds, and contrasting them in ruins witb their original perfection, as de- lineated in ancient authors. Interspersed are remarks on the manners and character of the inhabitants. 415. Lettres sur la Sicile et sur Malta, de M. le Comte de Borch, 1777. Turia, 17«2. 2 vols. 8vo. The object of the author is to supply the omissions and correct the ir "''takes of Brydou. 416. Voyage aux Isle3 Lipari, 1781. Par D. Dolomieu. Paris, 1788. 8vo. The character of Dolomieu sufficiently points out !■ Paris, 1802. las here ex- the precious racy seldom m attractive, interested in ten to Count s of Winkel- into English, armed in the Par G. Santi. I from the nd statistics, de I'Eneide. lie first part itle, is much al research, tion : in this Latium. In Campagna, s introduces the ancient lanijers and in an able , Campagna. -Facts and II the soil of tinct craters render this the picture ittractive to ar le Baron islated from an, describ- :uracy, the >ounds, and ion, as de- rks on the f Comte die Bct of the retakes of ieu. Paris, points out Catalogue of Voijagc: and Travels. 57 o the nature and value of this work. A Supplement was published the same year, under the title of Mt'moire sur Ics 'sles Ponces, Par Dolomieu. Paris. 8vo. 417. Voyage Historique Littrraire et Pittoresque dans les Isles et Possessions ci-devar' Ventitiennes du Levant, Par A. Cirasset- Saint-Sauveur, jun. Paris, 1800, 3 vols. 8vo. The author was French Consul ut the Ionian Islands for many years; and hence ho had opportunities which he seems to have employed with diligence and judgment, of gathering materials for this work, which, be sides what its title indicates, enters fully into the agriculture, navigation, commerce, manners, &c. 418. Histoire Geographique, Politique, et Naturelle, dp la Sar- dignie. Par D. A, Azami, Paris, 1801. '2 vols. 8vo. Of this island we know less than of any other part of Europe ; it has been seldom explored, and stiU seidomer des()ribed. There is certainly no work we are acquaintei' with, that gives such 4 complete and accurate account of this island and its inhabitants as Azami's. 419. Mceurs pt Coutumes des Corses. ParG. Faydel. Paris, 1798. 8vo. Agriculture and natural history, rather popular than scientific ; commerce and other similar topics are treated of in tliis work, though the title would lead us to expect only de- scriptioj) of manners and customs. 420. Voyage Antique a I'Etna, en 1819. Par Gourbillon. 1820. Chiefiy relating to the natural history, and meteorology of tho mountain. 421. Historisch Kritische Nachrichten vpn Italien. Von J. J, Volkma.i. Leipsic, 1770 — 1778. 3 vols. 8vo.-, Manners, customs, politics, commerce, the state of the arts and sciences are treated of in these volumes. 422. ZusaJtze zu der Neusten Keise Bescliriebung von Italien, Von J. Bernouilli. Leip. 1777—1782. 3 vols. 8vo. 423. Darstellungenaus Italien. VonF. J.L,Meyer. Berlin, 1792, 8vo. This is a romantic work for a German ; the author actually luxuriates in the recollections called up by the country of Michael Angelo, Raphael, Palladio, &c., and in his contemplation of the scenes of the convulsions of nature, and of the niost striking incidents in the classical and middle ages. Independently of this extravagance of style, this work is valuable, especially in what relates to the Tyrol, where indeed his style is more simple. It is translated . ) J'oija^ca uiid 'I'ravcb. t IH ■ :. \1 1. Ac- topic ; historical notices ami manners arc also given : all indicat- ing u well-inlormcd and intelligent nnnd. 142. Letters written during a Tour through Normandy, Brit- tany, and otlicr Part» of Trance, in 1818. IJy Mrs. C. Stothard. 4to. 18'21. • Much information on the manners, hahits, &c. of the inhabitants of Brittany, a part of France not much visited by travellers; besides local and historical descriptions. W'A. Itinerary of I'rovence and the Rhine. ISli). By J.Hughes. 8vo. A useful hook, and some parts of it very interesting. 4H'. Voyage Littcrairc de la France. Far Deux Bcnodictins. (D. D. Martine ct Durand.) Furis, ITIH). 2 vols. 4to. This work relates to monuments and inscriptions, of which it gives an accurate account. 4 1'.5. Voyage Geographi(iue et Fittoresque des Di'partemcnts do la France. Faris, 1794-97, 11 vols. fol. 41G. Voyage dans les Dt^partements dc la France. Far La Vallee, pour le Texte ; Brun piTc, pour la F.irtie (i('ograj)hi(|ue ; Brun fils, pour celle de Dessein. Faris, 1790 — 18(X). 100 cahiers, 8vo, 447. Voyage en France, enrichi de belles Gravures. Faris, 1798. 4 vols. 18mo. These works, in conjunction with the following, though not strictly within our plan, as being not the result of the observations of the authors themselves, are noticed here, because they give the most full and satisfactory information respecting France, geographical, descriptive, statistical, &c. Statistifpie (Jcnirale et Farticulicre de la France. Far une Societe des (Jens de Lettres. Faris, 180.5. 7 vols. 8vo. 448. Collection des Statistiqucs de cha(|ue Departement, impri- nu^e par Orcirc du . linistlre du I'lnterieure, au nombre de trente- quatrc. 41'9. Kechcrches Economiqucs et Statistiqucs sur le Departe- ment de la Loire Infcrieure. Far J. R. Heuet. Nantes, 1804. 8vo. 450. Statistifjue Elcmentaire de la France. Far J. Feuchet. Faris, 1805. 8vo. 451. Essai sur les Volcans tteints du Vivarais. Far Faujas de Saint Fond. Paris, 177H. fol. 452. Mistoire Naturelle du Dauj)hin^. Par le Meme. Grenoble, 17H1. 4to. These works, the result of travels in the district to which they allude, are valuable to the mineralogist and geologist. 453. Voyage en Provence. Par M.l* Abbe Papou. Paris, 1787. 2 vols. 12mo. The objects of these travels arc historical, literary, and picturesque. 454. Observations faites dans les Pyrennces. Par Ramond. Paris, 1789. 8vo. 455. Voyage au Mont Perdu, et dans les Partes adjacentes des Hautes Pyrennees. Par Raymond. Paris, 1801. 8vo.- Al- though these works principally relate to the formation, natural his- tory, and meteorology of the Pyrennees,yet the dryness of scientific I 1 : all inclicat- niandy, Brit- *. C. Stothard. habits, &c. of uch visited by Hy J. Hughes. iutcrestiMg. Beiu'dictins. 4-t(). Tiiis ch it gives ai» partenieiils dc mce. Par La Jt'ograpliique ; 0. 10() cahiers, A-urcs. Paris, tion with the being not the es, are notieed ry information statistical, &c. *ar line Societe pteinent, inipri- ubre de trente- ur le Departe- tes, I SOI.. 8vo. Par J. Peuchet. 1. Par Faujas jme. Grenoble, II the district to and geologist, u. Paris, 1787. torical, literary, Par Itaniond. ! adjacentes des 1. 8vo. Al- ion, natural his- ness of scientific Catalo'^uc f// f'ojjfigcs nud Trnvcls :u\ observation and research is most agreeably relieved by a lively picture of manners, as ucil as by the interesiing pirsonal adven- tures of the author in his atteni|)ts to reach tlic sumniit ol' the mountains. There is an English translation of the former of these works. 4.%'. Voyage en 17H7-H8, dans la ci-devant Haute et Uasse Auvergne. Par Le (Jrand D'Aussy. I'aris, 17!).'>. f5 vols. Svo. 1'57. Tableau de la ci-devant IVovence D'Auvergne. I'ar Uabine Beauregard, et P. M. (Jault. I'aris, 18()'J. 8vo. — — No district in France presents such a variety of interesting objects as Auvergne; its inhabitants, in their language, dress, maimers, and mode of life ; its agriculture, its natural history^ and its an- tiquities of the classical and middle ages. Le (Irand li'Aussy treats well of all but the last, and this is suj)plied by the other work;1ts agriculture is more fully considered in the following; 4.'58. Voyage Agronoini(|ue en Auvergne. I'aris, Svo. 1H03. 459. Description du Departcment dc I'Oise. Par C'ambri. Paris, 1803. 2 vols. Svo. Agriculture, roads, canals, mamifac- tures, commerce, antiquities, are treated of in this work in such a satisfactory manner, that the author of the 15ibiothc(|ue expresses a wish that all the departments were described as well as this, and the department of Finisterre by the same author, and Au- vergne by Le (irand D'Aussy. 4(30. Voyage Agronomiciue dans la Scnalorerie de Dijon. Par N. Francais dc Neufchateau. Paris, 1806. Svo. 4G1. Voyage dans le Jura. Par Lecpiinio. Paris, ISOl. Svo. ■ Much information in agr-culture, natural history, ^c. is given by this author, in an unpleasant style, and with little regard to method. 462. Voyage de Paris a Strasbourg. Paris, 1802. Svo. Re- lates to the agriculture and statistics of the departments through which the author travelled, and particularly the Lower ]{hine. 463. Voyage dans la ci-devant Belgique, ct sur la Rive (lauche du Rhin. Par Rriton, ct Brun pere et fils. Paris, 1802. 2 vols. Svo. Commerce, manufactures, arts, manners, and mineralogy, enter into these volumes. Sometimes, however, rather in a desultory and superficial style. 464. Voyage dans les Departenients nouvcllenient rcunisjCt dans le Departements du Bas Rhin, du Nord,du Pas de Calais, et de la Somme. 1802. Par A. G. Camus. Paris, 2 vols. Svo. Camus was sent by the French government to examine the archives and titles of the new departments : the Institute at the same time deputed him to examine into the state of science, literature, and manufactures : on the latter topics, and on the state of the hospitals, the work is full of details. The information he collected respecting the archives, he does not give. 465. Briefe eines Sudlanders, von Fischer. Leipsic, 1805. Svo. Besides descriptions of the principal cities in France, this \ p 2 i > 580 Catuiogue of Voijugea and 'I'lavels. work contains an account of the fisheries of the Mediterranean i the arsenal of Todlon ; (lie department of Vauchise ; the Proven^-al language, &'C. The same author has published Travels in the Pyrennees, drawn up from the works of most scientific travellers among these mountains. 460. Reise durch eine theil des Westlichen Franckreichs. Leipsic, 180.'}- 8vo. This is also by the same author, and contains an excellent statistical description of Britanny, a full account of Brest and its maritime establishments, and of the famous lead mines of Poulavoine, and of Huelgeat. The fir^t part of this word, huel, is exactly the prefix to the names of many of the mines in Cornwall. 'to?. Reise door Frankryk. Door \an der Willigen. Haarlem, 8vo. 468. Reisen durch die Sudlichen, Westlichen und Nordlichen, Provinzen. \'on F>ankreich. 1807-9. und 1815. Frank. 2 vols. 8vo. 181f3. French literature, the Spanish revolution in 1808, and the Basque language, are chiefly treated of. 469. Remarques faites dans un Voyage de Paris jusqu'ii Munich, Par Deppini:. Paris, 1814. 8vo. A most judicious and in- structive bocK, noticing all that is really interesting in this route, and nothing else, and thus conveying nmch information in a small compass. TiiK ni;thkuland,s. This portion of Europe presents to the traveller fewer va- rieties for his research and observation than any other j)art of Kuroj)e : in almost every other part the mineralo- gist and geologist lind rich materials for the increase of their knowledge or the i'onnation of their theories ; and the admirer of the beautiful, the picturesque, or the sub- lime, is gratified. The Netherlands are barren to both these travellers ; yet in some respects it is a highly in- teresting country : and the interest it excites, chiefly arises from circumstances peculiar to it. The northern division discovers a district won from the sea by most laborious, persevering, and urnemitted industry, and kept from it by the same means. The middle division recalls those ages, when it formed the link between the feeble commerce of the south of Europe, and of Asia and of the Baltic districts. Antwerp, Ghent, and Bruges then were populous and rich above most cities in Europe. The whole of the Netherlands, especially Flanders, may be re- garded as the birth-place of modern agriculture, which spread from it to England, where alone it flourishes in a vigorous and advanced state, but still in some points not to be compared to that of the country from which it came. diterraneaiT ; lie Provencal avels in the ific travellers [^ranckreiclis. author, and tanny, a tuU and of the The firot part s of many of 1. Haarlem, 1 Nordlichen, rank. 2 vols, ition in 1808, iqu a Munich. ;ious and in- in this route, ion in a small II cr fewer va- an any other the mineralo- lie increase of :heories ; and e, or the suh- rren to hoth s a highly in- cites, chiefly The northern sea by most try, and kept ivision recalls len the feeble sia and of the jcs then were l^urope. The s, may be re- ulture, which lourishes in a ; points not to rhich it came. th/alogiie of Voyages and Travels. .581 J^uch, with the admirable paintnigs of the Dutch School, are the chief objects that attract the traveller to the Nether- lands, independently of the desire to study human nature, which here also will And ample materials. 1'70. Descrizione di Ludovico Guicciardini di tutti Paesi Bassi. Antwerp, ].501. fol. This work, which was translated into Latin, French, and Dutch, was written by the nephew of the his- torian ; it is the result of his own travels in the Netherlands, and contains a full description of them, particularly of their principal towns, and their commerce. iVl. Observations on the United Provinces. By Sir W. Temple. Mvo. & 12mo Sir W. Temple was embassador at the Hague in 16()8 : his little work contains nuich information on the history, govermnent, manners, religion, connnerce, 9. Observations du Physique ct dc Mc'dcciiic, I'aitcs en difli'Tens licux de I'lCspagnc. Par M. Thiery. Paris, 1791. 2 vols. Svo. This medical Tour contains much information on the dimatf, soils, geology of Spain ; and on the food, domestic life of its in- habitants, particularly relating to Castile, Arragon, Navarre. Biscay, (irallicia and Asturia. There is also a particular 'U-scrip- tion of the quicksilver mine at AIniadcn, in La Mancha. .'>7(). Voyage Pittoresque ct Histori(|ue de I'Espagne. Par La Rorde. Paris, 4 vols. fol. 571. Itincraire Descriptifde I'Espagne. Par La Bordc. Paris, 1809. 5 vols. 8vo. 572. Lottres sur I'Espagne, ou Essais sur les Moeurs, les Usages, et la Litterature de ce lloyaumc. Par Heauharnois. Paris, 1810. 2 vols. Svo. 573. A Visit to Spain in the latter part of 1822, and the first four Months of 1823. By Michael Quin. 8vo. 1823. A sen- sible and impartial view of the state of Spain at this interesting period; giving much insight into the character of the Spaniards. 571'. lleise beschriebung durch Spanien und Portugal. Von M. Zeiller. Ulm, 1631. 8vo. 575. lleise beschrieburg nach Spanien. Franchfort, 1676. 8vo. These two works are chiefly valuable for that which gives interest and value to all old travels ; as describing manners, &c. at a distant period. 576. Neueste reise durch Spanien. VonVolkman. Leipsic, 1785. 2 vols. 8vo. Arts, manufactures, commerce and economy. 577. Nieuve Historikal en Geographische Reise bcschryving van Spanien en Portugal. Don W. Van den Burge. Hague, 1705. 2 vols. 4.to. 578. Descripcion de Espana de Harif Alcides Coneido. Ma- drid, 1799. ^to. This work, by the geographer of Nubia, as he is generally called, is extremely interesting from the picture it gives of Spain under the Moors. It was translated by D. J. A. Conde, who has added notes, conipar..ig its state at that remote period, and in 1799. 579. Ponz Viage de Espana. Madrid, 1776, &c. 18 vols. 12mo. Full of matter of various kinds, but tedious and dry. 580. Introduccion a la Historia natural y geographia-fisico del lleyno de Espana. Par D. Guill. Bowles. The Italian translation of this work, Parma, 1783. 8vo. (the nature of which is sufficiently indicated by the title) contains a c ^mmentary and notes by the translator, A. Zara, which adds to its value, in Itself not small. 581. Uescrizione della Spagna di Don A. Conca. Parma, 1793-7. '!• vols. Svo. This work is chiefly devoted to the fine arts, of which it enters into a full and minute description. There are also notices of antiquities, and natural history. It is adriiirably printed by Bodoni. «i k 5')'J ('y Professor White. He also published a preceding one without the Latin version ; which was republished at Tubingen, with apre- face by Paulus. An interesting and instructive " Notice de cet ouvrage," was published by Sacy, the celebrated orientalist, at Paris, in 1803. The Arabian author relates what he himself saw and learnt in Egypt, and is particularly full on the plants of the country ; the historical part occupies only the two last chapters ; he lived towards the end of the twelfth century. 006. Abulfedai Descriptio Egypti, Arabice et Latine, notas adjecit J. Michaelis. Gottingen, 177(5. 4to. This author lived in the fourteenth century, and was celebrated for his geographical knowledge, of which this work is a valuable proof. C07. L'Egypti de Murtadi. Paris, lti(J6. J2mo. This work of the middle ages, translated fro.ii an Arabic manuscript belong- ing to Cardinal Mazarin, is curious, but extremely rare. 608. Nouvelle Relation d'un \'oyage en Egypte. Par Wansleb. l()72-73. Paris, 1(578. P2mo. Wansleb was a German, sent into Egypt and Ethiopia by the Duke of Saxe Gotha, to examine the religious rites and ceremonies of the (Christians theri , He was afterwards sent again into Egyptby Colbert; the fruit of this journey was a great number of curious and valuable manuscripts, Q Q 2 i^' )9G Cfifniocrne of F 598 L'ulaloguc of Fotjages and Travels. great naivete and force the manners of the inhabitants, and affording some curious particulars respecting their diseases. 623. Nouvelie Relation de I'Afrique occidentale. Par Labat. Paris, 1728. 5 vols. 12mo. Though Labat never visited the coun- tries he describes, which are, Senegal, and those that lie behind Cape Blanc and Sierra Leone ; yet as he derived his information from the Director General of the French African Company, it may be depended upon. This work enters into full particulars on the subject of African commerce, especially that carried on by the Moors in the interior. The plants, animals, soil, Sec. as well as the religion, government, customs, manufactures are also described. 624'. Histoire Naturelle du Senegal. Par M. Adanson. Paris, 1757. 4to. M. Adanson was in this part of Africa, from 1749 to \ir>'d ; his chief study and investigation seems to have been di- rected to conchology ; and the descriptions and admirable plates in his book, certainly leave little to be desired on this subject. There are besides remarks on the temperature, productions, economy, and manufactures of the country. 6'lo. Nouvelie liistoiio de I'Afrique Fran^aise. Par M. I'Abbe Dumanet. Paris, 1767. '- vols. 12mo. Dumanet was a mission- ary in Africa, and seems to hsive united to religious zeal, much information, and an ardent desire to gain all the knowledge, which his residence and character placed within his reach. His notices regarding Senegal in particular, are very valuable, but his work is not distinguished for order or method. 62G. Relations de j)kisieurs Voyages entrepris a la Cote d'Afri([ue, au Sv'negal, il Goree, &c. tirees des Journeaux de M. Saugnier. Paris, 1799. 8vo. M. Saugnier was ship- Avrecked on the Coast of Africa, along with M. l-'ollies, and was a long time a slave to the Moors, and the Emperor of Morocco : he afterwards, on his liberation, made a voyage to Galam. The first part of his v/ork relates to the great desert, and has been already no- ticed ; the second part describes the manners, &c. of several tribes near Galam ; and the third relates to the commerce of Galam and Senegal. 627, Voyage au Scm^-gal, 1784-5. Paris, 1802. Svo. The materials of ti is work were drawn from the Memoirs of La Jaille, who was sent by the French Government to examine the coasts from Cape Blanc, to Sierra Leone. The editor. La Barthe, had access to the MS. in the bureau of the minister of marine and co- lonies, and was thus enabled to add to the accuracy and value of the Wv>rk. It chiefly relates to geography, navigation, and commerce, and on all these topics gives full and accurate information. 628. Fragmens d'un Voyage dans I'Afrique occidentale, 1785- 87. Par Golbery. Paris, 1802. 2 vols. Svo. The French commercial establishments in Senegal, the tribes in their vicinity, and the diseases to which Europeans are liable in this part of Africa, and more particularly the topics of this work, which has been translated into English, ►i-^- labituiits, and liseases. Par Labat. sited tho coun- hat lie behind lis information 1 Company, it particulars on rried on by the . as well as the described, lanson. Paris, ica, from 1749 have been di- irable plates in mbject. There ons, economy, Par M. I'Abbe was a mission- lus zeal, much •wleilge, which His notices jut his work is is a la Cote .Tourneaux de lier was ship- ollies, and was r of Morocco : alam. The first een already no- f several tribes of Galam and . 8vo, The rs of La Jaille, ine the coasts yd Barthe, had Tiarine and co- md value of the md commerce, mation. dentale, 1785- — The French 1 their vicinity, n this part of 3rk, which ha* Caiulogue uj' V'uyagei and TraveU. 599 6'29. Account of the native Africans in the neighbourhood of Sierra Leone. By T. Winterbottom, 1803. 2 vols. 8vo. A very instructive work, entering into many details on subjects not generally noticed by travellers, but to which, the thoughts and enquiries of the author, as a medical man, were naturally drawn. 630. Description of the Coast of Guinea. By W. Bosman, translated from the Dutch, 1703. 8vo- This work is very full on most topics relating to Guinea, not only in its physical, but also its economical and commercial state ; and deservedly bears the character of one of the best old accounts of this part of Africa. 631. New Accounts of some parts of Guinea and the Slave Trade. By Wm. Snelgrave, 1727. 8vo. Works that describe the Slave Trade, before it roused the notice and indignation of England, are valuable and useful, because in them no exaggera- tion can be suspected iu the detail, either of its extent or its hor- rors : on this account, as well as for its other commercial inform- ation, this work deserves to be read. 632. New Voyage to Guinea. By W. Smith, 1750. 8vo. The au-hor embraces almost every thing relating to Guinea, and has succeeded, in a short compass, to give much information. 633. Observations on the Coast of Guinea. By John Atkin, 1758. 8vo Pe'-sonal adventures, which however let the reader into the manner ; habits of the people, and are told in an in- terestinjr manncv, ..c ily fill this volume. 634. Historical Account of Guinea. By An. Benezet, Phila- delphia, 1771, 12mo. This is one of the first works, which ex- posed the horrid iniquity of the Slave Trade. 635. History of Duhomy, an inland Kingdom of Africa. By And. Dalzeli, 1789. tto. The official situation which the author held, gave him opportunities of gaining much valuable in- formation in this kingdom and its inhabitants, the accuracy of which may be depended on. 636. Bovvditch's Mission from Cape Coast Castle to Ashantee, 1819. 4to. This work is full and minute, but we suspect ex- aggerated respecting the Court of Ashantee ; on the mass of the people it gives little information. The part that relates to the geography of middle Africa, is confused and unsatisfactory. 637. Tuckey's Narrative of an Expedition to explor* *he River Zaire, in 1816. 4to. The Quarterly Review very justly .emarks, that this volume " contains an important and valuable addition to the records of African discovery." Natural history was especially advanced by this unfortunate expedition. 638. Relatio et Descriptio Congo et Cham. Amsterdam, 1659. 4to. The materials of this work, are drawn from that of Lopez, which was originally published in Italian, and forms part of the Grands Voyages. It it very full on the ditterent races of people, their manners, government, religion, traffic, &c. us well as on the productions of the soil. cj Q 4 1 ' 1 i fiOO Catalogue <>J Vo^yngcs and Tiaveh. 'ir ■/ i/. f '^Tf ()K). Histoirc de Loango, Kakougo, ct autres Koyaunies d'Afriqiie. Paris, 177(3. I'imo. This work, which is drawn up from tlie Memoirs of tlie French Missionaries, describes the phy- sical state of the country, the manners, language, government, laws, commerce, &c. of the inhabitants, with great care ; a large portion of it, however, is devoted to an account of the labours of the missionaries. e^l. Voyage ii la Cote Meridionale d'Afrique, 1786-7. Par L. de Grandpi^. Paris, 1802. 2 vols. 8vo. Much information on the Slave Trade, and a plan for abolishing it, by introducing civilization and a love of commerce into this part of Africa, oc- cupy the greater part of the first volume ; the second volume, which comprises the Cape of Good Hope, gives details which will be found useful to those who navigate and trade in these parts. The manners, &c. of tno people are by no means over- looked. INTEniOU OF AFRICA. 642. Travels in the inland parts of Africa, to which is added. Captain Slubbs's Voyage up the Gambia, in 1723. By Francis Moore, 1758. 4to 1742. Svo. — — This is a valuable work, and in- troduces the reader to many parts and tribes of Africa, which even yet are little known^ partly drawn from the accounts of an African prince who came to England. Of this information, and that collected by Captain Stubbs, Moore, who was superintendant of the African Company's establishments in t! -> Gambia, availed himself in drawing up this work. Little additional information respecting the interior of Africa was obtained, till the establishment of the African Associa- tion in 1788. It is unnecessary to give an individual and particular character of the works which were drawn up under their auspices ; the persons they employed, were, in many respects, in general admirably calculated for the ardous enterprize, and certainly by their labours have added not a little to our knowledge of the geography, man- ners, trade, &c. of this part of Africa. But it is to be re- gretted, that they were not qualified to investigate the natural liistory of the countries they visited, especially as these must be extremely rich in all the departments of this branch of science. To these preliminary observations and general character, we add the titles of the principal travels undertaken under the auspices of the African Association. I ift 64'3. African Association, their Proceedings for prosecuting the discovery of the interior parts of Africa, containing the .Journals 17 •. ■**,■ . — *»iiiVi»>*J*4B(»V»*1*W».« Koyaunies is drawn up )es the phy- goveniment, are ; a large e labours of 786-7. Par information introducing Africa, oc- ond volume, etails which xde in these means ovcr- ;h is added. By Francis work, and in- !Lfrica, which counts of an rroation, and perintendant nbia, availed or of Africa can Associa- dividual and e drawn up oyed, were, Iculatcd for labours have raphy, man- ; is to be re- estigate tlie especially as nents of this rvations and cipal travels Association. iccuting the he Journals Cfi/aloi^uc ()j Voyages and Travels. 601 of Ledyard, Lucas, Houghton, Horneman, NichoUs, cVc. 1810. 'i vols. 8vo. 64 k Park's Travels in the interior districts of Africa, 1795-97, with geographical illustrations, by Major Rennell, 1799. 410. 645. The Journal of a Mission to the interior of Africa, in 1805. By Park, 1815. 4to. In 1803, there was published at Paris, a French translation of Horneman's Travels, with notes, and a memoir on the Oases, by Langles. Those notes and memoirs were prin- cipal!/ drawn from Arabian authors ; and, together with the rectifi;'ation of the names of places, render the translation valuable. 646. Jackson's account of Tombuctoo and Housa, with Travels through West and South Barbary, and across the Mountains of Atlas, 8vo. 18^20. — j-So long as it is so extremely dangerous and difficult for Europeans to penetrate into the interior of Africa, we must be content to derive our information regarding it, from Africans who have travelled thither ; and it is evident that those will be best calculated to collect accurate information from them, who are acquainted with their language and character, and who have resided among them. On these accounts, Mr. Jack- son's work is valuable and important ; the same remarks apply to his Account of Morocco, 1809. 4to. 647. lliley's Loss of the Brig Commerce, on the west Coast of Africa, 1815. With an account of Tombuctoo and Wassanah, 4to. 648. Adam's Narrative of a llesidenoe in Tombuctoo. 4to. If these Narratives can be perfectly depended upon, they add con- siderably to our information respecting the (Jreat Desert and the interior of Africa. 649. Sammlung Merkwurdiger Reisen in das innere von Africa, heraus gegeben. Von E. W. Kuher. Leips. 1790. 8vo. 650. Descrizione dell' Isola della Madera, scritta nella Lingua Latina dal Conte Julio Laedi, tradotta in volgare da Alemano Fini. Plaisance, 1574. 4to. 651. Histoire de la premiere Decouverte et Conquete des Cana- ries, 1412. Par J. Bethancourt: dcrite du temps memc. Par P. Bouthier, et J. Leverier. Paris, 1630. 12mo. This curious and rare work, depicts with great fidelity and naivete, the manners, opinions, government, religion, &c. that prevailed in the Canaries, when they were first conque "!d. 652. Essai sur les Isles Fovtunees, et I'Antique Atlantide. Par Borry de Saint Vincent. Paris, 1803. 4to. The author of this work resided for some time in these Islands ; and his work, besides historical information, bears testimony to his having employed his residence in gaining minute information respecting their soil, cli- J ,iV |tf li (i()2 Calalogue of Vom^gea and Travcla. mate, natural history, and productions ; and likewise respecting the manners, &c. of the inhabitants. There is much learned dis- cussion respecting the origin of the Guanches, and interesting- information regarding their civilization and knowledge. G,'33. Noticias de la Historia general de las Islas de Canaria. Par D. J. Dariera y Clavigo. Madrid, 1771. S vols. 8vo. Borry de Sainl Vincent, who derived much of hi:: information from this work, justly characterizes it as a valuable and accurate perform- ance. The Islands of Madeira, Teneriffe, St. Jago, &c. are described in many Voyages to the East Indies, particularly in Bar- row's Voyage to Cochin China. In the first volume of Sir Hans Sloane's Jamaica, there is also a good account of Madeira. THE SOUTH OF AFRICA. The Cape of Good Hope being generally visited by ships going to the East Indies and China, there are many ac- counts of it and the adjacent country, in the relation of voyages to those parts. Since it came into the possession of the British, this part of Africa has frequently become the ultimate and special object of travellers. The oldest accounts were published in the Dutch and German lan- guages. 654. Reise Beschriebung, 1660-l(j()7 unter die Africanisken Vaelker besonders die Hottentiten. Von. J. Breyer. Leips. 1681. 8vo. 655. Reise nach dem Vorgeberg der Guten Hopnung. Von Peter Kolb. Nuremberg, 3 vol. fol. This voluminous work, ori- ginally published in Dutch, was abridged and published in French, in 3 vols. 12mo. Froni this abridgment, an English translation was published in 2 vols. 8vo. in 1738. Both the entire and abridged work have been frequently published. The reason for this popularity and general sale, must be sought in Kolben's work, being, for a long time, the only detailed account of this part of Africa, and from its enjoying a reputation for accuracy, which subsequent travellers have destroyed, especially De la Caille, the celebrated astronomer, in the following work. 656. Journal du Voyage fait au Cap de Bonne Espi/a<^es and Travels. (\0'> o72. Travels in Abyssinia. Hy James Barrotti. IHTO. 8vo. ()7l>. A new History of Ethiopia. By Joseph Ludolplius. fol. KiSI. Tiiough Ludolplius did not visit this country, yet hi^ work, originally published in Latin, with a commentary and ap|)en- dix by himself, is well worthy of perusal, as it is full of recondite and important information on the origin of the Abyssinians, the climate, soil, productions, and the natural history, physical and moral state of tne inhabitants, &c. •')7l'. Bruce's Travels to discover the Source of the Nile. 5 vols. ■I'to. 1790. Account of his Life and Writings, and t'dditions to his Travels. By Alex. Murray. 4to. 1808. ()75. Observations on Bruce's Travels. By Warton. 1799, 4 to. G76. Observations on the authenticity of Bruce's Travels. New- castle. 1800. 4to. We have added to the title of Bruce's work, those of two works which remarked on its authenticity ; there were also some acute papers on the subject in the Monthly Magazine : the result of these, and of the researches of sub- sequent travellers, seems to have established the credit of Bruce generally, though it is now known he did not reach the source of the real Nile, and that in some descriptions he coloured too highly. After all these drawbacks, however, his Travels are very valuable, and, with the exception of the tedious annals of Abyssinia, may be perused with interest and profit. G77. Salt's Voyage to Abyssinia, and Travels into the interior of that country. 1809-10: with an account of the Portuguese Settlements on the east coast of Africa. 4to. 1814. 678. Pearce's true account of the ways and manners of the Abyssinians. (In the Transactions of the Bombay Society, vol. 2.) These two works have extended our knowledge of Abyssinia, especially of the moral state of the people, much beyond what it might have been expected we should have ac chaired regarding a country formerly so inaccessible. Mr. Salt's zeal, and opportunities of information and observation, have left little to be desired : and from Mr. Pearce, who resided fourteen years in the country, many particulars may be gathered which only a long residrnce, and that intimacy and amalgamation with the natives which Mr, Pearce ac- complisheu, can furnish accurately, minutely, and fully. VIIL ASIA. Several circumstances concurred to direct the travels of the dark and middle ages to Asia. Pilgrimages to the Holy Land; — the wish to ingratiate the Tartar chiefs, which was naturally felt by the European powers, when the former wore advancinc: towards the western limits of Asia ; and , 1776. 4to. Every thing preparatory to, and connected with the travels of Niebuhr and Ills associate, was judiciously and well planned and executed : the selection of Michaelis to draw up the enquiries and obser- vations to be made ; those he actually proposed: and the learned II >' : wr>.Jtm'> ^ lp i i » rf W K. " :* ' ..,r. ' .g;*j y . ' Catalogue (jf Voyages and Travels. b09 information :ial, political observation, into Arabia in Asia and id separately que, and is ts style and iiibits of the Par Volney* jrk, of which be insisted d and inipor- ellers. )97. By H. was Ijacent. It work atations. Palestine. 3 i" 5 volumes. y interesting t in Sonnini's rmenia, and •ticularly in- Alexander, s of history able addition Asia Minor iebuhr. Co- ebuhr. Co- i des Savans, Arabic. Par imi, Sec. &c. o. is in Itincrc Every thing N'iebuhr and id exccutrd : i and obscr- tlie learned men sent out, who were respectively conversant in physics, natural history, geography, and the connected and auxiliary branches of science. Hence resulted most admirable works on Arabia: those of Miebuhr, together with Michael is, have been translated into French, in 4 vols. 4to, The English translation, besides omitting the most valuable and scientific parts, is, in other respects, totally unworthy of the original. 703. I! Viaggio dell Ambrosio Contarini, Ambasciatore della Signiora di Venetia, al Uxam Cassan, Re de Persia. Ven. ]54;3, 12mo. TO^. Relacion de Don Juan de Persia, en III Libros, Vallad. 1604. 4to. 705. Chardin, Voyages en Persic, et autres lieux de lOrieni. Ainsterd. 3 vols. 4-to. 1711. It may justly be said of these travels, that by means of them, Persia was made better known in every thing relating to its civil, military, religious, intellectual, moral, scientific, and statistical condition, than any other part of Asia, at the period when they were published. Very few travellers are more to be depended upon than Chardin. 706. Tavernier, Voyages en Turquie, en Perse, et aux Indes. 6 Vols. 12mo. Rouen, 1713. The credit of this traveller, which had been for some time suspected, is recovering itself since it has been ascertained that many points in which he was supposed to have been inaccurate or credulous, are well founded. As his object was commercial, especially for the purchase of diamonds, his travels may be consulted with advantage on the subject of the diamond mines, the traffic in these precious stones, and the various monies of Asia, and other topics not to be found in other travellers. 707. Observations made on a Tour from Bengal to Persia. By W. Franklin. 1 790. 8vo. The most original and valuable por- tion of this work relates to Persia, especially the province of Farsistan ; it contains also nmch information respecting Goa, Bombay, &c, M. Langles translated it into French, and added a learned memoir on Persepolis. The same orientalist, M. Langles, has added to the value and interest of his translation of G. Forster's Journey from Ben- gal to England, by his judicious and instructive notes. 708. Waring's Tour to Sheeraz. 1807' ^to. This work is chiefly confined to the manners, laws, religion, language, and lite- rature of the Persians ; on all of which it is instructive and in- teresting. 709. Morier's Two Journeys through Persia, Armenia, and Asia Minor. 1808-1816 2 vols. 4to. — The opportunities which M. Morier posses.=cd from his residence in Persia being much superior to those of a mere traveller, his work is justly re- R R i i 610 Catalogue of Voyages and Travels. garded as one of authority on the civil, political, domestic, and commercial circumstances of the Persians. 710. Sir W. Ousely's Travels in Persia. 1810-12. 4to. ■ The connexion between England and Persia, formed, or rather strengthened, in consequence of the vicinity of our East India pos- sessions to that country, has much extended our knowledge of it, and this work has contributed not a little to that knowledge. 711. Kotzebue's Narrative of a Journey into Persia, in the Suite of the Imperial Embassy, in 1817- 8vo. It is always desirable to have travels performed in the same country, especially if it he one remote and little known, by persons ofdifterent nations: thus, ditterent views of the same circumstances are given, and the truth i» elicited. These travels are interesting in this and other points of view. 7P2. Ker Porter's Travels in Georgia, Persia, Armenia, Ancient Babylonia, «S:c. 2 vols. 4to A severer judgment, by suppres- sing much that is minute and uninteresting, and dwelling more on important matters, and a knowledge of natural history, would have enhanced the value of these travels, ivhicli, however, are much more creditable to the author than his Travels in Russi;i. 713. Reise in den Kaukasies und nach CJeorgien, 1807-8. 2 vols. 8vo. Ilalle, 1812. These travels were undertaken by command of the Russian governiTient, and are similar in design to those of I'allas ; there is an English translation, but it is indiffer- ently executed. 714. Reisen nach Georgieu und Inierethi. Von J. A. Gulden- stadt. 8vo. Berlin, 1813. This work is edited by Klaproth, and is chiefly mineralogical. 715. Lettres surla Caucase et la Georgia, et un Voyage en Perse en 1812. 8vo, THK EAST INDIES. The histories of the discoveries and conquests of the Portu- guese in the East Indies are interspersed with various and numerous particulars regarding the political state of that country, and the manners, customs, religion, iSrc. of the inhabitants. The following French work is valuable in this respect. 716. Histoire de Portugal ; contenant les Entrcprises, 8lC. des Portugais, tant en la C'onquete des Indes Orientales par eux de- couvertes, qu'en Guerres d' Afrique et autres Exploits: nouveilement mise en Fran^ais. Par S. (ioullard. Paris, 1581. 4to. 717. Navigatio et Itinerarium in Orientalem Indiam, &c. Autore Joanne Linschot. Amsterd. 16 M. folio. i ' Imestic, and 4to. I or rather ]t India pos- jedge of it, ledge. in tl)e Suite 's desirable ly if it be ions : thus, tli(! trntli is Icr points of lia. Ancient by suppres- ng more on would iiave are ninch a. S()7-S. 2 Icrtaken by in design to t is inditter- A. Gulden- Y Kiaproth, ige en I'erse 'the Portu- various and tate of that &c. of tiie luble in this !s, 8c c. des lar eux d6- luveilement c. Autore Catalogue of Voyages and Travels. 611 718. Premier Livre de I'Histoire de la Navigation aux Indes Orientales, par les Hollandois. Amsterd, folio, 1558. 719. Le Second Livre. Amsterd. 1609, folio. 720. Relatio de Rebus in India Orientale, a Patribus. See. Jesu. 1598-1599, peractis, iMayence, 1601. 8vo. The preceding works give an interesting picture of the East Indies during the 16th century. 721. Beschrievyng van oude niewe Ostinden. Von. F. Valyn- tyn. Amster. 1724-1726. 8 vol. fol This work appears to be little known, except in Holland ; the author resided upwards of twenty years in India, and has most industriously, though not always with a good taste, or scrupulous judgment, collected much minute information on its natural, civil, and religious state. 722. Alex. Hamilton's Account of the East Indies, 2 vols. 8vo. 174.4. 72.'}. (Jrose's Travels to the East Indies, 1772. 2 vols. 8vo. 724. Zend Avesta. Par Anquetil du Perrin. Paris, 1771. 3 vols. 4to. M. Anquetil has prefixed to his translation of this supposed work of Zoroaster, an account of his travels in the East Indies, in which there is much valuable information, especially on antiquarian subjects. The Germans have translated and pub- lished separately, this part of M. Anquetil's work. 725. Voyages dans les Mers de ITnde. Par M. Legentil, 1781. 5 vols. 8vo. M. Legentil's object was to observe the transit of Venus, in 1761 and 1769. His work, besides entering into the subject of Indian astronomy, gives many important details on an- tiquities and natural history. 726. Description Historique et Geographique de I'lnde. Par J. Tieti'enthaler. Recherches Historiques et Geographiques sur I'lnde. Par Anquetil du Perrin. Publiees par J. Bernouilli. Berlin, 1785. 3 vols. 4to The most curious and original portion of this work is that which relates to the Seiks, by the missionary Tieffenthaler. 727. Forrest's Voyage from Calcutta to the Menguy Archipelago, 1792. 2 vols. 4-to. This work is justly of great authority, for its details in maritime geography, 728. Stavorinus's Voyages to the East Indies, comprising an ac- count of all the possessions of the Dutch in India, and at the ('ape of Good Hope, 3 vols. 8vo. 1798. 729. Fra. Paolino's Voyage to the East Indies. With notes by J. Reinold Forster. 8vo. 1800. A translation of this valuable work, which originally appeared in Italian, was published in Paris, in 1805, by Anquetil du Perrin, in 3 Vols. 8vo. There are few works which throw more light than this does, on the religious an- tiquities of India. 730. Rennel's Memoir of a Map of Indostan. 2 Vols. 4to. 1793. For geographical research, this work justly bears the highest character. R n 2 r. i if 612 Catalogue of Voj/agcs and Travels. h % p* I Particular parts of the East Indies are specially described iu the following works : 731. Nouvelle Relation d'un Voyage fait aux Indes Orientales. Par M. Dellen. Amsterd. 1699." 12ino. Malabar, Calecut, and Goa, are particularly noticed by this author, who, benig a me- dical man, is full and instructive on the poisonous animals, and the diseases. 732. Voyage de Fiancois Bernier, contenant la Description des Etats du Grand Mogul. Amsterd. 1725. 2 Vols. I2mo This author was also a medical man, and from that circumstance ob- tained favour from the Mogul, and an opportunity of visiting ])arts of Asia, at that time little known, particularly Cachemere, of which he gives a full and interesting description. 733. Voyage aux Indes Orientales, 1802-6, '. u et aug- mente de note.s. Par Sonnini. 2 V^ols. 8vo. PariS; 1810. Tlie notes by Sonnini sufficiently point out the nature and character of this work. 734. Voyage dans la Peninsule Occidentale de I'lndc, et dans risle de Ceylon. 2 Vols. 8vo, Paris, 1811. This work is trans- lated from the Dutch of Haalner ; and as latterly \cw. c'xce]>t the English, have published accounts of India, it is for this reason in- teresting. 735. A Journey from Madras, through Mysore, Canara, and Maiabar. r»y F. Buciianan. 1811, Ito. Much information, not well arranged or agreeably comnmnicated, on the most valuable productions of these districts, on their climate, manufactures, and the manners, religion, ^;c. of their inhabitants. 736. Heyne's Tracts, historical and statistical, on India ; with Journals of several Tours : and an account of Sumatra. 1814, 4to. A work not so well known, as from its information, particularly statistical, it deserves to be. 737. Forbes's Oriental Memoirs. 1813, 4 Vols. 4to. It is to be regretted that this very splendid and expensive work was not published in a cheaper form, as it abounds in most striking pictures of the manners, customs, &c. of India. 738. Major Symes's Account of an EmbaSvsy to the Kingdom of Ava, in 1795. 4to 1800 Little was known in Europe res- pecting Pegu and Ava before the travels of Hunter, and Losel and Erkelskrom were published; these travels, translated respectively from the English and German, '.vere published together in Paris, in 1793. From these, and Major Symes's works, much may be gathered respecting the manners, religion, and goverimient of the inhabitants of this part of Asia ; but unfortunately, these travellers do not instruct us on the topics of natural history. We are in- debted for most that we know respecting Siam, to a notion that was put into Louis XIV. 's mind, that the King of Siam was desirous of becoming a convert to Christianity. Under this idea, described In s Oricntiiles. tir, ("alc'cut, being a nie- iiuils, and the scription des 1110. This mistaiice ob- /isiting parts ere, oi'vvhich u et aug- >10. The character of [nde, et dans vori< is trans- '. except, the lis reason iii- Canara, and •rniation, not lost valuable actures, and India ; with 1814, Ito. particularly to. It is work was lost striking \ingdoni of iirope res- l Losel'and espectively r in Paris, :li may be iient of the c travellers We are in- lolion that Siaiii was r this idea. Catalogue of Voyages and Travels. 61$ Louis sent an embassy and missionaries, from whom proceeded the tollowiiig works : in which, allowing for a little exaggeration, in order to Hatter the vanity ot' the French .nonarch, there is a deal of curious and valuable information of all kinds. 7S9. "reinier Voyage de Siam des P. P. Jesuites, Redige par Tachard Second Voyage du P. Tachard. Paris, 1686-89. Par Gervaise. Paris, 2 Vols. I'iiuo. 740. Ilistoire Naturelle et Civile de Siam. 16S8, Ito. 711. Description du Royaume de Siam. Par M. delaLoubere, Eiivoyi' Extraordinaire du Roi auprfes du Roi de Siam. Amsterd. 714." 2 Vols. 12mo. 742. Harrow's Voyage to Cochin China, 1792-93. 4to. 1806. This is perhaps the most valuable of Mr. 13; on's works, as it re- lates to a country not previously known, ex ept by the accounts ol the mis ioiiaries, and vvhic'i has been scarcely visited since Mr. Barrow's tin.c. 74;^. Relation Nouvelle et Curieuse du Royaume de Tonquin, et de Laos. Traduite de I'ltalien du P. de Marini. Paris, 1666, 4to. This work is full of a variety of topics connected with the civil, political, military, agricultural, and commercial state of Tonquin ; nor is it deficient in what relates to the natural history, and the manners, religion, . Expose Statistique duTimkin. London, 2VoIs. 8vo. 181 1. This work is drawn up from the papers of M.dela Ressachere, who resided 18 years in Tunkin; and it is rich in new and curious infor- mation on the [)hysical properties of the country, and the national character. 7 l(). Letters on the Nicobar Islands. By the Rev CG. Haensel, Mi^sio.iaiy of the United Urethren. 1S12. 8vo. This short account IS written with grent simplicity and appearance of truth, and conveys much intbrmation on the inhabitants, as well as the soil, climate, ("^^c. of these islands. 7 17. A Description of Prince of Wales Island. By Sir Home Pophani. 1806, 8vo. 748. Sir George Leith's Account of the Settlement, Produce, and Commerce of Prince of Wales Island. 8vo. Ib05. I /i n i\ R il 3 614 Catalogue of Vm/agcs and Travel f. INDIAN ISLANDS. 749. Historical Relation ofCeyl' i. By Robert Knox. 1681. folio. This work, though pi'ir' ..led so long ago, and by one who was a prisoner, still retains its character, as the fullest and most interesting account of the inhabitants of Ceylon in the Eng- lish language. The voluminous work of Valyntyn, in Dutch, which we have already noticed, may be advantageously consulted on this island, as well as on all parts of India formerly possessed by the Dutch. 750. John C. Wolfe's Life and Adventures in Ceylon. 1785. 8vo. This work, translated from the Dutch, amidst much that is merely personal, contains some curious notices on Ceylon and its inhabitants. To the English translation is appended an account by Erkelskrom, which is valuable, as describing the island at the period when it passed from the Dutch to the English. 751. Davy's Account of the Interior of Ceylon. 1821, 4to. This is an excelieiit work, though like many other works of excellence, too bulky; its chief and peculiar merit and recom- mendation consist in its details on the natural history .of Ceylon. 752. Marsden's History of Sumatra. 1783. ^to. This is a most excellent work in the plan and execution, embracing almost every topic connected with the island and its inhabitants. 753. Voyage to the Isle of Borneo. By Capt. Beckman, 17i> , 8vo. Of this large island, so little known, this volume, and an article inserted in the Transactions of the Batavian Society of .Tava, gives us many interesting particulars; there are also sonu; notices of it in Forrest's Voyage. 754. The Narrative of Captain Woodward, with a Description of the Island of Celebes. 1804, 8vo. Woodward was an Ame- rican captain who was taken prisoner by the Malays of Celebes : this work is the result of his observations and experience during his captivity ; but it is confined to the western division of the isle : of this, however, it gives many particulars, respecting the produce, animals, inhabitants, &c. Stavorinus's works may also be consulted regarding Celebes. 755. Crawfurd's History of the Indian Archipelago. 1820. 3 vols. 8vo. This is a valuable work, particularly in what relates to the actual commerce and commercial capabilities of these islands: it also treats of the manners, religion, language, &c. of the inhabi- tants ; but on so^ne of these points not with the soundest judgment, or the most accurate information. 756. Raffles's History of Java. 1817. 2 vols. 4to. Had this work been compressed into a smaller compass, by a judicious abridgment of the historical part, its value as well as interest would Catalogue of Voyages and IWivrls. 615 Cnox. 1681. and by one le fullest and 1 in the Eng- in Dutch, sly consulted possessed by eyloii. 1785. Jst much that n Ceylon and 3d an account ! island at the 1821, 4to her works of t and reconi- .of Ceylon. . This is a racing almost ants. kman. ITL , )lume, and an iciety of Java, I some notices IX'scription of was an Ame- s of Celebes : rience during in of the isle : the produce, ) be consulted o. 1820. 3 what relates these islands: of the inhabi- 3St judgment, Had this u judicious iterest would have been enhanced; these, however, are not small, as it gives by far tlie fullest and most accurate account of Java, and its inhabi- tants, that has appeared; and as the author, from his residence and high official situation, possessed every advantage, its accuracy may be depended on. When the natural history illustrations of Java, by Mr. Horsfield, are completed, they will, in conjunction with this work, and the Transactions of the Batavian Society, leave nothing to be desired on the subject of this part of Asia. 757. E. K(Empfer's Gescluchte und Heschriebung von Japan, .Lf!mgOj 1777-79. 2 vols. 4to. — This edition of KaMiipfer's celebrated work on Japan contains several things which are not to be found in the English translation 758. Histoire du Japan. Par Charlevoix. Paris, 1754, 6 vols. 12mo. This is the best edition of Charlevoix's work, many parts of which, especially what relates to natural history, are drawn from Keempfer. Charlevoix has added important details on the administration of justice in Japan, and on the moral character of the Japanese ; but the bulk of the work is swelled by tiresome ecclesiastical details. 759. Travels in Europe, Asia, and Africa. By Thunberg. 1794, 4 vols. 8vo. -— This work relates principally to Japan ; and it may justly be remarked, that few parts of the world have met with such admirable describers as Japan has done, in Koempfer and Thunberg. Certainly the natural history of no part, so rich in this respect, has been so fully and scientifically investigated. A French translation of this work was published in Paris in 1796, in 2 vols. 4to. enriched by the notes of Langles and La Marck. 760. Golownin's Narrative of his Captivity in Japan, 181 1-13. 2 vols. 8vo. Japan is a country so little accessible, that every >vork on it is acceptable. This work does not add very much to what KcEinpfer and Thunberg have t«)ld, but perhaps (juite as nnich as the author, under his circumstances, could collect or observe. The same remarks apply to his Recollections of Japan. 1 vol. 8vo. The history of the missions in the East Indies, Japan, and China, which were published in the Italian, Spanish, German, and French languages, towards the end of the sixteenth, and the beginning of the seventeenth century, is interspersed with some curious and valuable information ;egarding these countries ; the titles and character of the principal of these may be found in the Hibliothcque, vol. 5. p. 264, 272, &c. 761. Voyage to China and the East Indies, by Rel. Osbeck ; with a Voyage to Surat, by Torreens; and an Account of the Chinese Husbandry, by Ekelberg. Translated from the German by J. \l Forster. To which is added a Fauna ct Flora Sinensis. 1777, 2 vols. 8vo. Travels, embracing scientific natural history, by competent persons, are so rare and valuable, that the titles of such R R 4 (I 616 Catalogue of Voi/agra and Travels. X 3, should not be omitted: the nature of this work is sufficiently indi- cated by the title, and its merit by its having been translated by Forster. 762. Sonnerat, Voyage aux Indes Orientales et u la Chine, iVT't. 1781. Paris, 1806. 4 vols. Svo. This work is particularly full and minute on the theography of the Hindoos : besides the East Indies and China, it embraces Pegu, the Cape of Good Hope, Ceylon, Malacca, iSrc. A translation of part of it into English was printed at Calcutta. 763. Nouvelles M6moires sur I'Etat present de la Chine. Par Le Comte. Paris, 1701, 3 vols. 12nio The best account of China previous to Duhalde's work, though in manj' particulars extremely partial to the Chinese. 764'. Memoires concernantl'Histoire, les Sciences, et les Arts des Chinois. Par les Missionaires de Pekin. Paris, 1775, &c. 15 vols. 4.to.— — In this voluminous work is contained a wonderiul deal of information on China; the continuation of the work was put a stop to by the French Revolution ; it is by far the best the Jesuits have produced on China ; and if there are materials for perfecting it, they ought to be given to the public. 765. Description Geographique, Historique, Chronologique, Politique, et Physique de la Chine et de Tartaric Chinoisc. Par Duhalde. Le Hague, 1736, 4 vols. 4to. Of this work there is an English translation. Duhalde has drawn his materials from a variety of sources, especially from the printed and manuscript accounts of the missionaries; but he has failed to exercise a sound judgment, and a scrupulous examination into the truth of many lacts and opinions which he has admitted into his work. But though the public are certainly much indebted to the missionaries for the information they have given respecting this singular country, yet there are obvious circumstances which rendered their accounts suspicious in some points, and defective in others, so that the publication of the ac- counts of the Dutch and British Embassies added much to our stock of accurate knowledge regarding China. The following is the title of the French translation of part of the Dutch Embassy : 766. Voyage de la Campagne des Indes Orientales vers I'Em- pire de la Chin6, 1794-5. Tir6 du Journal de Van Braam. Phi- ladelphe. 1797, 4to. There is also an English translation. 767. Sir George Staunton's Account of the Embassy of the Earl of Macartney to China. 2vols. 4to. 1797. 768. John Barrow's Travels to China. 4to. 1804. These works, especially the latter, together with Lord Mac- artney's own journal in the second volume of his life, con- 'ufficiently indi- n translated by h Chine, 1774. >articularly full esides the East ' Good Hope, ito English was a Chine. Par est account of 'y particulars ft ]es Arts des '' &c. J 5 vols. Jerfal deal of 'as put a stop Jesuits have perfecting it, ronologique, inoise. Par 'ork there is rials from a manuscript •'SO a sound th of many ■ed to the '■especting umstances "e points, of the ac- ^^ much to ina. The >artofthe Catalogue of Voi/ages a?id Travels. 617 ers I'Em- 111. Phi. ition, the Earl •d Mac- 'e, con- tain a deal of information, .onsidering the jealousy of the Chinese ; some additions, corrections, and different views of the same circumstances, as well as a further insight into the manners of the Chinese, as indicated bj' their conduct, will be found in the two following works which relate to the Embassy of Lord Amherst. The first is by the naturalist to the Embassy. 769. Abel's Narrative of a Journey in the Interior of China. 1816-17. 4to. 770. Ellis's Journal of the Proceedings of the late Embassy to China. 4to. 771. Relation du Naufrage sur la Cote de I'lsle de Quiclpeart, avec la Description de Coree. Paris, 1670, 12mo. This work, translated from the Dutch, besides the interest which personal adventures in a foreign country, and under unusual circumstances, always inspires, gives much information regarding the manners of the inhabitants, and the ceremonies, &c. of the court of Corea, — a part of Asia very little known. 772. Captain Hall's Voyage of Discovery to the West Coast of Corea, and the Great Loo-choo Island. 4to. A work not less valuable for its maritime geography and science, than for the pleasing interest which it excites on behalf of the natives of Loo- choo, and the favouralle impression it leaves of Captain Hall, his officers and seamen. TARTAUY, &C. 773. Noord-Oost Tartaric. Par Nic. Witsen. Amsterd. 1705, 2 vols, folio. Forster, an excellent and seldom too favourable a judge, speaks highly of this wo.— 7 71'. Nomadische Streifereisen unter den Kalmuken. Von B. Borgman. Riga, 1805-6, 4^ vols. 8vo. The author of this work resided some time with the Kalmucks, at the command of the Emperor of Russia ; and he seems to have employed his time well, in gaining information respecting the past and present state of their country, and their manners, intellectual, moral, and reli- gious state. THIBET, &.C. 775. Antonio de Andrada novo Descubrimento de Grao Catayo ou dos Regnos de Tibet. Lisbon, 1626, 4to. This work has been translated into French, Italian, Flemish, and Spanish ; it con- tains the narrative of the lirsr. passage of the Himalaya Mountains. (See Qiiarterlj/ Rrvieiv, No. 48. page 337, S^-c.) . 776. Turner's Account of an Embassy to the Court of the (i M 618 Catalogue of Voyages and Travels. . i ■:H Tcesho Lama, in Thibet. JSOO, 4to, This work is full of in- fornuUion ami interest : it relates to the soil, climate, and produce of Thibet; the moral character, and especially the singular religion of the inhabitants, and their institutions, manufactures, disorders, &c. 777. Kirki)atrick's Account of Nepaul in 1793. 4to. This is one of the best accessions to our information respecting this part of Asia which has been produced by our establishments in India. 77S. Account of the Kingdom of Nepaul. By Francis Hamilton, (formerly Buchanan). 1819, 4to The same character applies to this as to the other work by the same author. 779. Fraser's .Journal of a Tour through part of the Snowy Ilidge of the Himalaya Mountains. 1820. 4to. Notwithstanding Mr. Fraser's ignorance of natural history, in a country quite new, and full of most interesting objects in this science, and that he had no means of measuring heights, or ascertaining the temperature or pressure of the air; and notwithstanding a want of method, and a heaviness and j)rolixity in tlij style, this book possesses great in- terest, from the scenes of nature and pictures of manners which it exhibits. 780. Elphinstone's Account of Caubul and its Dependencies. 1815. 4t(). The inte. > -c and value of this work arises more from the subject of it, than from the manner in which it is executed; respecting such countries, however, as Caubul, and others as little known and remote, we are glad of all accessions of information. ASIATIC RUSSIA. 781. Reisen durch Siberien, \'J33-l'Ji\i. Von .1. (1. (imelin. Gott. 4' vols. 8vo. This work is worthy of the name which it bears : it is full and particular on the physical and moral geogra- phy of Siberia, but especially on its mines a\ul iron foundries. 782. Voyage en Siberie, 1761. Par Chappc d'Auteroche. Paris, 1768. 3 vols. 4to. This work gave rise to a severe attack on it, under the title of Antidote. D'Auteroche's object on his travels was principally scientific, but he has entered fully into the character of the inhabitants, and especially those of the capital, and into the character, and intellectual and moral state of the Rus- sians in general. 783. Relation d'un Voyage aux Monts d'Altai en Siberie, 1781. Par Patrin. Peters. 1785, 8vo. Mineralogical. 784. Recherches Historiquessur les Principales Nations Etablies en Siberie. Paris, 1801. 8vo. This work, translated from the Russian of Fischer, displays a great deal of research, and is not unworthy of an author who imitated Pallas, (imelin, Muller, etc. 785. Recherches sur les Principales Nations en Siberie. Traduit, du Russu de Stollenweck. 8vo. 786. Description dc Kanischatcha. Par Kraschcninnikof is full of iiT and produce bular relifrion (es, disorders, J'lto This (ting this part jits in India. I'is Hamilton, lacter ajjplies >nowy Hidge withstanding y quite new, I that he had iiporature or t'tliod, and a sc's groat in- crs vihich it ependencies. arises more is executed; UM-s as little jrniation. Catalnnuc of Voyn^ics and Travels. (j19 Amsterd. 1770. 2 vols. 8vo. The soil, climate, productions. minerals, furs, habitations, manners, employments, religious cere- monies and opinions, &c., and even the dialect spoken in diflerent parts, are here treated of. 787. Journal Ilistorique dii Voyage de M. Lesseps. Paris, 1790. 2 vols. ra( geogra- ndrics. Auteroche. ■vere attack ject'on his lly into the lie ca[)ital, )l"tlie Kus- ^'i-ie, 178 J. iisEtablies 1 from the iiiid is not Her, etc. Traduit, cninnikof IX. AMERICA. Those works which relate to the discovery of America, derive their interest rather from their historical nature than from the insight they give into the physical and moral state of this portion of the globe. In one important particular ; America differs from all the other quarters of the world, very early travels in Asia or Africa unfold to us particulars respecting races of people that still exist, and thus enable us to compare their former with their present state, whereas nearly all the original inhabitants of America have disap- j)eared. Referring therefore our readers to the historians of the dis- covery and conquest of America, and to the Bibliotheque des Voyages, for the titles and nature of those works which detail the voyages of Columbus, Vespucius, &c., we shall confine ourselves chiefly to such works as enter more fully into a description of the country and its colonized inha- bitants. 11 ''i fy'IO C(ilal()t Ho- I Aiiiciique I 1 . 2 vols. .'Ilfiit works ilioiu'l y la '•id, 1772. I' file con- . pliy.sical, •VI." Diiz, I'd learned 'VaiKj-aises, ^} orifrinal "CO, Cura- li-> remarks , and the Jiated na- splendid oKs. folio. fi'd l)y R. 'iiiiieralo- 'ItO.— — I)ut tliore iected by 15y W. Work to I fell I'xr- it of Afr. ii's Bay. e. 1790. Ii ofSf. I of in- -. : the '^16-17. Hall's is a ])U>asant and lively work, mit'olding many of the pi'cnliaritii's of the niaiiners, ciistonis, &f,, of Canada and the adjacent parts of the I'nited States. Ilov\ ison's is tli'.; work of an abler man: it is rieh in valuable information to emigrants; and is, moreover, highly descriptive of .•>ci'nery and manners. The part relative to the 1,'nitcd btults is superlicial. sot. Collection 'ks I'hisicures Relations du Canada, Uk">2-1()72. 43 vols. 12nu). 8(),'>. Charlevoix's Travel.s in North America, translated from the French. 1772. 2 vols. Ito. — The physical and moral state of the iidiabitants are the principal objects of this work. 806 Carver'.", Travels throngh the Interior I'arts of North America, 17(i(i-()S. 8vo. There is much information in this work respecting that part of America, which has lately atluuted tio much attention i'lom its vicinity to the supposed north-west passage; it is in all other respects, except natural hit-tcn-y, an in- terestmg and instructive work. H07. Long's Voyage and Travels of an Indian In'erpreler. 177k ;5 vols. tto. Volney chaiacterizes this work as exhibiting a most faithful picture of the life and manncis of the Indians and C.madian traders. SOS. Weld's Travels tiirough North America, 17i'.-3-7. 2 vols. Svo.. Travels in the United States derive their interest and value from a variety of sources : the inhabitants of these states under their government, and the peculiar circumstances in which they are placed, must be u subject of deep attention and study to the moralist, the philosopher, the politician, and the political economist, while the country itself presents to the naturalist many and various sources of information and acquisitions to his know- ledge. The travels of Mr. Weld, and nu)st of those which we shall have to enumerate, were undertaken for tlie pur|)ose of as- certaining what advantages and disadvantages an emigrant would derive from exchanging Europe foi America, 'ihus led to travel from the principal motive of self-ii\terest, it might be imagined that these travellers would examine every thing carefully, i'ully, most minutely, and impartially : in all modes except the last, it has certainly been done by several travellers ; but great caution must be used in reading all travels in the United States, because the picture drawn of them is too often overcharged, either with good or evil. .Air. Weld's is a respectable work ; and like all travels, even a few years back, in a country so rapidly changing and im- proving, from this cause as well as its information on statistics,, soil, climate, morals, manners, &c. may be consulted with advan- tage. It is to be regretted that he, as well as most other travellers in America was not better prepared with a scientific knowledg i i' 622 Catalogue of P'oyages and Travels. $ of natural history. Canada, as well as the United States, is comprized in Mr, Weld's travels. 809. Mellish's, Travels through the United States of America, 1816-17. 2 vols. Svo. This is perhaps as impartial and judi- cious an account of the United States az any that has lately appeared. 810. Lettres d'un Cultivateur Americain, 1770-86. Par M. St. John do Crevecoeur. Paris, 1787. 3 vols. 8vo. We give the French edition of this work in preference to the English, because it is much fuller. This work of a Frenchman, long settled in the Anglo-American colonies, gives, in an animated and pleasing man- ner, much inlbrmation on the manners of America at this period, the habits and occupations of the new settlers, and on the subject of natural history. 811. Voyages dans les Etats Unis, 1784. Par J. F. D. Smith. Paris, 1791. 2 vols. Svo. Virginia, Maryland, the two Caro- linas, and Louisiana, parts of North America not so often visited by travellers as the northern states, are here described with con- siderable talent, and in a pleasing s'^yle. We are not acquainted with the English work, of which this professes to be a translation. 812. Nouveau Voyage dans les Etats Unis, 1788. Par Brissot. Paris, 3 vols. Svo. Statistics, religion, manners, political eco- nomy, agriculture, commerce, manufactures, the arts and sciences, are here treated of in a sensible, but rather an uninteresting manner. 813. La Rochet'oucault's Travels to the United States of Ame- rica, 1799. 2 vols. Ito. Agriculture, statistics, manufactures,. connnerce, national and domestic habits, form the chief topic of these volumes, which, allowing for some prejudices, present a fair picture of America at this period. SH. Tableau du Climat et du Sol des Etats Unis. Par C. F. Volney. 1803. 2 vols. Svo. Though physical geography and statistics form the principal portion of this valuable work, yet it is by no means uninstructive on the subject of national and domestic- character; and it enters fully into the condition of savage life. Particular histories and descriptions have been published of several of the I'nited States; we shall merely notice such as are the result of personal observation, and as give inter- esting and instructive inlbrmation respecting their past or present slate. 8I.'3. Belknap's History of New ILunp.shire, 1792. Boston, 3 vols. Svo. The two first volumes are historical, i)ut many things in them are instructive to those who wish to trace the format'on of character: the third volume relates to climate, soil, produce, &c. 816. The History of Virginia, by a Native and Inhabitant of the place. R. B. Beverley. 1722. Svo. The first part is purely Catalogue of Voyages andTravcls. 623 d States, is of America, al and judi- it has lately Par M. St. We j^ive the lish, because settled in the leasing nian- t this period, the subject F. D. Smith, e two Caro- often visited led with con- t acquainted I translation. Par Brissot. )olitical eco- ind sciences, minteresting tes ot" Ame- anufactures,. lief topic of ) resent a fair Par C. F. jgraphy and ork, yet it is md domestic- vage life. published of notice such IS give inter- thcir past or lioston, 3 many things ibrniat'on oil rodiice, il-c. ibitant of the irt is purely historical ; in the second, the author gives an account of the pro- ductions of the country ; the third relates to the manners, 6ic. of the Indians; the fourth is political. There are, besides, many per- tinent remarks on the physical geography of Virginia, and on its climate and diseases. 817. Notes on Virginia. By Thos. Jetfcrson. 17S8. 8vo. • Politics, commerce, manufactures, and navigation, are here treated of in a satisfactory and instructive manner, but with rather too mucli the air of philosophy. 81 S. Michaux's Travels to the West of the Alleghany Mountains. 1805. 8vo These travels are instructive regardiiig the man- ners, connnerce, soil, climate, and especially botany. 819. Lewis and Clarke's Travels up the Missouri to the Pacific Ocean, 1801-6. 'Ito. 8'i(). Pikes Exploratory Travels through the Western Territory of North America. 4to. 8'Jl. James's Account of an Expedition to the Rocky Mountains, 181 9- 'JO. ;5 vols. 8vo. 822. Schoolcraft's Travels to the Sources of the Mississippi. 18'J0. Svo. 8'J:{. Nuttall's Travels into the Arkunsa Territory. 1819. 8vo. Tliosu travels describe a vast portion o[' America to the west of tlie Alleghany Mountains, especially the valley of the Mississi])pi, and its tributary streams. They are rather j)r()li\ and heaviiy written. Mr. James's work is richest in natural history. 821'. A Concise Natural History of East and West Florida. By Bernard Konians. New York, 1766. I'imo. — —The climate, productions, and diseases of Florida are here treated of l;y this author, who was a medical man, and had good opportunities of ob- servation and experience. 82j. Description de la Louisiane. Par L. P. Hennepin. Paris, 1688. 12nio. 'i'liis author first made Europe acquainted with Louisiana; but his work is meagre on every topic, except the man- ners, &c. of the Uiitives. 826. Histoire de la Louisiane. Par M. Le Page du Prats. Paris, 1758. fJ vols. l2mo. During a residence of 15 years, this author seems to have paid particular attention to geology, mineralogy, at\d other branches of natural history, and has given the results of his observations in these volumes. 827. Travels through that part of North America called Louisiana. Translated and illustrated with notes by K. B. Forster. 1771-2. 2 vols. 8v(). The author of this work was a M. Bossu; who also published, a i'iiw years afterwards, Nouveaux Voyages dans rAineii([ue Septontrionale. Ariisterdam. Svo The first of these works is eliicHv interestii^g irom the minute details into which it enters respecting the Illinois territory. Mr. Forster's translation contains a catalogue of American plants. 828. Voyage en Californie. Par I'Abbe Chappe D'Auteroche. 624 Catalogue of Voijages and Travels. Paris, 1778- 4to. The city of Mexico, as well as California, is here described in an interesting manner. As concerns the latter, this work may be regarded as a standard one. ' 829. The History of Mexico ; to which are added, Dissertations on the Land, Animals, &c. Translated from tlie Italian of Clavigero, by C. CuUen. 1787. 2 vols. 4to liesides natural history, there is in this work much learned research on the ancient history of Mexico. THE WEST INDIES. 830. Histoire Generale des Antilles, Par le P. Dututie. 1667- 1671. 4 vols. 4to. Tiiis work is very full in all the branches of natural history, and is by no means uninstrnctive on intellectual and n\()ral geography. 831 . Voyages aux Antilles, &c., 1767-1 802. Par J. B. Le Blond. Pari.s, 1,S13. Svo. Statistics, climate, geology, mineralogy, diseases, and manners, are the princij)al topics of this work, and arc treated of with ability and interest. 832. V'oya^res aux Isles de Trinidad, Ike. Par J. J. 1). Laraysee. Paris, 1813. 2 vols. 8vo. The first volume relates to Trinidad: the second to Tobago, Cumana, Guiana, and Margarita. The soil, climate, productions, and occasionally the natural history and geolooy of these parts are here treated of. 833. Baudin Voyage aux Isles Teneriffe la Trinite, Porto Rico, Sec. 2 vols. 8vo. Paris, 1810. To these travels Sonnini has added some valuable notes. 834. Voyage d'un Suisse dans differentes Colonies de 1' Amerique. 1783. Svo. Martinique and St. Domingo are particularly de- scribed, and the mineralogy of the latter fully entered into. 8.35. Bryan Edwards' History of the British Colonies in the West Indies, and the French Colony in St. Domingo. 1801. 3 vols. 8vo. This work justly bears an excellent character, and is very full and minute on almost every topic connected with these islands. 836. Histoire de St. Domingue. Par le P. Charlevoix. Paris, 1722. 2 vols, 4to. This work, drawn up chieHy from the me- moirs of the missionaries, treats of the political, military, and moral state of the island, and more brieHy of its produce, animals, &c. — This briefness is compensated in the following work : 837. Kssai sur I'Histoire Naturelle de St. Domingue. Parle P. Nicolson. Paris, 176{). 8vo. S38. Ed. Long's History of Jamaica. 3 vols. 4to. 1774. A work of sterling merit, and if read in conjunction with the following to supply the natural history of the island, will leave little to be known respecting this important island. iS.-W. i'al. Brown's Civil and Natural History of Jamaica. 1756. folio, mBBBSSSmmSSiSSiSSSm .^Mtiiviiil^- Catalogue of Voyages and Travels. 625 3 California, IS the latter, )issertations f Ciavigero, ral history, ;ient history utie. 1667- !ie branches intellectual 3. Le lilond. mineralogy, work, and ). Laraysee. :o Trinidad : u The soil, history and Porto Rico, Sonnini has I'Amerique. :icularly de- into. nies in the 1801. 3 vols. :ter, and is I with these oix. Puris, "oni the me- i, and moral mals, &c. — Par le P. ITTi. ^A ic following '. little to be ;iica. 1756. 840. Ligon's History of Barbadoes. 1695. 8vo. S^l. Labat Voyage aux Isles de TAmerique. La Haye, 1724*. 6 vols. 12mo. This is esteemed the best work of Labat, and it certainly is very instructive in all that relates to Martinique, Gua- daloupe, St. Vincent, St. Thomas, St. Lucia, St. Eustatius, &c. 84-2. Voyage a la Martinique. Par Chauvalson, Paris, 1763. 410. Nr al history, meteorology, agriculture, and manners. 843. Av >unt of St. Michael, one of the Azores. By Dr. Webster. This work, which is published in America, contains an interesting description of St. Michael, particularly in what relates to its natural history and geology. SOUTH AMERICA. 844. Preliminar al Tomo primero de las Memorias Historico- Physicas, Critico-Apologeticas, de la America Meridional. Par D. J. E. Lamo Zaputa. Cadiz, 1759. 8vo. 845. Reise eineger Missionarien in Sud America. Von C. Gott. Von Murr. Nurem. 1785. 8vo. 846. Depon's Travels in South America, 1801-4. 2 vols. 8vo. The Caraccas, Venezuela, Guyana, Cnmana, are the principal objects of this work ; the rural economy, the political and com- mercial situation of these parts at this period, and the manners of the Spanish Americans are here treated of in a superior manner. 847. Nouvelle Description de la France Equinoctiale. Par Pierre Barrere. Pasis, 1743. 12mo. 848. Essai sur I'Histoire Naturelle de la France Equinoctiale. Par P. Barrere. Paris, 1749. 2 vols. 8vo. The former of these works is chiefly confined to a description of the native'',their weapons, manners, mode of life, &c. : the latter work is full on the natural history of Guyana. 849. Bancroft's Essay on the Natural History of Guyana. 1769. 8vo. Besides natural history, this work may be consulted with advantage on the manners, &c. of the natives. 850. Stedman's Narrative oi' a Five- Years' Expedition against the Revolted Negroes of Surinam, 1772-7. 2 vols. 4to. There is an air of romance in several parts of this work, which, though it adds to its interest, raises suspicions of its accuracy and faithfulness, and that it has been in the hands of a trading editor ; still it is a work from which a lively picture may be obtained of Surinam and its inhabitants. 851. Tableau de Cayenne. Paris, 1793. 8vo — — Climate, produce, mode of culture, manners and nautical observations form the principal to|:::s of this work. 852. Narrative of a Voyage to Brazil. By Th. Lindley. 1804. 8vo This work contains much information regarding the po- litical, commercial, and domestic state of the Brazilians, with some notices on natural history. As Brazil used to be visited by S s 626 Catalogue of Voyages and Travels. ^f'A our ships before we obtained the Cape, on their voyage to the East Indies and China, much information may be gained from several voyages to the latter, especially from the accounts of Lord Ma- cartney's Embassy by IStauiiton and Barrow. 853. Luccock's Notes on Rio Janeiro, and the Southern Parts of Brazil. 1820. Uo. Mr. Luccock resided eleven years in Brazil, and he seems to have been a careful observer; his work gives much new and important information on agriculture, statistics, commerce, mines, nianner!^, &c., but it is heavily written. 854-. Koster's Travels in the Brazils. IHKS. 4to. This work, together with I.uccock's, Henderson's, and Mawe's, comprize a body of information on Brazil, nearly complete on all points except natural history, and that nmst be sought in Prince Maxi- milian's Travels. 855. History of Paraguay. By Charlevoix. 1760. 2 vols. 8vo. • This work is full on the plants, animals, fruits, &c., of this country ; and is particularly interesting trom the account it gives of the celebrated and singular Jesuit establishment in Paraguay 856. Voyages dans rAmericpie Meridionale, 1781-1801. Par Don F. de Azara. 4 vols. 8vo. Paris, 18(>9. The author, who was connnissioner of the lines of the Spanish frontier in Paraguay, gives in this work much information on the climate, soil, &c. of countries little known; and the value of it is enhanced by llie notes of Cuvier and Sonnini on uaMiral history. 857. Relation de la Voyage dans les Provinces dela Plata. 8vo. Paris, 1819. '^5S. Historia ue Abifponibus. Autore Dobutzhoffcn. Vienna, 1784'. 8vo. This work has lately been translated into English: had it been carefully and judiciously abridged it would have been acceptable, but it is tire«onie from its extreme minuteness on un- interesting point*. 859. Historia del Descubriniento y Conquesta del Peru. Par August de Zarnte. Anvers, 1555. 8vo This work is not merely historical, but it also embraces many interesting particulars on physical geography, and the manners, religion, &C., of the Peruvians. 860. Histoire des Incas, traduit de I'Espagnole de (larcilasso de la Vegri. Anisteidani, 17.'57. 2 vols. ko. - The interest of this work arises from its accuracy and fullnosson the laws, govern- ment, religion, (S.C., of the ancient Peruvians. To this French translation is added a history ;)f the conquest of Florida. 861. A Voyage to the South Sea along the Coasts of C'liili and Peru, 1712-14. By Mr. Frezier. 1717^ 4to.— The object for which Mr. Frezier was sent related to the defence of Peru and Chili ; but he also enters lully into an account of the mines and the mode of working them, and into a description of manners, domestic life, &c. 862. Journal du Voyi.ve fait i\ I'Equateur. Par M. de la Con- the East n several Ma- ^OICJ ern Parts years in liis work statistics, iiis work, ;)inprize a ill points CO Maxi- vols. Svo. ;., ot" this It it gives raguay 801. Par Jthor, who Paraguay, ioil, tSrc. of ;ed by the lata. Svo. . Vienna, o linglish : have heen ess oil iiii- 'eru. Par irk is iiot particulars iC, of tht (iarcilasso iiitcrcbl of IS, govern - his I'Vench Chili and object for lY'ru and mines and f manners, de la Con- Catalogw of Voyages and Travels. 627 damine. Paris, 1751. ito Besides the detail of astronomical observations, this work is interesting from the personal narrative of the labours of the academician, and instructive on several points of physical and moral geography. 863. Humboldt, Voyage aux Regions Equinoctiales du Nouveau Continent, 1799-1804. 6 vols. 8vo.' 864. Humboldt, Relation Historique de son Voyage aux Hi- ■ gions Equinoctiales du Nouveau Continent. 2 vols. 4to. 86.5. Hiimboldt, Essai Politique sur le Royaume de la Nouvelle Espagne, Paris, 5 vols. Svo. 1811. Perhaps no traveller ever equalled Humboldt in the possession and exercise of such an union of qualifications requisite to render travels instructive and interesting ; nor would it be easy to name any travels which have so completely exhausted the subject of them, as those, the titles of which we have given, if taken in connexion with the more purely scientific appendages to them. 866. A Voyage to South America. By Don George Juan and Don Ant. de Ulloa. 175H. '2 vols. Svo. Peru, Chili, Cartha- gena, Porto Bello, and Panama, are de..ribed in these volumes with great talent and science with regard to their natural history, climate, and productions ; and together with the civil, political, and domestic life of the inhabitants, and various other topics. 867. Helm's Travels from Buenos Ayres by Potosi to Lima, 1806. 12nio. Natural history, and chiefly geology and mine- ralogy, with a very particular account of the mines of Potosi. S6S. Conipendio della Istoria (ieogratica, Naturale c Civile de Chili. Bologna, 1776. Svo. 869. Chiliduga sive res Cliilenses. Opera Bern. Havestad. Munster, 1777-79. Svo. Natural history, the character of the inhabitants, their music and language are here treated of in a superior niunner. 870. Molina's Geographical, Natural, and Civil History of Chili, 1809. 2 vols. Svo. An excellent work, which fulfils what the title promises. POLYNESIA. 871. An Historical Collection of the .several Voyages and Dis- coveries in the South Pacihc Oican. By Ahx. Dalrymple. 1770. 2 vols. 4to. 872. Captain James Burney's Chronological History of the Voyages and Discoveries in the South Seas. ■'5 vols. Ito. 1S0;5-16. — —Both these works are by men well qualified by science, learn- ing, research, and devoteduess to their object, to perform well what they undertook on any subject connected with geography and discovery. 87M. Keate's .\ccount of the Pelew Islands. 1788. 4to. S ^ 2 628 Catalogue of Voyages and Travels. 874. A Missionary Voyage to the South Pa jific Ocean. By Captain Wilson. 1799. 4to. Otaheite is the principal suVject of this work. 875. Mariner's Account of" the Tonga l^slands in the South Pacific. 1817. 2 vols. 8vo. This is a very full, accurate, and interesting picture of the manners and character of a singular peo- ple, drawn from long and attentive observation on the spot. AUSTRALASIA. 1 li 1 1 876. Histoire des Navigations aux Terres Australes. Par le President de Brosses. Paris, 1756. 2 vols. 4to This work is more highly prized on the continent thnn with us : it certainly is not equal to some of our histories of voyages either in judgment, accuracy of information, or extensive views. 877. Relation de deux Voyages dans les Mers Australes ct des Indes. 1771-73. Par M. de Kerguelen. Paris, 1781. 8vo. 878. Voyage a la Nouvelle Guinfee. Par Sonnerat. Paris, 1776. 4to. Natural history, and especially zoology and ornithology. 879. Voyage de Dccouvertes aux Terres Australes. 1800-4. Par Peron. 2 vols. 4to. Paris, 1811. 880. Captain Th. Forrest's Voyage to New Guinea and the Mo- luccas, 1774-6. Dublin, 1779. 4to. This work supplies what is wanting in Sonneret's, as it is full on the physical and moral character of the inhabitants, and on their language, mode of life, and trade. 881. Governor Phillips's Voyage to Botany Bay. 1789. 4to. 882. Collins' Account of the English Colony in New South Wales. 1801. 2 vols. 4to. 883. Wentworth's Statistical, Historical, and Political Descrip- tion of New South Wales, and Van Dieman's Land. 1819. 8vo. 884. Oxley's Journey of Two Expeditions into the Interior of New South Wales. 1820. 4to. These British colonies are im- proving so rapidly that no description can long be full and accu- rate. Mr. Wentworth's work is, we believe, as good an account us we have ; and Mr. Oxley's is interesting from giving an authentic description of the interior of this singular country. A perusal and comparison of the best works that have been published regarding it from the date of that of Collins to the present time, would ex- hibit a rapidity of improvement, of which there are few examples. 885. Some Acccunt of New Zealand. By John Savage. 1808. 8vo. A judicious and instructive work on the manners, religion, and character of the natives. Further information on these points, and likewise on the productions of New Zealand, may be gathered from Captain Cruise s Ten Months' Residence there, just published. iLiiwti' I m Ocean. By :ipal suVject I the South ccurate, and singuhir peo- ; spot. GEOGRAPHICAL INDEX lies. Par le •This work is t certainly is in judgment, strales ct des 81. 8vo. Paris, 1776. ornithology, les. 1800-4. , and the Mo- supplies what al and moral mode of life, 1789. 4to. (1 New South tical Descrip- 1819. 8vo. he Interior of lonies are im- full and accu- an account us an authentic A perusal and led regarding Tie, would ex- w examples, lavage. 1808. ners, religion, n these points, y be gathered ust published. TO THE CATALOGUE, WITH REFERENCE TO THE NUMBERS PREFIXED TO THE TITLE OF EACH WORK. Abyssinia, 134. 671 — 678. Adriatic, Shores of, 450. Africa, 112. 116. 147. 582 — 587. West Coast, 622 — 641. South, 654 — 664. Interior, 642—649. Algiers, 113. 588, 589. Alps, 168. 186. 342, 357. 364 — 366. 371 — 373. 376. 380. Albania, 169. 195. 285. 287. 297, 298. Aleppo, 693, 694. Apennines, 394. Arctic Seas and Countrles,200 — 222. Archipdago, 80. 89. 296. Ai.iienia, 80. 92. 696. 708. 712. Arabia, 102. 104.110.117.129.132. 136, 137, 138. 683. 690, 691. 698—702. Asia Minor, 80. 89. 114. 116. 132. 281. 296. , Eastern parts, 82 — 84. , Upper, 112. Ashantee, 636. Austria, 191. 195. 3.10. 343, 344. Auvergne, 456 — 458. Ava, 738. Australasia, 876 — 885. B Barbary, 77. 108. 117. 590. 597. Balbec, 135. (Jasque Language, 468. Bahamas, 794. Barbadoes, 840. Bedouin Arabs, 590. Bermudas, 793. Black Sea, 80, 291, 302. Bohemia, 124. 158. 175. 316.330, Bosphorus, 303. Bornea, 753. Brazil, 147. 150, 151. 852—854. Britain, 158. 483—538. Collections of Voyages and Tra- vels, 14—43. Cape of Good Hope, 78. 641. 654— 664. — — Verde, 149. Caspian Sea, 83. Carraib Islands, 146. S83 630 (lEOGRAPHICAL INDE Canaries, 149. 622. 651 — 653. Candia, 2H2. Canipagna, the, 412, 41,5. 428. Ciiclieniere, 752. Caiibul, 780. Carolina, 7<-'4. 7,08. Canada, 802—807. California, 828. Carpatiiian Mountains, 309. Caraccas, 8'(). Cayenne, «.5I. Ceylon, l.i4. 734. 749—751. Celibes, 754. China, i)2. 679— .32. 684, 685. 761 Chili, 8 6S ■• Circassia, !• Constantino^ . 10. 9i, o", 97. 103. 111. 287 Corsica, 397. 419. Congo, 638. Cochin-China, 742. Corea, 771, 772. Crimea, 290 — 293. Cuniana, 846. Cyprus, 136. 695. . 10. 91, 289. 297. " 789. Damascus, 97. 135. Darfour, 131. Dalniatia, 195. 283. .304, 305. 427. Danube, ."33, 334. Dauphiny, 452. Dahoiny, 635. Denmark, 179. 190. 2.36. 245. Desert, Great, of Africa, 595, 596. E East Indies, 81. 8 5. 90. 102. 110. 118. 123. 132. 13.. 137. 151 — 1,54. 679, 680. 706, 707. 716 — 748. Egypt, 100. 102—104. 106—108. 110, 111. 113. 131. 13,5 — 138. Elba, 404, 405. England, 96. 175. 199. 483 — 520. , Western Counties, 488. 117, 118. 121. . 605 — 620. 178. 180. 192. 500. , Northern, 489, 490. 497. — — , Southern, 497. England, Eastern, 488. 497. Ethiopia, 137. 608. 615. 619, 673. Etna, 391. 420. F 620. Kkhoe Isles, 235. Fez, 591. 593. 598 — 600. Finland, 237. Florida, 794. 798. 824. France, 77. 79. 96. 104. 158, 159 103—165. 1S7. 171, 172. 177 180. 182. 184. 193, 194. 197 199. 431 — 469. Friesland, 354. G Gkobgia, 50. 88. 712 — 715. in America, 798. Germany, 79. 8.3. 85. 104. 158 — 160". 162. 165, 166. 172. 175. 177. 179. 183, 184. 187 — 19a 194. 196, 197. 199. 244. 313 — 554. Glaciers, the, 361 — 363. Greece, 89. 101. 103, 104. 107, 108. 113, 114. 116. 160. 169. 181. 196. 279 — 282. 285—287. 294 — 299. .301 — 30,5. Guadaloupc, 841. Gnayaiia, 846 — 849. Guernsey, 553, 554 Guinea, 145. 149, 1,50. 630—634. 11 HisTOKiiis of Voyages and Travels, 14—43. Hanover, 326. Hartz Mountains, 338 — 340. Hesse, 341. Hebrides, 519, 520. 522, 523. 527. .531 — 535. 538. Holland, 83 96. 162. 167. 172. 175. 1 93. — See Netherlands. Holstein, 246. 320. Hungary, 107. 124. 160. 194. 284 306, .307. 316. 322. 330. Hudson's Bay, 799. < I and J Japan, 681. 684. 757—760. t97. i. 6 J 9, 620. k 158, 159. , 172. 177. , 194. 197 715. )8. J 04. 158— . 172. 175. , 187 — 19a 244. ,-n— 4. 107,108. . 169. 181. —287. 294 30—634. id Travels, ;4o. , 523. 527. . 172. 175. ids. 194. 284 f30. TO THE CATALOGUE. 6.31 Java, 756. Jamaica, 148. Jerusalem, 95. 97. 13.';. 140. Jersey, r)5'2. Jura, 461. Jutland, 246. Iiistr rtiims for Travellers, 1 — 13. Icel.iud. 'J28 — 2Z\. In li,T.i Arcliipelago, 755. Ionian Islands, 285. 305. 417. Ireland, 78. 508. 514 — 516. 539 — 549. Italy, 99,* 100, 101. 104. 114. 121. " 159 — 163. 167. 171. 173. 176 — 178. 183, 184. 187. 189, 190. 191. 196. 316. 38.') — 450. K Kamstchatcha, 130. 786—788. Karauiania, 697. LaI'I.Ano, 101.223 — 226. 237—239. 242. 247. Lakes ofC'umberland, &c., 488. Levant, 8 1 . 88. 11 5. 1 28. 1 39. 1 8 1.597. Lithuania, 249. Lipari Isles, 416. Loo Clioo, 772. Louisiania, 825 — 827. M Maueiua, 127. 148. 622. 650. Madaj^ascar, 130. 150.665,666.668. Magellan Straits, 147. Maldives, 151. Malta, 170.393. 39.'), 396. 415. Man, Isle of, 527. 550, 551. Malacca, 685. Martinique, 841, 842. Mauritius, 667. 669, 670. Mecklenbergh, 320. Me.vico, S28, 829. 863 — 865. Morocco, 136. 591 — 594. 598. 603. Moluccas, 151. Moldavia, 323. Mogul Empire, 684. — See E. Indies. N Naples. 392—394. 414. 424. 428. Netherlands, 159, 160, 167. 180. 4 70— 482.— See Holland. Nepaui, 777 — 779. i\e\v Hampshire, HI.'). fMiinea, 878. 880. Holland, 881 — 884. j TiCaland, 885. Norway, 78. 227. 239. 241—245. I Normandy, 438. 441, 442. I Nubill, 133. 614. 618.620. I o OuKNEv Islands, 521. 523. 526. Otaheite, 57 — 61. 874. Palestine, 99, lOO. 104. 107, 108. 113, 114. 117, 118. 133. 8. Paraguay, 85.5, 856. Persia, 81. 87, «8. 90, 91. 93. IC ) 683. 171. 170. 57 577. 17' 185. 192. 236. 106. Ill, 114. 118 703 — 712. 715. Peru, 859 — 867. Pelew Islands, 873, Portugal, 77. 164. 557 — 562. .568 Poland, 104. 124. 263 — 267. Polynesia, 871—875. Prussia, 98. 158. 185. 348. 350. Provence, 443. 453. Prince of Wales Island, 747, 748 Pyrenees, 454, 455, Ragusa, 427, Red Sea, 129. 132. 134, Rhine, the, 180.318.321.328,329. 331. 352, 353. 443. 462, 463. Rhodes, 282. 296. Rugen, Isle of, 351. Russia, 81. 85. 87, 88. 90, 91, 92. 98. i 107. 124. 179. 185. 236. 249— I 262. i s Saxony, 327, 341. 345 347. Sardinia, 418. Sahara, Desert of, Africa, 595, 596. ' St. Eustathis, 841. S S 4 * 632 GEOGRAPHICAL INDF.X TO THE CATALOGUE. ■lii pN i St. Lucea, 841. St. Michael, 843. St. Thomas, 841. St. Vincent, 841. St. Helena, 127. Scandinavia, 107. Scotland, .501, 502. 506, 507, 508. 510. 513—516. 518 — 540. Selborne, 496. Senegal, 622 — 628. Shetland, 524, 525. Sicily, 121. 166. 169, 170. 181. 198. .■592 — 394.396.399. 414, 415. 424. Silesia, 316, 349. Sierra Leone, 629. Siam, 739 — 741. Siberia, 781 — 785. Sleswick, 246. Spain, 77, 78. 96. 164. 176. 434. 560 — 567. 569 — 581. Spanish possessions in Europe and America, 120. Surat, 127. Surinam in South America, 850. Sumatra, 752. Sweden, 101. 158. 179. 190. 227. 236, 237. 240, 241. 244. 248. Switzerland, 161, 162. 165. 171. 175. 177. 182. 186. 188. 199. 316. 355—384. Syria, 103, 104. 131. 133. 136—138. 689. 692. Tangier, 79. Tartar}', 85. 90, 91, 92. 94. 101 107. 249. 773, 774. Thibet, 775, 776. Thessaiy, 285. Tlirace, 104. Tonquin, 685. 743—745. Tonga Isles, 875. Transvlvaniii, 107. 306. 311, 312. Tripoli in Africa, 601, 602. 604. iii Asia, 136. 170. Turkey, 88, 89. 92 — 95. 100 — 102. 106, 107. 112. 118. 124. 136. 158. 174. 198. 268 — 278. 288, 289. 296. 683. Tunis, 113. 170. Tyrol, 173. 183. 308. 310. 312. 423. U and y United States, 794, 79.5 — 798. 802, 803. 808 — 814. 818 — 823. Valais, the, 368. 374. Venezuela, 846. Vesuvius, 391. Virginia, 816, 817. Volcanoes, 391. 428. 451. w WaLLACHIA, 323. Wales, 488 — 49.5. Wendes, the, 327. West Indies, 148. 1.50. 152 — 154. 793. 830 — 842. Zurich, 79. Zaire River, in Africa, 637. A A n . •«•-•- <»i«f»«I*"** 11,312. 2. 604 100 — 102. 124. 136. -278. 288, 310. 312. -798. 802, -825. 152—154. INDEX TO THE HISTORICAL SKETCH. Abyssinia, ancient trade, 93. | Adam of Bremen, 293. I Africa, East of, trade to in time of , Nero, 241. , Discoveries in by Portuguese, | 333. " , , Travels and Discoveries in, I in 18th and 19th centuries, 472. , in the west and interior, 473. , , in the N. 478. j , in the S. 485. j Agatharcides, geographical know- ; ledge, 93. ; Alexander the Great encourages ge- i ography and commerce, 57. 77. ' Knowledge of India, 60. Alexandria built, 83. Its advantages for commerce, 83 Library and librarians, 87. Alfred's attention to geography and commerce, 288. America discovered by the Ice- landers, 291. By Colunibus, 348. Productions when disco- vered, 349. — , travels in, in 18th and 19th centuries, 488. Antwerp commerce in 16th century, 375. Argonautic expedition, 24. Aristotle's knowledge of geography, 50. Arabians carrying trade with India at a very early period, 229. In time of Nero, 240. Commerce in middle ages, 275. Geogra- phy in ditto, 279. Arrian's knowledge of geography, 251. Athens, ancient commerce, 144. Commercial laws and taxes, 146. Corn trade, 148, Slave trade, 150. Asia, commerce of, in middle ages, 316. ——, N. E. discoveries in, 428. , travels in, in 18th and 19th centuries, 486. Augustus's attention to maritime t affiiirs and commerce, 197. Australasia, discoveries in, 467. i ! B. Baltic commerce in nth century, 293. Barcelona, early commerce of, 313. Baffin's voyages and discoveries, 360. Benjamin of Tudela, his notices of Asiatic commerce, 316. :~J 634 INDEX TO THr I- '^ Helmim's ("hart, r>r>\. Ik'liriiifj's (liscovcrii's, .'^fiO. * Black Sea, aiuicnt coiiiiiifrcc in, 1 59. Britain invaded in Cicsar, 192. Hritons, their ships, 1 i).T. eiinimerce, I'j.i. Bniee's Travels, J-!). lUirckiiardt, l.sl. (' (Jarthage, ancient, .■)4. Commerce, 57. Destroyeil, 170. Naval wars, 121. 1'J4. Citsar, .lulius, snrvcy of tlie Kmpire, 2iJ.3. Carpini, "I". Cape of Good I lope discovered, 337. , travels in, 485. Cabot, 55.T. Caravan trade, 5'25. Cevl./.i, ancient notices of, 226. Cilicia, ancient commerce, 177. China, in middle ages, 279. , route from, in 14tli century', .322. Corvus, the, described, 120. Corinth, ancient connnerce, I.')2. Cosmas, 2()9. Cook's, Captain, discoveries, 43 1 454. 468. Commerccvin 18th century, 502. 512. Crete, ancient commerce, 177. Crusades, effect of, on connnerce, 300. D Denmark commerce in 16th and 1 7th centuries, 422. Dutch commerce in 16th and 17th centuries, 583. 410. E Egyptian ancient commerce, 13. 82, 106. Ships, 17. English commerce in 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries, 314. 390. 397, 398. 401. 404. 407. 410. 412. shipping, 409. England, commerce and shipping in 1822. 520. Knglish and Dutch commerce in 16th and 1 7th centuries compared, 4 I o. Eralosthenc'', HH. Etruscans, commerce, 1 12. Ethiojiia explored by Komans, 225, p]uxino, ancient commerce, '25\. Europe, gtiiera! view of its traile in 15th century, 314. At present, 512. Faihs, ancient, 1.50. France, connnerce in middle ages, 304. In 16th and 17th centu- ries, 417. At present, 516. Florence, connnerce ni middle ages, 304. Gaui,, connnerce of, 186. Genoa, connnerce in middle ages, .102. Gama's Voyages, 339. Germany, ancient commerce, 195. At present, 515. Greenland discovered, 291. Grecian ancient connnerce, geogra- phy, and ships, 20. 30. 144. Colonics 157. H Hamilc ah's Voyage, 4 1 . Hannos, 41. Hanseatic League, 294. Henry, Frince of Portugal, 334. Herodotus, 45. Hipparchus, loi. Hudson's Voyages, 359. ^ I and J Iceland discovered, 290. Jews, connnerce of, 18. India, as known to Alexander, 60. Direct ancient trade with, 105. Ancient routes to, 2 10. Trade in . time of Nero, 243. And China, ancient trade between, 27 1 . In middle ages, 279. I HISTORICAL SKETCH. 655 rcc in 16th i'oi)i|)areil, iiiiiis, 2'J.'). its tnicle ill At prtspiit, (Jdle ages, 7th centii- t, r,\r,. itldie ayes, dcllc iiges, L-rce, 195. e, geogra- I. 144. .W4. iider, 60. vith, 105. Trade in nd China, 271. In Indian comnioditie:4, priie of, at- f'ectcd by ilistovcry of tlic Cape, .'570. Tradf at present, 5'2'J. Inland trade in middle ages, .111. In Kitii and 17tli cuntnries, 416. Itineraries, Itowian. '.^1.-. Italian (oiinnerce in middle ages, Justinian's Fleets, 273. K Kotzeeuk's discoveries, 4.34. LiBL'llNIANS, 1 \!). Laconia, ancient commerce, 1 34. La Maire, .356. La Perouse, 4.33. Lyons, ancient connnercc, 189. M Macedonia, ancient commerce, 161. Marseilles, ditto, 187. Marinusth." Geographer, 2.14. M.irco Polo, "IH. Mariners' Compass, earliest notice of, 328. Maj)s and Charts of middle ages, '.329. In 16th and 17th cen- turies, ,367. Magellan, 3. '52. Mauro's Map, 3.30. Mercator, 366. Monsoon discovered, 227. N Navigation, improvements in, in 18th century, 497. Nearchus, 6 1 . New South Shetland discovered, 45>- New Hi/ land, 363. 468. Netherlar. 1 commerce in 16th cen- tury, 374. North-west passage, 358. 436. North-east passage, 36 1 . Pahk's Travels, 475. Petrea, ancient trade of, 232. Periplus,geography ofthe, 235. Com- merce of, 236. Persia, aiuient trade, 213. Peiiteiigarian Tables, 267. Peter the fJieat's attention to gco- gra|)liy and commerce, 425. 429. Phd'iiii'ian commerce and slii[)s, 3. 5. 10. Pharos (h'scribed, 84. Pliny, 248. Polynesia, 470. Posidonius, 104. I'tolemy, •J',r>. Ptolemies of Egypt, their attention to commerce, 84. Polybins, 223. Portuguese discoveries, 333. 342. Pythias of Marseilles, 51. R Red Sea, 95. 225. 236. Rhodes, ancient commerce, 166. Maritime history, 39. llC 167. Coii(|iiered by Romans, 172. Rome, ancient naval war-i, 118. 123, Commerce, 197. 200. 219. 221. 264. Romans, ancient geography of, 223. 261. Survey of empire, 223. Rubruquis, 317. Russian commerce in 16th and 17th centuries, 424. At present, 514. S Sabea, commerce of, 97. ' Sannto, his notices of commerce, 321 . I Scandinavian maritime affiiirs, 287. ! Scotland, commerce of, in middle I iiges, 310. In 16th and 17th ' centuries, 414. Scylax's Voysige, 43. Sicily, ancient trade, 134. Silk, history of, 212. Spain, ancient commerce, 129. At present, 517. Sugar, history of, 208. ; li ' ■ t 636 INDEX TO THE HISTORICAL SKETCH. V Sweden, commerce in 16th and 17th century, 422. At present, 513. Strabo, 226. Syene, Well of, 88. Troy, Siege of, ships at, 29. Travellers, modern, advantages of, 500. Vancouver, 4.53. Venetian commerce in middle ages, 299. 303. United States, commerce, 524. w Would, what still unknown of, 491. i A it i ii*a«»i.---w.i— . '<«l>*^-.-t(l»!i?i T- ddle ages, 524. n of, 491. INDEX T# THE SEVENTEEN VOLUMES OF A GENERAL HISTORY AND COLLECTION Of VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. The Rotiian Numerals refer to the Volumes : the Arabic Numerals to thf Pages. Abyssinia, vi. 176. Customs of, 306. Acapiiico des-.ribeil, x. 264. Adams, W. Voyage to, and Resi- dence in .Japan, viii. 64. Aden, in Arabii', vi. 265. 298. vii.68. Africa in g! ..^ral, vii. 220. West Coast, ii. 210. 270. xi. 7.5. Man- ners, dress, &(;.ii. 223. 227.242. 251. Animals, 231. Produce, 230. Ships, 250. East Coast, ii. 3 1 {). vi. 448. 470.viii.406.468 . Alfred's Geoj,'raphy of the World, i. 21. Albuquerque's Voyage, ii. 456. Con- quests, vi. 402. Death, 161. Alniago, iv. 415. Defeated by F. Pizar-'o, 437. Put to death by him, 440. Character, 459. Expedition against Chili, v. 262. Aleppo, viii. 3. Aloes, vi. 114. viii. 181. 267. Alligator, x. 302. Albicore, x. 309. Ambergriss, i, 92. Ambassadors, Voyiige of three, from England to Constantinople,i. 36. Amkiuca discovered by Icelanders, i. 43. Discovered by Colum- bus, ii. 52. 59. iii. 43. 255. , North West Coast, Cook's discoveries on, xvi. 260. Americus Vespasius, iii. 342. His first Voyage, 352. Second Voy- age, 366. 'I'liird Voyage, 373. Fourth Voyage, 379. Amboina, Massacre at, ix. 537. De- scribed, X. 319. XV. 143. Amsterdam, Isle of, and Inhabitants, xiv. 190. 204. XV. 385. Dances, ^95. Wrestling and Boxing, 401. Kava, mode of preparing, 412. Natural History, 481. I- 638 INDEX TO THE *1 ?.( J. ..I, (■J Grand solemnity, 427. Sco also Friendly Isles. Anson's Voyage round the World, xi. 200. Controversy respect- ing the account of, 527. .Armenia, i. 281. Arabia in general, vi. .'5.56. Felix, interior of, described, viii. 580. Arabian Settlements, on East Coast of Africa, vi. 7 J. Arabian Man- ners, vii. .'io. Armada, the Spanish, vii. 365. Assiissins, History of the, i. 2i)l. Ascension Island, xii. .'546. xv. 66. Asia, Xorth East Cape of, xvi. .'556. Remarks on the Geogra|)iiy of the North East of, xvii. 122. Atlantic South, discoveries in, xv. 118. Atooi, Isle, xvi. lis. I".?. Proihice, 176. Inhabitants, 150. 177. Morai, 15(>. Feather cloaks, 15l». Dress, 179. Houses, 181. Anuisements, 182. Manufac- tures, 184. Canoes, 188. Agri- culture, 189. Government, 1 90. Weapons, 191. Religion, 192. Liuiguag'J. 19.5. Auracaniaus, Manners, &c. v. 2.'5.'5. X. 122. Reliiiion, v. 2.'56. Ora- tors, Poets, &c. 260. . — . War with the Spaniards, V. 276. Azores (li^ ■overed, ii. 196. Des- cribed, xi. 195. Fayal, vii. .'581. xv. 7.'5. B Uaisvi.on, vii. 145. Hagdat, vii. 473. viii. 5. Bahamas, iii. 410. Baker's Voy.ige to Guinea, vii. 299. Bamla Isles, vii. 117. 187. \i. 147. Trade of, ix. 449. Wrongs done the English at, 4.52. Bantam, xi. 185. Barbaro's Travels to Azof, i. 501. Bassora,vii. 146. 474. viii. 6. Basbue Man. is, x. 284. Batavia.x. 3r,o. -'j.'. xi. 125. xii. 1 15. xiii. 425. Fruit, 435. Flowers, 441. Iniiabilants, 447. Bear hunting, xvii. 154, Benjamin of Tudela's, Travels to China, i. 95. Bengal, vi. 242. See India and Mo- gul. Benzoin, viii. 181. Best's Voyage to the East Indies, ix. 96. Betel Nut, vii. 165. ix. 390. Betagh's Appendix to Shelvock's Voyage, xi. 20. Bczoar, viii. 182. Birinah Empire, vi. 255. See Pegu. Bolabola, xvi. 101. Borneo, x. 21. xi. 174. Bonrgainville, abstract of his Voy- age, xiii. 477. Brazil discovered, ii. 57. 598. Des- cribed, 105. xi. 79. 259. Gold, 259. Diamonds, 261. xii. 588. St. Sebastian, xi. 79. Rio Ja- neiro, xii. 582. 391. Manners, 582. Produce, 586. Burrough's Voyage to the Azores, vii. 444. Bulkeley's Narrative of Byron's ship- wreck, xvii. 419. Byron's own Narrative, xvii. 315. Shipwrecked, 524. Occur- rences during his Voyage in the boats, 545. Lands in ( hiloe, 381. Arrival at St. Jago, 399. In England, 414. Caiikai.'s Voyage, ii. 595. Cabot, iii. 346. vi. 3. Cabbage-tree, x.246. Caffres, xi. 187. Calient, vii. 90. See India. California, xi. 4. Camljoya, vi.227. Island, x.390. Camoens, v. 421. Canary Islands discovered, ii. 19. iii. .552. Described, ii. 207. x.402 Canada, Natives, vi. 50. Language, 67. Caudish's Voyage minid the World, x. 66. Cannibalism, xiv. 257. Cape Vcrd Islands discovered, ii.246. Described, 269. x. 194. 404. Cape of Good Hope discovered, ii. 286. Described, viii. 16. 88. 115. C C ( ( t ( iiilM if ma MMmmmidmie^ '■^^■MrintMaiUrmct:^ ^.'j*^>-.-i**a^ VOYAGKS AND TRAVELS. 639 ix. 117. 122. 221. X. 234. xi. 154. 182. xii. 117. Animals, 188. Sheep, XV. 209. note. Remarkable stone, 212. Cape Horn discovered, x. 171. lie- marks on tiic naviiiation round, xi. 288. Real position of", xv. 5. note. Carpiiii's Travels into Tartary, i. 1 'Jr,. Carvairal, Francis dc, chiiracter, v. 26. Death, 167. Cartier's Voyage to Newfoundland and Canada, vi. l.'j. Carlet's Voyage to (Jninea, vii. ~0(i. Caravans, vii. .52. viii. 7. Carteret's V'oyitu:e roniid tiie \\ orld, xii. 2 1.5." Cassowary, x. ."25. C^aspian Sea, ii. 151. Cattle, mode of siauulitering in South America, xi. 272. Celebes, X. .■;28. xi. 140. xii. .1.34. Ceylon, early notices of, i. 49.. "S2. 412. Described, vi.Ki". vii. 104. KiO. 501. xi. 141 — 165. Charts of the Sea between Asia and .\merica, accoiuU of, xvi..~80. Chili, iieogra|)liical view of, v. 219. x.'l2l. Produce, V. 250. Ajiri- culture, 257. Food, Houses, I've. 251. Relijiion, 256. Ori- j;in. Maimers, Lauguafie, 2.39. Natives of the Mountains, 25(). Trade, xi. 47. State of in the IHth century, v. ."So. l'roper,v.221. St.Jago, v,22,-. \\;i..~99. Climate, KM. hilnihit- auts, 401. Houses, 40.3. IJull Fea>ts, 104. Ainuscmeuts,405. Cujo Frov- ice, v. 229. Pro- ductions, 2.30. Mines,2.ii. xi. 52. Inhabitants, 2.31. Chilo'' .\r( liipehi: discosered, v. .314. Described, 228..392. x.447. C'hina, early notices of, i. 51. (is. Maimers, Dress, Food, &c. 53. 60.72.36 1. \i. 127. l^aws, i. 62. 66. 71. 81. Paper-money, 2.3.3. Kublai Khan, .3 is. 420. 429. (.'ourr, .326. "30. ,3(iS. 475. Ships, .374. .lunks, x.28.3. No- tices of .early trade to, ix. 549. Conunoditics, viii. 190. Ware, early notice rtf, i. 59. Candia- lu (Pekin, i. ,323. 419. 472.) Macao, xi.471. Manners there, 522. Canton, xvii. 237. Sam- panes there, 238. Price of pro- visions at, 2(; 1. Christmass Harbour, proiluctions and animals, xv. 241. Christmas Island, xvi. 141. Chronometer, Table of its goinjr, xvii. 165. 169. Cinnamon, early notice of, ii. 108. Civet, viii. 181. Clerke's,( 'apt., Deatii, xvii. 1 .36. 1 58. Clijiperton's Voyaire romvl the World, \. 400. Cloves, xi. 1 14. X. 22. .322. Cocoa Nut Tree, vii. 98. x. .304. xi. 112. Coffee, ix..390. Columbus, ii. 52. His Life, iii.S. 24 5. Death, 241. First Voy- age, 4.3. 255. '-'econd, !i()..307. Third, 147. .3.39. Fourth, 191. .3,'59. Cold, effects of excessive, xii. .398. Coniora Isles, ix.224. Compa.s, variation nf, xii. 2.39. .307. 352. xiii. 7.3. 473. xiv. 58. 4,38. 488. XV.'_M5. 286. 489. xvi.108. 196. 249. .3.30. .368. 401. xvii, 18. 264. 282. 289. 292. 298. Contarini's .Iou'ucn to I'ersia, ii. 1 17. Cook, ( 'iipt. ./o/in, \'oyai'e rouiul the \\'orld, X. hii. , ('apt. ./fimr.i, First N'oyage, xii. .359. Second Voynge, xiv. I. Th'rd Voyiige, w, 1 li. Circumstances of his Death, xvi. I 16. I(;9, ncte. Cliarac- ter XV. 177. xvi. 455. Orders i'roiii France :,nd I'uited States respecting, xvii. 268. Cook\ riwr, x\i. 2i)9. Coral Islands, lormation of, xiv. 141. note. x\. .314. Corea, ix. 77. Cortes, llermi.udo, iii.l54. ■i68. iv. .314. Coryat's .Journey to India, i\. 1 19. Covilhaim's .loiirney to .Ethiopia, ii. ,300. Cotton-tree, x. 245. Cuba, iii. 27 1.320. 404. Cumana, iii., 361. 1 640 INDEX TO THr, i Cur'^.^rland's, Earl of, Voyage to t!.'' \zores, vii. .375. D Damascus described, vii, 47. Dampicr's Voyage round the World, X. 2.16. Darieu described, iii. 397. Dates, vlii.267. Davis's, Capt. John, Voyage to the East Indies, viii, 4.". Dangerous Archipelago discovered and described, xii. 167. Derbcnt ilescribed, ii. 150. Diamond Mines in Brazil, xi. 261. in India, i..387. Downtoii's Voyages to India, viii. 406. ix. 167. Drake's, Sir F., Voyage to the West indies, vii.. 356. 360. Round the World, X. 27. Drugs, account of various, viii. 181. Dutch factories in the East, at the beginning of the 18th century, xi. 1.31. E Easter Island, and its Inhabitants, described, xi. 91. xiv. 270. 278. East India C.'ompany, English, esta- blished, viii. 102. First Voyage to the East Indies, .507. Egypt, Cairo, i. 109. vii. 45. Alexandria, i. 111. Trade of, 112. Einieo Isle described, xvi. 62. 70. Eldred's V^oyages and Travels to ] Bagdat, Hassora, itc. viii. 1. Elephants, ii. 252. vii. 87. 189. a5o. i\ ,394. Eooa Isle, xv. 441. Ii)rigcna's Voyage to.\thens, i. 20. Euphrates, Navigation of, viii. 3. Falkland Islands described, xii. 47. Fajal described,vii.,38l. See Azores. F'enner's Voyage to Guinea, vii., 310. Fernando de iNoraidja, Isle, describ- ed, XV. 69. Fitch's Journey overland to India, vii. 470. viii. 954, Flamingo, iii. 406. Flick's Voyage to the Aiior^'i, v;i. 417. Flowers, great variety of, ii Batavia^ xiii, 4,35. Florida, iii. 410. v. 410. 419. 440. 488. Frederic, Caesar, Travels in India, vii. 142. Friendly Islands, xiv. 204. .369. Ge^ neral description of, and of the Inhabitants, xv. 447. Number and names, 449. Inhabitants, stature, 459. Character, 462. 474. Dress, 465. Domestic life, 467. Agriculture, 468. Houses, 469. Manufactures, 467.470. Food, 4'; Burials, 475. Religion, 477. Govern- ment, 479. Language, 485. 491. See Amsterdam Isle. Fruit, great variety of, at Batavia, xiii. 4.35. Funnell's Voyage round the World, X.291. Furs, collection of, at Oonalashka, xvi. 386. At Kaintschatka, xvii. 184. Galvana's Summary of Discover- ies to the Year 1 555. ii, 2,3. Gama's Voyages, ii. 302.452. Stephano de, Vojnge to Suez, VI. 287. Vasco de, vi. 200. G'-sca, Pedro dela,v. 101. 107. 161. 170. ^^ I'nbia River, ii. 251. •1' oroon described, xi. 158. ' < gia. Isle of, described, xv.25. Uold Trade in Africa, early notice of, ii.218. Goa conquered by the Portuguese, vi. 1,31. Described, 477. Goitres in India, ix. 236. Gothic Language, i. 16"). 507. • Greenlanilcrs described, i. 41. U.iadaloupe described, iii. 98. 142. 308. Guam Island described, x.230. Guana, The, described, x.306. Guava fruit, x. 26 1 . Guayaquil described, x. S65. "V^-W VOYAGES AND TRAVF.LS. G41 ; AzofiiL, v;i. of, u Patavia, 0. 419. 440. els in India, 34. .369. Ge- )f, and of the 17. Number Inhabitants, laracter, 462. Domestic ultnre, 468. lanufiictures, 17'2. UuriiUs, 7. Govern- ige, 485. 491. e. at Batavia, I the World, Oonalashka, schiuka, xvii. af Uiscover- 5. ii. 2.3. !.432. Vojn<;e to 0. 107.161.170. 158. ed, XV. '25. early notice Portuguese, 477. . 507. i.41. iii. 98. 142. \. 230. X.306. 365. Giiiiiea, voyages to, in the 16th Century, vii. 211. — — — , Natives of, described, vii. 243. See Africa, West Coast. Guinea pepper described, x. 46i. H HAicHo'sTravels into Tartary,i. 262. I Hawicin's residence in the Mogul j Empire, viii. 220. | Hawkesworth's, Dr., vindication of himself, as editor of the Voy- j ages, xiii.272 note. i Hearne's Journey in the North-west , parts of America, Abstract of, 1 XV. 148. I Hepaei Isles described, xv. 358. j Music and Dancing, 36.3. Le- ■■ foogan, one of tiiem described, i 369. I Hervey's Isle discovered and des- \ cribed, xv. 334. Helix Janthina and Violacea des> j cribed, xii. 370. j Hippopotanuis described, ii. 253. Hispaniola described, iii. 133. 159. 277.329.387. Hippon's Voyage to India, viii. 4,36. — i Account of, by Floris, viii. 440. Hogan's Embassy to Morocco, vii. 320. Holythura Physalis described, xii. .370. Honduras described, iv. 267. Horn Island, x. 179. , Cape. See Cape Horn. Hottentot's described, x. 234. xi. 185. Huahcine Island described, xiii. 78. , religious ceremonies in, xvi. 73. See Society Islands. Hudson's Bay, Abstract of Discove- ries in, XV. 144. Hurricanes in American Seas, xi. 8.3. I and J IcEi.AWD discovered, i.4. Ice Islands, xiv. 48. 245. note. — , on th« formation of, xv. 43. Icy Cape, xvi. 344. Incat of Peru, iv. 363, India described, ix..378 Animals, vi. -ior; 3-}4. Pepper Alines, .387. Produce, i. 404. Diamond Houses, ix.391. Castles, viii. 280. 2r, .. Climate, ix. 393. Manners, Customs, i. 85. 94. .384. 408. vi.269. vii, 157.482. Mahometans in, ix. 404. ilimioos, 409. Brah- mins, i.387. Idols, 407. Pa- godas, ii. .362. Laws, 253. Court Ceremonies in the 16th Century, .361. 407. See Mogul. Bengal described, i.251. vi.242. vii. 109. 478. (,'alicut described , ii. .345.522. vii. 90. Caiubay , vii. 80. 475. viii. 302. Canda- har, ix. 212. Cochin, ii.419. vii.lG'l. xi. 162. Coromaudel Coast, xi. ! .')5. Deccan, vii. 84. Delhi, viii. 292. See Mogul. (ioa, Diu, vii. 149. Gii/erat, vi.227. Lahore, viii. 295. ix 208. Malabar (Joast, ii. .347. 467. vi. 481. xi. 160. Surat, viii. 275. ix. 119. 230. .391. xi. 157. Sinde, ix. 1.31. Trade before discovery of the Cape of Good Hope, vi. 73. State of, at the beginning of the 16th century, vi. 81. English Fac- tories in, in 1616, ix.238. Indians of America, food, iii. 215. Dress, Canoes, &c. 266. 270. 277. 322.569. At south extremity of South America, v. 401. xii. ! j'2. 1 3.'). 405. See Patagonians. Indigo, viii. 289. Irish, account of, in 16th century, vii. 394. Isabella, first colony in the West Indies, iii. 3 1.3. Jalort's, ii. C2I.227. Jamaica described, iii. 1 1 5, Japan described, i. 375. vi. 382. vm'i, 78. xi. 178. Commodiues vendible in, ix. 71.75. Japanese manners, ix. lo. Court, 25. Festival, 51. Java described, i. 578. 408. vi, 153. vii. 119. viii. 142. 18.3. x. 46. 86. 331. xi. 1 18. 166. Court Ceremonies, viii 166. Ban- tam, viii. 183. First English Factory in, viii. 141. T T I, ,/ ' t r. \'k 642 INDEX TO THE 1 rr If (I Jesso, ix.70. X. ■ 097. note. Juan Fernandez describeu, x. 201. «19. 296.353.481. xi.88.311. K Kamtsohatka, description of, xvii. 66. 1 7 1 . Climate, 1 75. Produce, 173. 178. Curious Plants in, 180. Animals, 184. 194. note. Fuis, 184. Fish, 1 y 1 . Saln)on, 192. Volcanoes, 177. Inha- bitants, 197. Dress, 216. Houses, 87.213. Towns, 215. Sledge, 77. Trade, 307. Dis- covery and History of, )98. Kava drink, xv. 412. Keeling's Voyage to the East Indies, viii. 199. R»ng George's Island discovered and described by Byron, xii. 83. Kossir, part of, described, vi. 330. Kublai Khan, Account of, i. 318. Kurile Isles described, xvii. 21 7. L Lancasteh's Voyages to India, viii. 13. 107. Ladrones, the, described, x. 13. 206. Le Maire's Voyage round theVVorld, X. 162. Straits discovered, 170. On the Navigation of, xii. 412, Le Hermite's Voyage, x. 192. Leiiiird, Mr., account of, xvi.3T5. note. Lima, account >i, in 1.550, iv. 350. See Peru. Llania, i'lv, described, x. 462. Locusts (ii:»crib('u, ii. 2 If. Lok's Vry.ige to Guinea, vii. 229. M Mahommedans, Travels of two, to Indi-n and China in the 9th cen- tury, i. 47. Maciissar, Straiti of, described, xii. 318. MadaiP.nsL'ui" described, vii. 2. viii.26 1 . Jkfadena *L?scovered, ii. 19. 177. Descnij. d, 206 xi. 234. xii. 562. Vii: .i 0!. ^63. Malacca described, vii. 113. xi. 152. Manuevilie's i'/avels, i. 432. Mtro Polo'i Travels, i. 266. .Mauritius described, viii. 218. Marlow's Voyage to the East In- dies, ix. 9 1 . Magellan's, F., Voyage round the World, X. 4. Straits discovered, x. 11. , remarks on the Navigation of, xii. 74. Anchor- ing ()laces and distances in, 157. Manilla, x. 83.281. Mallicolo Island described, xiv. 379. 425. Mangea Isle described, xv. .306. Marquesas Islands and Inhabitants described, xiv. 295. Velinda described, ii. 336. Mecca, Port ot", vi. 262. City, vii. 58. Medina described, vii. 54. Mexico, iii.421.432. City described, iv. 37. 167. taken by the Spaniards, 1 65. Mexican Painters, iii.477. Manu- factures, 478. Idols, 495. Michelburne's Voyage to India, viii. 86. Middleton's, Capt. Honry, Voyage to India, viii. 191.361. ' — Capt. David, Voyage to Bantam and the Moluccas, viii. 307. 343. Mindanao Islands described, xii.509. Midfllcburg Islands described, xiv. 204. Moscow described, ii. 162. Mosquito Shore described, iii. 189. Montezuma, iii. 21. 35. 39. 55. 67. 70. His court, 43. Treasures, 71. Death, 109. Moluccas described, vi. 183. vii. 117. viii. 188. Trade and State of, ix. 3. X. 22. Mogul, meaning of the word, and Empire, of in the 16th Century, vi. 233., in 1616. ix.378. Court of, viii. 229. ix. 302.31 1.320. His birth-day, ix. 343. Tomb, viii. 30ff. Power, customs, &c. viii. 24J 291. ix. 260. 413. 421. Mogul Empire, climate of, ix. 389. Aninials,387. Trees, 389. Ri- vers, 390. See India. Mocha described, viii. 328. xi. 172. Trade, viii. 483. 489. Gover- nor of, [lis feast, viii. 479. V TOYAGK8 AND THAVELS. CAS VU1.2I8. the East In* ge round the Mononiotapn, vi. 449, See Africa, East Coast. Monsoons, account of, viii. 9. Musk, i.313. viii. 181. N Navy, English, in Queen Fllizabetli's time, vii.4()0. Nautical Instruments, account of, taken by Ca|)t. Cooke in his Second Voyage, xiv.'iO. note. Natural History, notices on, xv.333. xvi.20'(;.512. Shells, xii.370. 372. Botany, xii. 395. xiv. 507. notc.xvii. iso. Green .\nts,xiii. 253. 341 . Their Nests, 2(i(). 342. Caterpillars, ibid. Crabs, xiii. | 257. Two new species of Birils, I XV. 17. Of Van Uienian'sLand, XV. 259. Of Amsterdam Isle, \ XV. 421. Blatta, the, xvi. 77. | Medusa, &c. xvi. 98. Arctic | Walrus, xvi. 345. Arctic Ciull, xvii. 104. White Bear, xvii. 114. New Holland, general description, X. 288. xiii. 338. Produce, 339. Animals, 302. 34 1 . Inhabitants, 345. Personal appearance,34t). Houses,349. Food, 351. Wea- pons, 355. Canoes, 357. Lan- guage, 359. Botany Bay, xiii. 230.240. Port Jackson, xiii. 243. Endeavour River, xiii, 31 1. Straits, xiii. 3:55. Newfoundland discovered and de- scribed, iii. 346. vi. 3. Lan- guage of, iii. 32. Newport's Voyage to the East In- dies, ix. 137. New Guinea described, x. 188. New Britain, xi. 107. xii. 296. N ew Zealand, xiii. 1 1 . I^ace of the country, 118.148.155.161.218. XV. 267. Plants, Animals, xiv. 99. XV. 287. Inhabitants, xiii. 125. 147. 164. 187. 192. xiv. 103, 1 1 9. XV. 28 1 . 293. Language, xv. 301. Villat;cs, xiii. 150. Queen Charlotte's ^^ound, xiii. 199. xiv. 119. £ii(' Uusky Bay, xiv;97. New Talcdoiiiii, xiv. 439. l.'l. 473. Contrast between iti Inhabit- ants and thome of the New Hebrides, xiv. 451. note. New Hebrides, xiv. 423, Norfolk Isle, xiv. 476. Norwaj, i. J93. Food, Manners, 494. Nootka Sound, xvi. 221. Produce, 223. Animals, 225. Inhabit- ants, 208. 214. 217. 230. Houses, 239. Villages, 216. Furtiturc,24l. Food, 244. Em- ployment, 243. Weapons, 247. Nianufactures, 248. Languages, 255. Vocabulary of, 30 1 . Nutmegs, vii. 117. x. 523. xi. 147. O Oderit's Travels into China and the East, i. 392. Oniai, notices of, xiv. 165. xv. 183. 327. His reception among his Countrymen, xvi. 7. Establish- ed on his Island, xvi. 73.81. Oonalashka described, xvi. 521.375. Vegetables, 395. Animals, 394. Furs at, 386. Inhabitants, 387. 398. Ornius described, vi. 103. vii. 78. 148. 475. .Ships of, viii. 6. Ostrich, xi. 189. Otaheite discovered rnd described by Wallis, xii. 175.204. Ex- tent, xiv. 181. Surface, xiii. 2. Produce, 3. xvi. 112. 119, Winds, 111. Animals, xiii. 4. Inhabitants' stature, xiii. 4. Personal customs, 6. xiv. 155. note. Tattooing, xiii. 7. Cloth- ing, lo. Houses, 12. Food, 15. xiv. 1 76, xvi. 1 1 9. Bread-fruit, xiii. 16. Drink, 18. xiv. 179, Meals, xiii. 19, Musical instm- nicnts, xiii. 23. Dances, 25. Theatre, xiv. 153. xvi. 39. Fe- male morals, xiii. 26. xiv. 180. xvi. 122. Arreoy, xiii. 27. Ma- nufactures, xiii. 294. xvi. 118. Cloth, 29. Dyes, 32. Matting, &c. 34. Fish-hooks, 3'^. Tools, 37. Canoes, xii 214 xiii. 3s. xiv. "15. Naval TX'.iew. xiv, 307. 326. xvi. 46. Extent of their navigation, xvi 1.58. Swimming, xii. 467 VN rest- iing match, 454, Divisior T T 2 1* . i > t I i 644 INDEX TO THE of time, xiii. 44. Ninnera- tion, 45. Liinguagc, 46. xvi. 1 17. Diseases, xiii. 47. xvi. 1 15. Mourning and Funerals, xii. 478.491. xiii. 54. xvi. 41. .51. Relii^ion, xiii. 59. xvi. l'J5. Human Sacrifices, xv. '24. Priests, xiii. (i 1 . Governniciit, Go. xvi, 32. Inhabitants con- trasted with tiiose of tlic Friend- ly Isles, xvi. 1 14. Customs of, similar to those of distant Islands, xvi. 122. nv tc. Cir- cnuHiavigation, xii. 482. — See Society Islands. Owhyhee discovered and described, xvi. .32 1 . ,373. Ceremonies uned to Captain Cook, 424. Inha- bitants, 4,31. Games, 436. Ta- boo, 427. — See Sandwich Islands. Pagodas, ii..362. Palm-tree in Chili described, v. 2.30. Palmito described, viii. 260. Patagonians, account of, x.8. xi. 272. xii. 29. 127. 133. Panama described, x. 250. Produce, 255. Paradise, bird of, described, x. 325. xi. 114. Palliser Islands described, xi.99. Pacific Ocean, discoveries in, xv. 120. Payta described, xi. 372. Pearl Fishery, account of, i. 93. iii. 392. vii'. 167. x.506. Pearl Oysters, account of, x. 248. 306! Pear, prickly, v. 261. Pegu described, vi. 173. 255. vii. 110. 184.490. viii. 448. Pelican described, x. 305. Peruvian Spaniards, their character, V. 182. Peru, houses, &c. x.240. Pedlars, xi. 25. Lima, xi. 30. Climate, 32. Manners, food, &c. 32. Mines near, 37. Persia described, vi". 77. Persian Gulf, account of, vi. 189- Pepper, viii. 183. Penguins described, x.l45. Pen- guin fruit, 2C9. Peyton's Voyage to the East Indies, ix.45l. Philippine Islands described, x.274. Sec Manilla. Pizarro, v. 75. 129. 151.161. Death of, 167. Plaintain Tree, viii. 259. x. 204. Portuguese transactions in India, vi. 88. Empire in the East, in the 17tli century, vii. 36. Settle- ments in the East in 1616, ix. 239. Potosi .Mines discovered, v. 94. Prince William's Sound described, xvi. 279. -Animals, xvi. 286. j Inhabitants, 279. Language, 285. ! Pring's Voyage to India, ix. 451. \ Proa, flying, described, xi.46). Pulo 'limooan described, xii. 109. Pulo Condorr described, x. 281. xvii. 280. QuKEN Charli>tte's Island (o'"\Vales) discovered and described, xii. 16H. Islands of Carteret, xii. 275. Quito, Island of, described, xi.393. Quirinis's Voyage into Norway, i. 485. R Rainolu's and Dassel's Voyage to the Senegal and Gambia, vii. 342. Red Sea, vi. 149.262.285. 291. 299, 3 15. .334, .349.352. Rhinoceros, account of, i.379. viii. 2 5. Robart's Embassy to Morocco, vii. 327. Roe's, Sir Thomas, Embassy to the Mogul, ix. 247. Roger's, Wood, Voyage round the World, X. 327. lloggcwin'sVoyage round theWorld, xi. 65. Rowle's Voyage to the East-Indies, viii.. 335. Rubruquip* Travels into Tartary, i. 161, VOYAUKS AND TRAVELS. 645 .145. Pen- Enst Indies, Hbed, X. 274. |.)61. Death •. X. 204. Is ill India, vi. |c Kast, in the ■7«. Settle- It in 1616, ix. il, V. 94. Ill described, lis, xvi. 286. Lanj,'iiage, a, ix. 451. xi.}6l. )ed, xii. 109. il)ed, X. 281. .nd(o '•Wales) lescribed, xii. Carteret, xii. il'ed, xi.593. o Norway, i. *s Voyage to Gfanibia, vii. ?S5. 291.299, f", i.379. viii. Wfoiocco, vii. ibassy to the e round the d thcVVorld, EastJndies, ) Tartary, i. Russia, early account of, i. 509. ii. 162. Hutter's Voyage to Guinea, vii. 293. R Salt Trade in Africa, account of, ii. 215. Solomon'.-; Voyage to the Ea»t In- dies, ix. 1 io. Sago described, x. 175. Sainarliand described, i. 298. Saris' N'oyage to tiie Kast Indies, viii. 465. Savage Island described, X..359. Sandwiclilsiind,ofCarteret,xii.298. Sandwich liand, xv. ."4. Sandwich Isianiis of Coolv discover- ed and described, xvi. 172. 195. xvii. 1 , Number, xvii. 2. Owhy- hee, 3. — See Owhyhee. Mo- wee, 11. Atooi, 1.3. — SeeAtooi. ('liniate, 14. .\ninials, 15. In- habitants, 19. Stature, 20. Numbers, 22. Character, 23. Dress, 27. Villages, .■52. Food, 33, Dances and other anuise- nients, .j4. Arts, ,"8. Govern- ment, 41. Keligion, 45. Ta- boo, 48. Marriages and Fune- rals, 49.51. Savu Island and Inhaliitants describ- ed, xiii..'587.407. Schoutcn and Le Maires' Voyage round the World, x. 16-'. Senc'ual River described, ii. 220. Sea Fights in the 16th century, vii. 3!I6. Selkirk, .\lexander, account of, x. .■;49. Sea Lion described, xi.. 318. xv.6. 15. lJc;ir, XV. 15. Sea, warmth at different depths, xiv..3.3. note. Shelvock's Voyage round the World, X 4." 1. xi. 20. Shar|)cy's Voyage to India, viii. 314. Shah liokh's, the Kiiibassador, Tra- vels to Cathay, i. 461. Siain described, vi. 169. vii. 177. viii. 188. 44S. ix. 110. xi. 171. Silver Fish, earl\ no'ice of, x. 295. Small Pox, Ravages of, among the Auracanians, v. J97. Soto's Expedition into Florida, v. 440. Solyman Pacha'sExpcdition to India, vi. 257. Sofala kingiloni described, vi. 8P Socotra described, vi. 96. 22' . ' di. 26 1. 412. ix. 226. Solomon's Ishinds described, xi. 10,3. Society Islands, general descrip- tion of, xiii. 92. Vocabulary, XV. 8 1 . — See Oraheite. South Hemis|)liere, short account of Voyages to, xiv. 2. Spanish Conmiere between Manilla and .•\capulco, in the middle of the 18th century, xi. 405. Spilbergen'sVoyage round the World, x. 149. Steven's Voyage to Goa, vii. 462. Steele and (Jrowther's Voyage from India to Persia, ix. 206. Staten Island described, xv. 5. 11. St. Laurence River described, vi. 44. 55. St. Helena described, ix. 116. x. 88. xi. 193. XV. 64. St. Catiierine off Brazil, x. 4.37. xi. 254. St. Jago, Port Praga Uay, xiv. 29. Sugar, early notice of, i. .37.3. Sumatra, Account of. i. 381. iv. 180. vii. 113. 174. viii. 50. 55, 121. xi. 167. Snrat described, viii. 275, Tann.a Island described, xiv. ,393. 4 15. Volcano and hot springs in, 405. 411. Tartary described, i. 115. Soil and climate, i. 127. Dress, man- ners, 128. Superstitions, 131. Military habits, 140.,311. Court, 152. 180. 188. 197. 217. 224. Khan of, 154. Houses, 166. Food, &c. 188. Laws, 177. Burial, &c. 1"7. 184. .301. Re- ligion, 209. Samarcand,i. 298. Tea, early notice of, i. 61. Manner of cilltivating, ix. 554. Terry's Voyage to India, ix. ,368. Terra del Fuego described, x. 198. xii. 404. 410. xiv. 497, 505. T T 3 1 J 646 INDEX TO THi; VOYAGKS AND THAVKI.S. TerniUe described, xi. 151. Tciicrirt* , I'cuk of, account of, xii. ■ ■ Island desLTibed, xv. 191. 191. Thibet, early notice of, i. .'542. 425. vii. ."4. Timor lile descrihod, viii. IS7. Tinian I^lc descril)e(l, xii. 102. note. Timoaii fsle described, \ii. loo. Tobacco, early notices of, iii. 213. 3()9. vi. 54. Towcrson's Voyajre to Guinea, vii. 27.-. Torpedo Kish, account of, xi. 42,3. Tongataboo Isle described, xv. 385. Natural history of, 421. In- habitants, dancing, ,Ti)5. Wrest- ling and boxing, 401. Grand so'cinnity at, 427. Kava, mode o.' , r j.ar ij, 412. — Sec Am- stertlam Isle and Friendly Isles. Tortoises' Land, x. 1 22. Toobonai Isle described, xvi. .3. In- habitants, 5. Trade Winds, xiv. l.>9. note. Trinidad, iii. 340. Tripoli in Asia, viii. 2. Tschutski described, xvi. 3.78. 362. 387. Turkey, Account of, i. 96. Con- st. intinj)t)le, 96. Turtles described, x. 223. 306. 376. xi. .■596. XV. 67. U and V Ulif.te.\ Island and Inhabitants de- scribed, xvi. 97. — See Society Island. Unicorn, early notice •I", i. 57. V'erthema's Travels in Egypt, Syria, Arabia, Persia, and India, vii. 41. VanNoort'sVoyage round tlieWorld, \. 112. Vanilla described, x. 261. Van Dicman's Land, notices of, xv. 256. Natural history and ani- nuilsof, 259. Inhabitants, 262. Vicuina, the, describcil, x. 462. Voyages of Discovery, advantages of, XV. 154. To nautical sci- ence, 160. To the history of the Human Species, and its migrations, 167. To the inha- bitants discovered, 170. W Wai.i.is's, Capt., Voyage round the World, xii. 120. Wallis's Island described, xii. 221. Water S[iouts descrilied, x. 287. xix. 105. xiv. 106. note. Wateeoo Isle described, xv. 312. Weenooa-ettcIslcdescril)ed,xv.332. Weert Sibbald's Voyage round the World, X. 130. Welsh's Voyage to Benin, vii. 351. Whales, notices respecting, xv. 4. note. Whiddon's Voyage to the Azores. vii. 358. Windliam'sVoyagetoGuinea,vii.216. W^ood, Benj., Voyage to the East Indies, viii. 40. W^ulfstan's Voyage to the Bnltic, i. 15. Z Zbnos' Vovage, i. 438j P^sypt, Syria, ul Itulia, vii. nd theWorl J, 51. iticcs of, XV. itory and ani- abitants, 262. , X. 462. , advantages nautical sci- le liistory of ics, and iti To the inha- , 170. ge round the !d,xii. 221. ed, X. 287. , note. I, XV. .512. "ibed.xv.saS. ;e round the ii>, vii. 351. cting, XV. 4. the Azores. iinea,vii.216. to the East he Bidtic, i. GENERAL PLAN OF kerr's collection OF VOYACxES AND TRAVELS. PART L Voyafres and Travels of Discovery in the middle ages; from th J era of Alfred King of England, in the ninth cen- tury, to that of Don Henry of Portugal, at the commence- ment of the fifteenth century. PART II. General Voyages and Travels, chiefly of Discovery ; from the era of Don Henry in Ul'2, to that of George IIL m 1760. PART III. General Voyages and Travels of Discovery during the era of George III., which were conducted upon scientific prin- ciples, and by which the Geography of the globe has been nearly perfected. PART IV. Historical Deduction of the Progress of Navigation, Dis- covery, and Commerce, by sea and land, from the earliest times to the present period. T 1 4- IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // *v ^'^° A f/. 1.0 ;siM iiM III !.l |36 13.2 iif i;^ 12.0 M 2.2 L25 ■ 1.4 IIIIIM 1.6 V] <^ /i ^> ^ VI >. ^ Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14S80 (716) 872-4503 V iV ^\-^ -o t r jp i .^W ' L I .■■Kl l.i , J l > M> >, W I ^T- t VMn I l »T> llH ii|rf H W'j i .L ' K 648 Tabular Vievo of the Contents TABULAR VI KW OF THE CONTENTS OF THE SEVENTEEN VOLUMES. S ' ; VOLUME L Discovery of Iceland by the Norwegians. Voyages of Ohthere to the White Sea and the Baltic. Remarks on the situation of Sciringe-heal and Hsethuni, by J. R. Forster. Voyage of Wulfstein in the Baltic. of Sighelm to India. Travels of John Erigena to Athens. Geography of the known world as described by King Alfred. Travels of Andrew Leucander. Voyage of Swanus to Jerusalem. ' . ' of three ambassadors from England to Constantinople. Pilirrimaffe of Alured to Jerusalem. ol Ingulphus. Original discovery of Greenland by the Icelanders in the ninth century. Early discovery of America by ditto, in 1001. Travels <»f two Mahometans into India and China, in the ninth century. — of Rabbi Benjamin from Spain to China, in the twelfth century. of an Englisliman in Tartary in 124'3. Sketch of the Revolutions in Tartary. TiM'els of Carpina to the Moguls, &c. in 1246. of Rubruquis into Tartary about 1253. of Hailho, in 1254. of Marco Polo into China, &c. from 1260 to 1295. of Ocleric, in IMIS. of Sir John Mandeville, in 1322. Itinerary of Pegoletti between Asof and China, in 1355. Voyages of Nicolo and Antonio Zeno, in 1380. Tnivels of SchiUltberger into Tartary, in 1394. of the Ambassadors of Shah Hokh, in China, in 1419. Voyage and Shipwreck of Quirini, in 1431. of the Seventeen Volumes. 64-9 na, in 1119. Travels of Josaphat Barbaro from Venice to Tanna (now Asof ), in 1436. VOLUME II. Various early pilgrimages from England to the Holy Land, between 1097 and 1107- Discovery of Madeira* Discovery and conquest of the Canary Islands. Discoveries along the coast of Africa ; and conquests in India, from 1412 to 1505. Summary of the discoveries of the world, from their com- mencement to 1555, by Antonio Galvano. Journey of Contarini into Persia, in 1473-6. Voyages of discovery by the Portuguese along the western coast of Africa, during the life of Don Henry. Original journals of the Voyages of Cada Mosto, and Pedro de Cintra, to the coast of Africa, from 1455. Voyages of discovery by the Portuguese along the coast of Africa, from the death of Don Henry, in 1463, to the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope in 1486. History of the discovery and conquest of India by the Portu- guese, between 1497 and 1505, by Herman Lopes de Castaneda. Letters from Lisbon in the beginning of the 16lh century, re- specting the discovery of the route by sea to India, &c. VOLUME in. History of the discovery of Amenca, and of some of the early conquests in the New World. Discovery of America, by Columbus, written by his son Don Ferdinand Columbus. written by Antonio de Htrrera. An account of the Voyages of Americus Vespucius to the New World, written by himself Discoveries and settlements of the Spaniards in the West Indies, from the death of Columbus, to the expedition of Hernando Cortes against Mexico. History of the discovery and conquest of Mexico, written in 1568, by Captain Bernal Diaz del Castillo, one of the conquerors. ■Mtn 650 ^^ I '/'alm/ar Fiexu of the Contents VOLUME IV. History of the discovery and conquest of Peru, written by Augustus Zarate. VOLUME V. Continuation of the history of Peru, extracted from the Com- mentaries of Garcilasso de la Vega. History of the discovery and conquest of ChiU, taken from various sources. Discovery of Florida, and ineffectual attempts to conquer that country by the Spaniards, — from the General History of America, by Herrera. VOLUME VL Early English Voyages of discovery to America. Voyages of Jacques Cartier, from St. Maloes to Newfoundland and Canada, in 1534-5. Continuation of the discoveries and conquests of the Portu- guese in the East ; with some account of the early Voy- ages of other European nations to India. Discoveries, &c. &c. from 1505 to 1539. A particular relation of the expedition of Solyman Pacha, from Suez to India, against the Portuguese; written by a Venetian officer in the Turkish service on that occasion. Account of the Voyage of Don Stefano de Gama, from Goa to Suez, in 1540; written by Don Juan de Castro. Continuation of the account of the Portuguese transactions in India, from 1541 to the middle of the 17th century; from De Faria's Asia. VOLUME VII. Voyages and Travels in Egypt, Syria, Arabia, Persia, and India, by Ludovico Verthemr, in 1503-8. in India, &c. by Cesar Frederic, in 1563-81. Second Voyage to Barbary, in 1552, by Captain Thomas Windham. Voyages to Guinea and Benin, in 1553, by Captain Wind- ham and Antonio Anes Pinteado. in 1554, by Captain John Lok. in 1555, by William Towerson, merchant, of London. ' II'' of the Serenleen Volunivx. (j,31 written by n the Com- taken from onquer that History of wfoundland the Portu- early Voy- nan Pacha, ivritten by a ,t occasion, from Goa astro. isactions in tury; from 'ersia, and rederic, in n Thomas ain Wind- merchant, Second Voyage to Guinea, in 1556, by William Towerson, merchant, of London. Third, in 1558. Instructions for an intended Voyage to Guinea, in 1561. Voyage to Guinea, in 1562 ; written by William Rutter. Supplementary account of the foregoing Voyage. Voyage to Guinea, in 1563, by Robert Baker. in 1564', by Captain David Carlet. . and to the Cape de Verd Islands, in 1566, bj' George Fenner. Account of the embassy of Mr. Edmund Hogan to Morocco, in 1577 ; by himself. Account of the embassy of Mr. Henry Roberts from Queen Elizabeth to Morocco, in 1585; by himself. Voyage to Benin, beyond Guinea, in 1588, by James Welsh. Supplement to the foregoing. Second Voyage of ditto in 159Q. Voyage of Richard Rainolds and Thomas Dassel to the Senegal and Gambia, in 1591. Some miscellaneous early Voyages of the English. Voyage to Goa, in 1579, in the Portuguese fleet, by Thomas Stevens. Journey over-land to India, by Ralph Fitch. Supplement to ditto. VOLUME VIIL Voyage of Mr. John Eldred to Tripoli, and thence by land and river Bagdat and Basorah, in 1583. Account of the Monsoons in India, by William Barret. First Voyage of the English to India in 1591, by Captain Geo. Raymond and James Lancaster. Supp'ement to ditto, by John May. Voyage of Captain Benj. Wood towards the East Indies, in 1596. of Captain John Davis to the East Indies, in 1598. of W 'liani Adams to Japan, in 1598. of Sir Edward Michelburne to India, iii 1604. First \'oyage of the English East India Company in J 601, under Captain James Lancaster. Account of Java and of the English at Bantam, from 1603 to 1605. Second Voyage of the Company, in 1604, under Captain Henrv Middleton. ^; ^J lU. 652 Tabula/- J'icxv of the Contents Third Voyage of the Compuny, in 1607, under Captain Wil- Ham Keeling. Narrative by Wilhani Hawkins during his residence in the dominions of tiie Great Mogul. Observations of William Finch, who accompanied Hawkins. Voyage of Captain David Middleton, in 1607, to Bantam and the Moluccas. Fourth Voyage of the Company, in 1608, under Captain Alexander Sharpey. Voyage of Captain Richard Rowies. Fifth Voyage of the Company, hi 1609, under Captain Da- vid Middleton. Sixth Voyage of the Company, in 1610, under Sir Henry Middleton. Journal of the same, by Nicholas Downton. Seventh Voyage of the Company, in 1611, under Captain Anthony Hippon. Notices of the same, by Peter Floris. Eighth Voyage of the Company, in 1611, under Captain John Saris. VOLUME IX. Ninth Voyage of the Company, in 1612, under Captain Edward Marlow. Tenth Voyage of the Company, in 1612, by Mr. Thomas Best. Observations made on the foregoing by different persons. Eleventh Voyage of the Company, in 1612, in the Salomon. Twelfth Voyage of the Company, in 1613, under Captain Christonher Newport. Voyage of Ciiptain Downton to India, .'n 1614. Supplement to ditto. Journey of Richard Steel and John Crovvther, from Agimere to Ispahan, in 1615-16. Voyage of Captain Peyton to India, in 1615. Proceedings of the factory at Cranganore, by Roger Hawes. Journal of Sir Thomas Roe, ambassador from James I. to the Emperor of Hindoostan. Voyage to India, in 1616, by Mr. Edward Terry. Journey of Thomas Coryat from Jerusalem to the Court of the Great Mogul. Wrongs done tiie English at Banda by the Dutch, in 1617-18. Fifth Voyage of the Joint-Stock by the Company, in 1617, under Captain Pring. Captain Wil- idence in the id Hawkins. , to Bantam ider Captain Captain Da- sr Sir Henry ider Captain Captain John ider Captain Mr. Thomas persons. e Salomon, ider Captain oni Agimere i^er Ilawes. James I. to le Court of in 1617-18. ny, in 1617, of the Seventeen Volumes. fi53 Voyage of the Ann-Royal from Suvat to Mokha, in 1618. Voyage to Surat and Jasques, in 1620. War of Ormus, and capture of that place by the English and Persians, in 1622. Massacre of the English at Amboyna, in 1623. Observations during a residence in the island of Chusan, in 1701, by Dr. James Cunningham. VOLUME X. Historical account of early circumnavigations: of Magellan, in 1519-22. of Sir Francis Drake, in 1577-80. of SirTliomas Candisli, ill 15b6-8. of Van Noort, in 1,'>98— 1601. of George Spilbergen, in 1614-17. ol'Schouten and Le Maire, by Ciipe Horn, in 1615-17. of die Nassau fleet under Jacques Le Hcnuil, in 1 6-'3-6. of Ciiptain John Cooke, accompanied by Captains Cow- ley and Dampier, in 1683-91. in 1703-6, ' y William Funnell. in 1708-11, by Captain Woods Rogers and Stephen Coiu'lney. in 1719-22, by Captain .Tohn Clipperton. in 1719-22, by Captain George Shelvocke. VOLUME XL Voyage round the world, in 1721 -3, by Commodore Rogge- wein. . in n-tO-*, by Lord Anson. VOLUME XIL Commodore Byron's Voyage, in 1 764-6. Captain Wallis's Voyage, in 1766-8. Captain Carteret's Voyage, in 1766 9. Captain Cook's tirst Voyage, in 1768-70. VOLUME XIIL Captain Cook's first Voyage continued and concluded. Abstract of Bougainville's Voyage, in 1766-9. VOLUME XIV. Captain Cook's second Voyage towards the S.Pole, in 1772-5. Ml^ Xiii «iiii 654 Tabular Vine of the Contents, 8fc. VOLUME XV. Captain Cook's second Voyage concluded. Captoin Cook's third Voyage, in 1776-80. VOLUME XVL Captain Cook's third Voyage continued. VOLUME XVIL Captain Cook's third Voyage concluded. Commodora Byron's narrative of his shipwreck, &c. ; written by himself, Bulkeley's narrative of the same. !f| t^: THE END. H f LoNDOK ; Printed by A. & R. Spottiswoode, New Stre<'t-Square. ;c. ; written